Polipoli Disc Golf

While my tires were getting replaced at Costco, I jumped aboard with Will, Jess and our friend, Drew as they headed Upcountry to play disc golf at Polipoli.  

We stopped at Mana Foods in Paia and stocked up on sandwiches, snacks and chocolate (I even scored some Moonstruck chocolate, a Portland staple).  We chowed down in the back of Will's truck in the grocery store parking lot before ascending the slopes of Haleakala to the disc golf park.

{one of the disc golf baskets}

The disc golf course sprawls up and down the mountainside.  The baskets are scattered across fields, tucked into copses of trees painted in burnt orange moss, and plunked down across gorges.

Every hole is a hike as you can trek up and down hill at altitude.

{walking the course}

{Will watching Drew and Jess seek out a lost disc}

I'm not a very skilled disc golfer, but I had fun hiking around with everyone, and I got to throw the disc around.  I even made a long putt and got the disc in the basket!

As we played the last three holes, a bank of clouds started sweeping up the mountain and enveloped us in mist.

{hanging out in the mist}

{T-Bone looking stoic as always}

After we were done with disc golf, we hopped back into the truck and headed back into Paia for pupus and cocktails at Milagros.

It was wonderful to be able to spend the afternoon with friends working up a sweat in a beautiful place.  It was certainly better than hanging out at Costco for two hours while my car was getting outfitted with new tires!

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Meals and Sunsets

I've been a little busy the past week as I juggle two jobs, but I've still been trying to eat clean and healthy.

{fried egg over steamed broccoli and cauliflower with spicy ground turkey}

Eating healthy means trying new recipes...like this one pan chicken and potato roast with green beans:

{about to hit the oven}

{and plated!}

After eating so healthy, you gotta take a cheat meal here and there...like this ice cream sandwich from Star Noodle's food truck: Starstruck.

{sesame seed chocolate chip cookies with vanilla bean ice cream}

And then, you gotta go back to eating healthy.

{potato veggie frittata on Easter}

{and a roasted beet salad for breakfast}

Thankfully, all of these home cooked meals are punctuated by ridiculously gorgeous sunsets.

{all snapshots are from the same evening, shot at work--my best sunset watching spot}

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Fleetwood's on Front Street

Shaina and I went to Fleetwood's on Front Street tonight for dinner, and we got sat on the rooftop right before sunset.

We had an epic view of the sun setting behind Lanai, and of a bagpiper:

Mick Fleetwood is very proud of his Scottish heritage, so he has a sunset ceremony performed nightly from the rooftop featuring a bagpipe player followed by a conch shell blowing and torch lighting done by a Hawiian native.

{pink pastel hues washing the sky at sunset}

{rooftop dining room--I'm loving the string of white lights along the rafters}

{going light after Lahaina Grill decadence last night: butternut squash with quinoa}

I'm about to head offline and kick back with a book.  It's been a fun-filled, feasting three day weekend.  I see a lot of snoozing and salads in my near future to aid my recovery.

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Feasting at Lahaina Grill

My parents sent Bryan and me to the decadent Lahaina Grill to celebrate my new job offer.  Lahaina Grill is one of those restaurants that make your mouth water as you read their specials board, which I used to do often when I lived in town and had to walk by their restaurant every day to get to work.  It's certainly one of the most lauded restaurants on Maui, famous for their craftsmanship, wine list and amazing service.  It's a real treat to be able to dine there, and Bryan and I had been looking forward to making this reservation.

We both started off with a cocktail before our appetizer: the Blue Corn Crusted Chile Relleno.

A poblano chile is filled with tiger prawns, diver scallops with monterey jack cheese, served on a roasted corn relish with creme fraiche and a roasted tomato-ancho chile salsa.  The sauce was smoky and smooth with only a hint of spice.  The flavors were fun and punchy and complemented each other perfectly.  After sharing the chile, both Bryan and I both decided that we could have eaten a full platter of them.  It reminded me of the chiles en nogada (poblano chiles stuffed with meat served with a white walnut sauce) that I loved to eat every September when I lived in Mexico City.  I loved that we started our meal with something off the beaten path.  The chile relleno appetizer really jumps off the menu after reading through all the seafood appetizers.

After the chile, we ordered some wine.  Now, Lahaina Grill has quite the extensive wine list, much of it devoted to high end and exclusive bottles.  Bryan and I chose a moderately priced pinot noir that was recommended by our server, and we were both really happy with what we chose.

{Rivers-Marie 2010 Pinot Noir--definitely digging the sparrow label}

No visit to Lahaina Grill would be complete without my favorite bufala tomato salad.

When the salad arrived to the table, Bryan was a little unimpressed.  What could be so amazing about a tomato salad?  The answer is everything!  The salad consists of an absolutely perfect locally grown tomato, peeled, sliced and layered over thick pieces of bufala mozzarella, topped with maui onion, basil, shallots, truffle oil, aged balsamic vinaigrette, extra virgin olive oil and black hawaiian sea salt.  This particular salad is something that I have ordered all three times at the restaurant, and it never, ever disappoints.  It's a simple dish, but it goes to show you that when you use perfect produce and quality ingredients you get something that is absolutely amazing.  

Bryan was blown away by the first bite, and he told me that he couldn't believe that I willingly gave him half the salad since I knew in advance how delicious it was.  He said if our roles were reversed, he would have eaten the whole thing by himself without sharing a bite. 

For our main courses, Bryan ordered the 18 ounce bone in ribeye steak special and I ordered the slow roasted boneless short rib.

Both entrees were absolutely incredible (although mine didn't photograph well).  Bryan's ribeye was one of the most tender steaks I've ever had, but my slow roasted short rib took the cake.  I actually took a video to demonstrate how tender the meat was.  It flaked apart the instant I stuck my fork in.  I didn't have to use my knife at all.  The short rib was prepared with a honey-chipotle fig demi-glace and was served with herbed mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, tomato, a carrot and figs.  I was also super excited about Bryan's sides: a whole bulb of roasted garlic and a side of roasted corn (instead of the blue cheese mashed potatoes).

There was a lot of passing of fully laden forks across the table last night.

However, at a certain point, I had to put my fork down and pack away the rest of my short rib to ensure I had plenty of room to eat dessert.  I had walked into Lahaina Grill knowing that I wanted to go all out and order as much decadent deliciousness my stomach could handle.

We ordered the vanilla bean creme brûlée and the road to Hana: layers of hawaiian vintage chocolate cake and chocolate sour cream mousse.  The creme brûlée was outstanding, but I could have eaten five orders of the road to Hana.  It was incredibly hard to put the dessert fork down and pass the plate over to Bryan so he could have his share.

{creme brûlée}

{the winner: Road to Hana dessert}

As you can see, Bryan and I had an amazing dinner at Lahaina Grill thanks to Mom and Dad.  It was really a special night since we had so much to celebrate; I'm thrilled for this new job opportunity, and I'm also really excited that Bryan and I are celebrating three years together.  Lahaina Grill was the perfect venue for such a special occasion.

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Only on Maui

I went to Choice after my workout to grab a smoothie and a Buddha Bowl (quinoa layered with a kale salad and homemade soup), and I saw that one of the cooks brought in their pet parrot to work.

The cook had popped the trunk and set up some water and let his feathered friend hang out and chew on his antennae.

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Parting Shots from March

Paint-brushed clouds before sunset up at the house:

Healthy dessert:

{sliced apple with a drizzle of almond butter and local honey}

{Container ship outside Lahaina Harbor}

{How many have you seen?}

{Palm tree in front of our lanai}

{my Praying Mantis friend}

{my new car's surfer doppleganger}

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Color Run

The thunderheads cleared long enough for us to participate in the "Happiest 5k on the Planet."  You start off in clean white t-shirts, and at every kilometer you get pelted by dyed cornstarch.

This is the end result:

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