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On Monday, I will finish our Maui trip with pictures of sand, surf, and the resort we stayed at. But today, let’s travel around town. We all ready traveled to a volcano, a lavender farm, a waterfall and ate at Mama’s Fish House.

But we did much more. And nothing at all. I feel like we spent so much of our trip relaxing, but the following pictures showed we actually got around the island, too. It was the perfect trip.

We ate breakfast one day at Kihei Caffe. This still remains my very favorite breakfast spot. It is insanely inexpensive (for Maui) with huge portions and the food is just darn good. Greasy. Buttery. Good. Comfort food.

Upon the recommendation of the owner (I believe the man is the owner. He is always there. Has a command of authority. And is always smiling), we tried this pastry thing. It was filled with cream cheese frosting. It was groan-out-loud-but-not-in-a-“When-Harry-Met-Sally”in-a-public-restaurant-good. I am still thinking about it. It was amazing, like a homemade Toaster Strudel.

We all enjoyed our meal and the kids were happy they split their ginormous plate of pancakes.

After going ziplining last year, I knew I was going to be sitting out of the family’s ziplining excursion this year. That is, unless L.B. was one of the instructors. I told my family I would join them if he was there to catch me. I am nothing if not a team player.

Alas, L.B. was not working. Some other lovely young men were.

I stayed on the ground and took pictures of my family in the air.

It was actually very peaceful. I did not regret not ziplining. Heights are just not my thing. It was my son’s favorite thing he did on Maui. They had a blast.

We also ate at The Monkeypod Kitchen on this trip. Twice. This restaurant is very good. The buns on my pulled pork sandwich are made on the premises. Everything there is fresh and proudly created in their kitchen. My kids could not get enough of their fish and chips.

We had a bottle of my favorite Firefly Red Flash wine left over on our last night in Maui (we bought six bottles of wine at the grocery store when we got there. Five Barefoot Pink Moscatos and one Firefly. This was such a cost saver. Our room had a small refrigerator and came with a wine opener). We did not want it to go to waste, because we could not bring it home. Even though it was $25 to uncork it at the restaurant, it was still cheaper than a single bottle of wine there. We are so unbelievably fancy.

We will pay $25 to uncork a $6 bottle of wine. But that is how much we love that wine.

It was worth it.

We have tried different shaved ice places on Maui. The best one? Ululani’s. Hands down.

I am boring. I know what I like. And I always get the same thing.

Strawberry and blue raspberry syrup (made on the premises from their sugar cane) over vanilla ice cream and shaved ice.

It is heaven. The tables even have holes so your ice cup can rest on the table and you can very ladylike shovel the delectable treat into your mouth.

We ate here so often that we filled a punch card and got an icee free. If you go to Maui, you have to have shaved ice. It is not the same as snow cones or shaved ice near you. I promise.

We went to a luau at The Marriott in Wailea.

I wore a Free People dress I purchased last summer and my Forever 21 Floral Kimono.

The food was delicious.

The drinks were all included and I liked them… Maybe a little too much.

The show was entertaining. We were seated at a table with four teenage girls and a separate party consisting of two honeymooners. It was an interesting dynamic. We had a good time.

I loved the couple’s dance they incorporated for the adults that were together.

We brought back so many memories from this trip. But like most experiences, my being cannot process them all at once. They simply combine together into one simple feeling: pure happiness.

What has been your favorite vacation destination? Is your favorite part the food? Or the experiences?

This really should be called, “Cherry Tomato Broccoli Pesto Pasta.” But that’s a mouthful! This pasta reminds me of everything I love about summer. It is fresh. It is quick. It is easy. There is not any meat in the dish, but you do not miss it. My family loves this.

I recently indulged in a similar pasta dish at a local Italian restaurant. I wanted to try to recreate it at home. I searched for a recipe, but the closest I could find was this yummy one. The following recipe is loosely adapted from that one.

Ingredients:

1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine (I always use Riesling and it is fine. Any white non-bubbly wine will do)
1 clove of crushed garlic (or a handy dandy frozen cube)
6 oz. refrigerated pesto (pick your favorite. A bad pesto will ruin this dish)
1 12 oz. package fresh linguine (if you cannot find this a regular package of dried linguine is fine)
2 pint size containers of cherry tomatoes
3/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 head of brocolli chopped (or one small steamable all ready chopped package)
5 small slices fresh mozarella (cut again into thirds)

First things first. Chop your broccoli heads up into large bite sized pieces and place into a large sealable gallon sized plastic bag. Or you could simply buy a small package of steam-able brocolli. I normally do that, but this time, my store was out. Seal the chopped broccoli crowns, place them in the bag and set aside.

Boil water in a large pot.

Chop three-quarters of your cherry tomatoes into half. Also cut mozzarella slices into bite sized pieces and set mozzarella pieces aside.

In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook one minute. Add halved cherry tomatoes and remaining whole tomatoes into the skillet. Add salt and red pepper flakes. Let simmer twelve minutes. Stir occassionally.

In the meantime, boil noodles according to the directions on the package. I prefer to use fresh pasta found in the refrigerated section. It cooks faster and generally just tastes better. But you can use boxed pasta, just be aware of the time difference. Before draining pasta, carefully reserve a cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the pasta and return the drained pasta to the pot it boiled in (with no water in it).

Pierce broccoli bag with fork two times. Microwave the bag for three and a half minutes on high.

After the tomatoes have simmered for twelve minutes, add wine and let simmer for two more minutes.

Add a little of the pasta water (about 1/4 cup) and broccoli. Mix.

Add pesto to the drained noodles. Add enough pasta water to make it easier to stir (about 1/4 cup. Do not add all of your reserved pasta water).

Add pesto noodles to the cherry tomato/broccoli mixture. Stir. Before plating add mozzarella to the pan and quickly mix. You do not want your mozzarella to melt too much.

Plate. And eat up! If you have picky kids, and they are old enough, I recommend letting them carefully cut the tomatoes and mozzarella when you are preparing this dish. It will make them feel like they made the dish and they will be more inclined to eat it. Both of my kids always have seconds. ; )

Enjoy! We will be eating this yummy pasta all summer! It just tastes fresh and happy!

P.S. Please do not forget to enter the Blog Giveaway. It ends on the 15th! Thank you!

This post was edited using the fun Afterlight app. It makes the colors richer in the photos.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

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