We just spent the past few weeks in paradise – on the island of Maui in Hawaii. There’s nothing that I look forward to more this time of year than spending some quality down time with my family. No sports, no meetings or appointments, no place we have to be at any time (except for a dinner reservation!). Sunsets over the ocean every night, daily dips in the pool, relaxing and just being still. These are all the things that I am grateful for to help me get rejuvenated before we all return to the scheduled life we start living once school begins.
This trip, on my way to Lahaina, I stopped by a farmstand to see what was for sale. Â The first thing I noticed was a pile of fresh green coconuts on the ground. Then, as I perused the stand table, I spotted dragon fruit, papaya, mango, tomatoes, onions, passion fruit and pineapple.
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| Fresh Dragon Fruit, So Gorgeous, Juicy and Refreshing. |
So interesting, that what seems so exotic to me is so mainstream on the island of Maui. The fruits sold at this stand grow so readily on this temperate island. In fact, the man at the stand said that farmers simply drop off their fresh fruits daily for him to sell. Wish I had an orchard full of guavas, mangoes, papaya, passion fruit, dragon fruit, bananas, pineapple, and citrus fruit at home on the East Coast. My kids and I would enjoy Tropical Smoothies all year long.
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| Wish I had this Tropical Fruit Orchard in my backyard! |
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| Would love to grow these Hawaiian Dendrobium in my backyard too. |
I’ve never had freshcoconut water (just the kind sold in aseptic containers) so that was the first thing I knew I had to try. As I was waiting for my coconut to be chopped open, a young Indian couple and a woman from Trinidad approached the farm stand, so excited to pick up some fresh coconut water and fruits.
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| My family had a taste of fresh coconut water for the first time, so refreshing! |
They struck up a conversation, fondly remembering fresh coconut from their native countries. When they asked where I was from and I replied the East Coast, they responded, “Oh, another person from the East Coast,” as in how boring. I have to say I can’t disagree to some extent. I would rather live on the West Coast, closer to this island of paradise where fresh fruits grow year round outdoors, not in greenhouses, or where they are imported from all over the world.
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| Fresh Papaya and Passion Fruit. Papaya seeds are peppery but edible. |
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| Fresh Papaya and Passion Fruit, served Island Style. |
All you have to do is cut a fresh papaya in half and scoop out the seeds. Next, cut the passion fruit in half. Spoon out the passion fruit pulp and seeds and serve with the fresh papaya. That’s it!
I shared this special “recipe” with my family for breakfast the next day, who all found this fruit cup so refreshing, a perfect way to start the day. That’s what I love best about fresh fruits…there’s no need to cook them really, they’re at their best eaten the way they were intended…fresh.
As I was obsessing about this fruit combination, I happened upon a passion fruit tree near the driveway of the house we were staying at.
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| Fresh Unripe Passion Fruit That I Happened Upon. I Picked Some Ripe Ones That Had Fallen From The Ground. |
Several ripe passion fruits had dropped to the ground that I scooped up. Perfect…enough for a few more Papaya Fruit Passion Fruit Cups.
This is a trip I would love to take sometime. Envious. I'd love a taste of the islands as well. This looks delicious and I bet it was refreshing. Yummy!
Absolutely beautiful!
Looks so fresh! What a fun looking trip
papaya and passion fruit would be an awesome combo!! i love both fruits so much! i would love to have a tropical orchard in my backyard too :). i have yet to try dragon fruit, but i've seen so many others talk about it so much!
I love traveling and trying local produce. Tropical fruits are some of my favorites, perhaps because they're hard to come by where I live the rest of the year.
My kids love dragon fruit – it's hard to find and expensive, but a real treat if you can get your hands on one. They are juicy and sweet, although not super sweet. I especially like the ones with red flesh, but I could only find dragon fruit with white flesh on this trip.
I love reading more about your travels and natural fruity treats from Maui. Never have had Dragon Fruit but need to try.
I am so lucky to live in tropical North Queensland Australia, and papaya and passionfruit is my favorite combination.
Ah, I just love the photos you took on your trip and I think one of the most incredible aspects of these tropical vacations is the access to gorgeous, local, fresh fruit. I love the way you have taken advantage of this to showcase some of the best that these succulents have to offer. Beautiful!
Maui must be a healthy place since farmers drop off their produce instead of trucks from a different state and they probably don't spray them with pesticides.
Maui is going on my list of places to visit…at this rate…I'll be broke x)
Sustainable farming is big on Maui (and I'm guessing the other islands of Hawaii). With fuel costs so high, they have focused their attention on becoming self-sustaining. Most of the local restaurants feature local grown produce, and many farm stands can be found along the roads.
Hopefully, the return to farm-to-table (local produce) movement will continue to grow on the "Mainland," which is the way things used to be before we started importing produce and trucking produce around the country off-season.
Your trip sounds absolutely amazing. Oh, and those Dragon fruit are simply gorgeous. You have me drooling right now. I just got back from the gym and was thinking about how good some fresh fruit sounded! Thanks for sharing part of your wonderful vacation with us!!
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Wow those are so beautiful! Tropical fruits tend to be my favorites…mango, pineapple and coconut to be precise! I've never had passionfruit but I'm sure I'd adore it. So happy you had a great vacation!
Thanks Kim and Joanne, it was so nice to get away to somewhere totally different from here. Can't believe we were just there a few days ago. I can still taste that papaya and passion fruit!
Ugh, blogger doesn't like me this morning. Shorter version of my comment. Love the Hawaiian Dendrobium. I had some leis made from it when we were in Maui. That gentleman gave you a great tip. I love all these photos and your sharing from your time in Maui!
Shirley
I love when locals share with you such a simple delicious recipe. It will be a sensory memory you'll have for a long time.
My husband and I visited the same fruit vendor at the Maui farmers market and he made us his special papaya/ passion fruit concoction. We both loved it!
I can still taste that passion fruit concoction – delicious!
hello Jeanette, I’m David Perez
Just dropping a comment to inform you all the plant that was mistaken for Hawaiian Dendrobium is actually a Plumeria plant/tree , in fact I actually have one growing in my back yard (plant zone 9b) in Texas.
Its very beautiful and the aromas from the flower are so amazing , have two types of them and there is a wide range of different colors .
Hi David – thanks for letting me know – it is a beautiful flower!