Eating & Drinking Our Way Through the Big Island

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently went on vacation in Hawaii, and had a fantastic time. Get ready for me to fill you in on the adventures, good eats, cocktails and sunsets (and cocktails at sunset). Here's the plan, I'm going to bombard you with pictures and then post all of our recommendations and favorites at the end. I hope you hold on for the entire ride!

First off, the adventures, we spent the first half of the trip, driving around the island, checking out white sand beaches,

black sand beaches (shouldn't Mr. KMW be a hand model?!),

hiking around Volcano National Park,

and checking out Akaka Falls.

We were in awe of the contrasting landscapes, check out the lists of our favorite spots after the photo purging!

We spent the second half of our trip, spoiling

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Blasted Broccoli

Before we get into my absolutely favorite broccoli (it tastes like candy), I know I've been MIA. I was busy relaxing and enjoying some vacation time in Hawaii.

This trip will definitely get its own travel post, but I can't tell you how nice it was to have an entire week off of work. It had been way too long. I will be inundating you with pictures from our exploring, relaxing, eating and drinking our way through the Big Island in another post. So back to the broccoli for now!

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The 2012-13 Chili Club Season Highlights

As you know, we are super serious about our chili around here. So serious, we have a Chili Club, where we rotate houses and eat each others chili. Oh, and as a refresher, we have some rules.

1st RULE: You do not talk about CHILI CLUB (my imaginary internet friends don't count)

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about CHILI CLUB.

3rd RULE: If someone says "stop", goes limp, or taps out, the meal is over.

4th RULE: Only one cook to a night.

5th RULE: One bite at a time.

6th RULE: No soups, no sauces.

7th RULE: Meals will go on as long as they have to.

8th RULE: If this is your first night at CHILI CLUB, you HAVE to eat.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, it is time to put Chili Club on hold until next season. We'll get together at some BBQ's and start thinking about the 2013-14 season. 

Before we move on, I thought it would only be appropriate to do a Chili Club season in review. Let's just start this off by saying, every cook brought their vision of chili to the table, they were all mouth watering and a whole lot of chili was eaten!

Now onto the chilis. 

I kicked off the season by throwing a curveball with this Non Traditional Pork Butt Chili, I am a big fan of the unique flavors to this chili and have made it multiple times. 

Next up,

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Salmon and Asparagus Orzo

Spring is here, which means Asparagus is running rampant at the farmers market! And the salmon...we just eat a whole lot of that around here. Combine both of those with orzo and a light creamy sauce and we're in business!

The creamy sauce added the deliciousness that creamy sauce always does, but was also light enough to be refreshing for spring. In an effort to reduce carbs, I had a pretty high ratio of fish and veggies to pasta. 

Mr. KMW gave this a 10 out of 10 and is looking forward to this spring pasta being added to our dinner rotation! 

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Cheese Enchiladas with Chile con Carne

While I was way behind with my Deviled Eggs recipe post for Easter, I am on the ball in getting you ready for Cinco de Mayo!

You know I love my queso, well I also love Tex Mex in general. I was a HUGE fan of these enchiladas filled with cheesy goodness and topped with meaty goodness. It doesn't get much better than that, does it!?

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