Even though we were only in Hilo for 4 days, we indulged (maybe over-indulged) in a few of the sleepy town’s local favorites.

Located across the parking lot of Rainbow Falls is a little storefront, Rainbow Falls Connection, not more than 12 feet long and 8 feet wide. Here, you will find an offering of lavosh, Hawaiian honey, butter spreads and cookies, that are made and produced locally. The store is run under a non-profit organization that uses the sales proceeds to create job-skills programs, for the low-income community.

The lavosh here is reasonably priced at 4 for $15.00. They come in several different flavors. My favorite is the macadamia nut lavosh which has a butter cookie like taste, with a hint of macadamia nut flavor or essence. There are no macadamia nut pieces in the flat cookie, so I’m guessing that they grind the macadamia nut to a powder form and mix it in with the rest of the ingredients. The lavosh is good plain, with a cup of tea. But, sometimes, I top the macadamia nut lavosh with macadamia nut honey – I know, macadamia nut overkill – but it’s good. This is a perfect afternoon snack.

Another notable local favorite is Two Ladies Kitchen. This little shop, run by, you guessed it, two ladies (and the rest of their family doing behind the scenes stuff), is known for their strawberry mochi, a Japanese sweet rice flour dessert. When my friends were telling me that they were picking up some strawberry mochi to take back to Honolulu, I thought they were talking about strawberry flavored mochi – oh, was I mistaken. Imagine a whole strawberry (humongous Costco-sized), smeared with sweet bean paste then wrapped with fresh steamed sweet mochi, forming a golf-ball sized little package of heaven. Here’s a picture of it that I found online:

I know…UNBELIEVABLE!

The mochi was perfectly chewy with just a touch of sweetness and the strawberry was perfectly ripened.

Other than the strawberry mochi, Two Ladies Kitchen also offers a variety of other mochi. Call ahead of time to place an order as their supply for the day runs out pretty quickly. And once they’re sold out for the day, you’re out of luck.

A trip to Hilo is not complete without a stop at Big Island Candies. I call it the “Home of Chocolate Dipped Goodness”. They’ll dip anything in chocolate – shortbread cookies, strawberries, potato chips and even dried squid. I usually stick to the dipped shortbread cookies.

One of the newest items that they added to their lineup is their lemon shortbread dipped in white chocolate. Crisp and tart, yet buttery, as only a lemon cookie can be, then dipped in white chocolate to add a silky touch to the bite-size cookies. Ahhh…

Another reason why I love this place is they have SAMPLES of everything!!! So you can try, before you buy!

*****

Rainbow Falls Connection

47 Rainbow Drive

Hilo, Hawaii 96720

(808) 969-9316

rainbowfallsconnection.stores.yahoo.net

*****

Two Ladies Kitchen

274 Kilauea Avenue

Hilo, Hawaii 96720

(808) 961-4766

*****

Big Island Candies

585 Hinano Street
Hilo, Hawaii 96720

(808) 935-8890

www.bigislandcandies.com