So why spend your vacation in the kitchen? I know, the family is appreciative and cooking in the condo is a good way to eat well and save on the holiday budget, right?

Not exactly. Getting into the local spirit of pau hana requires you do things differently than at home. Otherwise your holiday risks becoming just another work day. How could you possibly have time to enjoy the beach, snorkeling, shopping, hiking and relaxing if all you do is market, cook and clean up?

Besides, the only thing worse than being expected to give up your vacation time to chores is to spend $100 on condiments and staples you'll only leave behind. I checked just the other day and with spices ranging from $3 - $5 jar, I'd have spent $45 just to make a pot of Pad Thai.

Which is why I jumped for joy and sang hallelujah when the ladies at the island's newest and best concept service outlet, Dish, opened late last year (2003). Dish essentially purchases food at wholesale prices, prepares it with loving care, and packs it for dining at your leisure. Need I remind you that leisure in Maui is an operative word?

How to Vacation Like a Pro
Visit Dish online in advance of your visit, place an order based on your family's needs and preferences, and announce your date for pick-up. After touching down on Maui in Kahului, swing by Dish's pristine, sparkling, hip location on Hana Highway minutes from the airport. Your meals for the week will be conveniently packaged in freezable, disposable tins or plastic bags. (Be certain to eat the fresh island fish dish for dinner the first night to immediately submerge yourself in Maui's sense of place -- the sea.)

There are more advantages to Dish than the labor saving component. By allowing experts to prepare your "unique and appetizing meals" you'll try something delicious, new and different rather than simply resorting to easy-to-prepare but boring fare. Instead of roast chicken and steaks, try the curry chicken, macadamia coconut shrimp or brown sugar pork chops.

To further enhance the ease and value of their service, Dish has recently added a salad bar. So rather than buying full heads of lettuce, stalks of celery, whole cucumbers, only to use a portion of it and watch the rest wither in the crisper bin, you can also leave the chopping, slicing and dicing to Dish.

Overall, the take-home meal concept is a brilliant notion, tourist destination or not, pau hana or busy workday. With products this tasty and convenience this formidable, the founders and operating partners deserve a Nobel Prize for making life on the island stress free, and a Good Taste award for making the food so D-lish.

Now if they would only add mai tais to go...