vacation eating

I spend a significant portion of my vacations in the kitchen (when there is one). I can easily spend more on the groceries than on the entire rest of the trip! I find it so satisfying and relaxing to cook for the others present, especially as there is always plenty of time and I can cook fancifully and really enjoy sharing the experience. A few months ago, Jesse and I went to Tahoe, and I stuffed us full of food. It was just the two of us, which was perfect because we could just eat whenever we felt like it. I also don't get to feed him as much as I want to at home because our schedules are really different. But in Tahoe, it was snowy and we needed lots of energy for lying on the floor by the fire.

Here are the supply lists:



Not too bad, I don't think. There wasn't too much leftover and we ate really well. There is, of course, a grocery store up in Tahoe (though sadly, it is now a Cheap-o-Savr or whatever, and not Albertson's, and so naturally there are no more chocolate chip cookies in the purple bag. Those were the PERFECT chocolate chip cookies. they even made vegans unable to read ingredient labels). Anyway, I think it is best to get as many of the supplies as possible before you get to your vacation place. Because it is fun to plan the menus, and also then you can have a better idea of your continuing financial situation for the trip.

So we stopped at Berkeley Bowl, my new favorite grocery store, and stocked up. They have awesome produce, so that's mostly what I got. It can be hard to find good produce up in the mountains. And I can't live without radishes and cucumbers! They also have these roasted tomatos that are soooo delicious on pasta. Good olive selection, too. Naturally one needs plenty of liquid refreshment as well. Few things are better than snow-chilled beer and champagne, and they have pretty good prices at Berkeley Bowl, so we stocked up on booze too.

Unfortunately it has taken me so long to make this post that I'm no longer sure of the order in which we had the meals. So I guess I'll just divide them into the categories of snacks/breakfast & lunch/dinner.

It's not as if one really needs 3 meals a day plus snacks when you're doing absolutely nothing, but we were stoned and I never have that much time to cook when I'm at home, so I fed us within an inch of our lives. And I think I had some real successes! I'll show you the highlights.

First, the snacks:

These are tiny Japanese cookies called "Every Burger." I have no idea why anyone would think to make a cookie that looks like a tiny hamburger, but these things are fucking delicious! They are all sugar, with chocolate where the meat part of the burger goes, and soft cookie for the buns. There are even sesame seeds on them! Also made of sugar! Anyway we snarfed these down at top speed. The photo is blurry because I was rushing to take it before these irresistibly precious little treats were gone.


This is probably my favorute snack of all time. I love shrimp cocktail and always have. It still seems really posh and special to me, like something you only get to eat in hotels. We got some regular just-unfrozen shrimp from the Cheap-o-Savr and had at em. Delicious! I love the graininess of the cocktail sauce with the smooth shrimps.

Now on to breakfast:
I brought my waffle iron up with me. I seriously hadn't used it in about 15 years. I have no idea why I have even kept it, moving it around to a dozen different houses. I got it for Christmas when I was 11, and made waffles all the time until I went to boarding school (and my parents probably told me that their waistlines couldn't afford to have Belgian waffles 3 times a week anymore). Then I forgot about it, but couldn't bear to get rid of it. And I'm glad I didn't!

Here I am getting breakfast ready. Making the waffles is so easy, they come out beautifully, like magic.


I served them with butter and maple syrup (of course), accompanied by blood oranges and feijoa fruits. I was so excited to find feijoas at Berkeley Bowl; I had them daily when I lived in Colombia (there was a tree in the yard), and I have never seen them here before. They have a lovely, slightly sharp flowery scent, and the fruit is a beautiful pale green with purplish pulp. The outer flesh is firm and gritty, and the pulp is very sweet. They were delicious in combination with the bright blood oranges and the buttery waffles.

And on to lunch:

Jesse's really good at making grilled cheese. Nice and brown on the outside, with the cheese so melty and creamy. These were perfect. In fact, it was a perfect lunch all around. I love slightly updated childhood favorites like this. We had coffee, the grilled cheeses, roasted tomato soup, and snap peas on the side. The contrast in textures and temperatures was perfect. Yum!


Jesse's also really good at making BLTs. While I love to cook for us, his specialties are so delicious and I love their rare appearances (usually on vacation). This BLT had pepper bacon and avocado, on sourdough of course, with more fruit on the side. And by the way, I think black coffee is the perfect lunch beverage. The bitterness cleans your palate between bites, and the heat is soothing. Plus the mug looks so good sitting next to your sandwich. Again, a great and classic mix of textures and temperatures.

And finally, dinner:
We had two epically delicious dinners.

This pasta was the first. I think it was fresh parsley linguine. On top was pork italian sausage, fried with onion and garlic, those delicious oily roasted tomatoes from Berkeley Bowl, olives, and more italian parsley. I've made this a few times and the flavors are aromatic and hearty. So easy to make and really satisfying. Sorry the picture doesn't really show much.

This one was my favorite dinner in a long time:

Sliders! They were so damned good. I don't think I've ever had homemade sliders before. It was really fun to be making such a whimsical meal together. Jesse handled actually cooking the burgers, because he's better at cooking meat. He did them just perfectly. We made three kinds: plain, rosemary with garlic, and cheddar, horseradish and maybe worcestershire sauce. I wanted to cut the buns down to the right size, but I think I was too hungry to be bothered. They were cooked just right, a little red, and they were really juicy. I loved the ones with rosemary, with a little dijon mustard. There was salad on the side, with blood orange dressing. I can't remember what was in it, but I make good salad so I bet it was tasty.

I didn't do any baking because I'm scared of baking at altitude.




And that's all! I'm long past ready for another vacation.