It's midwinter break, and every other year that means a trip to
Arizona to see my favorite in-laws, Grandma and Grandpa B.
Unfortunately, it also means a long, cramped, economy flight
with only two prospects: overpriced, medicore snacks in the cabin,
or overpriced, mediocre meals in the terminal. Although there
is decent food in Dallas/Ft Worth terminal, where we'll be passing
through, it's impractical to slog the everybody and their luggage
through an airport the size of Manhattan.
Just for fun, I typed "airplane" into EYB's recipe search, to
see if our collective wisdom could yield up something worth making
and packing. All I got was Amanda Hesser's airplane salad, a
recipe I recall from almost a decade ago, when the skies were still
friendly enough to offer you a free (albeit unattractive) meal and
the only issue was finding something better to eat. But the
salad, a mélange of mackerel, bibb lettuce, and sherry vinegar, is
really a treat for one lightly-encumbered traveler, not a harried,
cranky family of 4.
So off I went to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and, friends, I
bought the store. I got summer sausage and mozzarella,
prosciutto, rice crackers, freeze-dried mango, and pistachios.
All that remains is to slice everything up in advance,
purchase a baguette, and remember not to pack my Swiss army
knife.
It's not cooking, but I think we'll cope. If you've got
tried-and-true treats for travel, I'd love to hear about them.
