Have airplane food, will travel

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, mediocre 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.