Cooking While on Vacation

[teapot]

Flour tortillas! I do most of the cooking at our vacation home too but I pretty much stay out of the kitchen at lunch time. Even people who don't know how to cook can make quesadillas or burritos. Plus scrambled egg burritos are a handy b'fast item for when you want to get out on the road/boat early.

It's nice to make up in advance your dry ingredients for fave cookies (in a bag with instructions, nuts, chips or whatever)

Bags of lemons/limes and avocados.

Fresh herbs

Cream

Parmesan

[Beth Wilson]

When I rented a cabin that had "fully stocked kitchen" it was ok for most things but they put a cheap garlic press, peeler and grater in it that caused a need for first aid more than the day at the beach did. If you have room for them, I would bring them along too! Making due with what you got is half the fun of vacationing after all!

[Kouign Aman]

66 qt Sterilite box or similar from Walmart, Target, or equivalent.

See thru sides for easy finding things, and a snapclose lid to keep the critters out in case there are any.

However, the plastic is brittle and doesnt like being dropped.

Garlic, peeler, parmesan cheese.

[judiu]

Butter in the cooler,LOTS of it. Your favorite mayo , large jar. (My gawd, they might only have Miracle Whip !)

Adult beverages. Old Bay seasoning for seafood? Love,love, love the blend with lemon ang garlic!

Hot sauce? I could keep going, but...

[scamhi]

a recent trip to a country rental house I brought one sharp knife, good olive oil and balsamic v. maldon salt, smoked paprika. We ended up buying a box grater up there...for zucchini fritters. and we could have used a big skillet because the pots and pans were all beat up. Also brought tequila, triple sec, iimes, gin, tonic and a bunch of wines.

[Katie Meadow]

Flour tortillas are an excellent suggestion; if you have the equipment to make them yourself, so much the better. When I go away for a week one of the things I need almost daily is bread, and getting good bread isn't always easy, or means a drive, which kinda defeats the idea of staying somewhere out of the way. In addition, the family vacation house we stay at has the worst stove on earth with a really low output, so the easiest meal at home, such as spaghetti with sauce, turns out to the most frustrating, since it takes about an hour to heat up a pot of water.

Of course you will likely have some great meals planned, and it sounds like getting fresh seafood won't be a problem. But I like to have easy fixings around for fill-ins and lunches. I take frozen sauces and frozen roasted chillies and often plan on some large type of protein that can be roasted or prepared ahead and used as needed. Roast turkey is always appreciated for several days, and so is pulled pork, especially if you have tortillas and the makings for salsa etc. I always take a couple heads of cabbage; it keeps well and coleslaw is a great emergency vegetable or salad and requires no cooking. If you have access to good tomatoes a fresh uncooked tomato sauce for pasta or rice is an easy fix.

[Jaymes]

...often plan on some large type of protein that can be roasted or prepared ahead and used as needed. Roast turkey is always appreciated for several days, and so is pulled pork...

As I said on that other "vacation cooking" thread that Heidi referenced:

Our prior discussion here may be useful.

I always take a big ham. You can serve ham for any meal: ham steaks for dinner, fried for breakfast, sliced for luncheon sandwiches, cut up in a cold salad, snacks with cheese and crackers, and finally, the bone for soups. It's got to be the most versatile meat there is.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Flour tortillas are an excellent suggestion; if you have the equipment to make them yourself, so much the better. When I go away for a week one of the things I need almost daily is bread, and getting good bread isn't always easy, or means a drive, which kinda defeats the idea of staying somewhere out of the way. ...

Good point. If you have a dutch oven, you could make NYT 18hour no-knead bread. (I would bring dried seaweed to add to dough for yum loaf to go with shore dinners, chowder, etc. )

[Annie_H]

4 hours ago, TicTac said:

I have the exact same spatula.  One of my best Amazon purchases, and I think it was only about $10!

I pack a kitchen crate for Vrbo rentals. This time last year a beach front rental near my parents they did not even have a cutting board,🙄.

I used cardboard with parchment---flat parchment that I brought along until I thieved an extra cutting board mom had. They had RachelRay shit non-stick Walmart set scratched up. My travel list still fits in a small crate but now includes a shitty thin Ikea cutting board. Rentals suck. I even pack enough soap for two loads of laundry and a bit of dishwasher soap. Some spices and salt/pepper. I'm sure the house keepers take what other rental clients leave behind. Nothing worse than needing a shopping list a day after settling in. Especially when it is a remote location. So that spatula slips in the side with a favorite chef knife. 

[weinoo]

The only thing I sometimes bring is coffee, and even that now I’ve kinda quit doing.

 

I cook enough while at home, so vacation, to me, means no cooking.

[Annie_H]

To put this in perspective, I did not randomly pull up an old post. It was moved by 'management'. This was the dinner pic about the spatula.

 

[Annie_H]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:25 PM, weinoo said:

The only thing I sometimes bring is coffee, and even that now I’ve kinda quit doing.

 

I cook enough while at home, so vacation, to me, means no cooking.

So true for some travel. 

NYC life, and nut social overload work life, we need to go remote. Dirt road---house on a beach. From airport to the central market, and stock up for the week. Mexico. Always a few good restaurants up the beach left and right walking or cycling distance but most meals are made at the home. 

We rented a Mexico beach home for a few years in our early 40's. Then did road trips visiting family all over the southern states. 

My parents do not have proper cooking tools. Mom has been using her wedding faberWare since the 50's. Cooking for 12+ is difficult without my kitchen 'crate'. 

Co-workers and friends start talking about their holiday plans just before thanksgiving. X-mas/NewYears is often 2-3 weeks off. Most look for dirt road remote. Those with kids and stay-at-home wives might look for all inclusive resorts or, (shudder), a cruise. I'd rather eat glass than get stuck on a germ/cooty boat. 😜

 

[weinoo]

45 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

So true for some travel. 

For me, at this points, it's pretty much all travel (and no cruises either; nor beaches (funny how a melanoma 20 years ago will keep one from the beach)).

 

We're going to Burlington and Montreal for a week very shortly. Restaurant reservations are well in place for each night. I might stock the airbnb in Montreal with some stuff for breakfast, but that's it.

 

And when we used to go visit my now departed parental units (RIP), I never had trouble cooking for a dozen in mom's kitchen. I think I even used her Farberware; I find it's more about the cook than the equipment. 

[liamsaunt]

I usually mix it up.  I recently did three weeks of vacation with no cooking at home other than toast for breakfast, and by the end I was so sick of restaurant food.  More typically, I do about half dinners out and half cooking at home.  I have a small Wusthof travel knife kit that I bring with me since rental house knives are universally terrible.  I sharpen them before I go and they get the job done.  If I am going somewhere that we are driving, I also bring along a skillet for cooking eggs, plus reusable straws and cups/travel canteens and a pepper grinder.  If we are flying and checking bags I still bring the knives and cups/straws.

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

I find it's more about the cook than the equipment. 

Yep looking at stuff in many restaurant kitchens and cooking schools makes stuff in rentals seem pretty high-end!  I always remember my amazement that @gfron1was initially cooking on a tiny electric home range when he started out to become an award-winning chef. 

[weinoo]

17 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

I usually mix it up.  I recently did three weeks of vacation with no cooking at home other than toast for breakfast, and by the end I was so sick of restaurant food.

 

I think this depends greatly on length of trip and where one goes. Certainly a 2-week or longer trip in one place, with one set of living quarters, and I'd be attempting a cook or two.  One of the reasons we travel is to experience the food of other cities/countries. In somewhere such as Paris, Rome, Barca, etc. I never get tired of going out; it's one of the reasons we travel. Yet for an extended stay, I'd certainly want to take advantage of the produce/products available and have some fun with them in the kitchen.

 

16 hours ago, Anna N said:

Yep looking at stuff in many restaurant kitchens and cooking schools makes stuff in rentals seem pretty high-end!  I always remember my amazement that @gfron1was initially cooking on a tiny electric home range when he started out to become an award-winning chef. 

 

Exactly...we used to have a joke, and I'm sure @paulraphael can understand this, having lived in apartments with barely functioning kitchens...if I can cook on the Crapmaster 3000, I can cook on anything. What I'm sure I would lack in a rental's kitchen isn't so much the equipment, but my spices, my herbs, my oils, my condiments, etc. etc.

Edited June 15, 2022 by weinoo (log)

[Duvel]

7 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Exactly...we used to have a joke, and I'm sure @paulraphael can understand this, having lived in apartments with barely functioning kitchens...if I can cook on the Crapmaster 3000, I can cook on anything. What I'm sure I would lack in a rental's isn't so much the equipment, but my spices, my herbs, my oils, my condiments, etc. etc.

Amen !

[kayb]

On my annual trip to the beach, we bring or go shopping for stuff for breakfast and lunch. Evenings, we go out. We may, once during the week, go to brunch somewhere, but in general, I’m at the beach for sun and sand.

[Annie_H]

18 hours ago, Anna N said:

20 hours ago, weinoo said:

I find it's more about the cook than the equipment. 

Yep looking at stuff in many restaurant kitchens and cooking schools makes stuff in rentals seem pretty high-end!  I always remember my amazement that @gfron1was initially cooking on a tiny electric home range when he started out to become an award-winning chef. 

 

As I mentioned above, I did not bring up a 9 year old post. I usually like to read through postings first. This thread is titled 'cooking while on vacation'. I just read through and good ideas from nice folks that enjoy 'cooking' vacations. Some just cutting down costs. Traveling and eating out with picky kids can get expensive and frustrating. 

I'm not a trained chef but enjoy cooking. Starting years ago visiting in-laws and my parents was a gift to cook for them and take the burden off my mother and MIL with a houseful of family and extended. My MIL was a great cook back in the day and has all the best cooking gadgets and tools. Hundreds of cookbooks. My mother not so much. Two cookbooks. The few spices she has do not have bar codes. I've given them a few things over the years I thought she would like---proper sheet pans and a nice big low sided stainless heavy bottom braiser. Cooking on coil electric in thin pans isn't fun. No colander or pasta pot. 

This post is about cooking in a rental and what people bring/pack. Surprised so many pack cutting boards. As I should have done. 

 

I know many chefs and have been in many kitchens and cooking schools. Mostly high end kitchens and some shit-holes I would never eat. None have a scratched up RachelRay non-stick set. No cutting board, no salt and pepper. Nothing big enough to steam a dozen crabs. 

Next travel kitchen packing I need to take more thorough pics for a reminder. 

All fit nicely in a soft sided cooler carrier. Stacked with a couple hot pads and old kitchen towels--they had none, 🙄

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Annie_H (log)

[TicTac]

Love that you bring your own micro greens to sprout.  I have been reading about the health benefits of them recently and as a result I might dip my toe in the waters....but I digress.

 

My wife thinks Vacations are all about not having to do anything, and to some extent I agree with her - since kids, she has gotten her way and we have done a few all-inclusive's.

 

It's tough though traveling with a child who has Celiac disease, and I kind of want to do an airbnb or something similar on an island, next.  This will give us the flexibility of being able to explore the location and use local products, but also be able to go out (and if need be, prepare something for the lil man to bring with us).

 

Road trip, no problem, but not sure about flying with 20 extra lbs of pots and pans, though 😛 

 

 

 

[weinoo]

I brought one of these once...

 

 

It really came in handy. And still available...(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

[Katie Meadow]

35 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I brought one of these once...

 

 

It really came in handy. And still available...(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

And the best part is that it is small enough to stuff in among the cast iron pans and sharp knives that are in the suitcase when I fly  to my vacation airbnb in North Carolina. 

[Porthos]

My Sweetie and I bring spices, good knives, cutting boards, kitchen spoons, spatulas and my beloved Melamine serving spoons; also  various kitchen gadgets like a garlic press. For eating the meal wine glasses. Pots and pans are menu dependent.

[gfron1]

On 6/14/2022 at 2:32 PM, Anna N said:

Yep looking at stuff in many restaurant kitchens and cooking schools makes stuff in rentals seem pretty high-end!  I always remember my amazement that @gfron1was initially cooking on a tiny electric home range when he started out to become an award-winning chef. 

I still only cook on $50 induction burners off Amazon. They work just fine thanks. I have a colleague who installed a $300k cook unit and I can't imagine paying that off.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, gfron1 said:

I still only cook on $50 induction burners off Amazon. They work just fine thanks. I have a colleague who installed a $300k cook unit and I can't imagine paying that off.

 

The Paragon's I use were $69.  You could have splurged.