Decadent Vacation Food Indulgences...
I try to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet 51 weeks out of the year. But when that vacation week rolls around, all bets are off! I MUST have frozen custard each and every day when at the beach or it's not vacation. I probably consume more eggs in a week than I do the rest of the year.
Anyone else have an obsession with a particular food during vacation?
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24 Comments:
Spam musubi...I have been going to Hawaii for over 20 years, and the very first thing and very last thing I eat on the Islands is that local 'delicacy'...Now, I'm a chef and they are easy enough to make, but there's something about walking into a mom and pop shop (or ABC Store, if really desperate...or drunk) and plunking down a buck fiddy nine for that 4 bite piece of junk food heaven...
iwannacook at 10:39AM on 08/07/08
Foie Gras. Talk about decadent!
izatryt at 10:41AM on 08/07/08
foie gras. poutine. smoked meat sandwiches. ice cream. fries.
lexophile at 10:51AM on 08/07/08
This vacation was a study in extremes. We spent one week in Canyon Ranch, eating phenomenal, delicious, nutritious foods; and exercising 2-3 times a day. The next week was spent in Michigan at a family reunion.
Given I generally get KP duty on the family reunions, I knew I had some control over the menu. When friends said, "Now you're going to go eat unhealthy Family Reunion food!" I said, "No, I'm going to accost everyone with my healthy recipes!" I made mac & cheese, cake, sweet potato flapjacks - you name it - all using healthy guidelines and all very well received.
The one pure indulgence I permitted myself during the family reunion was Sherman Dairy Ice Cream. An institution in Michigan, we had it a few times during the week but I limited myself to a single scoop in a cup. Sherman Dairy's idea of a single scoop is a full cup. Pity me! LOL
therealchiffonade at 11:08AM on 08/07/08
when i visit my grandparents in cincinnati, i eat graeter's ice cream as often as humanly possible. that stuff is like crack. they even started packing it on dry ice and bringing it to thanksgiving in dc a few years ago - my grandparents are fine, fine people.
sarahlucy at 11:14AM on 08/07/08
Dessert. Last summer on our last night in Paris we decided we needed crepes for dinner, but were served a truly disappointing meal. To compensate we went to a street vendor and got one of those enormous nutella and banana concoctions and polished it off while waiting in line at a gelato place that we had seen lines streaming out of for the whole week but not yet tried. We ate our gelato while walking back to the hotel, where we had in the refrigerator several eclairs from the bakery we passed on our afternoon walk. Best dessert day of my life. (Did i mention that I had started the day with a pain au chocolat?)
agk685 at 11:53AM on 08/07/08
I don't know, I really don't eat bad...I'd have to say cheeseburgers. I don't eat them often but I will if on vacation. I am going to Chicago in two weeks-so I am sure this is going to change. I know we are definitely stopping and getting some cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes. Now that, I can't wait for!! They look incredible.
Butrflygirly at 12:15PM on 08/07/08
Because we rarely eat out, the whole vacation dining experience is a luxury for me (well, except for planning that whole camping trip thing...).
I would say one of the must-have's when we are in Scottsdale is a trip over to Chandler to Kokopelli Winery for a couple glasses of wine and a Nosh Plate - they serve on of the best goat cheeses I have ever had.
When in New Orleans, I must make myself sick on the local fare...oysters, crawfish, ettouffee, jambalaya, muffalettas, and roast beef po'boys...
Oh...and when we go to Belterra Casino, it is required that we drive the 7 miles into Vevay for the cheeseburger that makes everything right with the world.
thewrighttaste at 2:07PM on 08/07/08
We generally vacation somewhere on a coast so wherever we can we're buying the freshest seafood (which would normally be pretty healthy) and then we melt a pan of butter and garlic to dip it in...crab, steamers, shrimp, lobster...whatever! I think I eat about a stick of butter a day on vacation....gah!
Not to mention the blender drinks -- pina coladas, margaritas, etc. etc.
Pass the defibrillator, please?
juliebugsmama at 2:09PM on 08/07/08
Try the fourteen-dollar doughnuts at the Parker Meridien in Palm Springs, Calif. They're as decadent as the resort itself.
miriamleigh at 2:18PM on 08/07/08
We got to Maine every summer and I always indulge in crab rolls, lobster (of course) and onion rings, and anything else fried, at every opportunity.
Matter of fact, in NY in the dead of winter, my son and I visited a greasy spoon that reeked of frying oil. "It smells like Maine!" he said.
Dee at 2:28PM on 08/07/08
if i go back to RI i have to have clam fritters and RI clam chowder to dunk them in. Also whole belly fried clams and pizza! at home i almost never eat fried foods and I'm lactose intolerant, but when i'm back those things are non negotiable, so i take the stupid pills from my dr and eat my pizza and all the fried stuff that is sooooo bad for me, then when i get home i drive straight to the hosp for my bypass surgery ;-)
huneybumper at 2:55PM on 08/07/08
the thing is... when we go on vacation we tend to walk about ten miles a day... so we feel justified in rewarding ourselves with whatever appeals to our taste buds.
lexophile at 5:57PM on 08/07/08
the meal I've been dreaming about the last 3 years since I haven't been to New England since I moved to the lovely Rocky Mountain yet completely landlocked state of Colorado: steamers dug that morning at low tide, lobster straight off the boat bought on the way home from a day at the beach, corn from the farm stand and Sam Adam's Summer....All eaten outside at the picnic table situated in the small patch of grass between the cottage and the dock as the sun sets over the great salt pond.
sqtip at 6:08PM on 08/07/08
We intentionally go on vacations that require us to walk alot, because we go from one eating spot to the next. There is no specific obsession besides what is currently in front of us.
beth1 at 6:34PM on 08/07/08
@sqtip ~ I can't tell you how much I am going to enjoy my clams and lobster when I get to Maine in 3 weeks! I shall think of you..........
izatryt at 7:14PM on 08/07/08
I usually indulge in whatever is local and good, but vacations also often include a lot of walking and moving and doing things because we're seeing the sights, so it tends to balance out somewhat.
The exception is when we go visit family, because that tends to be the type of trip where we eat a lot, drink a lot, and sit around talking a lot. Not so much of the sightseeing.
dbcurrie at 12:50AM on 08/08/08
My last two vacations have been down to Savannah, and our biggest indulgence is Huey's on Riverstreet. From their incredible Spinach & Artichoke Dip, to their even more incredible Fried Oyster Po Boy, and finished off with an order of Beignets liberally sprinkled with Powdered Sugar with a side of hot praline sauce! Yum... I'm hungry now.
PastaPerson at 9:23AM on 08/08/08
I don't know what this says about me, but whenever I go on vacation, I am most excited about alcohol (more in terms of frequency rather than the number of drinks consumed).
If I'm headed home to Memphis, I make sweet tea my top priority with BBQ as a nice bonus if I have a chance. The last time I was home, we went to Gus's Fried Chicken downtown, which was the best chicken I had eaten in a long time. It was so crispy because it was made to order and had really cheap prices. I think it's going to be a must-do from now on.
marieinla at 1:39PM on 08/08/08
Like other posters, my vacation indulgences depend on where I am. I try to eat super healthy most of the time but when I am on vacation, I enjoy whatever I am craving. I was recently in Devon England and indulged in devonshire clotted cream and scones.
I am going to my Uncle's home in the Thousand Islands Canada for Labor Day and have certain foods that I only eat when visiting him and my swedish aunt:
-My Aunt's homemade swedish meatballs in cream sauce and her spaghetti with meat sauce (she adds diced veggies from her garden)
-Cottage potatoes ( market fresh baby potatoes sauteed w/ olive oil and onions)
-Yellow beans ( fresh from the farm sauteed with bacon and diced onions
-Fresh berries picked on the island ( blueberries, blackberries and rasberries) w/ heavy cream and a little sugar.
-Martinis with lots of olives
-Havarti dill cheese from the local dairy
-skor bars (random, I know but they always have them in the house and I never buy them at home.
I realize most of these foods are not indigenous to this region but ever since I was a child i have associated these foods with vacationing at there home on this beautiful island and I look forward to them each time I go.
KtMc24 at 4:16PM on 08/08/08
DESSERT. Dessert anything, really. My family never eats dessert, and I don't particularly seek it out (usually not wanting to pay $5 when I could get a filling carb-n-meat sandwich for the same price.) But vacation inevitably = buffets, picnics, restaurants paid for by someone else, etc, and I go crazy for desserts. At the picnic I went to a few weeks ago, I tried every. Single. Brownie. There were 4 kinds. Then I went back and had more of my favorite. :)
Oh, and there were cupcakes too...
Pammeh at 4:56PM on 08/08/08
Breakfast at 2AM, bloody marys at 6 AM yeah that's vacation!
finsbigfan at 5:55PM on 08/08/08
vacation food?
fried chicken
ice cream sundaes
smoked fish
greasy potato chips with sour cream dip!
redhead at 6:52PM on 08/08/08
@finsbigfan...
You reserve bloody marys for vacations?
That's NCAA football Saturday for us!!!!!!!
thewrighttaste at 11:20PM on 08/08/08