Around the Kitchen Table: Spring Break Destinations, Dishes & Desserts + 6-Book #Giveaway

 

MOLLY MacRAE: Fun trips over Spring Break aren’t always a thing – but wouldn’t it be great if they could be? I can only remember two trips in my life that qualify as “Spring Breaks.” Both were to islands, though, so how cool is that? The first, when I was a kid, my family zipped up the Door County peninsula in Wisconsin and took the ferry across Death’s Door in Lake Michigan to Washington Island. A great trip with ice and snow (and the word death in it - perfect for a future mystery writer)! The second, during the year I attended Edinburgh University, a student group I belonged to traveled by ferry to the Isle of Iona, one of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. We stayed in the restored abbey and spent the week tramping around the 1.5- x 3-mile island. Gorgeous, atmospheric, and so much fun.

My friend the Highland cow on the Isle of Iona, 1974

So now let’s try something – let’s pair dream Spring Break destinations and desserts (or drinks, snacks, entrées, whatever). I’ll go first. If I could go anywhere for Spring Break, I’d choose a warm island (I’m not picky – any warm island will do) and something delicious with figs. 

The trip is only happening in my dreams, but that’s okay because the MLK archives can set me up with fig recipes. Here are three I plan to try. Lucy Burdette’s Upside Down Roman Fig Cake, Daryl Wood Gerber’s French Pear Tart (with fig preserves), and Krista Davis’s Fig & Blueberry Clafouti.

What about you? Where would you go for your dream Spring Break and what incredible edible would you indulge in?  

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LESLIE KARST: April in Paris! Oui, oui, that’s where I’d go if I could be spirited off for a week or two. The ornamental cherries will be in full bloom, the tourists (except for moi) will have not yet arrived, and most important of all, I can start each day with my very favorite breakfast in the entire world: café crème avec une tartine.

 

This most perfect of meals consists of strong, dark-roast coffee mixed half-and-half with warm milk and served in a bowl (the café crème), along with a chunk of crusty-outside-chewy-inside baguette—the kind you can only get in France—smeared liberally with that full-cream, tangy butter that tastes a bit of the grass on which the cows were grazed—which you can also only seem to get in France (the tartine). And if you like, a dollop of Mirabelle plum jam on top of the butter goes very nicely, as well. 

Is it breakfast time yet? 

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PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON: So many choices when you're traveling in your imagination!  I'd like to go someplace warm (which is relative when you live in Michigan) but also foreign so I'm thinking maybe the Amalfi Coast in Italy.  It's not super hot yet in April and it's in not cold so it's perfect.  I picture mornings strolling the charming streets of the small towns in the area, lazy afternoons lunching at a table overlooking the sea and drinking a refreshing Aperol Spritz.  Evenings would be the perfect time for some small romantic restaurant with candles on the table and interesting food on the menu--preferably made with local fish and produce.  Sigh.

When do we leave?

Photo courtesy of my daughter and her husband who spent part of their honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast.

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MADDIE DAY: I just came from the warm tropical island of Puerto Rico where the mojitos flowed, the plantains were fried, and a flaky lobster-filled turnover called a pastelillo was delicious (it's like a baked empanada, and I'm planning on attempting to recreate it soon). 

But it was a winter break to attend my son's wedding, and mostly we ate vegetarian, locally grown food, including this delicious Puerto Rican dinner prepared by my new daughter-in-law's grandma, aunt, and mom (Sonia), who replaced meat with chick peas to please the bride and groom.

My most memorable (and only) spring break trip was in March, 1974, when this southern California girl headed to Baja California - yes, in a rickety VW van - with a bunch of friends. In a beach town on the Gulf of Baja I ate my first fish taco from a street vendor. A warm, soft, flour tortilla was wrapped around freshly caught grilled fish, chunks of ripe tomato, sliced cabbage, and fresh salsa, washed down with warm Tecate beer. It was heaven, and out of all the fish tacos I've tried since, it still ranks as the best.

Note: I'm giving away a copy of Murder Most Fowl, my fourth Local Foods Mystery, which takes place in the spring.

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TINA KASHIAN: I would choose a warm tropical island! A couple years ago, we went to an all inclusive resort at Turks and Caicos. What a dream! Here I am just arriving at the resort. I ran into that turquoise water!

Since then, I have wanted to go back. Maybe someday! Our closer to home trips over spring break have been to Wildwood Crest or Ocean City, NJ. The water is too cold to swim (we just put our toes in), but the beach is lovely and many of the boardwalk shops are open. My Kebab Kitchen mysteries are set here. We don't have plans for spring break this year, but hope to make it somewhere. Happy vacation!

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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Hmm. I'm debating going to Paris with Leslie or Italy with Peg. For several years after we were first married, we went to Mexico this time of year -- Puerto Vallarta, San Blas, and other tiny beach towns on the west coast. We were in the sweet little village of La Manzanilla on my birthday -- 20 years ago today -- which also happened to be a Sunday, so the only restaurant open for a dinner was a modified street taco joint. Call it sidewalk tacos. Mama, the abuela, and all the kids set up the plastic tables and chairs. Papa fired up the grill in the tiny streetfront kitchen -- upscale, no barrel drum cooking! And the food was delicious. Beef and fish tacos in fresh tortillas, cold beer, and coconut ice cream for dessert. Mr. Right officially declared me no longer a picky eater, to actually enjoy a street taco birthday dinner.

To get your mouth in the mood (as I have no pictures), I offer these delicious Tortilla Egg Wraps and Agave Lime Chili Shrimp, which is from Chai Another Day, the 4th Spice Shop mystery -- and I'm offering a copy in today's prize package.   

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LIBBY KLEIN I have terrible wanderlust and want to go just about everywhere. For Spring Break it has to be someplace warm and relaxing. Where I can sit on the warm sand and listen to the ocean with a fruity drink in my hand. I traveled to Tahiti a few years back and stayed in one of those amazing huts over the water. Talk about a dream come true. Lying in bed, watching the ships sail by while the sound of the ocean lapping against the rocks takes all your cares away.

On my birthday, we had a special delivery. Breakfast by canoe. This was one of the loveliest meals I've ever had. There's something about your fresh papaya being served with just-picked plumeria and hibiscus that makes you want to put on your coconut bra. 

Look how gorgeous that is! I can make all the fancy recipes in the world, but nothing tastes as wonderful as fresh island fruit. Get yourself some pineapple and listen to that ocean. Look for my copy of Antique Auctions Are Murder in today's prize package!

 

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LUCY BURDETTE: We of course live 6 months of the year in one of the spring break capitols of the world--Key West! Mid-March is a very busy, crazy time of year so we don't go out on the town until it passes. How about a little cruise ship instead? I picture myself sitting on a deck chair overlooking the water sipping a mojito. This ship was docked on Mallory Square this morning when Lottie and I went for coffee

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MAYA CORRIGAN: When my daughter was in college, she studied in Valencia, Spain, for a semester. My son was in high school at the time. During his spring break, we took him with us to visit her in Valencia—where paella originated. On that trip we tried different varieties of the rice dish: paella valenciana made with chicken and rabbit, paella de mariscos made with shellfish, and paella mixta, a combination of meat and fish. I bought a paella pan as soon as I went home. Though I’ve made paella de mariscos and paella mixta as a company dish, I also make a simpler variation of it as an everyday dish. I started with a recipe from Gourmet magazine for squid paella. I’ve made the squid version and sometimes added chicken to it. I’ve also used shrimp instead of squid and shared my recipe here. Because saffron isn't an ingredient, it's not a traditional paella, but it’s easy and delicious. Any dish good enough for Gourmet is fine with me.

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CLEO COYLE: Oh, wow, these destinations are all wonderful! While Marc and I are presently rooted to our Queens (NY) rowhouse (caring for rescue cats and working toward deadlines), a road trip across the Great American landscape would be a happy Spring Break for us, but not without some serious goals in mind. For one thing, we would abolutely have to sample America's Greatest Donuts along the way. :) 🍩🍩🍩 

To help chart the journey, we would use the winners of this contest, which was held in order to "highlight and celebrate the best donuts America has to offer." Sounds good to us. In addition, there are now Underground Donut Tours in 17 cities around the world. New York has three running, so we’ve already got our edible-spring-break cut out for us closer to home!

And speaking of home (cooking, that is) among the donuts on that "greatest" list are Café Du Monde’s beignets, which we have fond memories of devouring, and we bet many of you do, too. When we have a hankering for those delectable French market donuts, we make our own from a recipe that we developed and perfected in our own little NYC kitchen. Click here or on the picture below for the our Step-by-Step Beignet Recipe, and eat with plenty of Spring Break joy! ~ Cleo 

Click here or on the photo (above)
for Cleo's step-by-step beignet recipe.

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MARCH

GIVEAWAY!

To be entered in this week's drawing

for these 6 terrific mysteries below,

join us in the comments.

What about you? 

Where would you go for your 

dream Spring Break and what 

incredible edible would you indulge in? 

Join the conversation!

Include your email address,

so we can contact the winner!

> Argyles and Arsenic by Molly MacRae

> Antique Auctions Are Murder by Libby Klein

> Chai Another Day by Leslie Budewitz

> Murder Most Fowl by Edith Maxwell
(aka Maddie Day)

> Gingerdead Man by Maya Corrigan

> Brewed Awakening by Cleo Coyle

Comments open through

Wednesday, March 8

Don't forget to include
your email address.

🔎