LESLIE KARST: I’m on the road right now, on my way by car from Santa Cruz, CA to Albuquerque, NM to attend the fabulous Left Coast Crime mystery writers convention. So what better topic for today’s Around the Kitchen Table discussion than ROAD TRIP FOOD?
No matter how healthy an eater you may be during the majority of your daily life, I’m guessing that most of us have a little fun and break some of our usual rules when on a road trip: Forget that leafy green salad for lunch; let’s gorge on Cheetos, Little Debbie mini donuts and beef jerky! And if I feel a slight pang of guilt, there’s always that oh, so healthy-sounding trail mix (with its nutritious blend of nuts, raisins, and yes—the all-important M&Ms!).
As for me, I’m especially looking forward to stopping at road-side diners along the way to Albuquerque and feasting on fry bread (pictured below), chicken fried steak, and French fries. (Notice any pattern there?) I’ll diet when I return home.
HOW ABOUT YOU? What snacks are absolute necessities when you head out on a road trip, and what sorts of items do you love to order at a roadside diner?
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VICKI DELANY: OMG, a road trip. How I've missed you. In the past I've done a heck of a lot of driving. I've driven across Canada, twice, and from Anchorage to San Diego. When I'm not in a particular hurry, I like to turn off the highway at lunch time and find a small restaurant in a small town, just to see what the town's like and the locals are eating. When I've travelled with my Canadian mystery writing friends to conventions in the US, we usually stop at an Applebee's. Not that we love Applebee's all that much, but we know what we're getting and they are usually situated quite close to the highway.
As for snacks, I don't eat in the car, but if I'm on a highway, I usually stop mid-afternoon at a Starbucks for a Tall Skinny Caramel Macchiato to drink on the road. When I'm on smaller highways, in British Columbia in particular where there are so many small independent coffee shops, I'll try to find a locally owned coffee shop for my afternoon latte.
Ok, now I want to go on a road trip!
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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Oh, road trips, we love road trips! Mr. Right and I seriously thought about driving to Left Coast Crime, but didn't get our act together in time to make plans, so I'm flying solo. But we're determined to make a drive through north-central Montana this May, and in every little town, we'll poke around for a tasty local spot.
Like the brewpub in the classic redbrick in downtown Wallace, ID, an old mining town, where you can chow down under the watchful eyes of a moose (head) wearing a miner's hat. The Spokane diner in an old railroad dining car. Mr. Right and I have fond memories of childhood railroad trips and bumping our knees together under the tiny but beautiful wooden tables brings them all back. I created a montage of classic Montana diners, with prints of paintings by Frederick Remington and CM Russell on the wall, patrons who interrupt each other's conversations to set the record straight, and waitresses who call you "hon" and "dear" and remember your favorite pie even though you only stop in twice a year, in last year's Bitterroot Lake. Writing it was like taking a mini road trip, without shoes.
And then back to our little town and the Echo Lake Cafe, a lunch-and-breakfast all day joint where everything on the menu from Eggs Benedict to stuffed omelets to Reubens and patty melts and Cobb salads is just about perfect. Because much as we enjoy a good road trip, at the end of the day, all roads lead to home.
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LUCY BURDETTE: We usually drive from Connecticut to Key West and back, not all that much fun with pets on board! When we were in between pets, we bought a copy of Jane and Michael Stern's ROAD FOOD, and ate all the way up and down the eastern seaboard. Many, many servings of barbecued pork and beef, and fried chicken were happily consumed. One of our favorite finds was Sally Bell's Kitchen in Richmond--they serve the most amazing Southern box lunches! Sandwich, potato salad, cheese wafer, deviled egg, and a cupcake. Now my mouth is watering...
These days I tend more toward water, mixed nuts, and Cheezits. Chewing keeps you awake! Maybe a bag of ready-to-eat baby carrots. And I do look forward to sampling local cuisine after I arrive.
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MOLLY MACRAE: Yes, Leslie, fry bread! I look forward to having that in Albuquerque during Left Coast Crime, too. I also look forward to it before my husband and I hit the road. We’re making fry bread with black beans, chipotles, cheese, and avocados for supper later this week. That way I can do a compare and contrast between midwestern homemade and the honest to goodness stuff. I plan to enjoy lots of southwestern road trip food while we’re there, including biscochitos, the buttery cinnamon and anise flavored state cookie of New Mexico, and sopapillas. What will we eat on the way to and from New Mexico? That’s a mystery waiting to be solved.
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TINA KASHIAN: Thank you for a fun topic, Leslie! Every summer we drive from South Jersey to Boston. I have family in Watertown, MA, but the main reason for our trip is to drop our daughter off at an Armenian summer camp for two weeks. NJ is long and it takes us almost two hours to travel from South Jersey to North Jersey (there’s always traffic, too!). We stop at the same diner before crossing the George Washington Bridge. I order corned beef special with Russian dressing and coleslaw on rye bread. I’m not a fan of a Reuben that is served hot, but cold, lean corned beef is a favorite. My girls order blueberry pancakes. Now I’m hungry!
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As for me, my longest (and best!) road trip took place when I was eleven. My dad and mom wanted my sister and I to see America, so they packed us into our green station wagon (Mr. Green Jeans), and we drove west from Pittsburgh PA to California by way of St. Louis' Gateway Arch, sampling (for the first time ever) authentic Southern fried chicken, Texas BBQ, and Navajo fry bread along the way. We visited my aunt in Anaheim (where I tasted my first artichoke and picked my first orange), and returned via Yellowstone National Park, the Great Plains, and the Windy City. Like Marc, breakfast was my favorite road trip meal. I loved those little grape jellies on buttered toast and the smell of frying bacon in the chilly, fresh air that began a day with endless blue skies and an open road that seemed to roll on forever...
