We decided to lounge around the condo for the mornings before going sight seeing. The entire day on Sunday (January 20th) was spent in and around the condo as well to enjoy the view, sit around the pool and watch football. Well, he watched football while I amused myself playing Monopoly on my PDA and watching the ever changing view from the balcony. When renting a condo location is key! The fact that you get kitchen facilities is an added bonus. Being on vacation means not a lot of home cooking and working with equipment or lack thereof can really put a damper on what you can prepare. This is one of the few times that I will use pre-made convenience foods but I still prefer to pick up baked goods from a bakery. It's also I time that I rely on basics for whatever cooking I'm doing.
We seldom eat a hot breakfast at home with the exception of Sunday mornings. So a hot breakfast is one thing we like to indulge in when travelling or on vacation. I picked up a dozen eggs. 1/2 lb butter and pound of bacon for the week. The eggs weren't free range so didn't have quite the depth of flavour but they were tolerable.
The croissants were bought from Giorgio's Bakery & Bristo in Hollywood, Florida. They were delectable! I will be trying to duplicate these at home. My husband and I have very different taste in eggs. The only things we really agree on with respect to eggs is free range is preferred and is scrambled is a last resort. He likes his easy over or poached both with runny yolks. I like mine sunny side up, yolks runny and normally showing their bright yellow.
I added slices of fresh papaya. The papaya I bought was nothing like I can get at home. The flavour is so much deeper and richer, juicier, more robust. I so wanted to take a few home but my husband already thought we were pushing it with the coconut and he was concerned over crushing the fruit. So we filled ourselves with the lovely flavour of the tropicals vowing to visit again.
Method Poached Eggs: [A bit of vinegar is recommended in the water for poaching but my husband does not like that. Vinegar will cause the egg white to stay together while cooking.] Bring about cups of water to a boil then reduce heat to keep a high simmer. Stir the water to form a bit of a funnel. Drop each egg in one at a time while the water is funneling. Carefully dip a slotted spoon under each egg to ensure they do not stick to the bottom. Watch for the yolk to cloud over. Carefully dip a slotted spoon under each egg and remove from the simmering water. Tilt to drain then plate.
Method Sunnyside Up Eggs: Place about 1 tbsp olive oil or oil of your choice in a non-stick fry pan. Heat the pan on medium high. Crack eggs into the pan. Cover checking oven to remove the lid when the yolks are still yellow or if you like a firmer yolk allow the white to cover over the yolk. Remove cover and plate the eggs.
Macadamia Nut Cookies
We picked up six lovely macadamia nut cookies from Giorgio's. Now my husband is not fond of nuts so when he wanted these I was quite happy. Giorgio's smelled absolutely wonderful! I could have stayed there all day but I digress. I've been introducing more nuts into our diet but have been met with some resistance. Aside of peanuts, pistachios and occasionally cashews as snacks, nuts only appear in a few deserts and entrés. These cookies looked every bit as good as they tasted so they are another on my list of to try at home. They were nicely flavoured with a bit of chewiness accented with the nut pieces yet almost melt in your mouth. Now I just have to find a good recipe so I will be reporting back on my attempts. It is going to take a really good recipe to beat these cookies!
Lasagne
A prospect stay in day meant I went right back to the typed of food we would eat at home even though we were in the sunny south. We picked up a ready made salad with three little cups of dressing. The salad was the normal greens with peppers, onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. There was only one choice for the dressing, honey mustard but it was quite pleasant. A frozen family size (5 servings) lasagne completed the meal. The lasagne actually was made in Canada then sold in Publix in Florida. There were instructions for warming from frozen in the oven or microwave. It was was no where near to the taste of home made but it allowed us to have a leisurely evening meal while watching the ocean.
Egg Muffins
Refrigerator rolls make for quick sandwiches with little fuss making them an ideal food for vacation cooking. Egg muffins are easy to make using refrigerator rolls and slices of cheddar cheese. For best flavour do not use American processed cheese slices.
Method: Bake the refrigerator rolls as per instructions on the container. Remove from oven and cut in half. Heat a non-stick fry pan with a little oil. Fry eggs lightly turning for easy over. Place an egg on the bottom of each roll. Top with cheese and top of roll. Enjoy!
This is the last of pictures and commentaries of foods cooked in the condo during our vacation. Only a small portion of the foods we experienced on vacation were made in the condo. If you are considering renting a condo as part or all of your vacation accommodations a considerable amount of money can be saved if you cook the majority of your meals there even if you buy convenience and pre-made foods. However, as I found out ask ahead of time what types of cooking utensils and cookware there is. This will vary greatly from one condo owner to the next. Items lacking in the condo we rented were sharp knives, baking sheet, medium saucepan, small saucepan and phone book. Ask too whether items you are used to using such as food storage containers or tinfoil are included for storing any left overs. Ask if there are laundry facilities and a dishwasher and if so bring detergent with you if that is not included. If not you can pick up enough for your vacation at a dollar store then leave whatever is left behind especially if you are flying. When grocery shopping buy only what you can use during your stay. You will more than likely have to buy basics like sugar, salt, pepper and any spices you wish to use along with butter and oil. With the exception of butter, all could be brought with you even if flying if properly packaged depending on room in your luggage. This is a good opportunity to use up some of those left over restaurant condiment packages kept for just in case as well. Other than that keep your cooking simple, kick back and relax!
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