Life on the road often lacks the conveniences of home: we spend a great deal of time plotting our route, making sure we have gas in the car, accommodation for the night, and food in our bellies.
When we're not camping, we stay primarily in Airbnb apartments. Having a kitchen works well for us: we can save money by cooking our own food, rather than eating in restaurants which tend to stretch both our budgets and patience as parents as we have #LoudAmericanKids. Don't get me wrong: We love sampling local cuisine in restaurants but with two kids under the age of 7 restaurant dining is not currently a relaxing experience.
Unfortunately, we've found that amenities vary greatly by apartment and the owner's personal definition of "fully equipped kitchen". Often they lack ovens, frying pans, or even enough spoons for a basic bowl of cereal. Our place in Bangkok had a full kitchen but only a single tiny saucepan, not even large enough to fry an egg.
Which is why find ourselves relying on our tried and true dinner menu. The Brits call it a "Smash and Grab"; we call it simply "Picnic". Basically it's whatever we have in the fridge or pantry that doesn't require cooking. At it's most basic it's a loaf of bread and a (stinky) hunk of cheese. Given a few more resources, it's a spread that will appeal to even the pickiest of eaters.
The menu varies by the country and the season.
Here are a few things that routinely make it onto the table (Picnic for Dinner Download).
Here are a few picnics from around the world.
[caption id="attachment_5156" align="alignleft" width="768"]
Santiago, Chile: goat cheese bought from a guy at a truck stop, strawberries, cherries, crackers, salami, and Chilean wine (of course!).[/caption][caption id="attachment_5159" align="alignleft" width="785"]
Zadar, Croatia:green olives, sardines in tomato sauce, gouda cheese, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Not shown: nut bread.[/caption][caption id="attachment_5157" align="alignleft" width="785"]
Bergen, Norway: lox, the red lump is sardine pate, Gouda, black olives, tomatoes, avocado, oranges, carrots, and cream cheese. Not shown: french bread.[/caption][caption id="attachment_5158" align="alignleft" width="785"]
Zagreb, Croatia: This is a fancy one as we had access to an oven and cook top. Roasted broccoli, green olives, cucumber, sheep cheese, sardines, caprese salad, roasted garlic, and hard boiled eggs.[/caption][caption id="attachment_5167" align="alignleft" width="785"]
Iceland: store-bought (and roasted) chicken,cucumber, olives, store-bought seaweed salad, avocado, tomato, cheese, and olive oil. Not shown: hummus.[/caption]