Farm1 wrote:
> When we go off on longish haul car trips, we always take a basket.
> Tehrmos, cups, spoons, tea bags, instant coffee, sugar, biscuits (aka
> 'cookies' elsewhere in the English speaking world), sandwiches, cold
> water and milk. And sometimes treats like lollies (aka 'sweets' or
> 'candy') or chips (aka 'crisps').
>
> This basket routine seems to be similarly done amongst other coutnry
> people we know but not something that city people seem to do. Does
> anyone else do this?

Not a basket but I do always take food. I have an insulated bag from Built
NY that always stays in my van. During the colder months I keep some
bottles of diet soda in there. Maybe some water. But during colder months
I always keep a case of water in the trunk. If I fear freezing weather, I
will usually take the beverages out though. In the bag, I always keep some
craisins, Cornnuts and peanut butter filled pretzels.

When my daughter is coming with me and we might be out for a while, I pack
cheese and apples for her. I always wind up packing a lot extra because if
we go to see my parents, they will usually want some as well. And if my
husband is along, he will want them.

If we do not have a planned restaurant stop and if we think meal time will
roll around, then I will usually pack something. Usually sandwiches, baby
carrots and apples.

Now if we are going off somewhere with my husband driving and we don't
really know where all he will be taking us, I might then take shelf stable
stuff like tortilla chips, a bag of tortillas and a can or two of refried or
kidney beans. Maybe even a can of green beans. He has no food issues
(aside from the gout that he refuses to think is food related) and can grab
something to eat anywhere. But daughter and I are on special diets and
restaurant food is not always suitable for us. I also always keep one of
her old lunch boxes in the back of the van. In it are a couple of chip
clips, plastic bags and a can opener. I think there may even be a little
sharp knife in there. Can't remember because we haven't had to use the bag
for a long time.

Before my dad's health declined, I would often pack a picnic lunch for all
of us if we were going several hours away to the zoo or some such place. I
would usually buy assorted things from the salad and cold food bars at
Central Market. Like potato salad, beet salad, falafel, hummus, cooked
chicken breasts and maybe a bag of chips, some cheese and fruit. Also
drinks. I would keep this in a large insulated bag (I have serveral of
these) or if it was a hot day, a larger, hard sided cooler until we got
there. Then I would take the food to the picnic table in plastic shopping
bags that could be thrown away after we ate. That way we wouldn't have to
trek way back to the van to put something back.

I like to plan these sorts of things in advance and always try to. In my
mind there is no reason to eat crap food just because you are out. I know a
lot of people like to use this as an excuse for eating the crap food. But I
don't buy that. Yes, once in a while something will crop up where you'll
have to eat somewhere that you didn't plan to or just go hungry. But if it
is a planned outting, then I either research the restaurants in advance and
find something suitable or I bring food.

But really I can usually find suitable food in a grocery store if need be.
We once took a road trip down the coast in CA. I had wanted to eat lunch at
this little diner that we all liked. They had the *best* salads in that
place. I don't know how they did it but they shaved the red onions paper
thin. Onions can sometimes be overwhelming but I think Scott Conant would
even like these! My daughter even loved their salads and in those days she
wasn't much of a salad eater unless the greens were baby Swiss chard. She
loved that stuff.

But for some reason, my husband wouldn't stop there. I think the timing was
off for him or something. And he continued to drive further and further to
places we'd never been before. We could only find fast food places and I
refuse to eat at those type of places, with a few exceptions. Finally he
insisted that we try this really foo foo little place. Horribly expensive.
He seems to be one of those people who thinks expensive is better. But they
didn't have any sort of food on the menu that a kid would eat. Nor did they
have anything that I would like to eat. I made the mistake of ordering a
fried olive platter. I surmised that since daughter and I liked olives, we
might like this. We did not and neither did my husband. I just think there
are some things that shouldn't be fried. And thankfully I've never seen
that on a menu since. This place did have salads on the menu but I was
unwilling to pay those prices. Husband did eat something. Can't remember
what. But his meal and our fried olives plus three drinks cost me what it
would normally cost for a dinner for the three of us in one of the
restaurants we normally frequent. And this was lunch!

We wound up finding a little mom and pop type place. I had packed baby
carrots and in this place I bought some apples and cheese and something
else. Can't remember what now. Pretzels or bread or something. Daughter
and I wound up eating our lunch on the beach. It was good food and it was
far cheaper than that restaurant.

I don't mind going out to eat if I know I am going to get food food there.
I don't even mind paying a high price for something that is expeptional such
as something you don't commonly see elsewhere or that is in some way
special. Like cassoulet because it takes a long time to cook. But I don't
like getting crappy food in a restaurant, especially it is overpriced crappy
food!