Recipe for the Perfect Getaway

It's nearly the longest day of the year, there's a heat wave in the forecast, and there are only a few more weeks left in the school year. Our Canadian summer is so short and precious that it seems a shame to waste even a moment of it. Cut to everyone (who possibly can) leaving town. 

If you're heading somewhere on vacation but will still be involved in daily meal production for more than a night or two, you probably want to eat deliciously without bringing a kitchen-load of gear and ingredients along with you - we have a LOT of experience with this. The trick is to also bring ingredients to help you feel like you're on holiday, so you need to strike a balance between essentials and things that fill you with delight. This is the Flavourfull sweet spot!

Gear-wise: It's frustrating and unsafe to work with dull blades so we always bring a knife or two and a veg peeler, and often carry our mandoline (so great for summer salads). A small wooden cutting board is useful, and we've also been known to bring good tongs, a rimmed baking sheet and a large cast iron pan (rarities in most rentals). If we have space we also add in a few mason jars or sealable containers, Stashers and bag clips (because leftovers!). 

Essential Ingredients: We pack both Diamond Kosher and Maldon salts, and a small pepper grinder loaded with Tellicherry peppercorns. A bottle of olive oil we're both happy to cook with and drizzle over peak tomatoes. A versatile vinegar like cider, and big flavour-builders like soy or fish sauce depending on what you like to cook. Something saucy you can toss into an easy pasta (we love Chuck Hughes hot or mild pepper spread for this). Coffee (we always inquire about the set-up ahead of time), tea, and wine or whatever other beverages make us feel enjoyably OOO.

Delights: The best jam (for toast, to dab onto cheese or stir into a cocktail) and a special nut butter.  A great spice mix like dukkah is a flavour shortcut to liven up eggs, salads or other side dishes. The best cocktail nuts to go with your cinq-a-sept beverage. A rainy day special cake mix (we love the ones from Glazed Cake Co). Excellent candy and chocolate (have you tried the ones we stock from Montreal-based Squish, and Warkworth's Centre & Main?) And lastly - a great jigsaw puzzle, because it's almost like a meditation you can do in the middle of a roomful of family and friends - we all need shortcuts to get us to that vacation state of mind...