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The Gourmet Solution
for Getaway Vacation Dining
by Martha HollisTHE ESCAPE: away to a hideaway hours from any interstates and commercial airports, we disappeared. The roads leading into the site—a marvel of potholes in a dirt road strewn with an occasional hint of gravel and axle breaking rocks jutting out from the movie-perfect cliffs—made the getaway adventure even more furtive. Adjacent to more than a million acres of national forest, our cabin's immediate surroundings boasted more wild life—deer, elk, turkey, owls, bears, mountain lion, and fox—than people. Our private space for a weekend, a vacation to the middle of nowhere promised peace, joy and rest for the body and soul. With that solitude came no food emporiums or restaurants. As serious foodies we were reluctant to leave behind wonderful eating. We turned to an Internet search. Numerous purveyors offer
their foods online and our initial search for gourmet foods yielded
mind-boggling choices. After all, selling online has rudimentary requirements—a
web page, a paying mechanism (hopefully secure) and a contract with a delivery
service. The images and copy may not truly reflect the products’ quality. Help! There was no possible way to judge this plethora of shopping opportunities. It was tantamount to selecting the thousands of product stocking a supermarket’s shelves.
I loved the convenience of only having to go to a single
site (like a gourmet market) and add each item to my basket, rather than having
to contact each seller individually. One can order a “single-click fabulous
feast” such as Christmas, Easter or special occasions in their retail shop
including: beach, dinner, or cocktail parties; breakfast or brunch; pregame or
tailgate and especially romantic. Another pull down menu offers everything from appetizers to vegetables while the general product categories provides another easy search method. Elect these incredible meals, add a credit card and physical delivery location and date—that’s all. The GreatFoods people have personally tested all the products, researched the individual companies, supplied chef tips and freely share the information. They will not even sell a product unless it meets their critical standards of excellence. Recipes are also included on the 24-hour site. It was important for us to check out the vacation spot’s
delivery situation (some remote places have no Saturday delivery) and to
provide good directions along with a backup delivery location (easy with a
rental organization or local business). With a portable computer and Internet access (our CompuServe 800 number ensures this for us) it is easy to track the order or a telephone or your mobile will accomplish the same thing. GreatFoods promises “Your order is covered by the 100% satisfied with the product or service you receive from us, we will replace the product or refund the amount of your purchase, whichever you request.”
Threading the seafood was even fun. We alternately impaled
the giant prawns with huge scallops on sharp skewers. After several pokes in my
fingers I mastered the art of having the skewer point come between my fingers.
The grilled arches rivaled the finest outdoor food art I had ever seen. Adding a bottle of wine, simple pasta and baby lettuce salad from a local farm, we had a feast—particularly since the seafood was portioned for eight and we were only six.
Then we slid into the tart cherry waffles (also suitable for pancakes if there is not a resident waffle iron) with, naturally, cherry syrup. On the side we nibbled the espresso beans richly buried in chocolate with cherry, the Northwest Berry Medley of dried cherries, strawberries and blueberries, and oaty, sweet granola full of crunchy surprises, especially cranberries. The quantity of food was so abundant that many of these items were perfect for snacking during our hikes. I think some chocolate freak hid the mocha latte espresso beans just after others tried them in their coffee. Golfing and loafing followed by a late, late lunch started with the Blue Crab Bay Co.’s attention grabbing, Sting Ray Bloody Mary Mixer with ocean clam juice and tomato mix and jumbo, perfectly crisped and wildly spicy Virginia peanuts. These quickly disappeared—too quickly, but fortunately we had made the spicy clam dip which needed mayonnaise and cream cheese. We slightly improvised our decalorization with this recipe using nonfat cream cheese and a tiny bit of plain yogurt. All deemed the dip with chewy chunks of flavorful clams totally incredible. The Chesapeake Bay snack kit is in a superb gift box with blue shredded paper reminiscent of the deep blue sea with a bit of netting around the sting ray and several real clam shells. Reading companies’s histories on the GreatFoods site, we learned that the Blue Crab Bay Company, Inc., is a nationally known specialty food business located in a Virginia’s remote Eastern Shore founded in 1985 by Pamela Barefoot in her farmhouse kitchen. The Auld family (complete with an endearing picture of their children) were growing, harvesting, and preparing the Chukar products on their Northwest farm. Chukar is named after a game bird originally from Asia and now found in the region nearby.
What a gourmet trip! Just a couple of warnings…be sure you
read the labels for proper defrosting of the shrimp, scallops and ribs and have
the appropriate items for any mixes. All 800 telephone numbers are included for
any further questions. Do not Internet shop on an empty stomach—it may be just too
tempting especially with their fabulous food photography, visiting chef recipes
and seasonal ideas. We cannot wait to go on our next food vacation in a remote
location, but not too remote to celebrate many of our country's finest foods
selected by the discriminating palates of the GreatFood’s people. For more information: http://www.GreatFood.com
, 1-800-841-5984 |
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TM
The solution, have
GreatFoods.com deliver incredible gourmet items from their retail shop. We
found that even in the middle of nowhere, UPS and FedEx still deliver gourmet
wonders.
In the middle of our landlocked high desert cabin our
delectable dinner entrée from Odyssey Seafood—South Pacific Black tiger prawns
and giant sea scallops—came elegantly iced and packaged with four, high quality
half moon skewers, a man-sized chef's apron with an encyclopedic seafood
compendium and matching hot pad mitt. Even more important were complete
instructions on the defrosting of the product, sample recipes and an 800 help
number to the seafood company. Thoughtfully included were the best grilling
sauce I had ever tasted, a maple chipotle sauce from Stonewall Kitchens, and
deep rich chocolate shells for a sweet finish.
"A merry cherry morning," I said to our friends
the next day as we embarked on the Chukar Cherry Company country breakfast
package from Prosser, Washington. Herbal cherry blossom tea, a glorious color,
prepped appetites for magnificent whole-wheat Berry Medley scones (add milk,
eggs and butter) with rich cherry preserves—one Bing and the other mated with
sensual raspberries.
For another meal our attention turned to the central part of
the country with Chicago's famous Carlson baby-back pork ribs. These tender and
juicy three full slabs arrived perfectly frozen with a huge bottle of their
tangy sweet signature sauce. Fixing these is a no brainer. Defrost
(instructions included), and broil in the oven or grill simply to reheat. These
meaty ribs are the ultimate finger food and so tender that they come apart with
a gentle tug. Have fun with the plastic, albeit tacky, bibs…after all this is
food for playing.