What's for dinner?

[kwtoxman]

Spices Breakfast buffet :agave:

A few of the buffet pictures have information cards that are readable. (click on them and zoom in and around!)

What a crazy selection. Only got to a fraction of what I wanted to. No specific picture of one of my multiple order dishes at the breakfast buffet. I repeatedly used the crepe station, and had it made and stuffed with fresh strawberries and peaches (and sometime blueberries too <all shown in the pictures>), then topped with sweetened condensed milk and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. It was a fave. Actually, one can see part of it in a few of the breakfast buffet pictures. . I never had a single omelette this trip. I wanted to have at least one but I ended up having to sacrifice it in order to get to other even better food/dishes. I tried to save my really big indulgent meals for lunches and dinners; I made breakfast a lighter course.


Various yogurts

Crepe, french toast and waffle station, made to order, with lots and lots of toppings

Fresh carved ham

Mexican breakfast station, made to order

Omelette station ingredients available. One of two stations so it appears to be popular.

Various foods

Various foods

Fresh fruit and vegetables

Fresh fruit

Fresh fruit, granola and cereals

Fresh breads and sweetbreads

Fresh made juices daily

Various milk options

Cheers!

 

[kwtoxman]

For those interested here is the Spices dinner buffet - Some of the buffet pictures have information cards that are readable. (click on them and zoom in and around!)
Fresh calamari/squid

Various

Soups

Fresh fruit

Fresh fish

Various

Various

Fresh meats including ribeye

Fresh salads and vegetables

Desserts

Ice creams

Bread table

Various

Salad dressings

I had no food illness issues, and frankly never have from these trips to high end AI resorts in Mexico. I drink ice water in glasses, eat lots of fresh produce, vegetables and fruit, and even enjoy dishes with raw meats, seafood and fish. Lots of great food.


Such a crazy indulgent food experience at The Royal Playa del Carmen. For example, with just a typical supper at Marie Marie's (my favourite restaurant), I had a salad (all great, really enjoyed the nicoise with seared tuna and the caesar with real anchovy), plus the amazing triple tartar, plus the escargot (and I remember in one of these meals triple ordering the escargot appetizer for 9-10 escargot as shown in the picture). AND then the main course!... the tournedo rossini - beef tenderloin served with fois gras and a port wine reduction plus baked potato, assorted mushrooms with a caramelized pearl onion. AND then I'd have an amazing dessert. The grand marnier souffle and the chocolate macadamia cake (mousse) were so excellent, and I really enjoyed duo (double) creme brulee. A big five course meal. In addition to that, in my first picture and typical for my dinners one also sees see a glass of water, a glass of red wine and an old-fashioned cocktail to enjoy with the food. Yes, a very great and indulgent dining experience. No losing weight on this vacation.






Hope you enjoy the peek. I have some recent home cook pictures to get posting here now, and some that many will hopefully enjoy. Cheers!

 

[jc100]

Just booked a private casita (2 bedroom house with terrace/outdoor eating area on landscaped gardens) in coffee estate country in Panama ($100 CDN a night) to go and collect my yearly supply of Java. We can walk to the coffee farms from where we're staying to pick up some of the best coffee in the world, although I think I’ll skip the Geisha coffee at $130 a pound. Local farms nearby for fresh veggies and I can pick my own fruit from the trees or head off to the markets. Fish delivered daily from the Pacific or local fresh stream trout. Cost for all this is very low currently...flights are at an all time low from Canada to Panama and this includes the 1h cross country internal flight towards the Costa Rican border. Cheap enough currently to upgrade all our seats for extra legroom etc. The place is on the slopes of a volcano, at the elevation of the village temp is around 22-24C all day, if I go 15 minutes drive down the slope it’s 26. Town centre is 20 mins walk away with multiple restaurants at all $$ ranges. If I head down to the beach 1.5h away it’s 30+C. The beach villages and islands are undeveloped mainly in terms of tourism and as such fish restaurants are super inexpensive which I’m really looking forward to. SUV (4x4 needed for parts) rental at $32 a day to explore. Once everything is added up it’s the cost of a decent AI hotel without the people and absolute privacy and a lot more room. It’s a little more hassle to book everything separately but the experience is so much better. We will never stay in another AI hotel again and we’ve stayed in plenty at all ranges. We’ve been doing things this way for about 8 years now and you get to see a lot more of the country and interact with the locals a lot more. You also get to stay in places that mass tourism hasn’t affected as much at times. Perhaps not for everyone, it’s not a “butler” type of experience, but if you’re looking to see and experience the country you visit it’s unbeatable IMO.

 

[kwtoxman]

I can't justify those Panama type trips for myself unfortunately, but the adventurous spirit is great and appealing. I celebrate the many amazing and different vacation opportunities out there. We are very lucky.

On to some recent home cooks and great meals!


Instant pot new england blueberry pudding with fresh blueberries. :agave:

1/2 pound Custom coarse grind chuck beef burger with processed cheese, onions, pepperocinis and mustard. Cooked perfectly :agave:

Instant pot mixed seafood paella with peas, garden carrots and chili flakes :agave:

Instant pot chocolate chip and blueberry bread pudding with fresh blueberries :agave:

A great sampling plate by going to a decent local grocer with a premium deli. It's definitely worth spending extra at the premium deli from time to time, The plate consists of a less expensive more salty prosciutto, a more expensive premiu San Daniel spanish prosciutto that is much less salty and more complex (http://www.prosciuttosandaniele.it/en/the-ham/san-daniele-ham/ ), a premium wine chorizo sausage, and shared with thick cut fresh sourdough bread with pats of country churned butter.

Thick bone-in centerloin cut pork chop with greek seasoning grilled on the weber summit - a nice and juicy cook :agave:

Everyone should have a nice large cast iron skillet, I use my Lodge 13.5 inch one quite regularly. Cast iron skillet fresh asparagus in olive oil and sea salt. :agave:

An amazing stir fry done with my wok on the stove top. Extra large shrimp in shell, baby bok choy, red and yellow sweet peppers, garden carrots, onions, and chow mein noodles all cooked in two types of soy sauce (including a sweet thai soy sauce), oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, peanut oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds and chili flakes. :agave:

All of the supporting ingredients have been part of my stocked kitchen in the last year or two, which gives me excellent opportunities for great meals.




Instant pot Samoa ricotta cheesecake with dulce de leche and chocolate topping. Sooo great. :agave:

Cheers!

 

[Joe Bass]

They all look great!
The prosciutto looks tasty. I love how the saltiness comes out the the thinner it is sliced. Next time pair that with the asparagus and some olive oil on the webber. (I am sure, however, that you didn't need me to tell you that! Lol)
And that ricotta cheesecake.....#nomnomnom

Sent from the purple GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app

 

[J_F]

Just booked a private casita (2 bedroom house with terrace/outdoor eating area on landscaped gardens) in coffee estate country in Panama ($100 CDN a night) to go and collect my yearly supply of Java. We can walk to the coffee farms from where we're staying to pick up some of the best coffee in the world, although I think I’ll skip the Geisha coffee at $130 a pound. Local farms nearby for fresh veggies and I can pick my own fruit from the trees or head off to the markets. Fish delivered daily from the Pacific or local fresh stream trout. Cost for all this is very low currently...flights are at an all time low from Canada to Panama and this includes the 1h cross country internal flight towards the Costa Rican border. Cheap enough currently to upgrade all our seats for extra legroom etc. The place is on the slopes of a volcano, at the elevation of the village temp is around 22-24C all day, if I go 15 minutes drive down the slope it’s 26. Town centre is 20 mins walk away with multiple restaurants at all $$ ranges. If I head down to the beach 1.5h away it’s 30+C. The beach villages and islands are undeveloped mainly in terms of tourism and as such fish restaurants are super inexpensive which I’m really looking forward to. SUV (4x4 needed for parts) rental at $32 a day to explore. Once everything is added up it’s the cost of a decent AI hotel without the people and absolute privacy and a lot more room. It’s a little more hassle to book everything separately but the experience is so much better. We will never stay in another AI hotel again and we’ve stayed in plenty at all ranges. We’ve been doing things this way for about 8 years now and you get to see a lot more of the country and interact with the locals a lot more. You also get to stay in places that mass tourism hasn’t affected as much at times. Perhaps not for everyone, it’s not a “butler” type of experience, but if you’re looking to see and experience the country you visit it’s unbeatable IMO.

That sounds great.
Went to an AI last month for the first time in years
Was reminded why I stopped

You mentioned the DR earlier
I'm a big fan of Cabarete
Have rented a beach house in that area a few times
Nothing like a private pool and beach
And all the comforts of home
crazy cheap...1200/week for complete privacy
And as this is a food thread
I like cooking on vacation
Beats the buffet anyday

 

[jc100]

That sounds great.
Went to an AI last month for the first time in years
Was reminded why I stopped

You mentioned the DR earlier
I'm a big fan of Cabarete
Have rented a beach house in that area a few times
Nothing like a private pool and beach
And all the comforts of home
crazy cheap...1200/week for complete privacy
And as this is a food thread
I like cooking on vacation
Beats the buffet anyday

Theres a lot to be said for fruit and veg that has maybe travelled across the road rather than thousands of kms. I’ll still go to AI hotels but only for conferences etc when it’s paid for me.

Back to food...Panamanian food is usually quite bland but there is a national hotsauce called aji chombo that is excellent. It’s made with turmeric apparently along with a special Panamanian pepper. I’m going to try to make some this week with habaneros instead. One thing that is always excellent in Panama is the seafood as both coasts are pretty close to everything.

 

[crankcall]

We travel on our own, AI , cruise ships , there is merit in all of them. I cook everyday at home so sitting down to a three/four course dinner a michelin chef figured out can make me pretty happy on holiday.

We just came back from a cruise that had a kitchen theatre so you could go to cooking school at the 'sea days' . I learned more about chilis (peppers) than anyone should know, and the class on picking steaks and home cooking was an eye opener.

We' re off to Tuscany in september, a friend has rented a villa for the month. I looking very forward to getting out for some great meals and the cast of characters going includes three chefs so this should be interesting.

 

[nobbie48]

Theres a lot to be said for fruit and veg that has maybe travelled across the road rather than thousands of kms. I’ll still go to AI hotels but only for conferences etc when it’s paid for me.

Back to food...Panamanian food is usually quite bland but there is a national hotsauce called aji chombo that is excellent. It’s made with turmeric apparently along with a special Panamanian pepper. I’m going to try to make some this week with habaneros instead. One thing that is always excellent in Panama is the seafood as both coasts are pretty close to everything.

When my brother was down there the in-laws had a farm but he found that they didn't know anything about meat. When a cow was slaughtered the whole thing became stew beef.

There was a festival and using in-law help he set up a food booth doing some better class cooking. A sister-in-law automatically poured cooking oil into one of his lean dishes because that's what they do.

I think the culture shock got to him. Most of the in-laws were dirt poor and didn't discriminate with regards to the cost of items. A $150.00 Henkels knife would be treated like a $5.00 machete. A Savile Row suit would be worn mucking out the barn, it's just a piece of clothing.

They took their new Camry down there and when visiting the farm an in-law asked for a ride into town. Then the in-law started dragging out a goat to put in the back seat. A car was for taking things to market.

They're good people. Just make sure you understand what you're getting into when you agree to something.

He found some hang outs where Americans and Canadians would congregate and work at bridging the gaps.

 

[nobbie48]

jc100,

How long does it take you to set up the unit for a normal(ish) lifestyle, getting the kitchen set up etc and how long are you down there?

In comparison if one books a week at a tourist hot spot and it works out to $500 a day all in, one doesn't normally try to save a few bucks on a meal by spending one of the those $500 days checking out the off-the-beaten-track eateries or setting up housekeeping.

 

[jc100]

Takes me a 20 min stop on the way to the accommodation from the airport at a grocery store to get a few essentials to get set up, the rest I get when I’m out and about as there’s stalls and fruit/veg sellers everywhere. I only stay for a week at a time (still have to work) and so I pay vacation rates rather than long stay rates which are considerably cheaper. For instance my place may be $100 a night if staying for a month or less but if I signed a lease for a year I might pay $600 a month. With vacation rates these accommodations such as AirBnB and VRBO are essentially run like self catering apartments/homes that you would have booked through Signature vacations etc years ago (well, many are, check reviews). With long stay rates you’re going to perhaps do some cleaning and upkeep as you would if you were renting a place in Canada. In Nicaragua I had a pool guy in twice a week and a cleaner every other day included in the rental....which for a 4 bedroom colonial villa with a private pool in the centre of town was $100 a night.

As for moving to one of these countries I read that the worst thing you can do is expect to live like you did in Canada there. You need to change and adapt. I know one woman who was told there wasn’t a desk for her child at the local school, literally. She went out and bought a desk at a furniture store for her kid and all was well. If you don’t change there’s no benefit in terms of cost of living usually. Lots of people don’t have cars where we go as transport is cheap for instance. That saves you hundreds a month for insurance/upkeep etc. You lose a little flexibility perhaps....and some weight too. You have to eat differently and entertain yourself differently. Usually for the better if you stand back and take an honest look I think. Not as much visiting a mall as visiting a park say. Material possessions aren’t as important, no keeping up with the Joneses.

I'd like to retire to a place like this but what I may do when the time comes (a long way off yet) is rent for 6 months at a time and maybe go from there. See if We can hack it. Living in a place is different to staying for a vacation and many people can’t deal with the change. If you understand that going in there’s a better chance of it working out.

Edit: one of the reasons we book vacations this way is to get a glimpse of what it’s like to live in a foreign place rather than just skimming the surface and seeing the sights. We find it more interesting to do that even though we know it won’t be the same as living there for a decent amount of time. It adds to the holiday experience for us but not everyone has the same idea of what a holiday should be.

 

[crankcall]

Also to consider leaving Canada for the 'tropics' , and we have several friends that did. The cost of coming back. The condo one couple ditched in Mississauga for the '3yrs in the jungle program' went from 328k sell to 700+ to get back in . Weird stuff can happen.
Even the ones that sell up in the burbs and move to the cottage can (did) find the cost of coming back was really expensive.

Now that we are done with the house in Arizona (again) , we will rent in Portugal or Spain 6-12 wks. Apt in Portugal is 1850 cdn for 6 wks.

 

[J_F]

Agree it takes a bit of time to see if if you can live away. And how to do it. Always figured I'd like to retire in beach community.

Had a trial run last winter in Ecuador for 4 months between assignments.

Spent 2 months in the Andes city of Cuenca. It was great. Unesco heritage city at 9000 ft elevation.

Then took a month down on the coast in 2 different beach towns.

After 2 weeks I'd had enough of the heat, humidity, bugs, noise and general commotion of a beach town. Couldn't wait to get back to the cool dry mountain air of Cuenca and a less touristy existence.

So I learned the beach is good for a vacation or short trip.
But for longer term, I'd be better off in a city.

 

[nobbie48]

Also to consider leaving Canada for the 'tropics' , and we have several friends that did. The cost of coming back. The condo one couple ditched in Mississauga for the '3yrs in the jungle program' went from 328k sell to 700+ to get back in . Weird stuff can happen.
Even the ones that sell up in the burbs and move to the cottage can (did) find the cost of coming back was really expensive.

Now that we are done with the house in Arizona (again) , we will rent in Portugal or Spain 6-12 wks. Apt in Portugal is 1850 cdn for 6 wks.

Obviously they should have rented the condo out and had a piece of turf to come home too. Even selling and moving to the cottage can be chancy if there is a recession. Cottages were give aways 25 years ago and health changes can mean moving closer to services.

 

[jc100]

A lot of expats got burned when the $CDN went to 70% of the $US too. I’ve also read stories about people who cannot now afford to move back home (Canada or the US).

Cuenca looked good. Another popular place for expats apparently and I nearly chose Ecuador over Panama to visit as the flights were good value too. That will be for next time though. The thing about Panama is that if you have $1000US or more coming in per month as a pension you can apply for a pensionado card if you decide to stay there long term that gives you 10% discount off restaurant food and discounted medicine and healthcare. That’s not too bad as most of that stuff is cheaper than here already.

To get this back on track...a “typico” meal in Panama can be had which is beef/chicken or fish with salad, rice and beans, patacones (plantain fritters) and sometimes a drink and/or dessert(fruit) for about $4-5 (you may need to haggle to get rid of the “gringo tax”). I usually get the fish version and it’s awesome nearly everywhere. Of course that’s not all there is but that’s just to illustrate that you can survive on very little there if you need to. I got a few $.50-1 fresh empanadas and a beer or two occasionally as a snack. In parts of the country you’ll get coconut rice instead (delicious) and I’ve been to a coastal restaurant that was in the sea built on stilts where, when I asked where my meal was I was told, “we just caught the fish and are cooking it”. I didn’t mind waiting after that.

I like my Michelin starred meals too...I lived in Paris for several years and eating is serious business there as long as you stay away from the tourist restaurants.

 

[crankcall]

So to bring food around to the LOWEST common denominator , was watching a band this afternoon with friends and the proclamation of who knew of the best dirthole bar with wings came up. We have a 'wing off' happening .
I favour the Ivy Arms here in milton, they make an adequet wing at a decent price, the deep fried then finished on the grill makes it happen.
One young lady thinks the FireHall in Bronte has it going on, and she may be right.

sorry the Anchor bar (now a franchise) in Burlington is soooo overpriced for wings its obscene.

We have 4 contenders, we will sample, piss and moan and ridicule the oppositions, and best of all its a boat load of wings and beer.

There will be no Michelin stars, except on the delivery vehicle tires........

 

[Joe Bass]

Someone PLEASE tell me why I haven't had a BigMac salad until today?? Wow. I like it!
Ground beef, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions NO bun.

 

[jc100]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42872201. Talking of Michelin stars....for the first time a chef has given up all of his due to pressure...

 

[kwtoxman]

They all look great!
The prosciutto looks tasty. I love how the saltiness comes out the the thinner it is sliced. Next time pair that with the asparagus and some olive oil on the webber. (I am sure, however, that you didn't need me to tell you that! Lol)
And that ricotta cheesecake.....#nomnomnom

Thx Joe Bass! I agree on the pairing. I can't believe I'm just getting into going to the high end deli counter and looking for new/interesting food. Cheers!

We travel on our own, AI , cruise ships , there is merit in all of them. I cook everyday at home so sitting down to a three/four course dinner a michelin chef figured out can make me pretty happy on holiday.

That theatre sounds cool. And I agree on the merits of having a variety of different types of vacations; it's great to have an AI option! I do all types of vacations just like you mentioned, and really appreciate it when I'm able to take an AI trip at a great price. The three pages of the food I recently posted, including fresh off-menu ceviches and grilled octopus/squid, as well as extending to so much variety and even fine French dining with Tournedo Rossini grilled beef tenderloin, escargot, tartars, and lamb chops, simply shows the excellence in food quality available at a current high end premium AI resort in Mexico (including local/cultural dishes):agave:.

We're lucky to have such vacation options (it's not commonly found). I've posted dozens of pictures over multiple years now of home cooks and grills on this thread; I think the pictures show I eat like a king at home . And I find it's great to take a break and have a vacation from time to time where someone else makes me great food and drink, as well as showing me new food and dishes. Much excellence and enjoyment.

Someone PLEASE tell me why I haven't had a BigMac salad until today?? Wow. I like it!
Ground beef, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions NO bun.

LOL, why do you think I touted that big mac sauce recipe earlier in this thread .

 

[crankcall]

Someone PLEASE tell me why I haven't had a BigMac salad until today?? Wow. I like it!
Ground beef, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions NO bun.

Tell you WHY, really that needs no explaination. That sauce looks like a bad caulking job on a pile of stuff. Hope its tasty.