Are you saying that you are making your dinners at a hotel?? Or just a nice restaurant nearby that does take out?

The dinners I posted both today and yesterday are me making dinner from scratch using the kitchenette in my suite at the Homewood Suites (there's a Costco and Whole Foods nearby so its pretty easy), its why its one of my favorite Hilton brands. I remember two years ago I did a dinner of seared Prime Filet Mignons (which I had picked up at Costco) with a Vermouth Balsamic pan sauce after a smoked salmon appetizer with cream cheese, dill, shallots and white truffle oil, and one of my friends kept repeating as she was eating the Filet, "You got this at Costco? This is fantastic" I admit, I am a bit weird in this way, I have gotten really into if I am not at home at figuring out how to enjoy myself as much. In this situation, my A/C is out so I (and Pip) am "roughing it" at the Homewood. You can spend so much money eating out and it not being that good.

Do you bring your own cookware & equipment from home? Seems to me you would have to lug along spices/herbs etc.-- might as well go camping. I don't know what kind of kitchen HS has but that is pretty impressive. Well done. Does Pip get some crab or salmon too?
Where did you get the lobster?

These are my favourite kinds of hotels (the kitchenettes, not necessarily the brands). Sometimes you don't want to go out to eat. My meals didn't include fancy stuff like wine (but I'm not a drinker) but if I had a kitchenette, I'd be happy to pop into the supermarket next door or nearby, grab a few things and settle down in my room.

The ones I've stayed at usually have the cookware and the dinnerware if there was a kitchenette, but no spices or anything else (and I'd be sure to wash everything myself before use). Carrying a selection of spices usually an issue (or you could pick them up at the supermarket next door) unless you were flying internationally (yes sir, I know I have a baggie of cumin in my carry-on). You do tend to get creative when left to your own devices in the hotel room. That said, Travel spice dispensers are becoming more common (or you can get small ones from the dollar store). I saw some of the BBQ ones from the 80s and 90s but those would only carry enough for one or two meals before running out of something.

Talabat delivery of truffle pizza from Mozzarella again - yummy

Xiao Yu�s Kitchen, sf:

open until 11 so perfect for a 10p supper inbetween chauffeuring my child & his friend

agadashi tofu

karaage ramen - first ramen I�ve had with romaine lettuce. Super surreal.

Yes, there were indeed pots, pans, utensils, paring and chef knife, cutting board, plates, etc. The particular dishes I made don't require a lot of spices, needed white pepper (in addition to salt and regular black pepper, which were in the suite) and a little hot sauce (which I ended up having to forego since I thought I had one of the tiny Tabasco bottles in my luggage from a previous trip's room service). The rest of the flavoring such as fresh parley and chives, red onion, shallots, lemon juice (from fresh lemons), brioche buns, tomatoes, avocados, limes, lump crab meat, etc. came from the store very similar to if just cooking regularly. From home I did bring mayo, lobster tails (from the stash in my chest freezer, but if I didn't happen to have that could have also bough that at the store). San Pellegrino and alcohol and related glassware came from home but that is no different from a regular hotel stay with no kitchenette/cooking. And I do typically set aside a little of whatever meat/seafood I am using for Pip (before spices/sauces).

I have some little baggies that I have scattered through my gear for various things.... my carry-on has a snack baggie for salt/pepper and 2-3 hot sauce sachets and 2-3 soy sauce sachets. If I'm doing a road trip, I will put a few baggies which would hold a few ketchup/mustard/relish sachets and maybe some of the spice blend containers depending on what I can source near the hotel, If it's an international trip, I'll forego the checked baggage and see what's available near the hotel.

I was hoping that was not cottage cheese. I was going to be very disappointed!

Fear not, I consider cottage cheese breakfast only territory. Tonight is the same as last night (I bought a pound of lump crab so its going to be three nights of lump crab based dinner with Pip getting a healthy sized snack of it which she happily inhaled) but with Piper Heidsieck. Looks like I am going to be camping out at the Homewood for a while longer (bad news from the A/C technician) so stay tuned...

Now I finally understand why you travel with so much luggage.

It's also one of the reasons I always fly First Class, I take advantage of that extra weight and free bags (not to mention the booze in flight). In fact I am a rare person where their combined checked and carryon luggage can weigh more than themself.

As an AA EXP and oneworld Emerald, I am entitled to check three bags, each weighing up to 70 lbs/32 kgs, at no extra cost, regardless of whether I fly economy, business or first class, domestic or international. Yet, I always travel with only carry-on bags.

This is how I packed for 3+ weeks in Italy; no, I did not have to do any laundry while away from home. The bag on the right is a 22" rollaboard.




Cheers.

I am glad you are able to do so. My mobile office is as big and as heavy as I would ever want to carryon to a plane (and with some of the higher bins even that can at times be a challenge for someone as petite as I am) and my style and mannerisms are certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy myself regardless. And actually the recent ditching of actual miles and segments for status vs dollars has actually moved me towards towards your elite realm because of my proclivities.

This is seriously off-topic, but for my longer trips (more than 7 days) I have found it really convenient to send laundry home via one (or more) of those Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes a half or two-thirds through my trip. Its wonderful, so much easier to pack heading home and frees up space to brings things back if I am so inclined.