Ideas for meal preparation in apartments while traveling
 

We will be traveling to Italy May 2014 and have been thinking about staying in apartments so that we could prepare some meals on our own. But as I think about that more, I'm not sure what we would cook! I know we could do eggs, cereal, yogurt, pastries, etc. for breakfast; make sandwiches; and buy some fresh fish or other meat and cook it in the oven (assuming there is one) or on top of the stove, and cook some pasta or potatoes and veggies and have fresh fruit. Since we would only be staying 3-5 days in a given location, we wouldn't want to buy more olive oil, herbs, spices or whatever else we needed than we could use during that time (we will be traveling by train and use only a carry-on suitcase and a small backpack, so we couldn't take things from place to place). We would want to make things that are simple and quick, to save both time and money. Ideally, it would be nice to stay in a B&B with a small refrigerator and microwave so we could buy prepared foods and keep them in the frig and then warm them up (which I know, of course, we could also do in an apartment).

We simply can't eat dinner at 9-10 pm and go to bed full, and we would rather not live on pizza or whatever else we could pick up at the "American" dinner time we are used to (between 5-7 pm). We may get a larger mid-day meal and "eat light" for dinner.

Also, given the cost of food at markets and supermarket in Europe (which nearly makes me faint!), would we be likely to save money by cooking food ourselves or buying prepared foods??

Suggestions from those of you who have done meal preparation in apartments while traveling would be very helpful (and help us decide whether to rent apartments or just stick with hotels or B&B's). Thanks in advance!

Many of the fresh outdoor markets sell rottisseried chickens with amazing cooked potatoes. I yearn for that meal! We also buy chacuterie, cheese and fabulous olives and a baguette. I have cooked green beans once and we had them cold with the above. You can purchase sanwiches from the pattiseries also. Bon apetit!

In France and Italy you don't need to wait till 9pm to eat! Restaurants open around 7 or 7:30.

We have found most apartments don't have an oven, but a stove top only...you need to check that when you rent.

We go to markets or supermarkets and have pasta, or gnocchi, or bread with meats and cheese. Very simple stuff. Or pick up a roast chicken at French markets and eat it for dinner.

Most apartments will have oil, salt, pepper...we just pick up some garlic or Parmesan cheese as needed...and of course oil if we have to.

It's a good idea to make lunch your bigger meal and just make something light at home.

Hi drchris,
We routinely stay in apartments during our stays in Europe. Most apts have a few ingredients but you never know what until you arrive.

At our first location we go the market and buy a small vinegar and a small olive oil, salt and pepper and a small bottle of all purpose mixed herbs. We also buy some hard cheese for grating. These we carry with us from location to location in our daypack. We freeze a water bottle and pack it with the food we transport, inc case there is anything perishable. It will stay cold all day like this.

Regarding the cooking part: we just get creative. Meals are very simple, but very filling. We always buy fresh fruit: melons, berries, vegees: tomatoes, zucchini, onions, etc., fresh baguettes and pasta of some sort. Then we pick up a small quantity of meat. Our meals are not meat based on our trips, as we have found this easier and cheaper. Many times we don't even have meat, and we are stuffed.

We make the pasta and toss it in a bit of olive oil and herbs and cheese. We just parboil the fresh vegees and add to the pasta. We make a basic vinaigrette with the oil, vinegar and herbs. This will last a few days and can be used on salads, tomatoes and cheese, or cut up vegees along with the cheese. We usually just cut up the meat and pan fry. We can add this to the pasta or have on the side. We make a dipping sauce with the olive oil and herbs for the bread.

It really is quite a bit of fun to come up with different ideas based on what is available at the local markets. We prefer to shop the outdoor markets. This is our very first 'activity' in each place we stay and we really enjoy it. I always take a pic of the foods we bought, so colorful.

We've bought fresh apples and cooked them to have alongside fresh pork chops. A bit of pasta and some zucchini and you have a fabulous meal. I routinely take pics of our meals and people are surprised how well we eat with such few ingredients.

Don't be intimidated. Just go back to the basics of cooking. It really is quite enjoyable, and rewarding and doesn't have to be a chore. Think about how much money you will save.

The idea of making lunch your bigger meal is an excellent one. At home we eat our main meal in the evenings but when we travel abroad we do the opposite - have lunch out. It can make financial sense too with lunch dishes sometimes being cheaper than dinner ones.
Then in the evenings you can pick at bread, cheese, olives, pate, cold meats, salad or whatever and not have to worry about lots of food prep.
I'd far rather do this and have the freedom of a villa, apartment than stay in a hotel.

You can eat in a restaurant at 7 p.m. or if you don't want to do much cooking, you can buy all sorts of ready-made frozen dishes of excellent quality in the Picard frozen food supermarkets or just ordinary items like pizza or dishes to heat in any supermarket.

And if you want to do even less work than that, the traiteurs (delis) of Paris have tons of ready made items, not to mention the ultra famous roast chickens at most of the butcher shops. (Just to keep things honest, the normal price in my outer neighborhood for a roast chicken is 4.50€ but in the inner city, you will unfortunately have to pay double that amount -- or more.)

I don't know where exactly you are going, but they don't really have "B&Bs" in France that are like you are describing, at least not in cities. And the B&Bs I know about don't give you kitchen privileges, that means bed and breakfast, and that's what it is, a room and they serve you breakfast.

YOU can save money by cooking yourself if you eat a lot. I don't (I don't snack and don't eat much breakfast), and don't really want to eat dinner in an apt when I travel, so I don't really do anything in the apt but make coffee (and maybe an occasional dessert or some cheese and bread or a breakfast pastry). I could never cook the type of things I get in restaurants anyway (like potatoes Dauphinois). I don't think the prices in supermarkets in France are any more expensive than in the US that I've noticed, I don't know other countries that well.

If you buy prepared foods, it isn't in restaurants, so the restaurant dinner hours don't really apply to them. In fact, local people would be buying that to take home for dinner, also, so they would be open earlier.

I think you have to think more simply in terms of meal preparation, because you won't have a lot of spices, and I've been in vacation apts that had literally nothing in terms of cooking ingredients. Others only had something like salt. I've never been in one that provided oil or any spice (maybe pepper but I'm not even sure about that). I've only rented them in Barcelona and Paris, though, but I've rented about 4 in Paris and none had oil in them.

I almost always rent apartments w/ full kitchens. I almost <i>never</i> do any serious cooking in those kitchens. Occasionally but not often.

The main advantages for me are being able to have snacks on hand, breakfast foods, picnic things, have ice, (I usually take an ice cube tray because sometimes the fridges don't have them), a washing machine,

If I do cook an evening meal it is often something like a baked potato w/ some sort of filling, a salad or prepared foods from a market. For me it is all about convenience, not really gourmet cooking.

We are among those who usually eat our larger meal out at lunch when we are traveling abroad and have salad, bread, cheese, fruit, items from the traiteur, and in Italy the fantastic porchetta and roast chickens from the market vans.

But we have traveled with friends who plan -- and we all prepare together -- elaborate meals from food bought fresh from local markets that day. Whatever you enjoy most.

And we have never rented an apartment that did not have an oven, so places vary.

Finally, I need a high protein, low carb breakfast, which can be difficult to find in France or Italy. Apartments make that easy.

Get back to basics and cook simple meals with fresh produce. We make pasta sauces from lovely fresh flavoursome tomatoes, adding zucchinis, mushrooms etc. Sometime add mince, sometimes not. Serve on pasta. Sometimes it is a tuna casserole, or perhaps chicken breasts cooked in wine. Stir fries (lots of vegies and diced chicken) are easy if you are limited to a stove top (although we often rent apartments with ovens). This last trip my new staple included couscous - extremely quick to prepare, cheap, and limited utensils required. I usually take disposable microwave containers with me and some foil disposable baking dishes.

We had a tiny kitchenette in Paris (hot plate, microwave, no counter space) but found that we could have casual, easy dinners with deli meat/cheese/olives, great bread. To add a bit of protein I made super quick bean salads (bought tins of cannellini beans etc.) and used the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper that were already there--

To this day, whenever we have bean salad at home my husband says, 'Just like Paris!"

I bring good salt from home in a baggie and buy a bottle of good olive oil when I get there. I transfer the oil to an empty water bottle to cut down on the weight.

Pasta in many forms is a no-brainer but you also might master a basic risotto recipe before you leave because once you have the basics down you can add all kinds of things to a risotto; it is also very forgiving with what kind of liquid you use (wine, broth, water.) Veggies, meat, seafood - all can be added to risotto with great results.

It is fun to get creative with local ingredients. Go to the local food markets and let your senses be your guide.

One traveling "staple" I use is chicken with vinegar but the recipe I use requires an oven. Here's the recipe:
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/30/di...sant-dish.html

I've made a ton of omelettes - you can get pretty creative there too... eggs just seem to taste better in Europe :)

Just wondering if this is your first trip across many time zones..
If so, keep in mind that during the first days your awake/asleep cycle will be out of sync anyway.
While you don't have to wait till 9 to have dinner in all the places you mentioned, you can easily set your inner clock to a slightly later schedule than at home, e.g. eat at 7 or 8, go to bed around midnight or 1, get up at 8.
If you are used to get up really early, say at 6 or even earlier, I doubt you will find many B&Bs where the lady of the house will be willing to prepare breakfast at that ungodly hour.
Even if you want an early start to explore your destinations, museums rarely open before 9, stores often not until 10.

Re. costs for groceries..
last time I was in the US (in April), and filled up the fridge for a friend where I was staying I almost dropped dead at check-out.. even with the very favorable exchange rate of the euro against the dollar..
Aside from bananas, it felt as if I paid 20-30% more than here.. exception: Switzerland.

I have never stayed at a b&b that provides a fridge and microwave to guests so you might find that difficult. Perhaps some agriturismo in Italy...?

And I agree with Cowboy, I find groceries significantly cheaper in Europe (and I live in London) than North America.

Here's a link to a thread I started two years ago, but I think most of the suggestions were still valid when we went into our neighborhood Picard when we were in Paris last spring.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rom-picard.cfm

Staying in apartments and cooking on your own makes sense when you are staying for a week or longer. It is somewhat difficult to buy exactly what you will eat; and while looking for food in a foreign land is often very enjoyable and a way to really know how the people live, it somewhat takes time from your official sightseeing. Also, the better stocked supermarkets are mainly in the suburbs and reaching them takes time also.
So, a few adviced for Italy. Buying prepared food (from "rosticcerie" or supermarkets) is cheaper than restaurants but more expensive than cooking your own. Cooking pasta, if you have the necessary (a pot, a colander, fresh water and a pinch of salt) is easy and relatively fast. Pasta may be served with ready sauces (available in any supermarket) and some parmigiano (available alredy grated in small packets at any supermarket). Another easy recipe: buy some diced prosciutto or ham or speck (again, available in supermarkets), fry it in olive oil and pour the pasta on it. Add grated parmigiano. As easy as that.
Ready salats are available again at any market, as well as season fruit. You are not going to starve in Italy and long kitchen hours are not necessary. Still, it takes more time than seating at a restaurant.

I don't know how many apartments have microwave ovens, but that would open up some possibilities: in the UK you can get ready-made meals in M&S. Waitrose, etc. I'm not talking about frozen TV dinner type meals, but chilled foods, ready made salads, etc. that could be put together to make an easy meal.

when we have rented apartments we have generally eaten out and used the apartment facilities just for breakfast, juicing oranges etc., though I have cooked entire meals on occasion.

in Italy you can get take away pizzas from proper ovens, and ready made meals from rosticcerie as well as supermarkets and delis, and in France there are traiteurs which well made up food.

with that and some salads and fruit, you should be fine.

"...and while looking for food in a foreign land is often very enjoyable and a way to really know how the people live, it somewhat takes time from your official sightseeing. "

asps, ha! Looking for food in a foreign land is a big part of my official sightseeing! :)

We change our eating habits in Italy. We go to the supermarket for croissants, orange juice, coffee, milk etc. for breakfast.
We then have a proper, large slow Italian lunch, at least two courses plus wine and might even return to the flat for a rest, read of newspapers etc. all the shops will be closed anyway. We then buy stuff from a small local shop, like bread, rolls and ham for a light supper.
Unfortunately, in Venice we discovered a very good patisserie. It's a good thing we did a lot of walking, or the return
plane might have had trouble taking off.

"I find groceries significantly cheaper in Europe (and I live in London) than North America." Not in Switzerland, they aren't. If you go food shopping in Switzerland and expect to find bargain prices for fresh food, you will be in for a surprise. But restaurants are even more expensive.

Switzerland is one place where having a full kitchen really works to your advantage. Or at least a freezer. Some suggestions from Swiss grocery stores:

Migros:
Frozen, bake at home pretzels (if your apartment comes with a real oven and not just a microwave oven). They're really tasty, esp warm from the oven. You can salt them to taste and add extras (pumpkin seeds, for example) if so inclined.
Marinated salmon. The Migros marinated fresh salmon filets are good, the marinade is just a little spicy. Pop them in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve with veggies or whatever you feel like.
Pumpkin stuffed pasta. A fall treat. Boil them for a few minutes (whatever the bag says). While they're boiling, in a frying pan melt some butter and add in small pieces of walnut and some fresh sage. Top with grated cheese. As I said above, it's more of a seasonal thing at Migros, but I can now get them in the summer at Manor.
Toast caviar. Get some lompefish caviar (it's cheap), mix it with some finely chopped onion, some fresh parsley, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Spread on toast.
Cheese. The larger Migros stores usually have an excellent cheese selection, experiment with Swiss cheeses you haven't tried before. The Appenzell region actually produces a nice Jersey blue cheese.
Migros is somewhat better than Coop, IMO, for fresh herbs.

Both Coop and Migros have decent pesto sauces and both sell a wide variety of fresh and dried pasta.

Breads. A British poster once complained on Fodors that Swiss breads were terrible and that there was no variety. I have no idea what he going on about. Manor, Coop, and Migros all sell a variety of excellent fresh-baked breads. Each chain has their own specialties. Your choice of white, whole grain, dark, plain, seeded, etc.

Coop
Most of Migros' products are their house brands. Coop sells a lot more global brands. Coop also sells alcohol (Migros doesn't, although the Denner chain, owned by Migros, does). Coop's organic ("bio") products are sold under the Naturaplan label. They have a wide selection of organic products, if you're so inclined. They even made a music video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4YrkbvKjnc
(with the lyrics in case you can't follow Swiss German, French, Italian. etc) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EJZ1Kdft5I

Coop's house brand chocolate chip cookies are pretty good if you feel like a ready-made snack.

We like Coop's Rosti better than Migros. Open up the pack, slap it in the pan and cook.

If you have an oven, you can often find whole chickens from Coop on "action" for as little as 9 francs.

I like the house yogurts from Migros and Manor and some of the local brands. I've got a jar of Toni raspberry yogurt open right now.

Manor has really good bundnerfleisch (dried beef).

Try bottled lemonade from the Ticino if you come across it. Light and refreshing.

Pizza in Italy and France is nothing like you get in America - all that thick crust and oily cheese and a million toppings. It's light with crispy crust and you'll want to eat all of it - it's delicious! Often pizzerias sell individual pies so you don't have left overs.

In France and Italy, Barilla pasta sauce (in the jar) is, again, delicious. Nothing like what they import to America.

In Italy, even the cheap olive oil from the supermarket is wonderful. You can add this and to fresh vegetables. No need to cook potatoes - bread can be your starch.

You can buy thick slices of ham for your meat and add some vegetables or store-bought salads.

Think about what you make at home - is every dinner elaborate or is it usually simple ingredients. Someone above mentioned apples with pork - fruit is standard when I cook pork but usually I use prunes and occasionally apples.

You can buy small salt and pepper shakers at home and bring them along with some dried spices in small zip lock bags.

<< We simply can't eat dinner at 9-10 pm and go to bed full >>

Where did you get the idea that you have to wait until 9:00 for dinner? Probably from someone who has never been to Europe. Perhaps it's best to leave preconceptions at home and explore other cultures. Try something new rather than the same old things you make at home.

"It's light with crispy crust and you'll want to eat all of it - it's delicious!"

Agreed, but we never had any problem finding that kind of pizza in Philadelphia -- including the delicious toppings. Our local pizza joint at 24th and Spruce made a fab goat cheese and grilled asparagus pizza.

<i>Where did you get the idea that you have to wait until 9:00 for dinner?</i>

Exactly! If you eat earlier, say around 7:00 pm, it may even be easier to get a table.

Jarred pizza sauce is still a processed food, and Barilla isn't that great IMO. Eating pizza a lot is not particularly healthy, either.

YOu don't have to wait until 9 pm in most countries to eat dinner (there are actually some restaurants in Spain that don't open until 9, never seen that in France, UK or Switzerland, where all of them are open by 8 that I've seen). And of course, if you don't eat at a real "restaurant", you can eat earlier, so if you just want cafe food, you can get that even earlier in France (and some restaurants open by 7:30, but a lot are not open at 7 pm).

I would hope one could move their internal dinner time to at least 7:30 when in Europe, that's not that big a stretch, also, obviously it would depend when you eat lunch. If you eat lunch later than usual (whenever that may be if one eats at 5 pm, which I can't imagine, but I suppose 11 am), it doesn't make sense to eat dinner at the same time, you shouldn't eat just because it is a certain time of day.

All good suggestions above. One of our go to dishes when staying in an apartment is Spaghetti Carbonara - the ingredients are simple to source, all you need is one pot and a frying pan (or even just one pot) ... and leftovers make for great breakfasts too - bacon and eggs!

Yield: 4 Servings

2 tb Extra virgin Olive oil
8 oz Pancetta or Guanciale cut into pieces 1″ long by 1/8" thick
3 Whole eggs
1 c Freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
Ground black Peppercorns
1 tb Kosher salt
1 lb Spaghetti

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium
flame. Add the pancetta and cook slowly until crisp and just lightly
browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Beat the eggs together in a bowl large enough to easily hold all the
pasta. Add the cooked pancetta and, if you like, some or all of the
rendered pancetta fat. Stir in the cheese and add at least
6-8 turns of the pepper mill. Set aside in a warm place.

Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil and add the salt. Plunge the
spaghetti into the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain the
spaghetti into a colander and then immediately toss into the bowl
with the egg, pancetta and cheese mixture. Stir the spaghetti well to
both cook the egg and coat the pasta, and serve immediately in heated
bowls. Top with grated Pecorino Romano.

PUT PASTA BOWL OVER HOT WATER IN THE POT TO HEAT PASTA

Yield: 4 servings

That's certainly not my recipe because it's missing the crème fraîche!

kerouac - I think Carbonara doesn't contain cream when made in the traditional way - the eggs and cheese make the sauce. (I should have added a comment to the recipe above to add a bit of pasta water if the sauce needs thinning)

We have never prepared Carbonara with creme fraiche; only eggs, cheese, and a bit of pasta water if necessary. Creme fraiche seems very fancy!

Delia uses cream: http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/t...carbonara.html

Delia uses cream>>

delia would! she's very heavy on the butter and cream, IMO.

no need for any cream in spaghetti carbonara, just spaghetti, bacon, and eggs, followed by black pepper and grated parmigiano or pecorino.

It's an ongoing debate certainly - whatever you prefer I say.....interesting article here

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...etti-carbonara

So much depends on your travel and eating habits, the specifics of the apartment, and how much time and effort you want to put into cooking, since after all, it's supposed to be about the travel, not about the cooking (IMHO).

For instance, there's no way I'd take the time or effort to shop for and prepare carbonara while traveling. That's just me.

We usually rent apartments, and start off the day with a good breakfast -- maybe cereal, fruit, yogurt, coffee. That works for us, because we can buy all that stuff one time, at the beginning of the trip, and not have to shop again for it.

Since we're out most of the day touring, we (a) have a big lunch if we have the time and have decided to go light at dinner or (b) grab something fast and easy on the go if we're trying to pack in a lot of daytime activities and plan to have a bigger dinner.

If we do plan on a bigger dinner, we usually buy something prepared or semi-prepared, and maybe add vegetables or a baked potato, rather than preparing a full meal. That's a halfway measure between paying restaurant prices and saving by eating in.

We'll be in Bologna in a few weeks. Hand made pasta (that cooks in three minutes), an etto or two of ragu and a handfull of Parmagiano from Tamborinni. How easy can it get?

We've rented 20 or more gites in France over the past 15 years because we love having eating out remain an option rather than a must do. Recipes I like at home I put on the computer and my full recipe set (currently 932 and counting!) goes on my phone. I love going to the markets and seeing all the incredibly fresh and tasty options on display. Oh the cheese! the fish! the oils! the....! you name it...

Yes I end up buying spices/herbs that will stay on behind. In my view that is the price of the pleasure of feeling like I am living in Nice or Domme or Pau or Paris or St. Mammert or... and not just visiting!

We are the same as tansay. We have spent 26 weeks in gites in France since 2006. Because we travel for longer than some [ our last trip was nine weeks ], eating out every day is just not financially an option for us. And as much as we love some cheese and charcuterie, which usually comprises our picnic lunch, we do not want it again for dinner. And we do love our veges. So I do cook. People have said to me that they do not go on holidays to cook, but if I said that, we would not go !!!

I enjoy cooking with things that are not readily available or are cheaper than where we live e.g. fresh sardines, guinea fowl, wonderful smoked sausages from the Jura. I usually end up leaving something in our final gite. We also enjoy the process of shopping for food when we are in France, be it at the markets, small shops or supermarkets. This is part of the holiday for us. So I suppose it depends on how you travel

I am always amazed at and thankful for the many thoughtful responses that people offer for no reason other than - well, to be helpful and to share their experiences! Thanks to all of you for many wonderful ideas that I hadn't considered - but will now that they have been suggested! And I will try the spaghetti carbonara, either at home or on the road. I have had it in restaurants but haven't prepared it. (Actually, my husband does the cooking these days as he is retired, while I continue to work. And he does a wonderful job!)

In response to your responses, the idea that one typically eats later came from posters' comments on the forums, trip reports, and guide books, as well as our own experience on our last trip - to Switzerland, when we ate at what were late times for us and invariably were alone in the restaurant, often until we were ready to leave. A number of people have commented on trip reports (for Italy)that they made a reservation for 9 and found the restaurant empty, while it filled up around 10-10:30. Some have even said that many restaurants do not even open until 8 pm or later. So it is good to be reassured that if we should decide to have dinner out, we can eat before what for us would be almost bedtime! We do get up and out early as we are often so excited by what the next day holds that we simply wake up very early, so we tend not to stay up late.

We had excellent pizza in southern Switzerland and look forward to the simple taste of pizza in Italy, though we don't want to "survive" on it! We are able to get very good Italian food in our city but look forward to "the real thing."

We also had amazing bread and cheese in Switzerland and sometimes ate that for lunch while on the train to our next stop. (We were fortunate that there was a cheese market the day we arrived in Lucerne.) I have searched for similar bread and cheese here (in the US) but haven't found anything that tastes the same.

I would be curious to hear from posters who found groceries in the US to be so expensive to share what city and what kind of grocery store they shopped in while in the US. I enjoy checking out markets and grocery stores when I travel and have been shocked at prices in London and other parts of England, Paris, Athens, and, as others mentioned, Switzerland (although the bread was a good price!) About every other week, I buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco for $5 that serves my husband and me with enough left for at least one other meal. Even at a regular grocery store, they are rarely more than $7-$8. One can, of course, shop at Whole Foods or other upscale grocery stores and pay an arm and a leg, but that isn't necessary.

I didn't mean to imply that I expected to find a B&B with a frig and microwave as I have not seen one either - just that it would be ideal (for us) to have a lovely breakfast ready and waiting in the morning and also be able to keep cold water, meats and cheeses, veggies, etc in the frig to make sandwiches, and to pop a prepared dish in the microwave to warm it up for dinner. Wishful thinking!

Again, thank each of you for taking the time to share your experiences, which have been very helpful. We have booked an apartment with a nice kitchen in Bellagio and are about to book one in Florence. How much we end up using the kitchens we shall see!

For reference, when I was in Rome last spring, we purchased dinner in the prepared foods section of a Conad grocery store. A rotisserie chicken and several side dishes totaled 13E, which I thought was pretty reasonable. The two of us had plenty for dinner, and leftovers for the following day.

We also found that restaurants in Venice and Pienza were more tourist-oriented and felt full enough around 7PM or so. Rome seemed to be on a later schedule, but it just depends on if you care if you are eating alone, I suppose.

But I think that cooking sounds great. I'm sure you will come up with some excellent meals. Have a wonderful trip!

drchris- you will love cooking in Florence. Get thee to the Central Market first thing upon arrival, and you will find everything your little heart desires! :)

I was just in Rome for 3 weeks and had a full kitchen in our apartment. (Burners were a little small for my comfort, but they worked.)

I made a fair amount of pasta. Just fresh cherry tomatoes cut in half, a little garlic, salt and pepper, EVOO and some oregano. It was delicious.

I went to several different markets on this recent trip and find that Italian markets are becoming more "Westernized" each year. I could never find "prepared" mayonnaise on recent trips, but did find it in my little grocery near the apartment. Also very surprised to see many more prepared foods. Bagged salads, prepacked servings of tomatoes and mushrooms and green beans, etc.

Always kept crackers and jam, too. Cereal also. One thing that did catch me off guard- the milk was always only good for a few days, not a few weeks like here in the States. Additionally, if you don't speak Italian, make sure you get someone to help you get the right milk! They seem to have a dozen kinds!

If you've been out pounding the pavement all day, you may just delight in an antipasti platter and glass of wine for dinner. So easy to put that together!

(I attempted to make "French toast" with what was labeled, "American Style Bread". NOT successful. The bread was so dense, it just wouldn't soak up any egg. Next time, I'll look for some brioche or cholla!) hahaha

Buon viaggio!

drchris --

This April, I did my shopping (usually for a 4-7 day supply of everyday goods) at regular large supermarkets like Safeway or Albertsons and also a Wal-Mart in Nevada and North Carolina. My indicator for "expensive" was not the high-end ranges of produce or deli groceries but more what I had to pay when I wanted the cheapest or something in the middle range. After some rough math of computing dollars per pound or gallon into euros per kilo or liter, I found that many staple foods had been somewhat more pricey.

OTOH, I never do my grocery shopping over here at street markets where you usually pay more.

Most consumer watchdog surveys here have shown anyway that produce in supermarkets (and surprisingly often in discount chains) is in general more fresh (least time from farm to shelf) and more in compliance with consumer safety standards, i.e. allowable level of contamination or zero if labelled as organic...

Which is not much surprising as the large chains usually have their own logistics: contracted farmers, state-of-the art transport and storage facilities, short shelf life in the supermarkets due to high turnover - and operating under the scrutiny of independent watchdogs and official supervision.