On Holiday

My recent absence has been because I’m on holiday in Vail, Colorado doing a whole lot of nothing and enjoying every second of it, especially the eating part.

While on vacation, I believe that food is definitely part of the experience and typically return having visibly gained weight. This also has a tendency to double or triple my bill for the trip so this time, I’m staying in a relative’s condo and have decided to cook most of my meals simply because I’m broke. But that hasn’t quieted my urge to eat out at every moment. There is a constant tug-of-war in my head on wanting to cook simple, good, and frugal food at home, and diving into debt by eating foie gras with everything.

Things have been going well this trip (so far); I’ve made chili, grilled some steaks and hamburgers, and made more hash browns than you can imagine. With Vail prices, that means that I’ve saved somewhere around $200—maybe $400.

The thing that can make me question the value of it all is something like the creamy stew of rabbit confit and dumplings I had today for lunch with a glass of wine. Each element was in prefect balance. It was also as if bread and butter were made to sop up the remains of the dish. That’s what a vacation is about, at least I think it is.

My parents just happen to be vacationing here at the same time, so my girlfriend and I had them over last night for hamburgers, brussel sprouts, and sweet potatoes. We popped open a handful of local Colorado microbrews and cooked together. It was the most relaxing thing I’ve done in a long time. That’s also what vacation is all about.

Not wanting to choose between either of these, I’ll settle for saying that, for me, the tug-of-war between home-cooked meals and dining out is fine by me since I seem to be the winner.