Flying Food

As most of you are aware, food is no longer provided on domestic flights in the US (small bags of peanuts do not count as food!). So, along with having to chuck all liquids before going through security, taking off our shoes, belts, and watches and possibly getting a pat down, we are rewarded for our pains by overpriced airport water bottles (I paid $1.79 in Boston and $1.99 in Seattle) and the choice of buying a deli sandwich for $7 or bringing our own food.

I have been the first in line to whine about the removal of on-flight meals right from the start, but I am coming to realize that the absence of sub-par plane food can actually be a blessing in disguise. For, if memory serves me correctly, plane food was disgusting. For some reason, I always looked forward to plane food; maybe it was all the cute little compartments and the hope of a chewy brownie square. Instead, I usually got mushy rice and vegetables or some sort of sandwich with bread that was either rye and pumpernickel (yuck) or had the consistency of cardboard. In short, plane food was always disappointing.

However, on this trip, I had a brain wave. For the late night trip to Seattle from Boston I brought a small log of Chevre Goat Cheese (you can get perfect airplane sizes at Trader Joe's for $2.50; I popped mine in a small tupperware container), water crackers, and cucumber sticks. It wasn't too heavy for late night snacking, but was very satisfying. I could also dip both the crackers and the cucumber in the Chevre, so no utensils were necessary. The tang of the Chevre was quite refreshing along with the juiciness of the cucumber and the crunch of the water crackers, and I felt like I was having a treat that I would only normally get to experience when we have company over.

For the trip back to Boston, I went back to Trader Joe's and bought herbed Chevre (Chevre covered in chopped fresh herbs), Multigrain/Flaxseed water crackers (better than they sound!) and packed those along with cucumber spears, hardboiled eggs, large green Spanish olives, pickles, grapes, apples, and cookies. While my row-mate ate her Caesar Salad that she probably overpaid for in the airport, I felt like I was on a picnic as I nibbled on the food throughout the day. Combine that with a hot cup of tea on my layover at JFK with my Earl Grey teabag that I brought myself (along with free lemon wedges from the airport bar), and I felt both sustained and refreshed despite fighting a stomach bug and going off of 3 hours sleep.

So, all that to say, I'm not missing plane food anymore and plan to use my winning combination of Chevre, crackers, and other picnic fare on my next plane ride. I'm almost looking forward to it!