Menu ideas for weekends away: Becoming my parents

For the old school Mammoth Crew (EC, EC, SH, JH, CS, MS, JS, JS)

Growing up, our closest family friends were the children whose fathers went to the same medical school as my father.  We all went to the same church, same high school, and lived within a 15 mile radius of one another.  With this core of 4 families, we would take off to the mountains (usually Mammoth Mountain by car) every Christmas, spring break and sometimes even Presidents' weekend (when you used to get a separate day for President Washington and another one for President Lincoln).  We'd usually stay two families per condo, kids all jammed up in one room and the parents in their own room.  It was pure fun, lots of laughs, and something that we looked forward to every year.

Our moms would plan food, pack food, take it up and we would never eat out.  We only ate out at lunch if we were on the mountain but the rest of the meals were consumed at the condo.  What this meant was that after a day of skiing the moms would come back and whip up a delicious meal and we would chow down.  We always had a delicious dinner and we never went hungry.  Our moms always planned well and prepared it so that we could always have everything we needed at the condo. There was always kimchee, marinated meats, a rice cooker, rice and Korean staples.  We never went to the grocery store and we always brought everything up ourselves.  I have a clear recollection of my father trying to ram everything into the car (before minivans were popular) and muttering that we'd better eat through everything or he'd leave it up on the mountain.  (This from the man who ABSOLUTELY has to have kimchee.)

Over the past weekend I felt myself channeling my mother.  10 adults and 7 children decided to make the trip up to Lake Tahoe to experience some snow, hang out together and eat together.  Friends JEL, CJR, and I planned a menu and we brought up every single bit of food in our car.  I marinated about 30 lbs of meat, bought 60 eggs, two gallons of milk and the list goes on.  The goal was to have everything we needed to eat well and not have to go to the supermarket.  We planned a menu, created grocery lists, divided up the work and brought up food for 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 3 dinners.  

We ended up eating almost everything and having a blast.  I laughed harder than I have in a long long time and fell off my chair on more than a few occasions.  I did end up with a black eye, compliments of a snow fight, but aside from that, it was wonderful.  The food preparation actually wasn't that hard, so I thought I'd share our menu ideas and that way people can plan and get away in the near and immediate future.  At the end, I felt proud of a job well done, and wondered if my own mom felt the same way when we were young.
Breakfast Ideas

Menu #1
Bagels with cream cheese
Fruit

Menu #2
Scrambled eggs
Sausages
Home fries
Fresh fruit

Lunch Ideas

Menu #1
Asian Sandwiches (marinated meats leftover from dinner)
Hot Artichoke Dip

Menu #2
Kimchee Fried Rice with Spam, topped with a fried egg


Dinner Ideas

Menu #1
Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Sausages
Green Salad

Menu #2
Korean BBQ Flank Steak (cooked on the grill)
Ginger Soy Chicken (cooked on the grill)
Garlic Broccoli
Kimchee Chigae
Steamed Rice

Menu #3
Roll your own sushi with fillings:
     Spam (lightly cooked in sesame oil)
     Fried Egg
     Cucumber
     Radish Sprouts
     Avocado
     Tobiko
Kimchee Quesadilla

Sweet Treats and Fabulous Extras


Oatmeal Carmelitas
Chewy Crispy Oatmeal Toffee Chip Cookies
Cranberry Oatmeal Toffee Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pecan Rolo Pretzels  (these can actually be made at the location - easy ingredients and easy prep.)

Perfect after being in the snow - hot chocolate and oatmeal carmelitas

Share this post