Peter’s cooking

I am one of the most spoiled women who ever lived — I have a husband who likes to cook. Not only that, Peter is fantastic at it! And he does all the menu-planning and shopping, too.

It started in earnest when Peter lived in Philadelphia for about 18 months more than 15 years ago; while my solo dining habit alone quickly became unmemorable, he began creating truly restaurant-worthy meals. And he has continued the practice every since, so that now it is the rare occasion when I “run the kitchen.”

What that means is that he loves to find ideas to try, compare recipes and then discover an often-even-better one than whatever had originally inspired him, pick up whatever we need to make it, and then produce it. Yum!

Although the cooking conditions change when we’re traveling — every apartment has a different configuration and equipment — he tends to handle these chores the same when we’re away from Teton Valley, with frequent visits to the fresh-produce market as well as the neighborhood grocery.*

We have a few “standards” that he makes fairly often — pasta in all varieties, big salads, interesting soups. Go-to choices for hot big meals include just about any kind of noodle with veggies and/or meatballs or sausage, with or without a sauce; there seems to be no end of the ways to cook these simple ingredients together.

We also try to be creative about “eating at home” even if we’re staying in a hotel without a kitchen. We might opt for tuna sandwiches with tomatoes on big rolls — perfect double-bed dinner. Another easy one that comes in pre-packaged pieces — green salad with hummus and crackers. Our dressing of choice is balsamic glaze, with a splash of olive oil. One of the first things we snag at a grocery on a “big trip” (several weeks to several months) is salt and pepper — and we’ll use it up along the way.

We also like frozen potatoes heated up in a skillet and some kind of chicken, maybe roasted at the grocery or, on this trip especially, breaded filets from the store’s deli ( for a “Wiener schnitzel” par excellence).

For breakfast, we like drink yogurt, enjoy a fresh pastry from a nearby bakery, or maybe Peter will whip up an easy ham and cheese omelet with potatoes. And coffee. That’s a must-have to start the morning — two cups for him, just one for me. (We have learned the word for cream in *many* languages!)

It’s fun to make adjustments to conditions in each specific place, and we also try to modify our eating pattern to fit the country we’re in. Thus, in Bari, Italy last year, we were extremely content to purchase home-made wine sold by our neighbor across the street (and bottled in plastic 2-liter bottles). On the Ring Road in Iceland, we consumed many more cold-cut and cheese sandwiches than typical, because the makings for those were available in every grocery, regardless of how small. In Sicily, we didn’t know what kind of fish we were selecting but it was off-the-boat fresh at the noisy Catania fish market.

But that doesn’t keep us from trying some creative adaptations to home favorites.

Today, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was no different. For lunch we had some fresh vegetables left over from our visit to the Central Market a couple days ago and with the addition of a little bit of chicken, brown rice, red curry paste and a can of coconut milk (yes, these ingredients are available from the good-sized Spar store down the street!) Presto, we had our main meal for the day. Like the Slovenes, we’ll have something lighter for dinner.

“Something lighter” might be leftovers — I can be extremely creative about packaging them! — followed by a quick trip to the closest Gelateria.

I am spoiled indeed!

• More about ingredient-shopping in different environs in a future blog post..