Plane Picnics

I usually from Atlanta to Milwaukee, so I don’t have to pack too many snacks. I do pack them because my little guy has food allergies and can’t have a lot of things in airports. French fries are always a safe option or fruit from Starbucks. I bring crackers and some food packages from Plum Tots. xx

Wow awesome blog stuff shared here…

Before liquids were limited on flights one of my aunts always used to take gin & tonics in jam jars. Classy and economical!

You obviously don’t fly Emirates.

My favorite airline dish (besides the cheese and fruit, obviously!) is the french carrot salad, travels so well, tastes great at any temperature, lasts for a long time. It’s so nice to have fresh veggies on the stuffy plane! On my last flight home to New York this week, I also smuggled some avocados from my folks’ back yard in California!
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/03/carrot-kale-carry-on.html

there was a great piece about this in the NY Times a couple years back. When I made my first international flight, I totally did this (I’ve only had two!). I made little sandwiches of fresh goat cheese, blood orange vinagrette and arugula, a salad, and I think even some fruit and a bit of chocolate. Good thing, too – we were stuck on the runway for an hour and a half, with the AC not working. Everyone was hot and hungry. I cracked open my dinner and shared my picnic with the delightful older British woman who was going home to visit family and see her great grandchildren! By the time the food service finally came, we were both fully sated and relaxing, with better nosh in our bellies.

The added bonus of packing your own chic meal is that the stewards sometimes notice – and SOME reward good taste in food by bringing you a free bottle of wine. Or a better wine option. That actually happened on our flight – the drink service was just starting, but the steward popped back from business class to give my new friend and I bottles of wine to enjoy with our fine meal!

Plane picnics are such a great idea….I’m planning on a midnight one for our trip next week. Traveling with a 20 month old on a flight starting at 11pm….why oh why did I book it?

Am I the only one who would pack and picnic and still end up eating (parts of…) the airplane food as well? …I obviously have zero willpower. :D

Clementine’s saved me on a 10 hour flight once! The man sitting next to me had the worst B.O. so I just kept peeling open my yummy little snacks and kept the peels to sniff along the way. Whatever works huh?

We just flew back to Paris and packed hard boiled eggs as part of our picnic (or knock, knock eggs as our four year old calls them). I panicked at first over the mess, but air sick bags are perfect for the shells! We also had bagels (for our teething 10month old), cheese sandwiches, apples, raisins, rice crackers, and Hello Kitty cookies (as an extra treat for our four year old).

I love this idea! each year my husband and I save to take one big trip. On our flight from Russia, we packed cheese sandwiches, clementines and these small, spiny Russian cucumbers. On our way to Sweden last year, we packed Muffeletta sandwiches, which are messy but travel well because they stay tasty at room temp (just cured meat, cheese and olive salad). This year we are going to Vietnam! It’s a 30 hour flight, so I might need to pack 3-4 plane picnics. Yikes! Thanks for these picnic ideas.

I love this idea!

I actually did it once and people starred at us in jealousy… hehe The bad thing is that depending on others personal taste and lack of common courtesy it could be a bit smelly.

Such a good idea to do a travel-inspired week! Your blog is very inspiring. Great job Joanna!

Marina

This summer I read david lebovitz’s book The Sweet Life in which I think he describes his perfect plane picnic when leaving paris for the states. inspiring.

Back when I lived with my parents, my dad and I would *always* split a muffaletta (a big ol italian sandwich with olive salad and italian meats & cheeses) from Central’s Grocery in the Quarter when we were headed out of town. It’s seriously stinky, but DELICIOUS. I always figured the other people on the plane were either super jealous or super pissed when they got a whiff.

The When Harry Met Sally picture made me smile. That movie will never stop being amazing.

I think it’s a good idea to stay away from stuff that could stain your travel clothes! How terrible would it be if you hit some bad turbulence when you have that wine in your hand?
And if you’re on a long distance flight, crumbs in your pants can be the absolute worst thing.

Airplane food isn’t always so bad though. I fly regularly, and I find that Qantas and British Airways have some of the best meals!

I always pack the standard trail mix kind of snacks..but I always manage to find the LOUDEST packaging. I usually travel early, like 6:30-7am and it’s always so quiet…except me and my loud snack. [I get really anxious about getting ON the plane..so I don’t usually eat before]

http://www.ncdots.blogspot.com

Do you watch Pan Am…it’s one of my favorite shows! It looks like flying was quite the lovely experience back in the ’60s… sigh… :)

Too bad we can’t bring our own wine too! =)

I often bring snacks to eat at the airport (usually junk food, I must confess), but I’ve never had a picnic on a plane. If I am flying at mealtime, I generally just grab some fast food at the airport, where prices are, surprisingly, not all that marked up.

I love travelling with my aunt who always prepares plane picnics just like that pictured! Mid flight she will produce a large baguette, cheese, tomatoes and selection of fresh cut salami and hams to share between everyone in the travelling party. She even has a little bottle of olive oil under 100 mls for the ultimate mediteranian picnic :)

I love this idea! The last time I flew my seatmate pulled out a persimmon! Kind of random, right?

always! I get so hungry and crappy plane food you have to pay for is no option. flew yesterday and my older sister made me a nice sandwich :)

jo, in sf, we usually call bi rite and tell them we’re getting on a plane and they pack something delicious up for us.

yum.

So far I flew with Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and Qatar Airlines. All of them offer free delicious food. Not saying this only because I’m Turkish but Turkish Airlines has the best gourmet dishes. Also you can choose vegetarian, low calorie etc. food while booking your ticket. To me it’s a part of good service.
Bringing food with me to the plane is not my thing. I can’t eat while other people don’t so I’d prefer to starve. :)

Wow this is such a great idea!! I used to be that person everyone hated because I brought McDs on the plane but no more haha!!

Jo I love reading your blog, we are new members and you always have such great articles!!

Love, Laura & Sarah
sprezzaturaourway.blogspot.com

benson, that’s awesome!! jenna, you can typically bring food through security — just not drinks. so you could bring cheese, bread, fruit, whatever….i always think it would be delicious to bring a pasta with tons of vegetables, like a classic pasta primavera.

This idea is simply divine! Why didn’t I think of it before?? Bringing some cheese, meat and bread and perhaps some grapes or clementines sounds like the perfect way to travel, combining both taste and nutrition.

I would echo what others have written about not bringing anything too smelly. As someone who get terrible, terrible migraines (which can be triggered by smells) it would not be pleasant to be trapped with strong odors for multiple hours at a time. : /

Callie @ A Chance To Die

we plan to do this the next time we take the train! cheese, wine, and the chicago skyline!

Peanut M&M’s. Did you say it needed to be healthy? :)

Normally I take with me crisps or some sandwiches.

But here’s a little something you can make as well:
Buy a Turkish bread, slice it in half (like you would do with a baguette or a normal sandwich), put some spinach leaves on it, black olives, feta cheese and sprinkle on some olive oil (to make it less dry) and pepper.
Just wrap it up in tin foil (or how do I write this…?) and you can have a perfectly healthy, delicious sandwich on your plane. Plus: it makes you feel like you’re on a holiday instantly because of the mediterranean taste!

Love,
Nancy

PS In Europe you can only take food with you but no drinks. They will grab it out of your handluggage immediately and throw away in the bin.
PPS You can take with you the food you like, from your home, no problem. But not too smelly otherwise I’m sure the flight attendant would kindly ask you to hand over the smelly fish (of whatever you have – some fried for instance) and he/she’ll throw it overboard :)

I thought you weren’t allowed to bring your own food or drinks through security?

I just keep it simple. I make a frozen or homemade pizza the night before and put it in the fridge. I put a few slices in a zip lock bag and take it along. No mess, no waste.

Such a great ideabc the bread and cheese holds well- AND plane food is so stale and processed.

:) I brought clementines on the trip back from Paris to US (grueling 9 hours) and people were thanking me for the fresh new air that peeling them created…such a welcome treat (and smell!) during such a long journey.