This is a a cookbook blog about taking a vacation vicariously. I am attempting to accomplish this by reviewing travel books, and then finding matching travel recipes, travel music, travel movies and travel literature that you can enjoy at home. So whether you are actually planning a trip, or just need a vacation, but can't leave home, this cookbook blog will let you try travel foods and culture that you have never tried.
Once a month, about the second Monday of the month, I plan to pick a popular travel destination and post reviews of the best-selling travel books written about it that I have been reading all month. I also plan to include the best matching recipes I can find, plus regional music, cultural literature, and a movie that celebrates the location. I plan to do this all from my living room for all except one location; Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado. For Colfax, I will leave my living room and hunt down recipes and experiences that celebrate the travel location chosen for that month. For example, for the Caribbean, I will hunt for Caribbean restaurants and experiences that can be found on Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado, and post some of my findings on this blog, for you to enjoy. I also plan to interview the people of Colfax Avenue, and get snippets of their life stories. These stories won't be on my blog, they will be found in a book, that plan to publish in about Spring of 2016.
In order to enjoy armchair travel, at home, you will need to have mastered three skills:
- intermediate cooking skills
- the skill of shopping at international specialty grocery stores. (If there are not any in your area, I will include links to online shops.)
- the skill of finding time to shop, cook, and eat without interruption by budgeting your time, prioritizing your tasks, delegating your responsibilities, automating some of your tasks, and/or giving tasks to others that really belong to them for a while.
If you have trouble cooking the recipes you can find if anyone else has already solved this problem by clicking the forum link (http://armchairtravelcook.freeforums.net/), located near the top of my blog, or by emailing me at armchiartravelcooking@gmail.com.
If your cooking skills are hopelessly below intermediate, and you live near Denver, Colorado, you can simply visit one of the Colfax Avenue restaurants in this blog. If your cooking skills are hopelessly below intermediate, and you don't live near Denver, Colorado, perhaps you can find a restaurant in your city that will cook a similar dish for you. Or perhaps you can find a restaurant in your city listed in the forum, or by emailing me, so that I can search for you.
One of my cooking rules that I must warn you about, that you might not like; is that I never use sugar when I cook. So, all of my recipes will be adapted to be a sugar-free, and sometimes I simply serve fruit instead of a dessert. I am a very busy person, and for the past 17 years, I have found that I have more energy, and get more done each day, if I eat an organic whole food diet, and if I can't eat organic whole foods everyday, I will remain energetic if I at least, don't eat sugar. I do use sweeteners, but only stevia, honey, fruit juice, barley malt, rice syrup, or erythritol.
If your cooking skills are hopelessly below intermediate, and you live near Denver, Colorado, you can simply visit one of the Colfax Avenue restaurants in this blog. If your cooking skills are hopelessly below intermediate, and you don't live near Denver, Colorado, perhaps you can find a restaurant in your city that will cook a similar dish for you. Or perhaps you can find a restaurant in your city listed in the forum, or by emailing me, so that I can search for you.
One of my cooking rules that I must warn you about, that you might not like; is that I never use sugar when I cook. So, all of my recipes will be adapted to be a sugar-free, and sometimes I simply serve fruit instead of a dessert. I am a very busy person, and for the past 17 years, I have found that I have more energy, and get more done each day, if I eat an organic whole food diet, and if I can't eat organic whole foods everyday, I will remain energetic if I at least, don't eat sugar. I do use sweeteners, but only stevia, honey, fruit juice, barley malt, rice syrup, or erythritol.
For January 2015, I plan to post reviews and recipes for the Caribbean. The Caribbean is a big place with over 31 islands and coastal cities and towns. So, I have picked just three; Cancun, the least expensive, Aruba, the most popular, and St. Barthelemy, the most expensive.
I am reviewing 10 kinds of travel journals; New York Times Bestsellers, conventional, paperless, kid-friendly, wheelchair-friendly, dog-friendly, humanitarian or mission travel, eco-travel, any information I can find about touring intentional communities.
I am a full-time caregiver for my aging parent, as well as the parent of a gamer, so I actually don't get to travel outside of Colorado very often. Our last two travel destinations were a tour of Colorado Springs, CO, on the cheap, (2010), and a tour of the New York Area including New City, New York, Washington, DC, a small town in the Adirondack Mountains, plus two intentional communities in the area (2009).
For our January 2015 preview, I am including links to YouTube videos about travel to Cancun, Aruba, and St. Bart's.
Cancun
Cancun is in Mexico. The national language is Spanish. It's not just an island, it's a coastal city of about 700,000, with an island off the coast. It's the least expensive travel location in the Caribbean, so it is very, very popular. It's located at about 11AM around the Caribbean Sea, (if the Caribbean Sea were a clock). According to US News, Travel, the best time to travel to Cancun in from December to April. The weather is near perfect, then, averaging around 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The best time to avoid is the summer, when the hurricanes come. It is rumored to be an excellent place to scuba dive. Well, let's find out which travel books are the best. Here is a link to a YouTube video of Cancun from Cancun Travel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6nx-OJ0hhY
Aruba
Aruba is an island of about 100,000, located at about 5:30PM around the Caribbean Sea. The national languages are Dutch and Papiamento. It is the second most poplar travel location in the Caribbean. Surprisingly, Aruba is not humid, like much of the Caribbean. It's a desert, with tremendous white sandy beaches. According the USA Today, the best time to travel to Aruba is anytime. It's outside of the hurricane belt, so you can always count on sunny weather and calm seas, especially in the tourist areas. It's rumored to have a world class music festival in about May. Here is a link to a YouTube video about Aruba from TripFilms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILwODXqPnmA
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Barthelemy, Saint Bart, or Saint Barth is an island located at about 3PM around the Caribbean Sea. The population is about 90,000. It is the most expensive travel location in the area, and a vacation spot for the rich and famous. What Aspen is to Colorado, and what Hollywood is the the US, St. Bart is to the Caribbean. The national language is French. According to US News, Travel, the best time to go there is May or June because it's right before hurricane season, and after their most expensive rate time of the year. The rich and famous usually vacation there, during Christmas and New Years. The weather is actually better during Christmas and New Years, but the prices are rumored to make your hair fall out. The temperature year round is between 60 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Dolphin and whale sightings are rumored to be common until May. And giant turtles can be seen year round. Here is a link to a YouTube video about St. Bart's by Star 1080 Productions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhkhhzDjR-g
So, I'm off to read travel books, and visit the Caribbean as an armchair tourist.. Later, til about mid January.
