Taste Vacations

The Taste Vacations team recently returned from their annual planning meeting with our sister company, Zephyr Adventures, in beautiful Red Lodge, Montana.   Taste Vacations is a 100% virtual company, meaning all of our employees are scattered across the country working from various home office locations. We gathered for a productive week of work, fun, and of course, delicious food and drink while staying in a newly renovated historic home located in the heart of the adorable mountain town. During our time together, we engaged in a beer tasting dinner and tortilla-making demonstration at a local taco joint called, Mas Taco, and had fun testing our wine knowledge with a blind wine tasting. On our last night together, we arranged for Chef Chris Lockhart, of the soon-to-be-opening Ox Pasture, to prepare a magnificent private dinner.

We enjoyed observing and chatting with Chris, and his lovely wife Gina, while he prepared our delicious multi-course meal.  He utilized a variety of interesting cooking techniques, including sous-vide, where he placed beets in vacuum-sealed plastic bags and submerged them into a temperature-controlled water bath. Sous-vide is a very useful technique because it gives the chef a very high level of control over the texture of the finished dish while eliminating any chance of over- or undercooking it.  It is typically used for meat or fish, but Chris expertly utilized this method with the delicious beets that were used in a few of the dishes, including the delightfully pink goat cheese and beet balls featured above.  The meal and the company who shared it made for a satisfying and amusing evening.

We left our annual meeting happy, well-fed, and energized for the year to come.

We are officially in the heart of holiday travel season.  Though this can be one of the happiest times of year, it can also be one of the most stressful and frustrating.  We’re here with a few tips to help make it a little more bearable so you can concentrate on enjoying time spent with your loved ones.

Holiday Travel Tips:

• Stay fueled.  We’re all guilty of getting “hangry” at one time or another.  Holiday travel usually causes a change in daily routines as well as additional stress, which may affect your eating schedule in one way or another.  If traveling by car, make sure to pack (healthy) snacks and plenty of water for you and your family. And if traveling by plane, make sure to eat someting before boarding or at least get yourself a bag of trail mix at one of the airport shops ahead of time.
• Gifts for family and friends. Whether you are driving or flying, consider shipping your gifts ahead of time. This way you won’t have to worry about having enough room in your car or suitcase for additional items. If shipping ahead of time isn’t an option, try using a collapsible suitcase or duffle bag that can then be folded up and packed in your normal suitcase with your regular travel items for the trip home.
• Stay connected. There are a huge number of useful travel apps out there – and for good reason! You’re most likely on your phone while waiting in the airport anyways, you might as well have some helpful ways to find places to eat, buy necessary goods, or relax at a gate near you.  Check out Afar’s list of 7 Amazing Airport Apps That Make Your Flight Suck Less.
• Avoid traveling during peak times. The day before a holiday is always going to be hectic. Consider flying in early that morning. You’ll most likely avoid long lines and traffic jams which will already make your holiday all around more pleasant. Or if flying in that day isn’t an option, consider flying in on the first flight out as it will be the least likely to get delayed or cancelled.  And if driving, the best time to hit the road is when most people are sleeping – consider driving early in the morning or late at night.
• Pack a positive attitude. Sounds lame, but it can be very effective to begin your travels already accepting that there are going to be things that are simply out of your control.  It’s the holidays – there are way more people traveling on the roads and through the airports, tensions are higher than normal, and weather can always be an issue no matter what part of the country you’re traveling to. The sooner you sit back and accept whatever hiccups your journey may hold, the happier your travels will be.

Good luck and happy holidays!

The term “foodie” generally refers to someone who seeks out new food experiences as a hobby rather than simply eating out of convenience or hunger.  Not only are we at Taste Vacations foodies ourselves, but we down right celebrate foodie culture. We relish in the novel and unique, get excited by the decadent and unexpected, and live for the innovative and bizarre.   However, foodies sometimes get a bad rap from those that merely think of food as sustenance rather than an adventure for your senses. There is a general assumption that foodies tend to over indulge in all kinds of rich, calorie-heavy cuisines and therefore, might not have the healthiest of habits. But according to a study conducted by Cornell University, this assumption is completely wrong.

The researchers looked at the correlation between adventurous/non-adventurous eating and various health factors such as BMI, lifestyle choices, and psychological elements. They found that  those that are more open to trying different foods led healthier lives. Adventurous eaters had lower BMIs, and were more likely to be concerned about the healthfulness of food, be physically active, cook to connect with their heritage, and host friends for dinner, when compared to non-adventurous eaters

Check out this quick video by Cornell’s Dr. Brian Wasnik, co-author of the study and the director of Cornell’s Food and Brand lab:

So we say, keep your adventurous foodie ways! Keep exploring the new, the unique, and the weird – you’ll not only be saving yourself from the mundane and boring, but from unhealthy choices as well!

Looking for a “foodie” getaway? Check out our food tours to Peru, Tuscany, and Spain!