In April, we took a two-week vacation to our favorite, little beach house on Provincetown Harbor. The tiny house has a complete kitchen and this particular unit at the Bayshore/Chandler complex is well equipped for a cook with good pans, solid cutting boards, and sharp knives. But this year I decided to take a break from cooking and enjoy the wonderful take-out options that are now available year-round in Ptown.
I did sear off some scallops for Ed on a couple of evenings. Mac's Fish House Provincetown offers pristine seafood in the market adjacent to their restaurant.
They would have been happy to cook a lobster for me, but past experience told me the lobster meat offered by the pound would make an excellent lobster roll without the work of cracking and cleaning the crustacean.
Take-Out options at Far Land Provisions change daily. (Photo courtesy of Far Land Provisions website)
Casual Dining Options
Having a full kitchen and comfortable indoor and outdoor dining areas opens up your food options. You don't have to dine out, but you are also not required to cook. Breakfast is pretty routine for us. We both prefer oatmeal and fruit. Once settled and unpacked, we make a supermarket run and stock up on breakfast food, drinks, salad ingredients, and snacks. After that, we try to add some prepared food each day from local shops like Angel Foods and Far Land Provisions.
Shepherd's pie from Angel Foods with layers of meat, vegetables, and potatoes
Tips For Vacation Take-Out
After years of practice, we've come up with some recommendations for those who may decide to supplement dining out with some take-out food in a vacation rental.
- Early in the vacation, if you have a larger group, a roasted chicken can be a good start on having a protein supply on hand.
- To be sure we would use up our chicken (and because I wasn't planning to cook anything that might use a whole chicken), we opted for grilled chicken breasts. Sliced, they can be used for sandwiches or tossed in salads.
- To ensure we kept up a fairly balanced diet, we tried to have a variety of fruits & vegetables on hand along with dairy, grains, and protein – which in our case meant lots of fresh seafood.
- Prepared meals like the shepherd's pie from Angel Foods (shown in the photo above) offered an easy but healthy, balanced dinner.
- Don't forget the soups. We always pick up a frozen soup from Angel Foods as a part of our first supply run. Then there's something for anyone who wants a lighter meal. And, if you don't use it, it will help keep the cooler chilled on the return trip.
- Grilled salmon from Farland is another wonderful base for a meal. You can warm it, enjoy it cold, add it to salads, or mash it with some sour cream to top toast.
- Farmers markets, when they are open, can be great fun on vacation. In Provincetown, we enjoy seeing old friends like the folks from Silverbrook Farm in a different setting.
- Enjoy favorite foods from favorite places. They were not open for the season during our April trip, but this fall we'll be sure to have the clam chowder (photo below) from The Canteen.
- Remember the full-service restaurants. Some of these will be happy to prepare a take-out meal for your enjoyment.
Clam Chowder from The Canteen in Provincetown.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino