What to eat at the airport

Also on the train or in the car. Fresh through security at the airport, we head for coffee, but there’s nothing appealing about the lineup of dry muffins in the case – or, for that matter, the container of cutup fruit (how do they get apples so dry?). (Of course, at the Florence airport, you can get hot brioche, but the trip home is another matter.) I bake this cake to take along – it’s somewhere between cake and shortbread really, not too moist, so it resists being squished in your bag.

What – six egg yolks? Yes, and just think: You can make an egg-white omelet for dinner the night before you leave on your trip. Enjoy!

MARTY’S ALMOND TRAVEL CAKE

1/3 (heaping) cup almonds, toasted and ground

1 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbl. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cut butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

6 large egg yolks, beaten to blend

2 tsp. grated lemon peel

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Butter and dust with flour one 8-inch-round cake pan. Mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and ground nuts; set aside. Beat together butter and sugar; gradually add egg yolks. Mix in peel and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Transfer to pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, until the cake is firm to touch. Cool in pan, then cut and remove slices. Wrap individually for a quick snack or breakfast.

Everybody likes a bit of mustard, Richard

Two posts in one day!  Still, I couldn’t help but send you to this hilarious complaint letter sent to Virgin Airlines (and printed in the Daily Telegraph):

 

www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html 

Time to fly

Big news in airfare — as announced in the AP story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer today — Ryanair will offer transatlantic flights for 6 GBP (about $10).  The announcement was all over the wire; a Google search came up with MSNBC, the International Herald Tribune and a host of others reporting it.  But try as I may, I couldn’t find the announcement on the actual Ryanair Web site.  The Ireland airline still lists only its European destinations, including many within Ireland (for those of you flying to Knock).

            The big-time cheap airfares will, I’m sure, be hard to come by, and the airline is quick to say that business class will be expensive (to make up the costs), but still, it’s a boost to travelers to even hear such news.  Deals can be had, even if we don’t get them.

            And it reminds me to plug our 2009 tours — someone recently asked me if details were on this blog.  Our May tour to England is going to be great fun, and with the exchange rate looking so good right now (I just checked xe.com — one GBP is $1.58, yay!), a pint of the pub’s best bitter is going to taste quite fine.

            Look for details on next year’s tour at my Web site — martywingate.com.  Stories about what we’ll be doing will be appearing here soon.