JENN MCKINLAY: Hub and I just did a short road trip to Tucson where I attended Left Coast Crime (more to come on that tomorrow). Now Tucson is only two hours away but we had to fill up the gas tank before we departed which means of course…snacks!!! Yes, even for a short road trip, I require snacks. I mean, what if you break down? You might have to live off that Cherry Dr. Pepper and Bugles for hours if you’re in a remote location. One has to be prepared.
Now Hub is an Arizona Sweet Tea, chili cheese Fritos, and beef jerky kind of guy, while I am a Hostess Sno-ball, Charleston Chew minis, and Dunkin’ coffee sort of gal. Yes, it’s shocking we managed to set aside these differences and marry, but here we are many years later. But on this road trip, I was in a pickle because I declared this March the month of no candy or processed carbs because I suspect I might have a sugar problem as in I love it but it’s unrequited.
So, as I stood looking over my options at the convenient store (more accurately our local Circle K), I was stymied. Yes, I could have just bought water and called it a day but…road trip! I ventured into aisles I’d never seen before and ended up with a banana (they have fruit, who knew?) and a yogurt. Neither of these was as satisfying as my Sno-balls but I did not get colored coconut all over the interior of the car so I consider that a win.
All right, Reds, what’s your go to road trip snack?
HALLIE EPHRON: Mini Mounds! You can buy them in bulk and eat them while driving. And tangerines. If one (or part of one) gets lost in the car while you’re driving, it won’t stink. And roasted almonds.
I made the mistake of not putting together snacks flying out of Key West a few weeks ago. I paid more than $6 in the airport for a pathetic 2 oz bag of stale trail mix.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Almonds. Definitely. I always keep almonds in my bag in case I might be starving (which happens all the time on book tour, I’m not quite sure why, airport fast food is so unreliable unless it’s Dunkins or Starbucks, and I always seem to be out of food.) I also tuck away a plain bagel.
Almonds and plain bagels are good for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and go with wine and diet coke and coffee and tea, so they are perfect no matter when. And they are not too messy in the car–that’s why plain bagels, not sesame!
RHYS BOWEN: We also completed that two hour road trip to Tucson–in the rain! Imagine, Arizona and it’s gloomy and raining. But I had brought snacks along so all was well: gluten free crackers and mini cheeses for Clare who is gluten free, Trader Joes cheese straws, cashews and pistachios and of course gummi bears.
When I’m on book tour I always have a Kind bar, those tiny gouda cheeses, sometimes dried mango or preserved ginger… now I’m getting hungry thinking about it.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Hank taught me the trick with almonds, and now I keep a bag stashed in my glove compartment for hunger emergencies. But road trips demand FUN snacks, to my mind, as a reward for the chore of driving, driving, driving. I’ve always had a a soft spot for peanut M&Ms (the fact several of my kids don’t like them may play a role in this.) And I’m crazy for Target’s Handful of Everything Trail Mix, which has, “a delectable blend of sweetened banana chips, mangos, pineapple, yogurt-flavored coated peanuts, chocolate chips, almonds, raisins, apricots, cranberries and coconut.”
That last is the problem, as I will end up at my destination with a gentle layer of coconut flakes drifting across the drivers seat and the floor, as if I drove through show flurries. On the plus side, it makes my car smell slightly like a tropical resort, which is nice when I’m headed to Syracuse, NY in January.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I love Corn Nuts. What's not to like about risking breaking a tooth or two and swelling up like the Michelin Man from the salt? But they are so good.
Next would be Cheddar popcorn, or Fritos. You can tell I have a weakness for the salty stuff. But on my most recent road trip, my daughter and I stopped at Buccee's (heaven in a truck stop) and discovered to our dismay that they don't carry Corn Nuts! We had to settle for Buccee's famous roasted pecans.
LUCY BURDETTE: Oh Rhys, I love Trader Joe’s cheese straws–bought them for our last trip south.
But I usually make sandwiches–egg salad or tuna salad or turkey and cheese with pickles and potato chips. And then some kind of gorp and maybe fruit and cheese and crackers. We eat all the way up and down the coast!
