On a recent girl’s getaway for my sister’s bachelorette party, we unpacked our bags in the rental house kitchen, and friends remarked at my meticulously planned and thoroughly packed tote of snacks and supplies. I’m a planner and I’m a snacker – those two traits combined have made me very detailed about what I gather for a getaway weekend.
My getaway weekend snack kit has a few must-have items that I pack every time I rent a house for travel. A corkscrew (for obvious reasons), ingredients for brewing a good cup of coffee (with milk and sugar!), a cheese plate to eat upon arrival (my tricks for assembling that are below!), and plenty of Chinet® plates and cups (so that I don’t have to worry about doing dishes while we’re there!). I love to arrive with everything we need to stock our rental house kitchen and make the weekend enjoyable, tasty, and laid-back.
I always make sure to review the rental page to see what they do and don’t stock in their kitchen, and try to plan accordingly. But even if they’re thoroughly stocked, I still like to bring my own Chinet® plates and cups for ease, and prep and pack some food items in advance to get me straight to the relaxation stage when we arrive. I like to pre-slice hard cheeses like cheddar, Gruyere, manchego, and pack them in an airtight container with any other soft cheeses I’m bringing. For the cheese plate accompaniments, I use Chinet® Cut Crystal® 9oz cups to portion out items like fruit, nuts and trail mix, crackers and pretzels, and charcuterie. Put a little piece of plastic wrap on the top of each one (and maybe a rubber band for good measure!), and place the perishable items in the cooler, and the rest of the filled cups in your tote!
I love using the Chinet Cut Crystal cups because they’re lightweight yet sturdy to travel with, and make for a really pretty display of all of the snacks when I arrive. I pack a few extra Chinet Cut Crystal cups for our cocktail hour drinks, and put out some Chinet® Classic White™ square dessert plates and we’re ready to kick-off our weekend away!
Please note: This post was created in partnership with the Chinet® brand. All opinions, images, and content are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support this site!
I hate to be Debbie Downer, but all I could see when I read this post was all that single-use plastic. I think your blog is fun, interesting, clever, and useful, and I know you get paid to mention products, but especially since you also live in a coastal town where all sorts of stuff washes up on our shores, you can see firsthand the impact of that plastic. Lots of things can be substituted. Maybe that would be a great follow-up blog post.
Lee, you are totally not a Debbie Downer, it’s such an important topic and I’m on board with your point of view. I do my best to reuse these durable cups whenever I can, and what I can’t I make sure ends up in the appropriate recycling bin. Being more eco-minded is something I’m continually working on, and I’m taking your note to heart and will try to do better in the future!