New York Trip Summer 2020

I haven't traveled since before the pandemic began. I've taken the quarantine extremely seriously over the last several months; my social butterfly calendar was stripped to nothing! However, it's worth it to play on the safe side and work quickly became the highlight of my week. I have been preparing for months for the possibility of taking my daughter to college, however, suddenly I found myself preparing relatively quickly. I felt as though I had to get my daughter to New York to attend Cornell University this fall in the blink of an eye. About a week before we embarked on our trip, we had to each have a COVID-19 test. After receiving our negative test results, we filed our New York Travel Form. We packed the car and headed to New York the next day. I packed a massive of amount of food. I tried to menu plan, bringing as much food as I possibly could. Unfortunately, a few items like pasta sauce and salsa didn't make the cut.

A few hours up the road, we received calls from the New York State Contact Tracer. We were asked a series of questions, which included our travel history and medical background, and they evaluated our symptoms. Afterwards, we were given a list of guidelines and rules to follow during our 14-day quarantine in New York. I packed some delicious shrimp and cilantro summer rolls with spicy sweet chili dipping sauce. The plastic containers I packed the rolls in came in extremely handy for storage in the hotel. Salty, greasy, and crunchy is the trifecta of foodie pleasure for a southern girl! So, in travel tradition, I packed a bag of plain gluten-free potato chips for the anticipated craving. 

After arriving at the hotel, we checked in and were given several handouts about COVID-19 and registering with the state. We were not allowed in the public spaces of the hotel, including the breakfast area. The staff made arrangements for delivery of the items we needed such as towels, paper products, etc. 

We checked in and made our way to the 3rd floor studio room. I unpacked all of our food items, and I was pleasantly surprised that the frozen items remained frozen.

We were so hungry be the time we arrived and unpacked, I decided to whip up one of my simple go-to meals: quesadillas. I have been using salad shrimp for several of my recipes recently, as I've been learning to accommodate different types of vegetarian diets. I used olive oil, butter, garlic, scallions, mushroom, shrimp, and salt and pepper for the filling. Then, I popped out these babies quickly using some grated cheddar cheese I brought from home. I used gluten free tortillas for the "crew" and made mine low-carb with Crepini cauliflower wraps. I topped the quesadillas with cracked black pepper, sour cream, and fresh cilantro. By the time I made dinner and unpacked, I was ready to hit the hay! 

Sweet dreams...