Around the World (on West 34th Street)

That pretty much sums up the New York Travel Show, an annual event at NYC’s Javits Center.  I went with a friend who had helpfully printed the bar codes from our online tickets.  Far faster and a lot less of a pain than going through airport security, we scanned them, stepped over to the designated printer and got our entrance badges.

First up, the exotic locale of…New Jersey. It wasn’t the state that intrigued us but the presentation, a sand sculpture of a lighthouse, waterfront and boat, created by Sandman Matt (Long) a professional sand sculptor whose website, www.canyoudigit.com  sells great looking tools to make elaborate structures for when you’re next on a beach.

A Sandman Matt work

Onto Ecuador where kids were climbing a wall in the appropriate harnesses.  Next to Alaska (cruises, whales, Inuit art) and then a stop in the African area to collect literature on various places on my bucket list and await what I fear is a deluge of email.  We dropped by Morocco and the Northern Canada booth to find out how to get to Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, an area that has fascinated me since I read Anne of Green Gables.

I’ve worked trade shows and know how exhausting it is to be ‘on’ for long periods, acting delighted to see each person who passes by, many with inane questions.  Everyone we spoke to was charming and gets high marks for helpful.

Despite no particular interest in Jamaica, I found this woman wearing a table as a skirt worth photographing and thought the seminar on getting and claiming travel reward points by Brian Kelly interesting although I doubt if I’ll sign up for multiple credit cards for the sake of bonus sign-on points.  Brian had some good tips that you can view at www.thepointsguy.com

Towards the end of the day, we got coffee to revive us as we heard Melissa Clark who writes on food for the New York Times. She spoke about bringing home food as a travel souvenir and passed out samples of Parmesan cheese topped with top quality balsamic vinegar and

Parmesan with balsamic vinegar and roasted broccoli

pieces of shortbread flavored with a particular kind of honey bought on a vacation while explaining how to bring meat home from far away (have it vacuum packed) and the benefits of buying (preferably bottled or canned) food items to recreate the taste of  your trip. “If one picture is worth a thousand words, one taste is worth a thousand pictures.” Melissa, I couldn’t agree more.

Here is Melissa Clark’s recipe for Rosemary Shortbread

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 to 2 teaspoons rosemary, chestnut or other dark, full-flavored honey (optional).

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, rosemary and salt. Add butter, and honey if desired, and pulse to fine crumbs. Pulse a few more times until some crumbs start to come together, but don’t overprocess. Dough should not be smooth.
2. Press dough into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan or 9-inch pie pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes for 9-inch pan, 45 to 50 minutes for 8-inch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares, bars or wedges while still warm.

Yield: One 8- or 9-inch shortbread.