Tales of the Traveling Tote 43 and a Giveaway

  

Welcome to our June 2025 

edition of 

Tales of the Traveling Tote.

Miss Madi K had the opportunity 

to travel on the largest 

cruise ship, 

the Icon of the Seas.

Ever since the Icon of the Seas 

came out I wanted to sail on her.

I had read many comments 

online that were negative 

about a ship this size, 

but let me give my honest 

review - 

this was my favorite cruise 

EVER!!!

Nothing ever felt crowded 

even with over 6,000 

passengers onboard.

Royal Caribbean has really 

figured things out!

The food was amazing.  

Besides fabulous food in 

the main dining room, 

they have complimentary 

specialty quick service 

places serving crepes, 

Asian bowls, Mexican 

food and one more with 

four kinds of mac and cheese. 

We sailed the Western Caribbean 

and visited Roatan, Honduras 

for the first time and snorkeled 

to see lobster.  We took two 

excursions to Mayan ruins.  

I had never been to Chichen Itza 

or Chacchoban.  Both were 

amazing. 

Where Royal Caribbean 

really excels is on their 

private island.  It was the 

highlight of the tour.  I 

wish I could have stayed there 

for 7 days!!!

We splurged with our friends 

and rented their over-the-water 

cabana for the day.  It came 

with our own butler who road

an electric bike, and all the 

gourmet food you wanted.  

We had lobster twice that 

day!!!  So sad to leave. 

Miss Madi K and I have 

never been so spoiled.  

I highly recommend the Icon.

Thanks for coming along 

on our 

Iconic adventure 

of Tales of the Traveling Totes.

Now for our giveaway.  

Pop on over to visit 

Rita at Panoply and 

leave a comment to 

enter for this wonderful 

luggage tag.

Next pop on over to see these 

other fabulous travelers to 

see where they have been off to.

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Patti with Miss Kenzie and Miss Taylor @ Pandora's Box

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess de Monet @The Bookish Dilettante

Shirecuterie - Hobbit Cheese Board

It is time for another of our 

Cookbook Club dinners.

We were trying to 

come up  

with an idea for March 

and I saw 

The Starving Chef's 

Lord of the Rings 

Inspired Shirecuterie Board

on Pinterest one day.  

Click on the above link 

to see the great board 

she created.  Her husband 

built the board for her. 

 

I contacted my niece who 

is also a fan of fantasy 

and she told me she could 

3 D print the door. 

She printed it and then 

painted it.  It turned 

out so cool (she even 

made an extra for me!)

We told everyone in the 

group that we wanted to 

create boards based on 

books or movies, 

and that Shaunna 

and I would be doing 

a board together.

We started with her 

door in the center 

of one of my trays. 

For our Lord of the Rings/

Hobbit Board

 we had to have 

Hobbit Feet Cookies made 

out of shortbread and topped 

with shaved chocolate.

My other "must have" was 

Lembas Bread, which I 

made from the other half 

of the shortbread dough and 

wrapped it in banana leaves,

which you can buy online.

It is graced with 

Arowen's Evenstar.

I  made Bed Rolls with 

roast beef, cream cheese 

and a pickle wrapped 

inside for nice 

Hobbitses!

Hobbits also love potatoes 

and sausages, so Shaunna 

made these fun skewers.

Gollum even gets a treat 

our board.  These went 

really quickly!  Next time 

I think I will have to have 

more fish!

Frodo and Gandalf are 

just ready to leave the 

Shire on their adventure, 

after Gandalf marked 

Frodo's door. 

There is never enough

meats and cheeses. 

Hobbits are always hungry. 

Shaunna also made some 

glazed root veggies from 

Frodo's garden, while 

Saruman and a troll 

sneak through. 

(Shaunna has a really 

cool chess set with these 

figures.)

Cheese curds fill 

radicchio cups.  

Notice how the Hobbit 

feet circle the board.  

I used my biggest tin 

tray for this.  

The board was a huge hit!

My DIL hosted and it 

was a serve yourself 

buffet.  These plates and 

bowls, cups and flatware 

remind me of the dwarves 

who love gold and dug 

too deep into the Moria. 

The gold veining is perfect. 

My DIL had just picked 

up this fairy house 

which looks like a 

Hobbit house at 

Dollar Tree.  

I need one of these. 

My daughter's niece

 chose Ratatouille.  

We thought hers was so 

adorable with the cutouts 

colored by her 5 year old, 

and the tiny mice. 

She served ratatouille 

over angel hair pasta 

and cheese stuffed 

mushrooms from the 

movie.

She didn't have black 

sesame seeds, so she 

hand picked them out 

of her Everything Bagel 

seasoning mix!  Haha

She had honey to drizzle 

on the top of the mice. 

Another of my nieces 

chose the theme of 

Grease.  

She had hamburgers, 

fries and shakes.  She 

lives a little farther 

so she brought the 

shakes in an 

insulated drink container.  

My DIL did a dessert 

board based on 

Interstellar.  

Notice the moon 

pineapple.  She 

also had a bowl of 

blue popcorn. 

The dip was the dust bowl 

from Interstellar.  

I love how everything else 

was dark and delicious.

Everyone was so creative 

and we had such a 

great time.  We had 

way too much food - 

we should have invited 

the men this time. 

We all look forward 

to trying new food 

and being creative 

with food in our club.  

I think this was my

favorite dinner, 

and definitely our 

most fun. 

Thanks for visiting.

I will be posting with 

Tablescapes Thursday 

Love Your Creativity

Tales of the Traveling Tote #42 and a Giveaway

Welcome to our 42nd quarterly 

edition of 

Tales of the Traveling Tote, 

where we take our 

MacKenzie-Childs Totes

all over the place. 

Those who have been with 

me for many years now 

know we travel from Utah 

to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 

at least once a month 

during the winter and 

spring months.  

In February we were 

down there by ourselves

for Valentine's Day.

Hubby filled the tub with 

roses and petals like he 

did a few years ago 

for my birthday.  

It was a lovely day. 

I am contacted all of the 

time by people wanting 

to know restaurants to 

try in Cabo, and we 

have a whole list, but 

that usually doesn't include 

tacos shops.  

So Miss Madi K and I 

decided to take you on 

a personal 

TACO CRAWL!

You can pay $75 a person 

for a guided Taco Crawl, 

but we decided we wanted 

to create our own.  

I have to start the crawl 

with my absolute favorite 

taco shop, featured on 

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, 

Asi & Asado. 

This one is situated outside 

of town along the tourist 

corridor, so you will need 

a car or taxi.  Our property 

manager told us about 

this place and it is always 

a favorite with our guests. 

Some tell me they could 

eat here every day, but 

what would be the fun 

in that!!!

My favorite taco here is 

a grilled shrimp with cheese.  

They grill their meat over a fire 

and have a wonderful 

salsa bar.  

We also love their 

guacamole with blue chips,

their queso and beet salad.

Our next stop is 

La Taquiza.  This 

location is just past 

Asi & Asado, but there 

is another busy one in 

downtown Cabo. 

Instead of a salsa bar, 

they bring out a 

selection of toppings.

We are in love with 

their queso which 

comes in a stone bowl 

with a roll of crisp cheese 

and flour tortillas. 

Their birria tacos were 

amazing and my favorites. 

They came with their 

own selection of sauces. 

Mother Flower is a small 

shop which is new to us, 

and we really liked it.  

Their tacos come with 

toppings and sauces 

already on.  I loved the 

spicy shrimp one.  

One of their highlights 

is their unique Chili Verde 

served with toppings 

and homemade flour 

tortillas.  

Another favorite of ours 

is La Lupita.  This one is 

so popular you will need 

to get a reservation.  They 

have live music at night. 

They have so many 

fun and unique tacos, 

you will have to come 

back more than once.

My favorite here is their 

smoked Waygu tacos 

that come out in this 

little smoker.  There 

are so many fun choices 

here and it is a fun 

atmosphere.  This one 

is down by Medano Beach. 

Final stop on the taco 

tour is a super popular 

place downtown in Cabo, 

Taqueria el Paisa.

This is the best Pastor 

taco I have ever had. 

I also loved the mixed 

Steak and Shrimp 

Chorreada. 

I have to throw in here 

Las Guacamayas.  

It is also downtown, 

on the same street as 

El Paisa and La Taquiza.  

Mother Flower is just a 

block over, so all of 

these would be great 

for a walking tour. 

Although I don't usually order 

tacos here, I love their 

Shrimp Stone Bowl.  

I wouldn't recommend 

doing all of these in 

one day!  We had so 

much fun researching 

for this and can 

recommend these 

above all of the other 

taco shops in town.

Glad you could crawl 

along with us.

Now crawl on over to 

the other ladies featured

for 

Tales of the Traveling Tote.

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)

 Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Bookish Dilettante

Crawl on over to 

Patti's blog for a 

chance at this fun 

giveaway!!

And come along in June to 

see the fun places we have 

traveled to.