Comforts of Home in Miniature

No matter how light you’re traveling, some little indulgences are worth the extra weight and space. I rarely leave home without a small portable coffee maker and immersion coil, for example. I’ve included two good new models here, plus several other food-related items--two to minimize mess, and one to wow your dining companions with restaurant wine selections. Prices do not include shipping and handling. Many items may be available at area stores.

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Drip-coffee to go: I want my morning caffeine as soon as I wake up and resent paying big bucks for room service or hiking to the hotel coffee shop. The perfect product (a small, plastic coffee maker that would drip two full cups automatically) has yet to be invented, but Voltage Valet’s dual voltage travel Hot Beverage Maker comes close. Stacked inside the 7-inch-high by 3 3/4-inch-diameter pot are two 8-ounce cups, a reusable drip filter, three small storage containers, a measuring spoon and an adapter plug with two circular prongs for foreign travel. The beverage maker comes in a drawstring travel bag. The boiling water is poured into the filter compartment, which fits into a groove atop the cups for fresh drip coffee. Because the drip process is quite slow and you have to refill the filter container with boiling water for each cup, there’s a good chance coffee will get cold before two people get their full share. But for now, only the old-fashioned travel percolator coffee makers keep the brew piping hot, and they tend to get muddy with grounds leeching through the filter. As the name implies, the hot beverage maker also can be used simply to boil water, soup or other liquids, though I’ve found the smell tends to stay with the plastic.

Hot Beverage Maker (33243) is $30 from the Rand McNally catalog; telephone (800) 234-0679.

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Quick water heater: The easiest solution for quick-boiled water is the reliable electric immersion coil, and this 5-inch-long model is particularly sturdy. It comes in a standard 110-volt, as well as a 220-volt model with two round prongs for foreign travel. I use the coil as a backup water heater for instant coffee, as well as to boil water for instant oatmeal.

110-Volt Heating Coil (EF226H) or 220-volt Coil for foreign travel (EF226V) is $11.85 from Magellan’s; tel. (800) 962-4943.

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Kids’ food within reach: When the “I’m hungry’s” strike while in transit, small children are rarely pacified by promises of food soon. Yet few children can successfully balance a tray or cups on their laps in a car or stroller without most of the contents ending up on the child. The Snak-Rak is an 8-inch by 5-inch by 3 1/2-inch deep plastic food holder with adjustable clamps that attach to the arm of most strollers or the inside of most car windows. The Snak-Rak has a drink holder and a snap-shut food compartment with a snack tray on top. Though marketed for children, the Snak-Rak also works for adults; the smallish snack tray makes a good sandwich holder, and a can or small cup of soda will fit into the drink holder.

Snak-Rak is $12 from Kel-Gar; tel. (800) 388-1848.

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Picking the right wine: For many travelers, fine dining is one of the great joys of the road. If knowing the right wine for your food choices is not second nature and you don’t want to rely on the wine steward’s advice, pick up a copy of the “Wine Navigator,” by Doug Hexter, a New York wine marketing specialist. The 7-inch by 3 3/4-inch book has two plastic wheels, one for red wine, one for white, that spin to match 17 foods or sauces with more than 100 wines. For each category selected (such as shellfish, pork, vegetarian, spicy Asian, hearty salads, herb pesto sauce and white cream sauce) three numbers appear in a window. These correspond to wines listed by number in the book.

“The Wine Navigator” by Doug Hexter is $9.95 at bookstores, or can be ordered through Simon & Schuster; tel. (800) 223-2336.

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This bib’s for you: Airline meals invariably seem to get served just as the plane’s entering turbulence, which makes getting the food cleanly to the mouth from those cramped tray tables all the more challenging. This giant 36-inch by 17 1/2-inch vinyl-backed terry cloth bib is an adult solution to keeping travel clothes spot-free.

Travel Bib (IF388) is $12.85 from Magellan’s; tel. (800) 962-4943.