Pack Your Skillet -- We're Going on a Cooking Trip

Dining out is one of the great pleasures of a vacation, but if you find yourself missing the feel of a knife hitting a cutting board, or the smell of butter sizzling in a skillet, it's easy to work in some kitchen time on your next foray away.

From selecting the right ingredients from the garden or a local market, to creative ways to fill a glass, options abound for globetrotting foodie travelers who want to bring home local culinary skills along with their memories.

Ritz Carlton Amelia Island, Florida

Great meals start with great cocktails, and the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island offers a mixology class to help you move beyond the ordinary beverage.

The class takes place in the hotel's bar, Salt Lounge, where you'll learn to make drinks like a Blueberry Mojito or a Blackberry Crush Martini. The mixology class is offered every Wednesday.

The hotel also offers two-day cooking schools taught by Richard Gras, chef de cuisine; upcoming classes include "Barbecue Around the World" (June 11-12) and "Smoking, Grilling, Basting: For the Love of Barbecue" (Aug. 13-14).

Myres Castle, Auchtermuchty, Scotland

At this nine-bedroom castle about 45 miles from Edinburgh, chef Richard Turner specializes in creating meals with local Scottish ingredients --especially those that are grown right on the castle's 44-acre estate.

Turner, who has cooked at noted Scottish kitchens including Inverlochy Castle, Kinnaird and the Peat Inn, will create menus to your specifications, and will teach you how to cook good food with a Scottish flair, starting with a trip out to the garden to gather your ingredients.

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