Author Topic: Frances, can we talk about camping? (Read 2618 times)

Mabel · « **on:** August 08, 2013, 11:48:17 AM »

I'm posting this here because I have no clue where else it fits in. Camping is mostly food and excercise. Naps and s'mores = health and nutrition, right?

Frances or anyone else remotely interested...

Campfire recipes? I do the banana boats, for example, and I have a stash of my own recipes but I'd love to have more. I'm cooking for a family, we aren't picky but I can't eat certain canned food.

Gear? Is there anything that you really like that you think everyone should have? A big cast iron skillet is my favorite thing, I just bought a Dutch oven with legs but I haven't used it yet.

SoldierOfChrist · « **Reply #1 on:** August 08, 2013, 12:13:27 PM »

I've got a coffee percolator that goes over the fire. I never go camping without it. We've also got these rollup mats that inflate to about 1.5". Works great for hard, gravelly campsites.

Armor of Light · « **Reply #2 on:** August 08, 2013, 01:00:27 PM »

We used to take crescent roll dough, wrap it around a nice thick wooden dowel rod, and roast them. Then, they can be filled with jelly and / or peanut butter!

One of my only good camping memories..

jen51 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 08, 2013, 01:23:29 PM »

Mabel, I like the threads that you start!

I make hobos pretty much everytime I go camping. Wrap carrots, onions, potatoes and ground beef in tinfoil and cook it over the campfire. The juice from the hamburger makes delicious vegetables. Season it with salt and pepper. Sometimes I put honey in it.

If you want a sweet treat while camping, you can make icecream fairly easily. Just take the ingredients you would use to make icecream, stick them in a small foldgers can and put the lid on it. Stick the smaller can in a larger foldgers can, and fill up the empty space with ice. Roll the large can around until the ingredients inside have turned into icecream.

I put peanut butter and bananas on my s'mores.

If you are camping in cooler weather, soup is nice sometimes. I've made soup packets where I dehydrate vegetables and meat, put some seasonings in it, along with ramen noodles (or egg noodles, or whatever you want). Cook it in boiling water. The meat and vegetables will take form again after being put in water.

As far as gear goes, I've found hand held GPS units to be very helpful. Simply because I am directionally challenged. Bigtime. A rain fly for the tent. Ropes to tie your food up in the trees to keep the critters out. Insect repellent.

Mabel · « **Reply #4 on:** August 08, 2013, 02:12:21 PM »

How long do carrots and potatoes take to cook on the fire? I take diced, cooked potatoes up with me, which I prep and I make breakfast burritos. However, I've never done taters over the fire. We now have a raw carrot allergy in the family so I have to make sure my carrots are cooked through, as well. I'm always afraid the potatoes will take too long and we will be skeletons sitting around the campfire by morning.

Nadir · « **Reply #5 on:** August 08, 2013, 05:00:43 PM »

One needs to have an American dictionary on hand to make sense of some of these posts, eg foldgers, s'mores, naps, hobos.

Frances, according to my understanding, camps out of a need for somewhere to live, but this post seems to be related to holiday fun-camping.

Making icecream while camping?

I would say that camping requires keeping it simple. I'm not a camping type but I do live happily in almost any circuмstances.

My children once make an oven by digging into a termite mound on our property in North Queensland. And a neighbour used to cook all her bread (and some to sell) in a more sophisticated model which her husband made for her.

Anyway, here's my contribution:
http://www.albanyaustralia.com/damperrecipe.html#basic To keep it simple scroll down to Basic Damper Recipe

Kazimierz · « **Reply #6 on:** August 08, 2013, 06:51:30 PM »

Camped in the First Age of me life. We cooked everything except stew on iron wood-fired places up in the Rocky Mountain campgrounds. One had to be careful of the bears coming around later though. Hot dogs and marshmallows were standard evening fare.

Camp fuel and propane/butane are cheating but when it is raining, they have saved the bacon a few times. In the higher elevations, when the weather is great, it is fantastic. When it gets nasty, woe to the unprepared.

One must try baked brown beans cooked in bourbon in a pot on the open fire. Mmm, what flavour! Later on it is facite musica. :wink:

Incredulous · « **Reply #7 on:** August 08, 2013, 07:19:47 PM »

Yeah, great memories from camping!

I camped with some friends near Tahoe in 2009.

We hiked in deep to a campsite near a beautiful lake made by PG&E in the 1930s.

We had our tents set-up and a fire going by early evening.

After some drinks and good Catholic chatty our tent door abruptly opened....

Sure glad I had my .44 Magnum. :wink:

Incredulous · « **Reply #8 on:** August 08, 2013, 07:34:47 PM »

Quote from: Kazimierz

Camped in the First Age of me life. We cooked everything except stew on iron wood-fired places up in the Rocky Mountain campgrounds. One had to be careful of the bears coming around later though. Hot dogs and marshmallows were standard evening fare.

Camp fuel and propane/butane are cheating but when it is raining, they have saved the bacon a few times. In the higher elevations, when the weather is great, it is fantastic. When it gets nasty, woe to the unprepared.

One must try baked brown beans cooked in bourbon in a pot on the open fire. Mmm, what flavour! Later on it is facite musica. :wink:

I'm going to try your recipe, instead of BBQ sauce & bacon.

KY Bourbon in Baked Beans sounds delicious!

I suspect Southerners have knack for good camp cooking.

Frances · « **Reply #9 on:** August 08, 2013, 09:35:39 PM »

:dancing-banana:So, you're discussing me? I was driving through Appalachia. Rainy, some creeks over the banks, a bridge about 6 inches underwater. Watched three vehicles drive over it before I went. Pea-sized hail west of Beckley. Switchback turns in mountains. Try driving downhill on unfamiliar road in rain with loaded coal and logging trucks behind you. Great for the prayer life!
Camping is about getting in touch with reality, nature, the way God made it. No, contrary to popular belief, I'm not homeless. I don't have to camp. I like the outdoor life. It IS true that I could not take off for a month if I had to pay for motels or fly and rent a car. I earn a little here and there as I go.
Am in eastern Kentucky. Have to be in Boston tomorrow to measure Fr. Pfeiffer. I'm doing some sewing AT HIS REQUEST! No rude comments or jokes! Remember, most of his priest-wear burned up in the fire.
:dancing:

Mabel · « **Reply #10 on:** August 08, 2013, 10:03:55 PM »

Quote from: Frances

:dancing-banana:So, you're discussing me?
:dancing:

I wanted campfire cooking secrets!

Mabel · « **Reply #11 on:** August 08, 2013, 11:25:53 PM »

Quote from: Nadir

One needs to have an American dictionary on hand to make sense of some of these posts, eg foldgers, s'mores, naps, hobos.

Frances, according to my understanding, camps out of a need for somewhere to live, but this post seems to be related to holiday fun-camping.

Making icecream while camping?

I would say that camping requires keeping it simple. I'm not a camping type but I do live happily in almost any circuмstances.

My children once make an oven by digging into a termite mound on our property in North Queensland. And a neighbour used to cook all her bread (and some to sell) in a more sophisticated model which her husband made for her.

Anyway, here's my contribution:
http://www.albanyaustralia.com/damperrecipe.html#basic To keep it simple scroll down to Basic Damper Recipe

That bread looks really good.

And you don't know what s'mores are? Chocolate, toasted marshmallow, all sandwiched in graham crackers. They are pretty much a requirement for camping. I like them with Nutella or a peanut butter cup, too.

Frances · « **Reply #12 on:** August 09, 2013, 12:50:29 AM »

:ready-to-eat:Secrets? I don't really have any! I use a an individual pie-cooker on a long handle. I can make meat pies, fish-cakes, sweet treats, etc. Use a little butter or oil and two slices of bread, one on top, one on bottom. Cheap white bread works the best. Make sure the inside is nutritious. I also wrap foods in heavy-duty foil and cook them in the coals. Long-handled tongs and other barbeque items are essential unless you like burned hands.

Mabel · « **Reply #13 on:** August 09, 2013, 01:12:46 AM »

Explain the meat pies! Please.
:ready-to-eat:

Frances · « **Reply #14 on:** August 09, 2013, 10:47:57 AM »

In the long handled sandwich/pie-maker, place a slice of buttered bread, meat of any kind, ground or thinly cut and flavored to taste, another slice of bread. Close the cooker, place in the fire. Cook both sides thoroughly. Take out and let cool. If not cooked enough, patch with more bread and put back in fire. For speed, use pre-cooked or canned meat. These cookers make excellent toasted cheese sandwiches. They can even be used on a gas stove inside, but are a bit messy if they drip.