by Chewy
Why anyone would want to camp in this weather is beyond me. But, hopefully, cooler weather will finally reach us and once again our nature lovers will want to pack up the tent, and all the gear that goes with it, and hit the trails. Unless you plan on eating off the yield of the land ( a true Man, Woman, Wild adventure), food will require a great deal of forethought. Not to be overlooked are your campfire desserts.
Growing up, we did a lot of camping. Compared to other campers, we had pretty deluxe accommodations. A three compartment tent consisted of the children’s wing, parent’s boudoir and a spacious “no man’s land” in-between. My dad created quite the traveling kitchen and dish washing system. It was almost like home. No it wasn’t. No electricity, no indoor plumbing, no refrigeration. It is why I don’t camp today!
It was, however, a great family bonding experience and I did learn a few culinary lessons germane to the outdoors. First, baked potatoes are better if you don’t leave them in the fire too long. This results in oblong charcoal briquettes. Great for starting another fire but not so much for dinner. Second, those little white round things in the fish flesh are worms. THROW THEM AWAY! Preferably bury them a great deal of distance from the camp site. Bears don’t mind the worms and, along with the disgusting fish, will grab a to-go snack from your food reserves. Third, s’mores can pass as a complete meal if all the prior events occur. Once again, never underestimate the power of the dessert!
As delicious as they are, s’mores can become a bit mundane if your dessert selection is limited to these as a nightly ritual. After a while, the time it takes to roast the perfect golden marshmallow becomes a bit tedious leading to sloppy cooking procedures. These fall into two categories. Under cooking, a gratuitous waving of the marshmallow over the flame and the flash roast, a deliberate flaming followed by the extinguishing, either by blowing it out or wildly waving around of stick. Here’s an alternative to the procedure. Grab a flour tortilla, sprinkle some mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows on it and wrap like a burrito. Seal in some aluminum foil and place on coals until melted. Check frequently, a lesson learned from the potato debacle. Open carefully and let cool a bit.
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Our final entry is shortcake-on-a-stick. You can make the dough ahead of time and bring it with you if you have sufficient refrigeration. If not, save this for the patio campfire. For the dough you will need 2 cups of Bisquick, 4 tablespoons of melted butter and ¼ cup of heavy cream. Mix and roll dough into 1 ½ inch balls. Flatten balls to ¼ inch and wrap around the end of your prerequisite stick. Then roast over your fire until when? Yup, golden brown. Crumble into a bowl and cover with those fresh berries you foraged from the woods. Remember, not ALL blue berries are blueberries!
After a hard day of pitching the tent, swatting the bugs, inflating the air mattresses, swatting the bugs, hanging the food (remember the bears, raccoons and other critters like people food too), finding a water source, swatting the bugs and FINALLY getting that fire started, you can bask in the warm glow and relish your golden brown dessert!
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