Camping in the Rain With No Exciting Pictures (But Hermits)

Let's get this straight:  my family was camping in a crude little cabin, but there was no heat in that chilly rain and there were large gaps in the walls even if I had gone out and bought a space heater.  Madness, considering that the cold and rain lasted just 24 hours and we have a space heater at home.  I don't really know how cold it was because there's precious little cell reception in the mountains and I was too distracted by trying to keep warm and keep Phoebe warm.  Genevieve reports that she saw her breath inside the cabin.  We definitely were not prepared for wet winter!

You know, oddly, we mostly had a really good time.  We even got to end camp on a sunny day with a boat ride for Phoebe.

I found these blurry pictures on my phone, not even sure who took them. Once the rain started, I just shriveled and did not take pictures.

 We pretty much followed the same lists as last year, except that I forgot the percolator cord and the hot dogs.  And long underwear, for crying out loud.

Ryan told me how to make Mexican coffee and it turned out so well:  3 mugfuls of water in a cooking pot with 6 heaping tablespoons of ground coffee.  Bring to a boil with the lid on.  Boil a minute and then turn off the heat to let the grounds settle. Pour into mugs, leaving the grounds behind in the pot.

Also, Christy mixed her French toast milk and egg liquid together and froze it before packing it for camp.  She said it worked just fine.  I'm going to do that next year for my pancake wet mixture.  And pack long underwear, too.

I always take along some snacky foods, even though the kids are filling up with junk from the camp store.  This year, it was apples, peaches, popcorn, and hermits.  The hermits are a hit, kind of like a molasses brownie.

Hermit Bars (original recipe from here)

Cream together in mixing bowl:

1/2 cup sugar (or 2/3 cup if you like sweeter bars) 

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, soft

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

Add and beat again:

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup baking molasses

Stir in:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup raisins

Press mixture (it will be very stiff) in greased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes until bars are just barely pulling away from edges.  Do not overbake!  Cut into bars when cool.

Notes:  I use 2 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour for 2 of the 3 cups of flour in this recipe and in many baking recipes that are leavened with baking soda and baking powder.  You can use a cup of whole wheat pastry flour (soft wheat) and a cup of whole wheat bread flour (hard wheat) and that should work fine.

Baking molasses is mild in flavor.  If you want a deeper flavor, use 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses and 1/4 cup baking molasses.

Thrift at Camp

We went camping with our dear friends, the second annual tradition, and we're going to keep it going.   I'm even starting to feel a little bit competent at camping because every year I keep notes and try to refine my method.  This year, I discovered that if I started prepping a full week before we left to camp, I did not feel overwhelmed!  And I also realized that I strongly prefer to prep food in my own kitchen which is luxurious and beautifully outfitted compared to the rudimentary camp kitchen I set up.  So yes, I chopped all my veggies ahead of time and planned carefully to do as little fussing with food as possible at camp.  I even premixed the pancake wet and dry ingredients and it worked perfectly. 

Christy came up with this post title when we were laughing our heads off while she tried to break up some logs for firewood that she found in the woods (okay, and I did try to break a log by whacking it against a tree because I'm a city slicker and don't know better).  She did not buy the $18 hatchet at the camp store, but we did mess around with my husband's pocket knife to see if we could be pioneers and get them hacked up.

I feel obligated to report that Genevieve and some pals caught crayfish, boiled them in a pan, and ate them.  I didn't get any photos, nor did I eat any.

The weather was sunny and warm during the day and chilly and crisp at night.  The only annoying thing I forgot was Phoebe's bib.  The adults lazed around, the kids raced around, and we all agreed we had a fantastic time.

the suppers:

corn on the cob, wrapped in foil, on the tripod grill over the fire

marinated grilled chicken

buttered green beans

walking tacos with beans and taco fixins

Christy's chocolate zucchini cake

hobo packets – sausage, onions sweet potatoes, potatoes, green beans, peppers, mushrooms 

bread + olive oil

 applesauce

Christy's chocolate zucchini cake

the breakfasts:

pancakes + pb + butter + syrup

raspberries 

coffee, milk

fried eggs

fried mushrooms

sliced tomatoes

biscuits wrapped in foil and warmed over the fire

coffee, milk

granola, fruit, milk or yogurt, coffee

the lunches:

hot dogs over the fire + buns + sauerkraut + ketchup + onions

baked beans

crudite with hummus

mountain pies with tomatoes/pesto/mozzarella

or pepperoni/pizza sauce/mozzarella

crudite with hummus

a final roundup of all the leftovers and scraps

I Love Wood Smoke

We went camping for the sake of the children.  They loved it.  The adults were charmed by their love, but rather overwhelmed by the amount of stuff camping requires as well as the relentless rain.  Lest you pity us, we were in a rough little cabin in a campground, not a tent in the wilderness.  There was running water nearby - lots of it in the stream, from the sky, and yes, importantly, in the bath house.

I am writing this blog post while sniffing my camping sweatshirt - I am loathe to wash the scent of wood smoke out of it.

My notes from last time were really useful.

More notes and menus for next time:

1. Tea lights in pint jars are lovely for atmosphere, especially on rainy days, but don't give out much light.
2. An extra bowl and an extra serving spoon are helpful.
3. Mug for every person, not just adults, because hot drinks are nice in chilly weather.  Must have hot drinks like hot chocolate and hot tea in addition to coffee.
4. Whatever vessel is used over the fire will be covered in black soot - good to borrow from camping friends or else get a dedicated pot from a thrift store.  Used my own cast iron frying pan, of course, and took along an old grate from a grill.
5.  Cold cereal and granola are a great camping breakfast because it's easy to be crabby in the morning when you're hungry in an unfamiliar space and trying to start a fire and then cook over the fire.  Much better to move those delicious cooked breakfasts to another meal (see frittata below) and just get everyone fed.
6. An extra bag is helpful - this time it was used for the abundant dirty, wet clothes.
7.  Chop and slice the onions at home so there's no need to take the big chef knife.  I only took a paring knife and a cutting board, which also doubled as a trivet.

Menus:

kielbasa on sticks over fire
buns/ketchup/mustard
popcorn (made at home)

mushroom/Swiss/onion fritatta (ended up scrambling that because the fire was too hot and the eggs were getting too dark on the bottom)
baked beans (home canned)
grilled asparagus over the fire
s'mores

fried fish (filets dipped in cornmeal and Old Bay) - squeeze of lemon
foil packets in the coals with potatoes, onions, olive oil, s&p (note:  triple-wrap the foil!!)
grilled asparagus over the fire
s'mores

hummus
daily bread
carrots
popcorn
s'mores

both breakfasts:
junky cereal that the kids chose rapturously in the discount grocery store
granola
yogurt/milk
strawberries
coffee in the percolator (this was the only appliance we brought along; well, we brought our in-laws' camp stove, too, out of fear of the rain, but managed to cook almost entirely over the fire)

extra snacks:  spicy peanuts, chocolate chip oatmeal peanut butter cookies (made at home), apples

Also interesting to observe:  we gave the children each $3 at the beginning of the vacation and told them not to ask us for treats, that they could control that money and buy their own treats at the camp store.  My, how they obsessed over the money!  Sometimes they appeared to make plans, and other times it was sheer impulse.  They spent it down to the last penny (Tootsie Rolls cost $.01) with lots of drama and junk along the way.  Ben finally got his wish to stick a dollar bill in a soda machine.  I truly hope that is not the highlight of his camping experience.

Camping Lists

We are back from camping and already I have forgotten the sheer work involved and am thinking mistily of what a good time we had. But what I was thinking during the weekend was: I don't feel like walking to the bathhouse with 20 other women and remembering everything for a shower. . . I wish I had brought jam, a tongs, ziploc bags, my sink, and bacon. . .I want my bed and my pillow. . . just my bed. I really want my bed. . .

But I'm not going to dwell on that, because truly, we had a wonderful time.  The only thing we didn't do from Gyo Fujikawa's poem was swing in a hammock because by the time we got the camp set up and started on the process that was dinner, we didn't feel like hanging up the hammock.

We did follow the menu plan, with the exception of Saturday when my mother came to our site (she was lonely for her grandbabies) and yearned so seriously for a hot dog over the fire that we left the hummus in the ice chest and went to the camp store. My mother bought average hot dogs at the camp store for $4.50 a pound. I had bought locally grown & made organic sausage the day before for $5.50 a pound.

I don't usually have the opportunity or memory to compare prices so directly, so I was reminded again what a high price convenience and lack of planning really does have. And I resolved that next time we went camping, I would be sure to bring all the traditional camp foods that we hunger for.

Notes for Future Camping
1. put food in plastic lidded tub, a portable pantry, instead of all over the front seat of the car
2. tea kettle for campfire
3. longer clothesline
4. big mat in front of tent door
5. get/borrow ice chest with a drain plug
6.  tongs, ziploc bags

7.  sleeping bags for kids

Things To Repeat for Future Camping

1. matches, newspaper in coffee can to keep dry
2. self-inflating sleeping mats
3. 2 dishpans and a bucket
4.  the menu (plus bacon and hot dogs)

5.  tinfoil, clothespins in leftover container

6.  book light

Corn on the Cob Over the Fire

1. Strip a few top layers of husk off the ears of corn - you don't want to see/feel the kernels through what's left on the ear.  Lay the ears of corn in buckets or dishpans of water and soak for up to an hour.

2. Turn your gas grill on low or prepare a bed of coals.

3.  Line a grill with foil over a campfire and lay the wet ears of corn on in a single layer (I don't use foil at home on the gas grill). 

4.  Occasionally dribble more water over the corn and turn so that all sides are exposed to the heat source.  The corn is steaming inside its husk, so it needs to stay damp.

5.  Check in 45-60 minutes.  The husk imparts wonderful flavor, but the coveted part of the corn is where it has turned amber brown. Even better, however, is if you have a layer of burlap over the corn.

We set our small children up to the bench of the picnic table on their little chairs. It works beautifully, better than this photo shows (where is Ben's plate?).

This is a design note to myself of the gorgeous combination
of the grey sheet with rosebuds against the plaid sleeping bag. 

Camping

Summertime - Gyo Fujikawa in Oh, What a Busy Day!


Rock in a hammock
Go on a hike
Dunk in a pool.
Have a picnic.
Sleep in a tent.

We're hoping to accomplish all of that this weekend when we're tent camping.

The food plan, from the master list on my beloved clipboard:

corn on the cob over the fire
mountain pies with caprese salad inside
s'mores

pancakes
peaches
coffee, milk

hummus, bread
tomatoes, cukes
Monster cookies

sausage sandwiches
green beans
s'mores

eggs
potatoes
onions/peppers
fruit & yogurt

hummus, bread,
caprese salad
cookies

We're going camping because the children will love it so much.  It's also a super-thrifty vacation: we're camping for $68 this weekend and borrowing all the gear from friends at church, thanks to our church's sharing list.  I'll be back next week, after I crawl out from the pile of laundry!