_camp Creations Recipes

_GETTING BREAD IN CAMP

Steps:

• I can't remember exactly which chapter and verse in the "Good Book" mentions bread as being the staff of life, but even back then camp cooks included bread on the menu. I'm not saying bread is a must at every meal, but I wouldn't advise trying to feed a bunch of hungry campers for a week without it. Two days would be my best guess as to how long it would take before they got kinda surly. Though not mentioned specifically in the "Good Book", I suspect when Moses headed for the mountain to try and sort out all his troubles, no bread in camp was on his list. Should you forget to pack it or run out, as did Moses and his camp, deliverance through prayer would be an option. (However, don't have high expectations of seeing french toast scattered about on the ground and a six point bull hanging on the meat pole the next morning when you peek out of the tent!) It doesn't matter whether you're car camping, horse packing, or beaching your raft on a cobble bar, bread can "make a meal". Other than car camping, when space is not such a limitation, packing bread gets to be a real pain. For instance, try horse packing enough loaves of bread into camp to keep five or six hungry elk hunters in sandwiches for a week. You'd end up with one pack horse which appears to be fully loaded, but in reality is only carrying fifteen pounds. Then, no matter how carefully you pack, it's always half mashed when you get to camp. Dough ball sandwiches for a whole week might haunt a camp cook for the remainder of his life. Hope exists though, read on to find out how to get to camp and get bread too!With but one exception, I never pack store bought bread on a horse or raft trip. On raft trips I will take a couple of the round brown and serve loaves of sourdough bread. These fit perfectly in a 12-inch Dutch and make great garlic bread on spaghetti night. In place of "sliced bread" I pack flour tortillas and/or pita bread. Both pack in a fraction of the space and with the exception of trying to make french toast, make great substitutes for sliced bread. A couple of squeeze bottles with mayo and mustard make off road sandwiches a breeze to fix. Squirt a little mayo and mustard on a flour tortilla, roll up a couple of slices of your favorite sandwich meat and or cheese and you're done. Peanut butter and jelly works for the kids. If you want sandwiches to put in your day pack while hiking or hunting, use the pocket pita bread instead. In addition, the "torts" work just as well as "sliced bread" for sopping up gravy etc.Fresh baked in camp qualifies as the ultimate bread experience in my book. (Which I like to think is a "Good Book", too.) Whether sourdough, from scratch, or a dry prepared mix, your companions will hold you in very high esteem if your menu includes hot fresh bread. The camp cook who graces his table with such fare rarely requires the power of prayer to deliver him from evil especially any perpetrated by his companions! ** The individual (s) who speaks badly of any cook that bakes bread, should be remanded to REMEDIAL CAMPING 101 until a member of the clergy certifies that such a sinner(s), through penance and other sanctions, has admitted the error of his or her ways! A Back Country Guide to Outdoor Cooking Spiced with Tall Tales - Bread in Camp

_VEGGIES FOR CAMP

Steps:

• Keeping fresh produce in camp requires some planning, especially if you have to plan for salad hounds. Consider taking cabbage and making coleslaw instead of lettuce. The cabbage will keep several times longer than lettuce. A couple of years ago we shredded cabbage for coleslaw and packed it in resealable bags for a river trip. Squeeze as much air out as possible before you seal it. On day five we popped open the bags and made the dressing and had fresh slaw in less than ten minutes. If soups or stews are on your menu, throw in a few turnips and parsnips. Like potatoes, carrots, and onions they will keep fresh in a cooler or pack box for several days without ice. If you don't grow a garden, stop if you can at the local farmers' market on your way out of town on a summer trip. Farm fresh veggies taste better and are better for you. I try to keep canned veggies to a minimum just to save weight in my garbage sack. Also taking fresh veggies instead of frozen ones will reduce the amount of money you spend on ice. Depending on how long your trip is, many fresh veggies can be peeled, sliced, diced, etc., at home, which also saves preparation time in camp and reduces your garbage to bring out.Spiced with More Tall Tales - Vegetables and Salads

_CAMP CREATIONS

Steps:

• Few things in life end up being written in stone, the exception of course, a few short words on a gravestone that marks a final resting place. I've run across cooks who treat every recipe card as a piece of granite. Changing a recipe crosses their mind just before they consider voluntary commitment to an institution! In an extreme case, a cook I know totally changed his menu one night for the lack of a certain spice! Camp cooks rarely have that luxury. My personal opinion is, if someone is that hidebound they should cook for survival purposes only and take up something like underwater basket weaving when they want to have fun!If you truly enjoy camp cooking, an empty Dutch oven should be to you what an empty canvas is to an artist. The artist begins with daubs of paint on a palette while the camp cook opens the grub box and takes stock. Regardless of the colors used or the contents of the chuck box, only imagination and creativity limit the final product. The end result should be pleasing for both artist and cook. The difference being the painting ends up gracing a wall and the meal graces a table.Many recipes in this book and those still in my files got their start in camp. Hunting season ends up being a month long carousel of company and camps. Everyone shows up with plenty of grub. For convenience, we'll prepare some main dishes at home then take them to camp frozen. These are great when everyone gets in late. Also we have plenty of basics such as spuds, onions, dried beans, rice, and baking supplies. For the first few days if you were to sit back and silently observe, you'd think we actually had a plan. The last few days things change. Mealtime finds the cook rummaging through the grub box and coolers scratching his head trying to figure out just what to fix. Leftovers might show up as a side dish or the cornerstone of something new. The resulting meals end up being equal parts availability and necessity. Whether you're cooking for a crew in camp or the family on the patio, fill your Dutch with creativity and everyone will be back for seconds!Spiced with More Tall Tales - Breakfast