Cooking outdoors always tastes better than cooking at home

At any given time during a one and a half week period in mid July, the Sams family had 22 people hanging out at their campsite in the Indiana Dunes State Park, lounging by the fire, chatting and eating.

Because when you’re camping, well, you also have to eat.

Whether by campfire or on charcoal grills brought from home, campers find enjoying the great outdoors also means throwing together simple yet delicious fare.

“Our favorite is packets,” Mandy Sams said, while family members cooked hotdogs and turkey burgers over the campfire for lunch. “It’s smoked sausage, potatoes, green peppers and onion. You just cut it in cubes, throw it in foil and put it in the fire.”

Four generations of the Crown Point family gathered for the campout, which required some advance planning of menus and who would bring what.

Because the sheer number of people is more than a typical campfire can be expected to serve, the family also brought some charcoal grills.

Other family favorites include kabobs, skillet breakfasts of bacon and eggs, and “pudgie pies,” a metal contraption on a stick for toasting sandwiches.

Toasted peanut butter and jelly, as well as sandwiches made with pizza ingredients, also rank high.

Cooking outdoors provides a different flavor than cooking at home.

“It tastes so much better, the wood and the charcoal and the smokiness,” Sams said. “It’s just being outside with everybody.”

At another campsite, Eileen Craige cut up watermelon while her husband, Rick, manned a charcoal grill. The couple, from Montrose, Penn., came to camp at the dunes for a reunion with family from Chicago.

“We enjoy cooking and what’s nice is, when you’re camping, you have a little more time,” Eileen said.

They use the campfire, the grill and a camp stove to satisfy their culinary interests.

One night, the family made homemade salsa together. Rick spent eight hours slow-cooking three racks of ribs on the charcoal grill one day — rather than being with the rest of the family at the beach. Rick also likes making pancakes from scratch in a cast iron skillet on the fire.

“It’s fun to cook when you’re camping,” Eileen said.

Brad Bumgardner, an interpretive naturalist with the state park who leads programs on campfire cooking, offered a few tips and ideas.

Campfires, are less predictable than camp stoves, or the stove at home.

“You have to learn the fire, the conditions, and when the fire’s right,” he said.

Toward that end, campers want to wait for the flames to die down so they can use the remaining coals to cook.

It’s also important to have the right utensils, since campers may find the handles on their home skillets burn off. Cast iron pans get very hot and stay hot, and are heavy as well.

Bumgardner prefers foil for what he calls “hobo dinners.” The foil cools quickly and can double as a plate on the table, making for easy cleanup.

“I use that more than anything, and I’ve had great fish and hamburger dishes out of that,” he said.

To break the s’more rut — Bumgardner admitted he’s not a fan of the ubiquitous campfire treat — he recommended dipping a roasted marshmallow in chocolate syrup and rolling it in either crushed peanuts or flaked coconut.

Foil Breakfast

– Hash brown potatoes

– Eggs

– Sausage

– Spices to taste

– Aluminum foil

Place potatoes, scrambled eggs (uncooked), sausage and spices in aluminum foil. Wrap securely. Place on coals for about 15 minutes. Turn and rotate as needed.

Bacon and Egg

Serving: 1

– 3 thick slices of bacon

– 1 egg

– 1 paper lunch bag

– 1 stick

Place bacon in bottom of bag, covering bottom.

Crack egg and put in bag on top of bacon. Fold top of bag down securely. Poke a hole through top of bag for stick. Hold over hot coals until contents are cooked.

Foil Dinner

– 1⁄4 pound ground beef

– 1 carrot, sliced

– 1 potato, sliced

– Small onion, diced

– Seasonings

– Butter

– Heavy-duty aluminum foil

Layer all ingredients in center of a piece of aluminum foil. Season to taste. Top with butter. Fold foil and secure tightly. Leave room for expansion. Place packet on hot coals for about 20 to 30 minutes. Turn and rotate often.

Camper’s Pizza

– Bread

– Butter

– Mozzarella cheese

– Pizza sauce

– Pepperoni, sliced

Butter one side of two slices of bread. Place one slice of bread on pie iron with buttered side down. Top with 11⁄2 tablespoons pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Place other slice of bread on top with buttered side out. Place pie iron on hot coals. Turn often until bread is toasted.

Kabobs

– 1 pound of sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes

– Marinade seasonings (Italian dressing, barbecue sauce, etc.)

– Assorted vegetables, sliced

– Sealable plastic bag

Place marinade in zippered plastic bag, then add beef.

Mix together well. Refrigerate meat for several hours or overnight to develop maximum flavor.

Alternate beef and vegetables on metal or wooden skewers. (Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes before using.) Grill over hot coals for 10 to 15 minutes until cooked. Turn and rotate often.

 

Flashpan Review

Flashpan and Cheesy Gashouse Egg Sandwich! Read more

 

Survival Kits are your best bet in Emergency Preparedness

Extreme weather such as tornadoes, tsunamis and hurricanes can bring about floods and landslides that can knock out your electricity for a few hours to weeks or in more extreme cases, require you to leave your home.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes can happen suddenly and if we are lucky we will know about the wildfires or volcanic eruptions that are about to happen. It is important to learn about the natural hazards that may impact you based on where you live.

Whether it happens suddenly or you have some warning, being prepared for a natural or man made disaster is very important. One of the easiest and most basic things people can do is to create an emergency kit. These allow you to take care of yourself and your family during and after an emergency.

Here is a list of items to include in an emergency kit that will allow you to be self sufficient for about 72 hours:

Essential items for basic survival:

Water – two litres of water per person per day (Include small bottles
that can be carried easily in case of an evacuation order) Food – that
won’t spoil, such as canned food, energy bars and dried foods
(remember to replace the food and water once a year) Manual can opener
Small fuel–driven stove and fuel – follow manufacturer’s directions
and store properly First aid kit Special needs items – prescription
medications, infant formula or equipment for people with disabilities
Extra keys – for your car and house Cash – include smaller bills, such
as $10 bills (travellers cheques are also useful) and change for
payphones Copies of personal documents – such as passport and birth
certificate A whistle – in case you need to attract attention Garbage
bags – for personal sanitation Toilet paper and other personal care
supplies

Items for comfort:

Flashlight and batteries
Battery–powered or wind–up radio (and extra batteries) Safety gloves
Basic tools – hammer, pliers, wrench, screwdrivers, fasteners, work
gloves Candles and matches or lighter Change of clothing and footwear
for each household member Sleeping bag or warm blanket – for each
household member

You probably have most of these items already, it is just a case of being organized and having them packed together in an easy to carry case and placing the items in an easy find location.

We did purchase one specialty item for our emergency disaster kit, the FlashPan Stove. This is a very cleverly designed “stove” as it is compact and uses fuel tablets that can be safely stored. It even has an “add on” picnic bag that we’ve packed up with canned food, water, opener and few of the other essential items so we have an emergency “grab bag” just in case.

 

Ontario Parks May Ban Disposable Propane Canisters!

Ontario Parks will not restock disposable propane containers their stores when the current supply runs out. Read more

 

FlashPan Product Images

Some FlashPan Product Images.

Read more

 

A Few FlashPan Picnic Images

A Few FlashPan Images from our recent Beach Picnic's Read more

 

A FlashPan Review

Today we took the FlashPan to our local park by the ocean. Read more

 

Great Camping Stove For A Picnic

Last Saturday we packed up a picnic dinner: a couple of salads along with some kebabs and maui ribs.  It was our first time to use a new cooking system, the FlashPan Stove / cooking system. Read more