Wilderness Gourmet?

First.. Happy New Year! I believe its going to be a good one. Hell it cant get any worse than last year. (I hope...) Second... Sorry to all of you who follow religously (I see you down there at the Dr's office in Richmond...) for my not having blogged in December. Ive had some personal drama to deal with, which I believe is now under control. For some insight into that, check out Emily Barker's Blog 'huh? what?' at www.rustproofbottom.blogspot.com Anyhow... a good year is in the offing.. Ive already started planning some real adventures that I can write about. Hold on to your hats. Third... Please make some comments.. look at the link below that will allow you to comment.. ask for directions and even get involved... The more the merrier is what I say. Enjoy the January Post.. Dave ______________________________________________ When your out in the ‘wilderness’ what you eat is a primary concern. Meals can be as simple or elaborate as your gear and imagination will allow. I have gone out with nothing more than a pack of hotdogs, while an Adventure Guide friend of mine boasts of making a chocolate cake (with icing) over a campfire while out biking. I’m not talking about survival foods here, not in the Man VS Wild sense anyway. Scenes of Bear Sterns eating berries and climbing trees for eggs just to survive are a whole different discussion. One that I’m not qualified to speak about because 1.) I’ve never really been in a life or death survival situation and then 2.) although they say everything tastes better eaten outdoors, I haven’t been able to bring myself to eat a grub “just cause it would be fun”. The only limitation in your meal choices is the amount of weight you can carry. Car Camping allows the most flexibility because you can keep a cooler with ice to keep your food fresh. Try these ideas: Steaks on a Rock: This is more about the cooking apparatus than a recipe. Create your fire; find a flat river stone; Place it directly onto the fire allowing it to get good and hot. Then use it as a skillet for your steaks. My son and I did this many years ago out at Kerr Damn Reservoir… The steaks tasted great, but that may have been more about the Father / Son moment I was having than the meal. However, my son still talks about it too. Scrambled Eggs in a baggy are another favorite. Crack your eggs into a zip-loc bag, add whatever you have brought along, cheese; green peppers, leftover Steak (from the rock) then place the bag into boiling water. Careful not to touch the sides of the pot as that creates a mess. The Kayak ‘holds’ afford some space ice to help keep sundries cool. My experience is that these foods need to be used in the first day’s meals. My favorite meal is RoadKill Chicken. I’ve had this after a day kayaking down the Shenandoah River. Technically it wasn’t “road” kill because I didn’t actually pick it up off the road. Again, simplicity: Place chicken breast in tinfoil. Add Spices – Rosemary; Salt; Pepper; Fold it up tightly and Toss it into a less intense portion of the fire. You can do the same thing in the morning using eggs and potatoes… making a breakfast casserole… just be sure to put the potatoes on the bottom. 20 minutes is all it takes. Getting it out of the fire is the interesting part. While hiking, not only do you have significantly less carrying capacity, campfires are forbidden in many of the National forests, you need to pack a camp stove and pot too. Dehydrated foods work best here. My least favorite meals but easiest to pack are Ramen Noodles and / or MRE’s. They need to be reconstituted with water, and regardless of how hungry you may be after a long day on the trail, they taste pretty bad. But, both are hard to beat for their weight to energy value. For me the best meal is had on the last night of a hike. By this time I don’t have to think in terms of “rationing” any longer. I can eat just about whatever is left that isn’t intended to get you through the last day’s miles. On my last hike, fellow hikers and I made a meal combining: Ramen Noodles; Chicken breast (from a foil pack); MRE Pork chop with gravy; CousCous; and MRE Rice. It became a stew of sorts all in the same pot. Yum! Although none of these meals are on the same level as eating grubs. They aren’t exactly Chocolate Cake either. Dave