Camp Food

Our first night of camping, when it was just Kevin and I, we failed big time with dinner. We planned on making borscht. Cabbage, potatoes, beets, beef, sour cream and pimenton all sounded like a recipe for success, and especially when a few aspic cubes were tossed into the mix. Well... we got to our camp site late. By the time we were cooking it was dark, and by 9:30 we were STARVING. We could not let it cook any longer, despite the fact that we knew that the dish needs time. It was not good. Overly salted, under cooked. The beef tasted horribly beefy and did not "fall apart". The beets were so earthy and sweet that it gave me the creeps. It was bad, and there was a lot of it. Next!
Thank god our friends Nic and Topher came to save us on Friday night. They brought with them salmon and potatoes, corn with cotija, kale and bread. Nic cooked the salmon on corn husks that he pained with mustard. As the husks burned off, the mustard adhered to the salmon skin creating a toasty mustard crust. Give me a break. The potatoes were cooked in a packet with tons of garlic and oil. The greens we cooked in a dutch oven with lemon juice and salt, and the smoke from the fire made them extra special.

It was a great trip. On our second day the sun came out and we frolicked along the river and even went for an invigorating midday skinny-dip (twice! Notice my cold dead face in the last photo- I call it freezing victory.) and the dogs were happy to run around and get dirtier than usual. They love to sleep in a tent, and Jacky loves to sleep in my sleeping bag with me.
The stars were unbelievable. We all laughed about how dumb people are and how we all always say the same dumb stuff when confronted with the night sky, but then we took a walk and looked at the stars and we all exclaimed "we're so small..." and "there's gotta be life out there...". We are so predictable.

Back in Portland I am anxiously waiting for my cuisinart to be delivered. Pesto!

Salads For Kisses

Fresh out of the garden, my first lettuces. Like lambs ears, or Jacky's when they are clean- warm and soft. With black krim tomatoes and lettuce both warm from the sun, a perfect avacado and french sheep's milk feta; my favorite big salad yet.
Whenever Kevin asks me what I want for dinner, he usually answers with me, mockingly, "umm... a big salad?"
I was so thrilled with this one, the one that helped me make it through another double, that I left him one for when he got home from work with a love note in the fridge. He did not find it- he was still focused on the perfect potato salad from a few days ago- until morning. Guess what was for breakfast?

Eating greens right out of the garden makes me feel like I am injecting vitamins and health directly into my bloodstream. I also get this feeling when drinking Dewars Old Fashioned's. Just sayin.

I'll be "away from my desk*" for a few glorious days, camping and eating. Meal planning started today, with helpful suggestions/opinions from me like "there's always fruit roll-ups" and "no".

On the menu:
Thursday: Undecided, Something with meat on a stick
Friday: Snacks from Packets, Dinner Packets, After Dinner Snacks from Packets, Dessert in Packets
Saturday: Fancy Breakfast with hemp milk (sick) (no)

Liquor list: Bourbon. Tequila. Scotch. Campari.

Obviously we are totally unprepared and overly excited about making fires while drinking dirty cocktails. My new flair for scotch just can't be good! Housecoats and cigarette holders here I come. I always thought it would be vermouth to throw me in with that camp but now I wonder.
Photos, interviews, exclusive details to come!!!!

*I work exclusively from bed.

Bands, Burgers, Red Velvet

Who the heck is that great looking band, you might be wondering.
Well, I will tell you- it's the hottest group to come out of Fossil, Oregon yet: The Wheeler County Rambler's. Who's that handsome drummer, you might also be wondering. That's my dad! Hire them for your next private function in Fossil.

The burger pictured here was made at the skyline tavern- by us. You can sign up to use the outdoor grill and cook your own food and drink their beer whenever you want. We stacked the jukebox with music we like and it almost felt like we lived in the west hills with a view of Beaverton. Grilled eggplant and onions, cheddar cheese and fatty beef made this the best burger so far in my book. Mmm... fat...

And finally, red velvet cake. We just had our bi-annual family trailer-camping trip. This season we checked out the Mount Hood forests and lakes. It was freezing cold- I got the chance I've been waiting for to wear fleece pants over my jeans and 4 sweaters all at once- it was bulky. I now know what I will look like if I continue to eat a strict diet of biscuits and charcuterie- it wont be good, but it is almost inevitable as I have no plans of quitting any of my hobbies (food, resting).

Also while camping Kevin and I cooked up another good dinnah of boston butt braised in milk with garlic and herbs. It cooked for hours and hours until the milk had reduced to a hideously (see previous post for images) delicious "milk jam" and the pork did that thing where it falls apart and makes you cry with happiness. We enjoyed it along side a zingy slaw and some very spicy radishes. For fathers day/happy birthday dad cake I made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and shredded coconut. I did not master this recipe yet and therefore would not dream of posting it. However I am happy to experiment and will post it when I get it right. I think the key is more food coloring and less worrying about putting 3 tablespoons of dye into a cake for no good reason besides tradition and delight.