Camping Cuisine

Ahh camping, how I love thee. We took a trip up to Idyllwild this weekend. I was looking forward to a weekend of no phone service, fishing, stars, no showers, hiking, bonfires, s'mores, cold beer and cigars. We left early Saturday morning, after an evening of preparing the food for the trip. Our reservations were made through “Reserve America”, not recommended. Maybe it’s a good idea to see what’s available, but I’d advise you to call the campsite directly. We loaded up the cars and hit the road. In only a little over 2 hours we arrived… to a Boy Scout camp. Luckily we were surrounded by Boy Scouts so they were enthusiastic about putting their skills to work and help us out in anyway they could. I mean they had to, its mandatory right? They pointed us to another site down the street, where the ranger pointed us to another and then another. 

    Finally we found what we were looking for, but it would have been nice if they had given us the right address from the start. So we pull up to check-in and discover that we weren’t at just any old campsite, oh no. This was “resort camping” (Thousand Trails) Cabins, horseback riding, ice cream socials, wine tasting, live music, a pool, bathrooms & showers and no bonfires. With smiles on their faces, they gave us a map and sent us on our way to pick out our own spot. We found a few, surrounded a bunch of resort dwellers, giving us looks as if to say “oh no, you kids better not cause any trouble, we’ll be watching you”. That’s when Andrew, an employee, showed up in his golf cart to find us standing there looking at one another. He told us about another area he thought we might be interested and led the way. It was nearly untouched land, literally no one in sight on all sides of us. We were on the highest point of the mountain with a breathtaking view. He went on his way and reminded us to watch out for the rattlesnakes. So clearly I went exploring, it was amazing. I stood there for a few mins, looking around trying to take it all in, when I glanced down near my right foot to see a snake curled up and waiting to greet me. Now I was camping. 


   Okay about the food, I decided to prepare all that I could before hand at home and it really cut down on prep time and preparation supplies later on. I also wanted to come up with some way to use all of the delicious tomatoes that my boss gave us from her garden. We decided to split things up, so I only had two meals to plan for. Our friends, Scott and Beth Anne, made scrumptious turkey burgers and potato fries for dinner.

 Lunch: Wasabi Turkey Croissant & Caprese Cucumber Salad

Wasabi Turkey Croissant

Croissant

Wasabi Mayo (Trader Joes)

Sliced Goat Cheese (TJ)

Romaine Lettuce

Turkey

Avocado

Caprese Cucumber Salad

5 Med Tomatoes, chopped

1 Cucumber, chopped

8 oz Mozzarella, cherry size cut in half

10 Basil Leaves, chopped

¼ c. Pine Nuts, lightly browned in toaster oven

3 tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

1 tbs. Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

To be done at home:

• Combine the Tomatoes, Cucumber, Mozzarella & Basil, put in container.
• In a baggie or small jar (I use baby food jars) add Vinegar, Oil, Salt & Pepper.
• Put Pine Nuts in a baggie
• Combine all the ingredients when you are ready to serve.

Breakfast: Asparagus Scrabble & Apple Chicken Sausage

1 doz. Eggs

2 tbs. Cilantro, diced

2 Tomatoes, chopped

½ c. Fresh Spinach

10 Asparagus

2 Potatoes, chopped

1 Yellow Onion, diced

1 Avocado

½ c. Mozzarella cheese

5 Apple Chicken Sausages

5 Tortillas

To be done at home:

• Prepare Potatoes, Onion, tomatoes Cilantro and separate into baggies

On Site:

• Cook Sausage on grill
• Cook Potatoes and Onions covered for 5 mins and then add Asparagus to pan
• Beat eggs in bowl and add to separate pan. 
• Cook half way and add Cilantro, Tomatoes, Spinach & Asparagus
• Top with Avocado & Cheese
• Serve with Tortilla