We have been slowly tackling the SoCal six pack summits. The hikes to these peaks are the ones with the most elevation gain and typically are done to train for the John Muir Trail and/or Mount Whitney. So far, we have completed Mt. Wilson, Cucamonga Peak, Mt. Baldy, San Bernardino and San Jacinto. The last and final challenge is the largest one – San Gorgonio which I’m hoping to get to conquer in the next 3 weeks.

With all this hiking under my belt, I’ve learned a few things.

• After years of constant blisters, I finally found a solution that works for my feet – Brooks Cascadia Trail Runners. Taking care of your feet is critical for backpacking, hiking and trail running. It’s such a relief to know that I can now go outside, play hard and go home without destroyed feet.
• I’ve taken for granted the trail experience that I have accumulated. Many of the hikes have been with people that don’t have a lot of hiking experience. That has been really exciting – that is one of the goals of Dirty Gourmet – to get people outside! At the same time, it’s been a little nerve-wracking to see how underprepared some people were for serious all-day long hikes. Here’s a list of the ten essentials you should always have with you when venturing outside.

• I realized that if someone were to get injured on the trail, I have no clue about first-aid procedures and neither would anyone else in the group. I’m taking care of that by signing up for a Wilderness First Aid class, a 2-day long workshop offered by REI and the Wilderness Medicine Institute. When I finish this class, I will receive a NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute Wilderness First Aid certification and should be able to make an informed decision should anything ever happen in the backcountry. Check the schedule for a class near you here.

All this hiking has forced me to come up with different fun snacks to share with everyone. Being that I always crave salty crunchy snacks while hiking, I decided to make homemade cheese crackers. I made a regular version and a vegan version using Daiya cheese. Both turned out well – with many even preferring the vegan ones! This recipe comes together really easily and you get to play with cookie cutters. Have fun with the flavors and try your own versions with different herbs and maybe even chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Hiking is not done. I’m all ears for your fave trail snack suggestions.

This time we learned from our mistakes  and planned a casual overnight backpacking trip on Mount Pinos near our Dirty Gourmet outpost in Pine Mountain Club.

I took the lead for lunch on the trail with a very loose idea of a “packet meal” – an all-in-one savory hand-held wrapped item filled with deliciousness. With no real plan or recipe in hand, the experiment yielded a pie crust wrapped pocket filled with a mixture of sweet potatoes, leeks, jalapenos, sausage and goat cheese.

Being the baker that I am not, I struggled with the pie dough rolling and folding. The Sweet Potato and Sausage Savory Pie Bombs started out blobby but eventually found their shape, which is a little reminiscent of Asian dumplings or baos.

The great thing about this kind of snack is that you can use pretty much anything you like for the filling; just make sure the consistency is not too liquid. For the shell, I used store-bought frozen piecrust that you can roll out flat (no pie tin). You can also use puff pastry for the shell as Emily did with her Cheesy Sausage Grits Cakes.

Even though birthday month will be over, the fun will continue! The next big challenge for me is the 8000 meter challenge – Mount Baldy, San Gorgonio and San Jacinto all in one day. Most likely, I will have one of these pie bombs stashed in my pocket.

My bundt pan used to live in the garage because we didn’t have enough storage in our old kitchen. We moved in March and our new kitchen has lots of storage, so my bundt pan now has a home in the kitchen, where it belongs. Now that I see it all the time, I’ve made more bundt cakes than ever and have become a little obsessed with them. I love them because there’s crust in every slice of cake.

This Almond Poppy Seed Bundt Cake recipe is super easy to throw together. It has a strong almond flavor, so if you don’t like that flavor, you could omit the almond extract and add some lemon zest instead. If you’re worried about transporting the cake with the glaze on it, you can use less glaze or just leave it off entirely. Even Emily, the self-proclaimed cake-hater loves this cake.