French Dish (Pate Chinois)

“French Dish” is a very simple but delicious car camping recipe that is family-friendly and quick to put together. Make this on a trip where you have lots of fun activities planned.

Hush Puppies

Though I spent only a little time in New Orleans in my life, Mardi Gras has always been big for us.

Korean Soft Tofu Stew

I discovered Korean food when I first moved to Los Angeles and instantly fell in love with it. One of my favorite dishes is sundubu-jjigae which is what this Korean Soft Tofu stew is based on.

Pineapple Coconut Upside Down Cake

In case you haven’t heard, we’ve got a cookbook due out this spring, and it is now available to pre-order!

Brussels Sprouts Crostini

We are asked about how to take fresh ingredients into the backcountry constantly. We have a list of go-to tough veggies that we usually recommend, but Brussels sprouts, though hardy, are not on it. Except for around Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Bourbon Compote

Happy Thanksgiving week! We are enjoying watching the focus of this holiday weekend shift from retail therapy to wilderness therapy with the establishment of REI’s #OptOutside campaign taking deeper hold each year.

Fire Roasted Indian Eggplant

It’s peak eggplant season around here, so on a recent beach camping trip to Morro Bay I decided to campify one of my mother-in-law’s specialties, an Indian eggplant dish called Baingan Bharta. It’s a bit like baba ghanoush in its preparation.

Italian Orzo Soup

My friend from Florida called me recently and said “I’m being transferred to Southern California- somewhere between San Diego and Fresno. Where should I live?” I laughed and told him to be my neighbor, knowing that he would surely be transferred far away. But then he called back and said his job was 10 minutes […]

Mushroom French Dips

At REI, where I work, we wear name tags with our favorite outdoor place listed on them. Mine says “Joshua Tree National Park.” For the past ten years, I have spent the majority of my days off in the park camping, climbing, hiking, and meditating. There is a quiet there that I haven’t experienced in […]

Peanut Butter Beans

The big success of our family’s summer was getting out on spontaneous camping trips. Before kids, this was easy, but with babies it felt nearly impossible.