These are delicious and spicy. Taco meat and puff pastry- what could be better? Just don’t forget the hot sauce! (I learned my lesson on this trip).

Adan is a pro fly fisherman (we’ll be demanding lessons soon), and he doesn’t just cook his trout- he smokes it. When I was growing up in Florida, I had a few lucky New Year’s parties where my best friend would show up with her family’s smoked mackerel. That was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. I haven’t even had Adan’s smoked trout, but I’m sure it’s just as delicious.

Where are you going to camp with your ENTIRE family and all your friends next year? Now’s the time to start planning (especially since the planning process requires a BBQ!) Let us know so we can be your neighbors!

We kept the food really simple because when you have five picky kids, a vegan, and a meat and potatoes kind of guy, nobody can agree on anything. The one thing everyone can agree on is dessert! These Campfire Cones were a hit.

The idea is to take an ice cream cone and fill it with different things like marshmallows, fruit, and chocolate. Then wrap the filled cone in foil and toss it in the campfire until everything is hot and melted. You kind of can’t go wrong.

We take a lot of climbing day trips or quick overnighters whenever we can get away with them. These are usually not well-planned (“Oh hey, we both get off of work early today and go into work late tomorrow- let’s go!”) so it’s hard to plan our meals very well. The idea behind portable packet meals is that you can whip up a batch of rice or grits or mashed potatoes (or just use leftovers from last night), stuff them with cheese, sausage, vegetables, or anything delicious that you have in your house, and you’re good to go. If you want to take it a step further, wrap that whole thing in some sort of dough and bake it for 20 minutes.

I don’t have muffin tins in my house, or I’d probably have used them for this. I used individual ramekins, so the serving sizes were on the large side. We’re planning to make empanadas in this style for our backpacking trip this weekend. Do you have another idea I could try? I still need a lunch for the second day.

What is a pie iron?

A pie iron is made of cast iron, and it is basically a sandwich press on a stick, made to cook directly over coals. Pie irons come in multiple shapes and sizes, and you can use them to cook a variety of things. Most recipes are some version of a stuffed sandwich, but we’ve thought up a few other ways to use it as well.

Why do I want one?

Most pie irons cook individual servings. This can be beneficial if everyone is out doing their own thing and expecting dinner at a different time. They can also help if you’ve got dietary restrictions to accommodate, or if you just want dinner to be more fun! Pie irons turn cooking into a group activity. Everyone can try their own recipe variations, and our favorite pie iron dinners always end in a cook off.

How do I use it?

Build a good cooking fire. This just means letting your fire burn long enough to build up a bed of hot coals. Preheat your pie iron. Hold it over the coals for about two minutes, flipping once halfway through. Then remove it from the heat, open it up (carefully- remember it’s hot!). Spray both sides inside with cooking spray, and fill it with ingredients.

Close the pie iron and put it back in the coals. It usually takes less than 5 minutes to cook, so it’s best just to hang out rather than walk away. Check the status of your recipe often.

There are a lot of factors that determine how long it will take for your recipe to cook. It takes some trial and error, but the errors can be corrected quickly and easily- just make another one!

How ‘bout some recipes!

Here are two favorite pie iron recipes. If you’ve got some great ideas, we want to hear about them.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
• ¼ cup blueberries
• 4 slices bread
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, smash blueberries into the softened cream cheese. Spread two slices of bread with the cream cheese mixture. Top each slice with another bread slice. In another bowl, beat the egg with the milk and vanilla. Dip each side of the sandwiches into the egg mixture. Coat pie iron with cooking spray and place the french toast sandwich inside. Close the iron and cook each side for a few minutes until bread is golden brown.

Stuffed Hash Browns

• 2 cups hash brown potatoes
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• ½ avocado, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup shredded cheddar
• salt and pepper, to taste
• pinch cayenne (optional)

Coat pie iron with cooking spray and fill each half with about ¼ cup hash browns, packing them in. Top each side with cheese. Arrange tomato and avocado on one side and sprinkle with seasonings. Close the iron and cook on each side for a few minutes until hash browns are golden brown.

Post in partnership with REI and Emily is an employee. All opinions shared here are our own.

I know that I mention what a seasonal snob I’ve become for a few things: corn and tomatoes. Even this place that has everything available all year round can’t get me delicious corn or tomatoes until it’s officially a warm weather month.

Tomatoes aren’t ready yet, but corn is at least at an acceptably sweet level. Especially when eating it off the cob. I saw a version of this salad on Pioneer woman, and thought it would make the perfect camping meal. It could definitely be completely made and jarred up at home, but we wanted campfire grilled corn and chicken, so we made it in joshua tree.

One bite will remind you of all the summer fun you get to have soon!

With a butternut squash sitting on my counter that had yet to find a purpose, the Butternut Squash Tahini spread recipe caught my attention. I was also on the hunt for a snack to bring along for a quick weekend camping trip and this seemed to fit the bill.

I cut off the skin of the squash, cubed it and threw it into a foil packet along with some olive oil, salt and cinnamon per the recipe. An alternative for cooking the squash could be to half the squash, wrap it in foil and throw it into the campfire if you are doing it all at camp. Once the squash is cooked – it’s simply a matter of combining all remaining ingredients in a bowl and mashing it together with a fork.

The result – a mix of sweet, savory, creamy flavors that keep your taste buds guessing. I was really impressed and honestly surprised by it – I half expected not to like it because I typically find butternut squash too sweet. This wasn’t the case. It’s a hearty snack best served with pita chips or bread and a fresh salad.

This is prime time for Joshua Tree National Park and I have been trying to squeeze in as many weekends there as possible. After going there mostly for climbing in the past 9 years, I also had a luxurious weekend of non-climbing (read all about Emily’s big horn sheep sighting here) and finally took some time to see both well known and lesser known sights in the park.

The first day we went on a two-hour guided walking tour of Keyes Ranch and learned all about Bill Keyes – a shady but very entrepreneurial character. On the second day, we hiked out to Samuelson’s Rock – an off-the-beaten path destination that you can only get to with a little cross-country hiking. There you can see many of John Samuelson’s quotes carved into rocks. It seems he had strong opinions, but maybe not the best grasp on grammar!

This Spicy Asian Penne pasta was really quick and easy – just what we wanted after a day of hiking around in the sun all day. I tend to crave Asian flavors but I wanted something a little heartier than rice or noodles so I decided to try penne pasta.

The portobello mushroom, sweet onion and bell pepper are no fuss vegetables that add a distinct flavor profile to the dish. Throw them into a foil pouch with sauce and put your campfire to work. The vegetables should be cooked and the sauce slightly thickened with some charring happening at the bottom of the pouch.

This dish has a lot of heat, so if you are a little more conservative with your spiciness, I recommend using less chili pepper. If you can’t find fresh peppers, red chili flakes will probably work as well.

We got to be picky, and chose a site with a rock “hearth” behind the fire pit, where we strung twinkly lights and made the neighbors jealous. We spent the night on Wednesday, even though we had to work on Thursday, and it was fun to get a practice run before having to entertain. It gave us a chance to make a list of things we forgot, or wish we had. There wasn’t much time for a serious day of climbing, so we spent time driving through the park looking for wildflowers. The ocotillo were blooming beautifully on the west side of the park, but that was about it. But we DID get to see our first set of bighorn sheep!! Wes and I have been looking for them ever since we started dating, so it was SO exciting to finally get to see them! Of course, they were spotted crossing the road at Sheep Pass.

When we went back on Saturday, we bragged to my parents about our Wednesday experience and felt sorry for them because they’d never get so lucky. After a few little sight-seeing hikes, Dad wanted to drive up to show mom sunset at Keys View (an amazing lookout over the valley). As we were driving up the road, I turned to my left and spotted TEN MALE bighorn sheep laying down in the brush! Dad slammed on the breaks and we got the chance to photograph them with all my parents’ collection of cameras. Best day ever.

Dinner that night was pretty straightforward: hot dogs, corn on the cob, and canned baked beans. (Dirty Gourmet keeps us from eating boring old camping food very often, and sometimes we miss it). Then, the next morning, we made these quick and easy pie iron egg sandwiches. Frying eggs in the pie iron was a great idea! We could maybe have quadruple-timed the process by doing the same thing in the dutch oven, but everyone was on their own schedule that morning, so it was nice not to have to drag everyone out of bed for the sake of the early-rising hungry people. Plus, they would never have come out so perfectly round. It was like we went to McDonalds!

Earlier in the week Mai-yan shared a great tutorial on how to cook in a foil pouch on a campfire, so take a look at that if you haven’t already before you make this recipe. To make this really easy at camp, make the vinaigrette at home.