The celebration of the actual holiday in the outdoors adds to the revival of what truly matters about it- bonding with the people you love.We have heard many stories of Thanksgiving camping trips, and love spending it in our local wild areas ourselves. Even more exciting are the trips venturing deeper into the backcountry. In these cases, it is important to keep the logistics of food simple to allow you plenty of time to reach your destination and enjoy a relaxing time with your loved ones. Keep the meal confined to the essential dishes, and spread out the work among all the guests.

We thought through a few of our must-have dishes and adjusted to make them possible in the backcountry. Cranberry Bourbon Compote is simple and perfect to accompany any other Thanksgiving dishes. It is not as saucy as a standard cranberry sauce, but has the same flavor profile and is lightweight and non-perishable. It is delicious spooned over your other Thanksgiving dishes and would also be a great addition to a breakfast made out of leftovers.

Have you ever tried Kombucha? It is supposed to be extremely healthy, (claiming to cure all sorts of illnesses and even reverse gray hair, according to it’s Wikipedia page), but it’s a rough one flavor-wise. It pretty much tastes like flavored vinegar to me.

So when Aimee suggested making a cocktail out of it over the holidays, I was skeptical. She left the job in the hands of our resident bartender, Wes, though, who made up this truly fabulous drink.

If you’ve ever had a shrub, this is very similar. It’s only slightly sweet, and a little sparkly. It’s a refreshing daytime type of drink. Perfect for an afternoon picnic or an afternoon relaxing in your hammock at camp. It’s a great drink to include in your January activities. You know- because January is when we’re all out there getting healthier.

Cheers! We’ll see you in 2016!

One of the few that we did make was simple: toasted store bought pound cake with fresh grilled fruit. It was so simple, but so delicious and memorable. I don’t think we really thought it through. It was just one of those times where all the right pieces came together and we ended up with this beautiful eating experience. On our last camping trip, I decided to try to recreate (a different rendition of) that dessert, this Toasted Pound Cake with Pineapple and Coconut Rum Caramel.

Store bought pound cake is just fine here. I used a mediocre pound cake that had been hanging out in my freezer for a little too long, and it was perfect. We toasted slices of the pound cake using a camp stove toaster. You can also toast the cake in a skillet or on a grate over the campfire, but those camp stove toasters are pretty great.

For the topping, fresh pineapple gets doused in a coconut rum caramel sauce. Super simple, and super delicious on top of buttery toasted pound cake! If you have a campfire going, I’m sure it would be spectacular to grill the pineapple and just pour the caramel sauce on top.

It’s always motivating to have a trip coming up. We’ve been hiking and running pretty consistently to get in shape for all the activities we plan to cram into one little week. This week, we spent a morning running in the local mountains, and we stumbled upon blackberry bushes growing right up against the trail. We ate a few on the way out, and I focused on finishing my water bottle so I’d have storage for more on the way out. It was a perfect running morning, because it was gray and rainy. We rarely get these, so I was really excited to take advantage of it. It’s amazing how much less whiny I am on cool days.

Though we sacrificed a bit of fitness to stop (for a while!) and pick a whole bunch of blackberries, it was worth it. We got back to the car stained red, scratched up, and quite happy. The day stayed rainy, so we stayed in the kitchen. I taught Dutch Oven Cooking basics at REI the night before, and had overpurchased peaches for the cobbler I made, so I pureed them with the blackberries, and dried the whole thing into a big roll of fruit leather.

It was very easy to make fruit leather, but I did make a small mistake. I wanted to show off the contrast between peaches and blackberries, so I swirled the two purees together without mixing them fully. This turned out beautiful, but created inconsistencies in the thickness of the puree while in the dehydrator. It dried unevenly, so I had to peel chunks out as they dried and leave the rest to continue. I think the swirl would still be pretty if I’d done a bit better job of evenly distributing the puree.

I’m going to try to get this fruit leather to last until Canada (August 1), but I don’t see how that’s going to be possible. If it does, I’ll give you a full report about the perishability of the product.

No grinding necessary, just throw a tablespoon of whole chia seeds into 3 tablespoons of water, and you have a perfect egg. Maybe even better than an egg. All of my baked goods (mostly quick breads) have been coming out more moist than anything I’ve ever made.

All three of us dirty girls grabbed our families and went on a beautiful weekend trip to Sheep Camp in the Chumash Wilderness last week for Mai-yan and my joint birthday party. We ate this mountain berry bread for breakfast before heading out.

Aimee’s parents live close to the trailhead in Pine Mountain Club, so I headed up there a day early to prep my food and take advantage of their new jacuzzi! I baked this bread up there, and so I had to adjust the recipe a bit for high altitude. I found this chart to be very helpful, and the bread came out perfect. The posted recipe is the standard, low altitude recipe. Follow the chart in the link above to adjust based on where you are baking.

Model girls of Dirty Gourmet

Chia seeds are the superfood of the moment. I’ve avoided them mostly because I have a retainer and they always get stuck in it. Then I saw a recipe for chia seed pudding, and I thought it would be a genius idea for backpacking! The recipe is incredibly simple, ultralight, non-perishable until mixed with liquid (and then only slightly more perishable), versatile, and uber-healthy! Genius.

In our initial testing, we tried mixing some chia seeds with almond milk and some with water. The photos show the water option, which is the easiest option in the backcountry. I did end up floating a bit of almond milk for some flavor. Aimee wants to try sweetened condensed milk. Honey packets would be great. I think I’ll send freeze-dried berries and some Honey Almond Granola Brittle with Wes for his trip. Do you have a better idea? I’d love to hear suggestions for this and any other meals you think is worth testing. Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page.

When I’ve made fruit leather before, I’ve done it in my oven, at it’s lowest setting (170° F). There are a couple of problems that I’ve run into with making it in the oven. One, it takes forever and I feel guilty about having the oven on that long, and two, it can sometimes burn a little on the edges. This year I did it in my car. Yes, you read that right. I made fruit leather in my car. And it was great! I did it on a hot day and just stuck it on my dashboard in the morning. By the evening it was done. No guilt about having the oven on all day, and no burned edges!

I cut the fruit leather into thin strips with kitchen shears and roll it up like a Fruit by the Foot. The kids and I have just been eating it on our trips to the park, but it would be great on a day hike or a backpacking trip.

If you can’t get fresh figs anymore, don’t give up. Move on to apples and try this Apple Spice Fruit Leather.

A few months ago, Emily and Wes hosted a picnic in their backyard and they served sangria in jars. With all the mason jar madness going on in the world, I don’t know why I never thought of putting drinks in jars for a camping trip. You just pack the partially filled jars in your cooler and then top them off with ice at camp. If you drink the sangria on the first night, you can use the jars as your drinking glasses for the rest of your trip. The jars are admittedly heavy and fragile, but they won’t leak and they’re nice to drink out of. Great for glamping.

This Rosé Sangria is spiked with a touch of tequila and some tangy grapefruit juice. Combined with the sweet fruit, it’s a winner. Even if you’re not camping, make this and sip it on your porch.

Smoky Spicy Black Bean Dip

Dips are always welcome around camp, and many can be made at home before the trip. Offer this as incentive to get the campfire started. It’s fine straight out of the cooler, but gets much better with a little smoke and warmth.

• 2 pasilla peppers
• 1 jalapeño
• 2 15-oz cans black beans, one can drained
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon chile powder
• pinch salt & sugar
• ¼ cup cheese, diced into cubes

Char peppers, discarding skin, seeds and stems, and add to the bowl of a food processor. Add black beans and remaining ingredients, except for the cheese, and blend in a food processor. Pack the bean dip and cheese in separate containers. Once at camp, pour the bean dip into a pot – preferably one that can go over the campfire. Stir in cheese and heat. Do not overstir – you want to get little cheese pocket surprises throughout the dip. Serve with tortilla chips.

Salad in a Jar

Salad is a perfect first course, and goes great with a summer cocktail. Light crunchy vegetables are easily jazzed up with a spicy tangy vinaigrette. Store personal sized jars cold in the cooler until just before serving. They’ll only need a shake to be ready to eat.

• 1 cucumber
• 1 jicama
• 1 small watermelon
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup Olive oil
• 1 jalapeno, sliced
• 1 teaspoon pico de gallo seasoning
• Salt and pepper

Slice cucumbers and jicama into matchsticks, and watermelon into small triangles. Mix lemon juice, jalapeno, pico de gallo, salt and pepper together. Add olive oil, stirring to combine. Divide vinaigrette between four jars. Layer in jicama, cucumber, and watermelon in that order. Chill until ready to eat. Just before eating, shake jar to coat the salad in vinaigrette.

Campfire Roasted Edamame

These little bean pods are the perfect camping snack. We usually steam them at home, but if you’ve got a fire going, they’re delicious roasted in a cast iron skillet. Throw the shells into the fire after eating for zero cleanup.

• 1 pound frozen edamame, defrosted
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• red chile flakes, to taste
• salt, to taste

Heat a cast iron skillet on a grate set over a campfire. Add the oil and garlic and saute for a few seconds. Add the edamame and cook, stirring frequently with tongs, until you see little blackened spots and the edamame are cooked through. Season with chile flakes and salt.

A Couple Old Goodies

Though we plan to create and test new recipes on every camping trip, we often find ourselves secretly perusing the Dirty Gourmet archives for our favorites of the past. These two recipes have made appearances on quite a few trips.

Roasted Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers– switch out the sweet peppers for jalapenos to make a
campfire poppers. Feel free to wrap either kind of pepper in bacon.

Soyrizo Stuffed Mushrooms– Meat lover or veggie lover, you will love this recipe. There has
never been a quicker and easier stuffed mushroom.

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