We are always cooking Southern food around here, so we finally did a Southern menu for our last event, the Subaru Death Valley Cycling Adventure. We made jambalaya, greens with lemon-tahini dressing (adapted from one of our favorite books, Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen), and these hush puppies.

It was about 15 degrees outside in the backcountry of Death Valley and the mountain bikers had been out riding fully past dark by the time they returned to our camp. They were ready for a hearty meal. The crew was a mashup of different people with different needs, so we were happy to have stumbled upon a vegan and gluten-free method that tasted good to everyone.

We planned to use hot pepper jelly as the dipping sauce for these but forgot it (and we weren’t about to drive 4 hours back to town to pick some up). We did have some cactus jelly that we’d purchased (along with a rattlesnake mug) at the Stovepipe Wells gift shop on our way in. We mixed it with the Tabasco-laced pickling juice from the spicy okra on our appetizer tray, and it was pretty delicious. The “recipe” isn’t included, but play with combining some kind of pepper jelly with some cider vinegar, salt and pepper to create your own dipping sauce.

We discovered that the desert is the perfect place to fry. Your outdoor kitchen can handle the smoke and grease much better than your indoor one, cast iron is readily on hand along with a strong stove flame, and people will flip out with excitement when they get to eat your creations. Just remember to bring some kind of container to pour your oil into when you’re done frying.

It’s also perfect, of course, for a cold weeknight celebration. Use these puppies as an excuse to eat outside in February.

Our trips may be transitioning from extended camping trips to shorter, more spontaneous day trips, but including healthy and satisfying meals is still an essential. Wes and I recently became certified foster parents, and we’re excited to include kids in our near-future adventures. We don’t have any kids in the house yet, so we are using this time to do any last minute preparations we can think of. This includes figuring out how to streamline our normal routines so we can spend more free time playing with kids. It also includes figuring out some easy kid-friendly outdoor recipes.

We’ve started leaning back into the idea of portable foods wrapped in baked bready things. Most of our recent trips have included standard pigs in a blanket (hot dogs and cheddar cheese rolled in crescent rolls from the can). I highly recommend these, but if you swap crescent rolls for frozen puff pastry and hot dogs for buffalo chicken, you up your fancy game significantly.

The toughest part of this recipe is remembering to thaw your puff pastry in time to bake it (I prefer to stick it in the fridge the night before if I think of it), and deciding on your favorite shape to form it into. As you can see, I’m not great at picking a favorite shape (they’re all so fun!).

Everyone will love this recipe and it tastes just fine out of a cooler or even at room temperature. Feel free to swap the chicken with veggie chicken strips or baked marinated tofu to make it vegetarian and less perishable.

Both grandparents lived a long and happy life, and left us with tons of happy memories to cherish for many more years. Memere was the grandmother that Aimee and I shared from our dad’s side, and she passed away this week last January. She and Pepere used to travel across the country from North Carolina to see us every year. They’d sleep in the camper shell on top of their pick up truck, even when that truck was parked in our driveway for the summer. The original #vanlife?

My grandfather on my mom’s side passed away last month. He was known for seeing the most pleasant side of all things, and his puns. Every time I visited my grandparents growing up, there would be a Costco-sized tub of sour cream waiting for me to turn it into as many pound cakes as it would make. I just used Nana’s recipe, but somehow Grandpa would convince me that I made it best.

My parents came to visit me for Christmas, and my mom brought with her a pound cake. We took it with us cross-country skiing last week. It’s really the perfect snack for a day in the snow. It is tough enough to pack well, and goes great with a warm drink. It is by no means a low-calorie food, so an active day outside is a good time to consider it truly justified.

If you’re cooking up breakfast for a crowd:

• If you’re cooking for a crowd and you own a dutch oven, this Dutch Oven Breakfast Casserole is a sure hit.

  

• Dust off your old pie iron and make some Campfire Cinnamon Roll Waffles. It’ll work just fine if you have a regular pie iron, but waffle irons are fun if you’re looking for a new camping toy.

  

• Campfire Breakfast Potatoes are perfect with scrambled eggs and bacon.

  

For snacking during the day:

• Make this Spicy Peanut Dip at home and dip carrots, cucumbers and bell peppers in it for a healthy and satisfying snack.

  

• These Spicy Potato Flatbreads are one of my favorite snacks. They’re savory, and totally satisfying even if you eat them at room temperature (i.e. they’ve been sitting in your pack all day)

  

• Sometimes a packaged bar won’t do. Take these Blueberry Coconut Almond Bars along for a day hike.

  

Some of our favorite hearty and easy camping main dishes:

• We’re all about communal eating and a Bruschetta Picnic Potluck is one of our favorite ideas. Lots of little dips and spreads complement each other to create a fun eating experience.



• This Albondigas Soup is warm and filling, yet still feels summery and fresh.

  

• For a simple and delicious meal, Crunchy Skillet Fried Tacos are a crowd-pleaser.

  

Dessert, of course:

• If your trip includes kids, s’mores are a must, but mix it up a little bit and make some Campfire Cones one night.

  

• Impress your friends by making a from scratch caramel sauce at camp. This Toasted Pound Cake with Pineapple and Coconut Rum Caramel recipe is easier than it sounds!

  

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!

This weekend, we wanted to focus on the holiday season while camping at Leo Carrillo (our favorite standby local spot- especially in the winter). We decorated camp in festive lights and centerpieces, and played Christmas music that we’d downloaded onto our phone before the trip. We’ve been doing mostly homemade gifts for each other this year, and wanted to start a tradition of homemade ornaments as well.

I wasn’t sure about this salt dough ornament recipe, but it worked out great on the campfire!

Salt dough is a quick and easy dough that you can easily make at camp with kids. It becomes the consistency of Play Dough, and you can shape it into whatever you want. We made one in Ravi’s favorite shape- an ‘O’- and another in Asha’s favorite shape- a rocketship.

A few notes:

• When forming your ornaments, don’t forget to poke a hole for a string to feed through later. We used a glow stick bracelet as our hole poker, but a stick would work just fine.
• The children tried to eat the ornaments as soon as I handed them over. They do resemble cookies, but they do not taste like them. Don’t worry- there’s nothing toxic or dangerous in the dough if this happens to you.
• Cookie cutters work great for this project, but I just cut out freehand shapes with a knife.
• The original recipe for these suggested to bake them in a low oven for 2 hours. I tried baking one in a pie iron directly in the fire, and the rest were done in a cast iron skillet on the grate. All dried out well. The one baked in the pie iron turned a lovely golden brown.

Decorate your ornaments with markers or paint after they dry. Then hang them all over camp, or on your Christmas tree back at home. Happy Holidays!

More surprisingly for me, given that I love to cook, is the burden of figuring out what food to bring. This is especially true when we’re meeting up with other people. It can be difficult to coordinate the menu so that all the components work together. Usually the food turns out fine, but it’s not often impressive.

As difficult as picnicking can seem, I think it’s such a good family activity. Earlier this year I decided I really needed to treat my picnicking supplies as I do my camping supplies so that we’re motivated to get out of the house for more picnics.

The most helpful thing I did was to simply declare a home for our picnic supplies. We used to have all our stuff in different locations and things would inevitably get put away in the wrong place. Now I always know where our picnic blanket is, along with a cooler bag, some outdoor plates, and utensils. I also know exactly where it goes when we’re done with it. That simple and seemingly obvious change has helped tremendously.

The other helpful idea I had was to come up with an easy picnic food theme. I can see this changing over time, but for now I’m really crazy about bruschetta. The beauty of it is you can have one person bring some nice bread and everyone else bring some toppings. Toppings can be all sorts of things, but here are some ideas:

• lemony marinated beans
• cherry tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper
• smashed avocado with lemon, chile flakes and salt
• brie with thinly sliced figs or apples and a drizzle of honey
• ricotta with dates and pistachios
• Muhammara Dip
• Garlicky Lima Bean Spread
• Eggplant Caponata
• Smoky Cheese and Pepper Spread

Now that it’s Fall, the cooler weather is another factor that might make picnicking seem less enticing, but I say just bundle everyone up and pack a warming drink in a thermos to accompany your bruschetta spread.

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!

Fritters are always fun in the summer. This recipe, another great one thanks to Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen, uses black eyed peas and peanuts as the base. These are fun ingredients that are easy to work with and less perishable than a lot of other options, which is wonderful for camping recipes. I prepared the mixture and put it in a zip-top bag before my trip. Then I fried the fritters in a cast iron skillet at camp. The leftovers took the place of falafel when combined with pita bread and hummus the next day. Thank you again to our friend Ryan Miller, who took this beautiful photo.

Did you get out for National Trails Day last weekend? If not, you’ve got National Get Outdoors Day to look forward to this coming Saturday. Find an event near you and go play!