The camping box

[Peachcreek]

Hello campers....Summer is here. Time to dust off the 'ol Coleman stove and head out of town. So far this year I have made a few forays into the woods. Last week we were at the top of the Beartooth Pass, outside of Yellowstone Park. Beautiful. But lets face it. We are really out there to eat. Nothing brings out an appetite like wandering around outside in a different place smacking bugs, asking tourist questions and getting grit where it doesn't belong. So I was going through my camping box, my portable kitchen and checking the contents.
A list of necessities: Cast iron frying pan, 12" and 8" saute pans, kettle with lid, 2 and 4 qt pots w/lids, grater,wire whip, stainless steel bowl, spatula, ladle, slotted spoon, rubber spatula, French knife, paring knife, boning knife, steel, cutting board, can opener, coffee dripper and filters, 3 plastic tubs for my triple sink, plates, cups, glasses, bowls, flatware, dishrack, towels and napkins, tableclothes, candles, pepper grinder, wine glasses and corkscrew,aluminum foil and a few more odds and ends. All this fits in a plastic tub with tight-fitting lid to keep the dust out. Personally I think dining in the great outdoors is a real treat. And I don't think that I am too decadent. Let's face it. I leave my salad spinner at home....
How do YOU camp? Rustic, "reservation only" or Ramada?

[Piper Halliwell]

Oh, summer camping is really nice! I'm not used to go camping. And right now, here it's winter... but, all i can say is that i would take everything i need (and that means a lot of stuff *lol*)

A full camping box with all your needs is the best way to start. As i can see, your list is really good and there are many things that i haven't even though that you should take. So, i'll keep those in mind.

[shroomgirl]

I took 3 semisters in Backpacking in college......learned alot about food, the weight of food and dehydrated food. Went on to 2 sons that were extremely active in scouts, cooking over an open fire. Unfortunately the scout leaders would be into the brown food group, by the time my guys hit weblos, mom was persona non gratia and thus brown food it was.
Then along came wild mushroom cooking (mycofogy) and it is a joy to take a camp stove skillet, 40% heavy cream,olive oil, salt pepper and good bourbon (oh yeah a bagette isn't bad either...and wine of course) into the woods and cook what is found. Commando cooking at it's finest. I do alot of cooking in rustic girl scout camps for shroom groups, and would love to do more. A few years ago I gave up sleeping on the ground, but I have been known to sleep on a cot.
Guess equipment wise is am I backpacking or driving to a site or driving to a kitchen in a site.

[holydiver]

Peachcreek do you live in Wyoming or Montana? I am from Billings.

[Peachcreek]

I live in Pocatello, but grew up in Anaconda. (Will that be ravioli or spaghetti with your steak?)

[phatch]

I don't actually have a dedicated set of camp cookware. I plan out my menus and go through the mis en place, including equipment, to create a packing list. But a 14 inch cast iron skillet, a large griddle, an 8 qt pot are my usual cookware. Dutch ovens too, of the cast iron type. I've started to take my bullet smoker with me more lately. Love that barbecue.

I do some packing too, though my last was a tough day trip.

That's me with the red pack.

I also happen to be the scoutmaster so I get some lighter type camping with my city boys too. But they eat better than I did as a scout.

Phil

[kokopuffs]

May I recommend PETROMAX lanterns and stoves over Coleman brand. Petromax is a multifuel unit eliminating the requirement for explosive Coleman fuel. Petromax runs fine on kerosene.

Dietz lanterns are good, too, requiring just a wick instead of a very fragile globe; they run on kerosene. And, a kerosene lantern can be used indoors. However, ALWAYS TRIM THE WICK OF A KEROSENE LANTERN to reduce emissions and odor. The older Dietz lanterns are far better constructed than the new ones.

For Dietz lanterns go visit ebay. For Petromax, visit the following site:

http://www.britelyt.com/

[monkeymay]

For many years my attitude was - if I can't wear heels, I'm not going. Anything less than hotel and room service was roughing it.

But a few years ago my best friend and I took off on our own little "Thelma and Louise" roadtrip thru back road Indian country off route 66.
Ended up camping in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Fantastic - totally got into outdoor cooking, hanging out with a bottle and watching the stars. Spent 4 days in the middle of nowhere turning in to a desert rat. The one thing I could not live without - the stove top espresso maker. That hot cup of coffee just made the world a better place!

You can take a girl out of the city but...

[Athenaeus]

I am with monkeymay on that! I mean is there a life without lipstick and perfume??

Tell me something, you ,camping lovers. Why to go in the woods if you have to carry along your whole equipment?
I saw Peachcreek's camping box and I got dizzy!!

[monkeymay]

Missed you 'A' - have you been lost to Eugenia?
Come, we can sit around the campfire in our heels and lipstick and talk...

[Shimmer]

I always thought running water would be how I would draw the line. But I went camping at Lost Lake, Oregon with my now husband and wasn't told there wasn't running water!!! We were there for three days and he loves me anyway....

An important thing to do, I think, is bring items that are in airtight containers to limit large and miniscule animals in your campsite.

I was in Campfire and Pioneer Girls growing up, though, so I don't just bring cans of food and hotdogs. I bring cinnamon sugar biscuit mix which we cook over an open fire wound around green sticks, I bring tinfoil to cook in the ashes, etc.

When my family used to go camping a lot on the Oregon coast we'd bring cheese and crackers and stop for smoked Salmon at any local wharf stand. Camping is a great time for fresh ingredients with simple preparation.

~~Shimmer~~

[Peachcreek]

When I was growing up, my parents had differing opinions about camping. My Mom, the city girl from Long Island LOVED to camp. My Dad, who grew up in the Berkshires HATED to camp. His standing comment was "I did all the camping I wanted in Korea". My Dads' idea of "roughing it"? Howard Johnsons!
I recently bought a copy of "The Complete book of Camping" c.1961, from a thrift store. I'll post a few recipes. The book ASSUMES that you know how to cook. It also contains some interesting methods such as cooking food directly on the ground(they remind you to scrape off the dirt)and cooking foods in their own cans.

[Athenaeus]

No , definetely, there is no life without lipstick and without hotbaths adding bathing oils etc etc etc

BUT mama Nature is the most enchanting Serene and is able to drive you away from life's little vanities

I used to camp on a regular basis for years. But I am talking about real camping! Not getting your all clad frying pans along and your ice-cream machine...

Just a bathing suit, a pair of jeans and two white T-Shirts, a hat, fishing equipment,a tent, a chess, a bottle of scotch and someone good looking preferably tall in order to make a good shadow LOL




Cooking on the sand is relatively easy for an experienced cook.

Someone tought me once the "California Beach" Barbecue. This discussion brought it to my mind and it's a good opportunity to ask you about that.

California Barbecue is barbecuing in the sand.

You dig a hole and burn a serious amount of wood. When the coal is ready you place ON the coals large flat stones and you wait for them to heat up! Then on those stones you place whatever you want to barbecue and you cover it with foil and then with sand! You leave it there for some hours and you have a delicius dish!!

Is this a "California Beach Barbecue" ?

Anyway. Living in a beach you can also fish octopuses, hang them under the sun to dry and barbecue them as well.

Camping on the beach is fun if you are under 30

PS 1.Thanks Monkeymay, that was sweet! No I wasn't absorbed by Eugenia I was on a trip

2. The photo above is where I used to camp The island of Elafonisos in Greece! According to Mythology, on this island lived Cyclops, the first adventure of Ulysses!

3. BTW. Who you think had a better time? Phatch or me? LOL ( Joking phatch)

[kokopuffs]

A:

It was written about 4 or 5 centuries ago. The book mentions cyclopes having lived in the region of Kazakhstan (sp?). They were proficient at doing cartwheels.

A few years ago 60 MINUTES broadcasted an episode about a certain lake in the "Soviet Union" where radioactive waste had been dumped into the ground. Many inhabitants of the region were born without either a left arm or left leg. The crew visited a local laboratory where in a large jar was an preserved siren: it resembled a cyclopes, having one eye, with the legs actually fused like a mermaid. You gotta wonder...

[Athenaeus]

Interesting indeed

Do you think that we should go camping to this lake to check?
Do you think that there is the slightest possibility for me to meet there -finally- Ulysses
Be nice to me Koko...

* Do you think that it would be a good idea to take Kyle along? Bahhhh he would want French complicated breads...