Campfire Food

Camping is about laziness. It's when you pack up your car and leave your house to avoid doing all the chores that are waiting for you there. Trouble is that camping is quite a bit of work itself. I don't have to set up walls and a roof when I'm at home, yet I leave home to sleep in a tent.
To lessen our amount of camping chores, my friends and I limit ourselves to food that can be cooked over the campfire. Bonus points are awarded if you also limit your utensils to tin foil and a hotdog roaster. The great thing about cooking over a campfire is that you are already sitting beside it anyway. The effort required to flip or stir your supper is very minimal.
A few years ago hotdogs and a bottle of mustard made up the bulk of our camping groceries but this gets old fast. Our tastes have become much more sophisticated and so have our meals (jello shots are sophisticated right?). I bring you the best of Campfire Food -Summer 2012:

Bacon Wrapped Hotdog

What better way to elevate the smokie than by wrapping it in bacon? No really, if you know of more ways, I'm all ears.
Corn is another camping classic (did you pick up on that one Ash?). We throw our cobs onto the grate above the fire pit. Leave them in the husks and they take care of themselves.
One of my favourite camping foods this summer was veggie skewers.

MMM

This would be one of those bonus point dishes if the skewer wasn't being continuously basted in a delicious sauce. Luckily it is. The sauce is worth the 'effort'. It is made up of melted butter and this beauty:

*actually not that hot

This is from the Italian Centre and costs less than a toonie. It has coated pretty much everything I've put on the BBQ this summer.
Breakfast for me is usually just cereal but this time we took it to the next level.

Yeah We Did

Bannock pancakes were really just a delicious excuse to break into some of the homemade jam.
The next morning we experimented with scrambled egg breakfast burritos.

Cheese Makes it Taste Less Burnt

There is room for improvement with these ones, but I'm looking forward to it.
The last idea I can't claim as my own but thought I should share it anyway.

So Simple- Why Didn't I Think of That?

Delightful naan bread pizza!
Sadly, this will be my last camping trip this year. I have a whole nother year before cooking on a campfire once more. That's a long time to be subsisting on oven smores alone!

Should Canned Cherries Float?

This was my google search. I canned cherries this past weekend. The good news is all of the jars sealed! I did them in a simple syrup, following a recipe and method I found on a blog. I had 10 lbs of cherries which I had ordered from my Organic Food Box.
In order to make the chore easier, I purchased a cherry pitter. The one I ended up with was an OXO Good Grip. It was the cheapest one I could find at a whopping $12. Yikes. When Mike came home and saw it on the counter he asked what it was. When I explained, he laughed maniacally, tore open the package, grabbed a handful of cherries and headed outside. He wanted to test the 'range' of the cherry pitter. Judging it to be about three feet he was satisfied with our latest kitchen gadget and agreed to pit 10 pounds of cherries for me.

Cherry Pitting Station sans Michael

Saturday I set him up outside in the 30 degree heat, surrounded by bowls of cherries. As it turns out he has a knack for this sort of thing. They were pitted in record time.

Jars- Just Waiting to Burn Me

I decided to sterilize my jars in the oven, so I wouldn't have so many pots on the stove. I think this worked quite well. When Mike came back inside I carefully explained the canning method I was going to use. He looked bored already, so we just got into it. He was bored because he was done this many times before and was something of an expert. All this time he has been keeping this from me. I've read books and blogs. I've questioned friends and strangers. He has known how to can all along! What else has he been keeping from me?
Things went smoothly and quickly. I had 8 jars of cherries in no time. I plan to use them during the winter to make pies and tarts. I'll see if there is anything else I can come up with.
Trouble is, when I held them up to the light, I noticed they weren't resting on the bottom. Google to the rescue. Seems it has more to do with the method I used than with food safety. I was relieved!

Finished Product

Links
Recipe and Method
http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-cherries.html
Answer to Question
http://puttingupwiththeturnbulls.com/2011/04/09/canning-101-fruit-float/

Box on My Doorstep

I signed up for an organic food box to be delivered once a week. I only did the trial because summer is not the time for commitments. Typically it would cost $35 dollars a week but because I only signed up for three weeks the cost is $40. Your box is delivered to you once a week, unless you want to pick it up between the hours of 10 and 4, somewhere on the north side. Delivery is free if your order is over $50, otherwise it will cost you $5. Okay, I see how this game is played. I am now purchasing $50 dollars of organic produce  a week.
Here's what I got this week:

Bananas, mushrooms, beans, apricots, zucchini, scallions, potatoes, cherries (10 lbs)

I enjoy the selection. It's a good split of fruit and veggies. I also like how I can choose. I get about 48 hours to swap things out of my box (in case they try to send me swiss chard). I can also add whatever I desire. They have lots of other food to choose from, like bread or condiments. It's right at my door when I get home from work. Like if Santa Claus got you exactly what you wrote on your list. I also thought that it encouraged me to eat more veggies. That was the case last week. Tonight I'm eating cheese cake as I type this. Don't worry I had a piece of bread and a fudgecicle for supper. 

I enjoy this food box but I don't think I'll get it again for a while. I've signed up for a different, local, food box for the fall. The Organic Food Box tries to choose local when available but during the winter months, most everything is from south of the border. Not that's I'm complaining. The veggies I get at Superstore come from the same areas and aren't organic. I would just prefer to go with local first. I'll keep you posted!

Links
Organic Food Box
http://www.theorganicbox.ca

Do Nanaimo Bars Taste Better in Nanaimo?

In early July I was fortunate enought to take a trip out to Vancouver Island. It was only an extended weekend but it was truly amazing. The trees were huge, the food was fresh, the ocean was salty and the beer was cold.
The first night we got there we had dinner at a gorgous resturant in a dark alley at 10:00 at night. It's named Il Terrazzo. The food was fantastic and the atmosphere was very memorable. I encourage you to head to the website, just to see the courtyard (link below). My best experince in a dark alley to date. 
The next morning we stumbled around downtown dazed and hungry. You see after Il Terrazzo we went to a pub named Swans for some pints. Eventually we turned to Mike's trusty smart phone and followed the little arrow, leading us to Chef Suzi in the Square. We sat in yet another alley, drank coffee and ate granola. The sign on the counter said "Relax-This ain't the mainland'. I loved it.
For the rest of the day, I left Mike at a pub and went shopping in all the little botiques. I accidently bought a rain coat but that wasn't my worst desicion of the day. I left Mike at a pub. He is the only one who was insured on the rental car and we needed to be in Ladysmith that evening. Oops. After lots of water, walking and pizza at an ocean side pub, he was fully recovered.
I guess this could bring me to my original question-Do Nanaimo bars taste better in Nanaimo?

You Really Wanna Know?

 No they don't. It's too humid. The whole top layer just melts all over you. To be fair, I was just outside of Nanaimo. Maybe within city limits they have this figured out.


Links
Il Terrazzo
http://www.ilterrazzo.com/index.php

Chef Suzi in the Square
http://www.chefsuzi.ca/index1.html

Weberberry Jam

For the past few years I have wanted to learn how to can. Along the way I have been discouraged many times, even before I had a jar in my hand. I was told I for sure needed a dishwasher. I was told I would need to purchase a pressure canner (120 bucks, seriously!). I was told that it is very scientific and complex.
The good news is that only the last one is true. And since I am not a scientist, I don't need to invent the recipe, just follow it. I have looked into a few canning classes over the years but they are always expensive. I know a few people who make preserves but our timing was always off. My quest to learn how to can was coming up fruitless (that was for you Ashh. You get one), until now!
I was speaking with some family friends and mentioned my Quest (it gets capital letters now). They dispelled all the nasty rumours I had heard about canning being a terrible chore that only cheap old people do. I didn't need a dishwasher or a pressure canner, and most importantly I would have their guidance. Hurray!
First you need some kind of fruit or veggie. I like raspberries and they are in season. Perfect. I was graciously given some by a friend and for the rest I went to a u-pick. Props to the family members who were nearly carried off by mosquitoes while picking raspberries with me. I was going to make a 'fruits of your labour' pun, but Ashh, you only get one.

These Raspberries are Waiting Patiently to be Turned into Syrup

Step two is canning. With the raspberries, we made a jam and a syrup. The recipes my dear Friend found on the internet. I will link them below, so you may follow the steps there. To sterilize the jars, Friend suggested washing in hot soapy water and then pouring boiling hot water on them. Her tip is "so long as the fruit is hot, the jars are hot, and the lids are hot, everything should seal up nicely. Knock on wood". It worked! I should mention that the syrup was given a water bath, while the jam was only left to cool.  All eleven jars sealed up nicely!

I am Envious of their Bath

 I haven't gotten to eat any yet. It seems that canning requires some amount of self restraint. Since I did not can chocolate I think I can handle that. Now that I think about it, I do have a jar of dark chocolate spread that would go fabulously with the syrup. I will keep you posted on that self restraint thing.

Awaiting Consumption

Links
U-pick
http://www.dunvegangardens.ca/MarketGardenEdmonton.htm
(recipe links to come....as soon a I find them...)