I fed a lot of fish but none of them fed us. That's OK. This was the nicest campground we've ever been to. It was clean. And quiet. And teeming with kids. There are activities every weekends. Yesterday happened to be Smokey the Bear's birthday so the campground staff threw him a birthday party. With a park ranger, forest fire fighters showing off the big truck and the equipment they wear when they fight fires, face painting, crafts, and Smokey himself. And cake!
We ate a quart of the chili with shredded cheddar, some of us made sloppy joes and some just ate the chili in bowls. We had pickles but did not open the bean salad. The first night we ate the peach mint salsa (one of the jars hadn't sealed so I kept it cold and brought it). I ended up giving the small jar of strawberry-rhubarb jam to our camp neighbors across the way. These were people who we knew through our older child (classmate in preschool and pre-K) and hadn't seen in 2 years. And here they are, setting up camp right across from us. Small world.Every morning a guy from a local farm drove through with a little truck and trailer, selling local produce, meat he aged himself, homemade sausages, honey, some canned goods, maple syrup. Basically everything you might need in a campground but might not have brought. BRILLIANT. The first morning we bought fall strawberries and fudge. This morning we bought raspberries and shitake mushrooms which his neighbor grows.
It was 48 degrees when we woke up this morning. In August. Wow.
Lots of good food, lots of fun - fishing, bikes, swimming (the water was COLD), s'mores and stargazing. And the best weather we've seen in a long time. How awesome is that?
...and every afternoon an ice cream truck came by selling confections that were probably manufactured from petroleum products on the other side of the planet, just to balance things out. It was a glorious weekend of camping.
ReplyDeleteCamping food! Have you every heard of pudgy pies? Maybe its a Minnesota/Wisconsin thing, but they are marvelous and one of our family's favorite camping food! Here are a list of pudgy pies that my family loves and/or have invented: Apple, cherry, blueberry (the fruit pudgy pies is where it all began and then we created other varieties), sloppy joe & cheese, pizza (any kind of pizza that is your favorite including hawaiin pizza), reuben, ham and eggs, bbq chicken. Next time you camp I highly recommend that you try them! :-)
ReplyDeleteNever heard of them before. How do you make them?
ReplyDeleteFirst you have to have pudgy pie tins. Get a good cast iron one. They are round or square cast iron 'forms' on the end of a long metal stick. You can get them at Cabella's or any camping store. You then buy cheap white (wonder bread type) bread. You put one slice of bread on each side of the pudgy pie tins. You then fill them with any kind of filling that you're hungry for (sweet or savory)and the tins pinch the edges of the bread with the filling inside tightly together. You put them over some hot coals on the campfire, flip them occasionally, keep a close eye on them so they don't burn, and TA DA!!!! you have a wonderful, yummy, FUN camping meal! Just bring the ingredients with you and everyone makes their own individual meals. They are still my kids (ages 21 and 24) favorite camping meal!
ReplyDelete