Camp cooking and the best Loaded Spicy Sweet Potatoes.

Iv'e just returned from a long weekend of camping on Grand Isle in the middle of Lake Champlain. Very beautiful there, like the rest of Vermont but flatter and very rural. Lake swimming was awesome! My favorite bit about camping is (obviously?) camp cooking. Cooking in a fire is different than a oven or stove and I love making do with a very very tiny kitchen in the way of equipment.

I packed very minimally, 2 fry pans and one small pot. My dear husband said "What, you don't need to bring 3 pans!!!" To which I replied "In fact, I do." And I did and he ate his words once we got there. And anyway we were car camping so who cares!

Bare Bones Camp Cooking Equipment

•8" fry pan
•Small fry pan 4"
•Stainless steel pot (to boil water)
•Metal spatula
•Sharp useful 6" knife
•Aluminum foil (its amazing for everything.)
•Tongs (I forgot these and we made do but they are so useful for taking things out of the fire.)
•Forks and spoons for eating that can also be useful when cooking.

SNACKS
Besides the chips and salsa we had an appetizer of savory stuffed mushrooms. Made at home and packed up in the cooler. Having only to warm them over the fire. Smoky and savory stuffed with parsley, sage, red onion and garlic. It would be awesome to stuff them and cook them over the fire next time. That would take about an hour most likely.

These were really good, and different than usual stuffed mushrooms, so ill make them again and post the recipe.
(Check out my Modern Stuffed Mushroom recipe here!)

POTATOES
We had a battle for the best potatoes two nights in a row. Baked Potato with Fire Roasted Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese. vs Baked Sweet Potato with Goat Cheese and Spicy Blue Corn Chips

Why does food eaten outside often bring the feeling that it is the best EVER!?  That was this roasted garlic, it tasted like the best ever.  Sweet, perfectly soft and even smokey. Instead of drizzling olive oil on the garlic like usual I had spread some coconut oil on it. And left it in the coals for a while.

The sweet potato was an inspired combination. I always love sweet potato and goat cheese so I had packed them both. The real inspiration came upon seeing the bag of Red Hot Blues chips was almost gone, all little chip bits at the bottom with lots of the spicy dust. It resulted in the most silky, creamy, crunchy and spicy dish. Roast whole sweet potatoes until they are so soft and silky, split them open, shove in lots of delicious fresh chévre (preferably with herbs and garlic in it) and top off with spicy blue corn tortilla chips. I am going to make them again, like now.

DESSERT
Obviously s'mores are the best thing, it brings us all memories of being little, happy, and stuffing our bellies with hot marshmallows. Puffy molten burnt sugar and melty chocolate. How did we ever go to sleep after the sugar bombs i'm not sure. Like any reasonable person I can only eat one or two now. I did go with an unorthodox combo of super dark chocolate, vegan marshmallows (no GMOs) and vermont artisan graham crackers by Caselton Crackers. All awesome products on their own, all wicked good together. I was wishing for a bigger stomach so I could eat it all!














BREAKFAST

I have no good photos of breakfast because it is too early to be thinking of camera phones at breakfast. The importance of breakfast is in the rapid making and eating of it. And the consumption of wonderful black tea. And the feeling of "ahhh" that I get with a full belly in the morning. I panic when I get hungry.

Breakfast was mostly eggs, grilled tomatoes, and english muffins. All cooked in coconut oil in the same pan. First grill the muffins, keep them warm in tinfoil. add more oil, the tomatoes, and a piece of canadian bacon for those that feel like eating meat. And finally the eggs. Fried are easier to clean up after than scrambled.

A cool thing about eggs, if you can get them straight from the farm before they are washed or refrigerated then they don't need to be kept in a cooler. Eggs can keep at room temperature for weeks, dont take my word for it, this lady has more to say. This is just cool and also handy when camping.