Gourmet Dinner (in the middle of nowhere)

On our last camping trip, the piece de resistance of the weekend was our dinner Saturday night. After a full day of canoeing 15 miles (and many of us drinking as many beers), we knew we needed a substantial, delicious meal that a monkey could prepare (who knew what state the cooks would be in?).


Foodie genius Courtney's time-tested solution? Foil-packs! (note to self: must think of a more appealing name for said delicious feast). We chopped chicken breasts and beef tenderloin into bite-sized pieces. The chicken got a marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, dijon, garlic, salt, pepper and herbs. The beef was marinated in worcestershire, soy, canola oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Onions and bell peppers were chopped and bagged with some olive oil. Mushrooms were sliced and bagged. Red potatoes were chopped into 1-inch pieces and par-boiled. We let them cool, bagging them with olive oil and steak seasoning. Haricot verts were washed and trimmed.


When the meat had marinated 24 hours, the packs were assembled. Potatoes went on the bottom, then the meat (about 8-10oz of beef or chicken) with the veggies on top. The were wrapped in foil twice to prevent marinade leakage or cooler-water infiltration (apparently Courtney learned that trick from an unfortunate experience last trip).

After coming back to the camp site tired, tipsy, bug-bitten, sore (4/11 of our canoes tipped--some with dramatic crashes), and overexposed from the Indiana's midsummer sun, the foil packets were a sight for sore eyes and an answer to our hungry prayers. Every happy camper grabbed their dinner, threw it on the grill grate over the fire ring, and happily devoured their bounty of meat, potatoes and veggies only 15-20 minutes later. Such simple food, so simply prepared... absolutely joyous in our condition. Cheers!

Camping: A Foodie's Pleasant Surprise

our campsite near Shades state park

Camping is not something I grew up doing. Until I met my husband, my camping experience could basically be summed up with a handful of overnight church youth group trips (most of them sleeping in cabins) and a crazy quarter life crisis desert expedition (for another blog post).

Camping is now a periodic part of my life thanks to my outdoor extraordinaire of a spouse. Just to clarify--I love the great outdoors. Canoeing is among my favorite pseudo-exercises, any kind of water makes me happy, and the smell of both campfires and fresh vegetation is invigorating. Camping, however, is a LOT of effort. Frankly I've never understood why people just don't take day trips (or sleep in a hotel).

Camping with Jeff, however, rivals the luxury of of the nicest [budget] vacations (mosquitos begrudgingly excepted). There are air mattresses, fans (battery-powered, of course), high thread-count linens and multiple-course meals cooked on an open flame. Out tent (dubbed Taj-MaTent by our friends- "The Taj" for short) is a sight to behold with several wings and a screened-in porch.

The fridge after Prepping for the trip

This summer, we were invited to Courtney and Josh's annual Canoe Trip (2 nights near Shades State Park). Since Courtney is a fellow foodie, I knew this would be a great weekend. She asked me to be the weekend sous-chef, and I happily accepted the challenge of helping her prep, plan, and cook for 23 people in BFE.

We had 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts, and a lunch (in canoes) to plan for, as well as snacks. Thank goodness Courtney had done this before (by herself for the last 4 years!). I had much to learn! On Wednesday we shopped (CostCo got hit by hurricane of three carts), on Thursday we prepped (chopping, bagging, par-boiling, packing), and Friday-Sunday we cooked. Here was the menu:

Friday dinner: chicken sausages, beer-boiled-brats, kosher hot dogs on the grill; hummus, cheeses, chips, various dips, crudite platters, etc.

Saturday breakfast: scrambled eggs (36!), breakfast sausages, bagels, spreads, breakfast bars, mimosas, greyhounds, and Bloody Marys.

Saturday lunch: deli sandwiches and everything snack-able (and portable in canoe coolers)

Saturday dinner: Individual foil packs (amazing! Details in another blog)

Sunday breakfast: leftover everything as people tear-down and rush to get home, shower and detox

This was a weekend of great food, lots of sun, hilarious stories (many of them about Mike Defabis). The food was everywhere and delicious. Everyone raved. In fact, it was so good that we are contemplating a camping catering company.... Stay tuned for details on our fabulous Saturday night dinner-- the piece de resistance of the weekend. Cheers to camping in great taste!