Does anyone try to eat at home like they do camping?
I seem to want to regress to tent camping fare sometimes.

We used to wake up in the morning high in the Sierras with my Grandpa making hobo coffee over a pine wood fire. I was only five so didn't like coffee but I remember the queer look on my his face as he peered intensely into the murky cup wishing the grounds would hurry up and settle!

Next came a can of SPAM and a can of New Potatoes. The fire was really hot by then and we had big old bad cast iron skillets (I think I still have one of the originals). We always camped with a can of lard or Crisco so the potatoes would fry along side of slices of SPAM. Next the eggs would plop in and bread would be continuously flipped in a pan or on a grill.

So at the best timing imaginable and in the most goose bumpy cold weather we would serve a HOT Denny's-style breakfast for everyone!

Anyway.. I still love the smell of a pine wood firing and spam frying. So I do the same thing when I am Egging. I love it. Its not a tent but I love it. I would do it in Motel 6 if they would let me.

Ron (still paying for it all with daily doses of of statins)

But I don't like Spam

I like Spam!

You don't like Spam ?!?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE







Sorry, not trying to hijack a thread here. In response to the question in the initial post, Our household cooks most of the same kinds of meals at home as we do while camping. A family favorite with 2 teenage boys is "Cavatini" a noodle style casserole that can be prepped and cooked all in one pot as well as "Corny Casserole" that is another 1 pot meal that is relatively quick and easy. We try to maximize our time and short cooking times along with ease of cooking make it easier for us to have the boys start a dinner when they get home from school, and it will generally be just about done, by the time when we get home. (My wife and I both work for a bus company that transports for the local school)

About the only time that we will make a day of it when we're cooking, is when we're cooking in the Smoke Pit, or a breakfast brunch. Again this is similar to the camping meals..... Slow roasted over an open fire, or large breakfasts of Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, Pancakes, Hashbrowns, or the all time favorite........... Spam with potatoes and Sour kraut.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha Ha hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! BURP!

Yes! I thought I was the only one that did that!

Although I don't go quite as far as hobo coffee, I love the smell of wood burning, coffee perking on the fire, and bacon frying. I even make my camp biscuits outside. I usually cut the bacon up in small pieces so when it is done, I can drain the fat and mix my eggs in with the bacon and scramble them altogether.

It's usually one of those cool (but not cold) weekend mornings when I wish I was camping. That's the one part of camping that my husband will partake in.

what are camp biscuits?
Breakfast it seems is what sticks in my olfactory memory with the most adhesion.
Lunch was whatever we brought with us on that day's tour of big trees, desert dunes, caves, or waterfalls. Lunch didn't matter.
Dinner was canned chili or beef stew. Sometimes grilling burgers or hot dogs with baked beans.

I just remember breakfast the most... and we used spam because (I think) there was no refrigeration then and bacon would go bad... wondering how we kept eggs from spoiling but somehow we did.

Ron

you have no idea how much I enjoyed that Monty Python skit. My wife is infirm and with difficulty I can get her in front of the computer now and then. When she saw that clip she lit up with a huge smile... something that is very infrequent. Thank you so much for the joy.

Now I don't know what camp biscuits are to you, but to us: Take a long clean stick, whittle off the bark, if necessary. Make a batch of bisquick, roll a ball into a long snake and twist it round and round the end of the stick. Hold it over the campfire until brown (always seems to be a little gooey inside but maybe we don't cook it long enough), slip it off the stick and fill the hole with butter and honey (or jam). Yum!

I like the sound of Lisa's a lot better. I will definitely try that!

They are actually just an easy regular biscuit recipe with a modified cooking method. I used to make something similar when I backpacked, but I'd use bisquick so I didn't have to use anything else other than water. Rather than making them on a stick like Lisa (which would have been much easier and better) I'd make a pan out of foil and cook them that way. Since I have the trailer now, I have the luxury of taking along a small iron skillet. I have fixed them over an open fire and inside on the stove. They come out rather thin and very crisp, just the way I like them.

Here is the basic recipe:

1 C flour (different flours result in different textures, but whole wheat or spelt works fine)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 T sugar (I use less)
1 T shortening
Milk (just enough to make it workable)

This will make 3 nice sized biscuits and will be just right for a small iron skillet. I use a little less milk than I do at home so they are a little more firm and more easily handled. Put them in a preheated and oiled skillet over low fire and loosely cover. When set, turn over and brown on the other side without using the lid. I usually flip them back and forth a few times so they are good and crisp on both sides.

I call them camp biscuits because they can be cooked over a campfire or in the trailer. They aren't big and fluffy like those you make at home, they are just good eatin'. And because they aren't big and fluffy, they make a great sandwich to throw in your pack for a short day hike.

Zip Lock Bag Omelets: Another good camping recipe. Take a heavy duty freezer zip lock bag. Crack in a couple of eggs, close the top and mush the eggs up. Open the bag and add peppers, onions, cheese, cubed ham, mushrooms, or what ever. Push as much air out of the bag as you can and zip close. Drop the bag into a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes. No pots, no pans, no bowls to wash. Just pour out onto plate.

I like the sound of those biscuits, Suz, I'm DEFINITELY going to try that next trip.

Paul, about the ziplock bag eggs--I've done that and I think it's the greatest, however the company recommends not using their bags for that purpose because they don't know what the high heat does to the plastic and what chemicals we might ingest. But I still do it on occasion! It sure is convenient.

I had heard that about the bags as well. I wonder if you could use one of those slow cooker liners (or one of the oven cooking bags). It doesn't have a zip lock, but it's big enough you could probably tie a knot in it.

You have to love companies/lawyers/liability. I have always used the Zip-Lock Freezer bags, which have clear instructions on the side about how to use them to reheat frozen food in the microwave! Big concern would be getting one so hot it would melt, but with the freezer bag I have never had that concern. Then again you could also use a small microwave safe plastic tub with lid. Put all the ingrediants in, close lid and shake like crazy, vent lid and float it on top of the water. Ah well I will probably get cancer from all the fumes off the carpet/fiberglass/upholstery/and whatever in the trailer.

I'm glad you and your wife enjoyed that clip. If it's anything Monty Python, it's probably available on that site in one or more types of clips, just do a search there for Monty Python.

One of my all time favorite clips is the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfGpVcdqeS0

and the above clip in Lego form http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfCWmIXcCKQ...feature=related