Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
Broth
Waste not, want not. Take every opportunity to turn left overs and the scraps from carving meat into broth and stock. The turkey carcass after Thanksgiving, the bone from a roast or that steak, wings, scraps, what’s left over from that deli rotisserie chicken...
Rueben Handpie
Last camping trip, we made reubens in the pie irons. They were fabulous! Ingredients rye bread oil, butter, or lard thin sliced corned beef 1 small can sauerkraut horseradish sauce Swiss cheese We preheated the pie irons over hot coals while assembling...
Roasted Pepper and Eggs
Amy found a recipe for roast pepper and eggs in Backpacker Magazine. I think the original recipe called for doing all the prep at home, but since we were car camping, Amy did it in camp. It was simple and made a wonderful breakfast. Ingredients: Yellow or Red Bell...
Spam Pudgies
Dave was a little skeptical of the lunch menu- Spam pudgie sandwiches cooked in the pie irons. Straight from the can, Spam is unappealing, pallid, pink and soft. The prevailing flavor is salt. Heated, it darkens, becoming almost brown. The texture gets firmer, even...
Kentucky Mule
I don't care for vodka, so never acquired a taste for Moscow Mules. Bourbon, however, is an entirely different story. In camp or on the back porch, the Kentucky Mule is sure to refresh. Go ahead, have another. You deserve it. Ingredients 1 oz bourbon-I...
Camp Chef Compact Fire Ring
I have had this Camp Chef propane fire pit for several years now. I use it when fire season bans prohibit traditional wood campfires. When I hooked it up last week the regulator was leaking gas, so I ordered a...
Good Afternoon
6/4/25 2:30 Clear sky, breezy 70f (21c). Some photos from this afternoon. ...
Making a Camp Bed Big Enough for Two
Planning for an upcoming camping trip Amy and I decided to purchase a sleeping bag and pad wide enough for both of us. We ended up with a Guide Gear self inflating pad and a King Camp Snowflake 300D ...
Pretty Not Bad
Amy and I drove up to Disappearing Lake. The water level is dropping fast; I think it will be a short season. We talked about paddling the beaver pond but the shore was teeming with mosquitos so we went back down to South Prairie and put in. ...
A Day Spent on the Water
My friend, Joe Castaldi, built a beautiful, sixteen foot gaff-rigged Melonseed Skiff from the original plans. He sent word he was planning to launch her for a maiden voyage down at the Hood River Marina, so I showed up yesterday, bright and early to...
Good Morning
5/10/26 6:30 48F (8.8C) Calm air, cloudy sky. Tattered white clouds open and shut across a pale blue sky. The sun has climbed above the ridge. Birds twitter, the dog barks, squirrels run up and down the oaks. It is a mellow Sunday rising. Good morning....
Good Morning
5/9/26 6:00 47F (8.3C) Clear sky with just a tickle of a breeze. The ground is littered with stringy yellow-green flowers, fallen from the oaks. We will likely have a bumper crop of acorns come autumn. The corn starts I put in the ground yesterday look...
Good Morning
5/8/26 5:00 48F (8.8C) Cloudy with an attempt at a slight breeze. Rightous birdsong fills the morning, still cloaked in the dull blue light preceding dawn. The little black banty didn't make curfew last night and is wandering the chicken yard complaining...
Good Morning
5/7/26 6:15 51F (10.5C) Blue sky ringed with clouds.No wind, no rain. Birds chatter in the otherwise quiet morning. Twenty minutes pass. The neighbor's dog begins to yap, raising Walter's vocal ire. The rooster crows. Birds are singing. The sun crests...
Good Morning
5/6/26 6:00 51F(10.5C) Clear sky, dry, no wind. I had poor sleep last night. First night on a brand new mattress. Early to bed and out like a light. Marvelous. Walter got left outside when we went to bed. Around 2:00 he let us know we had forgotten...
