Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
Robert’s Cast Iron Bread
Robert disappeared into the longhouse and emerged a little later with a beautiful loaf of fresh bread. It seemed so simple, and according to Rob, it pretty much was. I asked him for his recipe and this is what he gave me.Ingredients about 2 1/2 cups flour more or...
Taco Things
Taco-things are made from left overs, salsa, and cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla folded closed and fried in oil with a little picante sauce splashed over them. Sounds like a burrito, right? Well, when I worked at La Clinica years ago, my co-workers told me it...
Pork Roast with Morel Gravy
This was a slow cooker recipe I adapted to the Dutch Oven. You can use any mushrooms and any large hunk of pork. Ingredients 3-4 pound pork roast 4 large cloves of garlic, minced 1 large white onion peeled and cubed 3-4 cups morels, if you can get them 2...
Peep In a Puddle
1 slightly stale peep 3 tbs. cocoa 1/4 cup peppermint schnapps 1/4 cup Irish cream boiling water In a mug combine 3 tbs. cocoa, 1/4 cup peppermint schnapps, and 1/4 cup Irish cream. Fill with boiling water and stir well. Top with a peep.
Rusty Nail – Praise & Treats
It has been an unseasonably dry winter. Up until Friday, when it started to snow. It has been snowing all weekend. Sunday morning it cleared, revealing a sparkling winter wonderland. With no pressing need to go anywhere, most people elected to stay home, off the...
In Search of Disappearing Lake
Every winter South Prairie floods, forming a chain of connected lakes or impoundments covering many acres. For a brief, miraculous moment there exists the Pacific Northwest equivalent of a bayou. You can kayak between towering cottonwoods and...
Good Afternoon
5/22/25 3:30 54f (12.2c) Breezy and fair. Mike and I spent the afternoon ranging across the ridge between Mosier and my house, looking for morels. We didn't find any, even where we have found them before. The soil was damp and the terrain looked promising, but no joy....
Plan B Camp March 2025
It was early March when I decided on a last minute camping trip to the Gifford Pinchot. The weather forecast for the weekend was fair, with rain predicted later on Sunday. Even with no real planning and a late start, I had the truck loaded and ready to go by...
MLK Camp
1/20/25 Jason, Andy, Walter and I hauled into Plan B for an overnighter Sunday afternoon and came home Monday, MLK Day. It didn't reach the predicted low of 17f (-8) but is was pretty chilly at 24f (-4). We managed to stay warm and had an enjoyable outing in the...
Valentine Weekend Camp
Amy and I went to Beverly Beach over Valentine's weekend. I love camping with my wife! The weather leading up to the weekend was sloppy. I got the poles loaded and the pickup tarped Thursday just as it started to snow. I...
Good Morning
4/8/26 5:30 41F (5C) Clear sky with no wind. The moon is waning gibbous, low and due south, above the head of the canyon. The frogs have surrendered the stage to a chorus of birds who are enthusiastically serenading the dawn. Walter Dawg keeps watch as...
Good Morning
4/7/26 6:30 54F (12C) Mostly clear blue with pink shading a few wisps of clouds. A light breeze is rising, then losing its ambition, fades away. The moon is three-quarters and waning . It peeks through the pines as it sets. The oaks are budding. The...
Good Morning
4/6/26 5:45 45F (7.2C) Warm and calm. The moon wanes gibbous, low in the south and at the end of its transit above the canyon. Spring is near bursting this morning, tumescent with biological imperative. The predawn dark is filled with trills and...
Good Morning
4/5/26 5:20 42F (5.5C) Clear and calm and filled with birdsong. The owls are calling to each other. Frogs are croaking. The waning moon still looks full as it slides towards the west ridge. I think Scott has gone home. The lodge flickers with the light...
Good Morning
4/4/26 5:15 40F (4.4C) The birds are singing, the sky is clear. Only a few stars shine bright enough to prevail over the moonglow. I looked out the window and saw the moon waning gibbous drop behind the ridge. Scott spent the night in the tipi after...
