Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
K.P.
Nothing beats a meal cooked over an open fire and eaten outdoors, but how do you deal with clean-up? Dirty dishes and scraps of food are sure to attract pests if not attended to. Rinsing your cook ware in the creek will leave an unsightly mess on the stream bed and...
Rusty Brogue
I recently discovered Shanky’s Whip. A dark, sweet liqueur, somewhat analogous to Drambuie, Shanky’s Whip is a mixture of Irish whiskey, vanilla, caramel, and other ingredients. I have been mixing equal parts of Tullamore Dew and Shanky’s...
Mountain Man Breakfast
Dutch Oven Mountain Man Breakfast The Mountain Man Breakfast is a popular Dutch oven recipe which has been around in one form or another for years. If you need to feed a hearty breakfast to a crowd, this is good one. I used a variation from Gary House I found on...
Dutch Oven Rhubarb Cobbler
Dutch Oven Rhubarb Cobbler Spring hasn’t officially arrived until the rhubarb is up. One morning a few leaves poke through the frost covered mulch; by the end of the week, giant rosettes of primordial leaves on bright red stalks cover that corner of the garden....
Tequila Eggs
Tequila Eggs Like Scotch Eggs but I used chorizo mixed with cilantro, dried tomatoes, diced green chilis, and diced jalapenos for the sausage and crushed tortilla chips and roasted chilis for the crust. cook...
Christmas Firetruck Parade 2025
https://youtu.be/tQEbCDfb41s A small town tradition, the annual Christmas Firetruck Parade rolled through our neighborhood this evening. In years past the neighbors have gotten together around a bonfire out by the street to watch them go by, but that...
Good Evening
11/18/25 6:00 42F Just got back from a mushroom foray with Walter and Mike. We went out around 1:00. It was an overcast day with enough breaks to provide adequate sun to navigate through the trees. Immediately we spotted Amanita, Lepiota, Russula and Stropharia. Our...
Good Afternoon
11/9/25 Clear, sunny, and warm. We decided to forage for cranberries and mushrooms instead of doing yard work, so Amy, Walter, and I piled into the car and headed north. We picked up Mike on the way and by noon, we were on the road to Trout Lake....
Halloween on the Big Lava Bed
It was a beautiful, crisp autumn day when Kent and I drove north into the Big Lava Bed. The road was rugged, just ruts worn into jagged rock, winding between collapsed lava tubes and stunted trees finally arriving at a flat...
Good Morning
11/2/25 6:00 40f Overcast and calm out on the lava bed. The weather has moderated. It was still dark when I made the treacherous trek to the latrine. I was relieved when it hove into view. Andy and Kent put some much appreciated effort into its...
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...
Good Morning
4/3/26 5:45 35F (1.6C) Some clouds, a few stars, a chorus of birds against the distant drumming of orchard fans. Apparently, I missed the moonset. It must have dipped below the ridge just before I came out, leaving behind a sky glowing blue. It looks...
Good Morning
4/2/26 5:15 36F (2.2C) Scattered stars shine through broken clouds. The moon, just past full, is setting behind the oaks. An owl hoots down by the creek. I step into the hot tub and sit down before I realize it is cold. Not intolerably cold, but too cold...
