Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
Optimus Crux Backpacking Stove
I have had this little stove for a number of years and it is still my go-to on those rare occasions when I choose to backpack in. The stove itself weighs 3 ounces and folds up to fit in the palm of my hand. It uses isobutane-propane for fuel. The stove stores in a...
Tarting Up the Ramen
Ramen noodles are a no-brainer pack food. Cheap, lightweight, quick and easy to prepare, you can eat them right out of the pot and cleanup is fast and effortless. I like to tart mine up just a little. Adding some oil and vegetables and maybe an egg to the mix doesn't...
Baked Couscous
Baked Couscous I've made this dish stove top at home and in the Dutch oven while camping. A savory couscous galette, it is an easy, flexible recipe. You can use any mushrooms, or none at all. The same with the meat: use whatever you have, or no meat at all. I've made...
Chicken & Dumplings
Chicken & Dumplings Chicken and dumplings may be the ultimate comfort food. We had this for Sunday dinner on our Halloween camping trip. To ease the work at camp, I did some prep at home, mixing the dry ingredients for the dumplings in a zip lock bag, and cooking...
Cranberries and Chanterelles
Cranberries and Chanterelles Cranberries ripen at the height of chanterelle season. It was inevitable eventually I would try cooking them up together. I'm only surprised it took me so long to get around to it. Ingredients chanterelles wild cranberries...
Good Afternoon
12/9/25 1:30 48f (8.8C) Steady rain, no wind. ...
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
9/10/26 8:00 60F (15.5C) AQI 21 The sun has topped the ridge, there is a slight breeze and a few mares tails are reaching across an otherwise clear sky. Walter is barking at the orchard workers. Strands of spider silk flash silver in the morning sunlight....
Good Morning
9/9/26 6:30 48F (8.8C) AQI 26 Clear, blue sky, heavy dew, no wind. Six pumpkins harvested a day more than that ripening on the vine. Still flowering but the vines are going pale. I opened a fresh tin of cardamom tea today. Good morning! ...
Good Morning
9/8/26 6:00 46F (7.7C) AQI 20 Clear with a faint breeze rising. A waning fingernail moon hangs in a clear blue sky to the east, with Jupiter dangling beneath. The approach of daylight paints the eastern horizon lavender. Orchard sprayers are whining. Walter...
Good Morning
9/7/26 7:30 52F (11C) AQI 21 Cloudy but not raining. Faint breeze. Watching summer slip away, soaking in the hot tub sipping tea. Good morning. ...
Good Morning
9/6/26 7:00 52F (11C) AQI 18 Overcast, steady rain, no wind. It is grey and still and wet. The only sounds are the hum of the hot tub and the rain tapping through the leaves. Good morning. ...
