Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
Lentil Soup
I made this soup in the Crockpot. You could simmer this stovetop or over the fire or cook it in a Dutch oven. No matter how you choose to do it, you will end up with a thick, hearty soup.Ingredients bones and fat trimmed from a cut of lamb shoulder or chop 2 cups...
Humus
My wife showed me how to make humus. She is extremely camera shy, so there aren't any photos of her, but take my word for it, she's just as cute as a bug's ass. It was nice of her to let me take any pictures at all; she doesn't get the whole taking photographs of what...
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Stew is one of the easiest, most comforting foods to make. With slightly more attention this slow cooker recipe would work just as well in a Dutch oven or even in a kettle on the stove-top or over a fire. You hardly need a recipe, but the dredging the meat in flour...
Dutch Oven Shepherd’s Pie
I love Shepherd's Pie. The thick filling of meat and vegetables, topped with mounds of mashed potatoes, makes the perfect comfort food. The sound of it bubbling, the tantalizing aroma, mixing with the smoke from the coals as it leaks out from under the heavy lid of a...
Mashed Potatoes
There’s not much to making mashed potatoes. They are tasty, filling and inexpensive. If you don’t finish them at dinner, you can fry them in butter for breakfast. Ingredients 1/3rd cup of buttermilk, more or less 4-6 baking potatoes, peeled and cut up 2 cloves...
A Good Afternoon on Pistol Creek
The weather forecast was for hotter than blazes. It met or exceeded expectations, touching near 100f (38.7c) according to the thermometer app on Mike's phone. Anticipating the heat, Mike, Walter and I headed up to Pistol Creek to stick our feet in the water. ...
Walter Gets His Sea Legs
The weather forecast this afternoon was for hot to unbearable. Amy and I loaded up the kayaks, Walter jumped in the truck, and we all headed north to Goose Lake in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. ...
Good Afternoon
7/5/2025 4:00 79f (26.1c) Tuckered out after a late night last night. Amy and I ran up to Trout Creek Ridge and bought a stack of books at a garage sale, including Jack London, Earl Stanley Gardner, and Robert Service, for a...
Down the Rabbit Hole
When we camped at Peter’s place up above Lyle, I found some pretty, red rocks that fractured with a sharp edge and threw good sparks when struck against steel. They were granular, not glassy where they were broken, so the edge didn’t stay sharp very...
The Barge
Walter has been out in the canoe with me several times. He does well - doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it, but it beats being left home. The canoe isn't as much fun as my kayak but the kayak isn't big enough for the both of us, so I had...
Good Morning
3/8/26 8:00 50F (10C) Coudy and dry, with a light wind. The lodge pole ribbons are fluttering and the willows sway in the breeze. It seems like the crocus and the daffodils have all bloomed overnight. This morning is frantic with birds, all chirping,...
Good Morning
3/7/26 6:00 48F (8.8C) Overcast and dry. It is a gray, windless morning. Walter is barking at an early dog walker. There is a squirrel chattering full scold in the oaks. Robins and jay's flit about. A flock of small birds is eating the blossoms off the...
Good Morning
3/6/26 6:30 43F (6C) Cloudy with patches of blue. No wind, no rain. The sun tops Snakehead ridge, flaring golden-yellow through a crack in the clouds. I hear turkeys calling from the tall trees up the canyon. Birds are singing, the rooster is...
Good Morning
3/5/26 5:45 44F (6.66C) Breezy, mostly cloudy, beginning to rain. Trees sway in the wind. The moon, waning gibbous behind the clouds, is setting. Birds are singing it to sleep in the dim grey blue of a morning not quite realized. Good morning. ...
Good Morning
3/4/26 6:00 45F (7.2C) No wind. Gray and wet. It is raining here. Apparently it is snowing on the mountain with the freezing level just over 5,000'. That is good. Whether it is good enough we will discover come fire season. I expect a long summer...
