In the kitchen ... camp style

In case you missed last week's post, my "kitchen" was displaced for a few days this past week. We took a mini-vacation to Holly River State Park and had a wonderful time. We had planned to stay in the tent but the weather forecast was calling for damaging winds, hail and up to six inches of rain. We opted, understandably, for a cabin that first night. It was a luxury to have a real kitchen to cook in but it did mean that my menu got rearranged.

fried chicken breasts, spanish rice, and green salads :: apple crisp, prepped in aluminum pan for easy baking and clean-up :: iced tea with mint and lemon, made double strength for the trip, then mixed up table side (I do this with lemonade, too) :: fruit & yogurt parfaits make for an easy campsite breakfast :: nothing is an adventure without PB&J for the road :: we celebrated our safe return to camp with a stop in the restaurant - WONDERFUL strawberry rhubarb pie and blackberry cobbler :: whole wheat hearth bread a la cast iron :: smoked sausage and par-boiled potatoes with butter, prepped in an aluminum pan for easy fireside cooking :: a kettle for hot tea and cocoa, alongside our sawmill gravy (biscuits baked in the pan, too) :: a fried egg on top, to fuel our last day of adventures

It took a fair deal of prep work but I was very happy, when the time came to do the cooking, that I had made such plans. The fridge in the cabin was set too low, so my salad greens and my eggs froze and that changed menu options, too. We didn't starve, so it all came good in the end.

In closing, here are a few scenic shots of our trip.

Joining Heather.

Yarn Along - a big adventure

My new kitting project hit the road with us this week as we headed camping to Holly River State Park. I only had a little bit of time to work on it in the truck before the roads became too swirly for me to be able to keep it together.

We planned to tent camp but hunkered down in a cabin for the first night as the rain poured all through the evening and into the night. The cabin boasted a bent twig rocker that I swear was made to fit my aching back. Julian read and I knitted by the light of our fire. It was a lovely getaway.

I have decided that, for my next project, I'm going to do the Light and Up pattern but finish it with a picot edging like the Eiku (both found on Ravelry). I wasn't really sold on this yarn, but I added it to my stash when it was on clearance about a year ago. I must say that the longer I look at it and the more sunshine it gets, the more I fall in love with it.

The pattern uses sock weight yarn on a #8 needle, so I am struggling a bit with feeling like it is coming apart in my hands, since I am usually a tight knitter. It is so soft and smooth in my hand though, even just the little bit I've got going, and it is working up very quickly.

This week's outing has inspired me to check out A Walk in the Woods. We are in need of a new bedtime reading book and we've gotten into quite the habit of reading about food and thinking of how woefully hungry we are! So, perhaps we can change that this week.

Linking up with Ginny.

In the kitchen this week...

The kitchen has been busy this week with cleaning and packing, eating up leftovers in preparation for our first camping trip of the season. Here are a few snippets. Be sure to check back next week (add me to your feeds!) and see what we ate in the wilderness.

swiss chard from the garden :: hot wings and veggies :: zucchini fritters :: sea salt and honey ice cream - conceptually brilliant flavor-wise, but in practice, kinda weird because the ice cream doesn't melt :: gooey caramel popcorn, no road trip is complete without it :: i spring cleaned my drawers, nice tidy potholders :: the camping kitchen box

Joining Heather.

nature all around us

With the beautiful weather, we've had a heavy dose of nature these past two weeks. Here's a look at our most recent excursions.

woodpecker evidence :: grass carp spawning, an amazing experience to behold (that's a big fish jumping in the photo) :: the end of the lake trail :: goose family :: lake sunset :: wee rhododendron :: first lady slipper of the season :: ghoulish tree :: love tree :: ravens rock :: don't look down :: the view from there (remember that picture) :: orchid colony like none other :: even more of them :: all day paddle trek :: tiger swallowtails (I couldn't pick up that trash without them flying away :( ) :: on cheat river looking up at ravens rock (that's why you were supposed to remember that other picture)

Philly

 

We had a bit of an impromptu vacation to Philly - which is nice because that's the only way vacation is possible these days. It felt very worrying and relieving to just pack up and leave with gifted tickets in hand to five lacrosse games. Julian had visited Philly before but I never had, so much of our exploring was him showing me the neat places he'd seen before. I insisted that we go get a bonafide cheesesteak, and we agreed that with Pat's (the original) and Geno's (the "best") right across the street from one another, we would just go the place with the shortest line. It was Geno's and it was delicious. 

We parked the car at the stadium early in the morning and just explored the city via foot and public transportation. This was a good decision. We got to see so much of the town aside from the touristy hubs. For a few minutes, we followed a horse and carriage tour side-by-side so we could over hear the commentary. That is how I learned about those three houses pictured: one was built in 1779, 1879, and 1979. 

There was Chinatown and the Liberty Bell, which had too long of a line to wait to go in, but I saw it through the window and was satisfied. Then the Reading Terminal Market, from whence many a gift has come from Julian's sister. The game pieces were also a hit from Julian's yesteryear adventures, so he took the opportunity to relive the Domino photo op. 

All in all, we watched 5 lacrosse games (all our teams LOST), saw 4 popular landmarks, 3 city parks, 2 national parks, and spent over 10 hours in the car over three days. Whew! What an adventure.