WIAW #36: Coming off Camp Air

I'm officially back from camp and boy did I miss all of you! It is so hard being away for a whole week but I hope my friend Jen kept you company. And if you didn't check out her blog yet, DO IT NOW!

Jenn at Peas and Crayons had declared August the month of Summer Staples. What's more Staples of Summer than Summer Camp, cooking outside, and really all of the stuff I'm about to show you? I'm pretty proud of myself! So get ready for a staple filled month and lots of great recipes on the way!



  I had a great "relaxing" week at camp and here are some of my highlights:

This was my male Co-Counselor

My Campers singing a G-Rated rendition of “Camping Dream” to the tune of “Tennage Dream” by Katy Perry that I wrote!

And this:

 

He's Martin Luther

My "twin" staff member

My Campers

Of course one of the highlights I mentioned two weeks ago regarding camp was the cooking. Cathy, the camp cook for 20+ years is pretty incredible. She makes balanced, delicious home-style meals for 100+ people, 3 times a day. This woman is a saint.


Here are some of my favorite eats from my week at camp:

(Not exactly in order:)

• Baked chicken, rice, mixed vegetables
• Homemade Apple crisp! My favorite!
• Oatmeal with all the fixings and orange slices
• Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream
• Peanut butter fudgie oat bars
• Chocolate chip cookie bars
• Grilled Cheese turned tuna melt and tomato soup
• Mountain pies over the fire: if you've never had these, you haven't lived.
• smores! 

Here's what I ate on Monday once I got back:

Breakfast

cup of coffee, light cream 

Toasted English Muffin, light cream cheese, my sister's homemade peach preserves

Lunch

Leftovers twist of Banh Mi: Roasted chicken, Sriracha mayo, shave carrots, lettuce

Handful bagel chips with one Laughing Cow French Onion wedge

One ripe Donut peach, my favorite!

Iced water with cucumbers

Other Eats Since I got Back:

Homemade Amaretto Chocolate Chip Milkshake with fat-free vanilla yogurt. 

Recipe to come, so good!

Arugula and Spinach salad with slice donut peach, poached egg, bleu cheese crumbles,

fresh chives, homemade vinaigrette

 Just found my favorite Dark Chocolate Digestive Biscuits at a Celtic gift shop in Gettysburg, PA. I was ecstatic! (With my smuggled Earl Gray and a donut peach)

Drinking it up! Iced water with cucumbers Jenn@Peasandcrayons style and some V8

I’ve gone peach crazy if you haven't noticed!

I haven't shared a recipe on WIAW in awhile so hopefully it will make up for it and sticks with the theme.


On Friday morning after a terrible thunderstorm and a botched sleepout with my 19 campers and two co-counselors, we still decided to make breakfast outside over a fire. In previous experience, pancakes for Breakfast Out has been a big success even with large groups. You build a fire and just start cooking with the prepared ingredients. Despite the fact that we collected and stored enough fire wood for a week it all seems to get damp and refused to burn despite almost an entire box of matches, three different lighters and the strength of 22 Lutherans praying simultaneously. 

So after an hour we were about to give up and cook on a stove inside one of the camp lodges but of course our camp directors asked for us to use one of the fireplaces instead inside the assembly hall. So after all that, we still had pancakes over the fire and they were delicious. 

To my campers' credit none of them complained about eating breakfast an hour and half late and even mostly entertained themselves as I cooked. This gives me hope for my own children, but then again those campers have the benefit of not having my family's crazily impatient genes.

But back to the pancakes. In similar fashion I hope you have better luck with this recipe whether you decide to built an outdoor fire while camping or dust off your fireplace. Either way these fireside pancakes are a real treat and I hope you give them a try with much better success than my first time around.

Fireside Pancakes: 

makes around 6 pancakes 

 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar (or 1 1/2 tbsp agave)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
3 tbsp melted butter
Extra butter for cooking


Optional: 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, add with flour


Directions:
Over a small outdoor fire or in a fireplace, stack wood for a small fire and place metal grille over the pile so it lies flat. Next lay a long flat griddle on top of the grille. (You can also use a cast iron skillet.) Light wood making a small fire and allow it to burn for a couple of minutes.


Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix milk, vanilla, egg, and butter. Add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together until smooth.


Add a little butter to the hot griddle and immediately using a ladle pour about 1/3 cup of pancake batter onto the hot griddle. Depending on the size and strength of your fire the pancakes will cook very fast or very slow.


Once pancake begins to bubble using a metal spatula, flip pancake over and brown. If the pancake does not easily move onto the spatula it is not ready to flip. Brown evenly on each side.


Serve immediately in a varieties of ways:

• Using the same griddle, brown some apple pie filling with a little butter and cinnamon and scoop on top of hot pancakes
• Top with fresh blueberries and agave nectar instead of syrup
• Top with other fresh seasonal fruit and almond butter
• Add chocolate chips or crushed walnuts into the batter 
• Do it classic style: butter and maple syrup

Enjoy your pancakes they way they should be made. Summer Camping style!

Love,

The College Cuisiner