Cooking and Camping in the Rain

When we left for Big Basin Redwoods Campground we knew rain showers were in the forecast.  I thought.  Rain?  This late in June.  It’ll be nothing, it probably wont even rain.

Boy was I wrong.  At about 2 pm, 30 minutes from camp it started raining, hard.  And it didn’t really stop until the next morning.  So how did we do it?

Well, we picked up our sagging hopes, channeled our inner Bear Grylls and set up camp in the rain.

We laid out the tents and covered them with tarps until the poles were through.  After the tent was lifted we got the fly ready and replaced the tarps with the tent fly.  A tent fly is essential for keeping out the rain.  Otherwise there is nothing but mesh or thin fabric between you and the rain.  After the tents were set up we strung a tarp to a few trees, which was technically against the rules, but we were desperate for a dry spot to cook dinner.  A makeshift kitchen was set up under the tarp with a chair, an ice chest, food bins for counters and a propane grill propped up on a couple of logs.  The ground was soaked so we didn’t worry about setting it on fire, but just to be extra safe I had a couple of gallons of water nearby.

As I finished setting up the kitchen I noticed the young family camping next to us were roasting hot dogs over their fire.  Classic, I thought.  Cant go wrong with a frank over the fire.  I didn’t think anything more of it until I saw them doing it again the next day for lunch AND for dinner.  Poor campers!  Is that what most campers usually eat?  It didn’t look like they had a propane stove which is almost essential when cooking on a camping trip.  Yes, you could cook over the fire, and we did do that on night 2, but a propane grill can be started in 30 seconds, they are small, and you can cook damn near anything on it, even in the rain.

So we made fried chicken, in the rain, with our old Coleman camp stove.  While the chicken cooked, we warmed our hands in the steam of the tea kettle and wondered when the rain would finally end.  The ranger told us to expect rain all night.  We hoped he was wrong.

That night Brae wanted to roast marshmallows and make smores.  Since it was still raining we toasted them over the stove flame.  They were melty, creamy and so hot they burned the tip of my tongue.

Her first smore.  She loved them.  She is still telling me that the best part of camping were the smores and sleeping in a tent.  She didn’t even mind the rain.  She thought it made the trip more exciting, more adventurous.  She likes that.

Menu for Day 1

• Snack – Fresh fruit, granola, nuts, and chips
• Dinner – Fried chicken with warm tortillas & salad
• Dessert – Smores

Fried Camp Chicken

• 1 chicken, cut into pieces for frying
• canola oil
• cast iron pan
• camp stove or a fire pit with a BBQ grate
• salt and pepper

1.  Pour oil into the pan until it’s about 1/2 inch deep.  Heat on med-high heat until very hot, but not smoking.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

2.  When the oil is hot add the chicken and do not move them until the bottoms are a crisp golden brown.  Then turn the chicken pieces with a pair of tongs.

3.  Cook the other side, without moving the chicken, until that side is golden brown and crispy.  Check to see if the chicken is cooked through.  If not cover with a lid and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through (no longer pink at all in the center).

By the time we woke up the next morning the rain had stopped.  The woods were wet, but alive with campers re-starting fires and making breakfast.  We cooked eggs and bacon on the stove with home fries, all in the same pan.  Since we were using cast iron, cleanup was easy.

Before lunch, we took an easy hike to the largest of the giant redwoods in this forest.  Several trees were hollow at the base, but still alive because the tree is attached to all the other trees around it through the roots.  They are fire resistant, don’t fall over easily, and the base can grow to be as big as a two-lane road in places like Sequoia National Park, Ca.  Truly amazing to see.

Wildlife was everywhere, but quick to hide from my camera.  Blue Jays were on constant patrol, scooping up every spare scrap of food left behind.  A chipmunk, cute as can be, found its way into our trunk during lunch and got trapped.  The little guy didn’t seem to be too troubled by his predicament.  He made the best of his situation by invading our bags of potato chips and pistachios.  When we opened the trunk to get food for dinner he scared the crap out of my mom then bolted for the exit when the coast was clear.  We even came across a Banana Slug, my UCSC mascot, on a hike to the waterfall.  He was too slow to hide from the camera.

For dinner, we cooked over the fire.  Turkey burgers, grilled zucchini and mushrooms, corn on the cob, and salad from my garden.  I really felt bad for the hot dog family.  They were missing out on quality camp cooking.

Menu for Day 2

• Breakfast – Eggs, bacon, home fries (packaged frozen home fries, real eggs and bacon)
• Lunch – Ham Sandwiches for the adults, PB&Js for the kids.
• Snacks – Granola, fresh plums & nectarines
• Dinner – Turkey burgers, grilled vegetables, corn and salad.
• Dessert – Smores

Coal-Roasted Corn on the Cob

• corn on the cob, one for each person, husks removed
• a few tablespoons of butter cut into small pieces
• tin foil
• salt and pepper (chili pepper is great too if you want to bring it)

1.  Cut a piece of tin foil large enough to wrap around one corn cob completely.  About a foot long.  Just eyeball it.

2.  Place a corncob onto the tin foil.  Dot with a couple of pieces of butter and season with salt and pepper.

3.  Wrap the tinfoil around the corn to completely cover it, trapping the butter inside.

4.  Place corn directly on the outer wood and coals of a wood fire.  I like to find spots where the center of the pieces of wood have turned to coals but the outer parts of the wood are unburned but getting close to burning.  I put my corn on the unburned pieces of wood right next to the coals.  Turn them with a pair of tongs or a long stick about every 5 minutes.  After 15 minutes check one for doneness.  Let them cool a few minutes before eating.  Those babies are hot!

Tips for Making Hamburgers at Camp

Preparation is key here.  The easiest way to do this is season the meat and form the patties at home.  Freeze each patty individually and then store in a freezer bag until you are ready to pack your ice chest.  Keep all meat frozen, covered in ice at the bottom of the ice chest.  It will stay cold for the longest this way.  We surround our meat with crushed ice and several bottles of frozen water.  Only bring what you need!

Bring lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion and cheese for the hamburgers and keep it together in the ice chest, in one bag, so you know that’s the hamburger stuff.  Mayo, mustard and ketchup are stored in small jelly or baby food jars and kept in the ice chest.  Don’t forget the buns!  We have a plastic bin where we keep non-refrigerated food.  The buns go in there.

Menu for Day 3

• Breakfast – Pancakes & bacon

By lunch, we had checked out and were on the way home.  A couple of days in the forest was just what I needed.  I would love to bring Tom up there for a weekend.  Hopefully, we can do that soon.

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