After our hike, I set up several different types of portable stoves for a picnic - a sterno stove that can be used with fuel or wood, and home-made 'pop can stoves'.
Each stove has compatible pots, and a specific food that would be cooked in each pot.
I had a menu - quail eggs and bacon, cornmeal fritters, and rice pudding. We put pre-cooked kebabs to warm in the ashes near the fire, and I brought along dehydrated tomatoes and tomatillos for a snack.
I mixed up the dry ingredients for the cornmeal fritters at home, then placed them in a Ziplock bag. At the Park, I added a small can of creamed corn, chopped sweet onion, a dash of red pepper, and additional milk to make the right consistency. Once mixed in the bag (no bowl to wash), I fried the cornmeal fritters in peanut oil on my tiny, home-made alcohol stove, made out of a pop can. Each fritter was fried, one at a time, and served with condiments - ketchup, brown mustard, watermelon pickles. Dried tomatillos, dried tomatoes.
I also made red Bhuton rice pudding on this little stove, using dried rice flakes, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom, coconut milk, currants and pistachios, and pre-cooked red Bhuton rice. This kind of rice pudding, with a non-hulled rice added, is very chewy and delicious.
The tiny quail eggs were cooked on top of the bacon in a tiny Teflon-lined pan. I have two of them, together, one on top of the other. This way, the eggs can be poached in the steam as the bacon fries on the bottom.
All the food was cooked efficiently and served one dish at a time - while hot.
Using an alcohol 'pop can' stove can be challenging when baking a cake - it burns hot, and cannot be turned down. Consequently, a thin layer of the outer crust can get burnt. But, not a problem if the interior is fully baked and delicious - and this was! I dehydrated pears and apples, placed them on top, then baked the cake in a tiny brass pot. Once baked, I spread fig jam over the fruit, for a wonderful sweet glaze.
The brass pot and plate are from Egypt, hand pounded and etched. I found them at the Goodwill. Cost me $2.00.
I've been building small alcohol stoves for bushcraft cooking while camping or hiking. They require a tiny pot or pan, to fit the burner. These are easy to find, often at the Goodwill.
One morning last week I lit one of the small stoves, put a pan on top, partially fried the bacon, then added two eggs and some seasonings. Covered, it steamed the eggs until done, which for me is lightly soft in the middle with a bit of runny egg. Took five minutes, to make breakfast outside in my back yard.
Tutorial for making your own pop-can alcohol stove here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-35L_xdtQE
I canned so much tomato sauce for pasta that I used up all my jars. What to do with all the rest of those beautiful Heirlooms? Dehydrate them for soup.
I gathered the last of the Heirloom tomatoes, and made a savory sauce which I dehydrated for soup mixes. In the pot here are the dehydrated sauce, a bullion cube, my dehydrated veggies and some tiny ravioletti. The little hand-made cook-stove boiled the soup, which took about 10 minutes. This cook-stove was made using tin cans, with an old license plate as a wind-deflector. Heet fuel, about 1 1/2 ounces.
I made these out of pop cans for camping trips/hiking. They offer an inside fuel chamber and tiny fuel vents. One ounce of fuel (HEET) will boil two cups of water in five minutes. Perfect for warming soup or making coffee. When burning many at a time, various uses are offered all at the same time - making soup, tea, and warming rocks to be used as hand-warmers. I made little bags to hold the rocks, which can also be put inside boots, to warm the toes on a winter morning.
Dehydrated soups carry well in the backpacks, very light-weight. Produce from the garden - parsnips, tomatoes, carrots, corn, peas, beans, kale, leeks, onions, garlic. Placed a bullion cube inside for broth, and added home-made spices. I also made a tomato sauce from Heirloom tomatoes, dehydrated it, and added it as a sauce enhancement. Small ravioletti add a special touch. These packets are cooked for 15 minutes, to cook the ravioletti and to assure complete hydration. A portable alcohol stove is used.
Crushed Turkish flatbread, mixed nuts, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, chocolate and butterscotch chips, sugar-coated Cheerios.
While George changed a tire at camp, I pulled out our emergency 'Coffee-Making Box', designed specifically for occasions requiring a cup of coffee - and, a home-made scone with fireweed jelly. The little propane stove also comes in the box.
Using zuchinni and tomatoes from the garden - they are at the peak of flavor.
Last summer I collected seeds from my Heirloom "Black Krim" tomatoes. These plants did beautifully, yielding over 30 lbs. of fruit. We've enjoyed slices on toast, with cheese. But ultimately I had to make sauce, to use up the remainder.
When we left Chambers Lake Campground, I left a clear indication of where we used charcoal and where we used fire. A grill plate sat inbetween both these areas, perfect for multi-uses while cooking food. This is the third fire pit I've built.
We enjoyed a wonderful four-day camping trip over the Labor Day weekend. Lots of cooking, canoeing, hiking, and exploration.
First thing, I rebuilt the firepit in the campground at Chambers Lake, extending it three times in length, so we could grill over fire, bake over charcoal, and enjoy a bonfire, all simultaneously!
This way, coals from the fire could be used to supplement the charcoal under the wok, which I used to bake naan.
Deep dish pizza, baked in a Dutch oven.
I used a propane stove to bake this blueberry coffee cake - berries found in the woods nearby.
This naan was baked over a wok, over charcoal, at Chambers Lake Campground. The tomato salsa used garden veggies.
I also made red Bhuton rice pudding on this little stove, using dried rice flakes, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom, coconut milk, currants and pistachios, and pre-cooked red Bhuton rice. This kind of rice pudding, with a non-hulled rice added, is very chewy and delicious.
