Roam With Friends

Category: Camp Food

  • Tin Can Ice Cream

    Tin Can Ice Cream

    Nothing beats the heat of a Midwest summer than sweet creamy cold ice cream. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to bring that to a camping trip. Unless you have an RV with a fridge, keeping a gallon of ice cream from melting while camping can be a real challenge. Tin Can Ice Cream is a way of making ice cream any where with minimal equipment which makes it perfect activity for summer camping.

    IMG_0439I learned to make tin can ice cream from my friend, Meeghan. Meeghan and I began camping together shortly after we met in graduate school. She always told me stories about how she grew up camping. Every time she reflects back on her childhood camping trips, tin can ice cream is there.  She said she can’t remember a camping trip that her mom did not break out the tin cans and put Meeghan and her three siblings to work making ice cream. I think Meeghan’s mom was probably the smartest mom ever. She might have ended up with a cool afternoon treat but she also knew that making tin can ice cream would keep her four children entertained for a half hour (or so) and that they would likely meet other kids from the campground to play with during their stay. Meeghan reports that every time they made ice cream other kids would come by to see what they were doing, end up helping, and they ended up making new friends.

    IMG_0440Making tin can ice cream is easy. There is no machine to carry around. No intricate parts to be washed afterwards. In fact, you don’t even need electricity. You simply need 2 different sized coffee cans; one large and one smaller to fit inside the large one. You will need ice and rock salt. Easy. The recipe is perfectly portioned, you will easily eat all the ice cream in one sitting and have no need to deal with leftovers.  Of course, if you have a crowd, you might plan to make a couple of batches.

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    Meeghan says she has no idea where her mother got the recipe from or even how old she was when they started making it. We have made it a few times at on group camping trips and the kids love it. We hope you will as well.

     

  • Camp Cooking: Wild Onions and Scrambled Eggs

    Camp Cooking: Wild Onions and Scrambled Eggs

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    I grew up in a family of hunter and gatherers. My father, brothers, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all hunted and fished. I am sure some of it was for fun, or the challenge of getting the “big one” but the truth is we relied heavily on the food they provided to feed us. In addition to bringing home meat from hunting, my father was always bringing home food he had gathered from the wooded areas he visited; berries, wild mushrooms, and wild onions to name a few.

    My mom, being an amazing cook, always seemed to know just what to do with the treats my father brought home (of course I was too young to notice that my dad taught her what to do with all the crazy things he brought home). Every spring, when the morel mushrooms popped from the warming ground, my father would bring home wild onions. My mom would cook them with eggs and serve them to us for breakfast. Or she would serve breakfast food to us for dinner.

    A couple of years ago, The Todd’s invited us to go mushroom hunting in the country. Sadly, we did not find any mushrooms but we did find a large patch of wild onions. Since then, Angie brings me a batch every year. Wild Onions have a flat bright green shoot, as opposed to wild garlic which has a tubular, hollow shoot. They are tender and sweet. They freeze really well, so I always keep a bunch or two tucked away in the freezer so I can enjoy this spring meal any time of the year.

    Breakfast is a big deal when we are camping. Heck, who am I kidding; breakfast is a big deal even when we are not camping. But, breakfast during a camping trip really helps us get our day going and gives us enough energy to go explore and roam. Today’s post is about sharing with you my Wild Onions and Scrambled Eggs dish.

     

    Happy Eating!

    me

  • Dutch Oven Cooking: Tater Tot Casserole

    There are many reasons why I love camping but camp cooking ranks up there as one of my top reasons and one of my favorite things to do when camping. We do a lot of cooking in our dutch ovens. Anything you can make in the oven can be made in a dutch oven.

    Today, I am sharing with you our YouTube video on how to make Tater Tot Casserole in a dutch oven. Tater Tot Casserole is not a new casserole, I am sure we have all grown up on a variety. When Wayne and I got married we had to find a way of blending of the tater tot casserole he grew up having with the one I grew up having. Of course, neither of those are the tater tot casserole Allen grew up with.

    This is a very kid friendly recipe. The Short Chic started requesting this meal a few days before our first camping trip of 2016.  We saved it for our Saturday evening meal knowing it would be perfect to cook in the dutch oven.

    Our version of Tater Tot Casserole includes one can of soup per pound of ground beef. I prefer Cream of Mushroom Soup but Wayne prefers Cheddar Cheese Soup. We have compromised and added a can of each using two pounds of ground beef. We like to add a can of drained corn to the ground beef. You certainly do not have to. Or you could add something else. How about a can or two of green chilies? We like put a layer of cheese down before we line our casserole with the tater tots. Some folks just throw them on the top in a pile but we prefer them to get even amounts of heat and all brown nicely. But hey, you can check out our video

    Making memories for my children is so important to me and memories have many components. Sometimes a sound can trigger a memory, or a smell, or a place, or even a taste. With every meal prepared at the camp site, I am hoping that we are creating memories my children will remember for decades to come.

    I look forward to sharing more recipes with you over the summer.

    mePamela