novel « Robin Writes

Thought I’d put together a few simple recipes for outdoor cooking, you know, in case you have to go off-grid or if you just decide to pack up for a weekend of camping.

I’m even going to give you two versions of each, so you can choose quick and easy or completely homemade, depending on your preference and/or limitations of space, time, and skill.

Let’s start with breakfast:

Skillet Breakfast

Bacon

O’Brien potatoes

Cheddar cheese

Eggs

Naturally, this is going to taste better if you use cast iron, but you can use any cookware, on the fire or on a propane stove.

Fry the bacon and remove from pan to drain. Dump in the bag of potatoes, add a little salt and a lot of pepper; while these cook, beat the eggs and add a little water—water will make the eggs fluffier than milk. When the potatoes are cooked and crispy, add the eggs and crumbled bacon and cook until eggs are done. Top with cheese.

Version 2: you can chop the potatoes, onions, and peppers yourself, at the campsite or before you leave home. Unless you butcher your own hogs and gather your own eggs, that’s about the limit on the homemade part!

Of course, you can serve toast or biscuits or whatever with this too, but it’s pretty filling by itself. If you’re making toast over the fire, you can of course toast it over coals on a stick, but you can also just slap a slice of bread on a cast iron griddle, flipping once.

My World Famous Chili

Chili beans, 2 cans

Salsa, half a jar or so

Tomato sauce, 1 16 oz can

Onion

Garlic, 2-3 cloves

Ground beef, 1 #

Chili powder

Cumin

Jalapenos

Black pepper

Beer, one can or bottle

Throw the chopped onion, minced garlic, ground beef, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and minced jalapenos in a Dutch over. Cook until beef is done. Add chili beans, salsa, beer, tomato sauce, and maybe a little water. Cook for an hour.

Yes, it can be very hot—seasoning-wise. You can adjust as needed.

For the more homemade version, simply use your own canned tomato sauce and salsa, the onions, garlic, cumin, and jalapenos that you grew in the garden, and your home-grown kidney beans that have been well-soaked overnight. You might want to add more spice if you use those, as the commercial ones are pre-seasoned.

More power to you if you butcher your own beef and grind it, and if you also make your own beer, please send me the recipe and the steps needed!

Yes, we’re back to working on the pond. And when I say “we,” I mean my husband . . . He did have me come down to make sure the dock was straight in the water, ‘cause, well, I like things neat and orderly. He couldn’t care less.

We did go to an auction this past weekend, and my husband picked up a metal detector. Good thing, because to date we’ve (I’ve) lost two throwing knives, an axe, and just this morning, an arrow, somewhere behind the shooting range.

The garden has a few late tomatoes still left, and maybe three pepper plants that will likely do absolutely nothing. And garlic, of course, that won’t be harvested for a couple months yet.

Clearing and plowing are up next, to finish expanding next year’s garden and put in the greenhouse for the winter. And we still have a few missed spots on the kitchen deck to pressure wash.

Assuming, of course, we can find and move all the cat toys that a friend bought this weekend for Arthur.

We finally finished the sliding doors—thank goodness our neighbor helped, those suckers were HEAVY—and got the rest of the deck furniture. Voila, another room!