Camping, Princess Style

Marlene · July 13, 2005

I like to camp. Ok, I like to camp in style. Not for me tents, and sleeping on the ground. I want warmth when it's cold, cool when it's hot and I want to be able to take lots of food with me. Hence the purchase a year or so ago of a Class C RV.

You can camp in style, you just have to think about it a bit. To get us started, let me show you the space I have to work with when we go camping:

Here's the "rig" in all it's glory. It's 28 ft long with double slides. That means we have a slide out in the bedroom and another one on the other side in the living area. It also has a furnace and an air conditioner, a washroom and separate shower.

This is all the counter space I have to work with. It's just a little different than at home!

If it rains, we'll eat inside at the dinette, otherwise all meals are taken outside:

I have a pantry:

A fridge and freezer which runs on either electric or LP gas:

A stovetop and small oven, gas only:

A microwave:

A place for glasses etc:

A place for plates etc:

And what camping trip is complete without a bar:

or a snack cupboard:

Next; how to entertain on the road.

Marlene · July 13, 2005

Entertaining while camping is of necessity, a lot simpler than when I entertain at home. However, with a little thought and a few comforts of home, I can come pretty close. We were camping in an area about 20 minutes from my brother's house. I'll actually be spending most of my time up there this summer. In these shots we are celebrating my brother's release from the hospital after two months, and his first outing out other than being at home for the weekends.

First, it's very important to make your guests comfortable, whether you are at home or on the road:

It's also sort of important not to smoke your neighbours out. Or perhaps your big brother:

To begin, we start with a baked brie while enjoying drinks in the sunshine:

I'm still working on getting the top as brown as the bottom using a tiny gas oven.

Set the table with style:

Watch dinner cook, drink a little more:

Gather round and enjoy:

Next, a random sampling of meals while camping.

glossyp · July 13, 2005

Seriously Marlene, that is not camping - that's picking up the house and going on the road! :biggrin:

SuzySushi · July 13, 2005

Now that's what I call camping in style! You may have more room and a larger kitchen than my first (studio) apartment in NYC! :laugh:

Pam R · July 13, 2005

Camping, Princess Style always meant staying at the Holiday Inn in Kenora Ontario for me. Unfortunately, the rest of my family LOVE camping. So I grew up in tents, trailers and finally a cottage in the Kenora area. We sold the cottage years ago and my parents now have a park-model in the Manitoba inter-lake region. (has wheels, doens't move)

I'm looking forward to seeing what you get out of your oven, because I can't bake a think in ours! Do you use your kitchen table or picnic tables as prep counters or restrict yourself to the little space you have?

I'd like one of those steaks right now please! THey always taste better grilled outside by the tent/cottage/trailer.

Marlene · July 13, 2005

When camping, we are fairly lazy. athough we like to eat well. I don't have pictures of all the meals we ate, but I can give you an idea. Breakfasts usually consisted of either bacon and eggs or peameal bacon and eggs, or french toast:

or, let's use up everything in the fridge because we have to go home today. Hence Don's not so famous hash of eggs, ham, peppers:

Because we're lazy when we camp (or because my son never rolls out of bed before 11 a.m.) breakfasts mostly turned into brunches, with the occassional toasted bacon and tomato sandwich thrown in for good measure.

Dinners ran the gambit from the steaks you saw above (lots of steak) to ribs, triple wrapped in foil and cooked on indirect heat on the BBQ with new baby potatoes coated in olive oil and kosher salt, wrapped in foil and cooked on the BBQ:

Ryan insisted I show this one:

Tp BBQ'd chicken with butter rice:

To pork chops with those same potatoes. (we couldn't get enough of them)

To Don's secret hamburgers:

And of course, no camping trip is complete without toasted marshmellows:

Life on the road. I love it. I could do this all summer, and in fact, this summer I will for the most part. We have a trip planned shortly with friends which will include a tomato and onion salad, potato salad and coleslaw as well as other BBQ favourites.

Marlene · July 13, 2005

Seriously Marlene, that is not camping - that's picking up the house and going on the road!
←

Well yeah, that's the idea. The only thing I don't have is a dishwasher, although I just saw an ad for a portable one in a camping magazine. :biggrin:

Camping, Princess Style always meant staying at the Holiday Inn in Kenora Ontario for me. Unfortunately, the rest of my family LOVE camping. So I grew up in tents, trailers and finally a cottage in the Kenora area. We sold the cottage years ago and my parents now have a park-model in the Manitoba inter-lake region. (has wheels, doens't move)
I'm looking forward to seeing what you get out of your oven, because I can't bake a think in ours! Do you use your kitchen table or picnic tables as prep counters or restrict yourself to the little space you have?
I'd like one of those steaks right now please! THey always taste better grilled outside by the tent/cottage/trailer.
←

The oven is a challenge. I've never used a gas oven to start with and it's small. I'm going to be spending the summer up in this campground and one of my challenges will be to see what I can do with this oven.

I mostly use the kitchen space. The sinks have the cutting boards that fit over them to give me extra prep room. The only time I use the picnic table is to roll out the puff pastry for the brie. I just need the extra room for that.

snowangel · July 13, 2005

My word, Marlene! The kitchen, I think, is bigger than that which I have in at my house!

Seriously. The oven. Get yourself an oven thermometer. I swear that these little gas ovens that run on LP (like at our cabin) don't run true. Call it the LP, call it the karma of the road, whatever, but our little gas oven at the cabin isn't true.

And, wow! You took a lot of pictures! I only took a couple that are postworthy of our last weekend at the cabin...

So, were you on a lake? Daytime activities other than camping? Any noshing besides what's in the Treat Cabinet?

racheld · July 13, 2005

Wonderful!!! What a lovely way to spend a summer. Or a lifetime. The pics are great remembrances of a time with family which is so special and rare in these days.

And the cooking is terrific!! By the time I clicked down through all the grilling and ribs and steaks, etc., I was ready to come track down your parking spot and join in. And then the burger just set off my taste buds no end.

Thanks---Hope there's more and more.

re: freezer---Where's the ICE CREAM!!!???

Marlene · July 13, 2005

there is actually a small tub of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer. We had it with fresh strawberries marinated in Grand Marnier. I'll be seeing what I can do with this over the summer. Next week, I'll be on my own mostly, so the challenge will be to see if I actually cook anything for myself. Or what I can make in that small space to take to my brother for lunch.

Susan, there is a beach. We are on Musselman's Lake. It's been very hot here. 34 C most days. Days on the beach are spent with cooler bag in hand mostly stocked with water, gatorade and beer. The boys went fishing (fortunately, they didn't catch anything) and go kart racing.

Snacks included chips and dip, tortillas and salsa and one of my three cheese cheese balls. Oh and popcorn of course.

snowangel · July 13, 2005

The boys went fishing (fortunately, they didn't catch anything) and go kart racing.
←

Peter was mighty proud to catch his first walleye today, but it was on the smallish side, so opted for catch and release.

Rule in our house. If you are old enough to catch them, you are old enough to know how to sharpen a knife and clean them (with very close supervision, mind you).

Back to your RV. How much of the provisions (non perishable, of course) do you leave there year round? I'm amazed at how much we can leave at our cabin. We always take home the canned goods and mayo, but the other stuff (like ketchup, mustard, etc.) seems to withstand a Northern Minnesota winter just fine.

Marlene · July 13, 2005

Fishing - Rule in my house. Catch it? Let it go. Don't even think about bringing it back for dinner.

It depends on whether we can leave the RV plugged in or not. When we do, we leave all our condiments in the fridge. For the winter when its in storage, we clean out the fridge, defrost the freezer and let it air dry so we don't get mold.

KatieLoeb · July 13, 2005

Aww Marlene - that's cheatin'! Heck that's a house on wheels fer sure! But I bet the beds are a lot more comfortable! :biggrin:

To this day one of my proudest culinary achievements was a high end foodie magazine picture perfect shiitake mushroom and brie omelet cooked in a cast iron frying pan over a campfire.

It was a minor miracle that it came out of the pan so perfectly folded. I wish I'd taken a picture of it because they don't even look that good coming out of Calphonlon non-stick in my regular kitchen.

Daniel · July 13, 2005

Thats awesome Marlene.

Marlene · July 13, 2005

Aww Marlene - that's cheatin'! Heck that's a house on wheels fer sure! But I bet the beds are a lot more comfortable!
To this day one of my proudest culinary achievements was a high end foodie magazine picture perfect shiitake mushroom and brie omelet cooked in a cast iron frying pan over a campfire.
It was a minor miracle that it came out of the pan so perfectly folded. I wish I'd taken a picture of it because they don't even look that good coming out of Calphonlon non-stick in my regular kitchen.
←

Well yes, that's the point. I can cook over a campfire if I have to. In fact my girlfriend and I used to make a tent camping trip to Bon Echo Provincial Park every summer. But I mean really. I'm a princess. And if I'm going to spend all summer doing this, I want my comfort! :biggrin:

I've decided to replace the coffeemaker in the rig with my extra Cuisinart Grind and Brew machine. Nothing like waking up the entire campground with the sounds of grinding coffee beans.

daniellewiley · July 13, 2005

Rule in our house. If you are old enough to catch them, you are old enough to know how to sharpen a knife and clean them (with very close supervision, mind you).

Yikes! Dylan is 3.5 and caught her first fish two weeks ago. I think we'll let Dad clean them for a while yet. :laugh:

LynDel · July 13, 2005

Now that's my idea of camping! :wub:

Thanks for the pictures! :biggrin:

CMN · July 13, 2005

I went camping with some friends over the 4th of July weekend. We actually used tents, but it was more "car camping" than roughing it. Inflatable mattresses, flood light, canopy, variety of "camping" chairs, hammock, tons of coolers, etc. We were also not-so-far from civilization (~15-20 minutes from Sea Isle City).

Someone brought portable stovetop--it ran on propane and had a couple of burners and an adapter for a griddle. For breakfast, we used it to boil water to make coffee using a French-press coffee pot. We made scrambled eggs with and without cheese, bacon, and a variety of pancakes--plain, blueberry (from the farmer's stand on the way there), and chocolate chip (from leftover hershey's bars from the s'mores the night before). Our friend who makes the captain morgans-strawberry topping on our camping trips couldn't make it this time. We also had an assortment of juices, cereals, fresh fruit, donuts/cookies, and bloody mary’s.

Dinner one night was baked beans (canned), potato salad, corn cooked over the fire, squash (cooked in foil), and steak marinated two ways (one dry rub, one wet). Dessert was s’mores, cupcakes, and pudgie pies. I’d never had pudgie pies before, but you put two pieces of bread filled with whatever you want (we used chocolate/marshmallows and apple pie filling) on this metal contraption, clamp it shut, and toast it over the fire for your own personal campfire pie. The next night we had chicken marinated overnight in a campmade tequila-lime marinade along with more grilled veggies, a salad, and bratwurst. Oh, and a lot of beer and alcohol…

We also subsisted on sandwiches with a variety of cold cuts/topping, and the usual snack foods--chips, cookies, candy, fruit, etc.

Pam R · July 13, 2005

I’d never had pudgie pies before, but you put two pieces of bread filled with whatever you want (we used chocolate/marshmallows and apple pie filling) on this metal contraption, clamp it shut, and toast it over the fire for your own personal campfire pie.

We called that a flying saucer and used to make savoury ones - pizza's, grilled cheeses. Arriving at a camping site onc evening in the rain, my father put the dining tent up over the picnic table and we made these over a lantern. I haven't had one in years :wub:

rooftop1000 · July 13, 2005

Marlene

dont forget you can bake in the BBQ on a 100 degree day when I was first married I made pillsbury biscuts and shake n bake pork chops right on the grill came out as good as usual :blink:

just had to turn them over a few times on an insulated baking sheet

the baked brie....if you freeze the brie you can bake it alot longer so the pastry browns better ...insulated baking(airbake) sheets help for browning the tops

next adventure...you have propane, get a turkey fryer tough to clean but if you are parked, just cover it good after cooling the oil or keep the plastic jugs the oil came in...get a funnel :biggrin:

tracey

Marlene · July 13, 2005

I think I'll skip the turkey fryer, lol.

As for the oven, the problem I have is that the bottom browns much faster. I guess because the flame is below. The little oven says it has a broil selection, but for the life of me, I'm not seeing a top element anywhere. I suppose, if all else fails, I could read the manual. :biggrin:

An air insulated sheet sounds good. It has to be small though. It really is a tiny oven.

saskanuck · July 25, 2005

Looks like fun, Marlene, and brings back good memories of camping in our 27 ft. 5th wheel. It wasn't quite as fancy as your rig, though.

We made lots of good food in that RV, and isn't it amazing how much food you can pack away in the fridge and cupboards? I never did like the gas oven in there because of the same problem you're having, and we didn't use it much.

Now we have a cottage/summer home and it's fabulous, but one doesn't get to travel around like you do with an RV. It is nice to be able to leave a lot of food and goodies out there though. We have a "beer" fridge that is dedicated to wine, beer, soft drinks, pitchers of iced tea and the like which is in our porch for ready access.

Have fun RVing!

Marlene · July 25, 2005

It is fun. We've been more stationary than usual this year though. I can't believe all the stuff I can actually fit in that freezer/fridge! This week, I'll make up potato salad, coleslaw and burgers in advance before I go up.

We've got shish k bobobs on the menu for a party of 6 on Saturday with roasted little potatoes and corn.

And yes, I'd much rather have a convection microwave than that useless oven. :rolleyes:

Marlene · July 26, 2005

I'm preparing to head up to the campground again on Thursday. I've left my camera up there so I don't have any pictures of the stuff I'll be prepping, but I'll take some up there of the finished products.

When I have time, I make up a lot of stuff at home before I go because it's easier. This week I'm preparing at home:

Potato Salad

Creamy Coleslaw

Peanut Butter Burgers

And from recipes that are not yet in RG

Blue Cheese Salad Dressing for a tomato and onion salad

Three cheese cheese balls

Rustic Blueberry Tart from this month's Fine Cooking

We have friends camping with us for 4 days, plus my brother and his girlfriend will visit us for dinner.

In addition, I'm making up extra burgers, asian chicken wings and lasagna for my brother's family since he has chemo this week, and they'll be pretty tired by the time they get home.

I'd be interested in other things that I can either prep and take up or make up there. If I'm going to make them up there, they should be simple, please!

Edited to add: I'll be up there for two weeks and somewhere in there we are throwing a surprise birthday party for my brother. I need to figure out how to make and keep stuff to take over to the party.

saskanuck · July 27, 2005

What about making a container of marinated vegetables that will keep for a couple of days? I do one that has celery, carrots, cauliflower, jicama, kohlrabi (any harder veg really). I add cherry/grape tomatoes if it'll be eaten within a couple of days.

The vinaigrette is olive oil and any kind of vinegar, some smashed fresh garlic, a sliced onion, salt and pepper to taste. I sometimes throw some dried herbs in there, but not fresh ones because they get slimy and discolored after a day or so.

This keeps well for a few days in the fridge and can be pulled out for quick snacks or as part of an appetizer tray.

What about the corn/black bean/tex-mex type of salad/salsa? These keep well and can be used as a snack with tortilla chips or as a side dish. Mine has a can of kernel corn, can of black beans (both drained), chopped green or red pepper, chopped jalapeno if you like, chopped tomato. Cilantro is optional. Dressing is olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, cumin and S&P. Canned goods are easy to store in an RV and come in handy sometimes.

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