Camping, Princess Style

[chromedome]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

I was joking. Why do they have to point out a jar of fish contains fish?

 

As Douglas Adams put it, "Have you ever read the instructions on a pack of toothpicks?"

Allergen-labeling law in the US (and Canada) boils down to "if it contains one of these major allergens,* it MUST be labeled accordingly." And sometimes you get these silly situations, like a jar of fish containing fish or Costco recalling butter because it's missing the "contains milk" statement. But there absolutely are people capable of not understanding that a "sprat" is a fish, or that anchovies in Worcestershire sauce or Caesar dressing mean you can't serve it to someone with a seafood allergy. It's not so much the people with allergies (because they'll usually know), it's the dim but well-meaning friends, neighbours, co-workers etc. Not to mention the idiots who think "I'm so tired of his 'allergy' bullshit, I'll feed him some deliberately so show him it's all in his head." And yes, sadly, that happens far too often (in my limited circle of acquaintance, I can think of three incidents just within the past few years).

Similarly, some chains won't accept a food product for sale unless it has a freshness date printed on it, hence the various wags on social media joking about their salt being past its date. That one, I'll grant you, is pretty silly.

*Eight in the US, ten in Canada

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Making the best use of the space you have can sometimes be a real dilemma. I have a drop leaf in my (teeny little) kitchen next to the sink, but the most important addition we did when we first bought the Pleasure-Way van was to put a plastic cutting board over the cooktop. We have a 2-burner cooktop, and my spouse found a cutting board that fit exactly (what are the odds of that?) and put little square blocks underneath to raise it over the actual burner. We remove it, obviously, when it's time to cook. It has greatly improved my ability to keep my temper while preparing a meal. The pull-out pantry has a finished top that I can use in a pinch.

 

However, cooking in such a confined space requires me to "sequence" the process. What order should I use to be the most efficient? So I have to think on it for a bit before I start. Any cutting-up of vegetables or meat, preparing any starch (rice, potatoes) and starting to cook (which occupies one of my 2 burners), where to put dirty pots and prep utensils when they're not needed (the floor) should of course be done first. With luck everything gets done at the right time, and then I turn over the dishwashing tasks to my spouse. (I have to say I covet your oven, that extra space, and most of all your refrigerator.)

[Porthos]

On 4/10/2025 at 3:47 AM, Maison Rustique said:

I'm also not a fan of sweet potato salads.

I fully understand you meant potato salads that are sweet. However your post reminded me of something that happened several years ago. I was visiting a Renaissance festival where I knew a lot of people. One of them offered me some potato salad but since I wasn't a participant, I declined.  Afterwards I discovered that it made from sweet potatoes,  which I really dislike. I'm glad I declined.

[Smithy]

10 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I fully understand you meant potato salads that are sweet. However your post reminded me of something that happened several years ago. I was visiting a Renaissance festival where I knew a lot of people. One of them offered me some potato salad but since I wasn't a participant, I declined.  Afterwards I discovered that it made from sweet potatoes,  which I really dislike. I'm glad I declined.

 

I too dislike sweet potatoes in almost every possible circumstance. That salad sounds detestable!

 

When I was in San Diego last week Mr. BFF made a potato salad that I didn't photograph but did like very much. It had a touch of mayonnaise -- not much -- and chopped kimchi. Gave it a nice reddish color and a good kick.

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

That salad sounds detestable

You wouldn't be able to live very well in Montana. When I lived there, everywhere I went they served sweet potato salad made with sweet pickle relish and Durkee's sauce. I much preferred it over their ubiquitous sauerkraut salad.

[FauxPas]

 

Finally got around to cooking those beef short ribs, braised in a red wine sauce. Very tender, sauce was luscious. 🙂

 

I think it's the classic recipe? Browned the ribs, then a sauté of onion, celery, carrot, garlic. Added red wine and reduced. Bit of tomato paste. Beef stock, thyme and bay leaf and added meat back in, then braise for a couple of hours. Strain sauce, reduce a bit and thicken as necessary (I used a bit of cornstarch). 

 

 

[Smithy]

On 5/1/2025 at 8:58 AM, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

where to put dirty pots and prep utensils when they're not needed (the floor)

 

This bit really made me laugh!

 

But I feel your pain on the space issue. We began with a pickup-mounted camper, and after a summer of trips here and there, and a week solid on the road, we agreed we needed more space. I turned out some pretty good dinners, but quickly ran out of space if I tried anything like what I'd do at home...or here.

 

Kudos to your husband for finding just exactly the right size cutting board for the stove top!

[Shelby]

On 4/23/2025 at 11:46 AM, Shelby said:

My feelings are that I don't care how old it is as long as it still tastes good.  I'll know by smelling these ribs when they're thawed if they are good or not.  

Well.  I have to eat my words here.  I even had Ronnie smell these ribs after they were thawed and he thought they smelled great (as did I).  He smoked them for a few hours and then I SV'd them for 24 hours.  AWFUL.  SO freezer burnt.  Disappointing.  The texture was wonderful. But the taste UGH.  I need to be more careful about eating things quicker.

 

[Smithy]

23 hours ago, Shelby said:

Well.  I have to eat my words here.  I even had Ronnie smell these ribs after they were thawed and he thought they smelled great (as did I).  He smoked them for a few hours and then I SV'd them for 24 hours.  AWFUL.  SO freezer burnt.  Disappointing.  The texture was wonderful. But the taste UGH.  I need to be more careful about eating things quicker.

 

 

I'm so sorry that happened, and I'm very surprised that neither of you could detect the freezer burn after it was thawed! What a shame!

[Smithy]

It's been a busy week. In a few hours my sister will arrive to visit for a few days, and we'll be busy touring and visiting. I'll use some of my quiet time to update this story.

 

I moved out of Yuma and back to our beloved boondocking spot for one night. It was absolutely marvelous to have dead silence outside: a little unnerving to not even hear any night birds, but blessed not to have traffic or barking dogs. If I worked at it I could hear highway noise a mile away, sometimes.

 

 

It was also hot. Much, much, much too hot for comfort and I didn't want to start the generator so I could have air conditioning. It was also much, much, much too hot that evening to be interested in building a campfire although I'd intended to do so in honor of my sorely-missed darling. So the campfire structure remained pristine.

 

 

I did go for walks, first in the afternoon heat and next in the morning. If anything I missed him more there than I had in Yuma. Yuma wouldn't have been his speed. This was, heat and all.

 

I so wanted to show him my discoveries. I have never seen ironwood trees in bloom before. On the highway I thought I was seeing lavender-colored trees. "No, it can't be," I said to myself. But since I was driving, I couldn't stop or take photos. When I got set up and started walking, I found that they are, indeed, lavender when they're blooming.

 

 

They're a member of the pea family, and they have the classic pea flowers for blossoms.

 

 

I'm not sure what I ate that night. Probably my first attempt at a wrap, using the lavash I'd purchased in San Diego. I don't think I realized what I was in for!

 

 

I used about half of one sheet, loaded it with hummus and tabbouli, and ate it.

 

 

That wrap will need more. Maybe filling it with more interesting and varied stuffings, then grilling it as a proper wrap from Babylon Market in Tucson would do it.

 

The next morning was so pleasantly cool that I considered staying one more day, but I was on a schedule. I admired the sunrise...

 

 

 

Made a sandwich for the road...

 

 

and headed off to the Salton Sea, only a couple of hours away.

 

 

It was hot there too, and not quite as quiet, but beautiful anyway. I was glad to have moved on. That night I reheated some of the pork dish I'd made. Again I didn't want to mess with the generator, so I heated it on the stovetop in a pan.

 

 

Not bad! And that's a good thing, because I have yet one more helping of it that I'm about to go have for lunch.

 

[Smithy]

The next day I moved on into the L.A. Basin to stay one last time at the house of the dear friend whose birthday we've always celebrated at Midwinter. She died last January at age 104, and this weekend was the Celebration of Life for her. I chose my travel time carefully, being leery of L.A. traffic at the best of times. I chose well, and only had a few incidents of needing to overcome what the Victorians would have called The Vapors. (There's no hitting a "Pause" button when things get tight! I just have to keep breathing, stick to my job, and hope all the other drivers do theirs.) My friend's daughter made me welcome, but I slept outside in the trailer in order not to contribute to the household's chaos; her two best friends from college were also staying with her and had the guest rooms occupied. I made an interesting discovery that first morning: with the kitchen glide in, because I was parked on the street, the kitchen island is an impediment!

 

 

Fortunately, I could reach the stove to make my morning coffee.

 

The morning and evening walks were beautiful. I loved seeing so many flowers in bloom. It's a beautiful, quiet neighborhood with well-tended yards.

 

 

The night I arrived, my friend made a stellar dinner for the four of us. Meltingly tender salmon, crisp asparagus, rice, steamed carrots, excellent baguette and cheese. Chocolate chip mini-baguettes for dessert. She knocked herself out. It was a brilliant dinner. There's a citrus-butter sauce atop the salmon and rice, but it doesn't show well here.

 

 

I don't have any other photos of food we ate there. The next day was the Celebration of Life, with hors d'ouvres at a reception afterward. When we decamped for the night back to her house, we sat up till all hours talking and drinking wine.

 

The next morning I visited the local Trader Joe's and the wonderful one-off Wolfe's Market nearby. They've struggled to stay open during these changing times, and their prices have shot up dramatically, but their deli is still excellent. I bought a sandwich for the road, some potato salad, salad dressing, and chicken enchiladas that I'll show in another post. I miss Wolfe's. They used to have a market also, but now it's just a deli and catering. Still a treasure.

 

[Smithy]

It took me two days of driving to get here whereas I'd hoped for only one, but I had to spend time horsing around with equipment issues: jump-starting the pickup because the trailer had drained batteries in the cold and gloom of L.A. stormy weather, and later having to dig out the air compressor (twice!) because of low tire pressure. Still, here I am in yet another very quiet, very beautiful spot.

 

 

It's clear that there's been more rain here than there was in the lower desert, even though I'm in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada. How lovely to see flowers! I saw beautiful blooms along the road also, but couldn't stop for any photos.

 

 

That sandwich I showed you from Wolfe's served me well for two road-stop lunches. Here, I'll show it to you again. 🙂

 

 

Prairie bread with roast beef, mayo, mustard, tomatoes, sprouts, pepperoncini, pepper jack cheese. One half was enough for each day.

 

I had also purchased two chicken enchiladas there.

 

 

I had one of them on my overnight stop along the way, in a truck stop. I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to cook it, and settled for cooking it in the oven at about 350F on a steel baking sheet.

 

 

It was an economical way to cook the enchilada, but I should have put it on something like parchment paper. The sheet had to soak overnight before I could clean it. 

 

Let me tell you, these enchiladas are the thing of my dreams. The chicken is cooked well enough to be tender, but still has some chew. There's a something tart (tomatillo salsa?) and something that gives a little bit of heat. The tortillas are corn tortillas, amazingly tender for corn, and the masa flavor adds beautifully. I'm not sure what-all else is in there, but I think I've spotted guacamole. I think I tried for a money shot but couldn't get one properly. I was ecstatic, though: the dinner was excellent, and I had another still in abeyance!

 

The next morning I hit the road, found a campground, and learned not to trust either Google Maps or my GPS when they try to take me The Short Way. I don't know whether that was what caused the mystery damage, but when I opened out I discovered that the microwave oven had somehow opened itself, dropped the turntable disk onto the hard counter, then closed itself again. Glass all over the counters and floor! No photo. We had one of those jack-in-the-box spillages from the freezer some years back, but that didn't result in nearly as much damage.

 

The scenery really is marvelous here!

 

 

Last night I had the other enchilada. This time I was smarter about the cooking vessel, and used on of the Corelle pie plates I'd picked up at a garage sale in Yuma. First time using one! It worked well. It would have worked better if I hadn't been distracted by a long, drawn-out phone conversation with a friend who calls roughly once a year.

 

 

The texture suffered badly from overcooking, but the flavors didn't.

 

Breakfast this morning: some of that great kalamata sourdough bread I bought in San Diego, with a mashup of lebneh (cheese) balls I brought from home. I keep forgetting I have them. This morning they hit the spot.

 

[Dave the Cook]

11 minutes ago, Smithy said:

The next morning I hit the road, found a campground, and learned not to trust either Google Maps or my GPS when they try to take me The Short Way.

 

Before Google Maps, there was MapQuest, an application that let you "design" a personalized route from Point A to Point B, then print a map out, along with turn-by-turn directions. We used it on a trip from Salt Lake City to a family reunion in Montana. At one point in the trip, following MapQuest instructions, we took a left turn, drove for about 45 minutes and ended up at the place where we'd made the original left turn, having completely and pointlessly circumnavigated a decently-sized lake.

 

Of course, all those problems disappeared (not really) a few years later, with the advent of the early GPS nav systems, one of which directed us through a shopping center parking lot on out way to a Denver restaurant. (Corroboration by the late great Steven Shaw here.)

 

Also, what's "prairie bread"?

[MaryIsobel]

32 minutes ago, Smithy said:

It took me two days of driving to get here whereas I'd hoped for only one, but I had to spend time horsing around with equipment issues: jump-starting the pickup because the trailer had drained batteries in the cold and gloom of L.A. stormy weather, and later having to dig out the air compressor (twice!) because of low tire pressure. Still, here I am in yet another very quiet, very beautiful spot.

 

 

It's clear that there's been more rain here than there was in the lower desert, even though I'm in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada. How lovely to see flowers! I saw beautiful blooms along the road also, but couldn't stop for any photos.

 

 

That sandwich I showed you from Wolfe's served me well for two road-stop lunches. Here, I'll show it to you again. 🙂

 

 

Prairie bread with roast beef, mayo, mustard, tomatoes, sprouts, pepperoncini, pepper jack cheese. One half was enough for each day.

 

I had also purchased two chicken enchiladas there.

 

 

I had one of them on my overnight stop along the way, in a truck stop. I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to cook it, and settled for cooking it in the oven at about 350F on a steel baking sheet.

 

 

It was an economical way to cook the enchilada, but I should have put it on something like parchment paper. The sheet had to soak overnight before I could clean it. 

 

Let me tell you, these enchiladas are the thing of my dreams. The chicken is cooked well enough to be tender, but still has some chew. There's a something tart (tomatillo salsa?) and something that gives a little bit of heat. The tortillas are corn tortillas, amazingly tender for corn, and the masa flavor adds beautifully. I'm not sure what-all else is in there, but I think I've spotted guacamole. I think I tried for a money shot but couldn't get one properly. I was ecstatic, though: the dinner was excellent, and I had another still in abeyance!

 

The next morning I hit the road, found a campground, and learned not to trust either Google Maps or my GPS when they try to take me The Short Way. I don't know whether that was what caused the mystery damage, but when I opened out I discovered that the microwave oven had somehow opened itself, dropped the turntable disk onto the hard counter, then closed itself again. Glass all over the counters and floor! No photo. We had one of those jack-in-the-box spillages from the freezer some years back, but that didn't result in nearly as much damage.

 

The scenery really is marvelous here!

 

 

Last night I had the other enchilada. This time I was smarter about the cooking vessel, and used on of the Corelle pie plates I'd picked up at a garage sale in Yuma. First time using one! It worked well. It would have worked better if I hadn't been distracted by a long, drawn-out phone conversation with a friend who calls roughly once a year.

 

 

The texture suffered badly from overcooking, but the flavors didn't.

 

Breakfast this morning: some of that great kalamata sourdough bread I bought in San Diego, with a mashup of lebneh (cheese) balls I brought from home. I keep forgetting I have them. This morning they hit the spot.

 

Looks like a lovely spot to camp. We had one fridge "incident" 30 years ago. We were heading down a gravel road to Telegraph Cove in B.C. Arrived at our camp spot to discover that our fridge door had swung open. 4 litres of orange juice, a jar of salsa, 10 eggs and a two litre water jug all over the floor. Took me about 3 hours to clean it up. I was 6 months pregnant with twins and it was about 35 degrees celsius. Since that day - I am manic about the fridge door being secured. Fast forward to a couple of years ago. We were packing up for a couple of weeks of camping. Our routine is that once we get everything loaded, I vacuum and wash the floors. I spied a bottle of bailey's and decided I deserved a shot while I was cleaning. Apparently I did not screw the cap on before I put it in an overhead cupbaord. Long story short, we got to our destination only to discover that the bottle of baileys had fallen over and leaked it's sugary goodness all over our back window, both recliners and much of the floor. the overwhelming smell of Bailey's made me feel sick so DH and I took turns with the cleaning.

[Smithy]

31 minutes ago, Dave the Cook said:

Also, what's "prairie bread"?

 

This bread is dark, not particularly sweet, with an even crumb to make it a good sandwich bread. They actually call it Squaw Bread in house, as they've always done, but when I asked what term they now use in public he said they're calling Prairie Bread. The recipes for Prairie Bread that I could find easily online don't match; they're loaded with nuts and seeds. This recipe for Squaw Bread looks more nearly like the right thing, but I don't detect the molasses sweetness that this recipe calls for although the unsweetened cocoa may blunt the sweetness. My copy of the Los Angeles Times Cookbook lists the ingredients as whole wheat flour, rye flour, all-purpose flour, nonfat milk, brown sugar, honey, raisins and the usual yeast/water/salt additions. *Shudder* I promise you this bread didn't have raisins. It doesn't have any inclusions, in fact. It's just a good, smooth, very brown bread. It was a favorite of my dear departed friend because of its healthful ingredients.

 

I've written Wolfe's and asked if they're willing to share the ingredients, and maybe even baker's percentages.

[Maison Rustique]

@Smithy, you are so brave! When you are in transit, do the furkids travel in the truck with you or stay in the RV? I was concerned about them with the turntable accident and glass everywhere!!

[Smithy]

3 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

@Smithy, you are so brave! When you are in transit, do the furkids travel in the truck with you or stay in the RV? I was concerned about them with the turntable accident and glass everywhere!!

 

The dog rides in the truck with me. The cats stay in the trailer, but they generally ride up in the bedroom so they weren't in any danger from breakage. Once I discovered the damage I was careful to clean and clear it all away...counters mopped, floor mopped, stove grills removed so the stove could be mopped. I must say, the floor hasn't been that clean in weeks!

 

Last night I made a celebratory "welcome" dinner for my sister: mushrooms, garlic and red bell peppers sweated, then barely-cooked noodles added to make an alfredo sauce around them. Smoked salmon from home mixed in at the end. It was wonderful, and I'm quite pleased with it. It's one of my hip-pocket recipes: give me the ingredients and I don't need to consult any notes. Still, sometimes it comes out better than others, and I suspect the slightly narrower no-yolk egg noodles she brought has something to do with it.

 

Sorry, but I don't have any photos! She arrived after dark and needed to be guided up to the spot, and then we were too busy gabbing and eating. Maybe I'll show you leftovers later.

[lemniscate]

On 5/7/2025 at 1:33 PM, Smithy said:

have never seen ironwood trees in bloom before. On the highway I thought I was seeing lavender-colored trees. "No, it can't be," I said to myself. But since I was driving, I couldn't stop or take photos. When I got set up and started walking, I found that they are, indeed, lavender when they're blooming.

 

 

The Ironwood is so enigmatic.  It's my favorite desert tree.   99% of the year it looks like a charred remain of a tree or something that has just plum given up on existing.  Then, it blooms.  It's a ghostly color, you can't quite catch it with your eyes, is it lavender, is it gray, it there white in there?   And yes, they are all there, mixed in the blossoms.   I've tried for years to mix a paint color that matches it, but I feel it's impossible due to the dilution of colors and lighting.  I will leave this color to nature.

 

For some reason, this is a stellar year for Ironwood blooms, best I've ever seen.   Very showy.

 

Yellow everywhere is the overwhelming desert spring bloom color.  But these last 2 seasons, there have been precious little normal colors.   

Edited May 9 by lemniscate (log)

[Smithy]

24 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

Yellow everywhere is the overwhelming desert spring bloom color.  But these last 2 seasons, there have been precious little normal colors.   

 

That's how it has seemed to me: dry, dry, barren, even for an area that is normally dry.

 

27 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

It's a ghostly color, you can't quite catch it with your eyes, is it lavender, is it gray, it there white in there?   And yes, they are all there, mixed in the blossoms.

 

Thanks for this excellent description!

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

We had a similar refrigerator incident. It resulted in a quick trip to a hardware store to buy (and then install) a door latch. You could also call it a slide latch. We were traveling with a cake I'd made for a friend's birthday--Marcella Hazan's wonderful pear cake--and went around a sharp left turn a little too fast (my husband was driving) The refrigerator popped open and the cake, in a pyrex dish, shot out of the refrigerator and ended up in the door stairwell. A selection of other items from the fridge ended up on top of it. After pulling over and catching our breath, we found that the cake dish did not break, none of the miscellaneous fridge items had damaged it (or been damaged themselves), and that we could resume our trip with only mildly elevated heart rates. Needless to say, we drove more carefully. And the door latch is one item on our departure checklist. My husband is a pilot but no longer flies, but he routinely used a check list before flying. It's invaluable, IMO. The consequences of missing an item on the checklist aren't as dire as it would be when flying, but it has saved us a time or two.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

My husband perfected the art of the checklist to masterpiece status.    One for closing the city house, one for closing the weekend place.   One for local travel, one for foreign.   I, on the other hand, could never bother to write down the mundane items that were always on a list.    Like what foods to take for a week in the country.    Same old, same old, with some seasonal variation.   Which meant that some stay were without bacon.   Or a specific cheese.   Or hotdogs on hand but no buns.   Or....you get the point.      He would just shake his head ruefully and say, "Why won't you just make a list?"    But that requires that one ALSO read the list when time to shop or pack!

[lindag]

My problem with lists is not being able to read my own handwriting these days.

[Porthos]

On 5/7/2025 at 1:56 PM, Smithy said:

 

The next morning I visited the local Trader Joe's and the wonderful one-off Wolfe's Market nearby.

I've shopped that TJs many, many times. No longer an option since I moved to AZ.

[chromedome]

8 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

My husband perfected the art of the checklist to masterpiece status.    One for closing the city house, one for closing the weekend place.   One for local travel, one for foreign.   I, on the other hand, could never bother to write down the mundane items that were always on a list.    Like what foods to take for a week in the country.    Same old, same old, with some seasonal variation.   Which meant that some stay were without bacon.   Or a specific cheese.   Or hotdogs on hand but no buns.   Or....you get the point.      He would just shake his head ruefully and say, "Why won't you just make a list?"    But that requires that one ALSO read the list when time to shop or pack!

1) Start list.
2) Misplace list.
3) Start new list, carefully attempting to remember as many things as possible from the original list.

4) Remember multiple things that hadn't made it onto the new list over the ensuing 2-3 days. Add them.

5) Find the original list. Add the items that I still hadn't remembered.

6) Go shopping. Remember there was a list as I'm halfway through the store (or realize I've mistakenly brought the original list, which by now contains just a fraction of the items on the current list). Attempt to recreate it again from memory.

7) Repeat.

I've started using Google Keep on my phone for the shopping list(s) and to-do lists, which seems to be working reasonably well. I did try an actual shopping-list app several years ago, but it was so maddening to use that I abandoned it after just a couple of weeks.

[liuzhou]

Years ago, I discovered that when I write a list, the contents are ingrained in my memory and I don't need the physical list anymore. It has worked with shopping lists and recipes as well as unrelated things to be remembered.

 

Particularly useful when giving hour long lectures. Worked better than some of the lectures I suffered through as an undergraduate where some dozy professor read out the same lecture he'd been reading out every year for the last 40. One rather famous prof managed to fall asleep in the middle of his own lecture.

 

Now I just struggle to remember where I put my jar of black garlic or whatever.

 

 

Edited May 10 by liuzhou (log)