For the first time in a very long time, things have come to a screeching halt. After months of commitment every single night of the week, I am free. Last night, for the first time this Summer, I was home before 9pm. I didn’t know what to do with myself.
Last weekend I went camping for the first time in over 10 years. We went up to the Warren Dunes in Michigan. It was camping, but it wasn’t. We slept in a tent, that is true. We cooked over fire, that is true as well. But the bottom line is that we didn’t have to “rough it” like one might think when thinking of the word “camping”. The campsites are called “modern” according to Warren Dunes for good reason. A cellular signal was had, there were showers and bathrooms that I was overly impressed with considering the amount of visits that both get throughout the day. There was a little trading post store that you walked to where you bought wood, which was different for me since I am used to scavenging through the woods to provide fuel for the fire. I think the hardest part of camping was the damn mosquito’s. At one point, I caught a mosquito making sweet, sweet, mosquito love to my ankle. I have a line of no less than 8 bites in a row to prove it. I would guestimate that I was bitten no less than 80 times, with the crowning bite being right in the middle of my forehead.
I had been looking forward to camping for more than 6 months since that was how long it had been since we had reserved the site. Sadly, what was most exciting to me was the food possibilities. I am a fan of food, and a bigger fan of food that is grilled. I love to cook, and when you give me free run of cooking whatever I want over a flame, I am going to go crazy. I was busy last week compiling my menu for the three days. I took the propane fueled turkey fryer as well to experiment with some super secret recipe’s that I have thought about. I ended up making all of these things for the first time while camping that will be re-duplicated at home now that they went over well. I must caution you before you read on since the following descriptions read like a Penthouse Forum book to a fat person that loves food.
Home made potato chips- My goodness. For my first attempt at potato chips, they were unbelievably amazing. Crispy, light brown, salty. I have decided that I will never buy store bought chips again, since one 10lb bag of potato’s can create so many potato chips.
Beer battered onion rings- These turned out good, but can definitely be improved. You should use a dark beer for the batter, but all I had was miller lite, and flour that expired in 2004. (Doh!) By the last couple of batches, the heat had cooled and they were a bit crispier, but they were still awesome for my first go.
Eggs Nest breakfast. (Sausage, with a ring of hash browns, eggs in the middle covered with cheese) I wanted to dump sausage gravy on top, but this breakfast didn’t turn out as well as it should have. I didn’t have a cooking spray to coat the foil, and had double foiled it, so what should have taken less than a half hour turned into almost lunch. I thought it was ok, my wife loved it.
Boiled Omelets. This one surprised me. I boiled water in the huge pot for the Turkey fryer. I took zip lock baggies and filled them with Ham, Musrooms, Onions, Green Pepper, Eggs, and american cheese. Squish the bag and shake it until everything is mixed and the eggs are seriously scrambled. Drop the sealed bags into boiling water, and within 10 minutes, you dump out the bag onto your plate and you have one of the most amazing breakfasts ever. I one upped it and boiled a bag of western style hash browns as well. In hindsight, I would have boiled a bag of canned sausage gravy as well, but it was still amazing. I don’t know what it is about food that get’s me.
I am entirely too excited about what I ate, and I know it. Sorry to take you on this weird ride. It just dawned on me that the last few minutes of typing is exactly why I will never be thin.
Finally, one last food tidbit. For the first time in my life, I had a smore. Not that this is a crowning achievement, but at the age of 31, firsts don’t come that often anymore. The group we were camping with couldn’t fathom a person at the age of 31 never having had a smore before, so I busted out the sob tale of mommy and daddy caring more about room in the coolers for beer than chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers on childhood camping trips. Violin sounds could be heard in the background.
That’s it. It’s been to few and far between posts, so I will try and shorten them up and make them more frequent. As I mentioned, there have been some life changing events lately, and I will elaborate in time.
Have a great remainder of the week!
Filed under: Fatty, Overcommitment, Vacation, boredom, confused, stupid, weekend, weird, wife
