Honey, I Finished The Internet

4 Replies to “Honey, I Finished The Internet”

1. Very much back in the day, had a daughter who – courtesy the Rotary exchange program – spent a very interesting ten months in Colombia. At the same time, the daughter of one of her host families headed north and ended up in Creston, BC. She flew up via Calgary before heading off to Creston but the family back home was not happy and we had a phone call from daughter who was already there to check if Creston had proper banking facilities. We reassured them that not only did Creston have banks, but that at least one of the local bankers would be a member of the Creston Rotary.
   Anyway, Caroline had a great time in Creston; she was from Cali so the freedom of a small town (as in walking to school with buds and being able to go around town with no security) was really new to her. One of her Rotary advisors was active in the Girl Guide movement, so Caroline became involved with the Brownies and participated in a winter camp-out which had her thinking Canadians are really bonkers. But, despite breaking her wrist tobogganing, Caroline thoroughly enjoyed her Canadian visit.
   Our daughter really enjoyed her time in Colombia. Thanks to Rotary for sponsoring these exchanges

2. Still do a bunch of camping/hiking/backpacking/canoeing/x-country skiing. Always figgered food was 50% of the adventure. You can have an absolute crap trip and, if you went through the effort for good food, it was still a success.

   We’ve eaten pate on pumpernickel w/ herb butter, washed down w/ a good red wine in the mouth of Gargantua cave in Crowsnest Pass. We’ve had fantastic chili while winter camping on the Castle River. BBQ pork ribs & berry cheesecake hiking in late spring in the backcountry of Mill Creek. Scrambled egg, sausage, bell pepper & sauteed onion crepes, finished off w/ chocolate drenched fruit crepes with a dollop of fresh whipped creme for dessert one Thanksgiving backpacking trip in the Pass.

   Got a backpacking oven for my white gas stove for Christmas. Plan on making pizza the next overnite canoe trip we’re on.

   1. DB – recipes please 😉

      1. Hey, Frances.

         The secret is advanced prep.
         1) pate on pumpernickel w/ herb butter: no further prep required, save buttering the pumpernickel at home. Everyone else was eating their PBJ’s, it was great! Even had those cheap plastic 2 piece wine glasses. We hammed it up something terrible. It was almost shameful;
         2) chili: pre-made at home. Pack up in Dutch oven on toboggan. Heat an’ serve;
         3) BBQ pork ribs & berry cheesecake: Slow cook ribs at home, wrap in foil, carry in. Reheat over an open fire on a forked branch, slather w/ sauce, enjoy. Cheesecake is no-bake, Royal brand or similar. Before reheating ribs, melt butter, mix w/ graham crackers, line aluminum pie plate for crust, toss onto snowdrift to cool. Once cool, mix milk w/ cheesecake filling, pour into pie plate, back onto the snow drift. Reheat ribs. After it’s set, apply pie filling which has been stored in a ziploc bag by cutting the bottom corner off & piping it onto cheesecake. Smiles all night;
         4) Crepes: crepes made at home, stacked w/ wax paper between each crepe, sausage cooked at home, peppers/onions fresh but cut up at home. At camp, saute peppers/onions, add sausage, mix in eggs, scramble, put into crepes, top up w/ squeeze-a-snack cheese. Dessert crepes, prep fruit at home (we had apples, mandarin orange slices, pears, green grapes, all sliced as needed), chocolate sauce was Nestle’s, we whipped up the whipped cream on site w/ a small saucier whisk. Some assembly required. Despite our best efforts, the whipped cream never really made it into peaks, but it didn’t matter in the mountains at 8500 feet, miles away from civilization and 10 degrees above zero. A meal to remember.