A Cookbook for the Little Trailer

I was recently gifted with this wonderful little cookbook. It was produced by the National Museum of Forest Service History and includes about 150 recipes from rangers, Forest Service newsletters, and other sources from the history of the Forest Service. Name an ingredient, any ingredient, and this book will probably tell you how to cook it in a dutch oven. Although I don't expect I will be making 'Great Basin Rattlesnake' or 'Depression Bologna Gravy', and I can't imagine wanting to eat 'Campsite Lima Beans' while on vacation, there are some wonderful looking simple hearty dishes described. I am puzzled by the recipe that starts with "Make mashed potatoes the way you usually make them on a camping trip" (really?) but can definitely see myself making the 'Spoon Bread' which includes corn muffin mix, blue cheese crumbles and bacon, or the 5-ingredient dutch oven 'Chili Verde'.

What makes this book absolutely wonderful though, is that it is packed with historic photographs of campers and campgrounds, most from the 1920s through 1950s. (Even a few showcasing 1950s trailers!) And scattered throughout the recipes are historical notes and stories about the rangers, foresters and fire crews that have protected our forests for the last hundred years.

I love this book!

Is it stew or is it chili?

Sometimes a really good weekend can be a fairly forgettable one. No - I don't mean party-so-hard-you-forget. I mean the kind of weekend that finishes with clean laundry, a finished pair of knitted socks, a fresh haircut, long phone conversations with friends and family, a big pot of stew neatly apportioned into lunches for the coming week, dishes complete, a finished library book to return, and a comfy cup of chamomile tea to unwind with. Throw in some extended cat-on-lap time and herds of goldfinches at the thistle feeders, and really, it could be the perfect weekend all around.

Speaking of stew, what defines stew vs. chili? I make mine with chunks of beef or lamb, lots of onions, black beans, kidney beans, green chili peppers, and chopped tomatoes. Since its greatest bulk is in the preponderance of kidney and black beans, does that make it chili? Or is it defined as stew due to the size of meat chunks? Either way, I call it yummy.

Here are the new socks (top-down Hourglass Eyelet pattern with heel flap, short-row toe, and zigzag bind-off construction using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in South Shore colorway on US2 needles, in case you wondered).

Yes, my feet are very wide.

I didn't get around to doing yard work, but the weather is expected to hold and next weekend is a 3-day-er (Friday is Nevada Day and a holiday for state employees).

I hope your weekend was equally nice!

Pecans, lots and lots of pecans

I have just triumphantly removed the last batch of rosemary-cayenne roasted pecans from the oven. That makes 20 lbs of them (even heavier with all that butter). I wasn't going to make them this year, but a few folks (I won't say who) begged. I have 4 pans that can roast 1 lb each, so I production lined it. This is the 4th or 5th year I have made them so I have the process down to an exact science. In the 10 minutes it takes a batch to roast I am melting butter, measuring spices, openning pecan bags, mixing butter/spice/nuts together, removing butter wrappers from the cat, cleaning pans for the next batch, etc. 20 lbs takes about 6 hours and leaves behind a very buttery kitchen. And a heavenly smell. I only burnt myself once this year! Tomorrow, when they are completely cool, I will package them in tins. (Yes, Dad, you are getting another decorative tin. Just be glad I only do this once a year.)