Ahhhhhh... the Dutch Oven

Well, as I threatened you in the previous post that we'll delve into the Dutch oven this time around:

Dutch oven cooking can turn into an addictive pastime, either at home or out on the range. It can involve almost any culinary style, from dumping in a bunch of hopefully compatible ingredients to make a quick 'n easy hearty camp meal, to finessing ingredients, herbs, and spices that would rival the offerings of some of the finest eateries around.

-Google

Typical Dutch oven (D.O.) design for use with coals.

-Google

 Cooking directly with coals

-Google

 Cooking over a campfire using a tripod

Dutch Oven:

• History
• Types of Dutch Ovens
• Photos
• Make Your Own Parchment Dutch Oven Liners!

Lodge is the Cadillac of camp Dutch ovens here in the U.S. Camp Chef is also well known. (Disclaimer: Camp Chef D.Os. are made in China, but under stricter specs.) Beware though of cheaper offerings -- mostly made in China -- that aren't built to American made tolerances such as Lodge. The foreign ovens are a crap shoot, with many units having ill-fitting lids that allow precious heat and steam to escape. Plus, many don't come pre seasoned like Lodge ovens deliver. Again, the adage applies: "You get what you pay for."

Slowly, over time, I'll be trying out camp recipes that if I subjectively like, will share under Recipes. The first one to go up is Andy's Dutch Oven Cherry Cobbler with Vanilla Cream Cheese. I took naming rights, as this recipe is an amalgam of different cobbler and dump cake recipes I found online, incorporating ideas from several I found especially appealing.

Cobblers, or dump cakes as they're commonly referred to in camp D.O. circles, are super easy to make. The name dump cake comes from the action of dumping in all ingredients into the D.O., covering, and baking. My cobbler isn't technically a dump cake, as one needs to side prep the vanilla cream cheese/yummy goody stuff before adding it to the pot.

For those who are feeling especially frisky and wish to try out the recipe but don't have a Dutch oven, it can be baked in a conventional oven using a glass baking pan, oven set to 350°, and baked for roughly 35 - 40 minutes.

¡BON APPETIT!

Joshua Tree National Park, California: A Teardrop Gathering

Made it out to JT once again, this time for a teardrop gathering of roughly eight other fellow teardrops and their owners at Black Rock Canyon Campground.

This is a very nice campground featuring large sites, many which one can pull through for those with RVs.  Heated bathrooms contain flush toilets and sinks with running water. No showers. Water to the campground is supplied via well water pumped uphill to a storage tank. Has a bit of a taste to it, although not that unpleasant. Bring your own drinking water if that sounds off-putting. the nearby town of Yucca Valley has rapidly grown in the last decade, home to just about any store you may need in order to acquire services or buy supplies from, including a large Walmart for one stop shopping.

Some tears were bigger than mine; another was certainly smaller, but what we all shared equally was we all love our tears, and  agreement we all had a great time.

-Andrew Kliss

The Road Toad at camp.

-Andrew Kliss

Chillin' at camp in the afternoon.

-Andrew Kliss Photography

One of many wildflower species blooming.

There wasn't a multitude of individual blooms per se, but there were a goodly number of diverse species present. This beautiful, rayed bloom belongs to the tidy tip family of the genus Layia... (me thinks)

-a fellow hiker

At the crest of the moderately demanding Warren Loop Trail with two fellow teardroppers.

Debbie (pictured) wanted to do a hike, so she volunteered Matt (above) and myself to accompany her. Such a commanding view of the desert floor surrounding us, and of several distant mountain ranges. A 6.6 mile hike from campground and back, I was a happy but sore little puppy on the return to camp.

-Andrew Kliss

What the heck is it???

These two girls found some bones alongside the loop trail, posing a conundrum. We mulled it over extensively amongst ourselves as to what animal this spinal column belonged to. It was eventually identified as deer bones.

-Andrew Kliss

 One evening towards the end of the gathering, we held a potluck. Me? I made my famous (some would consider infamous) Andy’s Dutch Oven Cherry Cobbler with Vanilla Cream Cheese desert, a self-concocted recipe that gleans several ideas from other cobbler recipes I found. Fortunately, the only thing people succumbed to were second helpings.

Thursday night's potluck video  

One doesn't necessarily need a D.O. (Dutch oven) to make it. It can also be made in a greased glass oven pan with the oven temp set to 350°.

-Andrew Kliss

Andy's cherry cobbler. YUM!!!

OK: so now you ask, "What is a Dutch oven, and how do you use it?"  Well, we'll have to wait until the next post to get into that.

..and a bit more gear...

  

A cool item I found online is a set of nesting wine glasses. Come with black, red, or pink stems.

-Google

Asobu StackNGo Unbreakable Wine Glasses

The collapsing measuring cups by Progressive work great and are space savers too. I picked mine up at Walmart; can also be purchased online at Amazon. Several other makes and models are also offered online.

-Google

 Prepworks by Progressive

Gotta go, as the Road Toad is getting prepped to head out to Joshua Tree National Park this coming week for a little gathering of like-minded teardroppers. I've been practicing cooking up grub at home using a Dutch oven. Never even heard of 'em until the Road Toad came into my life and I began interacting with other teardroppers.

Right now I'm honing a cherry cobbler I've been concocting. In the wings are a mountain man breakfast and my own camp chili recipe I'm perfecting, all for a Dutch oven. What's a Dutch oven, or D.O. for short, and how are they used? Stay tuned for a subsequent post!

Some Gear I've Packed: It's All About the Space

The time is fast approaching when I'll slip down the cover, dust off whatever needs dusting, polish up the chrome and aluminum, and open up the Road Toad for a breath of fresh air.

Mid March will herald the traveling season with a teardrop gathering at Black Rock Canyon Campground in Joshua Tree National Park. There are 8+ teardroppers so far participating, this being the first time the Road Toad will be attending such an event. For those who are interested, the next few posts will detail what some of the Road Toad has been outfitted with up to this point.

Cost of accoutrements has approached the purchase price of the Road Toad itself it seems. As with a house, one has to fill it with furniture, appliances, kitchenware, bathroom essentials, and a quantity of other trailer and camping related goodies.

Space is naturally at a premium when one tows a small trailer like a teardrop. Fortunately, we have online access to sharp, designing minds, plus there is Google and Amazon to peruse. With these three elements (and some wonderful ideas gleaned from the Little Guy Forum) I was able to maximize precious galley space via folding and nesting utensils, coupled with many hours of organizing, "deorganizing", and reorganizing the galley over and over again, eventually gaining maximum benefit of storage space and satisfying my OCD at the same time. At least so far...

There are several things I've learned about configuring and outfitting a teardrop:

• Rule #1: You'll never have enough room.
• Rule #2: You want to purchase "Just one more thing." for your tear (pronounced"teer": a contraction for teardrop).
• Rule #3: Now you're going to have to find room for that one more thing.

This is a collapsible coffee drip made of food grade silicone. It uses a Melita No. 4 paper filter, making about one to two cups of coffee. Yummy! I love drip. A French press is cool too, but there isn't enough room in the tear for one, at least for the moment.

-Google

-Google

GSI Outdoors Collapsible Coffee Drip

To compliment a collapsible coffee drip, one must have a collapsible tea kettle, also made of silicone. It can be plopped on top of a propane stove to boil water in. Can't use it over a campfire though, or the sucker'll burn up. Comes in several other vibrant neon colors besides lime green.

-Google

-Google

Better Houseware Collapsible Tea Kettle

And what would compliment a neon green collapsible tea kettle? None other than a neon green collapsible colander. This one is the perfect size for rinsing berries and enough vegetables, etc. for 1 - 2 people.

-Google

Prepworks by Progressive Collapsible Mini Colander, Red - 3.5 Cup Capacity

This is a mug that a dear friend of mine gave me, expressly for camping with the Road Toad. Been looking high and low online for one by the same artist, but apparently, he's taken a sabbatical creating this particular series. How fortunate my friend had this one to offer. (Thanx Tommy!)

-Andrew Kliss

Joshua Tree National Park: YAY!!! Finally Went Someplace.

The opportunity has finally arrived allowing the Road Toad to go on its first expedition of sorts. The moon and the stars literally aligned up for this momentous occasion. Let me elucidate:


With all prior commitments fulfilled, I was free to plan the first trip. Attending a camera seminar recently, the speaker touched upon shooting the Milky Way and that the next optimal window to photograph it will take place:

• the night of September 12th; the best local place being Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP)
• September for its position in the northern hemisphere's sky
• the 12th for the new moon (absence of lunar light intrusion)
• Joshua Tree because of minimal man made light pollution in the SoCal area

I've wanted to do this for some time now, but never got around to it. The speaker piqued my interest. Back home, I hunkered down for some serious face time with a computer, gleaning as much information as possible as to how to go about it. Two different reputable weather sites forcasted clear skies for the 12th. I commandeered my youngest daughter Anna to be my photographer's assistant, loaded up the Road Toad, and we were on our way.

YAY!!!

Well, when we arrived in JT, clouds were forming. Hmmmmmm... not good. Only got thicker as the day progressed. By night, they dissipated somewhat, but still created an obstructed view towards the southern skies where the Milky Way would show up. We ended up exploring different areas of the park and did some light painting that night instead.

¿Donde esta?

The Road Toad rig parked at Hidden Valley Day Use Area, Joshua Tree.

My lovely assistant Anna, skillfully guiding the viewer's eye to the Road Toad.

"Popsquatch and The Bananagator"

Back in 2007 I took a selfie posed beneath a humongous Joshua tree. I had one foot perched on its trunk in a rakish manner. We found the same tree and attempted to mimic that pose from the original.

2007

Did some light painting!

We enjoyed a fun father/daughter adventure together, enabling us to reconnect, as Anna lives in El Paso and happened to be out visiting for a bit. When will the Road Toad be shredding pavement next? Hard to say, as mumsie just got back from visiting an orthopedic surgeon regarding knee replacement. She'll be scheduling surgery soon, so that will put a kibosh on anymore plans before the holiday season.

WEEBLY IS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!

Hi. Road Toad here.

I want to like The Weebly blogging platform very much, as it has a lot going for it, but trying to incorporate and activate some of its features is a lesson in frustration and seeming futility. I've pulled my hair out in bunches (What's left of it. Believe me, those "bunches" ain't very big.) I'm going back over to Google's Blogger, as I know it well with all of its peccadilloes included.

From now on, posts will be created in Blogger. I'll have a link back to the Weebly Road Toad blog for archival purposes for those who are interested. For those not interested, you too, will get an archival link:

http://roadtoad.weebly.com/

There will be a permanent Weebly link on the sidebar to the right.

Coming up, my first excursion with the Road Toad!

(Originally posted 3/6/2015 on Weebly.)

Travels with the Road Toad: An Introduction


Well, I did it. I purchased a little teardrop trailer.
 

-Photograph used with permission from Little Guy Worldwide, LLC

INTRODUCTION: (Rather long-winded, but it does set the stage.)I loved tent camping and immensely enjoyed all of the regalia that accompany it: lacing up a comfy and sturdy pair of favorite Vibram-soled hiking boots and buttoning up a flannel plaid shirt expressly dedicated to outdoor adventures; homemade gorp (old 60's and 70's term for trail mix); Coleman stoves and lanterns; a good axe, and a stone fire ring to name a few. Yes, I am rather old school when it comes to camping, as one can surmise. One could look at it as going retro depending upon personal generational proclivities.

Only one thing: as time passed, the lower back began to resent sleeping on a tent floor. As such, it coaxed me into retiring from tent camping about fifteen years ago after the kids flew the coop.

Setting up a tent, having to kneel down on a hard tent floor and crawling into a sleeping bag only to roll around on poorly designed inflatable camp mattresses don't float my boat. Fancy fill 'em up with air, not so instant beds have a nasty habit of losing said precious gas at the most inopportune moments... as in the middle of the night. Brisk mountain air temperatures add to the experience of crawling out from a warm, cozy sleeping bag and breaking out the pump to shore up a sagging air mattress.

Sadly, I gave up tent camping and gave my kids all of the camping gear that was stashed in the garage, relegating these experiences to fading memories, and in between the pages of family photo albums.

Enter the teardrop trailer.

Upon retirement almost two years ago, thoughts of camping and fishing kept popping up, but poo-pooed the idea due to lower back problems. Large RV's and campers don't entice me with their siren songs of plush, mini motel-like accommodations on wheels, high maintenance costs, and exorbitant fuel bills. A-HA! Teardrops! Fabricated by the Amish of Ohio, I settled on a Little Guy Silver Shadow 5x10 custom trailer. Amish craftsmanship is nonpareil; reviews for Little Guy trailers were beaming.

Fortunately, there is a Little Guy dealer close to me in San Diego. I drove down there and was greeted by sales rep Eric Krag. Eric was very helpful in showing me the various trailer models they offer, finally settling on the Silver Shadow 5x10.

Being something that I was going to live out of for periods of time -- some may be extended periods -- Eric helped me to configure a custom trailer that addressed all my perceived needs and concerns. If anyone in the San Diego, CA. area is interested in a teardrop, I highly recommend contacting Eric. There is no way I could have put together a comprehensive custom package without Eric's extensive knowledge of teardrop camping, coupled with his infinite patience with the niggling I did over customizations and accessories. For those not near to the S.D. area, Little Guy offers a dealer finder on their home page.

Due to the teardrop's resurgence in popularity and a backlog in Little Guy manufacturing output on account of their reputation for exquisite Amish craftsmanship, it won't be delivered until sometime towards the middle to end of March, after having placed an order near the end of September.

I've already started collecting items to stock it with such as cookware, dinnerware, bedding, tools, camping gear, etc.

I felt a little sheepish taking back some of the fishing gear I gave to my son. I didn't think I'd do much more fishing since the kids grew up, got married, and started their own families, plus my free time and vacation days were relegated to my new photography adventures. Rekindled thoughts of camping by a pristine alpine lake or near a tumbling brook resurrected dreams and memories once experienced long ago. Hopefully, "I still got it." when it comes to fishing; we rarely got skunked when dad led the fishing expeditions.

UPDATE: My fishing luck has expired. Recently got skunked the last several times I went to my local lakes.

Very soon the Road Toad will be delivered, I'll deck her out with all of the goodies I bought her, and then go on a few shakeout runs out to the Anza Borrego desert, Joshua Tree, and some of the local mountains. So far as the plan goes, the maiden voyage will initially involve traveling up Hwy. 395 (My favorite route!), making stops at many of the locations me and the kids camped, hiked, and fished at when they were young.

Meanwhile, enjoy these two videos explaining some of the history of teardrop trailers and their growing popularity: