Something I found while camping at the lake

I've camped at this little lake several times, not in this camping area though.



Behind the bigger cottonwood tree...



I found a path.



The path was paved with asphalt and was well taken care of.



I found a bench .. someone had planted flowers.



There was a side trail for horses.



I stayed on the paved path.





When I reached the end, there was an outdoor chapel...



It was pretty nice out there. :)

Campfire Biscuits-n-Sausage Gravy

This is my favorite breakfast for those mornings when I've stayed up waaay too late star gazing or solving the world's problems by fire light. :)
I even used a can of biscuits this time instead of making them.

I place the biscuits in an oiled pie pan, place another oiled pan on top as a lid...then wrap the whole thing in foil.



While the disk of biscuits bake I start a skillet of spicy sausage...



I flip and rotate the biscuits several times during the cook. I add flour to the browned sausage...cook for a few minutes.



Then add milk to the sausage gravy, also adjust the salt and pepper if needed.
Scramble some eggs in butter..





The biscuits are ready in about 25 to 30 minutes.... You can check them and bake longer if needed.



When the sausage gravy is thick and bubbly, it's ready.



The hot biscuits topped with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs and fruit.





Definately satisfying and so easy to make when you're half awake. :)

Lupe's Fried Bananas

Talented blogging friend Rueben from Guam Firehouse Cook and his amazing wife Lupe have been making me hungry with their wonderful pictures and recipes!
It will take me a year at least to try all of their recipes... but I hope to make as many as possible. :)

I found some plantains at the store... peeled and cut them into pieces..



Made Lupe's Batter





I followed Lupe's instructions and fried them til golden..









Topped with a bit of butter.



These were sooooo tasty!! Thank you Lupe and Rueben for sharing your recipe. I've made fried plantains in the past but your recipe is definately my favorite. I will be making these again soon.

If you get a chance, check out Rueben's BBQ Guam site too! Makes me want to move to Guam and live on the beach! lol

Surf-n-Turf on the Campfire

More campfire cooking...
It's a given that while camping... one night is going to be ribeye night. If I'm lucky enough to find crab legs, I throw them on the fire too. :)

I get the fire going first.. it takes about 45 minutes depending on how many hot coals I need..



then split the tatoes, add a slice of onion, bacon, salt, pepper and butter...



The potatoes go on first, then the skillet of mushrooms with onion and garlic, S&P. Next the garlic butter...



When the tatoes are tender I move them to the side, move the shrooms and garlic butter to the side, add a squeeze of fresh lemon to the butter, add seasoned ribeyes. Then the crab legs go on the low heat side of the fire.



Last I add some asparagus drizzled with oil and seasoned with kosher salt and cracked black pepper.









The grilled asparagus, bacon potatoes, grilled ribeye with shrooms, smokey crab legs.....and I cut down a plastic cup to hold my garlic butter..



Gotta be my favorite campfire food..... :)





I'm ready to go again!!

Big Poppa Smokers

Smoking Pal Big Poppa has launched a new site..... Big Poppa Smokers featuring American made smokers and grills and so much more!
Of course this happened when I was on my camping trip a couple of weeks ago... but I still wanted to give everyone a heads up about the new and improved site. :)
Big Poppa (Sterling Ball) is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet and the customer service at Big Poppa Smokers can't be beat!
If you get a few minutes, please check out his site...

I wanted to share this press release...
(Thank you Kristine! :))


Big Poppa Smokers Launches new site

San Luis Obispo, Calif. — Big Poppa Smokers launched a completely reinvented online presence and social commerce website designed and developed by HATHWAY, a San Luis Obispo-based web marketing agency. Serving as Big Poppa Smokers’ lead digital agency, HATHWAY created bigpopppasmokers.com as a cooking community with an eye-catching design and full e-commerce functionality.

The driving force and personality behind Big Poppa Smokers is president and CEO, Sterling Ball of Ernie Ball, Music Man fame. Over the past few years, Ball has taken his passion for cooking and transformed it into a successful online business. Bigpoppasmokers.com features American-made grills, smokers and BBQ accessories as well as unique social commerce features such as a recipe share and cooking tutorials.

“We are thrilled with the new site, said Sterling Ball, otherwise known as Big Poppa. “I think it’s beautiful. We’ve got rave reviews. The store is working well and all the stats are up. We’ve improved significantly in the last month since our new site with HATHWAY went live.”

HATHWAY worked with Big Poppa to create an e-commerce site that not only offers its users a place to purchase grills, smokers and BBQ accessories but also a community in which they can exchange cooking and grilling ideas and recipes. Both HATHWAY and Big Poppa creative teams worked to translate Big Poppa’s love of cooking and community across the entire user interface. Built with a mash-up of open source software platforms, Joomla and Magento to create a seamless and beautiful user experience.

###

About HATHWAY: HATHWAY is a web marketing agency based in San Luis Obispo, CA. With a diverse portfolio of existing clients, HATHWAY serves global brands, small businesses and start-ups in the fashion, entertainment, technology and consumer products industries. The agency’s expertise lies in staying ahead of new technology while building streamlined, branded user experiences and digital campaigns across a variety of platforms. The HATHWAY difference is a fresh experiential understanding of interactive technology with complex digital solutions created under one roof. http://www.wearehathway.com

Chickenfried Pork Chops -n- Skillet Gravy on the Campfire

Another campfire breakfast from my last trip to the lake....

I started a skillet of fried potatoes with onions on the fire,
seasoned some pork chops, dipped in an egg milk bath and dredged in flour..... then back into the egg milk and flour for a double coating.



fried until crisp and golden....





Then set the chops on the low-heat side of the fire...



added flour to my pan drippings for the gravy...



Then milk and seasonings..... I let the gravy simmer until thick and creamy.

While the chops were frying I cooked a skillet of bacon, then fried a few eggs in the bacon drippings... ( I was trying to use up the bacon, this was the last meal of the trip)







The chickenfried pork chops with skillet gravy, fried potatoes and onions... with eggs and a bit of fruit..






The chops were so good... tender and juicy in the center, crisp on the outside....



I need to make this at home sometime. I eat better when camping than I do at the farm!

Corncakes n Sausage on the Campfire

Another favorite campfire breakfast...



I start the fried potatoes and onions first, then a skillet of sausage patties...



For the corncakes, I use...
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
1 egg
About 1 cup of milk or more if needed for a thinner batter
1 cup of corn
Chopped green onion



the first one never seems to come out round! :)



after the corncakes are ready, I fried a few eggs..











I'm not sure why I love these so much. I think they remind me of my childhood. Mom made the best corncakes. I loved them topped with a bit of butter and drizzled with maple syrup. :)





They're one of my favorite campfire foods. :)