Relax We're Camping
April 16th, 2013
My husband, our dog-- Louis, and I went camping in Idyllwild in our "new to us" Aliner pop up camper this weekend. The phrase of the weekend: "(oh well or don't worry) we're camping". This is a new attitude from my hubby when it comes to his gourmet cooking style.
In our camping past we've tiffed over this topic, as I would exclaim: "just throw some veggie burgers or dogs on the grill, some beans in a pot and some potatoes in foil and be done with it". He won't hear of it and I admit this refusal is to my delight once his camping meal is delivered.
Even in the great outdoors he is a chef. We have a collection of exotic herbs, a collection of ingredients that mirrors those from home-- artisan bread and cheese, a hand held mini coffee frother and Bodum Travel French Press, every kind of pan and his favorite knife, which we forgot and should have been a tense moment to which he blurted out for the first time "Oh well, we're camping". Our meals did not suffer.
We tried out a fabulous new Nordic Ware omelette pan my Mom sent. It made an amazingly fluffy and perfectly shaped omelette. And it was delicious, which is nothing to do with the pan. But the ease of use and presentation were perfection.
Speaking of perfection-- Idyllwild. This is the quiet I seek when I take refuge in the great outdoors! It is absolutely beautiful with its twisted, smooth trunked Manzanita trees and towering Pines. We camped at the State Park within walking distance to downtown. It is a well laid out, small campground with exceedingly clean bathrooms and showers. The Ranger was a very nice man who stayed open when we arrived late to purchase firewood, because he saw us running up to the station.
A morning in downtown turned into a shopping frenzy where I purchased bags full of items for the daycare-- wind chimes, wind socks, garden spinners, a welcome flag and some personal items; a much needed purse, a dog toy for Louis and a fantastic sequined beret hat for our crazy karaoke nights. At the register, I commented on how much we spent, to which my husband replied again: "We're camping". And I relaxed and thought ah, yes, camping (and shopping!-- wink, wink, ladies).
