A Yummy way to stay warm while camping

A while back, I learned an interesting social service provided in Canada.  To help the homeless, warm baked potatoes are given away inside a new tube sock in the evening. It serves many purposes including warmth for the night, food the next day, and a new sock.  What an awesome idea!!! Cost efficient, humanitarian...what's not to love. Thus, I quickly adopted this idea for my own use.  Several years ago, I started with two white potatoes baked in a camp fire.  One for my feet and one for my trunk to stay warm in my sleeping bag and the next morning for yummy, warming campfire hashbrowns.  This weekend during a family camping trip, we tried it, but with a new twist.  We didn't actually need the warmth (ironic, given the weather shift that has me huddled under a blanket right now).  This time I used sweet potatoes with the intent of soup.  Although I must confess I have never made this type of soup, I love a challenge and tend to prefer cooking without recipes.  Because measuring spoons do not get packed for camping, I am estimating the amounts based on sight, so feel free to season to taste. 

By the way, one compliment I received is "I just want to bathe in it."  It was yummy and soothing and as I savored its warmth it blanketed my mouth and stomach in every important way.  I am adding this to my winter repertoire...black bean, chili, minestrone, squash, Provincial White Bean Soup, Kidney Bean and Kale Soup, Black Eyed Pea and Greens, etc.  I make a very large batch of each and deep freeze, typically only making each 1-2 times per year. 

So without further ado, here is my new Sweet Potato Soup, which serves 10 adults a good sized serving. Cut in half if this is too much for you.  I will probably double this the next time I make it.

Bake in either your oven (great way to decrease potentially wasted energy when preheating for baking bread) or a campfire or your fire pit out back when you have friends over, 6 pounds of sweet potatoes. 
Peel potatoes, waiting until a little cooled if you  like your fingertips to remain in place.

Chop 1 lb of onions and cook in oil in a large soup pot
When beginning to brown add 2 prunes (next time I will likely try 8 prunes)...this adds depth of flavor and natural sweetness, much like my homemade BBQ sauce.
Then add 1 Tablespoon of each of the following sweet curry powder, Chinese 5 spice powder, garlic powder, and ground ginger (the kind in the jar). Also add 1/2 Tablespoon black pepper. Stir and cook for one minute. Then deglaze pan with 1/2 cup of orange juice.
Add all the potatoes and 1 quart of vegetarian stock.
When warm, puree with an immersion blender (small and easy to take camping if you have electricity at your cite)
Then add, one more quart of vegetarian stock and 1 cup of cream or half and half (we used the latter since we had it already for camp coffee.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy either alone as we did or with a dollop of creme fraiche or candied orange peel.

Sorry there are no pictures, it was a busy weekend...3 families, 2 dogs, 1 playground, 1 festival, 2 loaves of homemade bread...yum, loud neighbors, 2 hours drive each way, 1 stroller strapped to the roof of a car, 1 pack n play (seriously recommended when camping with a little one), and 1 visit to medical professionals ;) yep, that's how we roll.

Baby Food is not for Hypocrits

I made almost all of Mr. B's food and I learned a great deal along the way.  I made this compromise in our lives because it fit a few of my aspirations including homemade food, nutritious food, cost effective, organic when possible, and green lifestyle.  In addition, I have seen what comes out of a jar...YUCK...the colors are unnatural and everything tastes like canned food.  This foodies definitely could not do that to my little sprout who has been used to a yummy variety of food while still in my womb, but that made me realize another problem. What if the food I make is not very good either? What if lack of salt leads to lack of flavor?  So, my golden rule was that I would not feed him anything that I would not eat myself.  So, yes, I taste everything.  This decision led to a turning point in my life. He began foods in winter time and I did not realize just how unavailable some foods are no matter where you shop.  No plums....well how about prunes.  But, I had never eaten a whole dried plum, just chopped up in stuff (btw, this is a cliffhanger).  So, my husband, D, gave me the necessary courage and we downed one together (no problem for D who had done this before).  Guess what I found out, I like them.  Now we buy them just to eat them and yet I still picture my grandmother eating them out of the bag with a fork because she didn't want to touch them.  That translated into my young brain as a disgusting food, so I am now surprised to find out I like them.

The Compromise:  Trying all baby food I give to my son, which includes prunes.

The Sweet Reward: I LIKE prunes...still sounds weird.

Well, this topic came up again this past weekend when Mr. B got Montezuma's Revenge on top of still getting over croup...pour guy right.  We picked up Pedialyte as that seemed the route to go. No matter what he would not drink it, I do not like it warm, I do not like it cold, I do not like it watered down, I do not like it in a sippy cup, I do not like it in a bottle, I do NOT like it Mr. B I am.  (Sorry Seuss).  So, I remembered my rule and decided to try it...We had Walgreen's brand fruit punch.  It actually wasn't as bad as I imagined.  Drinkable with a vitamin type aftertaste, but not overly sweet.  My guess is that because Mr. B has never had artificial flavors, it was just gross to him because he happily drank the honey water I made for him instead and later milk once he could hold his cookies...and dinner for that matter.

The Compromise:  Drinking Pedialyte

The Sweet Reward: A kiddo who prefers natural tastes...that's my boy


If anyone has a homemade recipe for a similar drink to treat little ones when it comes out both ends, please post the recipe or website link in the comments section. I would love to have a more natural remedy ready in a pinch because that's when these things occur, which explains a quick trip to buy the dreaded Pedialyte. Even in his dehydrated, puny, weak, pale state he found plenty of strength to push it away.

Autumn Ginger Apple Salad

This is the promised recipe.  The one that led me to find out that apples may come shellacked, what food producers tell you is a same animal  insect by-product, so vegetarians and vegans in particular be warned.  Wow, I sound depressing today, maybe it is the gloomy rain.  Actually, I love rain...the smell, the sound, the calming effect, the coziness, the filtered light that can be perfect for my eyes and mood and taking pictures :)

Speaking of pictures. I love my new camera, but I am still getting in the routine of downloading pictures to my computer and thus I am getting a log jam of blog posts again.  It truly is unfortunate that I can not telepathically blog as I tend to write posts in my head while walking or driving.  Okay, here it is.  There is peanut butter in this, so if you have an allergy, simply leave it out. In this it is more for depth of flavor, umami on the tongue (I love this word...I have a love of words that sound interesting...check out this website I just found and plan to explore more in the future...What is umami? .... yes curiosity does get this cat sometimes, but satisfaction certainly brings me back).  You could sub tahini for the peanut butter.  Here is another interesting tidbit.  I agree that food allergies are frightening and I am so thankful we do not deal with that.  If you do I have a good website in my list for you.  The new theory is that we are overprotecting our kids from foods and need to introduce them sooner rather than later to prevent allergies and build immune response.  So armed with this new knowledge and my pediatrician's blessing (which I don't typically get given my unusual parenting choices at times), we tried  (gave it in the morning on a weekday with carseat ready and phone ready in case an emergency loomed...the only emergency was needing more PB quickly...yep he is a PB fiend and certainly not allergic) PB very early. I think Mr. B was 10 months old.

Okay without further ado, I am really good at tangents. Here is the recipe

1/2 cup greek yogurt (we make our own so my thickness might be different than store bought, so adjust as needed to your taste)
3 Tablespoons peanut butter (we like natural type, so you have to work harder at stirring...good exercise for flabby arms...no comments on my arms please)
1 Tablespoon Honey (any sweetner of choice could be subbed
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1-3 teaspoons of ground ginger to taste (the kind in the jar...we love Penzey's brand...look for them in my website list...we are lucky to have a local store front though)
If you love ginger top with chopped crystallized ginger, about 1/4 of a cup

Top with granola if you like a little crunch like I do.

Dip about 3/4 of a 3 lb bag of apples, into boiling water for 20 seconds to melt away wax and shellac.  Dry and rub with a towel to remove extra residue.

Chop apples.

Stir together all other ingredients, except toppings.  Add to chopped apples in a pretty bowl.

Serve immediately, although leftovers are fabulous.  I ate the leftovers for the next two days...yum.

Here is a picture of the leftovers topped with homemade ginger granola, sitting in dappled light in my window.

This week's bean and an actual recipe

My husband D likes to call my food one-offers since I do not use recipes unless cooking very unusual food. Some would say I can do this because I am a good cook, but the truth is that recipes make me terribly anxious. I go back and forth between the recipe and my bowl or pan, double and triple checking.  Makes me nervous just to think about it. So, coming up with recipes for what I do is a big stretch, but probably good for me.  You know doing things in a new way develops neurons and staves off Alzheimer's Disease. So here we go.  Drum roll please......the bean of the week is Great Northern Beans.........a bean with "great" in the title deserves a drum roll don't you think.  I have enjoyed this bean since I was a kid. This is the bean of beans. Cook it a little longer and gets just a bit softer releasing some starchiness to the dish, yet still holding its integrity.  It is truly Grace Under Fire.  In continuing my bean resolution, I got out the crock and 2 pounds of this glorious bean without a plan for what I wanted to make with it.  Then, the weather cooled down and we are in week 2 of the family illness with ongoing lack of sleep.  The answer of course to all the questions and problems is soothing soup.  I made a re-do of a soup that I made for a family gathering/game night last winter, but this time wrote down how I did it....yes, I can be a bit of procrastinator. So, I soaked the beans in crock for 8 hours (actually in a bowl because I was making yogurt in my large crock; more on that later) and then cooked the beans in crock over night.  Then, I began my soup about 1.5 hours before I wanted to eat it.

4 Tablespoons butter
4 medium or 5 large carrots diced
4 ribs of celery diced
1 1/2 large onions diced
all celery leaves from the bunch chopped (trust me these are good)
6 cloves of garlic minced
3 shallots diced
4 Tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 Tablespoons Herbs De Provence
2 teaspoons garlic powder (not a typo, two types of garlic early adds depth of overall flavor and adds more garlic yumm without overpowering which would happen if using only one type)
salt and pepper to taste
2 pounds of Great Northern Beans cooked with cooking liquid

Melt butter in large soup pot over medium heat.  Once you see the white foamy stuff called butter solids it is ready to cook.  Add carrots, celery, and onion and do whats called sweating, which means cooking until they get tender, but not soft and onion begins to get translucent.  Add celery leaves, garlic, and shallot.  Saute for one minute more and then add the flour and all herbs, cooking until the flour becomes golden. At this point you could deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of white wine you like.  With Mr. B, I'd rather not cook with wine at this point, so I omitted it.  Now add beans and all cooking liquid. If you want it less beany, add 3/4 of beans which would be 1 1/2 pounds and all cooking liquid.  The remainder is about 4 cups and perfect amount to freeze for incorporation in a later meal (I freeze food staples like beans, rice, pilaf, risotto ahead to make easy meals, but never freeze pasta). You have a choice to make now regarding soup thickness.  Left alone it is a thick stew type soup.  If you want it more soupy simply add ready to go vegetarian stock until you reach consistency that you like.  Cook on a low simmer for 45 minutes to one hour. Enjoy!!!  We had it with homemade sourdough bread and butter (of course butter, my mama taught me well), and a salad.  Mr. B LOVED it first and second time he had it.

Sorry no pictures of this one, the camera batteries were completely dead...but trust me a creamy tan bean soup with flecks of light green and orange is very appealing...Soups on!!!

Comfortingly yours,
Tracy