Cooking in the Great Outdoors

It has been said many times, "Food tastes better in the outdoors." The assessment is easy to agree with, of course, but the reason the statement may be true includes several possible details.

The first justification of the theory involves the fact people are more active in the great outdoors. Example: A family arrives at the campsite for an overnight outing around mid-morning on a Saturday. Everyone helps to establish camp; pitch the tent, arrange the firewood around the fire pit, unload the chairs, bicycles and other toys.

The family of four jump on the bicycles and explore the campground of 60 sites arranged in a series of six circles. Visiting with fellow campers is common and the children make instant friends with other camping kids.

Back at their own campsite, the parents are able to keep an eye on the children, who are playing an impromptu soccer game nearby. The youngsters return for a lunch of sandwich and fruit juice and return to the game 20 minutes later.

The afternoon is relaxing for the adults, as they walk to various campsites to visit in a more in-depth manner. The children continue to play various games with others. Ê

A campfire is started as the sun signals early evening and fast becomes the focus of the family, including new friends. The evening meal is shared with others, as nearby campers bring their own meat for the barbeque and share potato, macaroni and vegetable salads.

As eating slows, one camper says, "Boy, that hamburger sure was delicious."

This hamburger is the same meat eaten at home and it is prepared in the same manner, on the grill, but for some reason the burger tastes better.

Perhaps the answer is in the air, which some people swear is true. One way of thinking says, "If a person is assigned a meal to prepare while camping, this cook would be wise to make sure the people he will be serving are good and hungry."

Afterwards the people might be heard saying, "That was so good I overstuffed myself."

Another way of planning meals is to have plenty of snacks for all available most of the entire time at camp.

Most of our camping trips include snacks and sit-down meals. If someone wants an apple, eat it, except when the hamburgers are 30 minutes away.

My wife, Garnet, and I have friends who rely on hamburgers and hot dogs for 90 percent of their camping lunches and suppers. These people just don't want to bother with cooking at the campsite. The least amount of time and cooking utensils involved with preparing food the better, according to them.

This if fine when there are lots of children involved, but we enjoy cooking. I don't mind one bit if Garnet wants to spend time preparing eggs and pancakes on the camp stove grill. She doesn't mind if I cook steaks over the campfire.

I remember my father cooking most of the meals at the campsite when I was a youngster. Mom enjoyed the break, but was always prepared with sandwich-making materials; bread, lunch meat, mustard and mayonnaise.

These days Garnet and I camp in our 26-foot trailer. While we are able to prepare all of our meals inside and, with oven and microwave, cooking any type of food is possible. Yet we still enjoy cooking outside on the camp stove.

We have a canopy large enough to fit over the picnic table, plus it has three detachable sides. A wind- and rain-free cooking atmosphere is assured. We prepared and fed my sister, Denise, and her three grandkids a hot breakfast during a heavy rainstorm last year, while under the canopy.

Another tip for outdoor cooking involves the FoodSaver machine. A homemade soup or stew is easily fed to campers with the use of this machine. The soup is frozen in plastic containers and meal-sized portions. The frozen soup is removed from the container as a solid, and then slipped into a FoodSaver bag, the air is removed and the bag sealed.

At the campsite, the frozen soup can be removed from the bag and placed into a pot to heat. Or, the frozen bag can be added to a pot of boiling water for the heating process. Once hot, cut a corner and pour out the soup.

This process is most appreciated when on a hunting trip and a fast lunch is needed. Another application is when arriving at a campsite late at night and the evening meal can be heated while the tent is erected and the fire started.

Hamburger to upside-down cake; camp food is limited only to the amount of energy the cook wants to expend while preparing a meal. Let your stomach be your guide, but continue to explore the wonders of camp cooking.