Camp Dining

The weekend went off without a hitch. We met up with Eric, Erin and sweet baby Laila on Friday afternoon. What a treat to see those 3! I never expected to have the chance to share Camp Freedom with them this year. It's not even officially summer yet and we've already had visitors from both coasts! They also had the opportunity to meet our friends, the Schausts' and it seemed like everyone got along great. The rain held off until Saturday afternoon which was better than any of us expected. There had been a ton of rain before we got there and the wetlands were flooded. Trooper, the Schausts' German Shepard puppy turned out to be quite the water dog and thoroughly enjoyed splashing around in the muck. Georgia, however, prefers dry paws and enjoyed lazing around on tarps and under the picnic table. I am continuing to work on my outdoor cooking skills and had some successes. (Readers, have any ideas to share? Leave a comment with your favorite camp recipes!) I made a beef stew in the dutch oven. I cut up all the ingredients at home and threw everything together on site with some water and a few splashes of box wine. I set the whole thing over the campfire for a few hours and it was tender and delicious by dinner time. I served it with a crusty loaf of sourdough which I toasted next to the pot for a few minutes. It was a rich and satisfying meal. Ray experimented the next night with a campfire cobbler. He poured 2 cans of apple pie filling in the bottom of the dutch oven. On top of that he poured one package of yellow cake mix and one can of 7-up. It baked for about 30 minutes. The cake was moist and the apples caramelized and tasted great. A dish of that topped with a squirt of Ready-Whip was a delicious dessert after a more humble supper of hot dogs and beans. Good friends, good eats, plenty of dogs and a beautiful baby girl - not a bad way to spend a rainy weekend.

Grin and Bear It

We are heading out to Camp tomorrow and the weather forecast looks pretty bleak. We have been planning this trip with the Schausts for a while now and it's already been rescheduled once so no one wanted to cancel due to weather. If things get too rough, we'll just cut out early. I think the new Shrek movie is playing at the theater in town, so we might have the opportunity to explore some of Cumberland's indoor amenities. One of the main reasons I don't want to cancel is Elena's new gun. Eric got her a pink Daisy air rifle for her birthday a few weeks ago. Needless to say, the ladies are itching to do a little shooting this weekend, rain or no rain. We also have a couple of west coasters in the area that want to visit C.F. before they fly home. Eric, Erin and their baby girl are in town for last weekend's Macalester reunion and they spent the week at a friend's family cabin not too far from C.F. We made plans to meet them there for a night at the end of their cabin jaunt. I'm not sure how up for camping they will be with the baby, so I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to bail. I know I wouldn't be too excited to camp in the rain with a 15 month old. This weekend will be an exercise in trying to have a good attitude and just letting things unfold.

More Thoughts on the Walkway

The walkway is turning out really nicely. Here are some photos of folks enjoying it last weekend. The forest sections of Camp Freedom stay very shady all day long so it is nice to be able to walk out into the sunshine. The bird watching out there is also excellent. The sections move and shift a bit when walked on, and I'm not sure how well they will fare over the winter, but for now, they are proving to be a labor intensive, but completely free solution to the wetland dilemma. Ray did another huge pallet run this week and he thinks we now have all the material we need to make it out to the lake. The area behind our garage looks like a shipping company right now, but it will all eventually make it up there. The fact that someone wanted to charge me $13,000 for the ability to walk from the woods to the lake is making me enjoy this solution all the more.

Garbage Can Dinner

After reading one of your comments, it occurred to me that not all my readers are familiar with the Leben family culinary masterpiece, the Garbage Can Dinner. For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, this is how it works: Take a clean, galvanized steel garbage can. Open many, many cans of cheap beer and set them upright in the bottom of the can. Top the cans with a round, metal grate. Begin filling can with food. Traditionally, the first layer is cabbage, then onions and potatoes. Then meat. I've cooked many kinds of meat this way including chicken pieces, sausages and various beef cuts, but my favorites are brats and beef brisket. Place whole carrots on top of the meat. Crack open a few more cheap beers and pour them over the food. Place the top on the garbage can and put the entire thing over a hot campfire. The beer begins to boil and steam, cooking the food and infusing everything with a meaty, beery flavor. The can cooks for several hours depending on the amount of food in it. Every thirty minutes or so, a few more beers are poured into the can (and down the throat of the cook). About an hour before the can is done, throw ears of corn on top of the carrots. When the carrots are tender, the can is done. The food is surprisingly delicious. It's a pretty fool-proof recipe and the only time I've ever seen it fail is once when the cooks got too drunk and let the fire go out. Lately, I've been experimenting with many methods of outdoor cooking, but this remains the most entertaining and delicious way I've ever found to feed a crowd outdoors!

A Glorious Weeked!

Memorial Day weekend was certainly memorable this year. We went camping with 3 other families and had an amazing time. The zipline was successfully installed and enjoyed by all. The weather cooperated for the most part, but we did have a storm on Sunday night. It was a drag at the time, but it eventually passed. It changed the tone from a lazy, summer beach weekend to more of a survival trip. In that sense, it was exciting. Just a few of the highlights included archery, extreme tree climbing, a talent show and a Garbage Can Dinner. Getting to spend time with so many old friends and their amazing kids really reminded me why we tackled this project in the first place. We've been so goal orientated so far that we haven't taken that much time to just relax and enjoy our accomplishments. But this weekend we definitely did. To all our guests, THANK YOU! Your ideas, enthusiasm, help and friendship make this worth doing and I hope you will make a habit of visiting often!

Mother of 3 Cuts Loose!

Memorial Day 2010

This is a link to all the pictures from the weekend.