Tent City: Meet, Greet, Eat -- Sweet!

(photo by Dan)

In Maine for Molly and David's wedding, 20-30 of us (I'm guessing based on the number of tents) camped out in Molly's mom and stepdad's backyard for the weekend of festivities.








(photo by Dan)

Inside our tent, I was able to try out Dan's new camping lantern, hung from the ceiling by a few items meant for the taming of hair-dos.




We had games, port-a-potties, a sink, an outdoor shower, a swing, chairs, friends, babies, dogs, and more. It was so glorious.



Mike tended the fire throughout our stay. S'mores were had here. And S'morks (pulled pork s'mores minus the marshmallow). Drinks were drunk around this fire. And singalong songs were sung. Ukuleles and guitars were strummed. Soles of shoes were melted in its heat, so loath were we to back away from the blaze.



Ever-accommodating, Molly's parents created as luxurious and festive a camping environment as I've experienced. We enjoyed tables and chairs and shade and sun.



Dogs and babies got along swimmingly.




Speaking of swimming, some went to the beach. Others sat and relaxed. Still others discovered that one cannot rent a keg in Maine with an out-of-state ID (or passport).




Bride and groom pig cookies appeared.



So many flavors! One wedding guest described these as hallucinogenic in their audacious composition.



One evening there was a vegetarian lasagna many times bigger than Kyle's head. It was grander than grand.




(photo by Dan)

Would you be surprised if I told you that the fifteen-year-old baker responsible for the pig cookies also made a red velvet groom's cake in the shape of an armadillo (in a nod to Steel Magnolias)? James learned the hard way that the thing that looks like a rock in the photo above -- is a rock.



(photo by Dan)

Here's another view (it's partially eaten at this point).



(photo by Dan)

There were bagels. There was coffee. Babies enjoyed toast and eggs. The morning of the wedding was all about quickbreads, quiche, ...



(photo by Dan)

and baked beans.




A good and tasty frolic was had by all.

Memories like crumbs in the purse of my mind.

(photo credit: unknown fellow camper/counselor at Dayton Oaks)

I spent a good part of today reminiscing on Facebook and Flickr, uploading pictures from 10, 20 and more years ago, like this one (from 1990 or 1991) of my first youth group leader and favorite camp counselor eating a disgusting sandwich we made for him out of everything in the camp kitchen. I appreciate that he would even smell it, let alone take a bite. In this respect, I have to consider him a snacking mentor.

A fitting mid-afternoon snack for a day of such nostalgia? A leftover cherry Pop Tart, broken into pieces by a day spent in my purse waiting to be eaten (said purse got a little knocked around by a baby who was playing with it in the meantime, hence the eaten-in-pieces business).



(This photo was taken yesterday, before I ate the first of the two PopTarts.)

I guess I technically prefer a hot and icing-ed Toaster Strudel, but I've always had a soft spot for raw, fruit-flavored Pop Tarts (and this is an item that is not so good in the generic). A favorite cold breakfast in college (we didn't have them in the house when I was a kid), they taste both bland and like candy at the same time. I find them comforting. If only I could pull these memories up over me like a blanket and crawl into a bed of photo albums and boxes of Pop Tarts, the approaching weekend would be a rather cozy one.

p.s. The homepage of the Pop Tarts website, which I had originally linked to in this post, invited me to click on "Moms" or "Kids." That there were no other options (as I am neither -- what about "Dads?" "Caregivers?" "Childless People Who Like Pop Tarts?") struck me as obnoxious. I refuse to link to them anymore.

Tent and Breakfast

The night we camped at Lake Powell, we set up the tents in failing light. For dinner, Eva cooked hotdogs in the night's pitch blackness. They were served simply (but at least, as can be seen in the photo above, we did happen to have some Grey Poupon) and eaten by electric lantern and headlamps' light. It was cold and windy and cold. I just wanted to crawl into my new sleeping bag and crash. I believe I managed to stay awake for the dessert of E.L. Fudge cookies, but just barely.




Things looked much brighter in the morning. Water heated on the propane stove moistened instant hot cocoa and instant plain oatmeal, to which we added pecans, blueberries and brown sugar.



These were AgroBerries, but I thought of them as aggro berries.

Just brush off the sand.

Bread, cheese, and salami is a good lunch on the trail. Cheese is tasty on day one, okay on day two, and expendable beyond that (unless temperatures are quite cold).



If you found your knife on the ground and all the blades are stuck shut, you might want to go for pre-sliced cheese and salami.

Eat at Ho's.

This place, Thunderbird Restaurant outside of Zion National Park, was not as much fun as its sign suggested, but I was too tired and dirty after two days of hiking and camping in Parunuweap Canyon to care.

I was also not hungry enough for pie, or to visit the soup/salad bar, though I did enjoy 3 of the 4 (two large and two teeny-tiny*) pieces of fried chicken I was served. I consumed two tiny pieces and one large piece, as well as all of the slightly congealed white gravy on mashed potatoes.

The vegetables on my plate looked weak. I decided to eat only the bland, blanched pieces that had touched gravy before my plate was set in front of me.

Everyone else I was with had mushroom swiss burgers, and they (the burgers) looked fine.


*Thank goodness for those two mutantly miniscule pieces of fried chicken. I couldn't believe that my fried-chicken-related menu choices were only 4 pieces of chicken or no chicken. I can't eat 4 pieces of fried chicken AND mashed p. with gravy AND boiled vegetables AND soup AND items from the salad bar! Get real.

Puffed up

Let's talk tea. I am in love with genmaicha these days.

Mmm...toasted rice and green tea. Little pieces that have popped like puffed rice cereal. Unique, nutty flavor. Smooth and warm and comforting.

I've been drinking it at home and on the road.

Early morning orange

Not long after dawn, the light fell beautifully across a bag of Cheese Rings and apricots. Guess which looked better for a pre-breakfast snack? Hint: not the Cheese Rings.

Oh, and also Eva made some great eggs, scrambled with both onion and green onions. Even better.

Campy

Beautiful sunsets and (more importantly) dry weather in the Seattle area led us camping. We made our way to Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle. Once on the island, we stopped at Bayleaf in Coupeville, a charming shop selling cheese, bread, wine, chocolates, and more.

We bought camping snacks there, including some wine (screw-top necessary), bricks of marigold gouda and a spicy cheese, individual puddings in rich flavors, mini chocolates, crusty bread, and some the best sausage I've had to date.

Oh, hadn't you heard? I'm eating some pork now. Mostly hard sausages and prosciutto/bacon. I'll save the wherefore for another entry.

Now, about those sausages --



Both (we bought two flavors) were perfect. Fresh air and beautiful views may have made it tastier, but it was already sharp (both the "hot" version and the less spicy) and chewy and moist. Beautiful. And for a camping trip, you really can't beat the portability of hard sausages and bread. I could have eaten nothing but this all weekend. I might have gotten ill, but I wouldn't have cared up until that oops-I-got-ill point.

If you like sausage, keep an eye out for this label: