What’s For Dinner

I learned to cook over an open fire while away at scout camp and when I went camping with my parents I was allowed to cook over the fire also.  I learned to make breakfast that way.  Nothing fancy, just eggs, bacon, sausage or pancakes.  During my recent trip breakfast consisted of either pancakes and sausage, or French toast and sausage.  I rarely take the time to prepare lunch so whatever snack stuff I had around tided me over until dinner.

I had basically planned out my dinners for the ten day trip.  Hotdogs the first night.  Brats the next, and after that there would be a New York Strip, a T-Bone, a Fillet Mignon, chicken, more brats and hotdogs.  I took pictures of the brat preparation to illustrate the types of food I eat when I camp.

I cut and prepared the veggies first.  Inside one pouch are potatoes and carrots and in the other onions.

In a medium kettle on the cook-stove I started the brats by boiling them first in beer and water.  You can add onion and garlic or whatever seasoning you like to this part of the process.  The brats are Sheboygan Brats that I get from Ken’s Meat Market in Monona, Wisconsin.

While the brats simmer the two pouches cooked on the small grill that I take with.  After letting those cook for about twenty minutes, turning them a few times, the pouches take their place on the second rack of the grill to make room for the brats.

Add the brats.  Close the lid and let cook.

After turning the brats and making sure they browned nicely, it was time to serve.

To get an idea of what I ate the rest of the week, insert one of the steaks, or chicken with basically the same side dishes.

Mineral Lake

Mineral Lake, the park I stayed at, can be found in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest west of Mellen, Wisconsin.  A primitive campground with ten sites allowed me the ability to get away from most everything and I had the place mostly to myself until this weekend.  The plumbing, featured in the picture above, consisted of one hand pump well about a quarter of a mile from the campsite.  No electricity, no cell coverage and lots of peace and quiet.

A beautiful lake that the locals informed me contains some of the best walleye fishing in northern Wisconsin.  Power boats are allowed and during the weekends several boats could be seen on the lake.  During the week, on Monday and Tuesday, I didn’t see or hear any boats on the lake, but traffic picked up on Wednesday, which is also when other campers moved into the campground.

The weather spanned the gambit of Wisconsin weather.  The first day – last Thursday – the temps never got out of the forties and it rained most of the day.  I hunkered down inside my tent wearing several layers of clothes wrapped inside my sleeping bag with an extra blanket over the top.  Mostly I read and held out hope the weather forecast would be correct with sunny conditions and temps in the sixties on Friday and improving into the seventies the rest of the weekend, which turned out to be correct.

Sunday was cloudy and acted like it wanted to rain and finally did when I went to bed at ten-thirty.  Monday dawned clear and cool and steadily improved into the seventies again and that’s the way things stayed until Thursday when the wind shifted to more southerly and the humidity and temps climbed into the eighties.

When I woke Friday, the humidity had climbed high enough that anything made of medal had condensation dripping from it.  By then I was out of Coleman fuel for the cook-stove, had only one steak left and couldn’t make anything for breakfast.  The nearest town of any substance where I might have been able to find Coleman fuel would have been Phillips, Wisconsin, which was about fifty miles away.  It’s very secluded up there, which is why I chose it.  Facing the prospect of no breakfast and temps climbing into the nineties, I decided to pack it in and head for the air conditioned comfort of home.  I know! I can tough out the cold and the rain, but I hate the heat.

New Summer Home

UPS delivered my new summer home – twelve foot by seventeen foot with a seven and a half foot center height.

Here’s the front view.

Here’s the view ‘round back.

Here’s the view inside.  Now ask yourself, Could you spend twelve days and eleven nights in this?