SEPTEMBER???

With the first week back to school behind us, I finally have some time to catch up with my blogs.
We had a wonderful summer here in Virginia, not too hot and/or humid. We camped at Cunningham Falls State park in Maryland in July and during the Labor Day weekend and Sarah now loves camping, even my partner who did not grew up as a camper and had one really bad camping experience made the reservation for a next trip.

I grew up camping, since in Europe a summer vacation trip is usually 3 weeks, and who can afford to stay at a resort for 3 weeks? My mom was a great camping chef; she magically produced gourmet meals on a 2 burner stove. One of the simple dishes she made for lunch was a combination of sautéed tomatoes with onions; this shortly simmered mix goes very well with omelets and some fresh country bread.

During our last two trips we made some pretty nice dishes; (besides a daily serving of smores) a salad of roasted corn and tomatoes, Maryland crab, and minestrone soup. It is so much fun to camp with some friends and combine all our foods and have improvised meals. Our pancakes with blueberry syrup from Trader Joe have made the whole camp quiet. Our next trip will lead us to West Virginia, Seneca Rocks during the Columbus weekend. It’ll be much colder, so we’ll adjust our meals accordingly, with more hearty ingredients, stews, ratatouilles and such.

In my next writing I’ll talk a little more about the challenge of packing non perishable snacks for school, and how to guide my little one in making healthy lunch choices…