Memorial Day Camping

I had a bunch of days off for memorial weekend - Myles didn't however. But I thought it would be fun to go camping! I know- that's a shock! But I figured we could handle 1 night. I didn't decide on this until the Monday before memorial weekend- kind of late to plan anything. But after looking at some ideas on the internet, we ended up at a teepee in Fremont Indian State Park. We drove down Friday after school, only stayed one night and came home Saturday afternoon. The perfect length of time for a camping trip! And we even took the dogs with us. I wanted to find some meals that would be easy to take and not hard to cook while we were there. It turned out great and the kids liked it!

Camping dinner:

The standard hot dogs to grill
marshmallows for S'mores
Starburst candy to roast
Grilled Cheesy Sausage Pineapple Skewers
Mexican Street Corn - yummy!
Grilled Apple Crisp - easy to make.

Our version of these recipes below:

Grilled Cheesy Sausage Pineapple Skewers

½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ teaspoons dried Oregano
1 package fully cooked sausages with cheese (we used Johnsonville Beddar with Cheddar)
½ ripe Pineapple
¼- ½ large Red Onion

Combine the olive oil and oregano in a leak proof container. Allow to sit for at least an hour before grilling. Slice the pineapple into 1 inch chunks (we had lots left over and grilled that separately.)  Cut onion into large wedge chunks. Cut each sausage into 5 pieces.

If using wood skewers, soak them for 1 hour before assembling.  We used wood ones when we went camping, but metal ones when we came home.

To thread the skewers: slide on 1 piece of sausage, 2 pieces of onion, pineapple piece. Repeat and end with a piece of sausage.
Heat the grill. Place the skewers on the grill and brush with oregano infuse olive oil. Rotate halfway through cooking and brush the other side of the skewers with oil. Remove when the onions are cooked; approximately 5 minutes. Serve with barbecue sauce if desired. - We skipped that when we camped.

Mexican Street Corn

The family all LOVED this corn and said we are going to make it like this from now on!

6 ears sweet corn with husks
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
6 tablespoons cilantro, chopped or more
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 limes, quartered

Trim the tops of the corn to remove extra silk and leaves. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place the corn covered in husks directly on the oven rack and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the corn is tender and juicy.
In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder with the mayonnaise. Mix cotija cheese with smoked paprika. When the corn is done, remove husks and brush the corn with the garlic mayonnaise. sprinkle with the cotija cheese and cilantro. Serve with the lime wedges to squeeze over the corn.

Grilled Apple Crisp

3 firm apples, peeled, cored and diced
4.5 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
2½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened - I'm pretty sure I forgot to put this in!!
 heavy duty foil

Toss apples with sugar and lemon juice and set aside.
Combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well until fully combined.
Tear off six 11 inch pieces of foil and spray well with non-stick cooking spray. Tear off six more 11 inch pieces of heavy duty foil and set aside.
Divide the apples evenly onto the foil sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle each with the topping.
Fold foil over in half and crimp the edges. Place crimped pouch on a piece of heavy duty foil and fold in half and seal edges. Place on grill and cook for approximately 20 mins. Remove and carefully open each pouch.
Transfer to plates and serve with vanilla ice cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon if desired.

Camping Breakfast:

I couldn't decide which recipe to make, so I did 2 of them. Myles liked the burritos better, but Pierce liked the sandwiches better.

Campfire Breakfast Burritos

½ tablespoon olive oil
1 cup frozen hash browns
8 oz cooked ham, diced
12 eggs
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1 (4.5 oz) can green chilies, mild
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped cilantro or more
8 (12-inch) flour tortillas (we only used 7 of them)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the hash browns and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Add in the ham. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the hash browns and ham have both browned, about 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Whisk in the taco seasoning. When the hash browns and ham have browned, pour the eggs into the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until the eggs have set. Stir in the green chilies, cheese and cilantro.
Warm the tortillas. Put ⅛ of the egg mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up like a burrito and wrap tightly in foil. Store in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator or in a cooler.
When ready to cook, place wrapped burritos in hot coals next to fire. Let the burritos sit in the coals, turning once, until heated through, about 10-15 minutes. (The time will depend on how hot your fire is.) We did ours on a grill and it took about 20 min.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Ingredients

1/2 lb. bacon
6 eggs
6 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
10oz frozen hash browns
6 slices cheddar cheese
6 Thomas English Muffins

Cook the bacon in either the oven (at 400 degrees for 15 minutes) or in a skillet until crisp. Drain on a paper towel lined plate, but do not discard the grease!
Place the grease into a large cast iron skillet, or heavy bottomed skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the refrigerated hash browns and press into an even layer. Let cook for 6 to 7 minutes, until golden brown, then flip over in sections and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until cooked through. Season the hash browns with salt and pepper. Divide into 6 portions.
Meanwhile whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper in a bowl. Lightly coat a 7x9” cake pan or casserole dish with non-stick spray and pour the egg mixture in. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes, then gently stir the eggs in the pan, turning the sides over and pulling up the bottom layer of cooked eggs. Return to the oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir one more time and cook for an additional 3 minutes, or until the eggs are mostly set. The eggs will continue to cook once taken out of the oven, so don’t over cook them. Cut the eggs into 6 equal squares.
Assemble your breakfast sandwiches on top of the Thomas English Muffins: cheese, hash browns, egg, bacon, top bun. Enjoy now, or keep reading to make sandwiches portable.
Wrap the sandwiches halfway in parchment paper so the bottom is covered, but the top is open. Place, open side up in a foil container and then cover the container with foil. Keep the sandwiches chilled until ready to serve. To reheat, place the covered trays on a grill over medium heat. Cover and cook until the sandwiches are heated through. Ours seemed to take a really long time this way. With the ones we had leftover we wrapped them individually and they heated faster. It's even faster just to put them in the microwave!

Mother's Day Crepe Cake

Ryan made me crepes for mother's day. We found a recipe for a Crepe cake and did our own. We used our standard crepe recipe found here, and then assembled the cake:

1 recipe of crepes
1 pint jar of homemade lemon curd
2 cups whipped cream
Triple berry pie filling
powdered sugar
fresh raspberries

We took all the filling out of the triple berry pie that I made for Myles mission party. I had used 1 jar of triple berry pie filling from Smiths and some frozen raspberry pie filling I had. We had about 3/4 of the pie left. Mix the whipped cream and the lemon curd together. To assemble the crepe cake, put one crepe down on a serving dish and spread with berry filling. Top with a second crepe, and spread with lemon curd mixture. Repeat layers until all the crepes are used. Sprinkle the top with sugar. Cut like a cake and serve with remaining lemon curd mixture and fresh berries.

Myles Mission Reveal Party

Myles got his mission call on Adria's birthday, Thursday, May 11th. We invited all the family over on Saturday May 13th and had them guess where Myles was going on his mission based on the food we served. Since he was called to Washington Federal Way, we decided to serve Salmon - and since he is going Spanish speaking, we decided to do fish tacos. We also had cherry pie, triple berry pie, Jazz apples from Washington with caramel apple dip, cherries, and blueberries. We had Jones Soda and Americana Cherry Soda (both made in Washington too.)

We used the same fish taco recipe we have made before and we tried a second one that Ryan found on Food and Wine made with Salmon. The fish was good, but I think I prefer the other coleslaw. Here's the recipe with a few changes:

Dry-Rubbed Salmon Tacos with Tomatillo-Avocado Slaw

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
20 oz of salmon fillets (we used the frozen ones from Smiths)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
2 tomatillos, husked and quartered
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/2 small jalapeño, seeded and quartered
1 garlic clove
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 ripe avocado—halved, peeled and pitted
2 cups finely shredded red and green cabbages
2 cups broccoli slaw
8 corn tortillas
Hot sauce and lime wedges, for serving

In a small bowl, stir the cumin with the chili powder, and brown sugar. Season generously with salt and pepper. Brush the salmon fillets with olive oil and dredge them in the spice mixture.

In a food processor or blender, puree the tomatillos with the cilantro, jalapeno and garlic until smooth. Add the sour cream and process until smooth, then add the avocado and pulse until creamy. Transfer the dressing to a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the cabbage and broccoli slaw and toss to coat.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Stack the tortillas and wrap them in foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put the salmon on a grill pan grill the salmon fillets over high heat, turning once, until nearly cooked through, 8 to 9 minutes. Transfer the salmon to a plate and flake with a fork.

Fill the tortillas with the salmon. Top with the avocado slaw and serve right away with the hot sauce and lime wedges.

We had leftovers the next day for dinner- Ryan and the boys added sriracha mayonnaise to their tacos.

Adria's Lemon Birthday Cake

Adria asked for a lemon birthday cake this year. And we had an art themed birthday party so we made her cake look like an artist pallet. A few weeks ago one of the girls at work, Jenny Christensen, brought the MOST delicious lemon bundt cake! So I asked her for the recipe. She found it at Chef in Training blog. Here it is reposted with my changes - I had to make lots more frosting to make it into a layer cake.

1 box lemon Cake Mix - Duncan Hines brand

1 small box INSTANT Vanilla pudding Mix (3.9 ounces) - Kroger brand

½ cup Sour Cream

¾ cup Oil

¾ cup Water

½ cup Sugar

4 Eggs

1 Tablespoon lemon zest - I used 1 large lemon and all the zest from it.

3 Tablespoon lemon juice - I used all the juice from the large lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together for 3 minutes on high. Pour into 2 greased 9 inch pans.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and cake springs back when lightly touched in middle. Let cool for 10 minutes on wire rack, then remove from pans. Allow to cool completely and freeze to make it easier to frost. Wrap each layer individually before freezing, then stake them in the freezer. Someone put an ice pack on top of my cake after it had been in the freezer for 8 hours, and it flattened the top some - it worked out great so I didn't have to try to cut the dome of the cake off.

Frosting

8 ounce cream cheese, softened

4 -5 cups powdered sugar or more

1 Tablespoon lemon zest - all the zest from 1 large lemon

2-3 teaspoon lemon juice

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add 2 cups powered sugar, lemon zest, and 1 tsp lemon juice. Mix well (this is where the original recipe stops - and is enough for a bundt cake but not a layered cake). Add 2 cups powdered sugar and and another tsp lemon juice. Mix. Add more powdered sugar and lemon juice until it looks like the correct amount and correct consistency to frost the cake. 

Put a small amount of frosting on the cake stand to hold the bottom layer still. frost the top of the bottom cake layer. Then put on top cake layer. Frost the top and sides of cake. I made the "paint" spots my putting a small dot of frosting in each spot and topping with gel frosting and mixing with a tooth pick.