Everything And Nothing

There is Pleasure in the Pathless Woods

By Lord Byron

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
There is society, where none intrudes, 
By the deep sea, and music in its roar: 
I love not man the less, but Nature more, 
From these our interviews, in which I steal 
From all I may be, or have been before, 
To mingle with the Universe, and feel 
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

 

Three Louisiana state parks and one in Mississippi have scheduled New Year's Day hikes in a national program to start the year outdoors and active. Find out more here.

Warm Apple Crescents

It's great camping weather here lately, and I've been collecting some new recipes to try this year. Here's one I have marked from Backpacker magazine (January 2011) and Chef Alex Zic from Bronx, NY. (Let me know if you try it first!)

Warm Apple Crescents

1 tube of store-bought crescent rolls
1 can apple pie filling
1 pkg crushed walnuts or almonds
Aluminum foil

At Home
Empty apple pie filling into a zip-top bag and double-bag it.

In Camp
Crescent dough typically comes packaged as six attached triangles. Separate triangles two at a time so you have three crescents total. Place filling and nuts on the crescents and roll them up. For each, create foil pouches that cover the dough; place them in coals near the fire's edge (not directly in the flames). Flip after three minutes, bake for about three more minutes (until golden), then unwrap and enjoy. Serves 3.

 

One for the bees

National Pollinator Week is set for June 21-27 - and you can help bees, birds, and butterflies into your yard by planting the shrubs and flowers they love. (I mean bees have been having a hard time of it of late!)

Enter your zip code here to get a list of pollinator-attracting plants for your area!

And this is a litte off topic, I know, but I just never thought of pollination quite the same after this movie (and, particularly, this song)...

Sleep under the stars

On June 26, grab your sleeping bag and head ouside for the National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout. To register and for details on how toget ready, visit www.backyardcampout.org. Check out their Facebook page too!

What do you cook when you camp?

Now that the weather's so nice, we're all ready to head outside again. (But we gotta do it quick before it gets TOO hot!) I got a big campfire Dutch oven pot for one of my Valentine's Day gifts (don't worry...I asked for it) and have not broken it in yet.

When my son was in Cub Scouts, I was the den leader for many years and went through B.A.L.L.O.O. training one weekend. I overheard one of the guys complaining about the cooking instruction, saying the food was for "car campers." (This was not a compliment.) He then said, "There's two kinds of campers. Those who hike to eat and those who eat to hike."

I've done both, but I much prefer the former. ;) So, I'm gonna share some recipes I've used (and found) recently, but I want you to share, too... What do you cook when you camp?

Campfire Cobbler
Dump two cans of the pie filling of your choice on the bottom, dump a yellow cake mix on top of that. Do not touch or stir. Slice a stick of butter on top. Cook over campfire for an hour or so. You've got campfire cobbler!

My latest Sunset magazine had a few tasty campfire recipes too...

Hobo-Style Bananas Foster
A rectangle of foil with a split banana, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and a splash of dark rum.

Camp Potatoes
Cut up potatoes with butter, salt, pepper and onion in foil

Camp Cabbage
Wrap a head of cabbage in foil with onion soup mix and butter and throw it in the coals.

Dutch Oven Chicken Pot Pie
Add cubed chicken, cream of chicken soup, canned veggies, potatoes and onions. Cook over the edge of the fire about an hour. Place biscuit dough on the top. Put the lid back on and place coals on the lid, about 20 min., until rolls are cooked.

Organized Outdoors

The Campsite Organizer wraps around a tree and provides a central place for all camping utensils. With hooks, storage pouches and smaller slots for personal items, there's plenty of room for camping gear - and it will be right where you need it.

$21.99

Where the wild sounds are

biophony - n., what the world sounds like in the abscence of humans

anthrophony - n., man-made noise

For nearly 3,500 hours of biophony from 15,000 species, visit www.wildsanctuary.com. (You can also download an add-on for Google Earth that will allow you to click on locations worldwide and hear snippets of their soundscape.)

[ via Clive Thompson, WIRED magazine ]

Get buggy with it

Want a natural light? Make a firefly lantern!

Bird's Eye View

It's about to be Cub Scout time again - so I'm checking out the camping gear, of course. (I mean if I have to do this for the next 10 years, I may as well do it with some degree of panache, right?)

On my wish list: Eagle Nest Outfitters SingleNest Hammock.

It weighs just 18 oz. and packs down to the size of a grapefruit. Made of super-soft, breathable woven nylon, it's comfortable - and (more importantly for me) easy to pitch.

$54.95

Buzz Off

What do you get when you take a wrinkle-free safari shirt and make it repel insects? Ex officio's Buzz Off line of clothing has a built-in mosquito repellent called permethrin.

Try this long-sleeve shirt in light colors - as mosquitoes are more attracted to dark colors. And lay off scented shampoos and soaps as some bugs love the smell too! Then you should be set.

$84.95