Who says you can't camp in style??

Every year about one third of our population goes camping. There is quite an extensive list of "must take" when you go on a camping trip. Of course, food is a very important part of this trip away. On Memorial Weekend, my husband and I decided to take a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were thrilled to immerse ourselves into nature. And to finally put all our collected camp gear to use.

We made the couple hour drive to Estes Park, met up with some friends for lunch. After a couple of Elk burgers our group decided to take a hike with friends. We witnessed a beautiful waterfall, as the winters last breath was leaving the mountains. Before nightfall sprang upon us we needed to set up camp, get our fire going and start dinner. Our campsite was incredible, the campground called it the honeymoon suite and after arrival, we understood why. We had a large site are with gorgeous Longs Peak puffing it's chest at the valleys below. Tall pine trees kept us privately tucked away and we were in heaven. We set up camp and started to ready our evening.

We brought most of the "typical" camping foods but tried to jazz it up a little bit. Instead of regular burgers, we brought turkey burgers. We brought sandwich thins, instead of giant hunks of bread. But of course we couldn't help ourselves with bringing bacon and eggs. (They make everything better.) I wanted to relish being out in the middle of nowhere and not have to have fancy food. But I knew there had to be more creative ways to prepare the food. So as my husband collected firewood, I started with our cocktail for the evening.

I found this awesome peach bellini wine freezer...perfect for camping! All I had to do was fill it with wine, water and then freeze. Talk about simple! I poured each of us a glass and felt excited for the camping trip to unfold. Once I had my cocktail to sip on, I started to prepare dinner. We were having bacon-cheese-turkey burgers. We wanted to use the grill that came on the fire pit, so I had to figure out an easy way to keep all the food on the grill. Obviously the turkey burgers and buns would be fine but the bacon, if left alone would probably fall through the cracks into the fire. I had seen people create a bacon lattice on turkeys and chickens and felt this would be a perfect way to cook this bacon for our burgers. I cut a few slices and laced them together creating a bacon patty.  Then we put everything on the grill and waited patiently. As the flame hissed with bacon grease, we enjoy our mountainous bliss. We watched as the sun faded behind the pine trees and scarfed down our healthy yet hearty camp fire meal. We sat by the fire for quite awhile staring into the flames and talking about how much we'd miss Colorado. (We were moving back to Texas in a few short days.) We would miss the smell of the mountains, the chilly summer rains, being the first ones on the ski lifts, grabbing a local brew at the Dam Brewery, being able to spot the mountains from almost any activity we were doing, the color of the autumn leaves and our cousins.

 

The next day we hiked six miles straight up to Green Mountain. I remember my hands swelling up so much I thought my pinky finger pad would pop. Hydration was important. Thankfully we were mostly shaded by the towering trees. Once we reached the top we sat down to enjoy the panoramic view of mountains and valleys. Tiny, social chipmunks scurried up to see if we had any bits of food for them to munch on. Then we found the seal and took a picture of our wedding rings on it to symbolize our exceptional year in colorful Colorado.

When we returned from our hike we realized there were no showers at our campground. We made a discovery trip into Estes Park and found some showers at a Laundromat. Unfortunately it was cash only and our pockets were empty AND to top it all off the place closed in 10 minutes. We were sweaty and desperate for a shower before hunkering down in our tent. The nicest girl doing laundry must have saw the looks of exasperation on our red faces and paid for our showers. We gratefully accepted, offered a Starbuck's gift card (which she refused to accept) and hurried into our cleansing stalls. After a good scrub and rinse we were as good as new, but hungry. We made our way back to the grounds and cheffed up some good ole freeze dried camping food. I chose beef stroganoff and I served Evan cheesy chili mac n cheese. We cuddled next to our fire and ate in silence.

This may have been our last camping trip in 2013 but we knew we'd be back for more.

 

Have a great end of your summer! xoxo Lo

 Oh and if you see a bear locker on your camp site...use it!

Mountain Getaway

Now that my husband and I live in Colorado, trips to the mountains every so often are essential. This time my husband was bogged down with work so I decided to go all on my own. BUT that didn't mean I had to throw all my meals by the wayside. If this was truly my personal getaway for some solace, I deserved some well-thought out, delicious, soul-warming meals.

October is a beautiful time to visit the mountains, the Aspens are gorgeous hues of yellow, gold and maroon but it is quite cold so you definitely want meals that make you feel comforted.

I decided to make my breakfast for the week before I left:

Uber-Healthy Banana Bread
2/3 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 bananas
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
3 Tbsp chia seeds
1 cup oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together, add the egg into your mixer. Toast sesame seeds for depth of flavor. I always freeze my bananas once they start to brown, I throw them in the microwave for a minute or so to thaw and then they are perfect for banana bread. Add them to your mixer, once combined start with dry ingredients. Add in flour a 1/4 cup at a time, then baking soda and salt. Next add your oats and seeds. Once the batter is combined pour into a loaf pan. I use silicone loaf pans and they are fantastic, no sticking! Bake for one hour and let cool for 10 minutes before taking out of pan.

I love banana bread, my mom's recipe is delicious but sometimes I like to change it up. For this recipe I added some super healthy ingredients to help keep my energy up while I was out and about in the mountains. If you have little ones, it's super easy to hide healthy ingredients when baking. Eat while warm and you will be in heaven!



French Onion Soup
2 large onions (sliced thin)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 carton of beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
Gruyere cheese
loaf of crusty bread

Heat your butter and oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Add your sliced onions and fold into the butter mixture so each onion slice is coated. Let the onions carmelize and cook down for 10-15 minutes or so. While enjoying your getaway with a glass of wine, pour about 1/2 cup into the onions. Let alcohol cook off and dry the onions, about 5 minutes. If you have flour on hand (I
 didn't) sprinkle a little to coat the onions, this

helps the soup become thick. Next add in the beef stock and let reduce down for another 15 minutes. While soup is cooking down, slice a few slices of bread and sprinkle Gruyere cheese on top, put them in the broiler to get all bubbly. Once soup is ready, ladel into bowls, place a slice of bread topped with the bubbly Gruyere cheese and dive in. This soup warmed up my frigid soul right away while sitting by the fire, gazing out the window at gorgeous snow-capped mountains.

Chocolate-Raspberry Tiramisu
6 oz container of marscapone cheese
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups espresso (warm)
2 packages of Lady Finger cookies
chocolate shavings (garnish)
2 packages of raspberries

Chocolate Zabagilone
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup prune juice (or Marsala)
pinch of salt

Scoop your marscapone cheese out of the container into a large bowl, set aside so it can reach room temperature. Meanwhile, beat the heavy cream and 1/4 cup sugar in a standing mixer until soft peaks start to form. Fold this whipped cream into the marscapone cheese, set aside while you make your chocolate zabagilone (mousse mixture).

Add two tablespoons of cream and chocolate bits to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often until smooth and melted. Set aside and keep warm.  Whisk the egg yolks together, add the prune juice, sugar and salt until well blended in a glass bowl. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Whisk the egg mixture over the simmering water until thick and creamy, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, fold egg mixture into chocolate mixture. Cove and chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Once chocolate mousse is chilled, fold into the marscapone mixture. Then chill this mousse completely, about another 30 minutes. Meanwhile brew your espresso and pour into a bowl, whisk remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until dissolved. Find your glass trifle container and dip your lady finger cookies into the sugary espresso mixture, place on the bottom of the trifle. Be quick when dipping the cookies because they are fragile and will fall apart fast. Once mousse is cooled, you will spoon the mixture over the first layer of cookies, top with a layer of raspberries and chocolate shavings then repeat until you've reached the top of the trifle. End with a layer of raspberries and chocolate shavings. Let cool for about six hours before serving so the layers can marry together.

You can also put this in a loaf pan if you don't have a trifle, then when you serve you'll place the solidified tiramisu on a serving platter (what I did in the picture above). My company loved this dessert so much I am thrilled to share it with my family for Christmas!

When you spend a getaway on your own, it is a perfect time to make your favorite recipes or try out new ones you can potentially share with company. As much as I love writing, it's time for me to spend some time outdoors in the gorgeous mountain air!

Enjoy! xoxo Lo