Cast Iron Cooking, Yurts, and Campfires

Hello, everybody! I hope everyone had a fabulous Fourth of July! Something we love to do on those summer nights on the beach is to get a pack of industrial glow sticks for the kids. We head down in the dark and they can play tag in the pitch blackness... because they're wearing a brightly colored glow stick we can keep track of them, and they can find each other!

        These aren't the party sticks that fade out after a few hours. They're military grade and you can read by the light they produce. Great for camping!
 Now, I mention camping because not all of this trip is in a lovely beach house overlooking the sea. Oh, no... I have a few family members who prefer (why, WHY?) camping. Now, I can't quite make myself go all out camping (too much of that when I was a child!) but I can do a week in a
yurt .  (Click the link to read more.)

photo courtesy of Oregon State Parks

They're sort of a glorified tent and can be a great option for people who prefer... I don't know... a BED? And some HEAT? And a way to keep the bugs from crawling up into your blankets?

photo courtesy of Oregon State Parks

Some yurts are just gorgeous and even have showers. (*sob*) but these are part of the state park system and right on the beach so... no glamorous magazine yurts for us. Inside there are some beds and it's generally a place that children think is the coolest thing EVER but the mom is wondering how she'll cook when, although there's electricity, you aren't allowed to use it for cooking. That brings us back to cast iron. Remember the last post?

I finally learned that my pans shouldn't look like this.

Or this... Still upside down, too.

But like this! Ta-dah! Now, I'll get to the larger cast iron cooking in a bit, but first I have to mention this awesome thing I saw on my new favorite facebook page, Cast Iron Cooking.

Westlandcamping.com

 PIE IRONS. I'd never heard of such a thing. A lot of people have. A lot of people haven't. It seems regional. I'd like to say it's a Southern thing, since my Southern friends knew what I was talking about, but around here, nobody had. But I'm only guessing because my friend from Michigan knew what they were, too. Here's a video of someone making grilled cheese and ham sandwiches if you want to make yourself really hungry! As far as I can tell, you cane make pretty much ANYTHING in these. Fruit pies, nutella stuffed waffles, grilled sandwiches, puff pastries, hash browns and ham, chicken pot pie, fried eggs, a flaky apple pie, etc.

Sold by RomeIndustries.com

So, I ordered a few waffle irons (mine have long handles but I couldn't find a good picture), a few sandwich irons and a large round one for pizza. How fun is this? No more living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (with a side of sand). I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. But some recipes I'm going to use can be found here. (WARNING: that's a Pinterest link. Danger ahead. Time suck can be averted by not clicking!)
So, these can all be made in a skillet over a fire.

 I'll be making blueberry cobbler. Recipe is here.

Pizza nachos. Recipe is here.

Peach pie with cinnamon crust. Recipe is here.

Breakfast fritatta. Recipe is here.

And so many more. The camp is right on a lake, and the ocean is just the other direction, so I'm assuming there will be some fish to fry, too. :) I'm not a fryer, though, so I'll leave that up to hubby.  I' sure there will be some flubs and some inedible messes, but I'm hoping to really learn some great campfire recipes. And if not, by the time our week in a yurt is over and we're headed to the beach house, we'll all be MUCH thinner. And crankier. And every so much more appreciative of a stove.

Until next time, my friends! And don't forget, just one more week until Only Through Love releases! I'm biting my nails while I hang out on the beach. It's like waiting for a baby! *deep breaths* Until next time!