7/25/17

Traveling Gourmet: Lakeside Dining

Most of the day was spent in the kitchen yesterday. Now, almost all the food for our camping trip is prepared, and there will be very little cooking while we're at the lake. My day started making Blue Cherry Hand Pies from the Blue Cherry Pie Filling I made last week. Of course, I opened one jar right away to taste it, and it went straight into the refrigerator. Making a guilty pleasure dessert for our trip seemed a good way to use it.


I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour, which I've made before. Previously, I made the filling as the recipe suggests. This time, I simply substituted a heaping tablespoon of the Blue Cherry Pie Filling. And, honestly, I can't wait to eat one of these.

Next up, I made dinner for tonight, which is this Salmon Baked in Foil recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis. They had some pretty wild-caught King Salmon fillets at the grocery store, and so this seemed like a good choice. It's so simple. You make a sort of Italian "salsa" from tomatoes, onions, and Italian seasonings. Then, you wrap the whole thing up in foil to be baked in the oven.


I like to use the long heavy-duty foil for this. It makes tidy little pouches that are easy to make ahead and pack along. They went into the refrigerator just like this, and we'll bake them for dinner tonight. (It's always nice not to have to cook on the first night out.)


On the second night, we're going to have another of Giada's recipes...her Seared Rib-Eye Steak with Arugula and Roasted Red Pepper Salad. We're not big fans of arugula, and so I substitute spinach in place of the arugula. Also, we prefer hunks of tri-tip to the rib-eye. Tri-tip is a tougher cut, but I marinate it a day ahead in Better-than-A-1 Marinade from America's Test Kitchens. In my first year of blogging, I posted my adaptation of their recipe right here. It's so, so good. We don't eat any kind of steak any more without first using this marinade. For this trip, I made up the marinade and stored it in a jar. I'll pour it into a zip-lock bag with the meat tomorrow morning.

For the third night, we'll just barbecue up some boneless, skinless chicken thighs using the Sweet Cherry Barbecue Sauce I canned recently.


As a side dish, I'll be making some Grilled Green Beans. This is a new-to-me way to cook fresh green beans since we started the Cooking Light Diet. I don't grill them. Instead, I just fry them in a lidded hot frying pan. Otherwise, I do them just as the recipe suggests. They are so tasty that way.  I've also tried it with other vegetables. Broccoli and asparagus are good prepared this way, and I'm guessing just about any vegetable that would be good roasted could probably be done this way as well.

Finally, I made up the mix for yet another of Giada's recipes. (It's not that I'm such a huge Giada fan, but she does create some good recipes that lend themselves well to travel.) This is the sandwich mix for her Curried Chicken and Apple Wraps. It has everything *and* the kitchen sink. It's so tasty, and once it's mixed up, you have lunch for several days.


It has chicken, golden raisins, romaine lettuce, apples, garbanzo beans, goat cheese, curry, onion, mint, and some other stuff, all mixed together. Then you load it into a wrap, and it is delicious. This is one of my favorite sandwiches. We haven't had it in a while since, technically, it isn't on our diet. Still, I don't think we'll be straying too far with any of these meals, unless you count the Blue Cherry Hand Pies. But let's just not, okay? We're on vacation, if it's possible to take a vacation when retired.

So we'll be heading off at around noon today. If all goes well, I'll be able to blog while we're gone, although I might not blog every day. No matter what, I'll be back on Saturday.

13 comments:

Charlotte M. said...

The food looks good. Have a great time.

Lana said...

I think you are "glamping", not camping lol. I've never really had the opportunity to go camping, but I certainly like your style of "gourmet" camp food. Yum! I always think of camp food as hot dogs, sandwiches, and s'mores. I like your style and certainly your pre-planning/preparedness for delicious meals. Have fun and yes there are vacations when you're retired. You gotta get away from your "home" work.

Dorothy said...

And it's so nice of you to take us along too. Great looking "camp" food. Hope the kitties do good on this trip

Danette said...

Thanks for the great recipes. We are campers, also. I am going to try those Hand pies and the steak marinade. I'm sure we would love them both. It is great to have some food made ahead, especially for the first day getting there. Enjoy your camping trip!

gpc said...

I love me some hand pies, and oh man, that chicken salad looks delicious. Try not to suffer too much on this trip while you are roughing it. :)

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

I am soooo hungry after reading your post. I wish I enjoyed cooking a little more. I hope you have a great time camping. I am sure I'll still be hanging out here drooling over your pictures when you get back. Have a great week! --Andrea

crazy quilter said...

Yummy all those sound so wonderful. I know you will be eating very well on your trip. Have fun and stay cool. It is hot here in Texas and no rain in sight. Hoping for no kitty misadventures on this trip.

claudia said...

Now I'm hungry! All the food you have prepared looks yummy. Great vacation food! Have a blast, and yes, a vacation can be had when retired. It's a change from the things you would do every day at home. I need one for myself soon, but I am on a time schedule just trying to figure out all the steps I need to take to get a new mobile home brought to and set up on my property so I have an income! That's like a full time frustrating job! I will be taking a vacation when that ball gets rolling!

piecefulwendy said...

I wish I was as diligent as you in the kitchen. Your recipes have such a nice variety and look yummy. That wrap is one I may have to try- yum! Enjoy your vacation, forget about the calorie thing just for a bit. Enjoy that hand pie (they look delicious!).

Stitches said...

My mouth is actually watering after reading your post!! You are so organized in your preparations, that is really good! I'm going to try the steak marinade, the green beans and the wrap ingredients, they all sound wonderful to me. I hope you have a great "glamping" trip and I look forward to reading about it...

Ioleen said...

Sounds like you will be eating at some fancy restaurants on your camping trip, lol. The salad looks great.

Brown Family said...

i am sure it is possible for some people to take vacations after retirement. Maybe some day I will find out

quiltzyx said...

Lovely hand pies, and I have a feeling they tasted at leastas good as they look too! The chicken salad sounds quite tasty too. I made an interesting chicken salad last week. I had bought some snack boxes at Sprouts Market that had grapes, gouda cheese, trail mix (peanuts, almonds, raisins) and chicken. Well, I forgot the last one was in the fridge, so the chicken was a bit dry. So I chopped about 1/2 the grapes in half, made the cheese chunks smaller, chopped up the chicken a bit more and dumped in the trail mix. Then added sunflower seeds & some mayo to stick it all together. It was yummy! Maybe I'll do something similar with Greek-style yogurt next time.