Non-refrigerated food

[Mac Thamhais]

el bumpo

[AEiric Orvender]

Here's a good article on Camping without a cooler

another on non-refrigerated food for camping and Pennsic

Has stuff specifically for Pennsic.
and good recopies
including Lord's Salt

[Mac Thamhais]

One of the advantages of living in Central Drachenwald is that you are never terribly far from the nearest shop. So fresh is an option except on Sundays.

I vaguely recall (though I may have only dreamed it) an announcement awhile back that there was some sort of grocery store or mini mall or something of the like that was going to be open up very near the road that turns off the highway at coopers lake (pennsic). Does anyone know about this? Did it ever happen, or is it still in the planning stages? Or is the whole thing just a figment of my imagination?

So has anyone else heard anything about this? Or was it all just a hallucination on my part?

[Kilkenny]

One of the advantages of living in Central Drachenwald is that you are never terribly far from the nearest shop. So fresh is an option except on Sundays.

I vaguely recall (though I may have only dreamed it) an announcement awhile back that there was some sort of grocery store or mini mall or something of the like that was going to be open up very near the road that turns off the highway at coopers lake (pennsic). Does anyone know about this? Did it ever happen, or is it still in the planning stages? Or is the whole thing just a figment of my imagination?

So has anyone else heard anything about this? Or was it all just a hallucination on my part?

mmm... yeah. Pilot truck stop with McDonald's and Subway, showers, all the usual major truck stop stuff (CB radios, DVD's, truck bling)

Big Golden Arches that are visible from a large portion of Pennsic and brought a bunch of complaints last year.

It's maybe a quarter mile from I-79.

Gavin

[Konstantin the Red]

. . . there was some sort of grocery store or mini mall or something of the like that was going to be open up very near the road that turns off the highway at coopers lake (pennsic). Does anyone know about this? Did it ever happen, or is it still in the planning stages? Or is the whole thing just a figment of my imagination?

Has War demand overwhelmed supply at the campground store? I recall them doing a land-office business at least in commodities such as ice and bug repellent.

[Mac Thamhais]

So are grocery type items available anywhere in this truck stop?

To Konstantin: As I understand it (and I admit that I have only gleaned this from others, never having attended Pennsic myself) it is less a case of demand overwhelming supply at the Coopers Lake store, and more a case of cost overwhelming what people are willing to pay, at least for some items.

[Destichado]

Regarding meats: Please make sure that the products you pick up are sold as shelf stable. We, for instance, make several "wisconsin" summer sausages and none of them are shelf stable, and many salted "country" hams must be refrigerated, too. We all have refrigerators, there's simply not as much demand for shelf stable meat products, so we manufactures have adjusted a lot of our products to maximize taste rather than unrefrigerated shelf life.

Shelf stable meats are definitely still out there, but cave emptor. Please don't buy a product thinking it can do something it was never intended for.

[Bob H]

Did anybody says Couscous. Very easy, 1 for 1 volume with boiling water, covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and voila! Use chicken stock instead of plain water for taste. I like to add some onions, dried raisins and curry powder. Lots of possible possibilities.

Pad

And in that vein, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabouleh">Tabbouleh!</a>

You can make it with cold water, you just need a piece of muslin or similar to use in pressing the excess water out of it. Bulgar wheat soaked for 30 min. or so in cold water, press out water, mix with chopped sweet onion, tomato, mint, lemon juice, and some olive oil. It has a very fresh taste and is good, healthy food. It sounds a bit of a bother compared to just opening a can, but all you need is a bowl (the serving bowl is fine), cloth, knife and something to chop the vegetables on.

Asian markets are another good source, they commonly have a large section of dried foods - fish, sea vegetables, etc. Rice is dead simple to cook, and the larger the batch the easier it is to get right. Brown rice is better for you, and doesn't leave you hungry again an hour after eating.

Just from my own experience, protein builds strength, but complex carbs give endurance. From what I've seen of Pennsic from the reports of others, I'd shoot for endurance. And if nobody likes "rabbit food", just ply them with beer. Beer's good for you, it's made from grain and yeast and other nutritious stuff. Pretty sure.

[mordreth]

As for meat, you could always try fresh...real fresh.

We're not allowed to kill and eat the freaks that show up to events.

Get that out of your mouth right now young lady, you have no idea where it's been

[Baron Alejandro]

As for meat, you could always try fresh...real fresh.

We're not allowed to kill and eat the freaks that show up to events.

Get that out of your mouth right now young lady, you have no idea where it's been

<img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/snork.gif">

[Avitoria_vidua]

Our camp serves fresh eggs and meats for breakfast for the entire 2nd week, but for all other meals we can our foods ahead of time. Home canning allows us the freedom of simply reheating dinner on busy evenings, without having to resort to pasta every night. We also like the lower salt content of home canning and the idea that almost anything can be canned. From beef stew to banana bread, variety need not be an issue.

[Robert of Canterbury]

Bump.

Because it is the start of another camping season and it's a good time to be thinking about such things.

[LadyRed]

Does the collective wisdoms have any suggestions for no-cook at site recipes?

We usually get up, cold coffee or tea and what ever is handy to grab then off to the field. Lunch is usually what ever I haul down to the field and can stuff in people between bouts.

Dinner is almost always something quick and then the roving band of idiots is off to see how many bottles they can murder tonight.

I usually have apple and cheese slices in the cooler, cream cheese with chopped dried fruit wrapped in ham. Pita or naan.

Finger foods.

[ursulageorges]

Does the collective wisdoms have any suggestions for no-cook at site recipes?
[...]

I usually have apple and cheese slices in the cooler, cream cheese with chopped dried fruit wrapped in ham. Pita or naan.

Finger foods.

Since you usually pack pita or naan, here is my medieval hummus recipe! The source for the original is Lilia Zaouali, trans. M.B. DeBevoise, Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.

***

Puree of Chickpeas with Cinnamon and Ginger
(A thirteenth-century Egyptian recipe)

Cook the chickpeas in water, then mash them in a mortar to make a puree. Push the puree through a sieve for wheat, unless it is already fine enough, in which case this step is not necessary. Mix it then with wine vinegar, the pulp of pickled lemons, and cinnamon, pepper, ginger, parsley of the best quality, mint, and rue that have all been chopped and placed on the surface of the serving dish [zubdiyya]. Finally, pour over [this mixture] a generous amount of oil of good quality.

My redaction:

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and boiled until soft
1/2 cup olive or un-toasted sesame oil
1/4 salted lemon, pureed
1/3 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 cup chopped herbs
Pepper & salt

Drain the chickpeas (you may want to reserve some of the cooking water to thin the puree). Puree in a food processor. Stir in the other ingredients.

***

The salted lemon here is a Moroccan-style preserved lemon. They're pretty easy to make (you need lemons, a jar, a lot of salt, and a couple of weeks in the sun), or you could fake the effect with lemon juice and salt.

If I wanted to make a complete spread based on this recipe & a quick trip to the grocery store, I'd also serve olives, almonds or pistachios, lemonade with a dash of rosewater, and maybe some fresh fruit.

--Ursula Georges.

[Baron Conal]

For that many people I'd be making some scouting
missions to places like...

Gordon Food Service
Costco
Sam's Club


to see what they have....


Even if all you get is ideas.

[earnest carruthers]

Pies, tarts, fried things, nuts, fruit, salads, bread, butter.


"The salted lemon here is a Moroccan-style preserved lemon. They're pretty easy to make (you need lemons, a jar, a lot of salt, and a couple of weeks in the sun), or you could fake the effect with lemon juice and salt. "

Oh, yes oh yes.

My first batch is ready, as mentioned elsewhere I am surprised at the perfume the pickel has, it is not as sharp as i would have thought and how the rind is soft and edible.

I will whiz some up in hummus as you suggest, YUM.

[Steven H]

I agree, this thread is awesome.

The only suggestion I have to add is that stale bread can still be used as a plate or bowl, and made edible again.

Cheers,
Steven

[Baron Conal]

I agree, this thread is awesome.

The only suggestion I have to add is that stale bread can still be used as a plate or bowl, and made edible again.

Cheers,
Steven

lol good bread rarely gets stale around here.....

[William Freskyn Murray]

The "corner store" at Pilot near the entrance doesn't have much in the way of groceries - standard convenient store foods so if you want chips and slim jims it's good, or if you want McD's or a Sub and coffee but for "feeding the camp" it's not much help.

The Coopers have a store in the food court that has fresh fruite, cheeses, dairy products, etc but I don't remember seeing a lot of meat. The prices are probably 10% - 15% more than you would pay at a grocery store (and much higher than you would pay in bulk at some place like BJ's, Sam's or Aldi's) but I thought they were fair for the convenience of stopping while wandering the merchants to pick something up for the next morning.

Our routine with myself and our son at home is

breakfast - cereal & banana + coffee for me and juice for him
lunch - yogurt & sandwich + a piece of fruit usually
dinner - meat & potatoes, stews, typical american family dinner cuisine

So for Pennsic last year (our first camping with our son) we did

breakfast - brought two boxes of cereal, two bottles of juice and a french press to make coffee. We bought milk and bananas every two days or so at the Coopers.

lunch - brought a loaf of bread, pb&j and some snack type food (granola bars, trail mix, etc). If anything caught our eye at the Coopers store the night before we grabbed it and ate that for lunch too.

dinner - we pre-cooked a couple meals (beef stew, chicken stew, can't remember) and froze them. We had one cooler that had frozen food and one that was for drinks, etc. We ate the frozen dinners the first four nights, Wednesday night ate in the food court before hitting midnight madness and then the rest of the week we ate pasta, stew made from canned chicken, etc.

Again, this was feeding a family of 3 not a camp of 20 so and not sure if this is truly expandable.

[don]

What about Cornish Pasties?

If youve never heard of them, their "sort of" like a Pizza Pocket.

You take a round of dough and fill it with a stew or a meat/potato/veg/fruit mix(think of a tv dinner wrapped in dough) and bake.

One option is to look at http://www.cooks.com for ideas.

Don

[FrankManic]

The simplest thing I've done for a week long campout is a basket of carrots, potatoes, turnips, apples and anything else that will keep. With salt and pepper you can make a very acceptable vegetable soup with as near as no effort.