Category Archives: MAKING THINGS

CAMPING FOOD.

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There are many perks associated with camping.  Fresh air, connecting with nature, connecting with friends and family, hiking, stargazing and the best thing of all is eating camp food.  Nothing beats cooking a big meal after a long hike.  There’s something very special about the effort that goes into building a fire, chopping up the veggies, marinating the meat all while cracking a few cold beers under the trees.  Cooking a delicious meal in the middle of the wilderness is very special thing that lets us get in touch with our primitive selves.
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Meal times at camp could be the times where people connect the most.  Maybe because of the smell of the food, the collaborative help or just the general buzz of the vultures (your friends) taking bites of food as you try and cook a meal.  Tacos are always a welcome guest at campsites.
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Prepare some chili at home, bring it camping and simply heat it up over the open fire.
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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially when camping.  We all know waking up with the smell of bacon is the absolute best, add that to the smell of fresh air and a dash of campfire smell and we’ve got the holy trinity of smells. The best breakfast recommendation will always be breakfast burritos.  But when you’re in a rush a quick hard boiled egg and some snacks will do just fine.  Get in touch with mother nature, eat Lunchables…..mmm  delicious sodium.
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Tri-tip cooking in its own delicious meat juices.
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Get some frozen hash browns, add cheese and stick on the fire.
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I quick mash of an avocado with a pinch of spices for your starving friends.
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If a simple can of Spaghetti O’s is not your thing, you can always upgrade it by adding spiced sausages, tomatoes, onions and basil to make a semi-upscale meal (ok not upscale at all).  If anything this may qualify as stoner food.  mmm stoner food.
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Eating is no big deal even if you cant (or refuse) to cook.  Simply stick a hot link on the fire.  Or eat a bunch of s’mores.  mmm s’mores.
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LET’S ROAST SOME BACON AROUND THE FIRE!

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As a young child I would visit my family in Hungary.  There were certain traditions that we brought back home to America and still practice today.  Some of these traditions make more sense on a farm in rural Hungary but sometimes you gotta make due with whichever setting you’ve got. Plus some food traditions were just too delicious to leave back in the motherland. This pastime is best enjoyed in the countryside, camping or in your garden.
‘Szalona Sutes‘ or ‘Bacon Roasting‘ is a tradition that is best enjoyed with family and friends.
This is a Hungarian style BBQ!  So instead of one person standing in front of a hot flame cooking, you’ve got several people sweating it out.  This is really fun and builds a since of community.
Before the meal begins everyone enjoys  a shot of Palinka (Hungarian brandy) to celebrate the gathering.  Beers can also be consumed throughout the cookout. Highly recommended!  After all, its a barbecue.

Here’s what you need:
A fire and heavy sharpened sticks (or a long metal skewer will do for all you fancies out there).
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Fresh cut veggies such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions and radishes.
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Pork products such as pork belly or thick cut bacon (preferably with lots of fat), Hungarian smoked sausage and some nice smoked pork tenderloin.
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Bread…preferably thick rustic french bread, shepherders bread or if you’re lucky then this delightful Hungarian style bread.
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Put all your meats on the stick and it is rotated on the fire.  You gotta keep spinning or your fat will burn.  You want to make the bacon crispy not charred.
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The key is to get the bacon drippings on your fresh bread and even let them drip on the veggies.   You’ll notice the bacon and sausage drippings will activate the flames as it drips into the embers.
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You cant rush the bacon.   Give it some time.  While you wait and continually spin you can snack on your greased bread.
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After you see you’ve crisped your bacon you can start chopping the cooked bits off.
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This is a great old-fashioned tradition that’s great fun with good people. There’s really nothing better than laughing at the one person that constantly keeps getting smoke in their eyes. Because we all know ‘smoke follows beauty’.
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All photos are taken by me or my cousin Anita from Hungary.
The old timey photo courtesy of
http://lacacseke.hu/

LEFTOVER MAGIC

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Sometimes when I’m at a restaurant and scanning the menu I often think about my next days leftover meal option.
I ask myself important questions such as

“what will withstand the refrigerator elements?”
“what will I crave tomorrow?”
“what leftovers will taste delicious in burrito or taco form?”

EXAMPLE 1 Below:
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Leftover Thai food :
Pork Larb (a minced meat salad with spices-extra spicy for me obv), little jasmine rice, chopped cilantro and onions.  I toasted this whole delicious little baby in a pan to finish it off.  Don’t forget the sriracha.  Leftover whattt??

EXAMPLE 2 Below:
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Leftover Grocery Store Rotisserie Chicken:
Grab your favorite BBQ sauce (mine was Famous Dave’s Devil Spit obv because its spicy).  Saturate the shredded pieces, add chopped cilantro and onion, toss on a corn tortilla and viola!

The moral to the story here kids is: anything and everything tastes good in burrito or taco form.  The end.