weird signs 8/22/09

i love weird signs. this one seen at a state park in york county, on a kayak trip last year..... my thanks to michael for permission to use his photo :-)

fry-bake pan pizza

okay, i tried the pizza in the fry-bake pans today. i started out by heating the last four charcoal briquets i had in the van in my grilliput collapsible firebowl (that is a whole 'nother blog post, my firebowl!) i used a dry pizza crust mix that i mixed with 1/2 cup warm water from the tea kettle, and let it sit for 10 minutes in a warm place (the dashboard of the van). i smooshed it out into the bottom of the expedition size pan (10 1/2") and added sauce (ragu pizza sauce from a jar)....

and shredded mozarella with "jamaica me crazy", a pepper blend i got at Granzella's this spring, liberally sprinkled on top.

i put the four hot charcoal briquets on top of the pan, which was on my butane one-burner stove using the scorch-buster riser bar. the flame was set on about medium (i never said this was scientific) and i set the timer for the 10 minutes recommended on the crust package. after 10 minutes, it was nowhere near done. it took an additional 10 minutes to finish the baking to get this....

which was a really good tasting pizza that was just slightly undercooked, meaning that the cheese wasn't as bubbly as i would have liked, and the crust, though done, was not browned much.

i think there may be a couple reasons for this.....one, i only had the 4 briquets on top. if you remember my post a few days ago about the cinnamon rolls, i had a real twig bonfire going on that one. i think with more briquets or additional twigs, i would have gotten a better temp for baking. and second, there was a breeze tonight, and the flame did alot of sputtering. i imagine that would effect the temperature. i think i will turn the flame up higher next time.

still the pizza was really good, and certainly a nice break from the usual for dinner. i'm gonna try again next week, and see if i get better results. i'll keep ya posted!

farm pics

i hadn't been planning on spending the summer here, but i am glad i did. the weather has been mild and wonderful, only getting warm and muggy a little this last week or so. i have been getting alot done and experienced alot of spiritual growth, for which i am deeply grateful. i keep saying that it doesn't get much better than this, but then it does :-)looking out the rear window of the rondyvan at mutt surveying his 100 acre kingdom.

my brothers have been working hard at returning the farm to it's native habitat, planting wild grasses and reintroducing wildlife to the area.

i grumbled alot about that at first, as i am not one to handle change well. i should say that as past tense, because part of my spiritual growth has been finding serenity even when change frightens me. when they did select timbering along the swamp, i was upset at the loss of trees. but the understory took off, and the berry bushes flourished, providing food for us and the wildlife. so i will be a little slower to judge, now, without hearing and seeing first. a good lesson.

i look out over the fields now, and see diversity and growth and

beautiful flowers :-)

more babies

a few weeks ago, everytime i opened the door to go outside, i was being startled by a wren who flew shreiking past my face and up into the pine tree. i generally did a little shreiking myself, because i'm usually not quite in the moment, or thinking too much, if you will. i couldn't figure out why he was always at my door, until i went to water the flowers one day.....

and discovered this. they were just barely getting their voice, so i would have discovered them sooner than later, as they went on to do a little shreiking for themselves. loudly. there was nothing to be done for it, as i was afraid to relocate the watering can for fear of the babies being abandoned. so instead, to spare my nerves..... i posted this inside the kitchen door......

the babies have since moved on, and there is peace on the porch once again.

thermos cozy

i recently picked up a double-walled stainless steel thermos to try out for thermos cooking. initial attempts with brown rice and steel cut oats and wheatberries brought mixed results, which i will chronicle in a later post. one thing i decided was to try to make a cozy that would increase heat retention and inprove cooking.

so i have this friend. really. and when he's not out slummin', sometimes he talks to me on the phone and we solve the worlds problems. or even my thermos cooking ones. so the other night ron starts, in the way he is so talented for doing, to throw out all these ideas on how to improve on the cozy i am dreaming up, and then to top it off, he leads me to believe that i am even thinking them up on my own! how sweet is that?

so anyhow, my Stanley Thermos Food Jar is 7" high, and 4" in diameter. i am telling you this because i don't have the can of coconut milk handy that is my universal item for size reference. eh. the jar holds 20 oz., which is a perfect size to cook a meal for me, and not have to worry about refrigerating leftovers. this jar is also unique in that it's mouth is wider than any others i've seen, making clean-up easier. i started out by cutting a sheet of reflectix 16" by 8 1/2 ". this was easy using a 16" wide roll of reflectix that tara left here last year.
i taped it around the jar securely, but not too snugly, using that silver foil tape backed with paper that laren told me was perfect for joining reflectix together. it did this very well, and quite sturdily, considering it is the flimsiest feeling stuff...like sticky tinfoil.

ask michael about the time i sent him out in the dark along a highway with just inches of shoulder to park on, to try to to tape my headlight back on with this stuff, after smacking a deer and bringing a new level of excitement to his vacation. he may have repressed the memory :-)

i cut two discs of reflectix to make a double layer base for the first cylinder

and taped them in place.

i made a second cylinder of reflectix just slightly larger than the first, and put a double thickness base on it.

the larger cylinder slides over the top of the smaller cylinder, efeectively and quickly giving you a double walled cozy surrounding the whole jar. it is light and compact and will work for keeping heat in, for cooking.....or out, for an iced drink.

the project, once ron had inspired it, was simple, and took about 15 minutes to complete. now i can begin, in earnest, my thermos cooking experiments.......

foldable pocket cooker

here is another piece of cooking gear that i have. it is called the foldable pocket cooker, and is available from Sportsman's Guide or at amazon. it retails for about 12.95. it comes in a nylon carry case, as shown below.
i really like this little cooker. it uses twigs, pinecones or even a couple of charcoal briquets for fuel. i have even used those sticks of compressed wood that they sell in camping stores as firestarters. there is a door that opens to adjust draft or to feed the fire.

here you see me using it with 4 lumps of charcoal. the can of coconut milk is for size reference. i am cooking some boneless chicken with garlic and peppers in a foil pouch. it came out really good, and didn't take long to cook. not very scientific, cause i didn't time it when these pics were taken. nor did i take pics of the finished meal. i was hungry :-)

this stove is kinda heavy for backpacking, but i love the idea of using natural fuels. it is a great little back-up stove for the van. i find cooking in a pot on top of this a little unnerving, because i am clumsy and always fear knocking my meal hither and yon, but i love it for foil packet cooking.

i have another piece of gear for cooking. that's the next post. please share any experiences you have had with this stove, and i highly recommend you readers subscribe to comments, cause we get some really informative ones!