It's funny how the days slip away from you.
One minute an entire summer lies ahead, just ripe for the picking. Then you blink, and the focus suddenly shifts from beach vacations and hot-weather pastimes like catching lightening bugs and throwing backyard barbecues to back-to-school shopping and (tears) sending kids off to college.
Happily, there's still time to squeeze in one last hurrah before fall unfolds. May we suggest a campfire cookout?
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and what better way to celebrate America's national parks than to go camping in one of them? August is a terrific time to set up camp in one of many state parks. Closer still, why not pitch a tent and build a campfire in your own backyard? (For ideas, start your search at findyourpark.com.)
Not only is it nice to get out of the air-conditioning and into warm, fresh air but also there's nothing more satisfying than dinner cooked over a bed of hot coals or propane camp stove to a chorus of crickets.
Campfire cooking is fun because 1) it doesn't demand a ton of work; 2) it usually requires only one heavy pan, making for easy cleanup; and 3) it's a happy change from the everydayness of pulling together a meal in your kitchen.
So how do you go about it if your dad wasn't a Boy Scout leader? It's all in the planning.
Camp cookouts work best when you stay true to the Scout motto, "Be prepared!" This requires not only thinking seriously beforehand about what you want to eat for each meal but also how to portion and pack the ingredients into containers that travel well and require the least amount of work on arrival.
That means prepping as much food as you can beforehand (chopping vegetables, washing fruit, mixing marinades and stirring together sauces), and putting the exact amounts you need for a certain dishes in small containers or sealed plastic bags. Why bring an entire bottle of red pepper flakes when a tablespoon or so spooned into a Tic Tac container will suffice, and do you really need a 22-ounce bottle of ketchup for four hamburgers? In addition, freeze what's freezable the day beforehand _ it will act as its own ice pack.
Simplicity also is key. Good cookout recipes aren't complicated, which is not to say they can't be flavorful or hearty. All you need for a really good steak, for example, is a sizzling hot pan, some mushrooms and butter; breakfast can be as easy as chopped vegetables and sausage scrambled with eggs and crumbled cheese.
When planning your menu, choose sturdy foods that will stand up to being packed tight in a cooler, or tucked into the trunk with a tent and sleeping bags. For example, go with bananas for dessert instead of berries, and peppers and onions instead of lettuce.
A few tools are essential. Along with a sharp knife, tongs, and a heavy oven mitt to keep your own mitts safe when cooking food over coals, you'll need fireproof cookware. Cast-iron is your best friend here _ you can cook just about anything in it, either directly on coals, atop a grate or on a propane-fueled campstove, if you're taking the easy way out. Aluminum foil, which can be fashioned into packets for roasting foods or shaped into a makeshift pan for frying, is another must-have.
A sturdy grill grate, either with legs or without, also is a good idea as it will allow you to elevate food and pans over the fire pit. On a recent camping trip to Cook Forest, my husband rigged up a grate out of two old gas-grill grates bound together with wire, which we then propped on rocks. But you don't have to get that creative _ portable grates are cheap and easy to find even at tiny camp stores.
