Mountains and campfire cooking

Every year around third week of August the reality of summer ending soon seems to arrive with a bit of anxiety. How many times did we go camping this year? How many times did we go to the beach? While I can let the beach go, camping – not so much. For the single fact that I find no good substitute for an old fashioned campfire. In New England, we head north to the White Mountains National Forest. I hesitated to give away our favorite spot, but here it is: Russell Pond. Over years, and through experience, we made a decision to stay only in National Forest campgrounds, and not private, commercial campgrounds. This year, on a last weekend of August (even though the temperatures were positively screaming fall with 46F degrees at night), we headed north with barely any preparations. It was a mad dash out of town on a Friday afternoon, by the time we finished to stake the tent, it was dark. And there were stars everywhere, and 3 bundles of wood…

The next day’s hike was carefully tailored to the fact that I wanted maximum time cooking at the campsite. So off we hiked to Lonesome Lake, thinking we were in just for the views, but it turned out to be a ‘culinary experience’, too. Lonesome Lake hut is a stop on Appalachian Trail, staffed by AMC volunteers and served a fantastic fare for a modest price. Hence two bowls of the best spicy lentil soup for us. We circled around the bakery table, but resisted.

Back at the campground, it was time to soak the corn, dice the tomatoes we brought in from our own backyard, and the basil. This simple pasta dish lends itself perfectly to cooking by the campfire. We always carry camping stove to boil the water quickly for pasta or coffee, but the rest of the magic happens over the wood fire. Yes, I brought my own parmesan cheese, too. Suddenly, we were glamping…Some of us were even heating up Chinese takeout spicy fish and rice, but that will remain a secret.