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Backpacker Magazine – November 2008

How to Do Everything - Cooking

Eat like a pro with our recipes for every course.

by: Annette McGivney

Hiking | Packing & Planning | Camping | Gear | First Aid & Health | Cooking


Tea/Cocktails | Bake Cinnamon Rolls with a Twiggy Fire/New Twist on S'Mores | Cook: Trout (Without a Pan), Steak, In the Rain | Fuel Yourself at the Gas Station

BREW WILD TEA
Bring a field guide and forage for a sippable treat that goes far beyond your typical English breakfast blend.

  • Pine or spruce needles Brew up a handful of these vitamin C-packed needles to help soothe a cold.
  • Dandelion Reduce PMS symptoms and bloating with a cup of tea made from its vitamin A-rich leaves.
  • Sage Steep these purple-gray leaves to soothe a sore throat and freshen your mouth.
  • Mormon tea Use the twigs of this aptly named plant (formally known as ephedra) to make a tonic for upset stomachs.

 

4 BACKCOUNTRY COCKTAILS
1) Frozen blackberry margarita: Fresh-picked berries + snow + tequila
2) Watermelon snowfield: Fruit punch sports drink + snow + Bacardi 151 rum + maraschino cherry
3) Morning elephant: Amarula Cream liqueur + coffee
4) Mountain storm cosmo: Lime juice + cranberry juice concentrate + triple sec + vodka + lime Kool-Aid powder + hailstones


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READERS COMMENTS

@Bill Harrison: ibuprofen + alcohol will cause stomach bleeding. Mixing the two is a VERY bad idea.
Posted: Oct 06, 2009 nsaids + booze = bad

Take an extra piece of foil , put it on the ground, step on it to leave a footprint from your boots. Use masking tape to put info on corner , put in car. You get hurt or lost. You can be tracked easily by a pro SAR team.
Posted: Aug 30, 2009 Ken

About the steak dinner...what do you guys think about this...?
Pre-slice, oil, and season...seal and freeze...??

Posted: Aug 27, 2009 Juany

I take my kids back country camping frequently and the articule suggestions are good. They carry all their gear and food. By the way any normal grocery would have these supplies with out the stigma. Its a couple of days, The point is to have fun not stress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted: Jul 04, 2009 tcl

might be a good idea to study a wild edible plant guide...berries and snow?! hardly even in alaska!!...i know few backpackers who depend on so much alcohol! i might carry a beer on short easy hikes...and cook with it also...maybe...unlikely even that...
Posted: Jan 28, 2009 lina

Good suggestions on the pine needle tea and the dandylion leaves. (even if you don't have PMS) We boil Dandylion leaves at home with bacon bits and a little vinegar. Tastes as good as Collard or Turnip Greens, and healthy too.
Posted: Jan 23, 2009 Wayne

I just eat tropical trail mix - taste's great and is plenty healthy. Not all that heavy either... sure beats gas station food, even if it's all you eat for a week.
Posted: Jan 15, 2009 Clémens

As for Back Country Cocktails, I prefer 101 proof Wild Turkey straight(it's lighweight , effective and efficient) ... one and a half ounces of this and three IB's will ensure a good night's sleep almost anywhere ..
Posted: Jan 15, 2009 Bill Harrison

NOW YOUR ARE COOKING THOSE BACKCOUNTRY COCKTAILS REALLY HIT THE SPOT!
Posted: Jan 14, 2009 S'MILES!

LOOKS LIKE FAST FOOD TIME AGAIN AND TRYTO PREPARE SOME SOUP SOME EASY WAY !
Posted: Jan 14, 2009 UP FROMTHE MIDWEST!

HEY FELLA OR GAL!LEAVE THE WOOD TO MOTHER NATURE USE THE GOOD OLD DUTCH OVEN AND CHARCOAL !WORKS WELL MY GOOD MAN!
Posted: Jan 14, 2009 sylvia mccullough

who would pack triple sec?


Posted: Jan 14, 2009 donnie

Skip the mini mart. If you resort to gas station food you have not planned. This may do for escaping convicts who may die at any moment, but would be an insult to most packers
Posted: Jan 06, 2009 jc

nice suggestions, but i would be hard pressed to freshly pick berries and have snow.
Posted: Jan 02, 2009 j

i have learned that taking heavy duty alum foil is a real handy do all. small cook stove wind breaker,fish wrapper for the fire,reflect that small flashlight into a bigger light,wrap that hot rock for your feet in the sleepbag,i think with a little thought this stuff is a necessity.
Posted: Jan 02, 2009 melvin steger

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