Don’t break out the bread and bologna at the first hint of rain. Though it’s a little trickier to camp cook when it’s raining, some of your best meals and best memories include the soggy days when sightseeing and other outdoor fun may be limited.
If you’re camper camping with a kitchenette, then it’s business as usual. Rainy days are good times to try out some of the more exotic and time intensive recipes. If you’ve been thinking about trying a complicated camp casserole or making bread, then a rainy day is the perfect time to putter around in the camper kitchen.
A good family recipe to keep the troops busy and involved when it’s too messy to play outside is “Fried Fruit Pies.”
Fried Fruit Pies
2 cans biscuits
1 can fruit filling (any flavor)
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
cooking oil
Put about ¼ inch of cooking oil in the bottom of a stand alone griddle pan or in a frying pan on the stove burner. Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Give each camper a large canned biscuit or 2 small biscuits. Each camper will roll out the biscuit or biscuits to the thinness of a pie shell. Put a tablespoon or so of fruit filling in the biscuit and fold over like an omelet, or if using small biscuits, put the filling in the center of one rolled out biscuit and use the second as a top (making a round pie). Seal the edges of the biscuit so that the fruit can’t be seen. Use a fork to go around the edges making little line marks around the opening. Dip both sides of the crimped pie in sugar/cinnamon. Carefully place pie in hot oil. Lightly brown. Flip over and brown the other side.
If you’re camping without kitchen facilities, then remember that you can’t use outdoor cooking equipment or techniques inside. Do not give in to the temptation to move the camp stove inside the tent, and don’t try to tarp over the cooking area. Such plans are not safe and could result in injury or even death.
Though you can’t protect your fire source from the elements, you can suit up for outdoor cooking. A rain poncho or waterproof jacket and floppy rain hat work great for manning the rainy day cooking project.
Remember that rain comes in waves. You may end up cooking later than planned, but if you wait and watch, you’ll likely find a lull for quick cooking a hot meal. Heat and eat items like canned meats and vegetables take only a few minutes to heat. Hot dogs are also quick and easy.
Be sure to keep your cooking gear dry prior to firing up. Your camp stove will likely be hard (if not impossible) to start if it gets wet. Likewise, a charcoal or wood fire will be very difficult to get going if wood is damp to wet. Keep such items in a dry place like the trunk of your vehicle until ready to use. It’s also good to invest in a small watertight container to hold fire starter materials like dryer lint or wood shavings.
When building a fire on a rainy day, then the following steps will help increase the odds of success:
1. Select an elevated spot for the fire. A fire pan can be used, or dirt can be mounded to lift the fire area higher than the surrounding areas.
2. Use dry fire starter and kindling (or dry charcoal).
3. Go with a teepee style fire. Put the fire starter materials down first. Build a small teepee with kindling around the starter. Light and add more kindling until the fire is burning steady and hot.
4. Use dry wood or forage and get pieces closer to the forest floor. The dryer the wood the better, but damp wood will burn if the initial teepee is burning hot.
5. Both stick cooking and pie iron cooking are quick. These techniques involve individual portions rather than larger amounts which will need more heat and time.
6. A Dutch Oven over a small fire or hot coals will help protect the fire from the rain. Do not try the more complex or longer cooking recipes when Dutch Oven cooking in the rain, but if the cast iron oven gets hot and is positioned over the fire, you can pull off a good, hot meal on dreary days.
7. Do not fudge on safety when it’s raining. Be sure that the fire is completely out before leaving the camp site or before going to bed.
There are times when the rain on a trip is so heavy that it’s just not possible to get a fire started or to keep it going long enough to cook a meal. It’s always good to have some “no cook” items on hand. Peanut butter and jelly is always an option, and build-your-own sub sandwiches can be fun. If you’re stuck in sandwich or salad mode, then add a fun recipe that does not require heat. Here are a couple of zip lock bag treats to keep in the camp recipe box:
Zip Lock Fudge
1 3 oz. box cream cheese
1 16 oz. box powdered sugar
1 stick margarine
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
nuts, raisins, M&Ms (optional)
Put all the ingredients except the optional items in a gallon zip lock bag. Pass the bag around and squeeze until everything is mixed and looks like creamy fudge. Add the optional treats right before serving and lightly mix with the fudge. Have an extra zip lock bag in case someone gets overly energetic and breaks the bag during the mashing stage. Cut the corner out of the zip lock bag and squeeze out portions or open and spoon out the treat.
Instant Camp Pudding
1 box pudding mix (any flavor)
milk (as called for on the pudding box)
ice cream cones
Put pudding powder and milk in a zip lock back. Mash until the pudding firms up. Cut the corner of the zip lock bag and squeeze pudding into ice cream cones.
Consider a rainy camping day a challenge and an adventure. The real beauty of cooking outdoors is in being creative and having fun. Stir in a little rain, and you’ve got the recipe for one of those camping trips that will be remembered forever.
