| Camp Cereal | |
by
Jen Hirt, from the July 2002 newsletter
This is my first summer in Idaho–my first summer not slogging through the humidity and tornadoes of the Midwest. I've been camping twice in the last month, and let me commend the Inland Northwest for having excellent camping opportunities. At Elk River, we hiked to the falls, and then set up our tents near that little lake they call a reservoir. The older couple in the RV at the neighboring site "felt sorry" for us ('Grad students in the woods! Clearly, they won't survive the night!') and gave us all their firewood, for which we were incredibly appreciative. On the next trip, at Dworshak Reservoir, we were without the watchful eyes of RV neighbors, but we survived, in style, despite a minor fireball with the camp stove and morning rain.
One of the best things about camping is the camp food–you eat stuff that would be simplistic and bland were you to eat it at home, but in reality camp meals are always tasty, filling, and impressive. There's something more interesting about eating and sharing food with friends when there isn't a refrigerator in the next room, when there isn't a store two blocks away, when you are, in fact, in the woods for real, and everyone is eating out of the communal cooking pot and enjoying every moment.
That said, here's a simple, tasty recipe for a hot morning meal, when you've unfolded yourself out of your tent and are trying to decide whether you slept well or not.
Camp Cereal
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup cracked wheat
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup dried fruit
Water
Before the camping trip, double-bag all the ingredients except the water. Oatmeal is the basis for this hot cereal, but the cup of cracked wheat can be altered - replace it with more oatmeal, or some other fast-cooking grain. For the dried fruit, I usually prefer dried applies (diced), some dried cranberries, and golden raisins. Next time, I'll give dried banana chips a trial run. You can also add a dash of cinnamon, or a few teaspoons of dried milk or dried egg whites.
The night before cooking the cereal, add enough water (right into the bagged mix) to just barely wet and cover the cereal. Let it sit overnight. I usually set the bag in a camp pot, just in case it leaks. The dried fruit plumps up, and the cracked wheat will cook faster when allowed to presoak.
In the morning, fire up the camp stove or the campfire. Pour the wet mix, which will be very clumpy, into a pot. Add enough water to unclump the cereal and to keep it from sticking to the pot as it heats up. Low heat is best–there's nothing worse than the scalded taste of burned oatmeal. Stir constantly and add another quarter cup of water, as needed.
The cereal is ready as soon as it is hot. It's very filling, so this recipe can feed three people.
Jen Hirt is an MFA student in creative writing at the University of Idaho. She's working on a collection of essays about greenhouses.
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