Sunday, August 16, 2009

Mountain Appetites

We're at my parents' cabin in Wyoming. They live off the grid, yet somehow have satellite internet. No phone, but internet. Strange, eh? They have solar power and well water. They live here all summer and then go to Arizona in the winter.

When we're here we eat like kings. What is it about the mountains (being outside? altitude?) that make your appetite so much bigger and make everything taste better. Yesterday we started with an afternoon snack of s'mores. Nuff said.

For dinner we had chicken grilled with olive oil, fresh basil, and salt. Our sides were some globe squash I picked up at the farmer's market. I'd never tried these before. They taste a bit like zucchini, but sweeter. Maybe even a little cucumbery.

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I cut them into wedges and brushed them with pesto, then we grilled them. Just before they were finished I sprinkled them with parmesano romano. They were really good!

We also had one of my favorite dishes of all time: "camp potatoes with the B---- special sauce." This is a favorite dish from my childhood that we only made when camping. Basically, it's just sliced potatoes and onions fried in oil. Slice the potatoes thinly and fry them in vegetable oil. It's best to start the onions in a separate small pan if you can, so that they don't burn. They tend to brown more quickly. Cook them until translucent, then set aside. Add them to the potatoes when done. Pour the dish onto paper towels to drain some of the extra grease.

The "B---" (my maiden name) special sauce is just mayo and ketchup mixed together. Pure white trash heaven. Our family falls into two camps: the mayo camp (led by me) and the Miracle Whip camp (led by my Dad). And god forbid we have only one. The other side will whine like crazy. Poor mom. Each person has to mix up their own with their preferred ratios. Dip forkfuls of the camp potatoes into the special sauce and enjoy the deliciousness.

We also had corn on the cob and I brought tomatoes from my garden to slice and serve w/salt and pepper, but forgot, so I guess we'll have that for lunch. For dessert, my dad made his special homemade vanilla ice cream.

My dad is always in charge of breakfast and he does it well. Today we had bacon and almost silver dollar-sized pancakes. He cooked these on their wood burning stove.

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Bacon is always yummy, but it tastes about 20 times better in the mountains. What's up with that?

The kids like to grind the coffee beans in the old fashioned grinder next to the stairs.

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That's my mom's first place ribbon for a pie making contest next to it and my Dad's (Chuck) chuck wagon sign. We made the coffee in a French press--the stronger the better, in my opinion. And then sit on their back porch where they have a bunch of feeders set up just outside. It's teeming with birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. There's also a salt lick and water hole and if you're lucky and a mama moose and her baby will join you for coffee. Pure heaven!

I was so busy eating I forgot to take pictures of the food! I really need to stop doing that...

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