Vadouvan Curry, Fancy Hot Chocolate and Sespe Hot Springs

When you see the wide green meadow with 3 little bushes, you're almost there. You turn left after the next ridge on an offshoot trail that leads ~1 mile to the spring.

God, I almost don't want to write about Sespe Hot Springs. I almost just want to tell you to hike the 9 easy miles to Willett Hot Springs, where everyone else goes, and leave it at that.

White powders: reconstituting and taste testing powdered dairy products

I got a bunch of awesome stuff to play with recently! Some such items are pictured.

As a matter of personal preference, I try to use homemade, organic, ethically produced products and ingredients whenever possible. Dennis and I are preparing to do the JMT next September and fresh ingredients (fresh cheeses, butter, etc.) will be inaccessible for a good chunk of that time. Because I rely so heavily on a daily supplement of fresh cheese for calories and nutrition, I'm experimenting now with shelf-stable, processed ingredients to supplement our diet for the 3 weeks we'll be on the trail. The good thing about powdered dairy products is that they have a very high calorie:weight ratio, they are convenient, provide diverse flavor and texture, and are affordable. Most people are already familiar with powdered milk, but a variety of other dairy products are also available: heavy cream, sour cream, sweet cream buttermilk, cream cheese, butter, and cheese, among others.

First up: Heavy Cream Powder.

Food Reviews: Heather's Choice Buckwheat Breakfast, and Smoked Sockeye Salmon Chowder; Alpine Aire's Veggie Burrito Bowl

Enjoying the cool breeze rising from waves below in the section between Little Harbor and Two Harbors.

Over President's Day weekend, we decided to check out the Trans Catalina Trail on Los Angeles' own Catalina Island. I was particularly excited about this trip because I was planning to try my Heather's Choice meals and, well, because Catalina is a remote, warm island with beautiful turquoise beaches only two hours from home. We didn't have many opportunities to eat our own food during this trip because (for better or worse) the trail goes through several towns and eateries, so my review today is limited to two Heather's Choice meals: Apple Buckwheat Breakfast, and Smoked Sockeye Salmon Chowder, and Alpine Aire's Veggie Burrito Bowl.

Food Reviews: Good To-Go Thai Curry and Herbed Mushroom Risotto

File this under: photographs that are only exciting to Hawaiians and Californians that never see snow ever. Road to Salmon River trailhead, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Oregon. 

Over winter break, Dennis and I borked our backpacking trip in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness. On all technical aspects, we were prepared for what would have been our first Winter trip, but we were absolutely not prepared for the degree of boredom we'd experience in a cold dark tent at 5PM, with nothing to do until sunrise at 8AM the next morning. I say "borked" because we made it to the site, set up the tent, had dinner, got in our bags at nightfall, and bailed only an hour later. The appeal of warm dinner and warmer toilets in downtown Portland was simply too great. Oh well.

Dennis laughing at my weakness

Before we left we made dinner, so I got a chance to try the Good To Go Thai Curry, as well as the Good To Go Mushroom Risotto, which are reviewed below. I could have sworn I took pictures, but I can't find them. Suffice to say, the mushroom risotto looked like grey slop, and the Thai curry looked like yellow slop. Exciting, I know.

More experiments in Tofu Scramble, Hash Browns & Cashew Nacho Sauce

Scramble and veggie mixture in bag

This is my second time experimenting with my tofu scramble recipe, found here. This time, I did not
use any sausage/tempeh and I decided to make hash browns instead of potato cubes. It's a matter of taste, but I preferred this version.

I also experimented with non-dairy cashew cream sauce. No recipe for that yet, but definitely soon, because it's a wonderfully creamy, high-fat condiment that vegans and carnivores can both enjoy. The rehydration process worked perfectly and although in photos the sauce appears to have some texture to it, you can't detect anything but smooth, creamy cashew goodness. Lots of stuff to look forward to in future posts :)

Food Reviews: Good To-Go Smoked Three Bean Chili

I've been really, really excited about trying Good To-Go Meals, following them on twitter, keeping an eye on their webpage and keeping my ear to the ground for any and all new product reviews. It's such a promising brand because their products are all: 1) vegetarian or vegan, 2) painstakingly and truly handmade from the ground up, 3) the brainchild of  Jennifer Scism, whose professional culinary history is very impressive, and 4) clearly a labor of love.

I don't consider myself picky, but I am a little choosy when it comes to vegetarian chili. Chili is, after all, a terribly competitive and contentious dish, rife with impassioned and unsubstantiated personal opinion. As such, there are several schools of thought when it comes to vegetarian chili (just as there are schools of thought for oatmeal cookies, brownies, etc.) and Good To Go's definitely falls in the Hippie Chili category, more of a vegetable and bean stew than a true chili. In the Hippie Chili category you'll find quinoa chili, bulgur chili, sweet potato and corn chili, and so on.

A Little Backpacking Grill & Trail Quesadillas

Nothing special here- just a little gear review! Introducing the Uniflame Mini Roaster.

We'd hoped to put this grill to the test with some fresh trout, but alas, the wind was high and the fish were not biting. So instead, we had a few quesadilla appetizers to accompany our margaritas. The grill performed admirably, a little unstable, does not diffuse heat too well but does enable a slow roast so long as you keep a watchful eye. These quesadillas took about 5 minutes per batch to melt and brown on a relatively low fuel flow.

For 110g and ~$20, it's a fun little ditty that merits continued testing. I think it has a lot of potential at high elevation or while fire restrictions are in effect for fish cookery and toasting in general.