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.

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 :)

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.

Thai Green Curry with Rice and Sweet Potato in the Golden Trout Wilderness

"What am I looking at?" you might ask. You are looking at basmati rice, coconut cream, spinach, sweet potato, carrot, mushrooms, zucchini, and curry.

Flavor: 9/10

Ease at home: 5/10

Ease at camp: 10/10
Heat level: 9/10

Times made: 1

I debated writing a separate post for this dish since my Thai noodle soup is so similar- but I really feel like this is a different dish despite being only slightly different in concept. This is also a dish I really want to build on and improve because it has so much potential. I apologize now for the poor image quality- sun had set by the time we made dinner, and I was a few margaritas deep, with little patience for camera focus.

Fake Chicken Mole with Brown Rice

About twice a year I go to the trouble to make a huge batch of really good, homemade sauces. Those sauces always include jerk and mole. About a year ago I had some leftover mole in the freezer to use up and it seemed as good an idea as any to simmer it with some fake chicken and dehydrate for a future meal. Throughout the year, I looked at it a few times and considered bringing it along on trips, but always hesitated because I hadn't experimented much with dehydrated fake chicken yet. I was worried it would rehydrate weird, tough or rubbery, and I'd find myself hungry and disappointed at camp after a long day's hike.

So I couldn't keep staring at it in the food bin. I knew I had to open it up and at least find out how it fared over the passage of time.

First glance- nothing awry

Food Reviews: North African Stew from Hawk Vittles

Unfortunately, tastes about as monotone as it looks.

I really want to like Hawk Vittles, because it's a essentially homemade, a one-man operation, light on sodium (which lets you tweak as you please), and all-natural ingredients. And I haven't tried 2/3 of the soups I've bought, so while I won't condemn the brand yet, I was really disappointed with the North African Stew I tried recently (at home- so lacking the hiker hunger bias). In concept, it's a great idea and definitely one I want to build out myself. Couscous, white beans, eggplant, tomato, onion. But in execution, Hawk's stew is bland to an extent that lemon and salt cannot rescue. The soup has no spice, and tastes like it. Even the tomato and onion flavor are muted. What I did like, is the texture of the beans: nice and plump, and the dried eggplant: satisfyingly chewy. It reminded me slightly of a familiar convenience soup from my childhood, except more substantial, and less flavorful.

Tofu Scramble, Potato, Sausage and Veggie Skillet

Soooo gooooooood

Flavor: 9/10 (I think hash browns would be even better than potato cubes)

Ease at home: 4/10

Ease at camp: 4/10 (depends on your stove/cook system)
Heat level: 2/10

Times made: 1

In my opinion, the best thing I made all week on the Evolution Loops was easily the tofu scramble. Easily! It can even be improved further. I'm really excited to make this again.

Tart Berry Smoothies, or Liquid Joy

How good would a tart, juicy, berry-rich smoothie sound when you're 6 days in?

Flavor: 9/10 (seed bits)

Ease at home: 8/10 (powdering all the berries is a little tedious)

Ease at camp: 10/10
Heat level: 0/10

Times made: 1

I'll admit, this is not my idea. I was inspired by the Packit Gourmet's extraordinarily disappointing Jump-Start Smoothies and the sincere belief that I could do better.

Breakfast Burrito with Polenta Eggs, Hash Browns, and Spicy Sausage

the stringies are cheese. I promise!

Flavor: 8/10 (a little monotextural, and the beyond meat needed to be chopped finely)

Ease at home: 2/10 (lots of components, can be made much easier by purchasing dehydrated components)

Ease at camp: 5/10
Heat level: 6/10 (to taste)

Times made: 1

Breakfast burritos are shameless food hax, doubly so when you're 2 days from civilization, so I'm not going to gloat about the success of the burrito here- that's kind of a given. What i am going to do, is talk about how happy I am that 3 experimental methods used in the composition of this burrito worked out, and consider the possibilities for future dishes.

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Delicious, high powered calorie goodness. 

Flavor: 9/10

Ease at home: 6/10

Ease at camp: 3/10 (depends on your stove/cook system)
Heat level: 0/10

Times made: 1

On morning 4 of Evolution Loop, we were looking forward (and upward) to a 750 foot ascent, Evolution Meadow ahead. Our little campsite was deep in the valley and unlikely to receive sun for a few hours, so we had plenty of time to kill while the laundry and tent eventually dried. So I decided to spend that time preparing the most time consuming breakfast I had planned, and coincidentally the most caloric, to fuel the challenge.

Wild Onions: So Tasty

Incredible, vivid golden trout from Evolution Lake

I know this is a dumb blog title, but I really thought about it for a while and I couldn't think of a better one. Wild onions are SO tasty. And in certain areas, they're everywhere. Countless plants at every stream and in every meadow- easy to identify, easy to clean. And really, there's very little in this world more delicious than fresh trout cooked with wild onions. So how lucky are we that these two ingredients can be found at utmost freshness in one of the most popular outdoor destinations in the world?

Ratatouille & Wild Onion Pizza Buns

Spicy sauteed wild onions and herbed mozzarella, kept warm and happy in a soft whole wheat pizza bun

Flavor: 9/10

Ease at home: 7/10

Ease at camp: 3/10 (depends on your stove/cook system)
Heat level: 5/10

Times made: 1

This post concerns a new and improved pizza recipe, or at least a different way of preparing it, which is arguably both tastier and more convenient than my original recipe.

Misir Wot (berbere lentil stew) with Injera

See the little crumpet looking bread bits? Those are injera, an Ethiopian sourdough flatbread made from teff flour. The orangey-red stew intermingled is the misir wot. Although you can't discern the two components of the stew texturally, you get all the essential flavors (sourdough, berbere, lentils, spiced butter) in one bite.

Flavor: 9/10

Ease at home: 9/10

Ease at camp: 10/10
Heat level: 8/10 

Times made: 2

This one I'm really excited about, because I love Ethiopian food, I love lentils, and I love easy, comforting, one pot meals. This is also easily vegan-adaptable, you just have to find (or make) vegan nitter kibbeh, or spiced ghee. I guess the niter kibbeh is optional altogether, but you'd lose out on a lot of flavor and precious fat.

At the time of writing this post, I've made this recipe for two trips already. I can think of a few ways to adjust or improve it, but the damn stuff is so tasty it hardly needs fixing. In the coming months I'd love to think of more Ethiopian wots (stews) to prepare and bring. They're so full-flavored, satisfying, and enjoyable on the trail.

Food Reviews, Cottonwood Pass trip: Packit Gourmet Picnic Potato Salad

Chicken Spring Lake, just before twilight.

At the end of a sweltering 12 mile day with plenty of tedious route finding, I can't think of anything more appetizing than a rich, tangy bowl of good potato salad with lots of pickles or cornichons. As such, I was extremely excited a few weekends ago in the Golden Trout Wilderness area to finally try Packit Gourmet's Gourmet Picnic Potato Salad. I was pretty beaten and bruised by the time we arrived at Chicken Spring Lake around 3PM, and thoroughly grateful with my past self for having the foresight to plan an afternoon snack devoid of almonds, dried fruit, or oats. With feet pounding, I quickly assembled the always easy-to-prepare PIG pouch and let it marinate. The result was tasty and satisfying, albeit with a few minor issues.

Kimchi Tofu Noodle Soup

Boulder Lake, Trinity Alps Wilderness

Flavor: 8/10

Ease at home: 7/10

Ease at camp: 10/10
Heat level: 8/10

Times made: 1

Two years ago, my husband and I ate our very first bowl of soondubu jjigae, a spicy Korean vegetable soup with soft tofu. It was 3AM, and we were decked in Halloween costumes after a long night of partying. My recollection of that evening is hazy for the most part, but the soup memory is crystal clear. I remember the nourishing richness, the custardy texture, the steaming, tangy, spicy flavors, served with a dizzying variety of accouterments. I've replicated it at home a number of times, and while nothing has matched that first bowl, it's always a richly savory experience.

Food Reviews, Trinity Alps Trip: Cheddar Jack Cheese Spread from Packit Gourmet, Organic Garlic Pesto Frybread from MaryJane's Farm

A few weekends ago, my husband went on a weekend trip to the Trinity Alps with his friend Duncan, and puppy compatriot Guinness. He was hoping to reach Foster Lake on a ~17 mile loop over the course of 3 days. I'd packed him some homemade pasta with ratatouille, boxed macaroni and cheese for breakfast, homemade korean tofu soup (soondubu jjigae) for breakfast 2, homemade Thai curry soup, and other ready-made food to fill the gaps. I was excited to hear how the trip (and food) went on his return and asked him to take photos.

Food Reviews, Desolation Wilderness trip: Organic Chilimac from MaryJane's Farm

Looks better than it tastes, unfortunately

Macaroni and Cheese for breakfast. Why not? Calorie-rich, full of carbs and easy to prepare.

MaryJane's Farm Chilimac has tons of positive reviews all over the net. Our feeling: not bad, but not great either. For how delicious Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese boxes are, MJF is surprisingly lackluster. This could be done so well, so easily- why is the cheese so flavorless and the texture so floury?

It's not bad, but not worth the price, either, when such a simple dish is so easy to put together with a base of Annie's Mac.

Food Reviews, Desolation Wilderness trip: Organic Spuds w/Spinach & Cheese from MaryJane's Farm, Southwest Black Bean and Corn Salad from Packit Gourmet

A vivid blue gradient and a paintbrush-swipe of clouds just before the top of the Crystal Range. At this point, the terrain on the other side is a mystery. Just like the mystery that is dinner.

I was raised on mashed potato flakes. In fact, I think I preferred them to real mashed potatoes for a while. I'd have mashed potatoes with ketchup and fantasize about the french fries I was almost never allowed to have. I remember my grandfather, a self-proclaimed "gourmand" bitching to my parents at the Thanksgiving dinner table about me putting ketchup on his homemade mashed potatoes, shaking his head. I also remember buying the cup-o-mashed potato cups all throughout middle school. I'd rehydrate them with less water than recommended and somehow I really enjoyed the kinda crusty, kinda dense, concentrated flavor, not fully rehydrated quality of the whole thing. Anyway...given all this backstory, it's no surprise I really liked the MJF potatoes. And Dennis, who I didn't expect to like them, was enthusiastic too. "Getting back to my Scottish roots," he said.