We went camping in the Kenneth L. Wilson campground last weekend, just for a night. I couldn’t wait to try out a technique for cooking crescent rolls over a campfire! I originally saw the idea on Pinterest, but there are lots of pictures of this camping treat online.
I used Immaculate Baking Co.’s Crescent Rolls instead of Pillsbury — the ingredients are a little better. The picture above is the first and only roll we cooked on a stick. Unfortunately, the dough didn’t separate into triangles when I popped open the can — it was one big blob. I had to just rip it apart, stretch out the dough, and then wrap that small piece around a stick. It took a while to cook, but once it was done all four of us agreed it was fantastic — we each got a nibble from this one stick.
As good as that roll was, I didn’t feel like standing around for another 10 minutes per roll to make the whole batch this way. Instead, we made a makeshift baking pan from a piece of aluminum foil and pinched off pieces of the rest of the dough to make lots of little rolls. Covered with another piece of foil and set on a grill over the coals of the fire, these itty bitties baked in about 20 minutes and were just as delicious.
Although we need to work on our technique, these Campfire Crescent Rolls will definitely be part of our next camping trip.
J. and I took the boys camping for two nights in Fahnestock State Park a few weeks ago. He and I had both occasionally gone camping in the past, but we’d never done it with the kids, and they were really eager to go. We’d planned for our inaugural camping trip to last just one night, but this campsite required a two-night reservation and we figured we might as well try it. It was a blast. I turned off my phone as soon as we arrived, and kept it off through the weekend. It was incredibly relaxing to be in the moment with my family, only worrying about why the fish weren’t biting and whether we’d run out of marshmallows.
We needed two breakfasts, two dinners, and a lunch. We were able to drive our car right to our campsite, so we didn’t need to pack light and could bring an insulated cooler. For dinner the first night, we had skirt steak and potatoes. J. had trimmed and marinated the steak ahead of time, then vacuum-sealed it in two packages for travel. (We wound up not needing the second package on that first night, so we grilled the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. Steak for breakfast? Yes!) I very rarely cook potatoes at home, but I got it into my head that I wanted to bake a few over the coals of our campfire. I’d seen a video on Campfire Baked Potatoes, where you slip slices of onion into slits in the potato before baking. I drizzled the Yukon Golds with olive oil and sprinkled on a little salt, then wrapped them well in aluminum foil. They were incredible, and we will definitely make them a camping staple. Dessert? S’mores, of course. Over the course of the weekend A. developed a marshmallow rule: you could roast 1 after breakfast, 1 after lunch, and 2 after dinner. We thought marshmallows after breakfast seemed totally reasonable while camping, so we obliged.
Our second dinner didn’t work out as well. My boys don’t eat hot dogs (actually, since we went on this trip A. has tried and now likes them) but we wanted to do something fun with campfire cooking. I thought about bringing dough and making pizzas over the fire, but chickened out before we left and thought Boboli pizza crusts would have a lower fail rate. The trouble was, we couldn’t get the heat right. The crusts burned before the cheese could melt, and the boys really didn’t eat theirs. With a little practice and the use of our cast iron pan, I was able to get mine cooked a little more evenly, but it was not an experiment worth repeating. Still, no one went hungry — it just meant we got to dessert more quickly.
Our breakfasts were simple. We used a Coleman single-burner propane stove to boil water for coffee (Starbucks VIA packets) and hot chocolate. On the first morning, we attempted to make pancakes on the stove as well, but they did not work out — we couldn’t keep them from sticking to the cast iron pan. No worries, we had leftover steak and challah rolls from the night before. On the second morning we stuck with cereal and protein bars. We kept our one lunch simple: bagels, hummus, and a big bag of cut-up vegetables. We’d also brought fruit and some granola bars, and popped popcorn in a pot on our stove.
Although it was a little tricky finding food all four of us would enjoy that would also travel well, I think we were successful. I’m on the lookout for more campfire recipes, though. I started a board on Pinterest about camping food and I plan to bookmark recipes I think we’d enjoy as I find them. Have a good campfire meal to share? Please let me know!
The weather has reminded me of Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day” lately, with incessant hard rain and constantly gray skies. In the middle of the deluge, though, there was a break for a couple of hours of weak sun on Tuesday afternoon, and I was able to cook this meal on the grill rather than the stove top.
The recipe for Teriyaki Turkey Sliders comes from Dinners for a Year and Beyond, the blog of personal chef Amy, who has tons of great dinner ideas for families. The flavor of these small burgers is excellent, even if you neglect to brush them with hoisin sauce while cooking. I think ground turkey takes the soy sauce, scallion, and hoisin mixture perfectly — the turkey is so mild it doesn’t compete with the seasoning, and you do feel like you’re eating an Asian-influence burger. I overcooked mine a little, so they weren’t as juicy as they could have been. But paying better attention to my grill, or even adding an egg to the meat mixture, would easily remedy that flaw. We plopped our burgers on whole wheat buns with a little salad mix on top; my dad added ketchup as well. I wasn’t able to convince either of my boys to try the burgers, though.
Since I had the grill on already, I sliced up a fresh pineapple, using a melon baller to remove the core from each slice before putting them on the grill. I didn’t add any kind of glaze to the fruit, because the natural sugars caramelize beautifully without it. My broccoli slaw was a quickie production: packaged broccoli slaw mix, and a dressing made with light mayo, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. It was lackluster, so say the least. Too bad, since I do have some wonderful slaw recipes, like Sweet Sesame Cabbage & Radish Slaw, Cashew Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Dressing, or Spicy Cabbage Slaw, in my arsenal.
Regardless, it was uplifting to eat such a cheery meal without hearing rain pelting down on our roof. The reprieve was short-lived, though… by bath time the skies had opened again.
Do you like broccoli? This recipe will make you swoon. Not a fan of the green stuff? This recipe may change your mind.
I followed Dani’s recipe for Citrus & Garlic Grilled Broccoli pretty much to the letter. I marinated the vegetables for two hours before grilling. (Actually, J. came home early and cooked them for me.) We wound up with a gorgeous, heaping mound of broccoli on a large dinner plate, and between me, J., his mom, and grandma, there was not a bite left over to put away for another day. One of us even ate the last piece of broccoli off A.’s plate, after he’d finished his meal. But I’m not telling who… We will definitely make this recipe a staple of summer grilling.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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Moroccan Chicken Tajine: I recently had a chicken tajine dish at Fig & Olive in Scarsdale, and wanted to recreate something similar at home. This is an Ina Garten recipe, and she never fails me.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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