Anytime there is a gathering on Noel’s maternal side of the family, this dip is guaranteed to be there. I was first introduced to the dip by Noel’s aunt, the same one who changed my mind about hotdogs.  When you go to her house and sit in her kitchen you immediately feel at home. Food appears… Read more »

Until just a few years ago I had never intentionally eaten a hotdog. In the course of my life I had maybe gagged down four or five hotdogs when extenuating circumstances necessitated it. (On the verge of starvation on some wilderness excursion, out of politeness when eating at someone else’s home, and maybe once to impress… Read more »

When I was a kid in Las Vegas my Grandpa Tick would take me on hot summer days to go pick fruit.  We’d drive all over town to visit friends of his who grew figs, pomegranates, and lemons. Since I was young and spry, I got to climb the trees to retrieve the fruit and Grandpa would hold… Read more »

It just so happens that Noel is a fire building, tent erecting, hardcore hiking Scoutmaster. He takes all that manly skill, plus years of our kids conditioning him to be nonreactive to whining, and tries to inspire his suburban troops (all three of them) to try and like being outdoors, even just a little bit…. Read more »

Maybe I was a strange kid, but I didn’t really like Pop-Tarts growing up. I guess even back then I had a hint of good taste. There was one exception though. While I shunned Pop-Tarts ranging from strawberry to S’mores I could never turn down a brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tart. There was just something about… Read more »

I may be a little smitten with this smoothie. It reminds me of a peanut butter cup, but it’s healthier and therefore appropriate to eat pretty much whenever you feel like it. I whip it up after a morning workout, as a midday pick-me-up, or as an evening snack to pacify my sweet tooth. I have… Read more »

Originally, the thought of making a pie while camping summoned up terrible visions of rolling out pie crust on a splintery picnic table splattered with bird poop and the remnants of someone else’s meal. The image was so clear in my brain that when Noel found a dutch oven pie recipe that didn’t even involve traditional… Read more »

Dutch oven cooking can be intimidating. We got one for a wedding gift and it was quite a while before we could do more than a cake-mix-and-canned-peaches cobbler. Now it’s our favorite way to cook while car camping (not backpacking for obvious reasons) or on a hot summer day to keep the house from heating… Read more »

When we got married we registered at two places: Target and REI. We figured between the two we had all our bases covered. (We’re the kind of people who value backpacking gear over fancy dinnerware.) We’d both done a lot of camping with family and friends, Noel’s an Eagle Scout and my parents started taking me… Read more »

It was a stiff competition, but today we chose a winner with the help of random.org. The winner is commenter number two, or Serin! Congrats, Serin! I’ll make sure those covers find their way to you. To those of you that visited, but didn’t comment, please don’t be shy in the future! We’d love to… Read more »