The Duchess is back to creating, and now she's got some more pretties to use with Heidi Swapp's new Honey and Spice collection that hit independent and online stores this past Tuesday....
Friday, October 4, 2019
Friday, January 15, 2016
On Hiatus....
As you may have noticed from the post date that this blog was started and, well, nothing happened. Let me rephrase that, a LOT happened. I'll spare you the drama and what not, safe to say I'm doing better and on the road to a much better year.... hence, more camping. This Fall David started investigating the world of RV'ing, trailers and fifth wheels. Mostly due to my health and neither one of us are getting any younger. Right now it takes a good two and a half hours to set up camp. After the events of the past year we're looking to pull into camp, put down steps, roll out the astro turf lawn, plug in and be happy. Yeah, that sounds an awful lot like wimping out, don't worry, we'll still post tent camping hacks for our hard core tent campers.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Fresh bakery bread while camping???
You bet! All you need is a dutch oven, charcoal and the ingredients and you're good to go! David is a mad man when it comes to camping food. We're not one for the basic camping fare of roasting wieners over the campfire and the like... not that there is anything wrong with that, we just like to push the envelope. With that in mind, this year David decided that we're going to make bread on this trip.... yeah, make bread. We found an easy to make one hour french bread recipe on BS Recipes via Pinterest and tweaked it a bit to work with what we had....
12' Dutch oven with lid (cast iron, not a Rachel Ray ceramic one)
This is a 12' Lodge, made in the USA.
Most campfires have a grill over their fire pit, we used a $1 pizza pan from the Dollar store as our base to put the coals on... but I don't want to get ahead of myself...
The ingredients... to yield a camping loaf of bread.
3/4 cup of warm water (has to be warm for yeast to activate)
1/2 to 1.5 tablespoons of honey, depends on how sweet you like your bread
3/4 teaspoon of salt
2 1/4 teaspoons of Active Dry Yeast
1 3/4-2 1/4 cups of flour (depending on your elevation and humidity)
Directions..
1. Combine water, salt, honey and yeast in medium mixing bowl. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until bubbling.
2. Add flour, stirring with wooden spoon until dough is no longer sticky ( place dough on a floured surface and continue with more flour until dough is no longer sticky).
Prepping the Dutch Oven...
In charcoal starter add 34 coals (22 for top, and 12 for bottom) and ignite. You can do this before you start bread that way the oven and the bread will be ready to cook at the same time and you won't be dealing with having to catch up.
When coals are hot, place 22 coals on lid of closed oven (oven is now placed on fire pit grill with pizza pan under it for safety) and 12 on bottom. This is something the other pair of hands in camp can do while you're prepping bread for baking. By the time the dough rises, which takes around 15 minutes, the dutch oven should be ready for the bread.
3. Form dough into a 6' roll. Place on non-stick surface and cover, letting it sit for 15 minutes. When ready cut diagonal slits on top with knife.
4. Place in dutch oven, cover and cook for 18-20 minutes (it's okay to peek once to check...). Be sure you have one of those handy lid lifters, don't use BBQ tongs as they are unwieldy and your charcoal will end up everywhere. Lid lifters are usually sold right where you find your dutch oven and are about $9. A cheap price for safety.
5. Take the lid off and enjoy....
If you have any questions about the recipe as well as baking tools feel free to e-mail me at kimberlycole97@gmail.com
Happy Baking...
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Pictures from our Big Sur 2015 Trip...
The Camp Site.... We were at site 81 in the Wayland Camp area. Since we were going to be there for a whole week we brought our cabin tent and supply trailer.
As for the last picture of the bed, no we did not bring our bed from home, that's a full sized cot with a memory foam mattress topper. I am now thoroughly spoiled and will find it hard to sleep on one of those inflatable mattresses. I will post pricing and shopping info about the cot and mattress in another post...
A little further down the coast...
Big Sur April 18-25, 2015...
The Big Sur 2015 camping trip is responsible for the creation of Camping the Cole Way... over the past 20 odd years David and I have been collecting recipes, finding cool gear for camping in the strangest places, and have been through at least five tents... and in the process have had the greatest adventures. Camping the Cole way will feature articles on new and existing camping gear, collected recipes and will share stories and pictures of our assorted adventures. Just a heads up, for you campers with kids, this blog is centered more towards the DINK crew..(Dual Income No Kids). No discrimination intended, we just don't have kids and we would have no clue how to prep and camp with them.
This Spring, David and I celebrated 20 years of the anniversary of our first date...the night we fell in love (I'll spare you the corny details, but the kiss that ended the evening sealed the deal and we've been together ever since), anyhow we decided to return to our honeymoon spot at Pfieffer Big Sur Campground on the coast of CA. When we were there on our honeymoon almost 18 years ago we spent all of our time in Monterey and Carmel enjoying the 'touristy' spots, this time we came for the scenery of the park and relaxation.
Located on the southern end of the St. Lucia mountains on the central coast of CA, Pfieffer Big Sur State park is a beautiful destination filled with towering coast redwoods, a river, lush trails, and the Big Sur Lodge that features a great restaurant and gift shop.
Some things to consider before booking your trip to Pfieffer Big Sur....
1. Call the park and speak with the Ranger/Host 831-667-2315, last December Big Sur had some serious mudslides taking out two large camping areas and changing the face of the landscape for several of the individual camping areas, including ours (Site 81).
Ask the Ranger what sites were affected and what their recommendations would be on choosing a site based on the online reservation map for Pfieffer Big Sur park. We recommend river access sites as they were mostly untouched by the landslides and are more secluded. Campsites also do not have 'bear boxes' or cupboards as most CA park campsites do. Big Sur does not have bears, but they do have skunks, raccoons and very inquisitive squirrels, so be sure that you do secure your food when not prepping for dinner and throw away your trash before you go to bed otherwise it will be scattered about the campsite.
2. Don't bother with bringing quarters for showers, bring dollar bills as their showers are run on tokens purchased for $1 for 5 minutes of a hot shower, and that's about how long the heat lasts, 5 minutes for $1 and if you use more than one token the shower does not stay hot but gets cooler with each additional 5 minutes. Token machines are located on the sides of the shower/bathroom building located in marked spots on your camp map. Also, aside from the handicapped shower room (they are all individual shower rooms with a bench and towel hook separated from the wet/shower area) they are pretty small rooms. So if you want to 'shower with a friend' I personally would pass as you would have no room in there for both of you to dress and undress without getting wet. For those of you with accessibility issues the handicapped room is spacious and offers a bench to sit and shower if you are unable to stand as well as a larger dressing and prep area. There are no mirrors/toilets/or sinks in the shower rooms, those are separate.
3. There are washing machines available in the area of the Camp Store. Those run on quarters, so you may want to bring quarters if you plan on doing laundry, or don't plan on doing laundry and Murphy's Law decides otherwise. I'm on vacation, I'm NOT and will not be doing laundry.
4. Big Sur Lodge boasts a great restaurant, no reservations needed, a bit on the moderate to spendy side on the pocket book (i.e. steak of the day cost $32, but it was a 10 oz. prime cut New York steak in a sauce that was out of this world).
5. The lodge also has a great gift and grocery shop for little things you forgot and things you might like to take home with you.
6. For the pet lovers, dogs are not allowed on trails unless they are genuine service dogs marked properly. In camp your dog must also be on a 6 foot leash when walking as well as being secured either by leash or kennel while in camp.
So that's the inside scoop for booking your trip.
This Spring, David and I celebrated 20 years of the anniversary of our first date...the night we fell in love (I'll spare you the corny details, but the kiss that ended the evening sealed the deal and we've been together ever since), anyhow we decided to return to our honeymoon spot at Pfieffer Big Sur Campground on the coast of CA. When we were there on our honeymoon almost 18 years ago we spent all of our time in Monterey and Carmel enjoying the 'touristy' spots, this time we came for the scenery of the park and relaxation.
Located on the southern end of the St. Lucia mountains on the central coast of CA, Pfieffer Big Sur State park is a beautiful destination filled with towering coast redwoods, a river, lush trails, and the Big Sur Lodge that features a great restaurant and gift shop.
Some things to consider before booking your trip to Pfieffer Big Sur....
1. Call the park and speak with the Ranger/Host 831-667-2315, last December Big Sur had some serious mudslides taking out two large camping areas and changing the face of the landscape for several of the individual camping areas, including ours (Site 81).
Ask the Ranger what sites were affected and what their recommendations would be on choosing a site based on the online reservation map for Pfieffer Big Sur park. We recommend river access sites as they were mostly untouched by the landslides and are more secluded. Campsites also do not have 'bear boxes' or cupboards as most CA park campsites do. Big Sur does not have bears, but they do have skunks, raccoons and very inquisitive squirrels, so be sure that you do secure your food when not prepping for dinner and throw away your trash before you go to bed otherwise it will be scattered about the campsite.
2. Don't bother with bringing quarters for showers, bring dollar bills as their showers are run on tokens purchased for $1 for 5 minutes of a hot shower, and that's about how long the heat lasts, 5 minutes for $1 and if you use more than one token the shower does not stay hot but gets cooler with each additional 5 minutes. Token machines are located on the sides of the shower/bathroom building located in marked spots on your camp map. Also, aside from the handicapped shower room (they are all individual shower rooms with a bench and towel hook separated from the wet/shower area) they are pretty small rooms. So if you want to 'shower with a friend' I personally would pass as you would have no room in there for both of you to dress and undress without getting wet. For those of you with accessibility issues the handicapped room is spacious and offers a bench to sit and shower if you are unable to stand as well as a larger dressing and prep area. There are no mirrors/toilets/or sinks in the shower rooms, those are separate.
3. There are washing machines available in the area of the Camp Store. Those run on quarters, so you may want to bring quarters if you plan on doing laundry, or don't plan on doing laundry and Murphy's Law decides otherwise. I'm on vacation, I'm NOT and will not be doing laundry.
4. Big Sur Lodge boasts a great restaurant, no reservations needed, a bit on the moderate to spendy side on the pocket book (i.e. steak of the day cost $32, but it was a 10 oz. prime cut New York steak in a sauce that was out of this world).
5. The lodge also has a great gift and grocery shop for little things you forgot and things you might like to take home with you.
6. For the pet lovers, dogs are not allowed on trails unless they are genuine service dogs marked properly. In camp your dog must also be on a 6 foot leash when walking as well as being secured either by leash or kennel while in camp.
So that's the inside scoop for booking your trip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)