Campfire Cookery: Adventuresome Recipes and Other Curiosities for the Great Outdoors

My 3rd x buying for a gift for an outdoor person. It's very good.

I want to go camping with Ms. Huck and Ms. Young. I love camping, but we tend to get into a rut with meal times every trip. Ms. Huck and Ms. Young's book really inspires you to take your camping culinary arts to a whole new level and it doesn't mean you need new gadgets, skills or the need to cart a whole pantry with you. The added bonus is that Ms. Huck and Ms. Young will show you not only how to amp up your cooking, but also the whole experience. Some of the recipes we tried while on a two-week long camping trip were the Bruléed Brown Sugar Grapefruit Brochettes (think chunks of grapefruit like shish kebobs), Truffled Toad-in-the-Hole (eggs, sausage, mushrooms like you've never had before), several of the cocktails, trout with a saffron-citrus pilaf and grilled radicchio with orange-date vinaigrette (I know!!! who'd of thought you could do this camping????!!!!). There is also a section on s'mores and how to take this mundane treat in many exciting directions (substitute strawberry jam for the chocolate, use cookies instead of graham crackers, etc.). We even made our own marshmallows (recipes in the book and SUPER easy) before we left. And we easily managed this and much more with just a simple table top, 2-burner propane cooker, the occasional fire and one cooler.And Ms. Huck and Ms. Younger do more than just give you great recipes as the book is saturated with so much more from how-to's to trivia, stories, folklore, etc. Some examples are how to forage for wild greens, types of edible flowers, how to build a campfire (not one, but several different types), how to test the heat of your fire through several means, how to manage your meal-time in a downpour, info on medicinal plants and even a little section about edible entomology (bugs) and more. The last chapter of the book is "After the Repast" and covers stargazing, story telling and how to create a classic gothic tale with lists of settings, characters and phenomena & props which we had a blast doing every night. There is even a section on how to tell a really good ghost story; you'd be surprised how just a little more drama by the storyteller can make this such a much more fantastic experience! There are ideas for games, including a section on how to read and play tarot (we played this accompanied by a lot of laughter!), crafts, shadow puppetry, and even music.If you want to change-up your outdoor experience, this book will absolutely inspire you to infuse your next trip with some great food, fun and exploration!

I received my book a few days ago and haven't been able to put it down. What fun! What food! These recipes work whether you're camping in the forest, on your backyard patio or in the warmth of your own aroma-filled kitchen. First of all...7 different ways to prepare S'mores with homemade marshmallows and "Graham" crackers. I can't even begin to describe how incredible this treat becomes. That's worth the price of the book alone. Recipes for all hours of the day...from breakfast to tea time to cocktail hour to dessert. Even a chapter on "After the Repast"...activities for all ages once the fire dies down (or the dishes are done if you're in your own kitchen). And...not your ordinary activities. I can't wait for my next evening patio gathering with friends to create our own gothic ghost stories using the handy chart that provides suggested settings, characters and phenomena which gives you just enough hints to spin a truly fun and magical tale. One more comment...page 100 Irish Porridge. Dried fruit soaked in Irish Whiskey! Added to the porridge! Topped with honey and cream! OMG! Maybe I really will get out of my kitchen and go on a camping adventure.

The narration is as good as some of the recipes are.

I really wanted to love this book. It is a beautiful book and a fun read. Had some great ideas on what to pack for cooking and how to build and maintain a fire. I am not sure where these woman who wrote the book are from.. England? Maybe I missed that part in the book, but it is written like an English picnic party. Nothing wrong with this but when I am camping it has to be good food and simple. The recipes do not look simple and for the most part they are foods that my family would never eat. Leg of lamb, duck and clotted cream? These may have their place but not really when you are camping. All in all there are some recipes that I will try but for the most part I can't recommend this book if you are looking for quick campfire recipes.

I am a cooking wannabe. I absolutely love the idea of preparing distinctive and tasty meals and then serving them with style to my friends. Truth is I love more to read than to prepare. Imagine my delight to find this book that has it all - easy to prepare but really tasty (and attractive looking) dishes (and drinks). Recipes destined to be used again and again set amidst engagingly written explanations, tales and poems.A personal favorite is the recipe for cookies presented as a healthy alternative to trail-mix. This does not require baking and when I tried "Patrick's Campfire Cookies," I found health and taste wrapped together and ready for the outdoors. Final chapter has some wonderful suggestions to spur conversation and conviviality among strangers as well as friends who find themselves around a campfire.....or any fire for that matter.

I am so excited with my purchase! This book packs in so much fun information that I was not expecting, I sat up with it all evening reading and re reading it. I can't wait to start the camping season with these (very classy)delicious sounding dishes.The one criticism I have is that there are awkward blanks and spaces that I wish had been filled with more pictures of the food. That's it, it's not a detraction from this fabulous book at all. I can tell that this volume will be covered in campfire ash, sauce smears and amazing memories in no time, just as a favorite cook book aught to be.

I've not gotten completely through this one but this looks like a really excellent book. Very well thought out and put together. Just the temperature chart for Dutch ovens is worth the price...ok, that may be a little hyperbole but it really is a very good book. Unless you've been a "cookie" for the last 30 years, if you are cooking for 2 or 20 and you don't have a Viking 6 burner handy, this must be in the collection of camp cookbooks.

This book went down a storm! Full of recipes, information and snippets. A really great book for anybody who wants to cook more than a sausage on a bbq!