MandiCrocker

DA SMIFF'S HOMEFRIES
TO TAKE CAMPING!

A few friends & I drove up to Cachuma Lake Campgrounds over the weekend (hence the reason I've been a tad MIA) and can I just say... I LOOOOVE CAMPING!!!! I LOVE IT!!! I mean LOOK at that gorgeous fire!!?? *sigh*

(SIDENOTE: I think I was born to live in a log cabin in Montana. I'd love to wear flannel shirts & boots everyday! I'd live off the fat of the land, far up in the mountains. I'd only go into town once a month to get supplies and salted meat... bring home sweet suckers for the children. Man, I read way too many Janette Oke novels growing up).

I love camping for so many reasons. First, I reeeeeally adore being out in nature. I sooo appreciate the stillness of a crisp morning. At night, it's so beautiful you can see every star ever created in the heavens! Glorious! And then to fall asleep to the sounds of laughter, Def Leppard and beer cans being thrown across the campgrounds. Oh yes, there is a special place in my heart... :)

Second, camping (as with everything it seems!) is incredibly nostalgic to me. It reminds me of trips to Vermont with my parents. Trips where we thought going on a canoe trip in NOVEMBER would be a good idea. (????) In true Griswald's fashion, my mom & I flipped our canoe in the first 15 minutes. We spent the remaining 2 hours & 45 minutes shivering & shaking, making music with our chattering teeth. It was a blast!!! :)

Or there's the time I went winter camping & packed completely WRONG. I wasn't expecting it to be that cold. Whoops. Thankfully, I found this ginormous Santa Claus Cloak in my trunk- HA! (It pays to be an actor sometimes).

I was really cold and grumpy as you can see.

Later, however, I'm rip roarin' ready to go- toasty & happy!

But despite the camping traumas that I may have experienced, you know what we always did get right? THE FOOD. YAY!!!! :) Whether I was camping with friends or family, we always knew how to cook! My dad would make the most amazing breakfasts! We'd have bacon, egg & cheese croissant sandwiches with homemade homefries. DELICIOUS. Perfectly hearty & fattening- the way camping should be! There's nothing like an open grill, lots of meat, big breakfasts... mmmm... CAMP FOOD RULES!!!

So today, in honor of my trip this weekend and my love for camping, I'm gonna give you the 411 for the Smith Family's recipe for homefries to take camping! They're super simple but divine...

INGREDIENTS:

1- 5lb. bag of golden potatoes (or accidentally a 10 lb. bag because you don't know you're own strength?)

3 sticks of butter
2 white onions

1/2 c. vegetable oil

paprika

dash of garlic powdersalt & pepper

1. First things first, let's thank the Creator for the blessed gift that is a potato. "Dear God, thank you for potatoes. They rule. And I like how people call them spuds. Amen."

2. Let's give these bad boys a good choppety chop, shall we? I cut them up pretty small because they'll cook faster over an open fire! Throw them in a big Tupperware container.

3. Chop up your unjun. (That's camping-speak for 'onion.')

4. Cut up the 3 sticks of butter into chunks. Add both the unjuns & the butter into the Tupperware bowl.

5. Sprinkle about 1-2 Tablespoons of paprika over the potatoes.

Mmmmm... Paprika. One of the most fun words ever created!!! Say it with me, "Paprika!"

7. Finally, drizzle the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil over the top, add a ton of pepper & salt, the dash of garlic powder and give it a fantastic stir!

8. Put the lid on the Tupperware and stick it in the cooler. At the campsite, cook 'em up in a cast iron skillet til they're nice & crispy. Mmmm... soooo good!!! And who's that pretty (aka: slimy, greasy, dirty, grimy) girl!? It's ME! Gross. :)