Our small group is coming up Halloween weekend. I have been put in charge of supplies and cooking. I feel like I am planing for the invasion of a small country. So far I have two coolers full or will be. Between two cases of assorted beer, soda, water, mixers, and food [pork chops on friday and burgers saturday night] it is starting to seem a little over whelming. I was just wondering what other campers have in there cooler and whats going to be on your menu for the weekend. A little over a month away and starting to get excited. HAZZAH
Soon as I get the friggen fish smell outa my coolers.
I'm freezing some bottles of water to use as both ice and drinking water once they melt. Also planning on Low Sodium V-8 (stuff is packed with potasium), sports drinks, beer and tequila. Also hafta pack some small milk cartons because the lady who recently asked to go with me reques....eeer demands cereal for breakfast. I'm thinking chorizo, eggs and tortillas too but will see how heavy this thing gets.
We have 3 coolers rolling with us... one for beer (120qt) one for food, (120qt) and a 70qt for extra ice....
Well, as far as menus are concerned, we actually have a large enough group to warrant having a kitchen and grill master *looks over at Advent and smiles*. We have close to 40 people AT LEAST camping with McLotofus. Normally, there are coolers aplenty with everything from sodas and water, to Jager and Tequila, and another few dedicated to the wonders of BEER!
I think we're having brats for Opening Weekend, seeing as though the theme is German Oktoberfest. For Halloween, we're pulling out the brisket and sausages, and chili for the cold nights. On Thanksgiving weekend, our clan hosts the Annual RF Thanksgiving Pot Luck Dinner at camp on Turkey Day. Last year we had two turkeys, one ham, game hens, a metric crap ton of dressing, mac and cheese casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravies, and about 15 pies and cakes. We ended our season with a performance from Wine and Alchemy at our camp, which was magical and wonderous.
We almost always are ready and prepped to do a round or two of Jager Bombs, and there's more loki in our clan than you can shake a stick at.
Depending on your group and how much they drink, I would say about 8 beers per person, per day. Now, I stick to the hard stuff, with a cider for sippin in between. My husband (as are many of the McLotofus men) is a beer disposal unit, with the ability to drain an entire case in a few hours (with a little help from the beer gnomes). As far as food is concerned, I would definitely include some bagged snacks for munching on until dinner is ready. A day of drinking and making "merry" will make even the sanest of Rennies into a ravenous beast come dinner time.
Please feel free to swing by and meet some of your fellow RFers with McLotofus. We love making new friends, and we only kinda leave lasting scars to one's psyche... :D
In the food cooler for opening weekend it will be brats, bacon, eggs, milk, juices. In the drinks a Gatorade, flavored water ,couple of six packs and a couple bottle of loki.
OK I gotta ask...with so much food on the menu inside the faire. Why is cooking and barbequing so big in the camping area? I can understand breakfast since that doesn't seem to be too plentiful on the faire grounds. But aren't ya'll stuffed when ya come out there? I'm planning on packing lite snacks and maybe one meal for Friday evening and then cramming as much faire-food as I can when I get in.
Is it because the faire-food costs so much? Me thinks I'm missing something..?
Well, between the cost of faire food (which I've found is MUCH higher here than at other faires), and the fact that we have cannon at 7ish (which means that by the time all the festivities go down at 9, it's time to throw a meal in there so that we can keep drinking until 3am with no issues), it's really just nice to have noms. I mean, there's no need to stuff ourselves stoopid. But fewd is good LOL.
And late at night, you know the time... it's the time when you'd be riding drunk to a Denny's.... best time to NOM.
Many of us camp Friday night too, so we have to eat dinner then. Also, I know for us, it's expensive to eat our fill inside faire. We get a few of our favorite things, but do our main dinner meal after we get back after faire Saturday evening and have changed and relaxed awhile around camp.
As we're not big eaters, and there are only 4 of us anyway, we just take cans of Ravioli and Dinty Moore beef stew, bread and butter for the dinners. And I usually cook eggs, lil smokies and toast for breakfast. Then cheese and meat roll-ups and various snacks and fruit.
Oh, and of course two 18 packs of beer (one cold, one hot), soft drinks, milk, water, and ice.
One ice chest has the drinks, one has the food, one has extra ice.
We've really tried to make it as easy as we can over the years.
It is expensive to eat in faire and with all the walking you do; you can eat all day and then be ravenous by dark. So yep, we make sure we have plenty to eat out at camp. ;D
Quote from: Hercules on September 29, 2009, 08:07:59 AM
Soon as I get the friggen fish smell outa my coolers.
Try baking soda and if that doesn't work toothpaste can do the trick
Carp...guess I better add some more stuff to the list I thought I was done with.
Well! Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend! :D
I'm putting together my kitchen for Halloween, so far I've got eggs and Jimmy dean scramblers for brekkie, and sausage for jambalaya, plus links for dogs and some frozen homemade chili for one night. As for refreshments, we'll have beer (probably Newcastle or Shiner), Hard Cranberry Lemonade and whatever our guests request. Oh yeah, and water. Yes, I have forgotten water in the past ::blush::
Beer for the hubby (probably Leinenkugels Wheat, or Franziskaner)
Cider for me (mmm... Blackthorn or Strongbow)
Loki
Possibly a bottle or two of Shmitt-Shone Reisling
Drumgray Whisky Cream
Bruadar (best whiskey liquer around- dunno if this will get here in time for opening weekend)
Glenfiddich 15 and 18
spam, potatoes, onion, garlic and eggs for trash hash
tortillas
monkeybread makings
brisket & fixins for Saturday night dinner
munchies
the list will be longer for Highland Fling weekend- there's a beef & ale stew I want to try that weekend..
Beside there is just something friendly about sitting around a fire doing BBQ and drinking.
Brie Cheeses, Crackers, Grapes, Jalapeno pie, Boiled shrimp, Pears
Apples, Pumpkin muffins, Prosciutto, Caviar and the assorted beverages adult and otherwise.
Pumpkin Muffins
1 Can pumpkin
1 Box spiced cake mix
Preheat oven per box.
Mix pumpkin and cake mix.
This will take some time!
There is enough moisture, just keep mixing.
Line muffin pan w/ cupcake foils.
Fill and smooth, what you see is what you get; this does not rise or settle as it bakes.
Bake till toothpick come out clean
Tooth pick test. Insert toothpick into muffin, if it is clean and dry when pulled out, the muffins are done.
Frosting or no, your choice.
May be served hot or cold.
Freezes very well.
Well.. I may not be going to texas faires this year but when I have to pack and cook for the group (and my friends group since I wake up before their cook) I bring two coolers of need to be cold food, one with room temp foods and some home canned pre-made stew and fruits, jams. I like to cook..
I have a fridge, microwave, and a small stove, so I just bring normal food for me, and TV dinners for the wife, since they're one of the few things she can keep down with the morning sickness
Thoughts from an old Eagle Scout...
Although I'm going to attempt a Dutch oven shepherd's pie (if I can a decent recipe), Friday night is usually tin-foil dinners, prepared the previous evening at home, served with beans and bread.
Saturday morning is sausage/egg/cheese breakfast burritos. Onions are chopped and cheese is grated earlier in the week.
Saturday night is Sloppy Joes. I prepare the mix and meat earlier in the week and freeze it. Drunks are generally not good in the kitchen, so I try to keep Saturday night simple. Chips, cheese and crackers round out the menu.
I rarely stay to go back into the festival on Sundays, so it's Pop-Tarts and fruit, just something to munch on while breaking camp.
I have a large plastic bin for dry foods, including snacks, crackers, and the like. In addition to the food mentioned above, I pack bottled water and juice, milk, beer and hearty amounts of Dr. Pepper.
Speaking of plastic bins, we started using these for our dry food and kitchen supplies, and our clothes in our tents. They're easy to pack and keep everything VERY tidy and dry!
(http://img.epinions.com/images/opti/a8/93/Sterilite_3_Drawer_Cart_3130_Housewares-resized200.jpg)
Food cooler Halloween Weekend:
I think Morgana's bringing meatloaf this year.
ingredients for scratch biscuits and sausage gravy
loaf of homemade honey oat bread
little smokeys with cheese in 'em
cheeses of some kind
crackers
Period Shortbread
chips, dip, condiments and sundries
Drink Cooler Halloween Weekend:
50-100 bottles of homemade beer: Honey Kolsch and 1492 Pale Ale
Cider, water, gatorade, sodas, and sundries
I dunno about the other weekends yet!
Great responce to this post. Friday is looking like steak instead of chops and backed potatos with maybe a salaid. Saturday is looking like burgers because my drunk behind will only be able to cook this simple meal. Keep the ideas coming my menu is not set in stone. What I really like to cook is some lamb for myself <the rest of my group is not interested in this> or if anyone has a different idea please post it would like to hear other ideas.
We generally come equipped with three coolers.
Two for intoxicating beverages, one for food.
Our Clann Braggot is coming across superbly - year three of tweaking the recipe (thanks to us having a professional brewer in the group)
We've got two Loki's in the works - Gingerbread, and Pumpkin Spice
We always bring at least one bottle of Powers Irish Whiskey
We all bring sixers of whatever odd brew strikes our fancy. Barleywines are ALWAYS included.
Then we fill the rest with whatever cheap beverages we can find. Usually the almighty HIGH LIFE in the "special edition" (ha!) camo can.
In the past we've always had wine on hand, but since this year we've been allowed a "guys only" trip by the significant others - we'll probably skip out on vino.
For food we're going for a hardy beef stew on friday night. Breakfast burritos Saturday morning. Lunch in the Faire. Dinner of brats, beef, bread, cheese, and hopefully beer can chicken. Nothing fancy. Everything hardy.
Sunday we'll strike camp and probably head for the nearest grease-joint to help comfort our hangovers.
This is one of the best threads yet, btw! ;)
Heineken!! lots of Heineken!!
Quote from: Fraser of Lovatt on September 30, 2009, 06:46:49 AM
Heineken!! lots of Heineken!!
Gotta be careful with your Heine....someone always comes along and grabs it. ;D
We have several food coolers, Friday night is for left over smoked brisket, turkey and pulled pork
Sat is breakfast burritos sat nght is Irish stew in bread bowls and sun morning is a bit of a smorgasbord.
The other several coolers will be filled to overflowing with beers of the world and a Guinness Keg this year.
Anther cooler w/ dry ice in it for jager, rumple, and peton.
Quote from: grizintx on September 30, 2009, 02:25:20 PM
Sat is breakfast burritos sat nght is Irish stew in bread bowls and sun morning is a bit of a smorgasbord.
Where do you get your bread bowls?
H.E.B. has the right size and texture, but Randal's has some nice ones that have the tops precut.
Quote from: JimsDana on September 30, 2009, 07:10:30 PM
H.E.B. has the right size and texture, but Randal's has some nice ones that have the tops precut.
Hmmm. Thankee! There is something I've been wanting to re-create from Pennsic (fyi - chicken alfredo in a bread bowl) but have been unable to without proper breadbowls. I'm going to have to take a look...
Sounds good!
Is there any way to brush garlic butter inside the bread then give it a toast?
A little extra Alfredo to soak through!!!
Need go just made myself hungry!!!
Wow! I need to come and camp with some of you folks, your coolers are way better stocked than ours!
We have beer, champagne, oj (can't live without a good mimosa), sandwich fixins, hot dogs.
I may have to request an upgrade on our dinner menu!
That reminds me: on Sundays the hub and I usually have a champagne brunch at home. Sometimes we have guests, sometimes not. This year we are going to re-create it in camp at some point. (Although we may do biscuits and gravy instead of cheesy scrambled eggs, English muffins, and bacon, but who knows? Once we had SOS for brunch.) We have to do it on a day when we are not feasting or wine tasting, or I am thinking the consequences could be dire.
Also, the mention of lamb reminded me of something. When we had to drive 9 hours to TRF, our menu was limited. What I did in 2k5 was to make an Irish lamb stew at home (it took most of a day and drove us crazy because we couldn't eat it...) and freeze it into an ice block. Then it sat in the cooler and all we had to do was heat it up in a pot until it was stew again. It was rockin' with chunks of soda bread, and it was awesome because after a long day of running around at faire you often need a good, satisfying meal with all the food groups but a lot of times it's not easy to prepare that when you're exhausted, footsore, possibly loaded, etc...
The breadbowls we get are from whole foods market here in Arlington. The fact is that we have been getting them from there for so long that they actually have a friendly wager as to how many I'll order every year. Its great fun and they still only charge me a buck a bowl (the original price for a round french loaf from 10 yrs ago.)
Mind you our group only gets down for one weekend of the season so we try to do it right.
does anyone know where I can get a couple of heavy duty styrofoam coolers? I'm talking about the kind they ship frozen food to your house in, with the really thick side walls and a fairly low profile. I was thinking maybe a pet store, I hear they sometimes ship containers of live fish in them, or maybe a grocery store, but I'm pretty sure they get their frozen/chilled goods from refrigerated trucks rather than in insulated boxes...I'm looking for an inexpensive way to supplement my existing cooler space.
Also, has anyone had a chance to try out the propane powered coleman slow cooker/crock pots? I have one, but I've never used it. I have some awesome breakfast casserole recipies that I'd like to try at camp...
Quote from: Sonata on October 04, 2009, 12:15:17 AM
does anyone know where I can get a couple of heavy duty styrofoam coolers? I'm talking about the kind they ship frozen food to your house in, with the really thick side walls and a fairly low profile. I was thinking maybe a pet store, I hear they sometimes ship containers of live fish in them, or maybe a grocery store, but I'm pretty sure they get their frozen/chilled goods from refrigerated trucks rather than in insulated boxes...I'm looking for an inexpensive way to supplement my existing cooler space.
I've seen those at grocery stores. Mostly Tom Thumb where they also sell dry ice.
Try a florist they shop their flowers in 5 ft long styro coolers they referer to as coffins.
thanks!!
Sonata,
I almost bought one of those Coleman slow cookers except that when I read about them online, there was a weird issue. People say that because the crock is metal and not thick and insulated, the food heats much faster than you would think for a crock pot/slow cooker. Many people barely saved the food from burning. Of course, I haven't had any personal experience with it, so you may want to do a test run at home to find out if these horror stories are just urban legends... :)
thanks MidnightFerret, I wasn't planning to get one but I found it at a Coleman outlet for about 30% of (yes of, not off) the regular retail price at a midnight madness sale last Thanksgiving night. Yay sales!
I started googling for recipies and suggestions myself after posting my question here and saw some of the same cautions you found! I think I'll be preparing my breakfast casserole Saturday morning and planning for an hour or less in cooking time, instead of planning for an overnight cook on low heat.
I wonder how efficient it is for heating a pot of wash water? Can't wait to find out! :D
The coleman ovens work wonderfully. As opposed to the old ones that sat on you stove, the new ones have their own burner and can consistently hod 450 degrees. got one two years ago and absolutely love it. Makes great cobbler.
oooh, I'm jealous. The coleman oven is what I was after when I went to the midnight madness sale, but they were out - so I ended up with the slow cooker because I couldn't bring myself to leave the store empty-handed LOL
Well Friday All Hollows Eve its looking like like stake and bake potato's Don't know about Saturday night because every body sounds like they will be 3 sheets to the wind before anyone gets back to camp including me . My question is a: what is everyone Saturdays menu?? B: Is anyone cooking? C: If you see a small group of hungry people <ie our group> is anyone willing to charge about 5-8 people to eat you out of Saturday rations ;D please help the hungry. Whats everybodys menu for Saturday after fireworks AHE. You will have hungry people waiting for a reply ;D and willing to pay.
I think our camp is having barbeque for Saturday. We're bringing the competition pit out for camp that weekend (leaving the big pit in storage for this weekend, due to the weather and what we're cooking), and I'm under the impression that there will be briskets, sausage, and other nommable delights. Head over to the Clan site for more details...
Our AHE menu hasn't been planned yet but the Saturday of opening weekend will be brisket
*I'll be stopping by to say hello....*
As of my shopping trip earlier at 3:30 in the morning, my cooler contains:
?Pepsi
?Fruit cups
?Turkey
?Swiss Cheese
?Pickles... mmmm~~
?Lettuce
?Tomato
?Peanut Butter
?Mustard
?Nutella
?Jelly
?Chips
My friend's cooler contains:
?Booze
?Mixers
?More booze
?Even more booze
?Did I mention booze?
It's almost time!! :D
Well the menu is set for Friday, stake, baked potato's, and a salad <gota have some kinda of greens>. Saturday I hope that the MCLOTFUS dinning hall is open for for a few hungry inebriated hungry folks<I see Saturday night just being all kinda ugly for yours truly>. Blue hope to see you at POW on Saturday. Blue thanks for inviting me and our small crew to eat with MCLOTFUS ON Saturday. 3 days and counting. I am really getting stoked about AHE. Hazzah
If I come this weekend and I have any ravers....well, guess what will be in my cooler. Who is up for some inter-species dining?!
OOO! MEEMEEMEE!!!
Well, it looks as if we'll be dining on BBQ on Friday, and doing Clan Chili for Saturday night. Man, I'm so damn hungry....
Quote from: Sir Smithwick on October 27, 2009, 12:04:16 AM
Well the menu is set for Friday, stake, baked potato's, and a salad <gota have some kinda of greens>. Saturday I hope that the MCLOTFUS dinning hall is open for for a few hungry inebriated hungry folks<I see Saturday night just being all kinda ugly for yours truly>. Blue hope to see you at POW on Saturday. Blue thanks for inviting me and our small crew to eat with MCLOTFUS ON Saturday. 3 days and counting. I am really getting stoked about AHE. Hazzah
Sir Smithwick it will be a pleasure to meet you and your merry bunch. :) See you this weekend!