Cooking by the Campfire

For me, there is nothing better than waking up to a cold morning with a hot cup and coffee and a campfire.

Growing up, we didn't have a lot so our vacations often meant large amounts of time in the mountains. It was wonderful. Sleeping under the stars, playing in the rivers, lakes, streams and dirt and hearing all the adults wake up early to start the fire to get the percolator going. Just thinking about it brings back the smell of campfire smoke and strong black coffee. The sound of the wet wood crackling and the percolator bubbling up.

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. Eggs, bacon and toast to be more specific. It is something I still have almost every morning, even as an adult. It surprises me that I haven't gotten tired of it, but I think the fact that it brings back such warm memories in an already fragmented recollection of my childhood, it will be something that brings me such great happiness until I'm old and gray and the doctor tells me to quit eating so much damn bacon.

I was vegan a while back for quite some time. I was trying to do my part for a better earth, but try as I might, I could not make a satisfying substitute for bacon and eggs. So, eggs were the downfall of my veganism. I thought I would try being vegetarian, but the damn bacon brought me all the way back to an omnivore.

On a recent trip to Europe, I decided to rent a camper van instead of staying in hostels or hotels so I could cross more ground. This came with a lot of sleeping in parking lots, random parks and rest areas. However, the bonus was I got to wake up every morning to the beautiful world outside and a hot cup of coffee while I watched the sun rise. I was in Sussex when I had the absolute best meal I think I have had in my adult life. It was, of course, breakfast. But it was so much more than that. Fresh duck eggs, thick slices of rashers and a beautiful array of hand picked vegetables that even a child couldn't turn a nose up to.

As many people know, cooking outside can be a daunting feat for the most skilled outdoorsman. Cooking out of a van with a single burner stove and a harsh England wind would stop even the most vigilant of cooks but you do what you need to do when it needs to be done. I know it doesn't take a genius to make breakfast, I know there isn't a real recipe that needs to be written, but this experience was too surreal to not share. It brought back the most amazing memory of one of our camping trips to the Oregon coast. The smell, the food, the sounds and the tastes all took me back to a time that I had mostly forgotten in all my years. And I wanted to share it all with you.

I know that I said there was not any real need for a recipe, but here is the one that we used. Please try it, enjoy, and let me know how yours turns out.

Duck eggs and rashers by the sea - Serves two

1. If you have the ability, start with renting a camper van from Spaceships UK and buy a round trip ticket to Dublin, Ireland. Once you have landed in Dublin, you can either stay the night or purchase a one way bus ticket to Ardsallagh in the County Meath.

2. When you have arrived in Ardsallagh, lug all of your belongings down an old dairy farm road about two miles from the bus stop and pick up you camper van.

3. Learn to drive on the opposite side of the road on the opposite side of the car in a manual Ford Transit Diesel.

4. Try to not get killed by the large farming tractor head straight your way and taking up the entire back country road.

5. Make it out alive and find directions to the loading dock of the ferry that will take you to Holyhead Ferryport.

6. Arrive in the UK and enjoy the sunrise with a steaming hot cup of coffee while the ocean breeze numbs every inch of your body. Pure bliss!

7. Drive straight through the UK, staying the night in a park in Folkestone in your lovely camper van and wake up before the sun so you can be one of the first ones in line to get on the Eurotunnel to Calais, France.

8. Drive all over Europe. Stop in Amsterdam and drive a scooter because your camper van was towed due to parking in the wrong spot. After saving the van from car jail, drive to Switzerland. Drive halfway up the Swiss Alps to only realize it is closed and drive back down to hop on a car train.

9. While on said car train, see your life flash before your eyes as you think there is another train coming head on in the pitch black darkness as we literally go through the Alps in a million year old car train.

10. Get out of that one alive as well and get lost and angry at the horrible driving in Italy. Visit a National Park, lay in the sun, say goodbye to Italy and head to the South of France.

11. Enjoy a topless day at the beach and almost getting the camper van stuck in a parking garage. Finally escape the City of Marseille and enjoy a quiet drive through the French Country Side.

12. Make it back to Calais, France, take the Ferry back to Folkstone and travel around the UK for a bit until you find yourself in Sussex.

13. Find a quaint little local store and pick up some fresh duck eggs and rashers, mushrooms, any fresh vegetables you'd like to roast or hand picked salad mix, and fresh local goat cheese. (Note - if you are out of coffee at this point, do not forget to pick some up because the long drive back to Holyhead to catch the ferry will most likely be a bit treacherous since it will be in the middle of the night.)

14. Make a fresh pot of coffee while your partner uses the one burner camp stove to lightly sauté the mushrooms in fresh butter.

15. Make coffee with fresh cream while your partner gently cracks the duck eggs into a butter coated frying pan.

16. Mix the fresh greens (or roasted vegetables if you prefer) with salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar and goat cheese while your partner bets a lovely dog whose owner stopped by the van to chat.

17. Set out camping chairs next to an old stone wall next to the sea while your partner puts all of the cooked ingredients onto a plate with delicate care.

18. Enjoy.

Note. If you are unable to follow the recipe from numbers one through twelve, but know that any place will do, at any time of day. It's all about finding your own adventure and enjoying your own recipe for life.