Suzy and Shannon Bolan of Grand Island visited North Platte and camped at Kansas Point. They were preparing a grilled chicken dinner when I stopped by. They used an extra measure of food safety by cooking their meal in a foil pack and not letting it touch the grill in their campsite. That’s a good tip to remember.
I hope everyone is having a safe and great Memorial Day weekend. This holiday is sort of the unofficial start of the camping season. That means lots of meals around the campfire. Cooking outdoors is a big part of the camping experience and one that can make lasting memories. Make sure you are ready to do your cooking right to keep everyone well fed, safe and healthy.
You see these warning about food preparations about this time each year. Yes, knowing the right thing to do is good and necessary, but it always seems a bit over dramatic to me. I think most of us know what we need to do; we just need to focus on getting it done right.
With this subject in mind, how did we survive our childhood and all the time leading up to today? Looking through some of the cautions and pamphlets I get about safe cooking and food poisoning, I should have probably died by age 13. And how did anyone survive the daily meals served along the Oregon Trail?
Back to the topic and on a more serious note, planning for meals at home and serving the meal in a more “controlled environment” is quite different than preparing and serving a meal in camp where cooking equipment or cold storage probably isn’t as good as it is at home.
When you are thinking about your camp meals, keep this basic principle in mind: Keep hot things hot and cold things cold. Keep in mind though that either task can be difficult in camp.
