Oh yeah, you heard me. Applesauce baby!

Our tent camping season is pretty much over in these parts, which means it’s time to head to the kitchen and start testing out some recipes for next season. I’ve got a nice size cast iron dutch oven I’ll be breaking out next year, so I’m looking for some good recipes that can be made in that. I’m also looking for some recipes that take time.

Why, you might ask?

Making applesauce is a great way to use up an afternoon at the camp site.

One of the things I love best about camping is the amount of time I have to cook. I know, I know, that sounds crazy. Camping is about being one with nature and taking in the beauty of your surroundings and blah blah blah blah.

Yeah, you heard me. I love all that stuff, don’t get me wrong. But what I REALLY love about camping is how much time I have to cook. When we camp, we have no timeline. We relax, we chill out and we go do things only when we feel like it. That means I have as much time as I want to cook. An hour on breakfast? No problem! Two hours on dinner? Sure!

While I haven’t taken my kids camping with me yet, I expect they’ll make at least a few treks with me next year. Finding ways to both keep them occupied and to let them help with things around camp has been on my list. When the Hero of Canton suggested we make applesauce, I thought it was a grand plan.

With two adults and two preschoolers, it took about an hour and a half to make. That’s exactly what I was looking for. This recipe would be a great way to keep some pre-teens and teens busy for a bit on a camping trip and makes up a large (and delicious) batch of warm cinnamon applesauce you can enjoy for dessert one night (and have again for breakfast the next morning.)

So here’s what you do…

First you gather up three to four pounds of good cooking apples. You might use granny smith, golden delicious, cortland, gala or fuji. It works best if you use a mix as some types of apples will cook down faster than others and the slower to cook down types end up staying behind to act as those yummy chunkies. You’ll also want to snag yourself a lemon. (More on that later.)

I came home with a mix of Granny Smith (I like their bite) and Honeycrisp.

Mmmm.....apples

First things first…peel your apples.

A veggie peeler makes quick work of the skin.

Next you need to core them.

If you've got multiple people, let one peel and one core.

Next you’ll need to cut them into small chunks, about 1″.

Chunk em up, baby!

Put them in a bowl and set them aside.

Just keep an eye on the kidlets, they like to snack!

Next you need your lemon. You’re going to be using the peel, so make sure you wash it. Take your veggie peeler and take off three or four nice thick pieces of rind.

That lemon has appeal...sorry, I couldn't resist.

You’re going to need some of the juice as well, so roll it around a bit to soften it up, then cut it in half.

Don't forget to roll the lemons...really, it makes a big difference.

Next you need to juice your lemon. You’ll need about 3 tablespoons of juice, a single lemon should cover it.

This is where the kids come in handy, my kids LOVED juicing the lemon.

Pour the lemon juice into your dutch oven. (In this case, it was into my stock pot.)

Even the littlest kid can help by pouring ingredients in.

Next you’ll need 1/4 cup of packed DARK brown sugar.  If you’re camping, make sure you measure this out ahead of time and take it in a zip lock bag.

I said DARK brown sugar, not the light variety.

Top that off with another 1/4 cup of white sugar. This will give you half a cup total.

Mix your sugars together and store them in a zip lock bag for your trip.

Add your pieces of lemon peel and your sugars to your dutch oven or stock pot.

Mmm...yummy sweetness!

Measure out one cup of water and add it to the pot.

Once again, those kids come in handy!

Now it’s finally time to add the apples to the mix!

Emmitt's favorite job is dumping stuff into pots.

Add in cinnamon to taste. I threw in about a teaspoon or so, but it’s easy enough to add more once it’s made, so go easy. Then give it all a good stir to mix it together.

Giving it all a good stir does a nice job of making sure all the apples have a coating of cinnamon and sugar.

Here’s where things start to vary… if you’re making this at home, turn your burner up to high and keep an eye on things until it starts to boil. If you’re at camp and you aren’t using a camp stove, put your dutch oven over a hot fire until you see it start to boil.

Keep an eye on it until it comes to a boil, shouldn't take long.

Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low or move your dutch oven away from the hot part of the fire and let it simmer over low heat for another 20-30 minutes. (If you’re using a dutch oven and you can’t get it far enough from the fire, just keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn’t cook down too fast.)

Then comes the fun part. Pull out your potato masher and let someone start smashing away.

The Hero of Canton decided he’d use his manly-man skills to sauce the heck out of our batch.

Mash those apples!

Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to enjoy! We ate ours warm over vanilla ice cream that night, then put the rest in the fridge and have been eating it with breakfast.

Apple cinnamony goodness!

This recipe makes a pretty good amount, so it’s perfect if you’re camping with a large group or have a cooler you can put the leftovers in.

Let me know how it goes if you try it!

No, not the type of camping where you have to bring sticks and spears and wear animals skins…the kind where you actually set your tent up out in the woods instead of 15 feet behind the concrete slab where you’ve parked your car.

That’s one of the things I love about camping at Hocking Hills State park. They have an actual primitive (also known as walk-in) camping available.

Reserve Your Campsite Online

The trail from the parking lot to the primitive camp sites at Hocking Hills State Park

The great thing about Ohio’s State Park system is their online reservation system. Camp grounds fill up fast on holiday weekends and good sites can even be sparse on your average summer weekend. While the system tacks on an $8 fee to reserve your spot ahead of time, it’s a small price to pay to make sure you don’t end up with one of those teeny, tiny spots that butts right up to the trail and let’s every other camper know exactly what you’re having for dinner.

The fact you can now reserve one of Hocking Hills State Park’s primitive camp sites online as well. (You didn’t used to be able to reserve walk-in sites.) The key to reserving your spot online is to take the time to read the descriptions they provide for each space.

If, for example, the site description includes “857 FEET WALK-IN FROM GATE” you might be ok with reading the site is only 15 feet by 12 feet and will barely fit your two man tent and a picnic table. On the other hand, a closing line like “1490 FEET WALK-IN FROM GATE” may not phase you if you know that site is not only ginormous, but is also very secluded with spot for up to three 7 or 8 person tents.

If you don’t want to take the system’s word for it, take mine. I’ve camped on sites 9, 27 and 17 in this campground. Each have their pros and cons, depending on what you’re looking for in a camp site.

Site 9 – Flat, Large, but Little Privacy

Site 9 is the first spot I ever camped on at Hocking Hills. It’s about a 7-10 minute walk from the parking lot if you’re hauling gear and it’s on a bit of a ridge above the trail. It’s got a nice open clearing and is very flat, but the trees around it are sparse and unless it’s the thick of spring growth, people will mostly be able to see you as they pass on the trail. It’s a good site for groups because there’s plenty of space to set up multiple tents. It’s also a short walk to the latrines (though far enough you don’t have to smell them.)

Site 27 – Medium Distance, VERY private

Site 27 is directly across the trail from site 9, so it’s the same distance from the street and the latrine. The difference is you walk down the side of a hill to get to site 27 instead of walking up it. The site is about 70 yards off the trail and is made up of a small clearing in the midst of a bazillion trees. It’s the most secluded spot I’ve stayed at that campgrounds, making it one of the quietest. You could easily set up two to three large tents on this spot as well, but there are some slight sloping issues you’ll need to take into consideration.

There’s potential issue with site 27 if you’re a big fraidy cat. The opening in the trees is just large enough to set up the tents…other than that, it’s pretty dense in there. The trail to get down to site 27 off the main path is pretty narrow and has quite a few major roots running across it. That makes for some fun night time walking if you aren’t the one carrying the flash light and it makes for a challenge if you rely on a wagon to get your gear to your site. We dumped our wagon at least twice on the way down the path…though that was mostly because we’d piled it too high and there was no one walking along side it offering support.

Site 17 – Long Haul, Great for Groups

Primitive Walk-in Site 17 at Hocking Hills State Park

Site 17 is probably my favorite site at Hocking Hills. It’s one heck of a hike to get there (about 30 minutes round trip from the car if you’re taking a load of supplies) but it’s absolutely beautiful.

The site itself sits back off the trail a good 150 yards or so and is one of the largest, flattest sites I’ve seen. I have no doubt you could fit four 7-8 person tents on that site without feeling cramped.

We had our giant condo tent, a smaller supply tent, plus chairs for five people, the fire pit and a picnic table and we barely made a dent in the space on this site.

It’s a large enough clearing the trees aren’t overhanging the site, so on a good night, you can look up and have a wonderful view of the stars. That said, it’s completely surrounded by woods, so it’s easy enough to take a 10 minute hike to pick up plenty of kindling for the fire.

What it Costs

While camping costs you a heck of a lot less than a cabin or a hotel, it’s prices keep creeping up as the years go by. Rates are $20 a night for up to six people on a camp site. You’ll get two free parking passes with your camp site, but you’ll have to pay a small fee if you need any more than that. If you reserve online, they’ll tack on a one time fee of $8 for the security of knowing there will be a space there when you show up.

The season runs from April 1st through October 31st and includes a maximum stay of two weeks at a time. There are no showers at the primitive sites, but you do have a ability to drive over to the main campgrounds and take a shower there.

How to Get There
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Finding the perfect tent takes time.

Here’s the funny thing about tents…you want them to be small enough you can carry the bag without giving yourself a hernia and ruining your camping trip, but you also want them to be large enough that everyone doesn’t have to be on top of each other.

(I mean hey, we’re all friends here…but that doesn’t mean I want to sleep two inches from the person who snores like a chain saw…though now that I think of it, making them bring their own tent is probably a better plan…but I digress.)

Why’d I Need to Buy a Tent in the First Place?

A path like this just screams "set up a tent and stay!"

It all started this past summer. I hadn’t been camping in years because I hadn’t had the time, the equipment, or the friends with an interest in going. I had a tiny little 3 person dome tent (translation: if you REALLY like the person you are camping with, you might fit one other person in there with you), a sleeping bag and the other basic gear, but I didn’t have a good tent I could take camping with friends.

Then a friend from out of state moved to town and I learned he loved to camp, though he hadn’t gone in years. Scott suggested a bunch of us go camping for the 4th of July weekend and that started the ball rolling. The original plan was for Scott, Stoney, Rachel and I to head to Hocking Hills for a weekend camping trip. Now with four of us, we could have squeezed into two tiny dome tents, but not long after plans were made, Rachel decided to bring along her then boyfriend John. Suddenly we were a party of five.

That’s when I found out Stoney also loved to camp. Since his kids live out of state and mine are with their father three weekends out of four, we realized we could have a lot of fun camping on the weekends through the summer while we explored some of Ohio’s state parks. That was all the excuse I needed to toss my teeny tiny tent and replace it with a larger one. That way, we could enjoy the “condo” camping experience when it was just the two of us (i.e., all the space we could need) and still have plenty of space for friends to come along.

What Was I Looking for in a Tent?

So now I was tasked with finding a tent that would usually get used by two people, but might occasionally need to sleep half a dozen or so. Since neither Stoney nor I mind camping in the rain (more on this in another post) I figured a larger tent would work just fine because it would give us enough space to spread out and play games or cook if we decided to camp through a monsoon.

Since I’ve learned from camping trips past that the amount of people a tent advertises it will hold should be cut roughly in half, I knew a six person tent was going to be the minimum and an eight person would be ideal. Neither Stoney nor I are a big fan of dirty tents, which means shoes come off and dirty gear stays outside. That meant I was going to be looking for a tent with either a screened porch or a vestibule for storage.

The final challenge was the fact that I, like most campers, am not made of money. I had some money laid aside and I’d decided I could probably cough up around $150, but there was no way I could spring the $300+ that most of the big cabin tents set you back. So…let’s check out the finalists…

Columbia Bugaboo II 5-Person Dome Tent

Sturdy, compact, and probably sleeps three at the most...

I’m a big fan of dome tents. They’re pretty easy to set up, they’re a good use of space and if you get one with a good rain fly, you’re pretty much set to weather any storms. That said, dome tents only tend to get so big. One of the first tents I looked at was the Columbia Bugaboo II 5-Person Dome Tent. I liked the looks, the price ($120) was right, and it had great reviews…but that whole 5-person thing was getting to me.

The listed dimensions of the tent were 12 foot by 9 foot. You put four people side by side and they each have about 3 feet of width to sleep in. That’s not terrible, but overall, it does leave you getting pretty snuggly with each other. Add a fourth person laying alongside everyone’s heads or feet and you eliminate pretty much any space for gear. For two of us, it would have been fine. For five of us? Umm, no thanks.

Jeep 7-Person Family Dome Tent

Plenty of space, decent price but no porch!

Next up I took a look at the Jeep 7-Person Family Dome Tent. Running just over $175, it was more than I wanted to spend, but the fact that it boasted three rooms was appealing. (Boys over there, girls over here, everyone meeting in the middle…or kids over there, gear over there and grown ups in the middle…I like tents with rooms.)

This looked like a great tent and it had pretty strong reviews (though some people said it needed a hefty dose of water sealant if you planned on being out in the rain.) The biggest issue I had with this one (apart from price) was the lack of a porch. I really…really…REALLY wanted a tent with a porch.

Greatland 7-8 Person Cabin Dome Tent

Ironically, after two weeks of hunting on Amazon, several trips to sporting goods stores and some serious Internet searching, I ended up buying a tent from…Target. Yep, Target. I know, I know…hard core campers are probably shaking their heads at me. (Go ahead, point and laugh at the new girl, I can take it!) I was strolling through Target one afternoon and decided to swing by the tents just to see what they had. What I found was a nice sized 8 person tent with a screened in porch and a room divider. The price was $160, which was close enough to my established budget for me to fudge it a little. I called up the web site on my iPhone and the reviews were pretty solid.

Two rooms a porch and space to comfortably sleep five

So…tah dah…meet the official tent of Life in a Tent camping trips. It’s pretty easy to set up…one person can do it in about 30 minutes, two people in 15-20. The rain fly is super easy to put on and covers both the tent and the screened porch. We usually take a large tarp with us that’s big enough to set the tent on and then fold the front corners back under themselves to conform to the shape of the front porch. We’ve camped through several rain storms with this tent and apart from some water collecting on the tarp from rain coming in on the screened porch, it stays remarkably dry.

I’d like to say it sailed through our first season of camping with flying colors, but the truth is, it only made it to a second trip. That’s when one of the clips that holds the outside tent poles came right off at the seam. This happened about three weeks after we got it, so we simply packed it up and took it back to Target for an exchange. The second tent has held up just fine. Alas, Target doesn’t sell it any more so I can’t really suggest you run out and buy it.

(Top tent photo courtesy Flickr creative commons license user: leeno)

Who says you can only eat hot dogs?

This camping lunch came about almost totally by accident. I never would have thought to pack it if I hadn’t been dying for a chance to use a super yummy new ingredient I found at the grocery store.

But first…let’s back up.

I love fresh tomatoes.

I really love fresh mozzarella.

I ADORE balsamic vinegar.

Quick and easy (and amazingly yummy) camping lunch

A few weeks ago, I’d spent some time in the kitchen laboriously trying to reduce balsamic vinegar (yum!) to a glaze. It took forever and the finished product, while yummy…just didn’t cut the mustard.

The next day while browsing through the balsamic vinegars at my local Giant Eagle, I stumbled upon a thing of great beauty.

There on the top shelf it sat…a beautiful glass bottle of balsamic glaze! Just $4.99 for a really nice size bottle. I couldn’t resist! I had to take it home.

Of course that was just two days before our next camping trip.

No time to use it before we left?

No fair.

That’s when I realized there was absolutely zero reason I couldn’t take it along with us and make up something yummy for us to eat with it.

So I headed back to the produce department, picked up a ball of fresh mozzarella, stopped by the produce department for a nice locally grown heirloom tomato. Then I stopped and picked up a bag of mixed baby greens.

When I got home, I packed it all up, pulled out a 2oz salad dressing bottle from my bento gear and filled it up with extra virgin olive oil. Then I headed out back and picked about two dozen large basil leaves from my herb pots.

When it came time for lunch on Saturday, I spread the mixed greens across two plates, sliced up my tomato, sliced up the mozzarella and pulled out my basil. Then I gently layered tomato, mozzarella, basil, tomato, mozzarella, basil until I ran out. I drizzled about 1 oz of the olive oil over each salad, then went back and poured some of the balsamic glaze.

Total calorie count on this meal was around 350, and it was VERY hardy. Plenty of protein from the cheese and the balsamic glaze adds a ton of flavor without really adding any calories. Not sure how good this would be with typical store bought tomatoes, but if you can pick up some freshly grown ones at a farmer’s market or from your own back yard, this is one killer camping recipe.

As it turns out, there was quite a bit there. They’ve got an awesome playground, a beautiful beach, eight miles of hiking trails, eight boat launches, a 900 foot beach with a protected swimming area and tons of parking.

900 feet of beach along Turkeyfoot Lake at Portage Lakes State Park

Portage Lakes State park includes Turkeyfoot lake, Nimisila reservoir and the tiny Relax lake.  The beach that runs along Turkeyfoot lake in the park was a great discovery.  I knew Portage Lakes State park included quite a few small connected lakes, but I had no idea there was an actual beach there.

The beach runs for about 900 feet and includes a protected swimming area that’s roped off with buoys. It was a nice sand beach and actually clean enough I wouldn’t mind my munchins playing in the sand. The beach also survived my “see my feet” rule. (Sidebar: I’m a chicken…a big chicken. Jaws messed me up and I don’t go into water where living things live unless I can see my feet. If you’ve ever been to Lake Erie, that means you can’t go more than, oh…1/4″ in. Here…you could probably go to your waist.)

The other nice thing about the beach is that you walk through a small grassy grove of pine trees to get to it. There were quite a few picnic tables and a few charcoal grills scattered about. These are the perfect place to dump your cooler and picnic supplies on your way from the parking lot and they’re close enough to the beach your kids can play in the water while you’re getting setup for a meal.

A view from the trails along Turkeyfoot Lake

We ended up walking along some paths that run along side the lake. Next to the beach, there’s a nice wide open sanded area that had some beach volleyball courts.  About 100 yards away from the beach there was a latrine. (nice as far as latrines go, but still…it’s  a latrine, so how much can you really expect?) There were some nice wide trails that were big enough to take a trucks down them, but you could also veer off onto some side trails that were only wide enough to walk in a single file line. We passed quite a few places where you could walk right down to the water that would be perfect for fishing or skipping rocks or even just taking really cool pictures at sunset.

The thing that intrigued me most was how many pontoon boats we saw both on the lake and tied up along the shore. I ran a quick Google search from my iPhone and found a handful of marinas that rent them out either by the hour or by the day. In fact, we’ve added that to our list of things to try at some point.

The park covers more than 400 acres and more than 2000 acres of water, and is only about 30 minutes from Canton. If you’re looking to stay for more than just the afternoon, the Portage Lakes state park campgrounds offer 74 campsites that run about $25 a night.

(Sidebar: The interesting thing about Portage Lakes state park is that it’s divided into two sections. We learned this the hard way the first time we decided to camp there. We drove to the park office only to find there’s a completely different park, entrance and office for camping…which meant a 10 minute drive in search of the campgrounds. If you’re looking for the campgrounds, you’ll need to call the park office for directions.)

The playground at Portage Lakes State Park by the beach

The last thing we checked out was the playground. I already knew my kids would love the park because of the beach, but I’m always on the hunt for nice playgrounds. (Beach + picnic area + awesome playground = entire day of fun.) This one was between the parking lot and the beach so if you’ve got mad mommy skillz (and eyes in the back of your head) you could setup at a table in the pine tree area and keep an eye on kids at the beach and kids back at the playground.

While this wasn’t a super gigantic playground, it was pretty good size and had a lot to offer. There was an awesome climbing wall, a couple of tunnels, a suspension bridge, some slides and quite a few different places to climb and swing.

There were plenty of park benches spread around the playground, so finding a place to sit and keep an eye on the kids would be no problem.

Where is it?

5031 Manchester Road
Akron, Ohio 44319
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