Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (June 1998, week 1)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Fri, 5 Jun 1998 06:32:48 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Hineline <hineline@HELIX.UCSD.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Hineline <hineline@HELIX.UCSD.EDU>
Subject:      Re: What food to take in a Westie
Comments: To: vanagon@vanagon.com
In-Reply-To:  <9a92cca7.3577424e@aol.com> from "S Sittservl" at Jun 4,
              98 08:56:45 pm
Content-Type: text

To add to what Karl and Steven Sittser advised, it's a good idea to carry an all-around cookbook, like the Joy of Cooking. That way, if you happen upon a farmstand (surprising number of them parallel to I-70 in Utah) you can figure out a way to cook up whatever you find.

When traveling, it's a good idea to carry some dry goods and some canned goods. "Healthy," to me, means keeping a supply Near East boxes in the pantry. Taboulie, rice pilaf. The barley pilaf will keep your hominid pipes clean.

I wouldn't cook anything involving grease inside a Westy, so carry a Coleman stove for that. To me, the smell of bacon in the morning is the essence of camping -- it goes with birdsong. But cook it outside.

And as long as you have the Coleman stove, carry a wok and a small wok cookbook. Slide into a supermarket and grab a half dozen vegetables for a stir fry. But do not use the wok inside a Westy -- it will coat the headliner, windows, poptop and canvas with grease. Gak.

The best way to cook meat, if meat is consistent with your notion of healthy, is either to carry a Weber smoker as Karl suggested, or very small propane grill (they sell them in supermarkets here for about $25.) To cut down on the amount of grease you have to clean off skillets (and which ends up coating your drainpipe, graywater container, etc., substitute ground sirloin for ground beef. You don't have to feel guilty about it.

If you need to feel guilty, feel guilty about all those paper plates. :-)

An old fashioned pressure cooker is a good device to have, for cooking up stews and whatnot on the Westy range without raising the humidity inside the van beyond tolerable limits.

The ultimate would be a Westy-ized crockpot, running on 12v all day while you drive. West Marine or RV places might have one. Ideally it would have something to hold the lid on tight.

For quick meals, I have found that Lipton side dishes (sold in foil envelopes) like stroganoff are better tasting than tuna or hamburger helper -- just add tuna or ground sirloin.

Two pots are way, way better than one.

A Coleman oven is a worthwhile purchase. You can make biscuits, brownies, bread (from frozen dough), pizza, Pilsbury doughboy stuff. Note, though, that it won't brown anything.

If you use a lot of milk, carry a combination of fresh and powdered. That way a) you won't run out of milk and b) you can go half-and-half for some uses. (Spoken like a true aging baby-boomer-son-of-depression-children. Not quite 90s, not quite 30s.)

Get a hand-crank mixer for beating eggs, batters, etc. Using a whisk will scare you inside a Westy.

When I was growing up, I always got a kick out of the Kellogg's variety packs, with the perforated side you opened up to use the box as a bowl. Don't know if they still make them that way, but with a knife you can accomplish the same thing.

Cooking in a Westy involves a unique combination of conveniences and constrains. It's not quite a full RV kitchen, and it's not quite camping out. I think the thing to do is make use of the variety of possibilities. Some meals on the Westy stove, some outside on the Coleman or the Weber. Knowing how to get a full meal inside, especially when rain is pelting down, is a noble skill.Vanagon


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.