Park (P)review: Purtis Creek State Park - Eustace, TX

Park (P)review

We haven't camped here yet, but I've driven around and checked it out!

Purtis Creek State Park
903-425-2332

* Not. Much. Shade.  (Mom reminded me as we drove around, that may be a good thing come winter...)
*Very flat and surprisingly small for as much lake surface area they have
*This park is about 20 minutes from First Monday Trade Days in Canton
*Electric and Water Sites: 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 18, 19 & 21 (premo view of water), 23 26, 47 & 48. All had some shade, but not much.
*BTW - only 50 boats are allowed on the water at a time.

Camp Cooking #3: Grilled Banana Pudding

So, are you willing to be adventurous? Are you willing to think outside the pudding box? Are you crazy enough to put a banana on the grill?  Then this is the recipe you've been waiting for!! I've done Camp Pudding a number of time before (I'll give you the short version of that first) but wanted to try something different this last time.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves - first, Camp Pudding:

 

1 Box Pudding

2 Cups Milk

jar

I prep for camp pudding at home first, by marking off a plastic container with cup marks.  I have so much fun with this dessert that I now have a jar dedicated just for this purpose.  Fill your jar to the 2 cup mark with milk, and bring it along with your drinks/food to camp.

Next up, add a box of instant pudding (you can do any flavor if you're just doing pudding for dessert, but I'm using vanilla for the grilled banana recipe).  You'll want to make sure that your jar holds at least 3 cups of liquid.  I made the mistake of thinking that 2 cups of milk + 1 box of pudding would only have the volume of, well, 2 cups of milk.  Wrong.  You need that extra space.  Trust me.

Then the fun part (sorry, no picture) - put the lid back on the jar and shake like crazy! If you have kids, this would be the perfect activity for them.  Once the pudding and milk are shaken, not stirred, shove the jar back into the cooler, under ice, and wait.  Yeah, that's the hardest part.

About 30 minutes later, you've got Camp Pudding! Dish it out into bowls and enjoy!  But now that you've mastered Camp Pudding, if you're willing to take just a few more steps, you can have Grilled Banana Pudding... How tempting does that sound?  

So, let's go back to the beginning and do this again.  Start with the ingredients:

2 cups cold milk

1 box Vanilla Pudding

1 or 2 Bananas

Vanilla Wafers

Cool-Whip topping

Spoons, tongs, knife, foil, and bowls

Start out by making your Camp Pudding (see above) but before you get to the 'dig in and enjoy' part, try this:

Prep your bananas for the grill.  I wasn't sure what would be best - 1. Whole banana, not peeled, wrapped in foil, and grilled. 2. Halved banana with skin still on, straight on the grill, or 3. Peeled banana, halved, straight on the grill.

So I tried all three variations.  I let the halved bananas get nice grill marks before I turned them over, and they came off after maybe 5 minutes total (I didn't want "Burned Banana Pudding") and the whole one wrapped in foil was turned at five minutes, and stayed on another 5.

I thought for sure, the halved and peeled bananas (#2 & #3) would be the winners - the grill marks looked amazing.  Grilling made them incredibly sweet.  Too sweet.  Almost caramelized and gooey.  The whole banana not-peeled and wrapped in foil (#1) was just perfect.  It still had a nice texture to it, just the right amount of altered sweet and nutty taste, and enough firmness that it could be cut for slices.

Now for the assembly.  You can layer things together anyway you like, but let me give you just a few more tips.  I didn't want to waste the #2 and #3 bananas I had grilled, so they got smashed and mixed in with some of the pudding - now it truly was "grilled banana" pudding.  Another dollop of the vanilla pudding was mixed in with the Cool-Whip topping (I didn't bring the entire bucket - just enough for this one dessert).  Add in your Nilla Wafers, and wow - this is one dessert that won't last long!

 

 

So, there you go - basic Camp Pudding, and Grilled Banana Pudding!  Enjoy!

Park (P)review: Tyler State Park - Tyler, TX

Park (P)review

We haven't camped here yet, but I've driven around and checked it out!

Tyler State Park

903-597-5338

*LOTS of tree coverage here! And hills! And amazing vistas!

*This is another very large park, but has a great layout, that makes each loop and site feel secluded.

*Electric and Water Sites:

     Cedar Point: Sites 14 & 15, 16 & 17 would be great group sites, 6 and 7 great solo, 11 is big

     Lakeview: Sites 31-36 have direct lake views, and great shade - 35 and 36 are the best, by far

     Big Pine: Sites 67 & 69 back into each other, so another great group set here, 50 and 55 solo

*They have a 'round robin' group camping area (Black Jack, sites 78-107) almost no trees around the circle, but this would be great for an RV club.

Happy Howl-a-ween!

 

Have a great time - whatever you 'chews' to be!

 

 

Camp Cooking #2: Jalapeno Poppers

I love spicy foods - and if they're quick and fun and easy to throw on the grill, it's even better!  From the Camp Kitchen, here's recipe #2 - Grilled Jalapeno Poppers!

First, gather the ingredients:

Jalapenos

Bacon

Cream Cheese

Tooth Picks, a sharp knife, and tongs

 

First up, wash your peppers (I know, that's a given).  Then, slice each one in half length-wise and core out your seeds, making it into a little boat.  I try to leave the stems in tact so that you have something to grasp when you're devouring them.



 

Next up, slather in the cream cheese.  Honestly, the best version of these is made with pineapple cream cheese - you can buy it premade, but if you want to go a step further, take plain cream cheese and mix in a can of (drained) crushed pineapple. Trust me, the sweet-spicy combo is amazing!

 

 

This step takes both hands (sorry, no in-process photo).  Take a single piece of bacon and wrap it around the cream-cheese-jalapeno-boat and secure with toothpicks.  I recommend soaking the toothpicks in water first (while you're prepping everything else) so that they don't burn when you put them on the grill.   We prefer turkey bacon, as it cuts down on a lot of the fat but still gives a great taste.  Maple or smoked bacon is another great flavor enhancer here, too.

 

 

And now - grill!!  Give them about 5 minutes on one side, then use your tongs to flip them over - give another 4-5 minutes there.  Remember, if you're using pork bacon, you want to ensure the bacon is fully cooked before consuming.  (BTW - I tried this with skewers once before - 4 poppers on 1 rod - but they don't turn so well.  RDB said: why mess with a good thing?)

 

 

Once the bacon has a lovely set of grill marks, and the cream cheese is bubbly and hot, pull them off the grill and enjoy!  These are a great appetizer, or a wonderful light main course - which ever way you serve them - they sure won't last for long!

 

 

Park (P)review: Caddo Lake State Park - Karnack, TX

Park (P)review

We haven't camped here yet, but I've driven around and checked it out!

Caddo Lake State Park
903-679-3351

*Swampy, boggy, Spanish moss, cypress trees - gorgeous!
*Texas' only naturally made lake
*Canoe rentals and boat tours
*Easy access to east Texas and Shreveport, LA
*Electric and Water Sites:
     Squirrel Haven: sites 40, 43, and 44
     Woodpecker Hollow: sites 20, 21, 23, and 24
     (Armadillo Run was closed for maintenance when I visited)
*Beware the big hill.  I mean BIG. HILL.

*AND THE POISON IVY!!

We stayed here April 2021: Got an Itch to go Camping?

Tips & Tricks #3: Camping is for the Dogs!

Because he might lick you to death.

By now, I'm sure you've figured out, we love camping - with our Pup.  I won't say it hasn't been challenging - from having to plan for his meals (he's on a raw diet) and all the looks you get from people who mistakenly think that he's aggressive, and having to figure out what to do with him while you're trying to set up and break down (come to find out - he likes to curl up in the driver's seat... and occasionally honk the horn!)  It can be tryinga t times, but I think any dog owner will tell you that the love and loyalty that a dog gives makes all the extra work worth while.

So, a few things that we do, or bring, to make the dog days of camping a bit more fun:

Notice the reflective collar - it's the first thing I grab out of the camper, as we're heading out, and change Diesel into.  Not only is it reflective, it's bright orange, and even lights up with a detachable rechargeable battery pack.  I was looking for something with high visibility for our deer-like dog while camping.  There's no mistaking him for wildlife when he's got his camping necklace on!

Attached to the collar are his dog tags - one that has all of his important, constant info engraved on it (name, our phone number, his rabies tag number, Harris Co. licence number, microchip and vet phone numbers) and another tag that is temporary. It has our check-in and -out dates on one side and the camp site number on the other.  I use a permanent marker and the metal-ringed paper tags (find them at the office supply store).  They've lasted through rain, dirt, and some chewing.  Good enough for a weekend trip - in case he gets loose, I want people to very quickly be able to return him to us.

And hopefully, we won't ever have to worry about him getting loose, because we use a trolley system to keep him in the campsite.  The red steel cable in the pic above attaches to another steel cable that runs between two posts we drive into the ground (or in this case, one post and one perfectly placed tree).  The trolley gives him the ability to have some space to roam around in, but be securely within the boundaries of our site.  Keep in mind, different campgrounds have different rules about dogs-on-leash and driving posts in the ground.  Most TX State Parks require no more than a 6' lead, but we've not had any problem with this system.  We make sure Diesel is well inside the boundaries of our site - and that there's plenty of space between him and the road.

Once inside the camper, we use a collapsible crate.  Diesel is crate trained at home, so he's very comfortable going in and laying down in his 'house.'  We bring the same blankets that he has in his crate at home so they smell like him and are familiar.  One gets placed over the top of the crate to make a 'cave' and the other is tossed inside for him to lay on - he's happy as can be to just lie in there and sleep.  This crate lives in the camper, folded down compactly and on the bunk end.  Since we don't need the extra bunk for sleeping and we use it for storage while we camp - it's become Diesel's bunk at this point, too!

We carry a box that's specifically for Diesel stuff - and this one goes with us on trips that aren't just camping trips, so it doesn't stay in the camper.  Let's see, there's a set of bowls, the trolley system I was talking about earlier, a small bottle of dog shampoo, some of his favorite treats (freeze dried salmon), the markers and tags from earlier, spare poop bags, a training snap (in the bowl), a spare leash, harness, and collar, and his dogie first aid kit (small white bag).  It contains the following:

• Instant ice pack
• Two sizes of sterile pads
• Tape (same stuff the vet gives us to post his ears)
• Triple antibiotic ointment
• Fine point sharp scissors
• Quick Blood Stopper (styptic powder)
• Q-tips
• Alcohol swabs
• Benedryl (1mg/10lbs)
• Ace bandage (in case we need to muzzle him)

It was also suggested that we take along a pair of pliers (in case of encounters with a porcupine or cactus) which we already have in the tool set in the camper, and also hydrogen peroxide (to induce vomiting) and I've got that in my Poison Ivy First Aid Kit.

So, that's our Diesel dog stuff.  Any other suggestions?

Diesel telling me how much he
 looooves to go camping!