campstove cooking // cooking during a transitional kitchen phase.

hi! i’ve noticed lots of folks out there that are moving, remodeling or undergoing some sort of transition with their kitchen space that affects the way they’d normally cook for themselves. i’ve seen peoples’ photos of their trader joes hauls and the assumption that they’ll be forced to eat only from the microwave for an extended period of time. well, i’m here to tell you and show you that if you’ve got a camp stove and a little bit of space for food prep, you can still be eating darn good in the neighbhorhood.

big bonus if you have a bbq or grill! we also have an outdoor flat top griddle that we love - but my point here is that you can still cook well with just a one or two burner camping stove.

please see the photo evidence from last summer below.

after looking at all these photos right now (in the dead of winter and during a wind storm), this post is really just about the glory that is fresh summer bounty and cooking & eating outside.

cannot wait for this to be our reality again.

molly baz’s tomato toast with cheddar & smoky mayo.

some back story…pete & i came up to live on lopez island for “two months” while we put our seattle house on the market last may and let the sale process go through. we fully expected to head back to seattle in july to shop for our new home. long story short… we decided that we could see ourselves here long-term, and just never ended up leaving the island.

soooo much more to say on that whole loaded topic, but the issue at hand here was that we had limited cooking appliances, a funky outdoor “kitchen” space, no oven, and spent a ton of our time outdoors. thankfully summer in the san juan islands is absolutely stellar, so our “two month” funky cooking stint was actually truly enjoyable.

when we moved up here for what i originally thought would be a temporary amount of time, i brought only 2 cookbooks along with me, to keep the book shlepping to a minimum. those two chosen ones at the time were:

salt, fat, acid, heat. by samin nosrat.

and

cook this book. by molly baz.

i got a ton of inspiration and cooking knowledge from these two books during that time, so i gaze at all these images fondly and with a recollection of a purpose or technique that i learned in the process of making some very tasty foods.

molly baz’s peach & tomato salad with sizzled halloumi.

i was pretty bummed about not having an oven for what would end up being 3 months (mostly because it is very out of character for me to not bake a single thing for so long and it made me sad) - but that made oven life that much more appreciated when a full-sized oven did come back into our lives later. :)

anyhoo - here’s a big roundup of meals that were largely all prepared on a two-burner camp stove. if you’ve got limited kitchen resources, you're between ideal kitchen spaces, you’re camping, or just need some inspiration for things you can cook on a simple setup.

^ sooo much grilled bread or toasts with fresh tomato & ricotta.

^ no shame in the amount of eggo waffles we ate this past year.

mountains of chicken & pineapple fried rice for big groups!

^ boat dinner picnics all the time.

^ savory breakfast crepes. sometimes sweet.

good cheesy scrambled eggs.

^ extra gingery kimchi.

^ so many pancakes on the flat top griddle.

^ a deliciously fresh summer yogurt bowl: greek yogurt, smashed blackberries, fresh mint, agave nectar.

^ pete’s delicious oniony salmon.

^ potato leek soup. alison roman’s recipe.

^ rice krispie treats with dark chocolate m&m’s.

(i could devour this entire tray.)

^ more garlic tomato & ricotta toasts!

^ so many delicious beverages. so many palomas for me.

^ picnics! hot dogs!

^ breakfast yogurt parfaits.

^ lots of sandwiches with fresh herbs and pickled goods.

^ this represents the jars and jars & jars of salted watermelon juice with lime that i consumed. an idea from molly baz.

molly baz’s crispy mccrisperson chicken thighs with herby peas & fennel.

^ no bake cookies. my absolute love. could eat every day. in fact, i’d crumble them onto my yogurt in the morning and pretend they were granola.

^ actual grilling! and friends!

molly baz’s paccheri with pork & lentil ragu.

^ nachos! this one i did have help from the microwave lol.

^ gin, san pell grapefruit juice, lavender & fresh mint.

the onion ring cravings come in hot for me each summer!

^ leftover onion rings became a sensational topper for an english muffin tuna melt. probably one of the most delicious things to be eaten last summer, ha!

and some actual camping camp stove use!

two happy people who suddenly decided to make a big change and start a new life on an island together. it’s a huge shift after 15 years of city life, but we are learning and growing so much, feel really lucky to be here and grateful to have become a part of this island community.

xoxox

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