Cooking at Summer Camp Creates Fond Memories

Like many American children I attended summer camp when I was growing up. Camp is such an iconic part of our culture, with its canoe rides, counselors randomly bursting into song, and opportunities to make new best friends. It seemed like something I had to try. Maybe I was too young, or too much of a homebody. Maybe it had something to do with developing a terrible rash the week before I went, which meant no swimming and generally feeling terrible. Whatever the reason, I was not really a fan and only went once.

I was lucky to get a second chance at camp later in life, when I spent a summer as the head cook at a camp for girls. For eight weeks I lived in the woods and cooked two meals a day for 80-120 kids. Most days started at 6:30 with breakfast and ended around 9:00 when we finished cleaning up from dinner.

“Cooking” was a misnomer for a lot of what I did at camp. It’s a stretch to call heating tater tots and pre-made sausage patties cooking. I did most of the baking from scratch, though, and would make homemade French toast every other week, using my family’s secret of adding a little vanilla and cinnamon with the usual egg and milk mixture.

My favorite thing to do in the kitchen was make pancakes. There was something very relaxing about standing in front of the griddle for an hour and a half, pouring circles of batter and flipping them over once they were set on top. My least favorite thing was cooking rice. We did it in gigantic pans in the convection oven, and no matter what I did it never came out right.

Camp was where I finally learned to stop following recipes to the letter. Since I had no previous food service experience, my boss planned the menus and ordered the food. The first time macaroni and cheese was on the list I went to her and asked for the recipe. Here’s what I got in return: “a bag of macaroni noodles, a couple scoops of sour cream, one or two pats of butter, some milk, and lots of cheese.” I used my best judgment, and one of the counselors told me later that she liked my version of mac and cheese better. It gave me the confidence to trust myself and try new things.

My biggest adventure at camp came not during a raid from the boy’s side, but while experimenting with new foods. Once a week the campers cooked dinner in their campsites. A group usually invited me to join them so they could cook for me for a change. One night the campers planned to make s’mores for dessert. Not just any old s’mores, however. These were a graham cracker topped with a mix of peanut butter and honey, with chocolate candies and a marshmallow on top. They were delicious. I ate four of them. I haven’t had a sugar high like that since I was in elementary school. I wasn’t so happy the next morning, when I had a major headache, but it was worth it.

I was able to adapt one of my favorite childhood recipes for camp: Tater Tot Casserole. My grandmother used to make this when we went to visit her. It’s a sure winner for any kid except those who “don’t like their food to touch.”

The counselors’ favorite dessert was Pumpkin Cake, which I tinkered with over the summer until I had it perfected. The cake is so moist it doesn’t require frosting. The original recipe called for a quart of vegetable oil. Granted, it served 50 people, but that still seemed like a lot to me. I replaced some of the oil with applesauce, which is a great trick to slim down recipes. I measure the oil and the applesauce together in a liquid measuring cup to ensure I have the right amount of wet ingredients.

If your kids or grandkids are at summer camp this year, I hope preparing these recipes with them will help spark conversations about their experience. Maybe they can also bring back fond memories for you, of days and nights spent cooking around a campfire or playing games under the warm summer sun.

Tater Tot Casserole
1 lb. ground beef
¼ c. chopped onion
1 t. parsley
½ t. seasoning salt
1 14½ ounce can green beans, preferably French-style, drained
1 10½ ounce can cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup
1 12-ounce package tater tots
1 12-ounce package onion rings

In a medium skillet, cook ground beef and onion until beef is brown. Drain grease and add parsley and seasoning salt. Put meat in a 9” square pan. Top with green beans. Spread soup carefully over the top. Arrange tater tots sparingly in a single layer on top, so about half the soup mixture is covered. Add onion rings to fill in blank spaces (you may not use all the tater tots or onion rings in a package). Microwave for six minutes or until tater tots are warm.

Pumpkin Cake
3¼ c. all-purpose flour
2¼ t. baking powder
2¼ t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
½ t. ground cloves
½ t. ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1¾ c. sugar
½ c. applesauce
¾ c. canola oil
1 15-ounce can pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9” x 13” pan. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar. Mix in applesauce and oil. Add dry ingredients alternately with pumpkin, starting and ending with dry ingredients. Pour into prepared pan. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.