Winter camping calls for warm treats. A nice hot cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa on a cold morning or a winter evening is as pleasant as an ice cold drink on a hot summer afternoon. Preparing warm winter treats is really easy, even without today's modern conveniences. You can heat water for cocoa or coffee right on the campfire or on your camp or RV stove. If you have an RV with a generator and microwave you can make a cup of instant tea, coffee or cocoa in about 1 minute. Lacking a generator, you may want to keep a pot of water on the campfire or stove so its always ready when you are. Wrapping cold fingers around a hot cup of your favorite beverage is almost as enjoyable as drinking it.
Warm winter treats are more than just nice to have, they can be an integral part of your comfort and even your health. It is no fun being cold and it can be hazardous to your health, so having plenty of warm refreshments to keep you going is essential to your well being. Warm food helps maintain core temperatures; holding a cup with a hot drink in it can help warm cold hands. Inhaling the warm vapor from a steaming cup of your favorite beverage can help defrost your cold nose and may even deliver some heat into your core through your lungs. Warm drinks probably provide more psychological benefits than actual heat for warming your core, but they certainly don't hurt.
Warm winter snacks. One of our favorite hot treats are camp fire pies. They're really easy to make if you have the right pie cookers. These are little metal clam-shells with long handles. You simply put a slice of bread on each side, spoon in your favorite pie filling, close the cooker, and place it in the coals. In a few minutes you'll have a fresh baked, personal-sized pie. It will take some practice to figure out how long to cook it so it is golden brown and the filling heated all the way through, but is well worth the effort. You might think the bread would just taste like toast, but it actually tastes remarkably close to real pie crust. Be sure to coat the inside of the cooker with butter, cooking oil, or cooking spray to prevent the bread from sticking. We borrowed another cold weather favorite from a fellow camper. Instead of ordinary chips and cold dips, mix a can of heated chili with cream cheese. It is best served with "Scoops", the big, spoon shaped corn chips. It really hits the spot on a cold evening. Of course, anything you can cook on your campfire and eat warm makes a good cold weather treat. S'mores are the campfire classic, but for variety you might try ash cakes or bread twists, served hot from the campfire with butter and honey or jam or cinnamon sugar. Cold weather makes breakfasts more important than ever. Nothing quite like bacon and eggs or some fresh pancakes to take the chill off a cold morning. The smell of bacon frying over the campfire is camping tradition that is sure to stimulate appetites.
Speaking of something that sticks to your ribs, a nice hot bowl of oatmeal or Cream of Wheat is a great way to start the day. Instant versions of these traditional breakfast staples make them ready in a jiffy. You can heat them in the microwave in your RV or fix them with boiling water from pot heated over your campfire when tent camping. For a pioneer touch, try corn meal mush instead. Cook corn meal like you would oatmeal until it has softened into a gruel consistency. I like mine with lots and lots of butter and honey. Another popular breakfast treat is fresh baked cinnamon rolls. With a Coleman stove-top oven you can even fix these when tent camping. Refrigerated dough will give you a fast and easy start but you should be able to make them from scratch using basic ingredients from your camp provisions without having to worry about keep the dough refrigerated until you're ready to use it. Of course, if it cold enough outside you might be able to keep things cool by just keeping them outside. A snow bank makes a pretty cool refrigerator.
Winter beverages. Warm drinks are always nice on cold days. In addition to traditional brews like coffee, tea, and cocoa, you might want to try spiced cider or something called "wassail", a mulled cider made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and topped with slices of toast. Modern recipes sometimes begin with a base of wine, fruit juice, or mulled ale, sometimes with brandy or sherry added. Apples or oranges are often added to the mix. Be sure to check your campground rules for alcohol before creating an alcoholic punch. By the way, "wassail" is derived from a middle English phrase, "wæs hæil", that means "good health", so those heavily laced with alcohol might not qualify! Cocoa or hot chocolate can be easily dressed up with extra flavors. I like to add French vanilla coffee creamer or vanilla or caramel syrup. Or ordinary vanilla extract will do the trick. Cinnamon and nutmeg are fun variations too. Carmel syrup always adds a sweet taste. And don't forget to top it with whipped cream, marshmallows, or marshmallow creme. A really easy and tasty hot beverage is spiced cider. Simply heat some cider (or apple juice) together with several cinnamon sticks. The aroma will fill your RV or campsite with a holiday scent and the hot drink is delicious -- and relatively healthy. In addition to warming your insides, hot beverages are good for warming your hands as you hold them and even defrosting your nose as you sip. Hot or warm beverages are also helpful in restoring your inside warmth if you get too chilled.
Meals to keep you warm. Your body needs more calories to maintain your body temperature in cold weather. Carbohydrates are a good source of those calories. They are usually quick to be absorbed by the body. Some friends of mine got caught dirt-biking in a snow storm and by the time they reached civilization they were getting close to becoming hypothermic. In addition to huddling around the restaurant fireplace they consumed plate after plate of roast beef and hot mashed potatoes and gravy. Soon they were feeling warm and cozy. In addition to the physical warmth provided by a hot meal, the best winter meals provide fuel for your body to maintain its own warmth. Chili is always a hit on cold evenings and hot soup or stew is a close second. I personally prefer stews and thick soups over the watery kind. Feels like it will "stick to my ribs" better although thin soups also contribute to maintaining proper hydration. As I mentioned above, a couple of my dirt biking buddies wolfed down plate after plate of hot roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy after a long, cold winter ride in the snow while sitting in front of the restaurant fireplace to warm up.
Here are some basic food guidelines that will help you stay warm:
# Root Vegetables - Potatoes, carrots, white radish, onion and garlic (dry and spring varieties).
# Leafy greens - Green beans and peas form a part of high energy and high-protein vegetables. Even adding some celantro to your tacos or burritos will give you a little of the benefits of greens in your diet. By the way, coriander is what you get when celantro goes to seed.
# Whole Grain Cereals - High energy and protein foods provide the required fuel to combat the cold.
# Fresh and Dried Fruits - Papaya and pineapple are believed to provide warmth. Dates are warm in nature and are highly recommended in the winter months.
# Spices - Mustard, black pepper, and dill seeds are all warm spices to be used freely. Mustard, ajwain and suva seeds are a valuable remedy for winter coughs and flu, stimulating appetite and digestion and increasing blood circulation. And, yes, hot chili peppers warm you in more ways than one.
Herbs and Seeds - Basil is an herb that protects against colds and fever and helps strengthen immunity. Ginger, (fresh and dry varieties) is very warming. Sliced ginger with lime and salt is a common accompaniment with meals, while ginger can be added to tea, soups, stews, and vegetables.
Our family favorite for cold nights is my wife's home-made chili. We fondly refer to it as Marilyn's (or Mom's) Marvelous Mojave Mild Chili. It is definitely not a "3-alarm chili". She even won "Sweetest Chili" at a church chili cook off one year. I'm don't know her exact recipe and I'm not sure she even has one. She just makes it to taste. She often makes it with ground turkey instead of ground beef, allowing us to at least pretend it is somewhat healthy. It is simple to make: mostly ground meat (brown the meat before adding the other ingredients), red beans and tomato sauce and seasoned to taste, primarily chili powder. I sometimes like to add some brown sugar to enhance the already "sweet" flavor. To lower the fat content, pour off excess grease before adding the other stuff. The longer it simmers, the better and it is very good as a leftover, so make it in large batches. We often freeze bags of it for later. It reheats really well and almost tasted even better. It is really good topped with shredded cheese and served with sliced oranges. I sometimes like to add corn chips (Fritos or "Scoops" are my favorites). You can start it early in the day and let it simmer all day long. It is an ideal dish to let simmer in a Dutch oven while you're out participating in recreational activities. If you have some frozen leftovers and a microwave it can be ready to take the chill off in a jiffy for subsequent meals too. No doubt the chili pepper helps warm things up in more ways than one. Just about any soup or stew will taste good on a cold night and help warm you up. I prefer thick stews and chowders over the watery kinds of soup. Sort of feels like it will "stick to my ribs" better. However, a bowl of hot, thick tomato soup is a nice companion to a grilled cheese sandwich and any hot soup will help warm you when its cold outside (or you're cold inside!). I prefer not to add the full amount of water the instructions usually call for in order to make it thicker and (to me) more satisfying.
Bon appetite!
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