Dining on the Playa - What do you bring to eat?

skygod · Post by **skygod** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:02 pm

I could talk about food all day.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:21 pm

I could eat about conversation all day.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:25 pm

robotland wrote:I could eat about conversation all day.

\/

Would that be like a conversation peace??

Mushroom · Post by **Mushroom** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 10:27 pm

I keep reading about these boil-able bags... will a freezer grade ziplock do the trick? and what about glad contianers? I'm actually planning on doing most of my stuff the sun cook method, but while that works for my veggies my other campmates might need something more... (hmm I don't know where I was going with that.)

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:21 pm

> will a freezer grade ziplock do the trick? and what about glad contianers?

Try it at home and see.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:23 pm

I just had a Sanpellegrino Aranciata with jambalaya
It's a carbonated orange drink with 12% orange juice.
This would be great on the playa.
The bottles are fairly heavy but it may be possible to mix something like it and carbonate it.
Very thirst quenching.

Picked up some Welsh bottled water in the deepest blue and red bottles.
Not bad.
Reminded me of the water place in center camp.

skygod · Post by **skygod** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:49 pm

[quote="gyre"]I just had a Sanpellegrino Aranciata quote]

Pellegrino water is really good.

Last year a guy showed up at the Starfucks at the orange fence with a backpack of beer and crushed ice.

Zatoichi · Post by **Zatoichi** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:26 am

food vacuum sealers work great. you can boil right in the bags.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:15 pm

Zatoichi wrote:food vacuum sealers work great. you can boil right in the bags.

\/
Do you have to vent the bag??

MrMullen · Post by **MrMullen** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:37 pm

unjonharley wrote: \/
Do you have to vent the bag??

Nope!

You don't seal the food inside as a "perfect fit", there is some extra room inside. So, if the food expands it has the room.

The other cool thing about the sealer bags is that you cut them at the top, near the seal, take out the food and then roll them up real tight to get all of the extra food out and then just stick somewhere and take them home. Hardly any waste and you clean them up when you get home and reuse the bags. Nice!

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:00 pm

MrMullen wrote:
unjonharley wrote: \/
Do you have to vent the bag??
Nope!

You don't seal the food inside as a "perfect fit", there is some extra room inside. So, if the food expands it has the room.

The other cool thing about the sealer bags is that you cut them at the top, near the seal, take out the food and then roll them up real tight to get all of the extra food out and then just stick somewhere and take them home. Hardly any waste and you clean them up when you get home and reuse the bags. Nice!

\/
DOn't care what you say..I"m not stick'in'em anywhere..TAnks for the info

gidget · Post by **gidget** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:37 pm

One of our camp members is actually a chef and he cooks breakfast and dinner for our camp and friends every day... We eat normal, sometimes gourmet, food... besides the mac'n'chee for the lazy days we have pasta, stew (fresh not canned), curries (also fresh), mexican feasts, fresh waffles, pancackes, french toast, bacon, sausage, eggs benedict... I think I eat better on the playa than at home!

We set up a functional kitchen in a carport with folding prep tables and a dishwashing system that strains the grey water and pipes straight into the evap pool, no lugging buckets around! A few propane stoves, grill, and one of those Coleman ovens (we baked a cake one year, which was sweet!). Separate burnables, recycleables, garbage, compost... As long as you keep your cooler stocked with ice and out of the sun, you should be fine... our spoilage rate is slim, and we have in our coolers what the average person has in their fridge (produce, dairy...) We use the excess cooler water for foot baths.
We've found that shade is the key to storing all your food. Before I left last year my folks loaded me up with a shitload of slightly underripe organic pears and apples from their farm. I thought they'd spoil for sure, but they didn't! I kept them in paper bags in the shade, no chilling, they were a little crunchy the first few days, and perfect all the rest of the week, not one lost! Watermelon is also a staple, cold slices in the afternoon are a great way to make new friends...

At the end of the week we cook all of our perishables into a sumptuous, though random, feast and do an "Operation: Feed-the-playa" inviting neighbors, friends and random passer-by to share the bounty... each year that has been the most fun I have all week.

Our camp is relatively small, around 10 members, so this isn't a huge or expensive operation. Just a little planning and a little work. Our camp organizer has had about 12 years to iron out the kinks though... Insta-food is all well and good (and don't get me wrong, we bring plenty of that too!) but if you have a hankering for your favorite hot meals out there, it is so worth the extra effort!!

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 7:13 pm

That sounds like the setup we had in Opera Camp for awhile. And you have a nice, manageable group size for it, too; Opera Kitchen Island was madness on wheels because we were feeding anywhere from 40 to 140 people depending on whether it was a Pepe year or not (Pepe = more people).

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 8:10 pm

gyre wrote:I just had a Sanpellegrino Aranciata with jambalaya
It's a carbonated orange drink with 12% orange juice.
This would be great on the playa.
The bottles are fairly heavy but it may be possible to mix something like it and carbonate it.

Dry ice.. experiment at home to get "cook" times. You can also drop a chunk in a punchbowl to have fog. Don't eat tghe dry ice since its too cold. Handle with gloves as well when experimenting with carbonating with dry ice.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:19 pm

Dry ice.. experiment at home to get "cook" times. You can also drop a chunk in a punchbowl to have fog. Don't eat tghe dry ice since its too cold. Handle with gloves as well when experimenting with carbonating with dry ice.

Oh, and if you put dry ice into a pop bottle and screw the lid on good and tight... BOOM!

(When I worked at the hospital a co-worker tried this. I'm not certain if he was trying to save the dry ice "for later" or what. I was on the other side of a shelving unit when he noticed that the bottle had swelled to a near-sphere. He apparently then picked it up, intending to show it to another worker, and it went off in his hand. Luckily no one was hurt-- but it did wake us up quite a bit!)

B.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:26 pm

I've never had anything carbonate in a cooler, but I hear it can be done.
I have a rig that has a CO2 tank connected to a quick release valve that is attached to a cap that screws onto a 1 or 2 litre bottle.
You mix the syrup or whatever cold, connect the gas and shake.
Disconnect and let it settle cold and it's ready.
I used to put a lot of syrup in and carbonate the hell out of it.
I got stuff so carbonated you can't inhale when you sip, or the Co2 will get you.
You could always set up a full bar carbonation kit, does it automatically.
Some people put those in their homes.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:33 pm

BAS wrote: Oh, and if you put dry ice into a pop bottle and screw the lid on good and tight... BOOM! :twisted: (When I worked at the hospital a co-worker tried this. I'm not certain if he was trying to save the dry ice "for later" or what. I was on the other side of a shelving unit when he noticed that the bottle had swelled to a near-sphere. He apparently then picked it up, intending to show it to another worker, and it went off in his hand. Luckily no one was hurt-- but it did wake us up quite a bit!)

B.

That is so funny.
It would be fun to plant a few of those in choice places.
I always wondered what it took to break those.

gidget · Post by **gidget** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 10:29 pm

[quote="diane o'thirst"]That sounds like the setup we had in Opera Camp for awhile. And you have a nice, manageable group size for it, too; Opera Kitchen Island was madness on wheels because we were feeding anywhere from 40 to 140 people depending on whether it was a Pepe year or not (Pepe = more people).[/quote]

Diane: Do you know Kat? She camps with us/next to us... Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong opera camp, but she said the same thing when she saw our kitchen. Ahh, six degrees of playa!

Speaking of dry ice, well not really but sorta, what camp is it that makes the ice cream with the liquid nitrogen? Does anyone know, or am I just high and remembering things that didn't happen? which is entirely possible :P

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 12:16 am

gidget wrote:Diane: Do you know Kat? She camps with us/next to us... Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong opera camp, but she said the same thing when she saw our kitchen. Ahh, six degrees of playa!

Tall, great big smile, lightish brown hair? Yeah, I know several Kats but that's the one I'm thinking of. She and I were gal-palling it up ten ways to Sunday in Opera Diaspora '01.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:12 am

gyre wrote:
BAS wrote: Oh, and if you put dry ice into a pop bottle and screw the lid on good and tight... BOOM! (When I worked at the hospital a co-worker tried this. I'm not certain if he was trying to save the dry ice "for later" or what. I was on the other side of a shelving unit when he noticed that the bottle had swelled to a near-sphere. He apparently then picked it up, intending to show it to another worker, and it went off in his hand. Luckily no one was hurt-- but it did wake us up quite a bit!)

B.
That is so funny.
It would be fun to plant a few of those in choice places.
I always wondered what it took to break those.

I think it was a 20oz. plastic bottle (or at least those are what the vending machines sold).

One of my co-workers said that he thought it sounded like a gunshot, and I told him that it didn't. IIRC my supervisor asked me how I would know what a gunshot sounded like, then he remembered where I was living at the time. (The supervisor on the television show "The Office" reminds me a lot of that supervisor. "The Office" supervisor is smarter and more likable, though.)

Somewhere somebody told me about planting a few of those as a practical joke. Apparently they work really well for that. Not certain I would want to try anywhere where the authorities were paranoid about terrorist attacks, though..., or maybe it would be extra fun, if you could guarantee not getting caught!

(Out on the playa might be good-- I doubt people would call in the bomb squad or anything.)

B.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:21 am

No, but it would be incredibly MOOPacious...

I remember seeing something like that on Mythbusters. Have they ever been to the Burn? They'd fit right in

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:26 am

diane o'thirst wrote:No, but it would be incredibly MOOPacious...

I remember seeing something like that on Mythbusters. Have they ever been to the Burn? They'd fit right in

Good point-- we were picking pieces of the bottle (and its cap) all the rest of that night.

Don't know about the Mythbuster folks. I get the impression they would be great fun at a party!

B.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:48 am

Wow!
It actually busted into little pieces?

Now I'm feeling a little nervous about the 50 foot long helium tanks I used to sleep next to.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:01 am

gyre wrote:Wow!
It actually busted into little pieces?

Now I'm feeling a little nervous about the 50 foot long helium tanks I used to sleep next to.

Well, a plastic soda pop bottle isn't designed to take that much pressure, and, IIRC, it was two or three large pieces, and a number of small pieces (I don't really know how many-- I wasn't the one who found all of them and didn't keep track.) I would think that actual helium tanks would be better constructed.

B.

gidget · Post by **gidget** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 10:13 am

[quote="diane o'thirst"]Tall, great big smile, lightish brown hair? Yeah, I know several Kats but that's the one I'm thinking of. She and I were gal-palling it up ten ways to Sunday in Opera Diaspora '01.[/quote]

That's the Kat we know and love!!

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:20 pm

AND ANYTHING TOMATOE BASED.. CUTS THROUGH THE PLAYA DUST IN YOUR MOUTH.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:30 pm

I tried out some Lin's Farm honey from wild flowers in the jerusalem mountains.
I heated butter on cinnamon bagels, then honey.
Some of the best pure honey I've had.
So good I'm buzzing from the taste.

skygod · Post by **skygod** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:31 pm

gyre wrote:I tried out some Lin's Farm honey from wild flowers

Bee spit!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 5:06 am

BAS wrote:
gyre wrote:Wow!
It actually busted into little pieces?

.
]

They usually tear out at the weakest spot, leaving one big ripped-looking scrap. Soda bottles are blow-molded, so they're really stretched out tight. (Ever taken a scrap of videotape and stretched it into a long, hard filament?)
The best bottles are the "big mouth" type that some beer and soda come in- You don't have to crush the dry ice as much. Don't forget to squirt a little water into the bottle too.
These can actually hurt you if you're too close- depending upon the amount of dry ice/water mix, the BOOM can cause hearing damage. But it's also terribly hard to resist doing whenever I have some dry ice around.

Jordancc · Post by **Jordancc** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 6:37 pm

I have an extra cooler I bring that's 1/2 dry ice and 1/2 gel ice packs. You can also use those fruit punches that come sealed in foil bags that you punch into with a straw . . use them as ice packs, drink as the week goes on! Keep the dry ice cooler in the shade and wrapped up, open once each night to switch out your ice packs. No cooler waste water.

quesadillas were a big hit, and no oone ate those noodle cups! Tasty Bites (called something else now, at Trader Joes) are easy and the spice is nice when your taste buds have been playafied. We brought all kinds of fruit and Odwalla and bread etc. and it all lasted the week (just ziploc the bread a few slices to a bag at home first so the whole load doesn't dry out. A wrap with avocado slices, feta cheese, ranch dressing, sprouts and chicken on a tortilla was very very good. Fresh cool food is good during the day. Warm melted cheese at night!

Dining on the Playa - What do you bring to eat?

Carbonated Anything

PASTA!!!

No More Cooler Gray Water