UpNorthica

We’ve all done the $9 freeze-dried trail dinners. Tasty? Sure, but nine bucks seems a lot, next to that default packful Rice-A-Roni and Zatarain’s. And crap, let’s face it — anything’ll taste good out there.Thankfully, finding dehydrated and freeze-dried food in bulk is becoming an easier alternative, via the power of the Interweb. This is [...]

Cram your food pack with this on your next trip –– it’s Crapola. A deliciously sweet-but-not-too-sweet granola loaded with organic ingredients like dried cranberries and apples, my first bag of this stuff barely survived the drive home. Owners Andrea and Brian Strom make Crapola locally in Ely, where they first began selling it at the [...]

I’d read that a lost party of voyageurs once survived two weeks, with only Reindeer Moss for sustenance. Too bad they hadn’t read this short article featuring several kinds of common roots, berries and plants that are fit to be et. While by no means comprehensive, it’s a good primer for the adventurous camp cook. [...]

The best method for filtering water has always been a passionate debate with proponents for every method (including not filtering at all). If you are looking for a different method to try, or just sick of trying to force more water through that filter the Wilderness Medical Society has published a their new guide (PDF) [...]

There are very few things I dislike about camping, bugs and rain don’t really bother me. In fact the only things that I hate to do while camping is the dishes, and I know I’m not the only one. In scouts (yes I was a boy scout) we would go to extreme lengths to avoid [...]

It’s hard to go wrong when cooking Cajun jambalaya –  at home. “If it’s in the kitchen, it can go in the pot,” is about as close a dictionary definition of the word, as you’ll find. But how to make a trail-friendly jambalaya with minimum prep and dishes, without resulting in just a heavily-peppered Rice-A-Roni? [...]

I couldn’t even begin to cover half of the presentations, speakers, demos and exhibitors scheduled this weekend for Midwest Mountaineering‘s Outdoor Adventure Expo. I certainly won’t be able to attend all the ones that I’d like to. So help a guy out and go to the Expo yourself. We’ll compare notes and share our goodie-bags [...]

I just may have to try this on my next trip, it sounds pretty tasty. No, for obvious reasons, the recipe is not true sushi. But I like the foil-packed salmon solution, and it seems you could add more touches/substitutions still, if you wanted (did someone say, ‘freshwater jellyfish’?) The recipe comes via Freezer Bag [...]

Let me make a stand on something: I’m against smothering the Real Meaning of Easter. Plain and simple, I don’t think after all Jesus went through for humankind on this historic weekend, that the guy deserves to play second string to clucking bunnies and creme-eggs. That said, here’s a slightly lesser stand: I don’t believe [...]

Holy buckets! Beginning March 8th, several Minnesota state parks will be teaching free classes on how to harness the pure, raw power of Maple. Learn about the history and process of maple syruping, or better yet, register to take part in tapping, collecting and boiling down a batch for yourself. I was blessed as a [...]

This a very simple dessert, well-suited for winter camping. It also happens to have been a classic treat of maple syrup shacks, since the days they invented trees. In short, pure maple syrup is boiled until it becomes molten hot, then drizzled over a bowlful of fresh snow. The result is a wonderful taffy-like candy [...]

Planning your menu? This article provides some solid tips on what kinds of foot to eat—and not to eat—when you’re camping in the cold.

What could possibly be more Northwoods than the quintessential Friday Fish Fry? I have no answer to that question, because there is none. This map of Northern Wisconsin’s hottest spots, should be the official homepage for the the entire state. Love it.

To ward off those chilly winters, we Minnesotans rely on two magical materials: Gore-tex… and Pyrex. Yes, I’m proud to say that Hot Dish is alive and well in our great state. And as St. Paul’s 2008 Winter Carnival comes to a close, a new Champion of the WCCO Radio Hot Dish Challenge has emerged [...]