A New Heartsease... : December 2022

All the savor of the well-known pasta dish, Scampi, but on toast!

This recipe makes one serving. Simply double, triple, etc., for more servings!

Nice as an appetizer or a party "finger food". It also makes a delicious luncheon or dinner option when paired with a salad or roasted or grilled asparagus.

Recipe: Grilled Shrimp Toast

2 large, or 4 or 5 medium raw shrimp, unshelled

1/4-tsp Old Bay Seafood Seasoning, or facsimile recipe below*

1 cup water

Place the shrimp, cup of water, and seafood seasoning in a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for three minutes. The shrimp will turn pink. Rinse the shrimp in cold water. Pat dry, and remove the shells from the shrimp. Chop the shrimp and set aside.

Mix together:

1 tsp thinly sliced, then minced shallot

Small clove of garlic, minced

Scant pinch of seasoned salt, such as Lawry's

Pinch of fresh, grated, minced lemon zest

2 tsp Parmesan cheese, reserving and setting aside 1 tsp

pinch of paprika

1 TBS mayonnaise,whipped unflavored cream cheese, or creme fraiche

Add the chopped shrimp and mix into the above ingredients except reserved Parmesan.

Prepare the Toast:

1 medium slice of sourdough or French baguette

1 tsp butter

Toast the bread lightly so it's about half toasted but not browned. Butter the toast while still warm.

To Broil:

Top the toast with the shrimp mixture and reserved Parmesan. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes, watching carefully until the topping is sizzling and just turning golden at the edges.

Cut the toast in half or leave whole and transfer to a serving plate. Serve immediately.

Grilled Shrimp Toast hits all the savory taste elements of its scampi-pasta version!

Shrimp, butter, garlic, lemon, and Parmesan!

* * * * *

*Facsimile Seafood Seasoning:

1 TBS ground bay leaf

1 TBS lovage salt or celery salt

3/4 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Place all spices that need grinding into an herb grinder or clean coffee grinder. Grind until powdered. Add rest of the spices and pulse the grinder until all are uniformly ground and blended.

Bottle and label. Use in any recipe requiring seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay, etc.

Camping at City of Rocks State Park 21 miles outside of Deming, New Mexico.

Trailer, RV, van, or car camping?

All things considered, my advantage consistently comes back to car camping in my Jeep.

I might add a Weathertech bumpstep to my trailer hitch to facilitate easier climbing into the back of the Jeep. And, if for some reason I need more storage room, I can purchase a Thule or some other brand of rooftop carrier. It all comes down to simplicity and the economy of money, motion, and energy...and using what I already have.

Sometimes what we already have is the only and best strategy to fill a need or purpose. The question I often ask myself is, "Can I solve this problem or issue using what I already have?"

Most often the answer is "yes"! Sometimes a bit of re-purposing is also required.

I have made this word - "simplify" - an ideal to apply to most areas of my life. Car camping certainly fills that ideal.

The "wisdom" I would pass onto anyone considering car camping or even living in a van or automobile, is that "less is more". It's the tendency for most of us to pack more food, take more clothes, and more odds and ends than we really need...just in case.

Grocery stores, laundromats, and hardware stores, etc., are nearly everywhere we go to fuel up our tanks. It's easy to resupply, and to replace something that's been lost, misplaced or that we forgot to bring.

I usually pack enough food for three days if I'm taking an ice chest because I know I can easily restock. When relying on canned and dehydrated fare, I take five days worth. I can always resupply as needed when I'm in town making a refueling stop.

When first beginning car camping, I took way too much stuff. Too much stuff in a restricted space is not efficient if I constantly have to move things to get to things. Since then I've pared down to essential needs and a few luxury items.

As an example of paring down, for last year's autumn trip to the south end of the U.S., I bought a golf cart sized Little Buddy heater that simply screws onto a small propane canister - the type I use for my camp stove.

I didn't use the Little Buddy even once and have since removed it from my camping gear. I discovered that I can heat my car using my camp stove (windows cracked open for safety) while warming a pan of soup or boiling water for tea. Two "birds" with one stone, so to speak...and less stuff to pack and haul.

On a rainy or cold day spent inside my Jeep I can simultaneously warm the car and heat soup or water for tea. I usually take two propane canisters - one in use the other as spare. They're easy to find at supermarkets, hardware, and camping stores en-route to anywhere, however you will pay much for them if purchased at a gas station mini-market.

Go on a few car camping trips, and you'll likely discover you've packed more than you need for a solitary trip, or for two people. Traveling with more people and/or kids requires a whole other strategy...tents, rooftop luggage and to-the-ceiling supplies!

If I car camp with someone, we take two cars. Having a second vehicle is simply less cramped for sleeping purposes, and the security of having a second vehicle is nice for more remote trips where if one conks out, there's another vehicle to escape in. On a two person, two-car trip, I sleep in mine and my companion sleeps in his or hers. Most of the time my camping trips are solitary simply because I'm retired and have few constraints on my time.

Car camping is a good lesson in minimalism! It's also nice to have room to move around inside the car when you need to spend time cooped up inside due to bad weather.

It's important to keep the inside of the car neat and organized. It's hard to locate a needful item if nothing is stored in its own place or returned to its place. Having to move stuff to find stuff soon becomes a drag. So, I pack to minimize having to do this.

Besides the "needs" of a car bed, mobile kitchen, personal care and clothes, a few tools, tarp and stakes, portable potty, camp chair, etc., I find that a few luxuries add immeasurably to the voluntary minimalism that is car camping.

Good, tasty, easy-to-prepare food is to be looked forward to, and savored after a day of hiking, exploring, or driving. If I have a comfy bed and soul-satisfying meals I can weather "the minimal" much more happily and easily.

A few luxuries that I enjoy while car camping are a glass of wine or a martini at day's end. A hot, cup of tea warms me body and soul after arising. So does a cup of hot cocoa on a cold morning or at a nighttime campfire.

Soups are one of my favorite cool weather meals that are warming and satisfying. They're also easy to prepare when traveling.

Canned, or prepared with my home-dehydrated herbs and veggies, soups and stews - a bowl of chili and anything pasta or spud-based - don't take up much room and are quick and satiating. These are my "comfort" foods. Frying, sauteing, simmering, stir-frying, and over-the-campfire are other cooking methods I employ while car camping.

Not just soups! Here, I'm cooking orecchiette ("little ears") pasta over hot coals for a scampi dish. The shrimp mixture was cooked simultaneously in a pan on the camp stove.

With some sourdough bread to sop up the savory juices, this was a tasty dinner accompanied by a glass of wine. Car camping does NOT require suffering!

While I do cook most of my own meals while car camping there are times during my trips when I'll stop at a restaurant and enjoy a meal, too.

On a refueling stop in town, I may go over to a nearby market and buy enough shrimp, fish, or meat for a single meal if I haven't brought an ice chest. Apples, banana, oranges, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, even cheese, brocolli, cabbage, and celery can go without refrigeration - or an ice chest - for several days, especially if the weather is cool.

During long car camping trips I'll overnight at a hotel to enjoy a refreshing shower and to escape occasions of really bad or dangerous weather. Otherwise I'm not opposed to spending a rainy or windy day inside the car reading, knitting, playing a game, sipping tea and supping on soup and a hunk of crusty, artisan bread.

"Cozy"for me, is where I find it and that is usually where I'm camping and traveling in my Jeep!

My Jeep's four-wheel drive insures that I can access areas that most RV's cannot. To me that capability of getting away from it all is invaluable and needful.

At times the society of others is also needful, and one's fellow campers tend to be gregarious and welcoming!

Nature's beauty and moods are so much more present when car camping.

It's simply impossible to ignore nature's wonders in my Jeep with it's eight windows on the world. Front, rear, and side windows make it impossible not to enjoy beautiful views of places, scenes, sunrises and sunsets.

When I had my RV it was not much different than being in a house. Yes, it had a few well-placed windows, but from my Jeep I have wrap-around visibility during the daytime.

Car camping provides me with a constantly changing panorama of "million dollar" vistas as I move and camp from place to place...no need to have a mansion with its unchanging $$$ view!

Here in the U.S. we are so fortunate to have so many places to visit where we can enjoy the beauty and wonder of nature. National and State parks offer improved campgrounds and free dispersed spots to camp, as do dirt roads heading off into the middle of nowhere!

Nature is healing. It provides an ineffable and sublime balm to our bodies, minds, and souls. Cities provide luxuries and entertainment, but are bereft of the "ensoulment" that is found in intimate contact with nature. Car camping is my passport to this enrichment and enhancement of self and the silence of self found in wide open spaces.

We often tend to think of ourselves as differentiated from nature when in fact, we are body- and soul-bonded with it. Cities tend to reinforce the illusion that we are separate from the world around us. We are not, and spending time in and with the woods, the deserts, mountains and seashores - other lifeforms - is a reminder that we are intimately connected to the world and life around us.

We cannot survive without nature's air, water, foods, and materials.

No other species seeks to destroy for profit, the very foundation of its existence. By spending time in nature and letting it renew and awaken our souls, we harmonize and balance ourselves with the greater world around us. We also perceive and experience the innate kindness of others. People are at heart kind and helpful regardless of the divisiveness that is perpetuated by and through media.

...but back to the functional aspects of car camping...

Powering devices or all types is a question I get from those I meet on the road. I take a variety of devices when I'm on the go...a cellphone, my Kindle, sometimes even my laptop. With these devices I can stay in touch, read a book, watch a downloaded movie, play games, listen to music, email, text, even work/write, and pay bills!

To power my devices I use my Jackery 240. It will charge all my numerous times, especially my phone and Kindle numerous times, less times for the laptop. I have the solar panel for it for those sunny days in camp, but most often I charge it before leaving home or in the car while driving. If popping into a hotel for a night I take it in and charge it in my room. It can also run a small 12-volt, rechargeable fan for nighttime, in-car cooling, on occasions when I need a cooling breeze.

My Jackery is invaluable when camping and for the occasional at-home power outage to keep my devices charge.

In case I need to charge my Jeep battery I have a portable charger that also has ports for charging my cellphone or Kindle, although I tend to keep this charger solely for charging the car battery, if needed.

I haven't yet had to use this battery charger, but feel more secure knowing that it's in the zip compartment that covers my spare tire. I also carry a can of emergency tire patch, and bear spray there, as well.

In addition to my solar Luci Light mentioned in a previous post, I have a Coleman, D-battery powered lantern, and a collapsible backpacker's candle lantern.

It's so easy to meet most of your needs, requirements, and simple luxuries on the road, camping in your car!

While car camping may, at first, be perceived as an exercise in hardship, lack, and minimalism for those who haven't tried it, it is for me, an adventure, experience, and renewal that I look forward to and repeat as often as I can.

This ends the series on "How I Roll - Camping the Jeep-Gypsy Way". I may share future camping trips as they arise, but for now, I return to posting on my other usual topics.

Coming up in the next post will be a recipe for a delicious, easy and tasty recipe for Grilled Scampi/Shrimp Toasts. This recipe captures all the goodness and "comestibility" of Shrimp Scampi...hold the pasta, please...and instead, put it on toasted sourdough slices! Yum!

Finger food, or eaten with a fork and knife if you must, Grilled Scampi Toast is delicious and nicely pairs with a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, or best of all...champagne!