Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Happy campers


"Cowboy Coffee"
Camping in Coke County on the Colorado River, Texas

Cowboy Coffee Recipe

Camping coffee pot
Water
Ground coffee
Camp fire
Stick

Fill coffee pot 2/3rds with water and number of scoops of ground coffee according to how you normally like your coffee, but add half again as much coffee because everyone needs extra strong brew after spending the night half sleeping and half awake, listening for sounds of Big Foot entering camp.

Put pot on embers close to fire. (Making a fire, especially with wet wood, is another recipe altogether.)

Wait for it to come to a rolling boil. Try to occupy your mind with something other than the itchy bites on your legs and why everyone else is still sleeping when it is already 4:30 am. Sheeze.

Take your stick and poke the embers a bit.

Look at the dark sky for stars. Seeing no stars, know it will likely rain again today.

Poke the embers some more.

With stick still in hand, rearrange the coffee pot so that the handles aren't closest to the fire.

At the first drop of rain, get the plastic camouflage poncho that is hanging on the tree. Sit back by the fire, poke the embers.

Scooch the coffee pot with the stick just a little bit closer to the fire.

As it starts to rain, don poncho. Sourly watch the coffee pot a while longer.

Put more wet wood on the fire.

Finally, when the coffee starts to boil, take the pot off the fire and add plain water until full.

Rustle through various containers around camp to find the coffee cups and hot pad. Make as much noise as possible.

With stick, tap the coffee pot three times. (This is my mother's secret part of the recipe. We follow it religiously.)

Using hot pad, pour coffee into your cup.

Sit back down next to the fire, in the dark, in the rain, in your poncho, at 5:00 in the morning, alone, drinking your coffee, and enjoy the great outdoors!


Seriously, we had a wonderful time. Rain and all.

6 comments:

judith said...

I would have been right there with you at 4:30. I wouldn't have enjoyed the rain though. Can't wait to see your pictures.

Bobbie said...

Boy could I use a cup of that wonderful coffee right now. I can almost taste it. Did you make the cowboy biscuits to go with it? Or did I remember to give you the recipe? You cook them in a dutch oven...e.g. a iron pot with lid. Hope Casey enjoyed himself and you too!

Irene said...

It sounds like you have that ritual down pat. You are an old pro at it. I'd like to go camping with you some time and sit around the early morning campfire with you pushing the embers around. Neat activity!

Maya said...

Well, now, that sounds mighty familiar! Only I was enjoying this kind of scene on the other Colorado river in Arizona sometime in the past.

John M. Mora said...

caught in your traffic camera...hope not speeding...my last ticket was in tejas in middle of nowhere between brownsville and houston...days of birding, rent a cars and budget hotels...whooping cranes that trip...

camp.fire.girl

-K- said...

Very funny. And once I realize I may never go camping. (If I'm lucky.)