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By Tamia Nelson July 17, 2007
The asphalt jungle swelters and steams in
mid-summer. It's fight or flight time, and the heat's a formidable foe. A lot
of folks simply don't have the stomach for a fight. But if you're one of the
millions who opt to flee to the backcountry, there are no guarantees you'll
escape. A sandy lakeshore at high noon offers precious little shade. And a
portage trail that winds for miles through a spruce hell can be as airless
and stifling as any locked car in a big-box parking lot. What's the remedy?
That's easy. Chill out! After a scorching day on the water you've earned a
cool treat. So leave your stove in your pack. Reach for your soft cooler
instead. I admit I resisted the idea at first. After all, Nessmuk didn't take
a cooler, did he? Finally, though, the heat wore me down. Now I've become a
convert. Soft coolers just plain make sense for short trips. When they're
empty, they fold flat and stow easily. Full, they fit into small boats better
than their hard-shelled counterparts, and a couple of freezer blocks keep the
contents cold for at least a day — longer, in most conditions. Weekend
Adventurers, take note: relief from the heat is at hand. Add a thermos
flask or two, and you're ready to do battle in the backcountry.
What about it? Hot enough for you? Then let's cool it, beginning
with …
The Pause That Refreshes
Every paddler learns the importance of
proper hydration sooner or later. The best rule of thumb? Drink early and
often, before you feel thirsty. (Don't drink so often, or so much,
that you wash the salts out of your blood, however. This isn't a problem for
most of us, but if you're worried about it, talk to your doc.) Tepid water
from a plastic bottle
or hydration pack will do the job under way, but at day's end it's time
to let yourself go. Kick back and relax with a tall cold one. Of course, if
you want a cold drink in camp, you can't reach into the fridge. You've got to
do a little prep work. Chill your tipple in the refrigerator at home, then
decant it into a pre-chilled thermos flask on the morning of your departure
and bury the thermos deep inside your pack. Or pour the precious liquid into
plastic bottles and put the bottles in the freezer. (Don't overfill. Water
expands when it freezes. Three-quarters full is about right.) When you're
ready to leave, stuff your bottled treats in your cooler — quickly,
before they get a chance to thaw. Recycled wine
bladders work, too, and they're great for large groups. They even double
as freezer blocks.
So much for method. But what are you going to put in your thermos, plastic
bottle, or wine bladder? Anything you want, that's what. Here are a few
suggestions:
Iced Tea A perennial
favorite, and for good reason. In summer, even java fiends appreciate the "cups …
that cheer but not inebriate." Cowper — William Cowper, the
18th-century poet who wrote those words — was right on the money. You
can drink your fill of cold tea at lunch with no worries that you'll be too
wobbly to stay clear of the rocks on the afternoon run. Make your tea from
scratch at home, then chill it thoroughly or freeze as described above.
Later, in camp, add sugar or lemon juice to taste. And if you want to be
elegant, garnish your cold tea with mint leaves.
Iced Coffee and
Cappuccino Then again, some java
junkies won't accept any substitutes. It's iced coffee or nothing. If
this is your view, just brew up a pot at home, let it cool, and then follow
the same procedure as with iced tea. Add milk and sugar in camp, if you want,
or drink it straight. If the sun is low in the west and you're done paddling
for the day, you might also want to pour in a tot of your favorite whisky,
liqueur, or rum. Or how about a cold cappuccino? Easy! Brew coffee at home,
stir in hot-cocoa mix to taste before cooling, then transport as with other
chilled liquids. A last-minute, I-forgot-to-make-the-cappuccino alternative:
squirt chocolate syrup into cold coffee in camp. (You did pack the
chocolate syrup, didn't you?)
Watermelon Agua
Fresca Looking for a fruity drink, instead? Try
watermelon agua fresca. At home, pulverize two to three cups of cubed
watermelon in a blender or food processor. Strain the resulting puree into a
large container to remove the seeds and most of the pulp, then stir in about
a quarter-cup of granulated sugar or honey, along with the juice of half a
small lime. Taste the sweetened puree and adjust flavorings to suit, but
don't make it too dilute — the puree will be mixed with seltzer later.
When you're happy with the result, chill it or freeze it, and chill a bottle
of plain seltzer as well. (CAUTION! Don't freeze the seltzer. In fact, don't
freeze any carbonated beverage.) In camp, blend equal parts of seltzer and
watermelon puree. You're not a watermelon fan? No problem. You can use other
fruit purees as well: melons,
peaches, strawberries, mangoes, even apricot nectar (no need for a
blender here). Let your imagination run riot.
Ginger
Lemonade Nothing's quite as refreshing as lemonade
on a hot day, and ginger lemonade is a spicy twist on this old favorite. Pick
up a little fresh ginger root from the Produce aisle of the HyperMart, take
it home, and shave thin slices from a piece about an inch or so long. Next,
place the sliced ginger in a saucepan with a cup of water. Bring to a rolling
boil, then turn off the burner and let the water cool. Strain. Now thaw a
container of lemonade concentrate and reconstitute it in a pitcher using your
ginger extract to make up part of the water. Chill or freeze, then pack up
and go.
What's that? Cold drinks are fine, you say, but there are times when you
want something more substantial? Then listen up. You might hear a welcome
shout from the cook …
Soup's On!
When the temperature soars, soup isn't
the first thing on most folks' minds, but maybe it ought to be. The secret?
Make it at home and chill it before you leave for the put-in. Here are a few
ideas to get you started:
Gazpacho The beauty of
gazpacho is its versatility. Most recipes call for a base of crushed
tomatoes, so if you've got a bumper crop from your garden, you're in luck.
And if not, there's always the HyperMart. You can skin and de-seed your
tomatoes if you want, and you can use a blender to puree them. I don't bother
with either step, however. I just place whole tomatoes in a bowl and crush
them with my hands. (No tomatoes? Use V8® juice, instead.) Now chop any
or all of the following ingredients: raw red onions, green onions
(scallions), green or red bell peppers, radishes, carrots, celery, cucumbers,
zucchini, yellow squash. Take half the chopped vegetables and puree them in a
blender, then stir this puree into the crushed tomatoes before adding the
remaining chopped vegetables. Next, crush a large clove of garlic, mince it,
and add it to the soup, along with minced fresh parsley and cilantro. Drizzle
in some extra virgin olive oil, add a dash of balsamic vinegar for flavor,
and season to taste. That's all there is to it. Your soup's done! Chill
thoroughly or freeze in a tightly closed plastic container.
Cold Mashed-Potato
Soup This soup is as easy to make as mashed
potatoes, and for good reason: that's how you begin. Put quartered Yukon Gold
potatoes in a saucepan and then pour in enough canned low-sodium chicken
broth to cover them to a depth of one inch. Bring to a boil and simmer until
the potatoes are tender. Allow to cool. Mash. (I use a hand masher, but you
can whip them with a power mixer if you prefer a smoother, creamier texture.)
Now add a little more chicken broth if needed — there's no need to heat
it — along with chopped chives or green onions. Drizzle on a little
olive oil, and don't forget the salt and pepper. Chill or freeze. That's it.
Soup's on!
Cold Minted Fresh Pea
Soup You'll want a blender or food processor for
this one. Thaw a pound of green peas, then puree the lot. Pour into a large
bowl, and stir in enough canned low-sodium chicken broth to create a thick
soup. Chop a large handful of fresh mint and stir it in, too. Add salt and
pepper, along with chopped chives or green onions. (If you don't like onions,
just leave them out.) Chill or freeze.
Soup can be a meal when you serve it with bread. If you don't mind firing
up your stove, bruschetta
is an obvious choice. Or would you rather have sandwiches? Nothing's easier.
Make them ahead of time or build them in camp, whichever you prefer. But what
about dessert? Well, why not? And there's no hot weather treat to
equal …
Ice Cream
Yes, you can have ice cream in camp, at least on short trips. Real
ice cream, that is. Not the chalky freeze-dried stuff. And the word is
getting out. All the catalogs seem to be offering "ice cream balls" for sale
this summer. It's an intriguing idea. You put milk or cream, sugar, and
flavorings in the core of the plastic ball, pack ice and rock salt around it,
and then "pass or roll the ball around your campsite." In half an hour or so,
you've got ice cream.
Sounds good, doesn't it? But you don't need to buy a ball to have a ball.
In fact, the only equipment you need to make ice cream in camp are two
Ziploc® bags (or reasonable facsimiles thereof), one of them quart-sized
and the other gallon-sized. You'll have to bring ice, of course — unless
you're camping on the shoulder of a glacier or snowfield. But that's what
soft coolers are for. Just double-bag your ice before putting it in the
cooler, and bury the cooler deep in a pack. (Hint: A block of ice will last
longer than ice cubes. Don't forget an ice-pick, though.)
You'll also need a few basic ingredients:
Combine cream, half-and-half, or milk with vanilla extract and sugar in
the quart-sized bag, expel as much air as possible, and seal it up —
carefully. Inspect for pin-holes and put the sealed bag inside the larger
bag. Then add the ice and salt to the larger bag, expel the air, and seal.
Now gently knead and roll the nested bags for five to ten minutes. You may
want to wear gloves, even on a hot day. The bag will be cold. (No
gloves? A towel or shirt will work fine.) You'll feel the ice cream gelling
as you knead. When the ice has melted, the ice cream is ready. Don't expect
it to be rock hard, by the way. If it's the consistency of the soft ice cream
you buy from roadside stands, it's done. Just open the outer bag, carefully
extract the inner, and rinse off the salty residue. Now unseal the inner bag
and dish up the ice cream. That's all there is to it. Enjoy!
It sounds improbable, but it works. And much to my surprise, I found that
I liked this home-brew ice cream (or ice milk) better than anything I could
buy in the store. If it proves too plain-vanilla for your taste, however, you
can easily play variations on the theme. Substitute your favorite liqueur for
the vanilla extract. Or garnish your ice cream with shaved chocolate,
chocolate chips, nuts, maple syrup, or berries before serving. Ring the
changes. Seldom has experimentation been easier — or more satisfying!
Paddling under a searing sun or portaging through an airless tunnel of
greenery can make even the hardiest paddler long for relief. Happily, it's
easy to chill out on the trail, at least on short trips near home. All it
takes is a soft cooler and a little forward planning. Cold drinks, cold soup,
even ice cream — they're all on the menu. Or at least they can be. It
almost makes you wish for a heat wave, doesn't it? Me, too. Stay cool!
Copyright © 2007 by Verloren Hoop Productions. All rights
reserved.
Alimentary, My Dear
Chill Out!
Cool Treats for Hot
Days
tamia@paddling.net
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