Camping Treats

Ever since I was a little girl, we have camped. We did family camp outs with just my family, and family camp outs with my aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. We even took a vacation one week to a campground near a lake.

I remember camping in a hard-sided pop up camper one time and there was a large storm that was blowing and raining. We had to sit at the ends of the camper to hold the sides up by the beds.

One of the first real vacations my husband and I took was a trip to Canada and we camped in a tent for the trip. It was a great economical way to take a vacation. We've only been adventurous enough with our kids to camp one time and it ended with me and the children coming home to sleep, so we decided perhaps we would wait another year or two before trying it any distance from home. We have talked about camping in the backyard and might need to do that for our next test.

Sleeping in the pop-up camper, and then as I got older, being allowed to sleep in the pup tent, was such an adventure. There is just something about waking early to the sounds of nature. As kids, we enjoyed camping so much that we would even sometimes park the camper in the driveway and spend the night in it as part of a slumber party.

Being able to go swimming and hiking at a moments notice was another exciting part of camping. After all, the lake or the swimming pool were just down the path. The campsites were also typically located in or near woods, which of course made the hiking that much more exciting.

But the best part of camping...the campfire! The campfire is the source of light and heat by night, the source of energy for cooking and the place to hang out and visit with family and friends with no distractions but the chirping of the crickets.

Of course, when it comes to campfires, there is the standard hot dogs, roasted marshmallows and S'mores, but our favorite was always the pie iron. There was so much you could do with it - from savory to sweet. For dinner, we would use the pie iron to make Pizzas, Grilled Cheese or Grilled Cheese with turkey or ham. For dessert, it was apple pies, cherry pies and lemon meringue pies (okay, that was a late addition to my dessert pie irons, but an absolute favorite).

Lemon Meringue Pie Irons

Butter
Bread
Canned Lemon Pie Filling
Marshmallows
Powdered Sugar (optional)

Warm your pie iron in the hot coals for about 30s - 1min.

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place the bread butter side out in the pie iron, fill with lemon pie filling and marshmallows. Top with the second slice of bread, butter side out. Close and lock pie iron, place in hot coals to toast. Open pie iron carefully so as not to burn yourself, place pie on paper plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy! (Caution: contents can be very hot!)

For more camp treats, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap Camp Food Edition at Life as Mom.

This recipe submitted for the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.