Dennis
Weaver -- having burnt food from Miami, Florida to
Point Barrow, Alaska -- is RTA's road food expert. He
has logged thousands of hours on the roads, trails, and
waterways of America including many of Alaska's wilderness
rivers and has consistently been elected the trips' "chief
cook and bottle washer." Dennis is currently general
manager at The
Prepared Pantry, a company in Rigby, Idaho, that produces
ready-to-eat meals and baking mixes packaged in Mylar.
Weatherproof, bug-proof, and critter resistant, they're
ideal for both roadtrips and back woods camping. Dennis
may be reached at dweaver@preparedpantry.com.
In his Road Food articles, Dennis shares tips, advice,
and recipes to make good eats a part of every road trip
experience.
My brother rolled in. He and his wife were
just completing an 11,000 mile road trip in five weeks.
They live in Fairbanks, Alaska, and had flown into Boise,
Idaho where they had rented a car-with unlimited mileage,
of course. They had driven across the Southwest, through
Florida, down to Key West, and then back and up the
Appalachian Trail. Now they were headed back to Boise
and had stopped off to see us in eastern Idaho... [More]
It's January. Every night for a week, the
temperature has dropped below zero. Daytime highs have
been in the single digits. It's not cold like Alaska
cold, but it's cold for the lower 48.
It's nice to hole up in a warm house but
eventually, one becomes stir crazy. Then, a road trip
is in order. Maybe a trip to the city for a movie and
dinner or a good restaurant. Maybe a trip into the mountains,
into a world of white with heavily draped trees and…
[More]
The granite walls that framed the little
valley were ablaze with the late afternoon sun. The
sun was low and shadows crept across the little meadow
that bordered the stream. Wildflowers in the meadow
sparkled in the sun and disappeared in the encroaching
shade. Faintly, the babble of the brook could be heard
above the gentle sigh of the evening breezes. Somewhere
in the trees beyond the meadow, a squirrel chattered.
All else was silent. There was no whine of distant cars
climbing steep roads or the far-off hum of motorcycles
on mountain trails.
On a rise above the stream, Merri Ann -
my wife - had spread a picnic blanket. We were getting
ready to eat, and plates were spread on the blanket.
Most of the food was still in the bag. We spoke in nearly
hushed tones as if not daring to break the solace of
solitude and silence… [More]
Road trips should be relaxing, memorable
affairs--opportunities to absorb the country around
us-the shimmering crystals of a rippling pond in the
morning sun, the red-winged blackbirds bobbing along
the banks of an irrigation ditch, a mother duck and
her brood paddling through the corridors in the cattails.
Somehow, the drive-up window at the fast food joint
seems incongruous with this...[More]
The kids will be out of school before long.
It's time to be thinking about that annual trek to see
the family in Kansas. Or maybe this year, you'll slip
out and see the Grand Canyon. The kids will love it
-- you think. This year they'll be a little older, a
little more patient. You'll take a little more time,
make more stops. Chances are, the kids will love it
a little more with cookies...[More]
The highway across North Dakota stretches
forever. The northern prairie changes only slowly and
the hours stretch into monotony. Bored, you reach for
another handful of corn chips and pop the top on another
soda to wash them down. The refined carbs hit your system
with jolt, but soon you feel bloated and tired. You
fight to stay awake, then pull over and change drivers.
Soon you're asleep, and your partner is facing the road
alone...[More]
This is our favorite time of year for a picnic.
It's not just that snow is coming; we're savoring the last
pleasures of the season. The sky is clear and blue and there's
a fresh crispness to the air. The bugs are gone. The sumac
is red and the aspens have turned golden. The birds and
wildlife seem restless and no longer hidden in the thickets
away from the heat of summer and out of sight. The southerly
rays of the autumn sun sparkle in the gentle riffles of
the lakes. Curled maple leaves float on subdued rivers like
miniature boats, building into rafts in the back eddies.
A picnic is a great way to bask in the pleasures of the
season...[More]
We pulled into a truck stop near the Utah-Idaho
border. It was a late spring evening, a perfect temperature.
With an unusually wet spring, the hills were unbelievably
green. We expected to see deer feeding alongside the mountain
roads this evening.Three college-aged guys in a
nondescript car pulled in next to us. They climbed out and
popped the trunk. Inside was a big blue cooler. They dug
out a loaf of bread, one of those airy, doughy types without
any substance. Then came out a plastic-packaged stack of
bologna...[More]
Why would you want to make steamed bread?
Because it is darned good, it is darned easy, and you don't
have to heat up the darned oven. Because you don't have
to heat up the oven, you can cook it anywhere -- on the
stove, on the grill, or over a campfire. It works as backpacking
fodder, in an RV, or in an emergency. You can make it even
easier by mixing up the ingredients at home. Then it only
takes minutes to stir up when you're on the road...[More]
It always begins with
a deep-down, gurgling rumble. Then you get sick,
sometimes very sick -- like "let's-go-to-the hospital"
sick. Even if you are over it in 24 hours, this is not
what you want to do on a road trip. But thousands do,
and it could be you. You don't have to be a casualty.
A thermometer, a few chuck wagon road rules, and a basic
knowledge of which foods are the most hazardous and
you can avoid the dastardly occurrence of food poisoning
on the road. In this article, we'll tell you how with
road rules and an overview of how to keep those foods
that you packed safe...[More]
There are two things we don't want to
do on a vacation: spend time in a grocery store
and spend time cooking when we would rather be out golfing/fishing/goofing
off. Sure, there are times when we want to lounge around
and show off our cooking skills, but we don't want to
have to cook. And when we do decide to cook we
don't want to be frustrated because we can't find it
and we don't want to have to go the store to get started.
So, we've devised some rules for the road to make RV
meals easier and cooking less frustrating...[More]
Dennis
Weaver -- having burnt food from Miami, Florida to
Point Barrow, Alaska -- is RTA's road food expert. He
has logged thousands of hours on the roads, trails, and
waterways of America including many of Alaska's wilderness
rivers and has consistently been elected the trips' "chief
cook and bottle washer." Dennis is currently general
manager at 
(5/1/05)