Camping Trip - Day One

Sunday afternoon, the plan was a quick dinner in Saranac Lake, get to Long Pond launch in the early evening and canoe to a camp site before nightfall. Of course, we were running a bit later than planned and when we put in, the sun was already lower then the trees. We knew the camp sites we were aiming for and then passed one, two, three sites that were full, the sun was officially set, and we were just starting to stress it, when bingo, we found a great site. Joe lit the propane lantern, we quickly set up, and then relaxed for a bit before heading to our tent ( you'll notice the singular here. We opted for one large tent for the family.)

Per Joe's planning, here is the route we are going to tackle. It centers around the Saint Regis Canoe area. Joe has pretty much canoed every pond around here and it seemed every camp site we passed he had camped at one time or another so we were in good hands.

A Frenzy of Activity

I will post some pics and updates from our weekend with Joe's dad later but we are in the midst of chaos over here getting ready to shove off on our 3 day canoe trip tonight. I am heading to trusty Price Chopper to try to find last minute camp friendly food for our finicky Oscar. He doesn't suffer casseroles, soups, noodly or rice concoctions or cheese...and he doesn't like peanut butter, which pretty much rules out the entire genre of camp food. We've decided the cooler can't fit which rules out proteins or anything needing refrigeration. Meanwhile, Clarke is asking if we can figure out how to make red Thai curry noodles, so this is like some kind of Top Chef Challenge.

Joe is heading into his Eagle Scout treasure trove finding useful camp tools and trinkets and Clarke was thrilled to see Joe's actual Boy Scout issued swiss army knife with "Joey" written in nail polish. The boys are making the claim that if Joe and I get red wine (which is not exactly canoe friendly), they get root beer. hmmmm. Deal with the devil.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

We were lucky enough to meet up with some good friends from the city who have an annual vacation at Brant Lake in the lower Adirondacks through the University of Michigan Alumni Association. They go to "family camp" at a tony girls camp call Point O Pines (one of those Manhattan kid places that scare the pants off me.)

Anyway, they have 2 boys exactly the same ages as Clarke and Oscar and the boys were just thrilled to see their good buddies. First they came up to the barn, we waterfalled, hung around the barn, and then...we Tailed (I refuse to type out the name of that restaurant again!). Then their boys slept over, and the next morning, I drove everyone back down to Brant Lake for some camp fun. What a great day. Oscar and Clarke played bocci ball, took a tennis lesson, watched a euchre tournament, played some hoops and went to the horse farm to meet the horses. I got some tennis in with Robert, who kicked me around the court. Janet and I hung by the lakefront with our books...but never cracked them open as we chatted the afternoon away. The boys are begging to go back next year already. It's not something Joe and I would naturally plan but it sure was relaxing and fun.

Back home exhausted, I am fighting a bad cold and expect to lay low today. Tomorrow Joe's dad comes and Joe returns from the city for a fun weekend.

Late Afternoon Sunday

After our work day, we decided we had time for 9 holes of golf. Joe has been dying to get all of us out together. We went to the Saranac Lake Golf Club and 4 of us golfed with 2 carts for less than it would cost 4 of us to have lunch in Manhattan. And, we just walked on. The clubhouse is super low key and the golfers were wearing tevas, work boots, jeans, fleece; and there were more pick-ups than BMW's in the lot. And that is why we love Adirondacks golf- just the love of the game without pretension. Not to mention the stellar scenery -it was a beautiful afternoon, sunny and cool with the backdrop of the mountains. I played the best golf I have ever played (of the dozen times in my life), Joe had his worst round "ever" ( I intimidated with my skills, clearly)and the boys amazed us with the skills they learned at Sunday golf this year. Oscar had a birdie on the last hole. On our way home we had to pass Tail O the Pup and heard our favorites, Blues Noir, so we decided to have an outdoor dinner and some blues to end a great day. They played our favorite "Big Fat Momma" ("Big fat momma. She's as wide as she is high. When I make myself a chicken...I'm lucky if I get a thigh") and the waitresses came up on stage to sing backup! That's a first for us. BTW, Joe and Oscar can now unequivocally recommend the Big Kahuna burger (bacon, red onions cheese, BBQ sauce, tomato, lettuce).

Work, Plebians!

Barn Quote of the Day (Oscar): "It feels good to hold a hammer. Like I have all the power"


After a hearty Blue Moon Cafe breakfast, Team Williams is tackling the next round of carpet squares. If I haven't mentioned, the entire house (some walls included) is paved in carpet squares, which at some point was probably hip, practical, cheap, and warm. Not now. Tomorrow, we are having new, cheap, clean carpeting put in the bathroom and guest room which means squares come up today! And yes, at some point, we'd love to refinish those lovely wood floors.

Recipes

From the pig roast. Here you go, folks. In case I haven't been crystal clear, if I post a baking recipe, you can pretty much assume monkeys could have made it successfully. I am no baker but I sure am having fun trying this summer. Pix of both dishes are below in slide show.

Peach Blackberry Tart
Make oatmeal-cookie crumbs by blending cookies in a processor until finely ground.

Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups oatmeal-cookie crumbs (made from about 32 crispy oatmeal cookies)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
2/3 cup peach or apricot nectar
5 tablespoons sugar
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2 2/3 cups coarsely chopped peeled peaches
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups large blackberries

For crust: Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter fluted tart pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray. Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter in medium bowl until moist clumps form. Press dough evenly over bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Bake until dry, about 10 minutes. Cool crust completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with foil. Let stand at room temperature.)

For filling: Whisk nectar, sugar, and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan until smooth. Add half of peaches and lemon juice. Using potato masher, mash to coarse puree. Simmer over medium heat until mixture is thick, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Fold in remaining peaches. Spread filling evenly in crust. Arrange blackberries around top edge of tart. Refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 6 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Bridget Notes: I pushed extra peach parts through sieve to get juice for nectar, as the peaches were really juicy. For crust, I added extra butter as the crumbs didn't seem to be staying together. In tasting, the crust was a bit too buttery (Not by joe's standards) so I'd go back to regular. I omitted 2 TBL of sugar in filling as I don't like tarts that sweet and the peaches were already very sweet. I added vanilla to filling. I used wild berries which were tiny so I just polka dotted the top. I added some fresh whipped cream. Shockingly I didn't have time for proper chilling so I threw in freezer for an hour and it worked like a charm. I didn't have tart pan so I used regular spring form

Pecan Bars (Cook's Illustrated)
Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup, packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup toasted, chopped pecans
6 TBL unsalted, cold, butter, cut into small pieces

Filling
4 TBL unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBL Bourbon
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 3/4 cups pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray 9 inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Fold two 16 inch pieces of parchment paper and lay in pan perpendicular to each other. Spray them and push into corners.
2. Place flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and pecans in food processor. Process until it resembles course cornmeal. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Pat mixture evenly into prepared pan and bake until the crust is light brown and springs back when touched (about 20 minutes)
3. For filling: While crust bakes, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, bourbon, and salt in a medium bowl until just combined. Add egg and whisk until incorporated
4. Pour filling on top of hot crust and spring the rest of the pecans over the top. Bake until the top is browned and cracks start to form across the surface 22 to 25 minutes. Coon on wire rack, remove from pan and cut into square

Bridget's Notes: I added fresh rasberries to the top of the filling before I baked and in my opinion, they made the dish great. A bit of tart with the uber-sweet and looked pretty. i also goofed and used dark corn syrup -didn't notice big problem. We didn't have bourbon ( sorry Barb and Jason, we left in the city!) so I used Jack Daniels. I used 2 TBL as I like the boozy taste -per CI instructions :-). I didn't have square 9 inch pan so I used my 13 x 9 pyrex. was worried but all was well. We don't have food processor here (but we will after this recipe) so I used the blender on crust. Not so fun. Not recommended.

Joanne had some great recipes, including a BBQ sauce that the men in my life can't stop talking about so I will try to post those later.

Live Hot Pig Roast Action

Great times were had by all today at Joanne and Dave's pig roast. The pix were shot by Oscar which means they are mostly focused on animals and food. And really, that was a great portion of our day. We had a blast - not knowing another soul except the hosts. Great people, great food and great fun. On another day, we will post about the great compound that Dave and Joanne have built. We have outbuilding envy. And...Happy Birthday Dave MacDowell!!