Camp on the Cape

As a newcomer to this whole camping thing, our latest venture was quite the test for me. My Uncle Wes and Aunt Tania took us to a favorite spot of theirs in the Outer Banks of  North Carolina.

After arriving on the coast, we boarded a ferry to drop us off on the beach of Cape Lookout. The ferry would not return for us until the end of the weekend.  We loaded Wes’ truck to the brim and started our drive to the beach to find a place to make camp.

We found a perfect spot tucked in between a set of grass-covered dunes. The warm sand welcomed us along with a cool-ocean breeze; the setting sun acted as our light. The light house on this thin, sandy strip of island was reliably twirling its light around to guide the fishermen who were bringing in the local catch.

We made a Kaderavek classic for dinner: chicken and dumplings!  This is a simple stew of chicken, potatoes, corn, onion, peas, carrots, and celery cooked down with flour and milk. As the flavors built together in the pot, I made a mixture of Bisquick, milk, and poppy seeds. If we  had an oven, we would have dropped small spoonfuls of the batter on top of the stew and baked it until the dumplings were cooked through. For our beach camping trip, we steamed the dumpling in a small amount of water and then just placed them on top of the stew before it was served.

The sweet vegetables blended with an intense chicken flavor making a wonderful base that went with the soft, tender, cake-like biscuits. Hungry from our long journey, we all ate our fair share of stew, especially my two young cousins. Five-year old Sophia even commented, “This is really good” as she happily ate her second helping.

Tania took the lead for our next dinner by sauteing up turkey burgers filled with spinach, red onion, and feta cheese. It was the perfect energy boost to get us through the last leg of our trip and provided a yummy Mediterranean ending to our day.

During our trip we shared meals with our family and spent our days playing in the water with the kids, building castles in the sand, napping in the sun, and searching for sea shells along the shore.

Our final night we built a large fire to roast s’mores. We enjoyed the crisp char of our toasted marshmallows, gooey chocolate, and sweet crunchy graham crackers all melted perfectly together.

After sending the kids off to bed, we enjoyed each others company by the fire and moonlight. A beautiful dark gray cloud passed us by, as there was lightning blasting far off over the dark blue waves.

This was a camping trip unlike any I could have imaged. Though it was hard to adjust to the hot and sandy conditions, it was an experience I will never forget. Just the smell of the morning sea and sleeping to the sound of crashing waves left a feeling of closeness to the natural world I have never known before.

Kaderavek Chicken and Dumplings (feeds 4 plus leftovers)
1 ea	Whole chicken, boned, cut into 1 in. cubes	1 ea	Potato, diced
1/4 cup	Olive oil	1 ear	Corn, cut of the cobb
4 Tbsp	Flour	2 cups	Peas, frozen
1 ea	Spanish onion, diced	1 cup	Milk
1 Tbsp	Garlic, minced	1 cup	Water
1 Cup	Baby carrots, sliced	1 Tbsp	Salt
3 ribs	Celery, sliced	1 tsp	Black pepper
Dumpling Batter
1 1/2 cup	Bisquick	3 Tbsp	Poppy seeds
1 cup	Milk
-In a large casserole pot, heat oil and brown chicken pieces. -Add onions and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. -Stir in milk and water, then add the carrots, celery, potato, corn, salt, and pepper. -Simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. -Stir in peas, then drop small spoonfuls dumpling batter evenly on top. -Cover and bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until dumplings and vegetables are cooked through.
Source: ChefsOnTheRoad.com