Before I start logging new ’round-the-campfire pastries I thought a good first step would be to inventory the camping-friendly recipes that are already on the blog. Indeed there are quite a few, especially if you count the make-ahead cookies and cakes. However I realize that part of the fun of campfire cuisine is actually assembling and cooking the whatever-it-is on the fire.

S’mores are of course an American classic. Strawberry shortcake is another time-tested campfire delicacy, and it can be easily made with packaged biscuits in a Dutch or cardboard box oven.
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Reader Zoe writes:

I’ve been interested to read some of the comments on the subject of iodine and salt. I’ve always noticed that salt is “iodized” but have wondered why that’s important. Can you go into the subject a little? I’d be interested to read more.

Zoe, you never have to prod me too much to delve into a topic like this. Since we’ve been flirting with various subjects related to diet and health this past week, it only makes sense. Commercially made table salt is iodized by law in the US. It’s natural to wonder why.
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I’ll admit I’m not a big fan of camping. Oh I like the outdoors plenty, I just have bad associations with tents and sleeping bags. Being the nerd in my scout troop I was always the kid whose backpack got filled with rocks, or who climbed into his sleeping bag only to find someone had put a hundred of those little restaurant butter pats inside. Hey, you try sleeping in 40-degree weather when you’re greased from head to toe, OK?…

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Reader Silviu writes:

Reading [your posts on Michael Pollan] leaves me wondering what’s your approach to ingredients and food in general? Do you fit in any particular category (organic, local, etc.)? Do you have some never-touch-that rules? What do you think of sugar and pastry (I mean pastry is mostly not pastry without sugar)? I’d love to read a whole post on this.

Silviu, I try not to touch hot-button questions like this since they often lead to go-nowhere comment field combat, a lot like the trench warfare at Ypres. In the end, after all the shells and noxious gasses have been released, little has been accomplished and nothing has changed. But since you asked I’ll go for it. Briefly. …

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Is anyone out there having trouble posting a comment? Also, has the Odwalla ad finally disappeared? I complained to my ad network about it and they said they’d take it off…but…you know.

My gold cake fell. Why did this happen? Because I over-whipped my egg yolk foam. Though you wouldn’t think it, egg yolks and liquid can be whipped to a very high foam — at least temporarily. And it doesn’t need to be any special liquid, water will do. It’s all those emulsifiers in egg yolks, donchaknow…they create a thick lipid-water mixture that (at least temporarily) reinforces air bubble walls.
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Reader Lily writes:

Joe, the other day I left some egg yolks that I was about to whip into pastry cream sitting in a bowl with some sugar for too long. The yolk sides that were touching the sugar turned pale and hard. My instructor said that it was caused by sugar cooking the eggs because sugar and yolks together create heat. I’m skeptical, but what do you think?

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It’s turned out that neither dietary cholesterol nor fat are the poisons we once thought they were. What about salt? Seems that’s getting another look as well. Does this now mean that nothing we eat is bad for us? Don’t be silly. However it does mean that diet is a much more complex and nuanced topic than it’s seemed these last several decades. …

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