Fall is easily one of my favorite times of year, not just for the beautiful trees, and change in the weather but for the abundance of fresh produce. The final tomatoes are becoming ripe, squash, pumpkins, and apples are ready to be picked and even some greens are poking back out. The cooler temperatures mean that turning on the stove is no longer a horrendous endeavor and suddenly we can start bake and roast again.
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Moving slowly, as quietly as possible through a peaceful woods with fresh fallen snow. There are no tracks visible but the sudden baying of our little beagle tells us that she has picked up the scent of a rabbit, and the excitement begins. I have a lot fond memories as a child of rabbit hunting, something that I haven’t had the opportunity to do in a few years because you know, life gets so busy. It’s something I’m working on.
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The fall weather has officially started to make itself known. I regret to admit that the tops of trees are just beginning to turn and mornings are starting to get chilly. As much as I love fall I always still lament the end of summer. The carefree days of hiking and boating are some of my favorite.
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A good bloggy friend Chrystina came to visit me recently and one of the things she asked is where the good Chai place was. It was not a question that I was used to, since around these parts we don’t have a large number of café’s or tea houses within walking distance. I pretty much make everything from scratch. I probably should have explained that better while she was here, but instead, I’ll do a post about it. Side note I did wait until after labor day to post this recipe because August is not the ideal hot chai latte weather. I think that’s a long enough wait yes?
My chai latte recipe is one I perfected way back in college because it was a necessity. You need that creamy, caffeinated goodness to get through late night study sessions you see.
Side note: not every chai latte has caffeine in it. Many swanky cafés use a from concentrate chai mix that is mostly sugar and spices with no actual tea (caffeine) in it. Some tea houses have actual chai tea, where all the spices are mixed up in a bag and steeped. This is not a recipe like either of those.
Personally these days I’m more of a fan of the chai tea, the steep-able version. I like the stronger flavor and have been trying to avoid added milks and sugars. I think my taste buds have changed quite a bit because I generally prefer no sugar at all. The things we do for health man.
This recipe is not about health. This recipe is about flavor, comfort, and caffeine, because what else are we really looking for from our chai latte?
This has been one of those recipes that has been sitting in my post folder for a long time. It’s a good one, but getting a halfway decent picture of it has proved to be difficult. For some reason, we tend to enjoy this dish while camping at night, which means no good lighting. It’s in fact usually the worst lighting ever, but that’s life and we forget about it and enjoy the food, because that’s what it’s here for anyway.
Campfire Nachos
This past weekend Chuck, Brody and I met up with our friend Pat for a little camping in VT. It was a much needed break from reality. There was a lot of fishing, puppy dog swimming, and napping. Man, it’s nice to nap, I should do it more often. I mean really why did we ever stop napping?
I’m getting off track here.
I made these awesome nachos for lunch during this restorative little trip. It was the perfect easy lunch that was surprisingly filling. I had originally planned to have these with hot dogs, but the nachos were more than enough to fill the three of us heartily until dinner time.
This recipe is pretty basic because getting too fancy when camping can be a drag. You are there to have fun, not slave over every meal right? However, you can make this same recipe just as easily at home in the oven or on a grill where the fancier toppings are more at hand.
Some notes about this recipe. I tend to prep the beans ahead of time at home and put them in a container or ziplock for camping. Again we are going for ease while we are in the woods. If you wanted to add some other veggies or meat you could also toss them in with the prepared beans. Also be very careful about putting the foil pack directly onto hot coals, the chips may burn with such direct heat. We are just looking to warm up the dish and melt the cheese here.
Campfire Nachos
