Backcountry Vegan - Backcountry & Camping Cookbook Reading List

My pre-trip reading list included these books, in no particular order:

• A Fork in the Trail
• Backpack Gourmet
• Freezer Bag Cooking
• Lightweight Backpacking and Camping
• Lip Smackin' Vegetarian Backpackin'
• Lip Smackin' Backpackin'
• Trail Food: Drying And Cooking Food for Backpackers And Paddlers
• Simple Foods for the Pack
• The Well Fed Backpacker 

Reviews coming soon!

A Cooking Course - CHALLENGE!!

For years, I have cursed myself for buying cookbooks and then not ever feeling like I have properly exploited their benefit. I thought about cooking my way through one or two, recipe by recipe for ages and then several years ago came across the book "Julie & Julia" but the sort of "chick lit" bent didn't appeal to me greatly. My friend Cris agrees with me - she also wants to "do" a cookbook. Everyone in food blogs seems to be writing cookbooks - how about cooking your way through a really good one?

I'm planning to tackle "The Millennium Cookbook" and my friend Cris is going to tackle "The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen" by Donna Kein (212 pages) AND "Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet" by Raman Prasad (224 pages).

Anyone else interested in this challenge?

Another Cookbook Contest!

My friend Karen Solomon just published a book called "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It" with Tenspeed press. A blogger named Erin is giving away a copy on Erin Cooks - so please hop over and leave a comment before 6pm today if you want to try to win Karen's book!

Vegan & Wheat Free Desserts!

Ricki at Diet, Dessert & Dogs has just announced the completion and impending release of her new cookbook Sweet Freedom. She's been tempting us for months with photos of delicious looking desserts and is also offering a give-away of several copies of her books - all you have to do is got to her blog entry and leave a comment. You can get additional entries by e-mailing the information to friends or posting it to your own blog. I'm determined to win a cookbook, so I've done both. :)

Ravioli, Redux!

Another round of Stinging Nettle & Wild Chanterelle Ravioli from the Millennium cookbook - why? Because it's AWESOME! This time, I made up a very big batch of candy cap balsamic reduction well in advance - two bottles of balsamic and 1/2" oz of dried candy caps later, I've got a decent 2 cups of syrupy reduction to add to dressings and sauces.

The ravioli turned out amazing - even though two of my guests couldn't eat wheat, I saved the filling for them to eat with the salad and they pronounced it delicious. In fact, one guest said "This is the best meal I have ever had!"

The ravioli were served on a bed of mixed greens (I'm in love with mizuno), and a salad of roasted beets with candied pecans and arugula. Homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert.