Backcountry baking - Senior Project

                                                                                                                                                                                    5/25/21 6:10 pm What a way to end Senior Project! I started this morning going to Patty’s house and picking up my supplies and doing some dishes. I headed to Hannafords after to pick up ingredients for the pizza! I made it back just in the knick of time for our last seminar. When that was over I headed back to my room to make the pizza dough. As it was rising I continued to work on my reflection paper. I used a quick rise recipe so after about 30 minutes the dough was ready to go. I loaded my backpack with the ingredients and grabbed the dutch oven and coals. I was determined to make it in one trip, but it was very difficult to carry everything across campus. Luckily I saw one of my friends and she helped me carry everything to the fire pit outside of Slocumb. Patty came over to help me set up the coals. I qu

                                                                                                                                                                                    5/24/21 9:15 pm I had a very late start today. I got to Patty’s house around 12:45 and started making bagels. This time they are for the senior brunch on Friday. I went with 5 batches today, so I got out my ingredients and went to work. While I was waiting for the dough to rise I worked on my cookbook and played with Patty’s cats. I boiled and baked almost all of them before I had to leave. Patty was very sweet and baked the last 2 batches of Everything bagels for me.                                  After dinner and some singing with Jazz-Rock, I grabbed my computer and headed outside to continue working on my cookbook and start my reflection paper. I worked for 4.5 hours today which brings my total to 51.5 hours. Tomorrow is the last day and I’m going out with a bang, so check in to see what I make! - Sop

 What a week this was! The days are flying by and I’m sad that my project is almost over. I was really happy with the progress I made this week, both on the camp stove and baking in a conventional kitchen. It was nice to start the week baking something I know I can make very well. I’d never made 6 batches in one go before, so I was pleasantly surprised how well I was able to manage my time to make everything efficient. I was also really happy to bring something new to Bluebird this week in the form of Lemon Raspberry Baked Donuts. I’d been wanting to try the recipe for a while, and I was so happy I got the chance to! Once again I learned little things from Patty while working with her at Bluebird Thursday morning. My donuts weren’t selling at first and I asked for tape so I could move the sign advertising them to eye level. Instead, she took one of the empty pound cake plates and put the donuts on there, and moved them right up front so people browsing would see them right away. I hadn

                                                                                                                                                                                    5/22/21 3:30 pm I started the day inventorying what I had left from my shopping runs and then decided to try making a cake again! I grabbed my baggies and brought all my supplies outside the dorm. I had one bag of dry ingredients, one bag of powdered milk, and one bag of egg replacer. I found egg replacer from Bob’s Red Mill at Hannaford's and I was interested to see how it’d work. I started by mixing the egg powder with water and then I made the milk. I pour everything into a pot to combine. This recipe calls for a cup of boiling water, but I just used room temp and hoped it would work! I got the stove set up and oiled the pan. I decided to bake it for 10 minutes and then check on it. The edges were cooked, but the middle was still very raw. I took it off the stove and let it sit for 30 minutes covere

                                                                                                                                                                                     5/21/20 4:50 pm I decided not to make a fire, after all, today because it was so hot outside already! I started looking for bread recipes and found a few that had you bake it on a camp stove. I made the dough and put it outside in the sun to help it rise faster. While it was rising I started putting bags together for making my own cake mix. It was so nice outside in the shade I wanted to spend some time outside, so I grabbed my crazy creek and sat outside my dorm, and started writing up the recipes for my mini-cookbook for Mountain Classroom. After about 2 hours my dough was double the size so I went to work setting up the stove. It was fun being right outside my dorm because people would stop by to see what I was doing. I had some friends come and hang out with me while I was setting up, which was nice to h

                                                                                                                                                                                   5/20/21 4:40 pm I was surprised how easily I woke up this morning considering it was 6:30. I got ready and put on my Bluebird sweatshirt and headed out the door. Patty was just pulling up when I got there so it was perfect timing. We set up the trailer and pulled all the food from her car. We were even more efficient this morning so I had time to cut more bagels and run across to Jakes (JJs) to buy more cream cheese. That was the first time I’d been into Jakes since last fall! A line was already forming by the time I got back. 7:30 rolled around and it was bagelmania! I think in the first 30 minutes I sold 2 dozen bagels, mostly all Everything. Once classes started there was a little lull, but there was still a slow steady stream of people coming. I was getting great feedback for my donuts which felt very goo

                                                                                                                                                                                   5/19/21 4:45 pm I started the day at 8:50 by gathering ingredients and going to pick up my keys. I stopped at Hannaford's to pick up a few more things and then headed to Patty’s house. I decided to try a new donut recipe today, lemon raspberry! I made a double batch which yielded 12 mini and 12 normal donuts. I always bake my donuts, which results in a more cakey consistency. I had enough batter to make 2 extra so I was able to try them, and not to toot my own horn, but they’re pretty darn good! Afterward, I made the 2 kinds of muffins that Patty always has. Raspberry Pecan and Pumpkin Ginger. I struggled way longer than I should’ve with the can opener, so it took me a little longer to get the Pumpkin Ginger started. I was shocked by how much batter each recipe made. I thought there would be no way that I

                                                                                                                                                                                    5/18/21 9:15 pm  I got a late start today and decided to stay on campus to bake instead of hiking. I was going to bake right outside my dorm, but it was so windy I wanted to find a more sheltered location. I settled on the Outdoors Center. I went on the pavement along the side of the building. It seemed perfect at first until the wind changed directions. I just kept going because this could be a problem someone else might face in the backcountry and I was lazy and didn’t want to move my setup. I started by pouring the water and oil into the bag with the homemade all-purpose baking mix. I mixed and kneaded the ingredients together in the bag and then poured it into my fry bake lined with parchment paper. I topped with blueberries and started setting up the stove. This was my first time using the new one and

                                                                                                                                                                                    5/17/21 5:30 pm I got going this morning around 9:10. I left school and headed to Patty’s house to start making bagels. I decided to make 6 batches, which is the equivalent of 3 dozen bagels. I put on a fun playlist from Spotify and jammed out while I made the dough. Once all 6 were done I sat outside in the sun, which was really nice until the bugs found me. I went back inside and did some dishes. I also made a new friend today! Patty has a hummingbird feeder right outside the window where the sink is.                                         I got everything started and began the actual baking process. This time I made 16 plain, 8 poppy seed, and 24 everything. Once they were cooled I bagged them and then put them in the freezer to keep them fresh for Thursday. I got back to campus around 2:45. Overall I

                                                                                                                                                                                    5/16/21 8:00 pm  I can’t believe the first week of Senior Project is over! There have been so many ups and downs, but mostly ups so I’ll take that as a win. I started the week with some research and then hiked up to Mud Pond for my first recipe. The scone/biscuits turned out SO much better than I ever expected! I had my expectations very low to start because I had no clue if anything I was doing was going to work. I think because my first attempt went so well I assumed the next recipe I tried would go just as well or maybe even better. When the cake didn’t work out I was disappointed and a little frustrated. Other than the little hiccup on Friday I’ve been loving what I’ve been doing. I’ve had the idea of opening my own food truck or bakery in the future, so being able to bake and work at Bluebird this week w

                                                                                                                                                                                    5/15/21 3:30 pm  Well to be honest there isn’t much to report from today. I wasn’t able to get a new stove in the morning so I decided to make the recipe for an all-purpose baking mix I found online. I’m hoping to use that mix next week to make a backcountry blueberry pie/cake sort of thing. I used one of my dorm parents' kitchens to make the mix. The recipe called for 9 cups of flour! The bowl I had almost wasn’t big enough to hold everything. I filled a bag with all the mixture. I only worked for an hour today so that brings my total up to 19 hours. Check-in tomorrow to read about some things I’ve learned over the week and what my plan is for week 2! - Sophie 

                                                                                                                                                                          5/14/21 3:00  Well, today was a day. Some words I’d use to describe today would be, disaster, epic fail, and a huge mess. I started around 10 am today. I decided to try making a cake. I packed up my bag and headed up to the cabin. I hiked up there using different trails than I normally would. I took Phelps trail to Cabin trail. The path was so pretty and it was the perfect day for a hike. I got up to the cabin and realized my first mistake. I didn’t bring bug spray. I had to constantly keep moving otherwise I would be attacked by a swarm of black flies. I poured the cake mix into a pot and mixed in the water and oil. I added extra of both to make up for not having eggs. I added a boatload of oil into the fry bake per the instructions. I was getting really fed up with all the bugs, but at this point, I had already