I’m not a fan of the savory-sweet thing that is sweeping the nation.  White chocolate and bacon?  Cherry and steak?  Blue cheese and fig?  Forget it.  In the words of Cedric the Entertainer, I’m a grown man.  If I am having a steak, I want a steak.  If I’m having figs, I want figs.  My food is not a toy so stop playing with it!  Don’t ruin one thing by mixing it with another.  I don’t need to confuse my mouth with all these flavors that my ancestors were perfectly fine not combining.

At least I was until I tried our Swamp Pop.

J.P. & I were on a hiking trip and hanging out around the campfire eating trail mix from a big box store.  We both agreed that we could make it better and spent the next 20 minutes figuring out what to put in ours.  I don’t remember who to give the creative credit to but one of us talked about putting our spicy pecans from the Ya-Ya Chicken Salad into the trail mix recipe we were working on in our heads.  The next week I whipped up a test batch and tentatively threw a handful into my mouth.

Whoa.

The salty crunch of peanuts and sunflowers gave way to creamy chocolate that was chased by tart cranberries and it all finished with just the right amount of warmth for a South Louisiana palette.  I still don’t want blue cheese with my figs but I will definitely take some heat with my sweet!

Our Swamp Pop is available any time you want it… just look for it on the front counter or ask one of us to point it out to you.  It’s just as good as a snack in the car as it is on a trail.  Please don’t put it on a steak but, if you’re adventurous, we’d love to hear how it is combined with breakfast cereal!

The Wild Azalea Trail is the longest trail in Louisiana.  Its 26.2 miles snake between Valentine Lake and the Woodworth Town Hall… and three of us Great Harvest employees hiked all of it in 1½ days last weekend.  My legs finally stopped being sore on Thursday but my collar bones are still bruised from where my pack’s shoulder straps sat.

As I planned the trip (using Pack & Paddle’s maps and expert advice), I realized that we needed light, energy-dense foods to take with us on the trip.  Add-boiling-water-and-mix meals were an easy solution for Breakfast and Supper but the question I was left with was what to do for lunch.  We weren’t going to stop and unpack our gear so we needed something portable that required no prep work.

While I’ve rolled out and baked Go Bars for years now and I frequently taste them for quality, I’ve never really eaten one before.  Our customers love them and rave about them so much that I put my faith in their testimonials and decided that we would bring them along for our lunches.  They’re loaded with everything that you need for a quick and easy meal or a snack that’ll sustain you for an afternoon on the road/trail/water.

They worked wonderfully.  I had Chris Meaux (our Jake Gyllenhaal lookalike) and Ryan Grob (“the guy that used to have long hair” as most of you know him) bring the Go Bars… nine bars per day for 6 people.  Believe it or not, this was more than enough.  We were burning tons of calories but the Go Bars really performed well and gave us sustained energy to climb hills and maneuver through bogs.

Go Bars… trail tested, trail approved!

This past weekend me, Seth, and J.P. went camping along the Wild Azalea Trail in Kisatchie.  We realize that a lot of you shudder when you read that sentence… the thought of sleeping on the ground, going to the bathroom in a hole, and not bathing is not your idea of a good time.  While I agree that those things are an inconvenience, camping is a great time to reconnect with nature and slow down from the hectic pace of American life.  The sacrifices are worth the rewards but there is one thing I refuse to sacrifice while I camp- good food.  I bring a wok (to cook directly on the coals of the fire), a small camping stove (to boil water for noodles or instant rice), and a French Press with me every time I go hiking and feast on meals like Duck Tikka Masala, Venison Tacos, and Thai Beef Noodle Soup. 

While the suppers are brilliant, making a great breakfast can be more of a challenge.  I could bring in eggs but then I’ve got to worry about breaking them in my pack as well as them sticking to my pots.  I have to worry about milk going sour (as well as the weight of carrying a can of evaporated milk in my pack) so that shrinks my options even further.  This past trip, however, I struck gold.

J.P. joined our group a day late and brought in some Cranberry Almond Oatmeal from the bakery as well as some Baby’s Coffee.  To say that the breakfast the following morning was brilliant is a total understatement.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee blended with the smell of crackling twigs in the newly reignited fire.  The crunch of the almonds and the tang of the cranberries woke up our senses and kept us warm while we waited for the sun to take away the chill in the air.  I have finally found a trail breakfast that doesn’t taste like a trail breakfast!

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ugg boots chestnut commented on 12-Nov-2010 02:27 AM

ept us warm while we waited for the sun to take away the chill in the air. I have finally found a trail breakfast that doesn’t taste like a tr