A Meal Worth the Rave

Most of the cooked meals we ate while we camped were gems that Dad prepared. Mom & Dad would work together on them, though it was Dad who'd be the "final" Cook in the Kitchen. [read: picnic table or grill hanging off the side of the camper]

They'd received their gem of an appliance as a wedding gift, so its engineering was a few decades old by the time we were using it. It was basically a portable oven that could be used with just the bottom portion, & adjusting the temperature on the side of the device accordingly, or the device's lid could also be attached in order to keep the heat in & cook the meal differently.

This electric cooker got used frequently, though I remember just one time when I found the meal so delicious that I ranted & raved over it for a long time. I gushed over it as I ate it, then afterward I teased as if I hadn't yet said a word 😊. Even later that night I talked about it. I don't remember specifically when I moved on, though I also remember Mom piping in, lightly joking about whether or not she'd said anything to Dad. (She had said something in the moment, as we ate as a family.) He responded that, No, she really hadn't said anything; it was me who'd said, maybe once or so, that it was a good meal 😏😂. And the family joke continued on...

The meal, I don't remember in detail, though I do remember it containing meatballs. It really may have been something of a simple brown gravy sauce (like these). That night, however, whatever the simplicity of the meal Dad designed & cooked up in this magical machine, it truly was the height of deliciousness to someone of my age as it simply was: protein (for filling my belly) & salt (for adding flavor).

We did eat plenty of "camping vacation" meals in what some may call "true vacation style": out. And we also ate quite a few dinner meals that didn't require cooking, such as sandwich cold cuts. Once or twice (probably more, though I don't remember it as such) we had simple things like shish-kabobs using these over an early campfire. Because of our not-getting-back-to-camp-while-sightseeing until 8:30 or 9 p.m. often, Mom began declaring anytime we'd end up eating such a late dinner as a "camp dinner". These occasions would be those we'd have once we'd be back at the house & no longer be "on vacation".

These links are affiliate links to Amazon as well as the image link in the top left. The image link seems to be the most close resemblance in size, style, & performance to that which Mom & Dad had received as a gift all those years ago.