Book: Backcountry Cooking Deck

50 Recipes for camp and trail.

Paying $12 for freeze-dried camping "entrees" that taste like crap is for lazy bastards. At least that's what I think to myself when I'm standing in line to pay $12 for freeze-dried camping "entrees" that taste like crap. So when the Backcountry Cooking Deck ($15; Mountaineers Books) landed on my desk one day, I saw the light. Stocked with 50 breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and snack recipes made from transportable, simple ingredients, this little box offers endless options for tasty trail cuisine. These aren't cop-out, glorified GORP recipes; these are novel techniques for making real meals. The coffee cake was divine, the alpine mac 'n' cheese was glorious, and the ginger crisp made me a believer because the prepping instructions take into account that you can mix a few things at home and do the rest with your camp stove and limited utensils. This handy little deck of 50 recipe cards comes in a small box that measures about 4 x 5 x 1, which makes it sturdy enough to hold up in your pack and small enough to bring along.