Courtney
Hello!
I'm not Dominican but my husband is. He recenty expressed a concern that he's feeling out of touch with his culture. We've planned a 4th of July shindig camping with some of my family (he has none close at all).. but to combat his concerns while we all celebrate our American-ness I'm looking for something Dominican that would be good to take camping.. like, tent camping..
Really, anything Latino..
Thanks in advance
Also, he cant eat spicy food, makes him ill..
Answer
Well, spicy food is a huge part of Latino cooking. In the Dominican Republic, I've seen them talk about eating stuff that normal Americans don't eat.... like Goat meat... or Lengua, which is cow tongue, but I actually like it a lot. You can find mexican restaurants that make Lengua sometimes.
They are very resourceful in this way by using every part of the animal.... so they make a lot of soups and stews... which probably won't be great for camping... although, you can do it, if you wanna bring a big stock pot, veggies and chicken broth in the box or can.
Anyways, Carne Asada is a pretty popular dish here. You can marinate skirt steaks (or just use a dry rub), and throw it on the bbq when you're ready to cook. Cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper are pretty common spices to use... as well as garlic and onions. You can add a little minced garlic in a plastic bag with some olive oil, and the other spices for a marinade.
After you cook it, you can chop up the meat, and put some fresh onion, cilantro and lime with it and serve it in a tortilla for taco's.
The next recipe is taking chicken wings and thighs and marinating them in TONS of chopped garlic, lemon juice (from 3-4 lemons, depending on how much chicken you have), Lemon Zest, olive oil and paprika, and a dash of cumin and chili powder (it shouldn't be too spicy, chili powder is pretty tame). Anyways, when you're ready to cook it, just throw it on the grill for about 30-40 minutes or until they are cooked all the way through. Again, serve with the tortillas, and maybe some guacamole.
A simple guacamole recipe is just 3 ripe avocado's (diced), a little onion (1/2 to half of a chopped onion), juice from 1 lime, 1 chopped jalapeno (seeded so it won't be too hot), a handful of chopped cilantro and 2 roma tomatoes (chopped and seeded)... season with salt and pepper.
To make it better, you can add a tbsp of mayo with the avocado to make it real creamy. It might sound weird, but I tried it once and it's pretty awesome.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a tarp instead of a tent for camping?
Q. My dad and I go backpacking a lot and while we were hiking a section of the Pacific Crest Trail we met some other hikers who were using a tarp for a shelter, instead of the usual tent. Using a tarp is not only lighter than a tent, but it is larger and easy to set up. We've been wondering if maybe using a tarp would be better.
Answer
Ultralight backpackers such as Ray Jardine have revolutionized backpacking with the popularization of using sil-nylon tarps instead of tents.
Tarps provide ventilation which tents do not, thus reducing condensation, which dampens everything inside your tent, especially your clothing and the insulation of your sleeping system, which, especially on long trips, will leave your gear heavier and colder every day, especially during inclement weather. Tarps are lighter and offer more coverage as you've already mentioned. Tarps require no poles and can be pitched between two trees or using two branches or a combination of the two. And tarps are actually stronger than tents by weight, contrary to ignorant assumptions, because they can be pitched low into high winds, and ideally have multiple guy lines that can be staked or tied out. And there are no poles to bend or break. It's utterly laughable for anyone to state that tent poles are stronger than a couple of stout poles found in the woods: You're doing it wrong.
A couple years ago I sewed my own tarp and net tent, which hangs underneath the tarp as protection from mosquitoes, and replaces the need for a ground cloth, using Ray Jardine's tarp and net tent kit and Tarp Book, which includes all the instructions you need.
Since then my wife, daughter and I have successfully and comfortably camped under our tarp tent inside our net tent several times in the Sierras, strangely often in high winds. I have had a corner stake pull out during the night but on our last trip to Winnemucca Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness the winds were just as strong but the tarp required no adjustment during the night.
My tarp is 17.6 ounces with its stow-bag. 8 anodized aluminum stakes plus stow-bag weighs 4.5 oz. And the net tent its stow-bag weigh 11.9 oz. For a total of 2 lbs, 2 oz. for a shelter for 2 1/2, half the weight of the 2 man REI Quarter Dome with stakes. Like I said, no ground sheet needed because the net tent has a sil-nylon floor which hasn't shown much sign of wear.
We haven't had too much rain yet, but after sewing and seam sealing my tarp I set it up in the backyard and rigged up a sprinkler to test it and I have no doubts I'd stay dry and comfortable in any weather short of a blizzard.
Of course tarps are three-season use only and in winter you'd want a single wall tent but why suffer the other three seasons because you can't afford two tents when your second tent can be an inexpensive tarp.
You can read about Ray Jardine's 2009 through-hike of the Appalachian Trail where he evaluates the performance of his own tarp and net tent here: http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures/2009-AT/index.htm
Before Ray designed his net tent he used the same tarp but to protect against swarms of mosquitoes he wore a set of uncoated nylon wind-shirt and wind-pants to bed along with homemade nylon mittens and of course a head net. The wind-pants and wind-shirt are dual use of course, keeping you warmer in the wind and drier in light rain while repelling mosquitoes.
Everyone in my family has a set of wind-pants, windbreaker and mosquito head net because you can't stay in the net tent forever, and I've gone without it, sleeping with mosquitoes buzzing around my head net in the evening, and would anyway to save weight, but my family likes the comfort of the net tent.
Of course if you don't want to sew your own sil-nylon tarp with "beaks" and other features you can buy plain square tarps of various materials and weights from coated nylon to sil-nylon. I used the $60 Campmor Sil-Nylon Tarp before Ray started making his kits but it's not the best, which is sewing your own.
Here's another article on the subject: http://www.the-ultralight-site.com/backpacking-tarps.html
If you're planning to camp above treeline it's a simple matter to pick up a couple of sticks along the way and keep or discard them as needed. Better than carrying poles ALL the time.
They also make tarp poles for the uninitiated.
Anyone who's sewn their own tent, sleeping quilts and backpacks for themselves and their family and used them successfully while backpacking solo and with a child from age four to six, all over the Sierra in all kinds of weather , please stand up, otherwise you don't have a leg to stand on nor any right to tell me what I've said isn't true and what I've written doesn't work. If you don't know how to pitch your tarp in the wind or don't have the wherewithal to move your camp to somewhere more sheltered if the weather becomes unbearable you don't belong in the wilderness.
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