The kitchen.

Cumberland kitchen is not a one person in charge kind of place.  From the first day we walked in we were in the kitchen making magic.  At first I was intimidated because I hadn't really had much experience with this whole cooking on an open fire in the middle of the woods thing.  By the end of the week people were asking me all sorts of crazy questions like I knew what I was doing.  I suppose it is part of who I am associated with, as Mark is the kitchen rock star.  It was kind of funny.  Anyway, I made some dank food while I was out there.  In addition to the dishes I made, I assisted on many things as well.

I made carrots with brown sugar, honey, orange peel and rosemary, potatoes with onion and garlic, sweet  yams with pineapple, cinnamon and fresh herbs, battered broccoli bites, sweet potato and leek soup, and hush puppies with onion and chili powder.  And, if you did not realize, I made these things having never made them before, not knowing how they would turn out, not really measuring anything, and having totally random ingredients.  It was great though.  Nearly every dish made it around dinner circle at least once, if not twice.  I suppose after these dishes people thought I knew what I was doing.

For those curious, we boil water for dishes, tap a spring for fresh water, and collect donations for bulk food purchase.  I went on a supply run one day with Mark.  It was interesting to see what we could get with the small amount we had.  We were in an area that didn't have a great deal of resources, but we made it work.  Hopefully we will be heading to the site near Johnson City for Nationals because there are a great number of resources he has found in that area.

When I went on the supply run, we went to West Liberty, KY.  The town recently destroyed by a tornado.  I have pictures of the town and will post them as soon as I get my pictures off my phone.

... it's laundry time.

Until the next installment, Lovin You!

To dread or not to dread, that is the question...

Just coming out of my first full week in the woods and my hair was what some say is beautiful and some say a matted mess.  After a lovely shower I had quite a difficult time getting the brush to get through the tangles and I thought, hey... just wash it and leave it alone, it will dread, but then I thought about what I would look like if my head were shaved and I thought again and managed to get the brush through the mess.  We'll see what happens next time I go into the woods.

Cumberland was great.  

Mark, Zooey and our rider picked me up from work Friday afternoon and we set off on our adventure.  We had planned on stopping for the night in Marietta but changed our minds and drove straight through.  The site we were headed to was between Morehead and West Liberty, Kentucky.  I realized that I haven't really spent any time in Kentucky other than driving through.  It was actually really pretty.  We arrived on site and it was blazing hot.  In retrospect, I  now know that I need to seriously hydrate before heading into a gathering.  The hike in with the gear in the sun, after being in the car so long gave me a massive headache. Duh... should have remembered this from Ocala.  

Mark found a sweet spot to set up the house for the week, and I started to get to know the goings on of the kitchen.  It seemed to be a pretty independent kitchen and people could just come in and cook something.  There were three other small kitchens out there that I saw anyway.  Pretty much as soon as we got there, we were in the kitchen.  I made some crazy awesome food though.  And this is where I will leave you until the next time I have a free minute.  Off to find dinner for tonight.