Starling Travel

July 13, 2015

Yoga Mat Foam Gasket To Keep Your Cooler Cool

Filed under: Camping,Food — Laura Moncur @ 12:10 pm

Camp Cabela’s – Cooler Tricks has a great idea to keep your cooler cool.

Yoga Mat Gasket To Keep Your Cooler Colder from Starling Travel

To prevent cool air from escaping seal the top of the cooler with a DIY cooler gasket. Cut a sheet of thin closed-cell foam the exact dimension of the cooler interior. You can find such foam at most sporting goods stores. Or recycle an old foam sleeping pad. Just place this cooler gasket on top of the loaded ice chest. No foam? No problem. Several layers of newspaper will work wonders.

I’ve never tried this, but these southern Utah summers just kill ice in a cooler. Heck, a fourth of the bag melts on the drive from the convenience store back to camp. I’m about willing to try anything to keep my cooler cold.

March 17, 2015

Ramblin’ Rose Cafe

Filed under: Food,Places To Visit,Teardrops & Tiny Trailers,Utah — Laura Moncur @ 7:44 am

I went to the Salt Lake Farmer’s Market in July 2012 and saw this AWESOME camper turned food truck. It’s called Ramblin’ Rose Cafe.

Ramblin Rose Cafe SLC Farmer's Market July 2012 from Starling Travel

Their camper is adorable and they were so friendly.

Ramblin Rose Cafe SLC Farmer's Market July 2012 from Starling Travel

The next time you are cruising around Salt Lake City, check out the Farmer’s Market. You might just find the Ramblin’ Rose Cafe.

February 22, 2015

Retro Tailgate Galley

Filed under: Food — Laura Moncur @ 8:00 am

I love this photo I saw on Facebook the other day:

Retro Tailgate Galley from Starling Travel

When I was little, my dad had a Wagoneer that he said he was going to make into a camping vehicle. He never did that, but this is how I imagined it would look. I have been obsessed with teardrop campers for a long time and any car with a galley set up on the back like a teardrop just makes me swoon. Every car I have looked at, I’ve imagined what I could do to build a galley in the hatchback so we could camp easily.

The tent trailer should have cured that disease for me, but it didn’t and I know why. We can’t make meals when we are traveling. I have a fantasy that looks very much like this picture. It’s lunch time and we are halfway through our day’s drive. We stop at a day use area, use the restroom and eat the bountiful lunch that is just sitting in the back of the car waiting for us. No fast food. Just half a watermelon under Mike’s arm and half-pound burgers on the grill.

I can’t do that with the tent trailer because we’d have to pop it up to access the food in the cooler. I STILL obsess about a galley off the back of my car because in bear country, we keep the food in the car anyway. Ain’t no trailer that can keep a bear out, so we don’t store any food in the camper when we go to Yellowstone.

As good as our little Jayco is, it will never be able to be as inviting as this retro tailgate galley.

November 6, 2014

Camp Kitchen from heztherock on YouTube

Filed under: Camping,Food — Laura Moncur @ 8:00 am

This is a pretty good chuck box made by heztherock on YouTube.

Camp Kitchen from heztherock on YouTube at Starling Travel

He seems to have everything that you need.

Camp Kitchen from heztherock on YouTube at Starling Travel

It’s a pretty small box when it’s all folded up.

Camp Kitchen from heztherock on YouTube at Starling Travel

I like how the shelves pull out like drawers.

This is a good video showing the camp kitchen setup.

Here it is full deployed on a campout.

November 5, 2014

Camp Kitchen from PNY Prepper on YouTube

Filed under: Camping,Food — Laura Moncur @ 1:00 pm

I am impressed with the ingenuity of this camp kitchen from PNY Prepper on YouTube.

Camp Kitchen from PNY Prepper on YouTube at Starling Travel

He started with a Hitch Cargo Carrier and built his camp kitchen to fit within it.

Camp Kitchen from PNY Prepper on YouTube at Starling Travel

It looks great all set up!

Camp Kitchen from PNY Prepper on YouTube at Starling Travel

I love how he shows the design details, like this pvc pipe that provides support for the lid/counter.

This video is a little long, but it’s a really interesting version of a camp kitchen.

October 10, 2014

How To Make Coffee With A Percolator

Filed under: Camping,Food — Laura Moncur @ 12:47 pm

We always stay at a campsite with electricity, but I keep hope alive that someday we will boondock, so when we do, I want to be able to have a good day and a day isn’t good unless I’ve had my coffee.

So, I found this percolator at the local thrift shop:

How To Make Coffee With A Percolator from Starling Travel

If you aren’t lucky enough to find one at a thrift shop, you can find one here at Amazon: Farberware Classic Stainless Steel Yosemite 8-Cup Coffee Percolator

Farberware Classic Stainless Steel Yosemite 8-Cup Coffee Percolator at Amazon.com

I remember my grandmother making coffee every morning with one of these, but I had no idea how to use one. This video helped me greatly.

I never remembered my grandma having filters, so I tried it without them. It wasn’t a good idea. I had a lot of grounds escape into the pot.

Use A Filter When You Make Coffee With A Percolator from Starling Travel

And into my cup.

Use A Filter When You Make Coffee With A Percolator from Starling Travel

After buying some filters (they were at my local grocery store), I felt like an idiot because they were so cheap. I tried again, and I didn’t have any grounds in my coffee that time.

Other than the lack of filters incident, the percolator worked out really well. The video recommends percolating for fifteen minutes. That time depends on how far up the mountain you are. Where I live, ten minutes was great. I’m sure you need less time if you’re near sea level and more time if you’re up high in the mountains. Be forewarned that it might take a couple of tries to get the perfect cup.

Additionally, there are a few other options if you are boon docking. Here is a propane coffee maker from Coleman: Coleman Portable Propane Coffeemaker with Stainless Steel Carafe at Amazon.com

Coleman Portable Propane Coffeemaker with Stainless Steel Carafe at Amazon.com

This guy thought it was pretty good:

It costs 84 bucks, which is WAY more than the four dollar thrift store find, but more importantly, it takes up so much space! That little percolator can double as a simple pot to boil water in, so it takes ZERO space in my trailer because it replaces my old one. If I do have electricity, I can just use a hot plate and the percolator instead of packing a automatic drip coffeemaker. The only benefit to that propane coffeemaker is that it is quick. You don’t have to wait fifteen minutes for the coffee to brew.

There is also this option that works on 12 volt power: Roadpro RPSC-784 12-Volt Quick Cup Coffee Maker with 16 oz. Metal Carafe at Amazon.com

Roadpro RPSC-784 12-Volt Quick Cup Coffee Maker with 16 oz. Metal Carafe at Amazon.com

This one works by plugging into your car or RV 12v system. The only problem with it is that it’s just as slow as the percolator. This guy tested with his solar system. It doesn’t draw much power, which is good, but it takes fifteen minutes to brew a pot.

Additionally, it only does a couple cups of coffee. With a good percolator, you can make 10 cups in the same amount of time. So, I decided on the percolator: small, easy to store, and inexpensive.

Now, I just need to convince Mike that we can do boondock camping…

February 8, 2013

Bloondesign Springtime: A Picnic Basket and Picnic Table All In One

Filed under: Camping,Food — Laura Moncur @ 10:00 am

Even though I now have a kitchen in my tent trailer, I am still obsessed with camp kitchens and chuck boxes. I believe Springtime designed by Bloondesign is an ingenious idea. It’s a picnic basket, a picnic table and stores your food and utensils.

Springtime Picnic Basket Three Steps

It’s a clever design, as you can see from the original sketches. (Continue Reading…)

January 10, 2013

Camping Fondue

Filed under: Camping,Food,Motorhomes and Campers,Teardrops & Tiny Trailers — Laura Moncur @ 12:03 pm

Yesterday, I was reading this entry from Retrospace about motorhomes in the Seventies.

When I saw this photograph from an old brochure, I was intrigued by its familiarity.

Camping Fondue

That wasn’t the first time I had seen someone enjoying fondue in a camper. Then, I thought that maybe I had just seen it before on Retrospace’s other entry.

Camping Fondue

But even that entry seemed like a cliche to me. It wasn’t until I went searching that I found exactly HOW much a cliche eating fondue while camping was. (Continue Reading…)

August 21, 2012

Rocket Science Ice Cream

Filed under: Food — Laura Moncur @ 8:06 am

The folks at RV Geeks visited Rocket Science Ice Cream shop in Nappanee, Indiana. They create your ice cream for you, letting you choose whatever flavors you want. It starts out in a liquid form and then, using liquid nitrogen, they freeze it up for you right in front of your eyes.

Rocket Science Ice Cream from Starling Travel

Here is a video showing the process from RV Geeks:

The next time you find yourself in Indiana, make a detour to Nappanee so you can experience ice cream a whole new way!

Google Maps: Rocket Science Ice Cream shop in Nappanee, Indiana

July 23, 2012

Camp Burritos For An Easy Campfire Breakfast

Filed under: Camping,Food — Laura Moncur @ 8:00 am

I found this great recipe for Campurritos here:

Camp Burritos Easy Campfire Cooking from Starling Travel

I can’t eat flour tortillas, so I’m wondering how they would turn out if I just put the mixture into a foil wrapper and ate it out of the foil. Click through for ingredients and instructions: (Continue Reading…)

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