5/1/03

The Boys' plan to hike 5-days (30-miles) in Rocky Mt. Natl. Park offered Chef DeBoot Blister the perfect opportunity to leap into planning-action. Although DeBoot initially expected to cook defensively to avoid a grizzly encounter at Glacier (perhaps next year)... he continued a commitment to develop recipes with shorter cooking times in the field. Consequently, DeBoot developed a fourfold criteria for cooking in Colorado's high peaks. Meals would:

(1) serve 7;
(2) be less bulky to fit into food canisters;
(3) be one-pot meals to reduce preparation and cooking times in the field; and,
(4) be cooked with meats hydrated separately because meat will hydrate twice as fast in hot water (that's about 20 minutes versus 40 minutes for chicken).

To say the Boys were relieved when DeBoot volunteered to be the trip's head chef would be an understatement. They relished the sumptuous dehydrated meals he had prepared in the Tetons (8/02)... tortellini in a mushroom and chicken alfredo sauce accompanied by pan fried Italian herb bread... vegetable fritatta with strawberry cobbler for desert...

The Boys appreciated the 100+ hours DeBoot would spend preparing meals at home for their upcoming trip. As long as DeBoot would cook for them, they would gladly be his cooking assistants and cleanup crew. As usual, the Chef would employ his Six Essential Phases of Food Preparation for Backcountry Fine Dining:

(1) Research new recipes with varying tastes and textures;
(2) Experiment with each recipe at home (cooking, dehydrating and then hydrating);
(3) Modify or throw out meals that wouldn't work;
(4) Test potential dehydrated recipes on his children;
(5) Make a fresh batch of the dehydrated dinner for the trip; and,
(6) Vacuum seal and freeze (until the trip) only the keepers!

As one can see... DeBoot would follow a rigorous and laborious method for minimizing backcountry fare disasters. There would be nothing worse then hiking 10 miles and "coming home" to a sour tasting dinner. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a disaster-proof meal. So, in March... DeBoot began to research, plan and dehydrate for their trip in August... can you say, "There's a bear in my food canister?"

...The madness had begun!