We had our first official party at our #FulltimeRV campsite recently, 'official' because we have hosted many impromptu parties and had tons of kid sleepovers when we were RV'ing recreationally. The kids have had birthday camping trips with a friend; we have had our favorite niece and nephew stay at the beach with us; we have met friends and family at different campgrounds and camped together; and we have enjoyed many meals with friends and family in and around our camper du jour. But this was our first party since going full-time and the guest list was mostly non-campers.
When we arrived at Unicoi State Park for our first #workamping adventure, we soon met the other #camphost living here. His name is Jason and he and his wife and daughter had been working here for quite some time. Unfortunately, their family was moving on and Jason was still here wrapping things up for a couple of months. He started stopping by our campsite in the afternoons and made fast friends with Zeke.
Zeke is our #longhairedgermanshepherd and, while he looks cuddly and fluffy, he is not all that interested in people other than his family. The only exception is anyone willing to play ball. This is a very high honor and a huge commitment because Zeke takes ball playing very seriously. Jason became Zeke's new best friend almost instantly and they played ball every time Jason came over. Eventually this turned into an invite for a beer and then an invite to join us for dinner. Next thing we knew, Jason conveniently showed up just as dinner was being served and we were happy to share.
As the time approached for Jason to join his family we decided that a party was in order. We invited everyone that Jason knew here and a few extra people that we enjoy working with and then hoped for good weather. With 20 plus people invited this was definitely going to be a campfire party. The weather ended up being perfect and everyone loved the veggie fajitas, homemade black beans, cilantro-lime rice and grilled chicken. It was ten o'clock before the last people left and most of the moonshine that appeared was gone. Yep, moonshine. I will save that story for another day but suffice it to say that it isn't a party in the Georgia Mountains without #moonshine.
Our second party ended up being the very next week on Thanksgiving day. Friends from Florida that we have known for years through the kids' swim teams came to Helen for Thanksgiving and we hosted them for Friendsgiving dinner. I was a lot more nervous about this one because making an entire (gluten-free) Thanksgiving for eight people is a big job any day but doing it in an RV is a new level of commitment. The biggest hurdle was the turkey. I searched for a special roaster that I could do the turkey in and even contemplated cooking it at the Unicoi Lodge kitchen, ordering one pre-cooked or just making a turkey breast; but alas, I found a recipe for a crockpot turkey and I love a new challenge.
I started with a compound butter (sage, thyme and garlic) that I rubbed all over the turkey and under the skin. I put some onion inside and underneath with some carrots and seasoned it all liberally with kosher salt. I placed the turkey in the crockpot upside down so that the juices could run down into the breast meat and then turned it to high. I think I could have turned it down at the halfway point when we flipped over the turkey but nothing could have made that turkey any better. Eight hours later it was the most delicious, juicy, fall-off-the-bone turkey any of us had ever tasted.
In addition to the turkey I made sauteed green beans with mushrooms (my gf version of green bean casserole,) sauteed squash with onions, giblet gravy, gf corn bread from scratch and twiced baked potatoes. Ivy made a gf pineapple upside down cake for dessert and it was delicious. We had leftovers a couple of days later and there was not a single thing left from our first #Thanksgiving dinner in our #Fulltimerv.
It definitely takes a little more time and planning to cook for a family of four every day or host a party in our RV, but it has been wonderful to discover that we can continue to eat healthy in this new lifestyle. I was also worried that baking would be impossible with our tiny RV gas oven. Ivy and LP have really bonded over the last few years over their love of baking. Our switch to gluten free baking also became a fun challenge for both of them to make our favorites taste just as good as before. I am happy to report that the baking continues and their is no risk that we will lose any weight.
Here are a few of the other culinary creations we have managed in our RV kitchen and in the outside camp kitchen. Who knew that our #culinarytravels experiences could be so amazing while we stay home and cook together in our RV?!
P.S. Message me if you would like any of these recipes or if you want to know my secret to easy #GFBaking.
Comments