This weekend, we are going camping. It's been over 20 years since I cooked over a campfire. The two nights include two dinners, two breakfasts, and one made ahead lunch. The lunch Saturday is an easy one and as it will need to be packed on horseback, no assistance is requested.

The request is to find out what recipes will make this outing unique. A Coleman stove is available, but I want to use the campfire grate I purchased long ago and have never used. In addition, I have cast iron cookware. Packing/space/refrigeration is not a problem.

If you were going to cook over an open fire, what would you prepare?

I imagine you could cook just about anything over a fire that you would cook regularly, you just have to keep an eye on it.
Bacon and pancakes for breakfast; chicken pieces or steaks, corn on the cob wrapped in its own husk, veggies like zucchini or potatoes wrapped in foil for dinner; cinnamon fried dough for dessert.

I envy you the weather you must be having to permit a camping trip. Although we are having a bit of a heat wave here, I must admit. It's 15° at the moment.

A great way to make baked potatoes on the campfire - slice a potato shortways in thin strips taking care to not cut all the way through so the potatoe keeps it's form, put some butter over the open slices, put a very thin slice of onion between each strip, for extra flavor if you happen to have bacon crumbles add them in between, then wrap the potato in aluminum foil and put them right into the fire (maybe not in the hottest part but not off to the side either). It can take up to an hour to cook... sometimes less, sometimes more depending on heat of the fire.

Making eggs over the fire in a cast iron skillet is a sure crowd pleaser. We usually just throw in a bunch of onions, eggs, peppers together and add cheese after it's cooked awhile... easy and tastes great.

Pancakes are good too and easy on a Coleman.

You can make just about anything delicious with a bit of aluminum foil and the camp fire. fresh fish with lemon and salt... a nice chicken stir fry mix chopped and put into an aluminum pack... zucchini in foil with other sliced veggies... steak sliced in strips mixed with veggies... all good.

Just make sure you chop before you go because it's a pain in the neck to prep food out on a picnic table. Much easier to cut things into small pieces at home.

Hamburgers can be done but it takes a bit of practice. If you have grille to go over the fire then it will likely be easier to cook them that way because you can see them and check the temperature.

Foil is great to cook with, because it can be folded or crumpled so small and is practically weightless - important because your trash has to come back with you

Have a fun weekend!

Thanks for the replies. The trip was postponed because the long term weather forecast predicted snow and ice for the VA mountains this past weekend. As it turned out, the weather would have been suitable. We are going so keep the suggestions coming.

It had been suggested that we crack the eggs and add omelet ingredients, in a ziploc bag. All this is done prior to leaving so the prep is done at home. The bag is then boiled in water until the omelet is done. Anyone ever tried this?

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If you plan to take a pot in which to boil water, why not just take a pan and make an omelet as usual?
Your best bet is to take food you like and see what happens when you cook it. Your future camp trips will benefit from these experiences. Keep plenty of snack items on hand in case you neglect your meal and accidentally charbroil it.

Use a skillet to cook the eggs either over the fire on a grate or on the Coleman. I prefer to put eggs into a tuperware container because I don't trust bags. If you tuperware it and then bag around it, you can put the eggs right into the ice of your cooler and insure that they stay cold enough... although that isn't such an issue at this time of year.

Be sure to bring a tub of margarine because when you cook the eggs, you will want to oil up the pan very well so clean up is easier. Or bring Pam cooking spray. Heat the pan first and then grease it up for the eggs.

I am assuming that you are car camping so I'm not giving you backpacking type tips. If space is an issue then there are more things to do, but it seems you are going to have a cooler so it should be a great eating trip.

If the family likes cheese - you can do a baked brie in the fire - take out the center a bit and put some raspberry jam in, wrap with aluminum foil and put into the fire or on the grate above the fire. Use the whole wheel of brie so that the casing is intact... it makes a great appetizer for a group. Bring a loaf of bread and warm it on the fire right before the brie is ready. Yum...

Same can be done with garlic for the bread if you like roasted garlic.

UP of Michigan has many choice camping spots and with all your bright ideas I know it would be fun to have you good look-in young ladies share the experience. When I say good look-in I am looking on the heart. Have a nice day.