Step by step homemade baking recipes
Today my guest host Paityn joins me on a Backpack Baking adventure! We are hiking to a local lookout in the Canadian Rocky Mountains where we use the Bemco Backpacking oven to make three different Oreo Mug Cakes. You can make these mug cakes in the microwave, or in a regular oven at home.
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Making this pumpkin coffee cake at the end of our walk in the Cranbrook Community Forest was an awesome treat! My favourite thing about our Backpack Baking videos are the warm treats at the end of a usually hard activity. I know I’m supposed to say that my favourite part is “connecting with nature“, or “getting exercise”, but let’s be real, it’s the reward at the end.
This walk in our local recreation site is not very difficult and it’s one that we do every couple of weeks. It’s perfect for those days where you want to get out and get some fresh air, but don’t have a lot of time to devote to hiking. The view of the valley at the end is beautiful, as you can see in the video. Even though it’s not a hard hike, it was definitely a nice change to have a treat at the end and take some time to enjoy the view, as usually we’re rushing up, and then back down!
Even Ruby liked it..the walk/hike and the cake.
We are so fortunate to be able to live in one of the world’s most beautiful areas…the Rocky Mountains. They are within minutes of our door step and we have an amazing amount of hiking, and camping close by. Every year, I request that we make our yearly treck into a place called Fish Lake, which is located in the Top of the World Provincial park. It is about an hour drive from our home on the highway, and approximately another 45-60 minutes on a bush road. We have headed into Fish Lake during all seasons, but my favourite is always summertime. The lake at the top is stunningly clear and the hike in is warm and casual. It’s just over 6 kilometers in, and has a relatively small elevation gain . . . which of course is lovely when you’re carrying a 50 lb pack on your back!
Being that this is my absolute favourite place to backpack into, camp and enjoy the cell-phone free zone, the only thing I could imagine making it better is warm, fresh cake! I’ve always wanted to make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and I finally had the chance to do so in this trip. I thought it was perfect treat to be able to bake in the backpack oven. The colours from the pineapple and the cherries stood out beautifully against the stunning scenery.
Our friend Kelli joined us on this trip. She’s an avid hiker and camper, so we knew she’d be a great one to have along to enjoy the hike and scenery. Unfortunately once we got to camp, she had some problems with her allergies, so we didn’t get to see much of her. Or maybe she was just sick of us and was so happy to be rid of us! Just kidding Kelli! We knew she was in rough shape for a bit, but she powered through and was ready to bake by morning!
Paul’s been experimenting with some more of the camera work on our recent trips and videos, and I think he’s doing such an amazing job. In this one, he’s using the GoPro Black for the hiking scenes, and the time lapses. He still was using the DSLR for the baking footage. I love that he is so talented . . . definitely works in my favour 🙂
Reliving our Spring Break trip in Banff, our first hike was to Johnston Canyon (where we had our encounter with a yuppie pig) and our second was to Grotto Canyon. How could we NOT want to hike somewhere called the “Grotto”? It was a beautiful sunny early spring day. You know, one of those ones where the chill is still in the air, but the sun is finally warm on your skin?? It’s the best kind of weather!!
To get to Grotto canyon, we had to drive about a 15 minute drive from our condo in Banff. If you’re familiar with the area, it is closest to the town of Canmore.
The canyon is actually a creek bed, and during the winter months, the hike is actually on the frozen over Grotto Creek! We had to have our ice clamps on our hiking boots, so make sure you have something for grip if you’re doing this hike in the winter.
During Spring Break in March, Paul and I were able to take some much needed time off. We decided that the short drive to Banff was going to be our destination. We are super lucky to be so close to a world destination.
Going to Banff during Spring Break is a risky choice. The weather might be awesome- or you might be in a blizzard, wishing you packed your parka. The town might be packed shoulder to shoulder with tourists- or you could be rubbing elbows with the locals.
We were able to get a good deal on a condo close to town and thank goodness it was only the two of us, as I don’t think there would have been room for even Ruby to join us! It was super tiny and dated. But, we decided to make the best of it (since we didn’t plan on being in the room much anyway) and we got out on a couple of great hikes.
One of the hikes that we chose to start out on was the famous Johnston Canyon. Now, this is basically a walk along a canyon but it is very beautiful and worth it. Paul is a TRUE hiker . . . he wants to be out in the woods, stomping through the forest, establishing his own path, so this was definitely not his idea of a good time!! But, he sucked it up and we were able to get a good video out of it!
If you’ve been keeping up with us for the last little while, you know that we have jumped into the exciting world of Backpack Baking!! It is the absolutely BEST! I do have to tell you that it is the true fat girl experience (I’m talking about me, so don’t send me hate mail). . . a food award after working hard hiking up a mountain . . . I can’t think of anything MORE rewarding! A million dollars? Nah, doesn’t get you far these days? A trophy? To gather dust? No thanks. A GIANT Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie?? YES, PLEASE!!
In this video we show you how to bake a giant chocolate chip cookie in the outdoors, although this recipe can be baked in any oven if you feel like staying in the comforts of your home.
As much as I complained about winter and the cold in my last post, and I do have some moments when I’m not cursing and hating winter. These moments are few . . . and far between . . . but they have happened! This video is proof for all of you nay-sayers (aka my close friends who love my complaining ways).
In this cardio video P and I made our way from Cranbrook (BC, Canada), to Kimberley (BC Canada) about a 20 minute drive, to the south end of the Kimberley Nature Park. For those who know the area, we were actually closer to Marysville than we were to Kimberley. About five minutes along St Mary’s lake road, there is a small pull out and it was from here where we started our snowshoe, destined for Sunflower Hill.
At first we doubted whether or not we even wanted to bring the snowshoes along, as it looked like the path had been well travelled, but thankfully we did, because as soon as we were off the main branch of the trail, we needed them for the climbing! The hike is not particularly difficult . . . there is only one part that is a longish hill climb, the rest of the trail is a steady low grade climb. Once we got to the top of the hill, the views out into the St Mary’s Lake valley, and the Purcell mountains were amazing! We were up later in the day, (as we had a dinner date with my parents at the ski hill and didn’t want to have to drive back and forth to Kimberley for it) and while we were at the top, we were treated to the start of a sunset. It was beautiful!
If you ever get close to this area, visiting Sunflower Hill is a must! I can’t wait to check it out in the spring, and fall! I’m looking forward to seeing all of the flowers that I’m told carpet the hills.
