Your Next Camping Trip Needs a Sausage Board
Camping is supposed to be “unplugged” and “appreciate the simple things,” but I’ve always found it rather difficult. Sleeping and eating outside is actually a lot more difficult than sleeping and eating inside, and this first night in the desert can seem a little overwhelming, especially if you’re hungry.
Using a camping stove is probably not that hard (I’ve never tried it!), But setting up even the smallest kitchen after a long day of travel to a remote destination isn’t the most relaxing way to start your trip. Enter the snack board – a meal veteran backpacker Victoria (who also offered cheese as a camping snack ) relishes on that first hectic evening:
The snack board on the first night is just simpler, so you don’t have to boil your water to have a more filling meal … camp bars get pretty boring and that’s a way to eat less of them. Usually the first night of a hike comes after a long trip when you try to remember where you store everything in your backpack, figure out what gear you forgot, set up your tent, etc. It’s just nice to have something ready so it’s one less chore … And I honestly don’t know where I first heard about this idea. [My sister] Elizabeth and I grew up packing our bags and exploring the woods with our neighbors’ friends. My favorite packaging snack was a plastic bag of pretzels and cheese. I honestly think they just taste better in the forest.
Despite its quirky name and reputation for bougie , the meat board is nothing more than meat and cheese (and possibly olives and pickles) on a board or plate. You can pay a lot of money for meat if you want, but there is no price per pound requirement for their stack of sliced meat to be considered the “right” snack board.
The hardest part of cooking is choosing meats, cheeses, pickles and your preferred delivery system (I love Trader Joe’s Fig & Olive Crisps ). Once you have made your choice, all you have to do is cut the cheeses into small pieces and arrange everything so that they are visually pleasing. Dinner is served.
For camping snacks, pre-cutting and portioning will make the evening a lot easier. If you really want to immerse yourself in the process, you can even pack cooked cheese in a segmented kids lunch box , and pickles and olives in small sandwich bags. Place the meat, cheese, and every other utensil on the top of the refrigerator, drive to your campsite, then lay it all out on a pretty platter or cutting board and enjoy watching the trees and listening to the birds. (Whether you do this before or after completely unpacking the vehicle is up to you.)