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Learn to COOK - Lipsmackin' Backpackin': Lightweight Trail-tested Recipes for Backcountry Trips
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List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $10.85
Your Save: $ 5.10 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Three Forks
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.578
EAN: 9781560448815
ISBN: 1560448814
Label: Three Forks
Manufacturer: Three Forks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 248
Publication Date: 2000-02-01
Publisher: Three Forks
Studio: Three Forks
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Editorial Reviews:
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Tasty backcountry cookbook filled with trail-tested recipes providing nutritional information, food preparation and meal-planning tips from experienced long-distance hikers.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good book!
Comment: I ordered this book for my Dad only to find he already owned it. When I received it I refused the order and Amazon still charged me shipping, even after I called within hours of my order to cancel and they could not help me. BUt I would recommend this book if you are looking for some good trail food?
Casey
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Eats Oh Yeah
Comment: I purchased this book along with a few others and am pleased with the quality of grub. I am aKayak camper for the most part but these recipes work for all aspects of the camping arena. YUMM YUMM. This is a must for anyone who enjoys the outdoors but still like a tasty meal GET IT
Customer Rating:
Summary: Superb collection of serious backpacking recipes.
Comment: `Lipsmackin' Backpackin, Lightweight Trail-Tested Recipes for Backcountry Trips' by Tim and Christine Conners is but the second book I've seen on the subject since I started reviewing cookbooks. The first is almost 35 years old, being `Backpacker's Cookbook' by Margaret Cross and Jean Fiske.
On first blush, the newer book seems better in almost every way, in that it includes the total weight of every recipe, all recipes specify the number of servings, and almost all are for one or two servings, just right for the average camping experience. The Conners' book also includes a nutritional analysis by serving for each recipe. Best of all, for those true disciples of Colin Fletcher's `The Complete Walker', the book includes miniature summaries of each recipe on their own little slip of paper, each weighing no more than the borders of the maps you cut off, per Master Fletcher, to reduce your packing weight.
The book is also very advanced, and allied to some extent with the `raw' food movement, in that it makes extensive use of a food dehydrator as a means of reducing the packable weight of each recipe. My favorite aspect of this book is that it also includes several recipes for bread, including two based on the truly amazing technique of wrapping the dough around a stick and suspending the dough over the campfire by jamming the stick into the ground at the side of the fire. This technique is at least as old as the Boy Scout Handbook of 50 years ago, and I was never brave enough to try it then, but I'm happy to see it's still around.
But, the venerable old `Backpacker's Cookbook' is not ready to be put out to pasture yet. The two books really represent two different models of camping. The older book seems to be written primarily for the weekend hiker or someone who at most may go for a four to five day hike. There is less emphasis on weight and advance preparation and packing. Virtually everything is straight off the supermarket shelves, with a little repackaging of premeasured ingredients. And, there is no systematic division of advance preparation steps with `on the trail' work. The Conners' book is clearly written for those who are intent on multi-week treks on the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, or any other major hiking venue.
Another big difference is that while I believe Cross and Fiske have food writing or food business vocations, the Conners are amateurs in the world of food writing. And, virtually all their recipes are collected from contributions by friends, colleagues, and correspondents.
The last difference of note is that the Conners' book gives no attention whatsoever to backpacking cooking equipment, while Cross and Fiske treat the subject in detail, and give extensive references to other books on the subject, although except for Fletcher's classic, I would not guarantee that many are still in print, but you may be surprised.
So, while the Conners have done an excellent job, they left some things undone, for which I offer Cross and Fiske as an excellent supplement.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inspiring!
Comment: I can't wait to go backpacking so I can try out some of the tasty sounding recipes! Very easy to read and packed with great backpacking tips!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't buy for dinner recipes unless you have a dehydrator
Comment: I agree with the person who wrote that you need a dehydrator for this book's recipes. The author commented (rather self-defensively) that a full 2/3 of the recipes do not require one, but that's not true for the dinners.
I'll be honest and say that dinners are why I bought this - snacks and breakfast aren't that hard to make, but dinners, especially for a group, can be challenging. I did a quick count, and 40 of the 59 dinners require a dehydrator. Of the ones that don't, the authors include recipes with ramen, spam, and macaroni and cheese, none of which I need a cookbook for and two of which I bought the book to get away from.
And then there's the "Trail-grown sprouts" dinner which suggests growing sprouts for three days in netting, presumably in your pack, and then eating. This is hardly a full meal. There are also a few dinner recipes with the main ingredient being plants or fish caught while in the backcountry, such as "Sandy's Weed Salad" with "Collect greens along the way in a plastic sack and wash them in streams" and then toss with dressing as the directions. Most experienced hikers know to not plan on a meal being caught or harvested in the wild.
The book is also padded with information about National and Historic Scenic Trails in the United States, which is ok information I guess, but a) is of very little use to most people unless they plan on traveling the entire country, and b) odd to have in a cook book.
I will probably sell this book and look for another that doesn't have so many major meals (e.g. dinners) that require a dehydrator.
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