Location, Location, Location

My family was of the camping ilk when I was a child. Not the tent kind of camping but the camper with fish decals kind of camping. My father built our first camper himself. Now if this conjures up visions of an out-house-shingled looking affair with a chimney perched atop an old ford pick up truck then let me set the record straight. My dad was quite the craftsman. I was never embarrassed to step into or out of that camper.

One of our early campers (pre-motor home camping) sported an 8-track tape player and speakers that dad would bring out and mount on the outside of the camper once we’d settled. We would listen to Johnny Cash, Buck Owens and Charlie Pride while we sat around the campfire. Camping, was our family’s all-inclusive resort vacationing.

As an adult I am no longer a camper girl. Hanging from the rear-view mirror in my car is a picture of a platinum blond in front of a high-rise hotel in a 50s era cartoon with the statement “I love not camping”. It’s true now, I love not camping. As a child I didn’t really have a choice and I didn’t know anything else. Besides, camping was the only time we got to eat junk food and drink soda. Also, camping was the only time my dad made his beer pancakes.

I like pancakes about as much as I like camping now. But when I was a little girl and I sat at that little table in our hand-made camper, smelling the mixture of propane and perking coffee while my eyes tried to adjust to the morning, I was happy. I knew that my dad was going to make breakfast. Dad only made breakfast when we were camping. There was something so exciting about the novelty of watching my dad tackle a task that was completely foreign to anything he would have done at home. It was as though I had a different dad when we went camping. I had a breakfast-making dad. It was like magic. Dad’s culinary repertoire was short and sweet. He made beer pancakes. That’s it. After breakfast my culinary father disappeared and my mom was back in charge of all things food.

Dad’s beer pancakes were, in fact, legendary. Part of what made them so special wasn’t just that they were my chef-dad’s only specialty but it was the location. I think that even a bologna sandwich tasted somehow perfect surrounded by the canvas of nature. I am pretty sure my dad used a box of pancake mix and modified the “recipe” on the back of the box by using beer instead of water. So, I’m not offering up a recipe for dad’s famous beer pancakes here. I’ve given enough of the secret away already.

Today my version of camping is sailing. I have a friend who owns a beautiful 42’ sailboat that he moors in Elliot Bay near downtown Seattle. We often sail in the evening and before returning to the marina we throw something on the grill and call it dinner. There is no snobbery involved here. It seems no matter how simple the fare it serves up fit for royalty when we are out on the water.

Recently we grilled some sausages and sautéed some peppers, mushrooms and onions and served up dinner in a hoagie roll. The star of this dinner was the blue cheese coleslaw. My friend Nancy found the recipe in the Seattle P.I. (R.I.P.) a couple of summers ago. It hails from The BBQ Queens Big Book of Barbecue. The recipe calls for Napa cabbage but Nancy says she’s used Savoy cabbage before with great success.

Coleslaw has such a muddy reputation. This isn't coleslaw's ugly sugared up-mayonnaise-wearing step-sister rather her sophisticated cousin visiting from the city. This is the coleslaw you want to take home and introduce to the family. It plays well on the plate with a number of things and at almost anytime of year. But it really shone next to the grilled sausages with peppers, onions and mushrooms.

I've enjoyed this coleslaw several times before and maybe it was location, location, location but it tasted better than ever the other night on the boat. Nancy says the recipe claims to serve 8 but she's sure it would feed more like 18.

Blue Cheese Coleslaw

2 pounds Napa cabbage, cored and shredded

8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Dressing:

3/4 cup Vegetable oil

1/3 cup cider vinegar

2 TB sugar

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp ground white pepper (Nancy says she uses black)

1/4 tsp dry mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

Toss cabbage, cheese and onions together. Just before serving, whisk the dressing ingredients together. Pour over the slaw and toss to coat. The slaw will wilt after dressing so serve right away.