Cook-Off Part 2: Pumpkin Cornbread (GF)

The www.camp-cook.com forum is having another cook off competition: Chili & Cornbread.  I entered my Chili recipe last weekend (see it here) and this weekend is my cornbread recipe.

For this recipe, I followed the tastes of Senior Management.  She likes all things Pumpkin.  Having found a pumpkin Cornbread recipe at Real Mom Kitchen I decided to adapt the recipe for a 10″ Dutch Oven to be cooked over coals.

This is my new favorite cornbread.  Contrary to what you may think, it doesn’t taste like desert at all.  But the pumpkin adds moisture to the cornbread so that it doesn’t turn your mouth into a desert (which is why I usually don’t like cornbread at all). So here is my version of Real Mom Kitchen’s version of pumpkin Cornbread.

Pumpkin Cornbread (Gluten Free)

1 1/2 C Corn Flour
1 1/2 Tbs baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (canned or freshly cooked and processed)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 Tbs molasses

1. Preheat dutch oven with a ring of about 17 briquettes around the outside of the bottom of the DO.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in cornmeal.
3. In separate bowl, beat eggs lightly. Whisk in pumpkin, brown sugar, oil and molasses.
4. Make a well in the dry mixture. Add pumpkin mixture and blend batter with a few quick strokes.
5. Pour a thin pool of vegetable oil on the bottom of the DO.  When the batter hits this, it will fry it quickly and make a nice crust.  Plus, you can easily get the cornbread out of the DO when it is done.
6. Pour batter into the DO. Bake -with the lid on – for 30 minutes, or until cornbread is browned and the surface has a slightly springy feel.  Put an additional 15 briquettes on the lid of the DO to brown the top.

You could eat this cornbread with jam, jellies, cheese, or just butter and honey.  They are great.

Here are a few pics:

Cook-Off Part 1: Quinoa Adobo Chili (GF)

The www.camp-cook.com forum is having another cook off competition.  This is the second competition that I’ve entered.  The last one I entered was desert (see my posting here).  I enjoy these cook-off weeks because of all of the new recipes and activity on the forum.  Sometimes the cook-off week facilitator gives prizes (iron cookware etc) which is cool and adds to the fun.  However, I am most excited about an avalanche of new recipes to make.

This week’s cook off is divided into two categories: Chili & Cornbread – A classic Dutch oven combo.  My first step into the contest is a home-made chili (gluten-free cornbread may come later). I decided to stretch myself and create my own chili recipe.  I’ve cooked chili several times from recipes and thought I could produce an edible concoction just from scratch out of my head.

I decided to bend and break the rules of chili a bit and mix up the ingredients.  I also wanted to include as many home grown veggies & foods as possible.  I think the most unexpected ingredient that I included is Quinoa.

Quinoa is a unique grain -originally from South America- that has all of the amino acids.  Senior Management and I use it in gluten-free baking all the time.  I like it because it is light and doesn’t get mushy but still manages to fill.  It seemed like a great chili additive and fits my unique dietary needs.

Quinoa Adobo Chili (Gluten Free)

This recipe is designed for a 14″ dutch oven and produces a nice thick chili.  If you like your chili thinner, I’d add another cup of water.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 onion
1 cup corn (I used frozen that Senior Management preserved this summer)
¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate
6 cloves garlic
¾ lb ground turkey (Vegetarian Option: TVP)
2 cans of black beans
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1.5 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 quart of tomatoes (I used canned tomatoes from our garden)
3 cups water
2 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers
1 zucchini (I used shredded frozen zukes from our garden)
2 tbsp of adobo sauce with 2 constituted chipotle peppers (this adds a nice smokey flavor)
1 bunch of cilantro
1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:

1. Pre-heat the 14″ dutch oven with a solid circle of briquettes on the bottom.
2. Rinse the quinoa in a strainer until clear water is running through it.  Toast the quinoa for about 3 minutes in a cast iron skillet.  When toasted, add 2 cups of the water to the skillet, cover, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  The quinoa is done when it starts to split open.
3. Chop the pepper, zucchini, and onion.
4. Thoroughly rinse the black beans in a strainer.
5. When Dutch oven is hot, add the olive oil & onions.  Saute the onions until they start to change color then add the garlic (pressed) and turkey (or TVP).  Cook the turkey until it is no longer pink but still not done (about 2 min).
6. Add the Cinnamon, cumin, chili powder, salt & pepper, and chipotle adobo sauce.  Stir mixture for about 3 minutes.
7. Add the tomatoes, black beans, bell pepper, quinoa, zucchini, and the remaining cup of water.  Mix well.
8. Move 1/2 the briquettes to the lid of the Dutch oven to form a ring.  Reform the bottom briquettes into one ring.
9. Let mixture simmer for about 15 min then mix in the chocolate and let it simmer for another 5 min.
10. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a slice of lime.
11. Eat it.

For a first attempt at making my own chili recipe, I am pleased with it.  It is nice & fresh, light but hearty, and had just the right smokey flavors that I like.  I may like my chili a bit spicier but Senior Management prefers it just like I have detailed here.

Here are a few pictures to feast your eyes on:

The Trip of a Lifetime & a Famous Trailer

In September of 2009, I received an invitation to do some research with primary resources at the Library of Congress (LOC) in Washington, DC. Knowing that this invitation was a tremendous opportunity, I agreed and made the arrangements to do research for one week. Part of my time at the LOC was spent with librarians who demonstrated the use of primary resources in the classroom. The rest of my time was alone doing research with primary resources.

The focus of my study is the enigma of Thomas Jefferson. He set forth some of our nation’s greatest ideals but he didn’t always follow his own advice. I found this discrepancy interesting and knew that the LOC has many of his original writings and much of his personal library. So off I went to spend days in a library studying first hand artifacts from history.

It was everything I could have hoped for and more. Some of the more famous documents I was able to see were James Madison’s copy of the Treaty of Paris (1763), pages from Meriwether Lewis’s diary from the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Spanish explorer journals (1500s), James Polk’s journals (all unpublished materials), and many many more items & manuscripts. It was truly inspiring to work with these materials and I hope to go back soon -seeing that they issued me a researcher’s library card that is good for two years.

Since the topic of this blog is camping, I thought I’d look up some camping topics while at the LOC.  They had tons of materials but nothing of great note.  Apparently, the best place to go for teardrop trailer material is the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana.  I did some networking while at the LOC that may come in useful for a future project with the Hall of Fame in Indiana.

While in Washington DC, I went to The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport.  This is the newest addition to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.  It is a remarkable display of one of a kind aircraft.  I was surprised to see so many of my favorite historic & current aircraft.  I recommend a visit to anyone in the area with a spare day to spend in one spot.

There were three displays that were particularly exciting to me.  The first was the SR-71 Blackbird.  As a kid, I always dreamed of riding in one of those high altitude spy planes and at the museum I finally saw my first one.  The second display that fascinated me was NASA’s Space shuttle Enterprise.  It sits in the space flight section of the museum & dominates the floor.  I have also always dreamed of seeing a space shuttle up close and finally got my chance.  The last display was an unexpected surprise.  I was walking through the space  craft displays when I came upon the most famous Airstream trailer in history.  It is the Airstream that was converted to a quarantine facility for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.  It has so many reasons to be in that display.  It is related to the moon missions, of course, but many of the first Airstream trailers were made with aircraft specs & surplus materials during and following WWII.

This is the information I found in front of the Apollo 11 Airstream trailer:

“This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the moon.  Its purpose was to prevent the unlikely spread of lunar contagions by isolating the astronauts from contact with other people.  A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom.  Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure inside lower than the pressure outside and by filtering the air vented from the facility.

This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins immediately after their return to Earth.  They remained in it for 65 hours, while the MQF was flown from the aircraft carrier hornet to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.  They were allowed to emerge from isolation once scientists were sure they were not infected with “moon germs”.”

I may not have been able to shoot many photos at the LOC, but I did get about 36GB of photos on the week.  Here are just a few of them.

8 photos stitched together of LOC Lobby. Actual width of image: 6 feet.

The LOC Main Reading Room

One of Thomas Jefferson’s Letters

The Shuttle

The first time I saw the Airstream

The Sign

Environmental Controls

1960’s anyone?

A panorama of the trailer.

Airstream

Shot through the front window

Apple Sauce & Cider

One of our favorite things to eat when camping is canned apple sauce on pancakes. Every year we make some sauce to use through the winter as well as on our spring & summer camping trips.

This year, I picked the apples myself at Hansen’s Orchards at Greenbluff, WA. I chose a blend of gala & Macintosh apples. The gala is very sweet & the Macintosh tart. It made really good sauce.

In addition to the sauce, I wanted to make some cider. I made my own press out of scrap wood from the jPod build. The pressure of the press caused the press to catastrophically fail (it was impressive). So I re-purposed some steel from a basketball hoop that I cut down in front of our house when we moved in last year. That proved strong enough. I could take 3″ of apple pulp and press it into about 1/2″ with my new steel press.

We processed everything on our two camp stoves to keep the house cool.

Here is a video & a few photos of the process:

Galas on the tree

My apple cart

Picking apples

Gala Apples

Macintosh Apples

Steaming them for saucing

Senior Management Sauces the Apples

Sauce before canning

42 jars of apple sauce

My home-made press 1.0. It broke & I made a new one

Apple Pulp in a Cheesecloth

6 jars of Cider

Adventure 03 – Traditional Family Camping

For about the past 60 years my family has been taking an annual camping trip as a sort of mini family reunion & our friends. The locations have varied over the years as one generation passes the baton to another but the camping is always memorable.

This year, the camping trip was relatively close to home (no pun intended). Farragut state park, ID hosted this year’s family & friend gathering. Senior Management & I were lucky enough to have our work schedules work out so we could attend again this year. The family & friends have larger RVs than our little jPod so a traditional campground was called for. When we arrived, I realized that this was the first time the jPod has actually seen a “typical” camp ground.

We arrived on a Friday night in the middle of a torrential rain & hail storm. It was getting colder (40 degrees Fahrenheit). Yet we had a long extension cord & a space heater. The heater ran for about 2 minutes & it was too hot in the jPod for a normal human being. Senior Management loved the temperature.

One new feature to the jPod since my last post is the addition of the slide out Camp Chef Oven. I managed to get it installed before our departure & it worked really well. Senior Management cranked out some tasty meals from the back of our little jPod.  As the pictures (below) show, the galley is functional but not completed.  I’ve focused on camping & teaching recently.  Winter work will be done on the jPod.  Winter is rapidly approaching too (it was 16 degrees last night).  I have added some pictures to the Galley part of this website that indicate some progress with the camp chef oven.

It was interesting being the smallest RV in the campground. We kept getting inquisitive looks & subtle pointing & whispering. I’ve heard the stories of teardrop owners who were trying to sleep in their tear while curious campers stopped by & examined their rig (thinking no one was there). I expected this bold camper attitude. Only one man was brave enough to come by & look. I was happy to show him around & we traded stories for a while.

There may have been other observers while we were gone hiking for several hours on Saturday.

Saturday night we had a mini DOG (dutch oven gathering). We had some amazing cornbread, scalloped potatoes, chicken & wild rice, & a cherry chocolate pudding. It was amazing.

Sunday morning, we packed up our things and got back home so I could prepare to teach for another week.

It was another great trip.

Here are a few pics:

Cooking our first breakfast

It was delicious

The Cougar Bait observe through the yet to be finished cabinet

Dutch Oven time

I’m blocking the wind from my 14″ DO

Making Grape Juice

This week, I made another batch of grape juice.  Every year I make it & this year I decided to make a video of it (see below).  I’ve also added a few pictures at the end of this post.

The process is easy:

1. Pick the grapes
2. Remove the grapes from the stems (stems make for bitter juice)
3. Steam the grapes in a few steamers
4. Empty the  the steamer into a jar.
5. Let the jar sit until the juice has heated it up
6. Boil your lid
7. Put the lit on the hot jar & wait for it to seal as it cools.

That’s it.  Really easy & REALLY good.

Here’s the vid:

Hatching a Plan

I had a few days off of work this week so the jPod got a little work.  We’ve had a camping trip planned since last year that we’ll do in a couple of days.  I made this trip a bit of a deadline for some work on the jPod.  I’ve been pre-warping a piece of plywood for the inside of the galley hatch for about 2 months.  Finally the time came to install it when I was cleaning up the garage.

The galley hatch got wired, insulated & skinned.  It was a bit of a crazy process but eventually worked.  My goal is to have it finished with the same finish I used in the cabin & lights installed in the next few days.  I’ve posted some updated pictures under Galley.

We’re supposed to get our first frost this week & that means that I need to get some other finish work done on the jPod before it is too cold to do.  So I’ll be working on the galley, cabin cabinets, & floors.  Then I’ll wire the whole thing together after the frost & it will be done.

The end is in sight.

A quick shot of the galley hatch skinned

100 teenagers in the woods

I just returned from spending a week in the woods of north Idaho with the senior class.  Every year, as part of our school program, we take the seniors, and many of their parents, into the woods to rough it.  There is no electricity, no camp sites, no showers, no cell phone coverage.  During this time they learn wilderness 1st aid, orienteering, shelters, fire-building, edible wild plants, group problem solving, & have an opportunity to share from the deepest parts of their souls -if they choose.  New to the experience this year is the introduction of dutch oven cooking.  About 30 dutch ovens help the 100 teens make food every day. The students sleep in black plastic structures they have to make for themselves.  Their latrines are holes in the ground that they build another black plastic structure around for privacy.

When I tell some people about the program, they expect me to tell horror stories (like the lord of the flies) of the 100 savage teens in the woods for a week.  I tell everyone the truth…It is a great week.  I am one of the lucky few teachers who get to go on this trip every year.  I teach all of the seniors every day, at school, and they turn in homework from this trip to me later (about 8,500 pages to grade).  This is the first year that I camped in the jPod.    I was a bit spoiled.  After working 18 hours a day in the woods running ropes courses, climbing trees, etc. the jPod was a wonderful haven (especially when I’m sick).

It seems like I always come back sick or injured from this week but it is worth it.  Last year, it was a hospitalizing  e coli infection & 4 broken bones in my nose.  This year I have a really nasty cold/fever with multiple disfiguring wasp stings to the face (you know your face is swollen when your eye lashes rest on your upper lip).  So, I am fairly pleased with this year.  It could be worse.

For privacy reasons, I cannot post pictures of my students here but I do have a few pics of the jPod on its way out, there, and back from our off road primitive camping area.  It is a really great week.  I hope that the fever & swelling go away soon so I can read what I typed in this post.

Teardrop Sighting on the way up to camp

Nice little trailer from Montana

Off road camping! I love this jPod

Another creative leveling of the jPod

This hill is much steeper than it looks

About a 15-20% grade. Put it in 4wd low and crank away

Beautiful scenery

D.O. – Chile Relleno

As I awoke from a much needed nap this afternoon, I thought about the boxes of fresh produce in our kitchen.  I’ve been taking care of my parent’s house while they’ve been gone for the past 3 weeks.  Between that, my own yard, and getting ready to teach again, life has been really busy.  The other factor is their garden (FARM).  Mom planted 30 tomato plants, piles of cucumbers, peppers, beans, etc.   She did all of this planting and then left when it all came to maturity.  So, I’ve collected box after box of fresh produce.

Right now, we have over 75 peppers, about 30 lbs of tomatoes, and some other items.  As I awoke, a recipe came to mind that might use up some of these items and allow me to use the dutch oven.

This is my own creation so I may choose to improve it in the future but this is what I did tonight.  I didn’t make a recipe for this but I will approximate it here if you’d like to recreate it.

Chile Rellenos

• 12 peppers (we used Anaheim peppers because we have WAY too many)
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups of corn flour
• Mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup Milk
• Paprika to taste
• Cumin to taste
• salt to taste

1. Put about 1/2″ in the bottom of a dutch oven and get it up to heat with only high heat on the bottom & not the lid.
2. place the peppers over a gas flame or broil them in the oven until the outside skin bubbles.  Rotate them so that all sides are evenly bubbled.
3. When the peppers are ready, toss them all into a plastic bag together and close the top.  Let them sit for a little while.  This will steam them a bit and make it easier to remove the outer skin.
4. While the peppers steam, make the batter for the outside.  Mix the 4 eggs & flour together.  This will be quite thick but that’s alright.  We’ll add milk to thin it out.
5. Add your spices & salt to the batter.  Then thin the mix out with the milk until it has the consistency of cake batter.
6. Remove the peppers and pull off the skin
7. Cut the peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Don’t wash the peppers out with water as it will flush out all of the flavors and oils that make them so good.
8. Put a stick of mozzarella cheese into the pepper & close the pepper around it.
9. Hold the peppers by their stems and dip them in the batter.  Be sure to cover the whole pepper.
10. Drop the peppers immediately into the dutch oven for frying.
11. As they fry, spoon a little oil over the top to keep the fry even.  Turn them until they are golden brown.
12. Remove and put into the oven (200 degrees) to make sure the cheese is completely melted.
13. When ready to serve, pour your sauce (my sauce recipe is below) over the top & eat them.

The Tomato Sauce

• 5 tomatoes blended
• 2 tomatoes diced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 White Onion
• Salt to Taste

1. Blend all ingredients together.
2. Add the diced tomatoes for texture.
3. pour over the Chille Rellenos

That’s it.  It is delicious.  Enjoy.

Here are the pics:

Adventure 02 – Lolo Trail, Idaho pt. 3

This blog entry documents the third day of our Lolo Trail trip & the jPod’s first off-road adventure with Nathan & Erin, Carl, and our family. If you haven’t read about the trail & our first two days on it, visit: Part 1 and Part 2

Day 3

Eggs & Potatoes

Day three started with a great breakfast.  Breakfast foods are my favorite foods in life.  However, breakfast is perfected when camping.  Our camp breakfast was a collaborative effort by Erin, Nathan, Senior Management, and me.  We made eggs, potatoes, huckleberry pancakes, & coffee.

The “cougar bait” played in the grass all morning as we packed up our things.  Then it was time to drive.  From Howard’s camp, we drove up onto a ridge.  It was beautiful and often had views off of either side of the motorway.  We paused so Senior Management could shoot a picture out the window of a doe we found wandering in the woods.

At one point, we stopped to go look at two mountain lakes which we were above.  It was at this time that we met some people on their ATV and swapped stories.  While we were all chatting about this and that, two bucks wandered in from the trees.  We think that they were after something in our area because they would come by us and then turn back from a different angle to get to our area.  I sprung into photographer mode & started shooting photos.  These were mule deer and had little fear of human contact.  I was able to get some of the best photos I have ever taken.

Once the moment had passed, we continued our drive.  The scenery changed drastically as we entered mountain sides of burned trees.  They haven’t recently burned but stand as a witness to a forest fire in the past.  It was a strange landscape of charred trees & mountain wildflowers.  Somewhere in the charred forest, we began our descent to the valley floor.

Along the way, we stopped to pick some huckleberries and met some other travelers coming in the opposite direction.  This is when the teardrop effect of the jPod took hold again.  I gave a tour of the jPod to them & Carl claimed to have sold it to them.  In fact, I have had several interests in the trailer.  I am almost motivated to build another one for someone.

The Lolo Motorway gave way to a wide dirt road and finally we reached pavement at Powell Junction (see map).  We stopped to take stock & to eat some lunch at the Ranger’s Station & then we went in search of Carl’s promise.

On day one, Carl had mentioned a “secret” hot-spring off of highway 12.  No fee was required.  Senior Management & Erin (who are both naturally cold blooded) perked up & made the decision on day one that we would visit this “secret” hot-springs.

Off we drove in search of these hot-springs.  Carl has sworn us all to secrecy about the exact location of these pools.  Yet I will say that any conventional GPS will have it clearly labeled on its map.  We hiked in to these springs and sat in the pool.  The girls really soaked up the heat.  I was good for about 10 minutes and then had to get out.  I was hot before getting in so the hot water didn’t help.  What I really enjoyed was the mountain stream that flows below the hot-spring.  It takes the breath away at first but was exactly what I needed after three days of travel.

As we were leaving our little “secret” oasis in the woods, we came to find that clothing was optional at this hot-spring when another hot-spring seeker stripped to his pores and waded into the water.  I still laugh about this part of our story because, in my mind, I can still see everyone else’s reactions to the realization that they were suddenly in the presence of a nudist.  Thankfully, in my mind, I cannot see our nudist friend.  Life has simple pleasures and seeing stifled shock on one’s friend’s faces must be one of the most rewarding of these simple pleasures.

As we drove home, I glanced at one of the pamphlets I picked up at the ranger’s station.  It offered a brief description of the various trails in the Nez Perce National forest and spent some time describing the Lolo motorway.  At the end of the pamphlet there is a quote from Frank Andrews (a Nez Perce descendant).

“We, the surviving Nez Perces, want to leave our hearts, memories, hollowed presence as a never-ending revelation to the story of the event of 1877.  These trails will live in our hearts.

We want to thank all who visit these sacred trails, that they will share our innermost feelings.  Because their journey makes this an important time for the present, past and future.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Bat Girl

Ella heard the word “treat”

My potatoes on the cast iron grill

Eggs & Potatoes

Nathan Makes some delicious pancakes

Just look at those things!

“I enjoyed my breakfast” – understatement

It looks like an invasion

Zoe scales the mountain side with me

Senior Management spies a doe

Nice mountain lake

This is what the jPod is for

The young Buck

The Older Buck

Foraging

The girls grabbed the “cougar bait” so they wouldn’t scare the deer

Coming back for a look

The hills are alive….

My fav. shot. Taken while sitting on Nathan’s bumper

A pretty nice shot

Following Nathan & Erin out

Burned forest & wild flowers

Burned forest & wild flowers

Back on Pavement & headed for home

These guys were pooped after sniffing the entire wilderness. It was really nice to have them sleep

Senior Management drives us home

Ella is pretty gone at this point

Adventure 02 – Lolo Trail, Idaho pt. 2

This blog entry documents the second day of our Lolo Trail trip & the jPod’s first off-road adventure with Nathan & Erin, Carl, and our family.  If you haven’t read about the trail & the day one report, visit it here:  Part 1

Day 2

Camping at Rocky Ridge Lake

The morning of day two was a bit cooler than the previous day.  After spending several weeks in 100 degree weather, I welcomed the 60 degree range but still didn’t want to get out of bed.  The queen sized memory foam mattress in the jPod held me for a long time.  Finally, Senior Management with the two dogs (i.e. Cougar Bait) emerged from the jPod.  When we got up, we found Carl’s truck but no Carl.  He apparently went missing.

He came wandering into camp a few minutes later with huckleberries in his stomach and the story of meeting a bear who was also picking berries.  Relieved that it didn’t follow him back to camp, we set our minds to making breakfast.  For Senior Management this meant getting the rice cooking & some eggs.  For me it meant going out into bear country to gather huckleberries.  Once I had about 1/2 a cereal bowl full of berries, I came back to camp & we ate a tasty meal of huckleberry rice with sugar & milk, cantaloupe, coffee, & an egg.  Now that is camping!

When we opened the galley to get to the cooler & food, I found some water had leaked in & stained the counter top.  This was mildly frustrating for me because I knew exactly what had gone wrong.  At one point in the build, I had removed part of the the galley hinge to do some work on the roof trim.  When I reattached that part of the hinge, I forgot to reseal it with some silicone.  Luckily, I packed a case full of tools, including silicone, and repaired the galley hatch that morning.

After breakfast we took our time packing up & preparing for more travel on the trail.  To compensate for the bouncing of the jPod the day before, Nathan & I aired the tires on the jPod down to 14 psi.  Eventually, we had all our gear ready to go & left just as some other people were arriving.   As we traveled down the trail, we would occasionally stop to find dry firewood.  For some reason, none of us brought dry wood or a saw.  Why?  We don’t know.  To make our situation more desperate, the torrential rains the night before had completely soaked any wood we found.  We collected it anyhow and hoped for the best.

Our progress on day two was slower than day one.  The road was much rougher & we had to pass a few people.  Luckily, passing had to take place in some situations where there was enough road for both parties.  We passed a crew of horses, motorcycles & one truck.  The trail is very narrow so getting those people by us without backing up required good timing (which we had).  We held Cal, Nathan & Erin up on this day.  This is when the shocks would have really helped.  We eventually aired down the tires to 12 psi and that really helped.

For lunch, we visited one of the many fire look out towers.  The road up was just rock and slow going (3 mph or less) but the view from the top was spectacular.  Nathan used his secret crime skills and correctly guessed the combination to the door lock on the fire look-out.  We were able to tour it a little before the people who had booked it arrived.  Then we had to bug off.  It would be a really nice place to camp.  All reservations must be made on-line for these towers before visiting them.  Of course when we were standing at the top of the world (approx. 8,000 ft) at a fire tower the Internet is a ridiculously remote & insignificant part of life.

For lunch, Senior Management & I made sandwiches.  We had planned on tomato sandwiches but the tomatoes took a too much of a beating in the back of the jPod.  I had PB&J instead.  It was a great lunch and from there we drove on to the next advertised camping location on the map…Howard’s Camp.

Along the way, we passed the Devi’s Chair.  It is a series of granite columns which rise up out of the mountain hillside.  Nathan and I climbed to the top to get a look around while the others stood below to keep the Cougar Bait company, to shoot pictures, and to give Nathan and me some helpful tips (i.e. “Don’t fall”, “Don’t die”, “Careful”, etc.).  Devil’s chair isn’t very tall from the up hill side but the downhill side is considerably taller.  The view is amazing.  Once our little stop was over, it was back on the road for another few miles.

The road improved on the way to Howard’s camp so progress was finally made at more than a snail’s pace.  Upon initial inspection, Howard’s camp looks like the side of an unfinished highway.  Gravel pits & pretty dirty.  We decided to leave the Lolo Motorway to travel to a lake for the night.  In the morning, we would come back and finish the Lolo Motorway.  About 1/4 mi. down the road through Howard’s camp, the camp suddenly transformed itself into a lush landscape.  So, we stopped there for the night.

Senior Management prepared another amazing meal while fighting off the thick mosquito population.  Carl & Nathan attempted to get a fire going with our wet wood.  It sort of burned for several hours but produced little heat until we went to bed.  Then it burned really well and I’m sure it gave off lots of heat for no one to enjoy.

Howard’s camp is named after General Howard.  Howard camped in the same spot when chasing Chief Joseph & the Nez Perce to Canada.  Apparently, Joseph was doing a proper job of trying to stop Howard.  William Connolly, a private in Howard’s group, wrote the following lines at Howard Camp:

“…our American horses were not used to the fodder of the native Cayuse.  We carried no forage.  If we should change upon one of the little mountain valleys where there should be grass, we found it either trampled down by Joseph’s ponies or destroyed by some other way.  Many is the time we have cut bark from the tree for our horses.”

We saw no damaged trees but I still like the imagery of Joesph leaving a swath of destruction behind him.  This is a quality which indicates his strong leadership & care for his people.

As we fell asleep on the night of Day 2, I had no idea what stories we would live the next day.  I also didn’t know that day 3 would allow me to shoot some of the best photos I have ever taken.

Read Part 3

Camping at Rocky Ridge Lake

Carl starts a fire with some fuel & a road flare. He’s a REAL boy scout.

Senior Management secretly shot pics of me picking Huckleberries.

Some of the Huckleberries I picked for breakfast

Senior Management drinks her coffee

Our Temporary Galley

Our leveling made quite a difference

Nathan, Carl, & I leveled the jPod

Nathan & Erin’s Jeep House

The Rigs

Wild flowers

Zoe loved running through the bear grass

Indian Paintbrush was one of her primary interests

Driving along behind Nathan & Erin

Senior Management, Me, & the Jeep

There were some larger puddles on day 2

When we stopped, the Cougar Bait would man the posts for us

Senior Management & Me

We love the tall narrow trees of high altitude

5 photos I stitched together to give some feeling of the beauty

This doesn’t start to show the beauty of this drive

The Lookout

We’re almost above the tree line. This tree is about 3 feet tall

From the Lookout Tower

Senior Management & Carl in the Fire lookout

This is quite a cozy space

Someone stacked these near our lunch area

Stone Tree

One of My better shots from the day: The Jpod at the Look out

Poor Poor Tomato

We didn’t drive off of the edge. It was pretty tight here

Pulled over to visit Devil’s Chair

Nathan & I climbed Devil’s chair

A few of the faces of Devil’s Chair

Nathan Stands on Devil’s Chair

Trees grow in the solid rock

Nathan & I on Devil’s Chair

Vibrant trees

Our camp at Howard’s Camp

Senior Management prepares supper at Howard’s Camp

Zoe plays at Howard’s camp

MMMMM FOOOOOOOD

The Dogs eat supper behind the dirty jPod

Starting another “fire”. Not even gasoline helped get it going.

Adventure 02 – Lolo Trail, Idaho pt. 1

Life as a teacher is spooling up rapidly.  In the last few days before going back to work, Nathan & I planned an impromptu trip to the Nez Perce National Forest to drive the historic Lolo Motorway.  Nathan had done quite a bit of research on the trip before we ever decided to go.  I have read all about the Lolo trail for years because part of the trail was used by Lewis & Clark during their trans-American journey of discovery & it was used 60+ years later by the Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce when trying to escape the American military by fleeing to Canada.

Parts of the modern trail were improved or established in the 1930s thanks to the work of President Franklin D. Roosevelt & his commissioning of the Civilian Civil Service Corp.

The green box is where the Lolo Trail is found

The trail is also featured in one of my favorite off-road guides for the state of Idaho (see it here) – although this book only features part of the drive that we did.  Our journey was approximately 25 miles of gravel, dirt, & large loose rocks.  It is also the first off-road experience for the jPod.

This is the first of three blog entries on this journey.  They are divided by day since it is easier to read in shorter segments & to see the photos of each day.  There are three days total and this is the very first.

Day 1

Lolo Trail Map

Our traveling party consisted of Nathan & his wife (in their black Jeep with a roof-top tent), Carl -a mutual friend (in his white 4×4 truck), and the jPod crew -Senior Management & I + our two little dogs -Zoe & Ella  (i.e. Cougar Bait).

We left Spokane, Wa and traveled south to Lewiston, Idaho (named for Meriwether Lewis).  The road into Lewiston is a steep grade into a river valley.  Appropriately enough, Lewiston is across the river from Clarkston, Washington (Named for William Clark).  Lewis & Clark passed through the same valley they now occupy.  I’ll bet they were surprised to find two towns already in the valley which were named after them (he he he…).

We fueled up in Lewiston and pulled out the maps to decide which route we wanted to take to the Lolo Motorway.  Once decided, we left Lewiston & made for the dirt.  If you reference the map (above), we took the route from Greer to Weippe and then the dashed line to road 500 (the Lolo Motorway).

Once on the trail, I started watching the jPod’s ability to handle the bumpy rock filled road.  As I suspected, it was bouncing around quite a bit.  I do have plans to install shocks on the jPod but haven’t done it yet.  This trip confirmed my need for them when off road.  It seems that general road driving is not a problem but the springs really push back when off-road.  Carl was driving behind us and radioed to tell us that the jPod was leaving the ground from time to time. Too exciting for me so I slowed up a bit.

In the late afternoon of day one, it began to sprinkle a little bit.  I was excited about the prospects of sleeping in the jPod with the rain pounding on the roof.  My wishes were met that night & I slept like a log.

On our way up to Rocky Ridge Lake -the camp site we had chosen off of the map, we stopped to find huckleberries along side the road.  Not only were they there but they were large & ripe.  Out of the vehicles we all came & picked some huckleberries.  Upon arriving at Rocky Ridge Lake, we found the huckleberries to be more plentiful than on the road & larger (about the size of the end of a finger).  Breakfast plans were immediate & obvious.  No matter what we made, we would make food with huckleberries.

As far as meals are concerned, Senior Management turned out some spectacular zucchini patties with marinara sauce & Havarti cheese.  It was too dark to take a picture of it once it was done.  Plus, it really didn’t stay on my plate too long anyhow.

Before the sun set that night, I had two tasks to complete while Senior Management made supper.  First, I had to level the trailer.  Nathan, Carl, and I managed to do this in short order (see the photos below).  Then I needed to make light.

I quickly wired up the jPod to the Jeep.  My long-term plan is to be able to charge the jPod battery off of the Jeep while in transit.  However, I have neither a battery for the jPod nor the wiring installed in the Jeep.  My solution was quick & dirty.  I ran the wiring harness, which I plan to permanently install in the Jeep, from the battery of the Jeep, around the Jeep, to the tongue of the jPod.  Thus, we had light on our first night.  It was great to have that much light.  Although we did have to turn out the lights to change because we still don’t have any curtains.  I may be a teacher but I feel no need to educate everyone that much.

The next morning when we awoke, Carl’s truck was still in camp but Carl was missing…

Read Part 2 Here

jPod packed & ready to rumble…AND IT DID

Cheese

The green box is where the Lolo Trail is found

Lolo Trail Map

Some of the things we drove by were more interesting than others

Lewiston, ID as we drove down to it

Maps are good fun

Map work while the Cougar Bait look on

Leaving Lewiston & following Nathan & Erin

Ella found her prefered seat in the Jeep. MINE!

Just outside of Weipee, ID dirt at last

Several farmers fenced their yards with steel wheels of different kinds.

Stopped to get some Reeses. Thanks Carl!

Senior Managment walks back to the Jeep at the Lolo Trailhead

Notice the “trailers not recommended” hmmm. Let’s do it!

Road Descriptions & camping info

Carl tries to scare our dogs (i.e. Cougar Bait).

Still sitting here…

A huckleberry moments before I ate it

Rocky Ridge Lake

The other side of Rocky Ridge Lake…it is small

Bench Marks & Beauty Marks

Since the first trip to the panhandle of Idaho, I have done more work on the jPod.  There were a few things I wanted to work out after using it.  It is interesting how using the jPod automatically rearranges my priorities for this build.

One of the priority changes was to get some more storage into the cabin area.  So I installed our bench that will hinge up into a shelf as needed.  Senior Management also thinks that a small child could occupy this bunk at some point in the future.  For now, it will hold some of our things and, hopefully, the dogs. I put a bunch of photos in Body: Internal and one teaser at the bottom of this blog entry.

A second adjustment was to get some form of electricity into the cabin.  The budget for this project hasn’t allowed the purchase of a battery yet but I have already purchased the wiring harness I plan to install in the Jeep to connect the Jeep’s battery to the trailer battery for charging while in transit.  So I wired up the exterior lights, fan, & dome light.  I’ll simply take this wiring harness and temporarily hook it up every night utnil I can get it properly installed.

I finished the doors.  In my last post, I noted that the doors only had one coat of paint on them.  After returning home, completely disassembled the doors & finished painting them.  I am now done with exterior paint & the trailer exterior is complete.  I am enjoying the feeling of accomplishment.

Galley work:  Senior management & I looked at paint colors together and she chose a nice green color to paint the galley.  It goes well with the exterior color and isn’t obnoxious.  There is a lot of green right now but once all of the cabinets & counters are in, there won’t be much showing.  I put some pictures on the Galley page & one teaser at the bottom of this blog entry.

License Plate.  In anticipation of future off road adventures, I moved the license plate to the rear hatch of the galley.  Before, it was hanging down below the tail light (see a picture here).  This is fine on a paved road but off road I might tear my license plate off because it doesn’t allow enough clearance.  So I moved it to the rear hatch.  I like the look of it and the light makes the back hatch look less blank.  I have added some pictures to the Body: External page of this addition & a teaser photo at the bottom of this blog entry.

So that is the progress for now.  We plan to take another trip really soon so stay posted.  This build may be somewhat delayed while we enjoy using the incomplete jPod before I go back to work & the snow flies.

New sign posted

Bench/Bunk

Adventure 01 – The jPod goes to Camp

Summary of Adventure 01:

Pulling the jPod

At last, the jPod has made its first excursion as a vehicle for camping (North Idaho – as readers decided by the poll on this website).  In an earlier post, I stated that I wanted to have the jPod weather tight by July 24.  This deadline was set so that Senior Management and I could use it as our quarters the weekend of her cousin’s wedding.  It was a VERY wise move.

The families stormed the house where the wedding was to be.  At one point someone counted over 80 people at the house.  This was not for the ceremony.  This was just family & a few friends the day before the wedding.  Needless to say, privacy was difficult for some to find but not as bad for us.  We parked the jPod in an old pasture and set up camp.

The first day it was parked there, I gave about 40 tours of the jPod.  The outside does look nice and it attracted sight seers & neighbors.  Even though the inside of the trailer is not yet complete, there were countless comments about how it looked really nice.  This was good to hear after spending the previous week slaving away in 100 degree weather and late at night to get it done.

Multiple people asked me if I manufactured these trailers as a business.  My answer was always the same “I made this one!”.  Senior Management’s Grandmother loves camping and seemed to be pleased with it as well.  She toured it while I was away so I didn’t get to hear her thoughts about it.  She did ask me questions about it all weekend before she saw it so I know she had a strong interest in seeing it.  I was looking forward to her feedback.  I am glad she got to see it.

Overall, I think I gave about 60 tours of the trailer and many more told me they looked at it while I was away.  This made privacy difficult but tolerable.

Senior Management climbs the mountain

On Saturday, a whole group of us went hiking on Mt. Schweitzer.  It was a great hike & very pretty.  This type of nature is exactly why we built the jPod so I am pleased that we’ll see more of it.

On the first night, Senior Management and I made an observation about the jPod…we slept well.

I knew there would be some changes or priorities that I would shift after spending the night in the jPod.  I didn’t expect the feeling of anticipation I had when preparing to sleep in it for the first time.  I had the thought “I hope I don’t hate this” pass through my head.  Luckily, it was everything I expected & more.  It is really a lot of fun without much worry for setup & keep up.

Assessment of the jPod after the First Trip:

1. The bed is much larger than ours at home.  The jPod can hold a queen sized bed while we sleep -or try to sleep- on a full at home.
2. The windows & vent let in plenty of air & light.  We both agree that some curtains would be nice.
3. Electricity in the jPod would really be nice.  It gets dark in there at night.  When the budget allows, I’ll put a marine battery in & we’ll have power.  The wiring is close to done but no urgency until we can afford the battery.
4. A way to keep the doors open must be developed.  I used the Harsh Environment polymer hinges.  They are smooth as silk, quiet, & seal up really well.  The only quirk is that they won’t let the doors open all of the way.  So I need a method to keep the doors open.
5. Finish my cabinet & shelf inside.  We went into the jPod knowing that it wasn’t complete but now we can really see the wisdom in some storage space.  Our things were strewn everywhere for a lack of cabinets.  That will come.
6. The jPod pulls like a dream.  I was very pleased with how smooth the jPod traveled.  Most of the time, I couldn’t tell it was back there.  The springs do get a bit excited when crossing larger bumps (railroad tracks, large potholes in dirt roads, etc.).  If I intended to use the jPod only on pavement, I’d consider this more than acceptable.  However, our intention is to use it off road where there will be plenty of bumping & jostling around.  I am looking at some small shocks to temper the springs a bit.  It isn’t awful but I know it could be better.
7. Insulating the walls & ceiling was the right decision.  It was about 95 degrees the entire weekend.  The outside of the jPod was no exception.  However, the inside temperature of the walls & ceiling were about 80 degrees.  The insulation works better than I thought.  I left the doors open and took a nap in the jPod in the middle of the day.  It was great.
8. I can’t wait to have the galley done.  Being able to cook that close to the trailer & have everything already stored will be awesome.

So there it is.  Trip #1, as determined by my site visitors, is now under our belts.  I am happy with the outcome & can’t wait to get more work done on the jPod & to go again.  Here are some pictures of our first trip:

Pulled out of the garage for the jPod’s first trip

Ella was REALLY excited to go

I sprayed it with lots of fast moving water & no leaks!

Parked in the pasture

Trailer booty

Welcome home

AAAAAwwwwwwe….The view from my side of the bed

Senior Management climbs the mountain

This is some beauty

Lake Pend Orielle

A red tailed hawk soaring on an updraft

Blogging away in the jPod

Our temporary interior works fairly well

Isn’t it pretty?

Preparing to go home

Pulling the jPod

Finishing Touches

In an earlier post, I stated my goal of getting the entire jPod weather tight before July 24 (Our first excursion in the jPod was this past weekend.  You can read my report on our first trip here).  Thus, I have worked night and day (quite literally) to achieve this goal.  The good news…I made it & the external phase of the jPod is complete.  I need to put a few more coats of paint on the doors & I’m done.

The bad news…I have a lot of updates to make to this website.  I have added over 100 photos to the Body:External & Body:Internal pages.  Plus I have changed or added write-ups on the build processes.

What do I have to finish?

The Brightside paint takes 17 hours to dry.  The jPod body has 3 coats of paint on top of 3 coats of primer & then 2 coats of epoxy.  However, I have noticed that it takes longer than 17 hours for the paint to truly harden up (probably about 30 hours).  This is why I only put one coat of paint on the doors for this past weekend’s trip.  So, the trailer was weather worthy for the weekend but I still want a few more coats of paint on the doors.

This goal would not have been met without my friend Nathan & Senior Management’s help.  They both worked several days with me in 100 degree weather to cut aluminum, trim, paint, seal, glue, and do all of the other things that were needed to meet my deadline.

I have added a new poll to the side of the website page.  Help me decide if a pinstripe or a vinyl graphic would be best on the outside of the jPod.

Check out the updates on the  Body:External & Body:Internal pages.  Here are a few teaser photos:

Inside walls are finished

Outside not done yet but getting there.

My blog makes it big

It looks like a little silly story about my free sander has made it big (record number of hits in a day).  This is sort of ironic since my website is not about sanders but my trailer build but I’m happy for the attention just the same.

My blog “Craftsman but not Techmen” was picked up by Consumerist & Gizmart.

Read my story as featured on Consumerist

Read my story as featured on Gizmart

I am now famous for enduring a disorganized tech support event.  There are some critics of my writing (mostly from Sears Employees it seems).

Here is some further information about this issue in the form of my response to some quality criticism of my blog post.

Consumerist, Thanks for featuring my blog about my sander problem. I was happy to receive a new sander but it made me wonder about some parts of corporate America.

FYI – the main number I called WAS 1-800-4myhome. My sander was NOT under warranty. There was no mention of a 2 year 10% plan. It was a simple replacement job. They did say they could send it to Seattle (NOT Texas) for repairs but chose not to do so, I assume, out of frustration.

I spent about an hour at Sears & 3 hours doing the run around on my local Sears Parts store number (509) 482-5600, 1-800-4my-home, and the managemyhome.com website.

Craftsman does guarantee all of their tools.  However, they won’t replace power tools unless they are under warranty or recalled.  This is what makes my story a bit unique.  My sander was neither recalled or under warranty.  I was simply in the right place at the right time with the right frustrated Sears employees.

With all of this said, I am happily using my new Craftsman sander and will continue to happily shop at Sears.

The Finish Line

The last 10% takes 90% of the time.
The last 10% takes 90% of the time.
The last 10% takes 90% of the time.
The last 10% takes 90% of the time.
The last 10% takes 90% of the time.

This sentence has been repeating itself in my mind for hours during the past few weeks.  Why?  Because I am sanding again.  Living in the Northwest created a bit of a temperature obstacle for me when it came to finishing the outside of the jPod.  It was simply too cold to do it until mid June.

I am highly motivated to get the jPod’s exterior sealed up in the next couple of weeks.  Senior Management and I will attend her cousin’s wedding and we’d like to use the jPod as our living quarters.  Doing this would keep us out of the family’s way as they prepare for a wedding.  Plus, it gives us a test run of the trailer in safe conditions.  I have watched my poll on the jPod website and the North Idaho Panhandle seems to be winning.  This is where the wedding is so we’ll make good on this.

Here is a brief outline of my progress towards finishing the exterior of the jPod.

• Added bolts to the fenders
• Finished skinning the Galley hatch
• 2 coats of epoxy on the Galley hatch
• prepped the cabin doors for epoxy
• sanded forever
• Applied another primer coat to the jPod
• sanded, epoxied, & primed the door jams & galley seal surfaces
• Sanded the primer
• Applied the Brightside Exterior finish

Nathan volunteered to help apply the Brightside Exterior paint today.  His help was invaluable.  Brightside is not like any paint product I have used before.  It is made to be used on the exterior of boats.  I applied a thin layer of the paint to the trailer with a foam roller.  The roller left thousands of bubbles in the finish.  Nathan followed my rolling with a paintbrush & tipped all of the bubbles.  This left light brush-marks in the finish.  However, as we worked we noticed that Brightside doesn’t lie when they say that their product will self level.  It did and there are no brush marks showing.  After only one coat of paint it looks awesome.  It takes 17 hours to dry so there will be no work on the jPod until noon tomorrow but the wait is well worth it.

Looking back on this project, so far, I must say that an aluminum sheeted finish would be much faster than using the epoxy.  However, I love the look of the Brightside Marine paint.  If I were to do it again… I don’t know which finish I’d choose.

There are some pictures added to Body: Exterior which documents the process.

Here’s a teaser:

Close Up of the galley Hatch

Our Garden Project

One of the main purposes for the jPod trailer is to get into nature.  Since Senior Management & I have this as our goal, gardening seems a natural step.

We decided to put in a garden this year.  We’ll store the food for use while camping in the jPod & throughout the winter.  Since we both hate weeding, part of our garden is a raised bed design (see the build of this garden here).  We went all out for lots of fresh goods.  I have decided that I will update the garden part of this site on an annual basis.  Since that is the case, I have a separate garden page for this year.  You can see 20+ photos of our progress so far & read up on this year’s plans here.

My Favorite shot

Craftsman but not Techmen

This past week I have been doing a lot of sanding on the jPod in preparation for painting it.  In the middle of my mind numbing “sand-fest”, my random orbital sander suddenly developed a problem.  I would turn it on and it spun & looked great.  However, the moment I applied the sander to the surface to be sanded, it would quit spinning.  Needless to say I was frustrated.  Since it is a Craftsman sander, I called Sears to see how I could get it repaired.  Here is a brief outline of all I went through with this small problem (the whole process took about 4 hours on the phone).

1. I called my local Sears who verified my account and then referred me to their local parts & repairs department
2. I called the local Sears parts & repairs department.  They verified my account and then said they didn’t have a technician who could help and referred me to www.managemyhome.com
3. I visited www.managemyhome.com & couldn’t find my problem in their databases so I called them too.  They verified my Sears account got me connected with a technician who gave me another number to call for assistance.
4. I called the new number and found that it was the direct line to my local Sears parts & repairs department (who I spoke with in step 2). They verified my account and referred me to another number for help.
5. I called the new number and spoke with a customer service representative at www.Managemyhome.com who was as slow as molasses in January when it came to verifying my account information.  After verifying my account information (8 min) he gave me the SAME number I received in step 3 for my local Sears parts & repairs facility.
6. I hung up.  Grabbed the sander and went into Sears determined to stay there until someone could figure out what to do with my small problem.

So I walked into Sears and asked the first baby-faced teen employee if he could help me.  Of course he couldn’t but he conveyed my concern to the Manager.  I never met the manager but waited in the isles of sears with my problematic sander in hand.

In the end, Baby-face found me staring blankly at a display of fake tools for children.  He took my sander from me, marched down the sander isle, matched my sander with one on the shelf.  Then he thrust the new sander into my hands and said “have a nice day.  Do you mind if I keep your old sander?”  I was stunned but did not object.

When I asked why I was receiving a new sander instead of some tech help, he told me that the manager of my local Sears had just made the same convoluted sequence of phone calls.  Sears seems to have an internal problem.  Eventually she shouted out a colorful metaphor into the phone at the last person she was talking with and then told Baby-face to just give me a new sander and tell me to go home.  So…I went home and sanded into the night.

I can’t complement Sears’ technical service but I am not complaining about my new sander.  My new sander may look the same as my old one but it isn’t.  The new one is better because it works and it came with a really great story.

The New Sander

*******************

After the initial publish of this blog post, Consumerist & Gizmart picked up the story and published it.  This is a fun event for the jPodbuild.  I have offered more information about this story & my reaction to it being picked up by the bigger news people in another post “My Blog Makes It Big“

A very hot D.O.G.

On July 4  we hosted another Dutch Oven Gathering (DOG) at our house.  It was a scorcher (97 degrees) but we did it anyway.  The food, of course, was amazing and it was fun to have more people at this gathering than our first.  In total, our group made 8 dishes.

Dad made Enchiladas, Home-made Baked Beans, & Baked Walla Walla Sweet Onions

Larry made an amazing cornbread

Travis made Chile Rellenos

I made Celtic Potatoes & Chicken Chilaquiles Explorador

Here are some photos:

Part of the crew

Dad’s Enchiladas

Dad’s Home-made Baked Beans

Travis stacks the Iron

This was a hot tower of awesomeness

Making my Chicken Chilaquiles Explorador

Layering the peppers

It is like a Mexican Lasagna with hot peppers

Before Cheese

After Cheese

Cooking

The spread on an old door

Dad’s Final Enchilada

Dad’s Final Home-made Baked beans

Travis’ Chille Relleno – Amazing food

Larry’s Cornbread with chunks of corn

Whole Walla Walla Sweet Onions

My final Chicken Chilaquiles Explorador

Worth Reading: Trans American Trail

Several times in this blog I have mentioned my friend Nathan and the help that he has provided for the jPod build.  He is also the one who has a Jeep with a roof-top tent which inspired me to talk with Senior Management in the first place.  Ultimately, she rejected the idea and we finally found the solution in a teardrop trailer.

Nathan and his wife have been traveling the Trans American Trail for the past two summers.  It is a trail that starts in Tennessee and ends in Oregon.  Off-road driving the entire way.

As they were driving it this year, they met a bunch of Model-T owners who are driving it as well. It seems that they were driving it as an anniversary for the use of the Model-T in American movement.

His blog is filled with interesting stories and great pictures.  Not only it is interesting but it is the type of camping that Senior Management and I hope to do too.

Visit their site here:  http://lakenative.blogspot.com/

Nathan's Jeep In Colorado

“DO” ing Mother’s Day

For Mother’s day, Senior Management and I had both of our families (although incomplete) to our house for breakfast & a bike ride. Breakfast seemed to be a success.

The dish I made for breakfast is one that a member of the camp-cook.com forum shared during the Desert Week Cook off.  And it is actually the dish that won! Here is the recipe as Barb Anderson’s husband John put it for his Desert Week entry.

******************

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
by Jennifer Jordan and Barb Anderson SoCal IDOS

2 ¼ Cup flour (I substituted a Gluten Free mix)
¾ Cup sugar
¾ Cup butter
½ Teaspoon baking powder
½ Teaspoon baking soda
!/4 Teaspoon salt
¾ Cup sour cream
1 egg
1 Teaspoon almond extract
8 oz, package cream cheese, softened
¼ Cup sugar
1 egg
½ Cup raspberry preserves

Barbra bakes this in a 10-inch Dutch oven or in a spring-form pan in a 12-inch Dutch oven. Grease and flour the pan you use.
In a large bowl, combine flour and ¾ cup sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of mixture for topping later. To the rest add baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, 1 egg and almond extract. Blend well. Spread over bottom and slightly up sides of oven or pan. Should be about ¼-inch think on sides.
In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, ¼ cup sugar and 1 egg. Blend well and pour over batter in pan. Carefully spoon preserves over this filling.
Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes until filling is set and crust is deep golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes. Cut into wedges.

*************

So that was it.  It was good but needs a bit perfecting for next time.  I think I’d add more preserves next time.

Here are some pictures.

I made it in a Silicone pan so I could quickly re-use my DO

MMMMMM Preserves

Made it in the 14″ in a Silicone pan

Final Product

No black Iron here…Maybe for Father’s day

Cedar Planks & Seasonings

I made a quick meal recently: Cedar planked Salmon with rice & red bell peppers.

This is my own recipe and it was a great time to try out some new sauces & spices I’ve found.  Being allergic to wheat severely limits what I can eat. Any food with a “Modified Starch – Corn or food” is usually modified with wheat.  This means that canned soups, soy sauce, yogurt, some cheeses, almost all salad dressings, & many other items that we wouldn’t expect to have wheat in them – actually do.  The same goes for medications packed in starches.  My conclusion:  If the United States has a wheat shortage -similar to ancient Rome- we’re going to seriously hurt.

Since starches are so prevalent, I was surprised when Senior Management & I met Ron Maurer.  This guy makes his own spices & sauces that are not only amazingly good but also wheat free.  Maurer Foods is the supplier for these two products.  I plan to work through their entire inventory(it is that good).

Living in the northwest, cedar or alder planked salmon is quite common and usually associated with this area of the United States.  I thought I would follow the stereo type and get in touch with my NW roots.  Baking Cedar Planks are expensive so I decided to make my own.  I purchased an untreated Cedar board (6 foot) at Lowes and machined my own planks with my table saw & planer.  As it turns out, this board cost me $3 and I can make about 25 baking planks from it.  Commercial planks are about $19 for 5 (business idea?).  I seasoned them just like one would season a Dutch Oven.  This way the food wouldn’t stick to them and I can reuse them (although after making this dish, I broke one…oh well I guess I can only make 22 more).

My Cedar Planked Salmon recipe:

2 salmon fillets (about the size of 1.5 decks of cards)
Maurer’s “Essence of the Northwest” Seasoning
Maurer’s “Spicy Ginger” Marinade

After rubbing the fillets with the Northwest Seasoning, I put the salmon into the marinade for about 1/2 hour (during which I got the DO warm).  Then I planked them & baked for about 20 min (or until the fish flakes).

The Rice was pretty plain & I don’t plan to repeat it so no use putting up a recipe for it.  It would disappoint anyone who plans to make it.

Overall, this is a fast meal (about 1 hour) and very good fish (although I’d rework the rice dish).

Maurer’s Sauces & Spices

Marinating the Salmon

My Kitchen

This is where I cook

I seasoned my own cedar planks

Final Rice dish

Baking the Salmon

A Close Up of the Baking

The Final Meal

It’s Dinner!

A Mini DOG

My high-school teaching life has been all consuming recently.  After 7 years of teaching, I have come to expect that a teacher, in the month of May, will accomplish one task: work my tail off until my students graduate from high school.  Consequently, progress on the jPod is merely a nice idea.  The only actual progress I’ve made is designing some graphics to cut out of sheet metal & embed in the counter top for the galley (see my other project that inspired the counter top).

However, I spared 1/2 of a Sunday, so that my family & friends were all able to put together a little Dutch Oven Gathering (DOG) at our house (Pictures below).  This was a great deal of fun & we hope to do it again.  Among my father-in-law, father, & I we have the following Iron:

• 1 – 10″ Camp Chef DO
• 1 – 14″ Camp Chef DO
• 2 – 5″ Lewis & Clark Commemorative Edition DO
• 1 – 12″ Deep Lodge DO
• 1 – 12″ Lodge DO
• 1 – 14″ Lodge DO
• 1 – 10″ Lodge DO

Our Menu was determined by each of us individually & we simply shared our eclectic mix of foods for our meal.

My Menu:

• Chili – Described in my previous post: Bent & Not Broken) – Gluten Free
• Biscuits – my first shot at a bread product and it turned out alright!
• Blueberry Buckle (adapted from Kellene’s Recipe) – My changes to her recipe -besides the Dutch Oven: hand thickened blueberries -not canned & used a gluten free cake mix instead of the yellow cake mix she uses.  This is really good stuff. Great work Kellene!

My Father-In-Law’s Menu:

• Chili topped with Cornbread – A home made recipe of his that filled the back yard with lovely smells.
• Blackberry Cobbler – So thick & yummy.

My Father’s Menu:

• Lasagna – This was amazing & was several layers thick. The dish was put together by Travis, a good friend. – Gluten Free
• Greek Olive Bread – Amazing bread that was moist & very tasty (Gluten Free).
• Broccoli covered in garlic infused Olive Oil – This is a family favorite since my childhood. Although it was the first time it was done in a DO.

So we ate, had left-overs, & dream of doing it again.  It seems that this Dutch Oven addiction is beginning to be a family thing.  Food, Folks, & Triple Bypasses here we come.

The “Kitchen”

I start my Chili & Mom shoots Photos

My Chili

Travis Makes the Lasagna

Layers of the Lasagna

Lasagna Ready to Go

Lasagna Cooking (Amazingly good)

Bubbles in the Lasagna

Final Lasagna

My In-Laws start their Chili

My Father-in-law’s chili (Before Cornbread topping)

Father-in-law’s final Chili & Cornbread

My Father-in-law’s Blackberry Cobbler is ready to bake

Final: Blackberry Cobbler

My First Try at Biscuits

I had 2 Biscuits left. They formed themselves into this shape.

Whoever this is, they’ve been tanning! he he

Senior Managment pours the batter into the thickened Blue Berries

Before Baking the Buckle

The Final Blueberry Buckle

The Final Blueberry Buckle: Up Close

My Dad’s Greek Olive Bread

Dad Checks his Broccoli

Roasted Garlic for the Broccoli

Dad mixes in the Olive oil & garlic

The final Broccoli & garlic dish

My Father-In-Law’s Pots

Dad’s Stack of Pots

The Final Product (not all dishes are pictured)

The “Door”K

Recently, the weather has been so nice that I have focused on building rather than blogging.  So I thought I’d pause to make an update on my progress with the jPod.

First, I removed my cabinet on the inside & started over.  I decided to make my electrical access box larger (possibly to accommodate a power inverter someday – if needed).  Since I was doing that and the fact that I found some nice plywood in the garage, I decided to tear everything out and simply start over.  The design is the same but the materials are not. (see Body: Internal for pictures).

Cliff's Door Drawing

The major progress is on the doors.  I have been working out some design ideas for them.  As I stated in a previous post, the doors warped this past fall when we moved.  The whole project came to a standstill because of the move and once I found the doors, they needed disassembling & repair.  The good news is that I have them working well now (see Body: External).  A fellow teardrop builder, Cliff, drew up a design that he used on his trailer for the door latches.

I think I’ll use a close version of his design for the jPod doors too.  I shot a few pictures with the doors sitting in place (not installed).  I like the finished look of the windows.  The only picture that turned out badly was the one of me.  I look like I’m sneaking into a bank or something.  I look like a real “door”K (when the doors are done, then I’ll slam the door on the door puns).

In the midst of all of this cabinet reconfiguration, an idea was emailed to me by a friend who is also building a teardrop (see Mel’s Build here).  This idea has caused Senior Management & I to re-think the galley.  Take a look at this photo from the Northwest Overland Society (of which Mel & I are members) and then I’ll describe how I plan to adapt it to the jPod.

A Great Use of Space

Now this is simply a great use of space.  My plan -and I believe it is Mel’s as well- is to make a stainless steel counter that will fit directly over the camp chef outdoor camp oven.  Then the counter will roll out & the oven will roll out of that.

Galley Configuration 2.0

The trade-off?  I will loose 1  1/8″ of storage width because I’ll need the extra room for another set of roller bearing slides & some stainless steel.  In my opinion, all of that extra counter space is well worth the width issue.

This little idea has caused me to rethink my galley some & rework some design elements as well. In related exciting news, I received most of my drawer slides from Bold Hardware.

Business Card from Bold Hardware

They are nice quality & affordable.  They will also take care of the Camp Chef Oven Slide-out.  I have updated my “material Suppliers” to include Bold Hardware and my experience with them.  I have also posted a copy of their business card (which has a unique catch phrase on it).

Schedule for further building?  Finish these cabinets & doors, then install the galley counter top & under counter storage.

I Got…”Just Desserts”

The Camp Cook Forum is having a little competition making dutch oven desserts (see the thread here).  I haven’t made a dessert in the Dutch ovens yet so I thought I’d toss my hat in the ring.  It seems pretty obvious that I don’t stand a chance though.

I also thought this would be a great time to break in the newest member in my iron collection.  My Dad gave me a Camp Chef 5″ Lewis & Clark Commemorative edition Dutch Oven.  It is really cute (pictured below).

The New 5" DO

Isn't it cute?

Today is the first time I have made desserts & made three dishes in a single day.  Senior Management wanted something for lunches this week so we repeated  the Chicken & Wild rice that we made earlier (see my post “Curves” to see this dish).  The other two dishes are desserts:

Dessert # 1: Caramel Apple Pudding Cake (THIS IS A KILLER RECIPE!)

1 tsp Vanilla
2 sliced apples
3 tbs Lemon juice
1 C flour (for Gluten free substitute Bette Hagman’s flour recipes)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 C brown sugar (packed)
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 C milk
2 tbs butter
3/4 C Caramel ice Cream topping
1/2 C Water

1. Combine the caramel topping, water & 1 tbs of butter in a glass bowl.  Microwave or heat on the stove top until the mixture is fluid.
2. Cut the apples and then sprinkle the cinnamon & nutmeg on them.  Mix until it looks like the apples are relatively even with spices.
3. Mix the batter: In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, & baking powder.  Mix until even.  Then add the milk, 2 tbs of butter (melted), and the vanilla while whisking.
4. Pre-warm the Dutch Oven to about 375 degrees (later it will bake at 350 but 375 will give you more working time while the oven is off of the coals).  When the oven is warm, dump in the apples.  Then pour the batter over the apples trying to keep it evenly distributed.  Lastly, combine the caramel mixture over the top.  As it bakes, the caramel will sink to the bottom & the batter will rise to the top.  Bake for about 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.  When it is done, top with vanilla ice cream and eat it while it is still warm.

Below these pictures is the next dessert.

Preparing the apples	Seasoned Apples	This is gluten free & good!
Mixed apples in the DO	Ready to bake	MMM gooo
Quit Licking your Screen

Dessert # 2: Peach Clafoutis (hard to make but good to eat)

A clafouti is a custard-like baked French dessert that is typically made by baking fresh fruit and a batter, similar to pancake batter, in a baking dish.

This recipe is designed to work in a 10″ DO.  For this recipe, I used some peaches that Senior Management canned last summer (pictured below).

Ingredients:

Shortening or butter
1 pint of canned peaches
1/4 C flour (for Gluten free substitute Bette Hagman’s flour recipes)
1/2 C sugar
More sugar for dusting the DO
1/4 tsp of salt
3 eggs
1 C half & half

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, salt, & 1/2 C Sugar) in a small bowl & mix thoroughly.
2. While whisking the flour, add the three eggs.  Whisk until smooth.
3. Slowly pour in the half & half, whisking the whole time.
4. Cut the peaches into bite sized chunks.  Stir in the peaches.
5. Grease the inside of your dutch oven with butter or shortening.
6. Dust the inside of the Dutch Oven with extra sugar.
7. Pour the batter into the dutch oven.
8. Bake at 375 degrees (F) for 30 minutes.

The Clafoutis will puff up quite a lot.  You will need to check your temperatures to make sure the sugar coating the inside of the pan doesn’t burn.  If this dish is made correctly, the sugar will melt and make a nice gooey layer on the outside of the Clafoutis.  This dish is usually served hot & puffed up.  However, as it cools, it will deflate.  But it still tastes good.  Here are the pictures:

Home Canned Peaches	Sugar Lining	Held up by one finger
A personal Clafoutis	A Clafoutis in the 10" DO

That’s it. Thanks for reading more on the life of Dutch Ovens. FYI: I have made progress on the jPod & will post in the next couple of days.

Forget Meth…I have a trailer.

Recently, I have been manifesting addictive behavior with regard to teardrop & tiny trailers.

• I was driving home from work one day and shot a picture -with my cell phone- out my window of a 1960’s Chevy pulling a new small Airstream.
• I think a teardrop trailer cereal for kids would be awesome.  The marshmallow shapes could be all the different trailers in the Hall of Fame.
• Last night, I was watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith and in the middle of the last gun battle the two “sexy” Hollywood stars are blowing things up left & right and I noticed -& got excited about- what appears to be a small yellow TAB (or close to it) trailer in the distant background.  See the two frames I pulled from the video on the right (another addictive behavior).  Signs of sickness?  I’d rather think about teardrop trailers than watch a movie.  I guess that is good and healthy.

I suppose one of the reasons that I’m so taken with the teardrops & tiny trailers is the benefits our build has already created.  Senior management & I have been able to work side-by-side on a project that is fun & encourages active bonding (literally in the trailer & inter-personally). A fellow trailer builder (Cliffmeister) found a video the captures these & other benefits of the teardrop.  It explains why many people (including myself) build teardrop trailers.  It is posted under “What is a teardrop Trailer” or you can just click here.  It is all about relationships.  Senior Management finds it hard to believe when I cry-out in the middle of a movie, press pause, and advance frame-by-frame until I find the TAB trailer in the background of an action scene.  She says I’m addicted.  I say I love her so it is OK to be addicted to her.  Perhaps we need more bonding time with the jPod.

Shifting Gears:

What does the immediate future hold?  This teacher is on spring break and going to spend a few days in Canada with family.  No progress on the jPod but guaranteed progress on catching up on sleep and dreaming of teardrop trailers.  Cheers!

A”door”ed

Progress on the jPod has been slow since summer & it is tempting to be depressed about that.  The only difference is that I am trying to keep up with teaching in addition to daily life.  Yet, I am happy to have a job even if it distracts me from the build.

A while back, Senior Management began the doors for the jPod.  Then life, for us, got really chaotic and the doors

rebuilt & insulated the bulkhead

where neglected.  Given the months that have passed since our move & my surgery, the original doors warped.  Recently, I have not focused on building parts for the jPod but rather disassembling the doors so I can flatten them out & fix them.  This has taken some time but I think it is almost there.  I have also reworked my original design to keep them more rigid.  Right now, I am waiting for the glue to dry on the internal skeleton on the right door.  If it works, as I hope, then I will do the left door.  However, I will not work on the left door until I am certain the right one is functional.  I am tired to delicately disassembling parts. (See Body: External for more photos)

While working on the door process, I insulated the inside bulkhead between the galley & the cabin.  I have also purchased Helmsman’s finish that I hope to spray on the inside walls as a sealer & finish once it is above 60 degrees outside.

Boards

You may think that the title of this page has something to do with the jPod.  Well, you’re somewhat right.  It is that time of year when a teacher gets a few days off for spring break.  Of course, as it is with most teachers, I have a lot of work to do on my days off so they are really just convenient breaks to get caught up at work.

It is also that time of year when tests are given.  Senior Management is currently taking one of her board exams for dental hygiene.  She should be done in a few hours and I know she’ll pass.  As our house has been full of papers and Senior Management has needed lots of quiet time to study, I have done most of the chores around the house, made her dinner, and worked on the jPod.  This post is about dinner (in the 10 iron dutch oven).  My post a”door”ed is about the progress on the jPod.

I decided to make Chicken ala Queen last night in the Dutch oven.  I adapted a recipe I found on-line to fit the Dutch Oven.  The woman who wrote the original is a good cook and actively preparing for disaster (Preparedness Pro).

Here is my dutch oven version of her recipe:

2 lbs of cubed fresh chicken
4 cups of uncooked Macaroni (corn noodles for me)
1 chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 quart canned tomatoes (ours are home canned)
2 1/2 cups of water
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
Salt & pepper to taste

I preheated my 10″ Dutch Oven to 350 in our oven then took it outside to the hot briquettes.

Once ready, pour the oil into the DO and let it heat up.  When the oil is warm, dump in the onions & dry macaroni noodles.  This will soften the onions & crisp the macaroni to add some crunch to the dish.  Plus it will keep the macaroni from falling apart when cooked.  Once the macaroni starts to change color, dump in the chicken and stir until the chicken starts to change color.

Then dump in the water, tomatoes, salt, & pepper.  Stir until well mixed.  Put the lid on the DO and leave to boil for 10-15 min.  At the end of the 10-15 min, remove the DO from the coals, take the lid off and sprinkle the cheese on top.  Replace the lid and let sit for 2-3 min or until the cheese is melted.

Then eat it.  It is really good. In fact, while writing this post I had to go get some left-overs.

Here are a few pictures:

Almost all of the Ingredients

Macaroni Corn Noodles

Warming up the onions & macaroni

Time to toss the chicken in

Tomato sauce, water, salt & pepper

Ready to cook down

Melted Cheese on Top

It is yummy

jPodBuild Website Changes

Well it is about time I got around to this.  I have been meaning to add features to this website for some time.  Here are the newest additions/changes to jpodbuild.wordpress.com:

Picture from 1947 Mechanix Illustrated "Trailer for Two"

• New Header Image – I needed an image that actually had a picture of the jPod in it.  When I started, it was only an idea so I simply put a picture of my Jeep (the tow vehicle).
• Search Engine – You can search my website now from a search utility at the top right of every page.
• Poll – You can determine my future.  Take my poll (on the right) and decide where the jPod will go on its first trip.
• Historical Magazine Articles – A lot has been written on teardrops & tiny trailers.  I have posted my fav. 17-20 historical articles (dating back to 1921) under the “What is a teardrop Trailer section”.
• RSS Feeds – I’ve made it easier for you to keep up with the jPod build progress.  The jPod build feed is easier than ever to find (the feed isn’t new it is just easier to find).  Simply click on the orange icon on the right and updates will be automatically sent to your web browser or email.

Thanks for reading this site.  There have almost been 20,000 visitors to see the jPod.  I appreciate your comments & ideas.

Spring Arts Propoganda

The high school that I teach at has an annual Spring Arts Festival.  For the evening, the student’s creativity is put on display.  There is quite a list: welding, photography, quilting, cooking, pottery, painting, gymnastics, instrumental numbers, singing, and much more.  This even pulls in about 500-700 people.

For this year’s festival some co-workers & their families teamed up with Senior Management & I.  We made an outdoor booth.  Nathan brought his Jeep with the Roof Top Tent (which indirectly inspired my jPod build). Mel brought his teardrop trailer (as it is so far).  He has the Chassis complete, the walls built & insulated, the floor made & sealed the bottom with epoxy.  Senior Management & I couldn’t get our trailer to the school gym (because of weather) so we featured Dutch Oven Cooking.  Senior Management & Nathan’s Wife helped finish them off.  I made them with a power drill again.  Then we cut them into pieces & people were able to sample them.  The only problem we had was with the Granny Smith apples.  They went from being rock hard to exploding into apple sauce.  Luckily, I made apples in both the 10″ oven & the 14″ so we had a backup.

All in all, it was a great evening and we networked with many parents & community people.  I may be going to help teach a Dutch Oven class and we met more people who we can camp with.  Check out the pics below.

Coring about 20 apples in 3 minuites

Adding the water bath to steam them

The Exploded Grannies

Our Outdoor Enthusiast Booth from Afar

Nathan & His Tent

I refered people to the Camp-Cook.Com website & mikenchell.com/ Jeep Galley

Dutch Oven apples & I’m combing my hair

It was really busy

Mel’s Trailer Build

Inspecting the Rig

Checking out Nathan’s Galley in the Back of his Jeep

Our Propaganda

The whole Booth

This Jeep is a Beast

Nathan is driving the Trans American Trail

Now wouldn’t that look cool on top of a teardrop trailer?

Memory Foam Queen Sized Mattress…This is rough

Power to the People

Last Friday night was stuffed food night made with power tools that I usually use on my jPod trailer build.

Senior Management & I made stuffed peppers.  Here is the recipe:

Stuffed peppers:

4-6 Red or Yellow Bell peppers
1 cup of rice (dry)
10-12 mushrooms
1 tsp. Mongolian Fire Oil
Smoked Gouda Cheese
A pound of protein (Chicken, beef, TVP-Total Vegetable Protein).

Steam the rice.  While the rice is steaming, chop mushrooms and clean out bell peppers around stems.  Shred cheese.  When the rice is cooked, mix all but the cheese together.  Spoon into the open cavity in the bell pepper.  Layer rice and cheese until full.  Top with Cheese to seal the pepper.  Stand upright in foil to keep the juices inside the pepper.  Cook in a 350 degree dutch oven for about 20 min.  Peppers will blacken on the outside.  When baked, removed peppers and serve.  Before eating, pull the blackened tough part of the skin off (it should come off easily).  The tough outer skin allowed the inside skin & stuffing to steam.  Don’t eat all of the peppers at once.

For desert, I made baked apples with a power drill.  I have finally posted my first cooking show episode.  I have wanted to demonstrate how to core an apple or pear with a drill bit for a while.  I purchased a 5/8 in bit and cored an apple and made baked apples for dessert last week in my 10 iron (dutch oven).  For me, the video is painful to watch.  I know I’m nerdy but man it is really bad in this.  I can also tell I am a teacher because I explain everything.

My parents stopped by for a few min. and helped us pound down the apples.  I can honestly say that I have never had a baked apple better than the ones I made for this video clip (recipe is in the video).  Since I can’t be on Ironchef America, I thought I’d make my own video to share with the people.

Ready for stuffing

Senior Management prepares the mushrooms for the peppers

guts

Senior Management suggested standing the peppers up on foil

The outside blackens & steams the inside. Peel off and eat!

Final Product

Will they fit in a 10 iron?

How to core an apple quickly 101

How manly men core apples…and me too

Ready for cooking

Baked and ready to eat

Practice for “THE Project”

My father-in-law just had a birthday.  For his 60th, the family celebrated by hanging out with 50 or so of his friends.  He is one of those people that I hope I can be when I’m 60.  He is an Ironman triathlete and plans to do the Coeur d’Alene Ironman again this coming June, 2009.

Ironman was the theme of his party.  As a gift, I decided to make him the swim, bike, and run symbols out of steel.  I have access to a Plasma Cam.  It is basically a CNC machine to cut out shapes from metal.  I ordered some sheet metal and started developing graphics.  My mother in law had some ideas and sent me some graphics which I worked over to work for the plasma cam.  Then I cut them out, ground them for 4-5 hours, and finished them.  I am relatively pleased with the final product.  Pictures are in my Projects section of this website.

This project was fun because I got to use my graphic skills to produce something tactile and not just something that will be seen on some website somewhere.  This project also inspired Senior Management and I with regard to the jPod.

So…here is the newest design element:  A sheet metal cutout (which I need to develop the graphics for yet) that will rest on the top of the counter in the galley area.  Then we will finish it with a self leveling bar resin like the one found at Environmental Technology INC.

The design will reflect the Great Northwest.  Evergreen trees, mountains, & the jPod in the foreground.  I can’t wait to see this completed.

In unrelated, but increasingly common news, I cooked some more food in the dutch oven last weekend (pictures below).  This time around, I made Chicken Angelico (based on a recipe from the Texas Treasury of Dutch Oven Cooking).  Some friends stopped by and helped me with a gluten-free cracked earth chocolate cake.  This recipe is based on a recipie from the food network (watch it here).  Both of these were amazing eating and repeatable recipes.

Nathan shoots a pic of starting the DO up

Breaded Chicken is getting started

Mushrooms!

Muenster Cheese

Lots of Veggies but could use more

Final Product was yummie

Tyler whips eggs for the cake

Folding in the eggs

Eric is a chef & was handy to have helping

Tyler gives it the final mix before baking

It didn’t take long for the other half to disappear

Curves

The glue dried on the galley hatch & I opened things up this morning.  It looks really nice.  It fits the curve of the trailer perfectly.  I also did some sanding and other fine adjustments.  I am pleased with the outcome.  As far as this blog is concerned, visual impact is minimal (See: galley).  However, functional impact is significant.  I am headed out of town today for several days of teacher meetings so this is where things will pause for now.

Of course, every new post on this blog must come with some more dutch oven work.  For valentine’s day, Senior Management gave me a 14″ dutch oven.  We are both liking this food.  Here are a few of my latest creations.  Chicken & wild rice (in the 10″ Dutch Oven) & popcorn (in the 14″ Dutch oven) -but not the same meal.

Frying up the Chicken

Senior Management putting Chicken into Vegetables & Rice

Dropping the Chicken into the rice & Vegetables

Mushrooms were added to the recipe

Starting to thicken

Final Product

Let’s eat

The two dutch ovens (new one on bottom)

14″ & antlers!

Starting the popcorn

Finished Popcorn

Bent & Not Broken

My latest work on the jPod occurred last weekend.  I decided to rework the galley hatch a bit.  I felt that the skin could work better for the shape of the trailer & line up on the hinge better than I had it.  In the end, I strapped everything down, shimmed the entire inside of the door so it is perfectly centered & liberally glued the skin to the galley hatch skeleton.  I am quite pleased with the outcome (see: Galley).  The only problem was trying to do all of this in the space of the closed galley & the smell of the glue still burns when I think about it.

More fun last weekend was making another dish in the Dutch Oven.  It is a Black Bean Citrus Chili.  I am afraid that cooking will distract me from the jPod.  Luckily, I am gone for a convention for several days and won’t be able to distract myself with more cooking.

Here’s my recipe:

Black Bean Citrus Chili

2 onions chopped
3 cans of black beans (drain off all of the liquid)
1 can of refried beans
1.25 lbs of hamburger
1-2 Tbs Ancho chile powder
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs chili powder
3 cups beef stock
1 fresh lime
1 bunch fresh cilantro

Pour some olive oil in the DO and add the onion. Once onion softens & starts to change color, add the hamburger. Saute until burger is browned.

While the onions & burger brown, combine the can of refried beans & spices with the beef stock and stir until it is a consistent mixture. Add this stock to the onions & burger.

When boiling, add the black beans and cook for about 10 min. Then add the tomatoes. Don’t stir the DO just let the tomatoes warm up in the middle and absorb some of the juices for about 2-3 min. Dish the chili into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro & a slice of lime.

The trick with this recipe is to keep the acids out of the dutch oven to avoid ruining the seasoning. Keeping it warm was easy because I put the DO in the BBQ. The other trick is to keep from drooling into it as you cook it.

We love this recipe. The dog apparently does too because she cried for about 45 min. inside the house on the other side of the sliding door.

Using a tip from a forum to keep DO warm

Frying up the onions

This looks really good

Pouring in the lovely sauce

Beans are added

Time to Serve it up

The Final Product

Galley & Dumplings

After finishing off the Cowboy Pot roast, Senior Management and I decided that I must make another Dutch Oven dish.  This time I made “Chicken Dumpling Stew” (A few Pics Below).  It turned out really well.  I used a recipe found in the cookbook “Texas Treasury of Dutch Oven Cooking“.  The corn was processed & preserved by my mom.  The dumplings, however, were my own creation.

Since I am allergic to wheat (not just intolerant), I have to come up with creative solutions for breads.  My wife has developed a pretty good biscuit mix that worked really well in the recipe.  Here is the Biscuit recipe

Gluten Free Biscuits

Basic Flour Mix

2 1/2 c. Rice Flour
2/3 c. Potato Starch

Biscuit Mix
1 1/4 c. of the Basic Flour Mix
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tbs Shortening

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 min.

That’s It!

For the dumplings, I didn’t bake the dough.  I simply put them in the DO like any other dumpling dough.

This is good stuff.  I think I am addicted now.  I plan to make another tonight and perhaps one more this weekend. I’d like to make a cake or brownie. It is a bit frighting though because I think it would require a bit more discipline.  We’ll see.  There are some tasty pics at the end of this post.

As far as the jPod is concerned, I have done some work on the cabin & galley cabinets.  Plus, a bit more work on the cabin doors.  Senior Management started the doors and then they sat for a while because I have been researching and thinking about a design change.  We also rearranged our plan for the galley.  I have added a new drawing of the configuration (see: Galley).

Until Next time.

Getting things Going

Getting the broth going

Chopped Up Fresh Veggies to add to the chicken & Stock

Using corn preserved by my Mom

Sage Leaves for flavor. Now its time to boil down.

This really makes the garage smell nice

Dropping the biscuit dough in

The Final product

Progress 0%…Fun 100%

Senior Management's Humor

This past weekend, Senior Management  treated me for my birthday.  She made a spectacular breakfast Saturday Morning & scheduled the rest of the day just for the two of us.  It was my first day off in 18 and a welcome change from daily life. Sunday morning was spent with family & then we all went to an RV show.

The RV show was something. I thought would be good to attend to find ideas for the jPod build.  Most of the RVs were monsters.  Multi-roomed, wired, plumbed, & equipped with more modern conveniences than I have at home (I have added some pictures to the end of this post).  After spending so much time looking at the jPod, I found myself peering into the storage area under a fifth-wheel and thinking to myself, “that looks comfortable”.  When I finally realized what I was thinking, I had to laugh at myself.  I still think that the storage bay under that RV is about the size of the jPod.

My favorite comment came from a woman who was exiting a $381,ooo motor home.  She looked at her husband and said “I couldn’t live like that!”  I was curious what was so awful about the motor home so I toured it too.  I now think that she was talking about something else or she is crazy.  That was a nice rig.

Basically, I had a lot of fun but didn’t gain as many ideas for the jPod as I would have liked (some cabinet ideas & outside table designs).  We did tour six modern Airstream trailers.  They are ultra modern.  I liked the lighting, custom cabinets & layouts of these.  I was most excited about these because the Airstream shares a history with teardrop trailers.

I think the nicest design feature I found in any of the hundreds of RVs was in a $500,000 motor-home that was so large, I almost checked to see if it had any moons circling it.  This rig had 5 flat screen TVs, granite counter tops, a shower area that is bigger than mine at home, leather interior, a TV on the outside, a washer & dryer, and much much more.  Yet, a casual observer would have found me fixated on the back wall of the Master Suite’s closet.  To me, the back wall of that closet presented a great idea.  The manufacturer had lined the closet with Aromatic Cedar.  So upon opening the door, one is greeted with the smell of Cedar (or Pencils -depending on who you are).

After doing some research into aromatic cedar, I have discovered some desirable qualities for this wood.

1. It smells good.  It brings up images of blanket chests & comfort.
2. The smell repels some insects.  Cedar is particularly good at keeping moths out of blankets, sweaters, clothing, etc.
3. It looks beautiful without any finish.  In fact, if it is finished, the finish will usually evolve into something awful because the aromatic cedar gives off a gas which eats most finishes (Read more…).

Conclusion: I like the idea of putting Aromatic Cedar in the jPod but ultimately I won’t do it.  I have found some studies indicate that the fumes from Cedar can cause a pretty big list of medical phenomena (Read more…).  The space avaliable in a motor home is acceptable for aromatic cedar.  The space in the jPod is not.  This is really too bad because it would smell nice.  Maybe the smell of leather would be better.

One more activity for Sunday: I used my Dutch Oven for the first time to make a stew.  It is amazing and I have had spectacular lunches at work all week.  I am now an Iron Chef…of sorts.  I loosely based my stew on this recipe.  If you watch the recipe video, you’ll have to tolerate a man who thinks he is funny.  He has no humor but his cooking is good.

Senior Management’s Humor

Not a Fancy Hotel…A Fifth-Wheel

Roughing it in a Motor-Home

Inside a 26′ Airstream

Getting ready for the Dutch Oven

Warming Up

Frying the Onions & Garlic before adding more

Before the liquids are added

Foreshaddowing the jPod’s Future

Where Trailers Go to Die

I hadn’t thought of making a performance teardrop until seeing this video clip. I’d like to pull one with a high performance vehicle just to say I’d done it.

Caravan Racing

Now We’re Cooking

Our Tree in the Backyard

Christmas afforded little time for work on the jPod but some work was accomplished.  With about 5 feet of snow in a week, I spent most of my spare time shoveling the driveway, street, roof, other people’s driveways & roofs, pulling people out of the ditch, & generally wishing I could move without aching.  Plus, it was pretty cold some days (single digit’s).

I managed to rough out the bunk bed/shelf system for the inside of the cabin (see Body: Internal).  I am pleased with the outcome of that build.  Senior Management and I also looked at foams that could provide the required cushion for the bunk/shelf.

I installed the bottom of the cabinet for the galley & cabin.  The overhang into the cabin isn’t as obtrusive as I had expected.  I need to frame it out yet but the project is changing (see Body:Internal).

In the past few weeks, Senior Management and I have rethought the galley arrangement and have made some changes.  I don’t have a drawn plan yet but I will make one and update soon.  The galley side of the cabinet we chose to overhang the counter top about 2.5″.  This brings the front of the cabinet flush with the top hinge of the galley hatch, provides a bit more storage space, and provides a hidden place to put counter lighting (see Galley).

Over Christmas, my Dad gave me a Dutch Oven.  Many tear owners cook in Dutch ovens.  My dad, a 10 year Dutch oven chef, wants to encourage me to be cool like everyone else.  I look forward to being an iron chef.  Senior Management also purchased some Lexan dishes for the trailer.  It is exciting to see these things because it provides hope that we’ll be able to go camping in the jPod this summer (see Galley).

As part of the build, I chose to sink the Camp Chef oven into the bulkhead wall about 1″.  This allows a bit more room in the cabin and we can still slide the oven in and out from under the counter for easy storage.  I am pleased with this design change as it better utilizes space (see Galley).

Senior Management & I have come up with our counter top design.  I am excited about it but I think I’ll keep it a secret for now.  A teaser seems fun though.

After making all of the necessary updates to this site (reflecting the progress I’ve made), I added a page called projects.  I usually have more than one project going at a time so I thought I could feature some other things I have built.  I was encouraged to do this after a fellow teardrop builder wanted to see my air filtration system for my shop.  You can visit the newest part of the site by looking under “projects“

Progress Resumes in New Work Space

Well it has finally happened.  I had a few spare minutes to sort through some of the tools and scraps of wood enough that some progress could be made on the jPod.  Moving to a new house really messed up my build organization.  However, the move also provided me with a safe wheat-free environment & a new garage.

The new garage has really high ceilings (nearly 16′) and is deep enough to hold our Jeep, Subaru, and the jPod.  It is the perfect winter work space.

This past weekend, I skinned and test fit the galley hatch.  It went relatively well.  It wasn’t as frightening as I had anticipated.  There is still some fitting work which needs to be done, but overall I am pleased with the outcome.

It is really nice to be back to work on the jPod.  I hate seeing my work not complete.  If you’d like to see more photos of this part of the build, I have updated them on Body:External.

The New Garage Workspace

Feeling Smug about my work

A little crying is good

Senior Management and I have had a busy couple of weeks.  We bought a new house, moved to it, and the day after moving I had a nose surgery.  The best news is that when we moved the jPod to the new house, it went really smoothly.  I hardly knew it was behind the Jeep.  This is great news.  It is the first pull of the trailer since it had a body.

The new garage has a ton more space than the previous version so “jPod time” will be possible even when the snow falls in a couple of weeks.

A future tear drop builder friend sent me a picture of a tear that is on display locally (Coeur d’Alene, ID).  I wasn’t satisfied with just the photo so I went and checked it out in person.  It is built by “Mary Janes Farm”.

It is a very simple tear.  Only the fan has electricity.  The battery is not vented to the outside & isn’t gel.  It looks like the craftsmanship is ok but not spectacular.  It has a solid aluminum floor & no insulation of any kind (hard on the northwest camper).  It is a nice classic “American Apple Pie” sort of style tear.  It is quite attractive.

Here are a few shots & a video clip.

Outside of this classic tear.

Inside Cabin is pretty tight but not too small for comfort. I laid down in it and it was comfy.

A non-gel battery without a vent. This gave me pause. I am curious about the safety of this.

Bottom side will never leak. Insullation would probably help.

Frame enters outside skin. Covered with aluminum tape.

A pretty cute little galley. Not a ton of space but it gets the job done.

Seals on the galley hatch.

A member of the michenchell forum found who manufactures this trailer.  It is a Retro Traveler trailer.  Actually, it is much cheaper if purchased directly from Retro Traveler.

Until Next time!

On the Move

There has been little progress on the jPod.  I got sick with E.Coli and a broken nose (surgery soon). Senior Management and I are in the process of moving so the jPod has been a bit neglected.  The exciting bit though is that the new house will have a two car garage that doesn’t flood on a regular basis.  So It should be easier to work on the jPod this winter.

It is coming in quite handy to have the trailer -even unfinished.  I have loaded it up with all of the wood from my wood-shop and all of it’s own trailer parts etc.  When I pull it to the new house, I hope to feel a more accurate tongue weight as we drive (not completely accurate because the galley will not be loaded and a fair amount of weight will be there to pull the tongue up).

I’ll make updates as I can.

Primer, Cookies, Kidneys, & A Nose

I just got back from a camping trip for a week.  While I was gone, Sr. Management & one of our neighbors continued priming the jPod (see Body:External).  While I was gone, I tested out the Camp Chef Camp Oven.

Nathan and I made Tea on the stove top while baking cinnamon rolls & gluten free cookies.  It was about 33 degrees outside and I think the cold air affected the draw on the Oven.  It is supposed to max out at 400 degrees but we only managed to get it to 325 in our cold weather.  That wasn’t a problem.  We simply extended our baking time.  It was nice to also note that the oven temp. didn’t change when we used the stove top at the same time we were baking. (photos below)

I was hoping to get more done on the jPod this week but I’ve been in bed with an E. coli infection in my kidneys & a broken nose.  The camping trip was THAT good!

Nathan Makes Tea

Nice Even Heat from the Burners

Orange Sticky Buns!

COOKIES!

Tear Drop Design Ideas

I have had to develop many of my methods for construction.  I have also had lots of input from other tear builders.  However, I think the most innovative craftsman out there is a guy named Joe Harmon.  He is building a car out of wood that will go 240mph.

The jPod is not a car but it is made of wood and uses many of the same materials.  Joe also has a great tutorial on making vacuum bags for various parts.  You can see it on the Wood Magazine website here.

Joe Harmon's Splinter Car

This wooden car is featured in Wood Magazine (October 2008 Issue 186). It is called the splinter. I found its finish interesting…fiberglass epoxy. Just like some TD builders use (myself included).

Joe Harmon is a grad student who is building the splinter sports car for his senior project. He has some pretty original designs and ideas for making bodies out of wood.

Read more at:

http://www.woodmagazine.com/community/a-240-mph-car-made-of-wood/
or
http://www.joeharmondesign.com/
or read his blog
http://joeharmon.blogspot.com/

The Discovery Channel featured the Splinter this week and tested his wooden wheels.  The spokes can withhold 6000# before failing.  That is impressive.  Joe hopes to get a job designing cars someday.  I think he is well on his way to accomplishing that goal.

I wonder what could be done for a TD with lightweight materials and epoxy like Joe Harmon is doing?  No matter what, his project is worth checking out.

As for our jPod project, it has received a first coat of primer and is now a white trailer.  It is a weird transition from the natural wood look to a shocking primer white.  Senior Management sanded, stripped the walls, and primed the jPod while I was at work.  She is putting in lots of time on it and it is looking nice.  I even have neighbors calling me to work on it while I am away.  They are people I trust so the project continues while I work.  It is nice to have such people.

Senior Management Gets Blue Collar

It has been a while since my last post & update.  Senior Management & I have been focused on the jPod more than the jPod website.  But for all of those people who have been keeping up, here is what has been going on.

I started teaching again so my life came to a complete stop.  However, Senior Management has been putting in the hours on the jPod getting it ready to be primed & painted (see Body:External).  She has spent hours of mind numbing time sanding the roof skin of the jPod, filling in holes with Bondo, and sanding the roof skin of the jPod.

I have put some time into the progress.  Mostly in helping to apply layers of epoxy, a bit of sanding, and coordinating people.  Friends and my parents have been volunteering to help with this project.  It is quite fun to do something like this as a way to hang out.

Lunch is cooking on the Camp Chef

Nathan (who comments on this site) and I calculated the required voltage for a convection toaster oven and realized that the battery on board wouldn’t stand a chance against a pizza in that toaster.  So I searched & found a solution to the power problem.  We purchased a Camp Chef Outdoor Oven (Pictured in The Galley).  It has two burners on top and an oven that can hold a 9×13″ pan.  So Back-country Lasagna sounds like my kind of roughing it.  I need to move the galley counter up 1.5 inches but I built some height flexibility into the wall framework and that should be no problem.  My mom tested the oven by making lunch on it one day while dad, Senior Management, and I worked on the jPod.  Excellent food from a great Camp Chef product.

Our goal is to have the jPod sealed up and weather worthy by the end of September.  We’ll keep pluggin’ away and see if that is actually possible.  I am gone all of next week for work so time is getting short.

Rug-ed

Much has happened since my last post.  However, almost all of what has happened does not involve the jPod.  The life of a teacher has overcome me like an ocean wave and I haven’t been able to work on the jPod.

Senior Management has done some work on it though.  She filled all of the staple holes in the roof and found a carpet remnant that we’ll use as the headliner inside the cabin (see Body:Internal).  It looks nice and will go with her color scheme for the inside of the cabin.

At some point I hope to be able to get a bit more work done on the jPod (even just as a stress reliever from work).

Skinned

Since my career has picked up again with the start of a new school year, most of my time has been devoted to preparing to teach my classes again.  I have also received a shot to help me with my allergies which is mildly helpful (at least it makes it less likely that I’ll suffocate).  In the middle of all of this change, Senior Management and I made some time to skin the jPod’s outside roof.

Router in insulation makes for a mess

We decided to run the 12v battery line through a 12 gauge extension cord.  It is really burly and replaces our previous plan of conduit with smaller gauge wire running through it.  Instead of carving out little channels in our insulation for the wiring, I chose to run the router through it with a straight bit.  It worked well but made quite a mess (see updated photos on Body:Internal).

We skinned the jPod and attached the skin with glue and staples.  We drove screws through the skin into the spars to hold the skin down while the glue dried.  Then senior Management removed all of the screws.  I trimmed the sides and it was done (see updated photos on Body: External).

Our next step is to prepare the doors and hatch for epoxy so that we can epoxy the roof, doors, and hatch at the same time.

Senior Management and I also made a change to our plans for the galley.  Nathan and I figured out the amount of electricity needed to use a convection toaster oven.  It is too much electricity for comfort.  So, Senior Management and I purchased a Camp Chef Outdoor Camp Oven.  It runs on propane and is an oven + burners.  You can read more about it here.

Rated R

Yesterday, I wired the cabin of the jPod.  Then Nathan (a good friend and faithful reader of this blog) and I insulated it with 1″ insulation.  The R values of the insulation dropped the temperature in the cabin considerably.

In our discussion, we determined the best physical places for various electrical components.  I am going to run a 12 gauge extension cord from the electrical panel in the cabin over the roof to the battery on the tongue box.  This will be strong enough to last a very long time and will not require conduit.  I also chose to put the cabin wiring in a separate line on the roof for the sake of space.

Separate Wiring for 12 lighting

I have received my harsh environment living hinge from McMasters.  I am quite impressed with it.  It will hold 100 lbs. per square inch and supposedly is next to impossible to damage.  I will use this hinge on the two side doors.

Senior Management skinned the side doors yesterday.  They look great and she did an awesome job.

Today, is my last day as a teacher on vacation.  I am going to try to get some more work done on the jPod before tomorrow.  After that, it may be a while before I can work on it more.

Workin’ in the Shade

A lot has happened in the past few days.  I have spent some time working on the jPod.  Senior Management and I have also had to deal with some aspects of reality in life as well (all of which are distracting from the build).  The good news is that the internal roof skin is now installed.

Skinned just before it got dark

I have read about the process to put the skin in but haven’t been able to find photos on the Internet so Senior Management shot photos while I prepped the skin for installation.  It was fairly easy.  On our first try, the skin was just enough too wide that there was too much friction to move it into position.  With all of the attempts to push it into place, I cracked one of the pieces of skin.  So out it came and I glued it up again.

The real way to put the skin in is with boiling water.  You can read more about this process on Body:Internal.

Today, I plan to do some spot checks on the internal skin to make sure everything is tight.  Then I’ll run the router through the vent hole in the ceiling and along the back where the galley hinge will be.  Next will be wiring and insulation.  I think I am pretty pleased with my wiring diagram on Body:Internal and plan to stick pretty close to that design.

Since my last post was a while ago, I have shot many new photos (about 60).  I have put some of the better ones (for illustration purpose not quality photography) on Body:External & Body: Internal.

With the roof in, soon I’ll be workin’ in the shade!

Son of a Biscuit

One of my fears became a reality today.  I fear making a major mistake that requires the entire US gov. to help cover up.

Today was somewhat productive.  I managed to work on the jPod between yard-work and other duties.    I did some follow-up sealing work underneath the trailer where the walls attach to the floor. I also got the inside of one wall wired up and skinned.

Drilled a 5/8" hole too low. Now what?!?!?!?

Right at the end of the day, I decided to cut the newly skinned inside for the doorways, electrical access, and windows.  I pulled out the router and cut away.  The “oh-poop” moment struck when I drilled a pilot hole for the router that should have been in the electrical access point on the galley bulkhead.  I was confused by some of my pencil marks on the wall and drilled it too low.  SON OF A BISCUIT!  Of course by this point, my polyurethane adhesive was pretty much dried and nothing would pull the skin off of the inside unless it was a good fire.

So I have a 5/8 hole to work with.  I don’t want to patch it because that will show through a natural finish.  I need to find a creative way to work with the hole.  Apparently, my brain hates me and thinks that the challenge of building a tear for the first time isn’t quite enough problem solving.  Oh well.

I have updated my Body:External page with new photos & Body: Internal with the pictures of the new skin.

In a more joyful mood, I ordered the hinges for the cabin doors.  I decided to go with McMaster’s Harsh Environment Living Hinge.  It is a UV resistant plastic hinge that can hold 100lbs per square inch.  It should be durable and will be easier to seal up than a conventional piano hinge.  Plus, it should be pretty quiet.  I’ll add McMasters to my Material Supplier page when I receive the hinges.