Writing you from the train
 

5 years, 4 dogs, 1 recipe (huh? Read on, my friend)

 
 
 
 


Moving backwards (literally), swaying in my seat, and hoping I don’t get “car” sick in the next 3 hours. I am currently on a train heading from Seattle to Portland where I’ve been visiting with family + friends and celebrating a friend’s wedding (sprinkled with some work here and there). It’s my first time on a train in the states aaaaaand I regret my decision of seat choice. We’ll see how much of this letter I’ll get through in this sitting (a ginger chew may be necessary).

Last we left off my partner and I were still in California heading up to Seattle.

The beginning of April marked our 5 year anniversary which we celebrated in California wine country: Sonoma County. Friends of ours who live in the area set up a wine tasting for us to celebrate! We ate some very yummy cheese and olives while tasting some incredible wines.

The view from our “treehouse” Hipcamp!

Extra brownie points: my partner surprised me with a Hipcamp (airbnb for “camping”) for us over the weekend! Only a 30 minute drive from the winery, we were enjoying the redwood trees from a hot tub and sauna.

As you can imagine, there’s not a whole lot of camping in this area of California, so we continued our way north and found a free campground in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. It was a nice campground once we cleaned up the trash and compost piles. Unfortunately, trash clean up is a regular occurrence for most campsites we visit. Some areas it’s no more than a little bit of glass on the ground, but with the dogs we have to keep our areas as clean as possible to keep them safe! So count this as a PSA to pack out what you pack in when camping.

📍Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, California

We stayed here for a few days, enjoying the sunshine and continuous playlist of birds chirping, wind in the trees, and trickling streams. I finished up the last of the soldering work for my first collection of work since moving on the road (coming to meghanelisabethart.com this Thursday at 5pm pst!) and I sufficiently drained the battery with my pickle pot (a small crock pot that’s used to heat an acid solution for cleaning silver after soldering).

It was sunny at the campground, but our site was in a shaded area so our solar production wasn’t sufficient enough for my partner to work his job (double whoops for draining the battery). Which means we had to drive to another campsite to charge up!

Unfortunately, the site we planned on reaching was inaccessible. The road had washed out and was closed down as a result, so we ended up at a 💰 campground for the night. This has been a common occurrence throughout California, making finding (free) campsites incredibly difficult. It took my partner an entire day to find campgrounds options to visit with friends over the weekend, where we ultimately settled upon a $25 a night (+ popular) campground outside of Sacramento.

Despite it’s popularity, the campground was basically empty when we arrived mid-week. Rain kept us inside for awhile, but I made the most of it work wise —

Filing + sawing in the camper ⚒️

Once the weekend rolled around though, so did the RVs and cars. We still had an incredible time visiting with friends and the dogs (all 4!) got along great. The wildflowers were gorgeous, and the sun came out for a beautiful weekend along Black Butte Lake!

After visiting with friends, we made the “quick” 2-day drive to Portland to visit family and begin some of the many errands that have built up over the last few months. Then we were off to Seattle!

While visiting with friends and family over the last few weeks, we’ve been asked how everything has been going — do you have enough space, is showering annoying, did you forget anything important, etc. But the most asked question we’ve had is how we have managed cooking in the camper.

As you can imagine, the kitchen is a small space.

It consists of a counter space, sink, and stove top — all of which are around the same size. One of the items we had built prior to leaving helped the functionality of the space so much, though: a sink cover than doubles as a cutting board. The best part? The board fits perfectly in the silverware drawer to give the kitchen counter an “L” shape and add more counter space!

Side note: I had the cutting board commissioned by a wood artist based in Bend, Oregon named Travis Cope. I have two pieces of his and love them both! You can check out Travis’ work here.

My partner and I love to cook, but since moving into the camper we’ve had to pare down to our go-to recipes to those with simple prep that take minimal time and fewer dishes. With there being interest on how we manage cooking while still making yummy meals, I figured I’d start sharing some of our favorite recipes that meet the small kitchen criteria. Plus, we could all use some new go-to meals that have incredible flavor + don’t require tons of effort, right?

Here’s the first of our go-to meals we can’t get enough of:

Coconut Chana Saag

If you like chickpeas, tomatoes, and Indian food — you’re going to love this one! This meal makes tons of leftovers, and it tastes even better the next day. Takes a total of 30 minutes!

It is a lot of ingredients, but I promise it comes together quickly —

2 tbsp refined coconut oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

2 tbsp mild curry powder

1 tsp salt

Several pinches freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp anise seeds (or crushed fennel seeds)

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne

(1) 24 oz can whole tomatoes

(2) 15 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed + drained

8 oz kale, chopped (~1 bunch)

(1) 14 oz can coconut milk, regular or lite

2 tbsp fresh lime juice (~1 lime)

Optional: cilantro + rice

Heat a 4 quart pot over medium heat and add the coconut oil. Sauté the onion for 5 to 7 minutes until lightly browned.

Add the garlic and ginger and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spices (curry powder, salt, pepper, anise seeds, garam masala, cumin, and cayenne) and toss to coat the onions, letting the spices toast for about a minute.

Add the tomato juice from the can, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Hold the tomatoes with your hand and let the juice strain through your fingers. Then add the tomatoes, squishing them with your fingers as you add them to the pot. Add the chickpeas and mix well.

Cover the pot and bring the heat up a bit. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the kale and stir until wilted, then let simmer for 5 more minutes, uncovered.

Add the coconut milk and heat through. Add the lime juice, them taste for seasoning. Taste is best if you let it sit for about 10 minutes!

Serve over rice with cilantro on top.

Let me know if you try it!


Next letter:

Blue Seattle skies, spring skiing, a wedding, a market, and an oil leak ☀️

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As always, thanks for reading 💕

P.S.

Let me know any questions you have about Bruce, traveling tips you’d like to hear about, recommendations for apps or items to use while camping, etc. — I’d love this space to be more than a just recount of our travels! Leave a comment with your questions or requests and I’ll begin incorporating them into future letters.

 
 
 

 
 


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