The March/April 2011 issue of Washington Trails has arrived and the news is out: it is now in full color! Glorious full color and still uses post consumer recycled paper – at no use of more membership dollars either! It is fantastic looking and this month’s issue has a great in-depth article on pioneer women in the outdoors – in the Pacific Northwest.

And be sure to check out page 36 for our “Trail Eats” column. This month is two easy packing meals -

Peanut Butter Granola Cups:

Savory Tuna Salad:

~Sarah

One Pot Chickpea Pasta is a delicious vegetarian friendly one pot dish:

Carrot Cake In A Bowl, a twist on oatmeal for breakfast:

The third recipe is for Soft Lentil Tacos, a fun take on trail tacos! For that one you have to go get a copy!

Our other news? Just showing up is the March 2011 issue of Backpacker Magazine to mailboxes and newsstands. Sarah and Cat along with a couple of good friends/hiking partners did a lot of gear testing this past summer/fall. A lot of testing.Thanks go out to Jared, Lynn and Steve (and Cat) for all their help – you peeps are stellar! So what was all that gear testing about? Cookware (not shocking, eh?). A lot of cookware! From hard anodized aluminum, stainless steel to titanium we saw it all. And abused it!

Check out the 2 page article on pages 52 and 53. I can say one thing: I have no desire ever, ever, ever to cook dozens of eggs again over canister stoves. It was quite an honor to be asked to do the article (and an incentive to get others on the trail!) Be sure to read the sidebar for a couple of my favorite items. So go! Get yer copy! I didn’t put my hiking partners into slaveitude for fun (oh wait, yes I did)…it was for your benefit. Research and all that .

~Sarah and Kirk

This issue our column was part of a multi page spread on the joys of snowshoeing, covering where to go, what to nosh on and what to bring along. The article can be read online in PDF format: Go By Snowshoe.

New recipes for the magazine were on the delights of hiking in cold weather, ie. getting to indulge in bad for you treats!

Easy Nut and Chocolate Truffles:

Trail Mochas:

Mocha Pudding:

~Sarah

Some of the recipes were recently added to the website for archiving so you may have missed them – but don’t hesitate to try them out before the end of summer!

I will add to Trail Cooking in a month or so the newest recipes. This month’s issue is all about foraging and we did two recipes using found items -

Blackberry Green Beans

Nettle Pesto Pasta

Our first issue was September/October of 2009:

Curried Salmon Pilaf

Double Ginger Huckleberry Cobbler

November/December 2009:

Blustery Day Double Potato Chowder

Harvest Pasta

January/February 2010:

Spam©-Tastic Fried Rice

Cherry Chicken Couscous

March/April 2010:

Hiker’s Primavera Pasta

Cran-Mac Caramel Bars

May/June 2010:

Last Minute Meat and Olive Pizzas

Pina Colada Mini Pies

July/August 2010:

Asian Chicken Slaw Wraps

Ice Cream In a Bag!

PS: And as always….if you live in or love the great Pacific Northwest please check out what WTA does for this area!

~Sarah

Find Tropical Summer Mini pies:

and Last Minute Meat and Olive Pizza Pies:

PS: The articles on Washington’s volcanoes is a definite reader. Fascinating stuff!

~Sarah

Kirk and I have two recipes, found on page 33. The theme is one heavy and one light recipe!

Check out the Cherry Chicken Couscous recipe, the “Light” one for a healthy and quick FBC friendly meal:

And the Spam©-Tastic Fried Rice recipe, the “Heavy” winter friendly one pot hybrid meal:

PS: As always, Kirk takes the great photos!

~Sarah

We have two recipes for the chilly fall weather in the just out new issue (November/December 2009) of Washington Trails – a hearty chowder and a pasta dish. Look for us on pages 23 and 33. To see one of the recipes open the PDF for “Snowshoe Mount Baker”.

~Sarah

I developed two recipes for the Huckleberry picking season (which yummo, is in full swing right now in the high mountains!) – Double Ginger Huckleberry Cobbler and Curried Salmon Pilaf. The page is in full color, along with a photo of the cobbler by Kirk.

I love picking wild berries and have written a couple pages on the ethics of it, what to look for and how to do it on Trailcooking. Take a look at them and get out there before the frost comes!

When the article goes to PDF I will post it on the website for everyone to enjoy! WTA is one of the best non profits out there – they are responsible for why we in Washington have so many nice trails to hike on – membership starts at $20 for students, $35 and up for everyone else – and all members receive the magazine as part of their sign up! In Washington you can also find the magazine at REI and a number of magazine racks.

~Sarah

One of our loyal readers mentioned how much her family loved trying out the recent recipe for Southwest Chicken Wraps. For those asking about it, here is the link for the Pesto Salmon Pasta I mentioned in the talk.

Cat took some shots of the booth:

Cozies and handouts, with me in the background….

White Box Stoves, books and long handled spoons:

White Box Stoves, GSI tea kettles and more:

More cooking gear along with our full color info sheets for perusing info on the gear:

The Bargain Bin table. We had some great deals and came home with a lot less of it. Still some to be had on our website though!

Woks and cooking sets, utensils and more.. see above for the link!

The heat was pretty overwhelming, so on a wing I changed the presentation – I cut it short so everyone wouldn’t be sweltering, as all the seats under the REI sponsored presentation tent were taken and many were sitting on the lawn around it. Had some great Q&A with the audience and more after we ended. Thank you to the ladies who helped me pack up!

Teresa and Jared both dropped by for it, Teresa grabbed some photos as well (thank you!)

On a side note, I met the very nice author of Angels In The Wilderness, Amy Racina. Fantastic book! Do check her website out, her story is both cautionary and inspiring.

As well, the folks at Evergreen Escapes had a new drool worthy bio fueled Mercedes van there. Ooh-la-la!

OR was there with lots of bargains to be had. Picked up a new pair of gaiters for my trail runners at a nice 25% off. They are the Flex-Tech’s with the new instep strap. And no snaps. That will make them much nicer when wearing my low cuts!

Thank you to everyone, it was a nice day!

~Sarah

Speaking of that presentation, the theme this year is ‘Frugal Gourmet’ and it touches on both FBC and one pot meals. I am showcasing how you can take simple ingredients and serve up something tasty – while not going broke.

!!WTA will have a raffle (free) for the attendees for a FBC Starter Kit and a super awesome gift certificate for FIFTY DOLLARS to spend at PackitGourmet on all the cool ingredients to get a kick start on making those meals!! As well, all attendees will receive a 10% offer for PackitGourmet. Our presentation is at Noon – so think lunch and you won’t forget.

Catzia will be running the booth once again, so if you don’t see me, ask her and she will know where I am if you get to stop by.

PS: We will be continuing our giveaway of longhandled spoons to those stopping by – till we run out. As well, we will be running a bargain table of close outs at very good prices.

Hope to see many of you – the weather is predicted currently to be balmy and sunny, so come on out!

~Sarah