Someone else is already bringing the Bug Juice . . .
May 4, 2013 4:47 AM Subscribe
We're throwing a camping-themed birthday party for a co-worker next week. I need to bring some treats!
My co-workers and I are VERY BIG on themes for birthdays. Next week we're throwing a camping themed birthday party. I don't camp! Please help me come up with some ideas of snacks/treats that I can bring that incorporate a camping theme! Bonus points if I can give it a fun name--like "Campfire Cupcakes". The idea is not to necessarily bring foods that would be actually eaten while camping--more along the lines of snacks that can be given fun camping type names or that would resemble camping gear or supplies. For example, someone is bringing a bowl of different sizes of pretzel sticks and will call it "Campfire Kindling". We will, of course, also have "Bug Juice". Please help me think of some other ideas!
My co-workers and I are VERY BIG on themes for birthdays. Next week we're throwing a camping themed birthday party. I don't camp! Please help me come up with some ideas of snacks/treats that I can bring that incorporate a camping theme! Bonus points if I can give it a fun name--like "Campfire Cupcakes". The idea is not to necessarily bring foods that would be actually eaten while camping--more along the lines of snacks that can be given fun camping type names or that would resemble camping gear or supplies. For example, someone is bringing a bowl of different sizes of pretzel sticks and will call it "Campfire Kindling". We will, of course, also have "Bug Juice". Please help me think of some other ideas!
Ciroc makes smores flavored vodka!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:24 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:24 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
I know you said it doesn't have to be actual camping food, but you cannot get any more "camping-themed treat" than S'mores. Use marshmallow fluff instead of actual marshmallows so you don't have to melt them on a fire.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:24 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by Rock Steady at 5:24 AM on May 4, 2013
Everybody has said smores, so I will go in another direction. Get some cocktail wieners and broil them so they look like they were cooked over a campfire. Serve with ketchup, or with a dipping sauce made from 1/3 cup black currant jam mixed with 1/2 cup american mustard (heat this sauce up so the jam and mustard mix properly).
posted by LN at 5:37 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by LN at 5:37 AM on May 4, 2013
Whatever you bring, put it in a bag and suspend it from the ceiling. Because bears.
posted by The White Hat at 5:54 AM on May 4, 2013 [21 favorites]
posted by The White Hat at 5:54 AM on May 4, 2013 [21 favorites]
Indoor s'mores don't really capture the real magic of a flaming marshmallow. I would suggest s'more bars, which are essentially rice krispie treats made with golden grahams and some chocolate chips. Here is the official recipe from Betty Crocker. They're delicious.
posted by Polyhymnia at 6:09 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by Polyhymnia at 6:09 AM on May 4, 2013
Toast the marshmallows over candles. Gourmet nixed my first instinct, toasting over sterno.
posted by apparently at 6:30 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by apparently at 6:30 AM on May 4, 2013
This may be overly complicated, but my first thought was to find a dirt cake recipe, make it into cupcakes, intersperse the "dirt" (crushed Oreos) with some splashes of green frosting for grass or PB for mud, and use Wheat Thins or another type of flat cracker, candy, or cookie to make a little rustic "tent" on top of each cake (kinda like this). Pup tent cakes?
Also, too: Pigs-in-a-blanket could be re-imagined as campers wrapped up in sleeping bags.
Check this out!
posted by divined by radio at 6:48 AM on May 4, 2013
Also, too: Pigs-in-a-blanket could be re-imagined as campers wrapped up in sleeping bags.
Check this out!
posted by divined by radio at 6:48 AM on May 4, 2013
ants on a log
I'd also do gourmet s'mores: Take a graham cracker, spread it with nutella, top with either a marshmallow or mashmallow fluff, then broil (in toaster oven or regular oven) until the marshmallow is melty & brown.
posted by belladonna at 6:59 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'd also do gourmet s'mores: Take a graham cracker, spread it with nutella, top with either a marshmallow or mashmallow fluff, then broil (in toaster oven or regular oven) until the marshmallow is melty & brown.
posted by belladonna at 6:59 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
Campfire Cake. (Website chosen by flailing around Google Images; I don't know how that particular recipe is.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:24 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:24 AM on May 4, 2013
Something spicy for 'fire'...
I'm sorry to bring up s'mores again, but there's a recipe I have been dying to try for years which would, I think, recreate the s'more experience quite well. Basically: graham cracker crust, chocolate ganache, arranged marshmallows on top, and- the crucial point- bring a little kitchen torch with you and brulee the top of the pie until slightly burnt just before serving.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:27 AM on May 4, 2013
I'm sorry to bring up s'mores again, but there's a recipe I have been dying to try for years which would, I think, recreate the s'more experience quite well. Basically: graham cracker crust, chocolate ganache, arranged marshmallows on top, and- the crucial point- bring a little kitchen torch with you and brulee the top of the pie until slightly burnt just before serving.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:27 AM on May 4, 2013
Topo Map Cake! (although maybe that's more for a backpacking themed party.)
posted by vespabelle at 9:02 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by vespabelle at 9:02 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
Broiler for s'mores - excellent plan.
Biscuit-wrapped hot dogs
Baked beans, potato salad, watermelon, kabobs should all be on the menu. You can make baked potatoes where you partially slice the potato and insert thin slices of onion and butter, wrap in foil, and bake. They're yummy.
Do you know anybody who camps, or would have a kerosene lantern or 2? You can buy candle lanterns. They're useful for emergencies, as well, so not a useless investment.
A headlamp is a useful thing to own, too.
You van make tin can lanterns, similar to this, with tin cans. Fill with water, freeze, use hammer and nail to make design.
If you have a grill, or a place to have a fire outside, it's fun to cook chunks of kabob, or just slices of kielbasa, on the fire. You can buy barbecue forks at Goodwill inexpensively.
Camping means ants. Lots of ants.
posted by theora55 at 10:22 AM on May 4, 2013
Biscuit-wrapped hot dogs
Baked beans, potato salad, watermelon, kabobs should all be on the menu. You can make baked potatoes where you partially slice the potato and insert thin slices of onion and butter, wrap in foil, and bake. They're yummy.
Do you know anybody who camps, or would have a kerosene lantern or 2? You can buy candle lanterns. They're useful for emergencies, as well, so not a useless investment.
A headlamp is a useful thing to own, too.
You van make tin can lanterns, similar to this, with tin cans. Fill with water, freeze, use hammer and nail to make design.
If you have a grill, or a place to have a fire outside, it's fun to cook chunks of kabob, or just slices of kielbasa, on the fire. You can buy barbecue forks at Goodwill inexpensively.
Camping means ants. Lots of ants.
posted by theora55 at 10:22 AM on May 4, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Dirt Cake
Indoor Smores
Campfire cupcakes sound great. Just make chocolate cupcakes and swirl orange and yellow frosting on top.
Pigs in blankets could be "boyscouts in sleeping bags."
I can't think of a camping name for tortilla pinwheels, but they are easy to make and always a hit.
posted by bunderful at 5:23 AM on May 4, 2013