Vermont State Parks is starting a new program geared towards helping campers and would-be campers enjoy cooking over a campfire at Vermont's 55 state parks.
Their partner and campfire cook in residence will be Suzanne Podhaizer, who is a chef, journalist, cooking educator, and erstwhile goose farmer.
Podhaizer was the first food editor for Seven Days. She owned Salt Café - a farm-to-table restaurant in Montpelier - and is a founder of Sel de la Terre, a multifaceted food education, multimedia, and consulting business that offers public and private cooking classes, recipe development, and pop-up dinners.
“Everyone knows that cooking and eating in the outdoors is one of the best parts of camping,” Director of State Parks Craig Whipple said in a news release. “And, with Vermont's robust local food culture, we're delighted for Suzanne's help pioneering Vermont's farm-to-picnic-table movement.”
All summer, Vermont State Parks will be sharing creative recipes that can be prepared with minimal equipment, and which make use of the bounty of ingredients made and grown by the state's farmers and food producers.
Each week, a set of themed recipes and photographs of dishes created in Vermont State Park campgrounds will be released. Cooking videos, blogs, printed cooking pamphlets, and online resources will be available, and cooking classes will be offered at some of the most popular parks.
If you have any “burning” camp cooking questions, email [email protected], and they'll help you find the answer.
At the end of the season, the recipes developed and field tested will be collected into a Vermont State Parks Campfire Cookbook. Find our more at vtstateparks.com/vtstateparkscooks.html.