While kissing my daughter goodnight, she remarked, “You smell like ham.”

Lo and behold, she was right. Turns out, it’s my watchband. It smells like delicious fried ham.

Why? Because the night before, we had a beach bonfire! The kids played in the water while I got the fire going and cooked dinner. Steaks and burgers, plus potatoes, brocolli and eggplant cooking over mesquite logs. Afterwards, a nice hot cup of tea for all the grownups.

Everyone smelled deliciously smokey that night. Turns out my leather watchband absorbed some of that mesquite smoke. A wonderful way to remind me of a delightful day.

For the record, here’s my packing list and lessons learned for the next time we do this.

Bonfire list for Bolsa Chica State Park. It’s sandy and windy. Big waves. Glaring sun. Chilly and damp at night.

FUN AND COMFORT

wood (5+ hardwood logs + 3 Pine starter logs) + firestarter + newspaper

chairs to sit in

boogie boards and other fun water toys.

towels – lots!

blankets for sand, blankets for warmth

Jackets + Windbreakers

folding tables (more the merrier)

poker for fire or even 2 long sticks.

candles for light – fun! -needs wind protection

beach umbrella

sunscreen

a tent? Or canopy? Easy take down in dark and wind important.

Flashlights! Lanterns! More, the merrier.

Rake + Shovel + Magnet due to nasty sand around firepit.

A whisk broom to brush sand off edge of firepit?

FOODSTUFFS

Think convenience for cooking AND for eating. Lap eating (No tables for eating) Eating one handed. Windy + Sandy. Minimize having to get up and get stuff. Foods that if it gets cold, no big deal.

e.g.

Barbecued corn.

Foil wrapped potatoes.

I enjoyed the grilled brocolli and eggplant.

Grilled steaks, burgers, chicken, fish, hot dogs. I brought an entire tenderloin which I had to slice up at the beach. Better to cut up meat before hand, so don’t have to get cutting board covered in raw meat.

Shishkebob would be ok if prepared in advance (too messy otherwise to prepare).

Dough? – Having tried to cook dough on fire and on a stick, needs to have dutch oven so that heat comes from all sides, not just bottom.

Potato chips – snacks – crackers.

Buns, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, cheese

Marshmallows – chocolate – graham crackers!

COOKINGSTUFFS

Campfire grate for cooking

Cookin’ irons – Big tongs, spatula, fork, etc

Plenty of foil

Cookie tray or griddle or whatever pans & pots needed for meal

Dutch oven for bread?

Wash cloths – lots – for wiping hands, picking up hot things, etc

Cooking knife (cleaver was non pointy & easy to wrap in stiff paper)

Cutting board (cut the veggies before the meat)

Sturdy pliers for holding hot metal (maybe?)

Cooking oil

Lawrys or salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, etc

Sharp knife + fork for cutting up cooked food. (Serving ware)

Serving plates to hold cooked food. Or those aluminum serving pans.

Plenty of paper towels. (Wipes too?)

Plates, cups, knives, forks, spoons

Big trashbag

Sticks for roasting marshmallows

Kettle

Tea and hot chocolate and apple cider mix

Travel mugs to hold hot beverages

Plenty of paper bags, plastic bags to hold stuff to go there, hold things while there and pack things afterwards.

DRINKSTUFFS

cooler

water jug for cooking, cleaning, drinking

basin/bowl to hold water for washing

washcloths.

alcohol is not allowed so hidden or none

ice

drinks (cups?)

Water bottle

NOTES

We were worried about no firepits being available. Arrived 5 pm on Aug 30, 2009. Hot day. Weekend before Labor Day. Parking lot looked crowded, but M____ could see available fire pits as we drove down. Ranger at front said not likely to get fire pit, but there were plenty. Someone was leaving a firepit at the first parking lot we pulled into. Seems like there’s plenty of turnover.

It took about 50 min from lighting the fire to being able to cook. Used newspaper and firestarter and pine logs. After 5 min, put the mesquite logs on. I arranged the 4-5 burning logs in a row and placed the cooking grate over it at ~30-40 min. Due to people being hungry, I started cooking at ~40 min but I think too many flames at that point- the veggies got burnt. Maybe corn in the husk, potatoes in foil OK to start at 40 min. I threw an extra log alongside the coals at this point so that would have new source of coals for marshmallows, boiling water, etc. This was a good idea as this log burned slowly and steadily. By the 60 min mark, nice steady heat from coals. After cooking main course, I put the kettle on the grate for hot drinks afterwards. By the time dinner done, hot water ready. If doing dutch oven, nice to have 2-3 extra logs to put on top and bottom and not take space on grate. Mesquite logs were good because they held heat a long time, and they had pleasant aroma and flavored the meat a bit.

I was worried about smoke and soot staining cooking pans. But the kettle seemed perfectly fine after being on grill for a long time, though a bit ashy.