From their chef s kit they pull out sharp knives, cutting boards, potato peelers and wire whisks, while assistants place well seasoned dutch ovens on tables. Camp stoves are fired up and coals ignited. Then from the ice chests and food coolers comes an endless array of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables. While the entrees are being prepared, appetizers are arranged neatly and decoratively on a separate table. It could be crab dip, shrimp cocktails, fruit bowls or nachos with a spicy cheese sauce.
Guides consider each evening s meal a masterpiece, and they work hard to produce it.
On a particular night, you might have poppy seed chicken with rice pilaf and glazed carrots or marinated steaks cooked to order with dutch oven potatoes and a Mandarin fruit salad. Then, as if by magic, there appears on the camp table a delicious dessert. It is the crowning effort of the guide s time in the kitchen. It is their moment to shine. They ll bake chocolate cakes and marble cakes, spice cakes and upside down cakes.