Weekend #10: Cathedrals and the boundless energy of youth

Well preparation was put aside for half the weekend, that I could spent time with family (particularly my nephews, who are vying with each other for 1st and 2nd on the international scale of cuteness and one of whom has near-limitless energy).

Walk-wise, Sunday was more productive (although much less cute) in doing a daywalk up Cathedral Rock. I was forced to divest myself of vest, when someone else wanted to try the steep ascent with the extra weight to test her pack-fitness. A few litres of water in my daypack were scant substitute, but I think I'm theoretically still meant to be resting that knee... Pah, details! Some of the walking time was also quite usefully spent discussing more gear and food preparation.

The view from the top was as pretty as it always is, though marred by the approach of the day's promised showers... Grey, featureless blobs had been strewn across the patchwork green, sapping the light from the sun that might otherwise have shone upon the verdant forests. Oh well, the view was worth it regardless of the rain's intervention.

Filled with planning energy, I started a round of dehydration experiments that evening. Lunches are my present focus. Wraps and the old vita-weats are great, but only with sufficient flavouring. Lacking the array of fresh cuisine that I'd normally use, thoughts have turned instead to relishes and dips, particularly to which of these can be stored in dehydrated form for later use. Some ideas on how to preserve some vegetables in fresh form at the food drops (some food is being walked in and left in advance, which will have to survive a few weeks unattended) are being tested on my kitchen bench. We'll see how successful they are when I break the seals in a couple of weeks.

I also started making some flavour-bombs to spice up the blandest of meals (which ours won't be, of course). A previous dehydration experiment demonstrated the brilliance of dried onion. It tastes like concentrated onion rings, despite lacking both the grease and greasy batter. In short, sprinkle some flakes on a meal to give it crunch and added flavour. Dried garlic is apparently similarly useful. I always dry mushrooms and some other veggies. What other flavours can I concentrate and improve with the miracle that is warm air?