Camping Coffee

When I first started camping with Stewart, our styles meshed with each other and we had a good old time. Simple, easy food to cook and eat. Then we started camping with a group of lesbians. The first night, when we broke out our hot dogs and baked beans, we were ridiculed by the fresh catfish, cilantro, and minced garlic we were seeing prepared on the next picnic table over. "Would you like a piece of papaya?" asked one of our friends, holding out a tray of just sliced fruit.

And then there was the coffee. You could not bring a jar of Sanka anywhere near these people. They had battery-powered coffee bean grinders (no battery-powered jokes here, please) and fresh beans and elaborate coffee brewers. Eventually we gave in to the pressure and got a Bodum coffee press but damn if I was going to be grinding beans at a campsite.

Once we had our kids our camping days were over. Or were they? Two little boys are the perfect mascots for a camping trip, so we finally ventured out with them last weekend. Let me tell you, coffee is a necessity now more than ever. And it must be made quickly and with minimal mess.

So thank goodness Jennifer Miner pressed a small box into my hand at BlogHer '09 a week before my camping trip. I didn't even think about it at the time, because of all the other freebies I got that weekend. But! Back at home when I unpacked I found...

Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee Packets. Oh yes, people. It's true. They exist, and they are Mommy's Little Camping Helper.