i love going camping. hiking, campfires, friends, good times, good food. to me, each camping adventure is a fun food challenge. this trip, i decided to cook whole chicken on the campfire. originally i was going to use a little bbq grill that is stored in the pop-up camper, but then decided to use the campfire pit. the charcoal briskets were placed underneath the grill and we had no idea if this was going to work or not. was the fire going to burn the chicken to a crisp? will we have to eat chips and dip for dinner?

when i picked up the chicken at the store, i had the butcher take out the backbone so it would lay flat on the grill. i then placed some lemon slices underneath the skin. rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil covered the bird before it was placed on the fire. i also used the top from the bbq grill to cover the bird for even cooking. the moment of truth came when i needed to flip the chicken over. i have to say, as soon as i flipped it and saw how golden brown the first side was, i got really excited. it was actually working! the final results were yummy, yummy. the chicken was still moist and tender, the skin was golden. the happy dance began. along with the meal we had foil pouches of zucchini, squash and onions. dessert consisted of an apple crumble cooked in a small cast iron skillet over the fire. overall, dinner was a success!

what can i come up with for the next trip?