I was in my freshman year at college, when I noticed a small notice in the school paper:

I was very curious and decided to attend the meeting to find out more.  Several nights later, I found out that by going to a class three times in the evening, spending two Saturdays up the canyon cooking outdoors, and taking  a final, I could get one hour of credit from the Recreation Management department!  This was definitely for me, so I signed up immediately.

The class was being taught by Dian Thomas who wrote  Roughing It Easy, which were to serve as our "textbook" for the class.  Dian had accumulated many tips and tricks for making it easier to cook and get by outdoors while camping and wrote this book to share those ideas.  She was a regular on the TV talk shows (like Johnny Carson) in the 70's and 80's demonstrating fun ways to cook outdoors.

So I spent a few evenings in class, learning about her techniques and methods from Dian and then found out that we would each pick several methods to demonstrate to the rest of the class at our Saturday labs (cookouts up the canyon!).  Great fun for a college freshman!

I don't remember all the specific things that I demonstrated, but I do remember that we ate well and that this was by far the most fun that I EVER had in a college class.

Check out Roughing It Easy for a great book with tons of tips and methods, making it great fun to cook outdoors!  I still have a copy or two of this book that I've found at used book stores.

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