While it can be pretty tough to mow the lawn when living on the side of wooded mountaintop, there are a few perks that totally make up for it.

Like seeing some unique wildlife that many others may never have the chance to check out.It can be a great surprise to wake up in the morning and see a flock of wild turkeys mosey across the backyard. One time, our daughter spotted a large black bear from our bathroom window.

But sometimes it is the smaller creatures that can ignite the curiosity. Our daughters love finding critters under old stumps and dead leaves … especially salamanders. In our little neck of the woods outside of Middleburg, the Eastern Redback Salamander (pictured below) is by far the easiest to find.

But it was the Eastern Red Salamander (pictured at top of post) that got my attention Monday while I was mowing down the jungle that had become our front yard this spring. Fortunately, the blades of our Bolens riding tractor left the amphibian unharmed and I was able to spy it when stopping the mower for a refueling.

I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors, but have never seen a Red Salamander in person before. They range from four to six inches in length and while this guy was on the lower end of that scale, I was immediately impressed with its size.

Of course, the bright red/orange color was what I first noticed. It wasn’t too keen on moving … staying mostly stationary as I ran for the camera and to show it off to my wife. A little while later, it was completely gone … hopefully finding a new home where the mower wouldn’t bother it.

Salamanders themselves are very cool creatures, indeed. They spend their entire lives typically within a very small distance — sometimes within just a few yards of where they were born. Some species have tongues nearly 10 times as long as their bodies. Many species of salamanders don’t have lungs but instead breathe through their skin.

However, the coolest thing about salamanders is their ability to regenerate limbs, toes, a tail or even major internal organs over a couple-week period.

Our wild surroundings here in central Pennsylvania offer quite a smorgasbord of neat critters to see and enjoy … but none are more unique than the variety of salamanders that roam our woods and waterways.

On your next camping trip, it’s OK to leave behind the graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey’s chocolate bars.

In fact, you can leave the mountain pie makers in storage, too.I know … visions of Smores have been dancing in your head all winter as you’ve longed to satisfy your sweet tooth while sitting beside a relaxing campfire under a sky filled with countless stars while spring peepers serenade you into a camping stupor. And yes, I know that camping without Smores may seem like going to the movies without popcorn.

But there’s no need to fear … eclairs are here. Campfire eclairs, to be more specific.

Easy to make and extremely tasty, you’ll be hooked after the first bite. Smores are so yesterday. Eclairs are the snacking future of campfire lovers everywhere. The original idea for this is thanks to my wife’s eagle eye while scanning Pinterest.

Three simple ingredients are all that you’ll need. A can of crescent rolls, a pack of pre-made vanilla pudding and chocolate fudge frosting. Our trial run with the campfire eclairs included Hunt’s Snack Pack vanilla pudding and Pillsbury chocolate frosting, but any brand will likely do just fine.

The first step is preparing an official eclair stick. These are thicker than the typical hot dog or marshmallow roasting stick you’re used to. Finding the perfect-sized stick may take some trial and error to suit your needs, but something with a diameter between a quarter and a ritz cracker will do.

Once you choose a stick, whittle off the bark at one end, cleaning off any dirt or shavings as you go. As you see with our official eclair stick in the photo above, we cleaned a nice-sized section of stick … about six inches long.

Once this is done, you can place the whittled end of your stick in the fire for a minute or so to sterilize it. Once your eclair stick is complete, the rest of the process moves along pretty quickly.

1. Open the can of crescent rolls and take out one triangular piece of dough. Start wrapping it from the smallest end to the biggest around the whittled end of your stick so it looks like the dough in the picture above.

2. Roast the dough-covered end of your stick over the fire safely above the flames. This is something you’ll need to constantly monitor and turn to eliminate burning. Just like roasting the perfectly tanned marshmallow, cooking your eclair isn’t a hard thing to accomplish as long as you pay attention and keep it a safe distance from the flames.

3. Once your crescent roll is golden-brown, pull your stick back from the fire and carefully slide the cooked dough off the end of your eclair stick. The cooked dough should hold its shape and resemble a small burrito shell with a hole in the middle.

4. Quickly pinch off one end to seal it off and spoon/pack as much vanilla pudding as you’d like into the center of your eclair.

5. Smear some chocolate frosting on the top of your eclair to complete the masterpiece.

The process is much easier than it sounds and takes only minutes once you have the ingredients prepared and ready for action.

Our family’s test run came during a recent trip to camp. Another family met us there and after some campfire tacos, out came the eclair ingredients. It wasn’t long until we knocked off the first can of crescent rolls and had cracked open the second container.

Since then, my wife came up with some really cool-sounding variations that we’re anxious to try at some point. Instead of the vanilla pudding, you could easily substitute any of your favorite pie fillings and change the frosting you use on the top to match the occasion.

Ultimately, it is OK to break the mold when it comes to campfires and trying new dishes. If you haven’t seen them yet, previous Campfire Cuisine columns includes our new take on campfire tacos and homemade macaroni and cheese.

And as I mentioned in each of them, it all starts with building a good cooking campfire. For a step-by-step tutorial on building the best campfire, click here.

Let us know if you’ve tried any unique camping dishes. Check back for more Campfire Cuisine experiments in future posts at this blog.

Camping got a little more cultural recently when our family decided to head to the campground for the day on May 5 … a.k.a. Cinco de Mayo.

And even though it was short notice, another family that we’re really good friends with was able to come join us. Wanting to make something different to eat to mark the day, we decided to try tacos over the campfire.Now, we didn’t reinvent the wheel here. There is no secret recipe or special trick. We simply used a large covered pan over the campfire to brown some ground beef. Before you use your favorite pan or other metal cookware over the fire, be sure to read the disclaimer on my previous post about the yucky black film that you’ll be scrubbing if you don’t protect it with a layer of liquid dish soap or aluminum foil.

As for campfire, it is important to do your pre-cooking homework in terms of building the fire. For a six-step process to the perfect campfire, click here.

While browning the meat, it is advised to use a lid to limit ash from getting into the food … and it helps hold in heat and speed up the cooking process. It is also important to keep stirring the meat while cooking … campfires donThe meat seasoning process was simplified thanks to using a premade packet of taco seasoning.

We did have a mini-dilemma when it came to measuring out the water necessary to add to the meat-and-seasoning combination. Measuring cups were no where to be found. Fortunately my wife and our friend Duane were quick on their feet in finding an alternative — the Mason jars we were using for drinking glasses had measuring lines. Very cool.

As the meat simmered and seasoned over the fire, a smorgasbord of toppings were prepared. Taco sheels, sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, taco sauce and more goodies were lined up on the wooden spool (was used for cable) table we have for serving (another of my wife’s many great camping ideas).

Again, this wasn’t even close to being a major undertaking in terms of cooking or recipes, but that is part of what made it so nice. It gave us more time to enjoy our company and the serene environment our campground offers.

What are your favorite foods to cook over a campfire? Do you have any suggestions of something more unique that we could try at some point and report back on?

Plenty of people eat homemade macaroni and cheese while camping, but how many make it over a campfire? Inquiring minds (at least mine) wanted to know. The concept seemed simple, but cooking over a campfire is a far cry away from baking in a traditional oven.The situation demanded macaroni and cheese. It was the seventh birthday of our youngest child and she LOVES homemade macaroni and cheese. Not as much as chicken corn soup, mind you, but it still ranks right up there.

Of course, the first step is boiling the macaroni noodles, and it is fairly common to boil water over a campfire. Many people do it to prepare water for cleaning dishes, or for a quick meal of spaghetti, Ramen Noodles or instant oatmeal between kayaking trips or fishing expeditions.

All potential campfire cookers should invest in a solid metal cooking rack. This makes things SO much easier. My wife and brother conspired a couple of Christmases ago to make me one and it has been a vital addition to our camping gear. I’ll share more about it in a future post with a few pictures in case anyone wants to copy the design. It is very, very cool.

Before putting a pot of water over a campfire, it is important to protect your pot from charring. Most metal cookware will get covered with a hard-to-scrub black coating unless you are proactive.

Slathering the outside of the pot with liquid dishsoap before putting it over the fire is one trick that works. You’ll still get black coloration but it comes right off during the cleaning stage. Another trick is to cover the bottom of the pot with aluminum foil. On this fateful excursion, we opted for the foil.

All campfires used for cooking should be preburned for a while … you want to create a bed of hot coals more than cooking over a fire. It is impossible to totally regulate the heat when cooking over a campfire, but it is much easier if you have a solid bed of coals. For the cooking, check out my six steps to the perfect campfire post.

For those who have never boiled water over a campfire, be warned. It takes much longer to boil water outdoors. I’m not totally sure why, but it never fails to take quite a lot longer than in the controlled setting of your kitchen. To speed up the process and to keep floating ashes out of your water, be sure to use a lid.

Once the macaroni noodles are boiled to the desired softness, drain the water and layer half the noodles on the bottom of a metal lasagna pan. I’m sure there is a more technical term for these sort of pans, but I really don’t know what it would be. Casserole pan maybe?

Next I added a layer of cheese. In our family, the cheesier the better. I typically use slices of Velveeta or similar generic version and then some shredded cheddar. After adding the cheese, I add the rest of the noodles, flattening it out equally over the pan and cover with some more cheese.

The next step is critical — pour milk over the layers of noodles and cheese. Many people add some milk to the versions of mac and cheese they make at home, but the key is adding more than normal. The campfire will be blasting heat directly onto the bottom of the pan where the conventional oven at home offers a more universal heating. The milk helps limit burning.

Lastly, I added a coating of aluminum foil. This keeps ashes out of the mac and cheese while it cooks and helps hold in heat. Remember that since the noodles are precooked, the only goal here is to thoroughly melt the cheese into the noodles.

Another important step to keep your mac and cheese from burning while over the fire is to regularly stir it … much more than you would at home.

After all the cheese is thoroughly melted and stirred in, remove the foil for a few minutes to let some of the milk evaporate and thicken the consistency of your mac and cheese creation.

Ultimately, it was not a hard thing to make over the campfire, and while it did take a little more attention, milk and stirring than the variety we make at home, it was so worth it.

There’s just something about cooking something a little more involved over a campfire that makes the end result that much more satisfying.

Something less satisfying? Scrubbing that black gunk off an unprotected pot after cooking over a fire. During the cooking of our macaroni and cheese, my foil fell off and I didn’t put on a new piece. Guess who still needs to scrub the pot? Loving it! 

Have you ever cooked macaroni and cheese over a campfire? What unique dishes have you made while camping?

Camping season is here, but before you collect the kindling and whittle down a few good marshmallow and hotdog roasting sticks, let’s talk about your campfire cuisine.

To many, campfire food revolves around Smores, roasted hot dogs, grilled meat and maybe a few foil pack meals. But why stop there? Just like the stovetop or even the oven at home, a campfire produces heat that cooks food. Why limit ourselves to just a few options when roughing it in the wild?So this camping season, my family and I will be pulling out all the stops and challenging ourselves to try some tasty yet non-traditional campfire foods. My wife found a number of recipes we’re anxious to try during some time spent on Pinterest. We’ll share what worked, what didn’t and ask for feedback from our readers right here at zaktansky.wordpress.com.

We’ve already tackled three new dishes: Baked macaroni and cheese, campfire eclairs and in honor of Cinco de Mayo, campfire tacos. All three turned out surprisingly well.

Feel free to share your feedback and perhaps some recipes that worked for you. We’ll share some of the best in future posts here at the blog and via outdoor columns in The Daily Item newspaper.

Ebbs from Haus of Guns shows his daughter the safe way to handle a firearm, utilizing a Crickett youth-model rifle. This video was under a lot of fire by anti-gun groups after an accidental shooting death recently. My opinions on this topic can be found here: http://zaktansky.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/parents-have-responsibility-to-teach-children-keep-them-safe/

Crawling through the thick woodlot, watching closely for any sign of the opponent, I hear a dull thwack-thwack-thwack.Branches all around me move and pieces of thin plastic coated in paint rain down over me. The shrapnel doesn’t count as a “hit,” and so I carefully continue. Most of my team is already standing on the sidelines, hoping I can get to the other squad’s flag before time is up or I get clipped in the process.

The scenario helps amp up the adrenaline. There are few activities that can be as exhilarating as playing paintball with some good friends while enjoying our area’s vast outdoor smorgasbord of sights, sounds and smells.

One minute left. Sixty seconds. Time to make a move. Two gunmen are straight ahead in a makeshift blind. I open fire, blasting as many shots into the barricade as possible to help hold them at bay as I make my mad dash for the flag.

They manage just one shot in the melee. One thwacking sound. One paintball propelled by CO2 gas, and it somehow finds its mark. I feel it in my thigh. I’m hit. Game over.

Minutes later, my hopper is restocked and we’re doing it again.

Paintball is taking the area by storm. Many play in their own backyards or rural woodlots. AEL Paintball offers an official field and equipment for those just getting into the sport. They are located just outside of Milton, PA.

For those who’d like to get into the sport, I am selling a paintball package, including a Spyder paintball gun complete with electronic switch that varies between regular semiautomatic action, three-shot bursts or fully automatic action, two CO2 tanks, an ammo belt with four plastic canisters, a regular facemask, a full helmet mask, nearly 800 paintballs, a regular hopper and an electronic hopper that allows for faster loading.

All of this has been used very little, and can be had for $150 or best offer.

Want to get in the game with a full spring, summer and fall’s worth of action ahead? This may be the best way to do so.

A man known as Ebbs, from the website HausofGuns.com has come under fire for a video he shared on YouTube teaching his daughter how to responsibly handle her Crickett .22 rifle. Unfortunately he does a good job keeping the experience safe and fun for her, but anti-gun viewers aren’t impressed. See the video by clicking here.

Chris and Stephanie Sparks.

If you must point fingers and find someone to blame for the tragedy last week in which a 5-year-old boy accidently shot his 2-year-old sister in the chest, then let’s not beat around the bush. Blame, for those who must place it somewhere, should fall at the feet of the parents.

And that seems so cold to say this close to the gut-wrenching event. The parents are grieving. The extended family and close friend and neighbors within the tiny rural Kentucky community are still trying to find the strength to cope with such a tough situation. It just seems unfair to pile the blame onto two parents who obviously never wanted anything like this to happen.

But then again, it is so much more unfair to heap the blame on others — like Keystone Sporting Arms manufactured right here in central Pennsylvania.

The company produced the youth-model gun that was involved in the tragedy. In fact, it manufactures a large line of youth-sized firearms. An estimated 60,000 Crickett and Chipmunk rifles were made by Keystone Sporting Arms in 2008. Safety and quality are at the core of each gun they produce.

More than 70 hard-working individuals leave their families each day to help Keystone Sporting Arms make high-quality firearms. They take pride in the product they build.

And yet they find their company and themselves at the core of a raging national debate on children and guns. According to an attorney, Keystone Sporting Arms has even received threats.

But blaming Keystone Sporting Arms for the tragedy is as ludicrous as chastising Chevrolet if a child gets hurt in a vehicle-related accident or Planters if someone chokes on a peanut. The next time a child accidently burns down a house with a pack of matches, should we vilify the match company, threaten its workers and institute new legislation on match use in the home?

It would be different if the accident was caused by a manufacturer’s defect — but that wasn’t the case. The Sparks family had guns sitting out. The youth rifle in question was allegedly propped up in a corner next to a BB gun. The parents didn’t realize there was a round in the chamber.

Are you kidding?

In our house, there are young children. In our house, all guns are locked up, including a BB gun and a paintball gun. Ammunition is secured up in a separate part of the house. Every gun is checked thoroughly before being put away so there is never a live round still inside.

We also emphasize at a very young age the fundamentals of gun safety — even to a point where we don’t allow the girls to point toy guns at each other or other people. When we do practice with the BB gun, an adult is right there, focusing totally on safe gun procedures.

The early start and repetition are essential in making sure kids develop a proper respect for guns. Yes, we can control what happens in our house, but if one of my girls goes to a friend’s place, there is no guarantee they won’t come across a gun. I want them educated as much as possible no matter what situation may arise.

In a recent story about the Sparks’ tragedy, a pediatrician states: “They’re children and you can’t expect them to know the ramifications of the simple act of pulling a trigger.”

I couldn’t agree more. Children also don’t understand the ramifications of playing with steak knives or a pack of matches. That is why responsible parents keep dangerous items in a safe place.
However, the same pediatrician suggests a need for more gun control.

Really?

How exactly would that have changed things? Are we going to pass legislation dictating an age limit for firearms? How exactly would that be enforced? Eliminate youth-model firearms? What would have happened if the same family had an adult-sized rifle or shotgun sitting in the same corner? What would we use to properly teach children proper gun safety?

As is the case with every gun-related incident, it is the person pulling the trigger who makes the ultimate decision on when and where the gun will be fired. In cases where the trigger-puller is too young to make life-and-death choices, a parent must be there to supervise or properly lock up firearms and ammunition.

Ultimately, this tragedy illustrates that we don’t need more gun control — but we could definitely use some more parental control.

Few three-letter words can cause this much debate in the midst of horrible tragedy.

From rural Burkesville, Ky., comes the gut-wrenching story of an accident that took the life of a 2-year-old girl. While walking out to her porch, Stephanie Sparks left her 5-year-old son, Kristian, and his sister in a room alone. One fateful moment later, tragedy struck.What propels this story into the national spotlight are three simple letters: G-U-N.

Kristian was playing with a youth model .22 rifle that accidently discharged, shooting his sister in the chest.

As with any shocking story, we are quick to react. How could this happen? Who is to blame? We struggle to make sense of a senseless tragedy.

In the midst of that chaos, it can be easy to blame the gun – and there are many who are using the tragedy to advance their political viewpoints and enhance gun control measures. In fact, locally based Keystone Sporting Arms has come under fire for selling youth-model rifles. One blog blasts the company, suggesting that the concept of kids shooting guns is “chilling.”

But was the tragic shooting in Kentucky really the fault of Keystone Sporting Arms?

No.

If Stephanie Sparks had left her children play in traffic and one of them were injured, would we blame General Motors or Ford? Of course not.

Do we blame the pool manufacturer when someone tragically drowns while swimming? Or Planters when someone chokes on a peanut?

Unfortunately, the whole scenario illustrates the importance of following simple gun safety fundamentals. In hunter education courses, young shooters are taught over and over the basics – things such as always keeping the barrel pointed in a safe direction, to always completely identify your target before shooting and to wear proper eye and ear protection when using firearms.

When it comes to guns around young people, those fundamentals are critical. You should always keep firearms and ammunition stored in separate areas and locked out of the reach of children. Gun chambers should always remain empty until just before shooting and no child should ever operate or even hold a real gun without direct responsible adult supervision.

Teaching these and other core safety techniques is imperative to avoid tragedies like this. The earlier these lessons are taught and repeated, the better the chances they’ll be remembered when it matters most.

We may not be able to make sense of the tragedy in Burkesville, but let it be a reminder to be extra cautious when it comes to applying the fundamentals of gun safety.

Saturday was a fine day for fishing.

Picture-perfect weather, three young anglers and a pond full of hungry bluegills — all that was missing were a few juicy earthworms.

And so our short fishing excursion at camp was preceded by a hunting trip. We searched under rocks, through old leaf piles and around rotting logs.

One-by-one I lost my hunting party to more interesting activities — such as bike riding around the campground and playing in the small creek that winds around the back of our site.

Finally, the stars aligned and the excursion to the campground’s small lake was on track. A few casts later, the bluegills were being pulled onto the shore faster than a Weis cashier can ring up a few cans of creamed corn.

When the worms were all gone, the hunt for bait was back on … and this time I had some help turning stones, rolling logs and raking back leaves.

It wasn’t long until we had another dozen worms and three red-and-white round plastic bobbers were flying through the air again.

The overall experience was a lesson in work and payoff — without the work you don’t get the reward. However, without a reminder of what you’re working for, it can be easy to be led astray.

My three little anglers became quite the worm wranglers Saturday afternoon.

Yes, it was a fine day for fishing.