Country Club Sandwiches

This long weekend we heard the call of the wild and answered accordingly; we went camping! Much hemming and hawwing preceded our petite adventure. Should we gather the kids, pack up the car as though we were setting sail for the new world, plow through the doubts as to whether baby kiddle would be able to handle bed-time in a tent? Would girly-girl kiddlette be able to handle the dirt and bugs that come complete with the great outdoors? Alas, we declared "Screw it! Lets go" and simply hoped for the best, and for a remote campsite so that we wouldn't ruin everyone else's O Wilderness moment.
We found that remote campsite off the beaten track in the Catskills. In fact it was up on the mountain where hubbabubba and I got engaged 7 years ago this summer. Turned out we all had a great time around the campfire with the roasted marshmallows, we slept snuggled together in our tent, took a nature hike in the early morn to get the blood pumping and fill our lungs with cool, fresh, clean mountain air.
Baby Kiddle had the time of his life and a few bug bites to prove it. Kiddlette didn't freak out once- but insisited on taking a super-scrubby bath the minute we got home. Big-boy kiddle loved every second especially being terrified by the ghost stories whispered in the pitch black soundless night.
Even I had a great time, me, the kind of person who prefers to take a vacation in NYC rather than a remote sandy beach. I just love the buzz and hum and life of the City.
The Country is rife with beauty that is seperate from the man-made beauty of the city. It has it's own buzz and hum and life. The buzz of bumblebees, the hum of insects that provides a constant aural backdrop, and the wild profusion of natural life that is everywhere. The air out there is a wonder, all I could do was take greedy gulps. The farm stands that you can find in the countryside will send even the most jaded eater into a rhapsody of appreciation for Mother Nature and all the goodies she provides.
Before heading home yesterday, we stopped in a cute little cafe in some cute little country village, and had lunch. I ordered a sandwich that was just fantastic. It was a smoked salmon club on wonderful fresh baked bread, with ripe tomatoes, horseradish mayo, crisp lettuce, and thin strips of red onions. It was accompanied with a fresh garden salad that tasted precisely how you'd imagine a fresh garden salad in the Country would taste.
Tugging onto the experience for as long as possible, tonight's dinner will be another version of yesterday's lunch; smoked turkey clubs with taco mayo, slices of ripe avocado, crispy lettuce, thin rings of red onion . A garden salad on the side garnished with some of the tomatoes I bought at a farm stand on the way home from our wonderful wilderness adventure.

Turkey Taco Club Sandwiches:
Combine 1/2 c. mayo, 2 tbsp. taco seasoning mix, 2 tbsp. chopped green chillies. Spread taco mayo on sourdough bread slices then place smoked turkey on top, sliced avocado, thin slices of red onion to follow.
note: as with all these recipes feel free to play around with proportions and vegetable combinations, like alfafa sprouts? Heap 'em on. As with most things, these recipes are works in progress.