Mike Faverman - Ultimate Camp Cooking

Ultimate Camp Cooking copyright 2011 by Mike Faverman and Pat Mac. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews. For information, write Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, an Andrews McMeel Universal-company, 1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

E-ISBN: 9781449406714

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010930549

www.andrewsmcmeel.com

www.ultimatecampcooking.com

Author photos by Marc Thomas Kallweit
Cover design by Van Crosby

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I dedicate this book to my parents, Howard and Diane Faverman. They were such terrible cooks it pushed me to experiment with food. I couldnt be any worse than them! I learned quickly to experiment and take risks, and then serendipitously became great. This is what ultimately makes a person a master chef. Keep being inquisitive with your food and one day you will be a master of flavor.

I also dedicate this to my extremely talented and intelligent Aunt Sheila. She passed away recently from her battle with cancer. It wouldve been my dream to work on this cookbook together with her. She was a huge inspiration and influence on my career, and I will miss her brilliance for the rest of my life. Rest in peace.

Mike Faverman

I dedicate this book to my father, Michael McAllister, who owned his own bar and restaurant. He was smart enough to sell it before I was old enough to take it over. He put me to work in the kitchen at a young enough age to learn culinary skills and taught me to be creative with recipes.

I also dedicate this to my wifes parents, Grant and Norma Gillette, for initiating me into the world of camping by purchasing camping and cooking equipment for me. They knew what they were doing by jump-starting my culinary craft by giving me the tools to create.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to my brother-in-law, Dexter McBride, for planting the seed to combine my love of comedy, cooking, and camping into a career.

-Pat Mac

by Mike Faverman

P at and I met at an open mike night at the Laff Stop on West Gray in Houston, Texas, in 2001. We were both touring as stand-up comedians and ended up on a Monday night at one of the most popular open mikes in the country at the time. I watched Pat and could tell he was a seasoned pro. He also mustve seen me as he was raving about how much better I was than he at the time. (At least thats how I saw it.) We kept in touch over the next few years, e-mailing and on the rare occasion speaking on the phone. Pat is one of the nicest people Ive ever met, which is one of the things that make me most annoyed about him. Im a bit of a negative, caustic, and abrasive personality and hes the guy who laughs hysterically at everyones jokes. He really takes life in and I vehemently spit life out, after chewing it up quite a bit.

Pat lived in Boise, Idaho, for all of his life. I was always trying to get work at the Funny Bone Comedy Club there. It was known as one of the countrys best-kept secrets. The city had a female-to-male ratio of nine women to one man. There were a lot of cute women in that city. At that time, I was single and looking for some fun. I had been rejected several times by the comedy clubs owner, then Pat and my buddy Brian took over the booking of the club. This was my chance to work at the club and see my friend again in the cool city of Boise.

I flew up to Boise from L.A. Brian, who is like the unofficial governor of Boise, picked me up. We got to the club and walked across the street to a corporate show that Pat was working at Boise State University. I watched Pat on stage and remembered the guy he was and the style of comedy he performed. Pat is a very fun loving and relatable comedian. He speaks about topics such as marriage, eating, and the frustrations of life, but in a light and fun way. On the other hand, I speak about stupid people and sex, and I make fun of everything in an abrasive and caustic manner. We were polar opposites in demeanor and style.

As the week went on, the crowds really enjoyed the shows and my style of comedy. Its a drinking and partying city that loves its women fast and its comedy dirty. At the end of the week, the staff decided to throw a barbecue for me. After the barbecue started no one was in the kitchen cooking and serving food except for Pat and me. We were dominating the grill and serving different meals to all the drunken employees. Pat mentioned that the place everyone loves to congregate at a party was the kitchen. I agreed and we started talking about our love of food and passion for cooking.

I talked about being a chef at several restaurants around the country and Pat told me stories about how his dad owned and operated a restaurant in the years past and how he worked for $2.00 an hour when he was a child. He also mentioned how he too loved the fast pace and the personal relationships his family had with the clientele. He loved food and admired the people who could put such a delicious plate together in a short amount of time and make it seem effortless. Pat also told me how he used to go in the woods and build this enormous kitchen with all the equipment hed accumulated over the past ten years. He said it was amazing how fast people would wander over to his site and ask questions about the different surfaces and the different meals hed been preparing. He told me that random people would visit his site and before he knew it, they would be exchanging phone numbers, emails, and contact info as they became friends through food and laughter. This was my passion as well. We had thought we were polar opposites, but it turned out we had more in common than we thought.

M y favorite two things the world happen to be making people laugh and making meals people enjoy. Pat and I joked about making a cooking DVD that incorporated comedy and cooking. As we laughed, it came to my mind that this wouldnt be too difficult. I had directed some short films, documentaries, and commercials. Maybe I could bring a small crew in the woods, make a DVD, edit it, and duplicate it for people to see. It would be cheap. We scheduled a time for me to travel to Boise to work the club and break away for a few days to film our DVD.