How to make great outdoor dishes, from a chef who lived in a camper

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — If crafting a meal outdoors is in your plans this summer, check out Lee Kalpakis’ new cookbook. She lived for just under two years in a 22-foot camper in upstate New York, refining the 75 recipes in the book, “Out There.” It offers everything from Blueberry-Olive Oil Pancakes to Shrimp with Ramp Butter, from Burnt Eggplant Spread to cocktails and desserts like Sour Cherry and Nectarine Crisp. Kalpakis says an open fire and cast iron bring great flavor and welcome simplicity to cooking. As the summer camping season begins, she wants to show that dinner outdoors can be more than granola bars and ’s’mores.