The Joy of Cooking Podcast

Episode: Kelly Kate Warren: A Casual Culinary Chat About Backpacking Food

Date: January 8, 2026
Host: The Joy of Creation Production House
Guests: Kelly Kate Warren
Hosts/Co-hosts: John Becker, Megan Scott, Shannon Larson

Episode Overview

This week, John, Megan, and Shannon welcome Kelly Kate Warren, an experienced wilderness cook and guide, for a lively conversation about the joys and challenges of cooking in the backcountry. The episode dives into practical tips for planning, prepping, and enjoying elevated meals while camping or backpacking, punctuated by Kelly's stories from her 13 years in wilderness kitchens. The team and Kelly also dig into the unique role "The Joy of Cooking" has played as a bible for cooks in remote or resource-limited situations, answer listener questions about non-dehydrated backpacking food, and share personal anecdotes and kitchen victories. The episode balances expert advice and accessible, fun banter, making backcountry cooking feel both approachable and inspiring.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Opening Banter – Kitchen Tools & Recent Eats

Timestamps: 00:38 – 09:02

• The hosts debate the necessity (or pointlessness) of toasters vs. toaster ovens vs. broilers.
  • Memorable quote:
    • Jon: “Most toasters—like the ones with the slots—they’re great, but they only serve one purpose, and the bagel setting is a lie.” (01:37)
• Recent restaurant visits, especially eggs with boquerones at Lechelle, and making mussels and frites at home.
  • Megan: “Weeknight mussels are underrated… you can use different liquids… you can go in a million different directions with mussels.” (03:35)
• Sagra del Radicchio event: a Portland celebration of chicories and creative local chef dishes.
  • Megan: “It was just very, very fun and festive. And we ate some very tasty things… Endive with aguachile and a roasted cranberry puree… When you ate it, it just made so much sense.” (04:01 - 04:50)

Introducing Kelly Kate Warren

Timestamps: 10:06 – 10:47

• Kelly’s background: 13 years in the wilderness as a cook, ranger, trail worker, and guide.
• Her philosophy: Eat well, even when roughing it.

Kelly’s Current Cooking – Home vs. Camp

Timestamps: 10:49 – 12:09

• Loves salty and sour flavors; current staples include frozen green onion pancakes as veggie wraps, beans with yams and kale.
• Reflections on the utility of cooking beans for meal prep.
  • Kelly: “A pot of beans every week is just such an easy meal to have in the fridge… good food prep for me.” (11:31)

Joy of Cooking as a Backcountry Lifeline

Timestamps: 12:09 – 13:45

• Kelly describes “The Joy of Cooking” as her “Bible cookbook” and resource for learning to cook while without internet for months at a time.
  • Kelly: “The Joy of Cooking was like my one Bible cookbook… just an incredibly useful tool for a general overview of cooking.” (12:14)
• Cooking creatively out of it when missing ingredients or equipment; favorite for “the funny little anecdotes at the beginning of chapters.” (12:38)

Wilderness Cooking Logistics & Resiliency

Timestamps: 13:45 – 19:38

• What’s possible out there?
  • Hollandaise sauce, baklava, from-scratch ravioli, even baklava, achieved with ingenuity and a Dutch oven.
  • Kelly recalls a happy accident: “I was supposed to do seven teaspoons of lemon juice, and I did seven tablespoons. So I ended up with a GALLON of hollandaise sauce.” (14:37)
• The backcountry kitchen fits on three mules (~300 lbs); includes professional stoves, propane tanks, rolling tables.
• Cooking outdoors means forgiving yourself for “burnt beans” and accepting environmental challenges with humor and adaptability.
  • Kelly: “Being a backcountry cook—appetites are high, expectations are low… the constraints… have really taught me some level of forgiveness.” (16:28)
• Tips for weather: Build windbreaks, adjust kitchen location to avoid rain flooding, improvise constantly.
  • “So much of my job is just being light on your feet and doing a bunch of creative problem solving. That's why I like it—never boring, sometimes traumatic, but never boring.” (17:38)

Animal Coworkers: Mules & Dogs

Timestamps: 18:56 – 19:38

• Joy in working with mules, horses, and bringing her dog Danny along.
  • “My equine coworkers are some of my favorites… it’s really magical to have these relationships with animals that have been a big part of the lives of our ancestors for ages.” (19:01)

Trail & Cowboy Coffee Rituals

Timestamps: 19:38 – 22:22

• Traditions vs. upgrades: Cowboy coffee (“boiled Folgers live and die by it”), black, gritty, possibly with powdered creamer.
  • “I'm going to start filtering my coffee… Don't tell anybody. The cowboys, someone's rolling over in their grave right now.” (21:01)
  • Attempts at adding eggshells to reduce bitterness: “It was a disaster to clean up… not worth it.” (21:16)
• Fun experiments with “swapping the pot,” pouring off a “sacrifice to the forest gods”—lore varies but most approaches yield “pretty, really dark, delicious black coffee.” (22:22)

Why Joy of Cooking Works for Extreme & Resource-Limited Cooking

Timestamps: 22:22 – 25:45

• Hosts and Kelly discuss how "Joy" has long served cooks on sailboats, in Alaska, or in other extreme or international settings.
• “It’s really good for people under extreme circumstances… or maybe you don’t have all the things… or need to know all kinds of random stuff.” (22:56)
• High altitude baking and flexible substitutions were particularly helpful for Kelly in remote areas.
• Her habit: Bringing Joy plus two other cookbooks per season to maximize menu inspiration.

Cookbook Recommendations for the Wilderness

Timestamps: 26:07 – 28:14

• Useful cookbooks included Afro Vegan, Five Spices, 50 Dishes (for Indian food basics), America’s Test Kitchen volumes (for rural-ingredient adaptability).

Evolving Traditions in Backcountry Food

Timestamps: 28:14 – 30:13

• Early 2010s: A shift as younger and more diverse cooks entered the backcountry; comfort from seeing others cook “global comfort food.”
• “You can cook whatever you want, you know, just if you can find the groceries for it.” (29:05)

Planning for Long Trips: Menu Design & Flexibility

Timestamps: 30:59 – 34:58

• Recipes and menus evolve based on perishability, “what holds up” without refrigeration (cabbage, carrots, onions, romaine).
• Menu priorities: Use fresh items early, then shelf-stable later.
  • “A lot of it is about having to be light on your feet… my menu changes a lot based on how my produce is looking and how much energy I have.” (33:32)
  • Key Advice: “The most important skill for backcountry cooking is just being resilient and flexible.” (34:58)

Favorite Ingredients for Camp and Backpacking

Timestamps: 35:50 – 39:31

• Backpacker must-haves:
  • True Lemon/Lime powders: “Excellent for elevating whatever little backpacking meal… that nice little burst of acidity.” (36:40)
  • Nido milk powder: “Really rich… works for cream sauce, stand-in for milk… the dehydrated milk Americans use is flavorless and clumpy.” (36:45)
  • Packets from fast food restaurants: (sriracha, hoisin, etc.)
  • Dried fruit & nuts: Adds needed contrast and nutrition, especially in salads.
  • Specialty spices: Togarashi, sumac, chili crisp bring meals to life.
  • Mini Nalgene bottles: For transporting sesame oil, fish sauce, etc.

Listener Q&A: Real Food, Not Just Freeze-Dried Packs

Timestamps: 39:34 – 47:16

• The challenge: Lightweight, affordable, non-freeze-dried backpacking meals.
• Megan’s story: The dangers of assuming you can “just soak lentils,” and other rookie mistakes with the Jetboil.
• General tips:
  • Shop the normal grocery store: Combine instant rice/couscous, tuna or chicken packets, seasoned beans, and powdered coconut milk for easy, satisfying meals.
  • Fresh fruit/veg for Day 1: “I don’t care if it’s gonna weigh a little bit more in my pack, I need some fresh fruit.”
  • Eggs, sausage, sniff-test cheeses: Rely on foods invented specifically for travel, like sausage and cheese.
  • Dehydrated hummus, coleslaw mix, tortillas: Quick, easy, and full of flavor.
  • Asian groceries for backpacking staples: “They do so many interesting shelf-stable and dehydrated ingredients that are really fun to play around with.”
  • Snack, snack, snack: “Bring lots of your favorite crunchy snacks, salty, sweet, whatever.” (44:05)
• Kelly: “Just pack some fresh fruit and vegetables… Americans have a really strange attachment to refrigeration.” (44:17)

The Value of Comfort and Nourishment Outdoors

Timestamps: 47:16 – 48:41

• “I wish people who were outdoor recreating would nourish their bodies a little bit more. Their bodies deserve it. Working hard, you gotta eat some good food.” (48:41)

Dream Projects & Recipe of the Week

Timestamps: 48:45 – 53:03

• Kelly and Megan joke about a Joy of Cooking: Backpacking Edition or outdoor cookbook that scales recipes from picnicking to glamping.
• Recipe of the Week: Campfire Bananas (pg. 177, 2019 edition)—bananas stuffed with chocolate chips, peanut butter, etc., roasted over a fire or in the oven.
  • “Highly recommend. It’s a really fun recipe to do with kids. You can just do it in your oven.” (53:03)

Bonus Q&A: Pie Stories & Soup Experiments

Timestamps: 53:37 – 56:42

• Fun listener message: Butternut squash with sausage and apples, a nostalgic recipe dubbed “squash boat.”
• The Joy team is testing French onion soup with water vs. homemade beef stock, aiming to make classics more accessible without time-intensive stock prep.
  • “How do we make these recipes a little friendlier if you’re not doing [stock]? Store bought beef stock is really not good, so we’re trying to figure out ways to make better recommendations.” (55:54)

What’s Cooking This Week & Where to Find Kelly

Timestamps: 56:57 – 58:16

• Shannon: Home Alone movie night, cheese pizzas, and ice cream sundaes.
• John & Megan: French onion soup testing for the next Joy edition.
• Kelly: Digging into her bean bin, planning beans with homemade turkey stock.
• Kelly’s contact: Instagram @thebackcountrycook and thebackcountrycook.com (trips launching soon, including a backcountry cooking trip; her website features helpful packing lists.)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Joy of Cooking’s durability:
  • “The Joy of Cooking was like my one Bible cookbook… just an incredibly useful tool for a general overview of cooking.” (Kelly, 12:14)
• On creative forgiveness:
  • “Appetites are high and expectations are low, which is a phenomenal setting to operate under as a cook.” (Kelly, 16:28)
• On prioritizing nourishment outdoors:
  • “Just pack some fresh fruit and vegetables. Americans have in particular really strange attachment to refrigeration.” (Kelly, 44:17)
• On the zen of trail mishaps:
  • Megan: “I learned I made a mistake and I learned—but… crunchy lentils are going to be bad later.” (41:21)
• On favorite backcountry ingredients:
  • “Anytime I’m in the backcountry, I bring in nido milk powder… it works really, really well.” (Kelly, 36:45)
• On wish-list cookbook projects:
  • “When's the Joy of Cooking backpacking cookbook coming out?” (Kelly, 48:45)
  • Megan: “That would be a really fun product… with chapters based on how outdoorsy you were being.” (48:49)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:38 – Banter: Toasters, kitchens, recent restaurant eats
• 10:47 – Guest introduction: Kelly Kate Warren
• 12:09 – Kelly’s Joy of Cooking history
• 13:45 – Logistics of wilderness cooking
• 17:38 – Bad weather & adaptability tips
• 19:38 – Animal coworkers & outdoor camaraderie
• 19:49 – Camp coffee traditions & controversy
• 22:22 – “Joy” in extreme/resource-limited cooking
• 30:59 – Planning long backcountry menus
• 35:50 – Favorite ingredients & backpack cooking hacks
• 39:45 – Listener Q&A: Backpacking with real food
• 44:17 – Normalize bringing fruit & veg on trail
• 53:03 – Recipe of the week: Campfire bananas
• 56:57 – What’s everyone cooking this week & closing

Summary Takeaways

• Cooking well outdoors is possible, rewarding, and mostly requires creativity, adaptability, and a dash of forgiveness.
• The Joy of Cooking endures in remote kitchens because it teaches core techniques and flexible substitutions—not just recipes.
• Eating real food on the trail is both doable and important for wellness; don’t be afraid to pack fresh items, flavor-boosters, and your favorite comforting snacks.
• Good food and hospitality are acts of self-care wherever you are—especially with a bit of chocolate, a crispy salad, or a mule-cooked shepherd’s pie.
• Backcountry or not, teamwork, laughter, and stories are always on the menu.

For More:

• Follow Kelly Kate Warren:
  • Instagram: @thebackcountrycook
  • Website: www.thebackcountrycook.com
• Upcoming recipe: Campfire Bananas (pg. 177)
• Call for listener stories/questions: (503) 395-8858

The Joy of Cooking Podcast: uniting kitchen adventurers from the pantry to the peaks.