PIONEER POCKET FOOD

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FRUIT LEATHER

This simple trail snack (it's actually a "quickie" version of a popular fruitdryer's food) can double as a school treat for children. First, cover a 14" X 16" cookie sheet with plastic wrap, and spread four cups of applesauce on it, evenly, so that the layer of fruit is no more than 1/4" thick. Then simply dry the mixture in your oven, with the door propped open slightly to allow the moisture to escape and the temperature set at 150°F. After six or eight hours the leather should be rubbery and slightly sticky. Peel the slab from the pan, roll it, and cut it into small bars. (For variety, you can add wellchopped nuts to the applesauce before drying it.)

VERSATILE GORP

When I don't have time to prepare jerky, hardtack, fruit leather, or pemmican before setting off on an outdoor excursion, I often mix up a batch of gorp. The letters in the name stand for Good Old Reliable Peanuts, but the mixture can include almost any longkeeping ingredients you want to add. My personal gorp recipe calls for equal parts of raisins, shelled sunflower seeds, and walnuts. Feel free to add cashews, mixed nuts, or whatever else you like. I simply stir them together and pour the combination into plastic bags for traveling. (No, the pioneers didn't eat gorp, but I bet they would have if given a chance? )

Once you start making trail foods, you might want to experiment with such other carry—along delicacies as granola, muesli, parched corn, roasted pumpkin seeds, or roasted soybeans. You'll find all these foods to be better-tasting, and better for you, than most store-bought snacks. And they're less expensive, to boot ...as well as a lot of fun to make.

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