This recipe is a fan favorite!  We had a full topping bar with multiple kinds of cheese, caramelized onion, sautéed mushrooms, pepperoni, bacon, and our own special sauce.  Yummy!

Camp Merri-Mac Sliders

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground beef (80/20)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt, pepper
  • 16 small rolls
  • Melted butter

 

Directions:

  • Preheat grill
  • Divide ground beef into eight 2-ounce pieces.  Roll the pieces into a ball and press down in the center.
  • Gently brush both sides with olive oil.
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Split small rolls and brush each side with melted butter.
  • Place sliders on preheated grill and cook 3 minutes.  Flip and add cheese, if cheese is being added.
  • Cook another 2 minutes.
  • Remove to serving tray.
  • Place each roll, buttered side down on grill, away from direct heat, and lightly toast.
  • Remove to serving tray.

 

Toppings:

  • Pizza burger:  use mozzarella cheese, top with marinara sauce, and pepperoni
  • BBQ bacon burger: use cheddar cheese, top with bbq sauce, and bacon
  • Traditional cheeseburger:  use cheddar, top with ketchup, and a sliced pickle
  • Mozzarella mushroom burger:  use mozzarella, top with mushrooms, and Dijon
  • Caramelized onion burger:  use cheddar, top with onion, and special sauce

 

SPECIAL SAUCE:

1 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup chili sauce

Juice of one lime

¼ teaspoon garlic salt

 

CARAMELIZED ONION:

2 onions, sliced in half, then thinly sliced

4 tablespoons butter/margarine

Melt butter, add onions, sauté, stirring constantly, until golden brown.

 

SAUTEED MUSHROOMS:

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

4 tablespoons butter/margarine

Melt butter, add mushrooms, sauté, stirring constantly, until soft.

 

We made two flavors of cupcakes this summer—vanilla and chocolate!  And we made three flavors of frosting—vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.  Campers could choose which flavor cupcake and which flavor frosting—they created some delicious combinations!  A note—the vanilla cupcake batter is thinner than a usual cake batter, but don’t worry, the cupcakes will be moist and delicious.  And the chocolate cupcake batter doesn’t have an egg, so it could be served to vegans….although it is so delicious, I wouldn’t tell anyone!

Camp Merri-Mac Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¼ cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup water

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In one mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients—flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In another mixing bowl, mix wet ingredients—milk, oil, egg, and water.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients—batter will be thinner than most cake mixes.
  5. Fill cupcake liners ½ full with batter.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup shortening, room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2-3 tablespoons milk

  1. Mix with electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.  You may need to add more milk, try a tablespoon at a time. Place icing into plastic bag, cut corner, pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Camp Merri-Mac Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½  cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup cold water
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • ½ Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line muffin pan with 14 paper liners.
  3. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix water, oil, and vanilla.
  5. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.  
  6. Fill each paper liner about 2/3 with batter.
  7. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon (about 6) chocolate chips on top of each cupcake.
  8. Bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean.
  9. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

 

Frosting:

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
  • 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 4-5 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 6 Tablespoon cocoa powder

Directions:

  1. Mix with electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.  You may need to add more milk, try a tablespoon at a time. Place icing into plastic bag, cut corner, pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

 

Delicious macaroni and cheese and not a little blue box in sight!  We tried a variety of cheeses including Colby Jack, Muenster, and Swiss.  We also topped some of them with buttered bread crumbs. And, just because we had time and we love them, we served them with pigs in blankets, made with hot dogs and refrigerated crescent rolls.

Camp Merri-Mac Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. macaroni/elbow noodles
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 5 tablespoons flour
  • 2 ½ cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 ounces Monterey jack or other cheese, shredded
  • 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

 

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.   Butter a 9 x 12 baking dish.
  • Boil 4 quarts of water.  Add macaroni, a dash of salt and a splash of oil to keep noodles from sticking together.  Drain macaroni when it is al dente (almost cooked but still firm) and set aside.
  • Melt butter over low heat in deep sauté pan.
  • Add flour, one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each tablespoon.  You are creating a roux—a thick, smooth paste. Allow roux to cook for a few minutes, but don’t brown.

 

  • Add milk SLOWLY, whisking continuously to remove any lumps. Continue stirring and cooking roux until it thickens again.  

 

  • Add dry mustard, salt and cheese.  Stir until all cheese is melted, then remove from heat.

 

  • Mix cheese sauce and pasta.  Pour into baking dish.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, or until top is golden brown.  Optional: Sprinkle plain buttered bread crumbs on the top before baking for a nice crunch.

 

Everyone loves pancakes and Camp Merri-Mac girls are no exception!  We started the second half of first session with this easy take on pancakes from scratch.  Some campers even chose to add mini chocolate chips and top them with chocolate syrup…I think they love anything with chocolate chips.  The trick is to put the lemon juice in the milk before you do anything else and to let it sit until it thickens. Also to make sure the melted butter cools before you add it to the mix or you will scramble the egg.

Camp Merri-Mac Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup milk + 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice OR 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 ¼ cup flour
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼  teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly
  • Vegetable oil, margarine, or butter for griddle

 

Directions:

  1. Whisk lemon juice and milk together in measuring cup and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
  2. Melt butter in small glass bowl and set aside to cool.
  3. In mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.
  4. When milk has thickened, add it to dry ingredients and stir.
  5. Add egg and stir.
  6. Add butter and stir.  (Be sure butter is cool or it will cook the egg!)
  7. Pour pancakes onto heated, oiled griddle and cook, flipping when bottom is golden brown and bubbles have appeared on top.

 

Options & Notes:

  • Sprinkle pancakes with blueberries, banana slices, or chocolate chips before flipping.
  • Serve with maple syrup, berry syrup, chocolate syrup and/or whipped cream.
  • Roll a chocolate chip pancake around a scoop of ice cream, top with powdered sugar and serve as a dessert.
  • This recipe makes about 12 four inch pancakes.  When I make it at home, I double the recipe, but I still only use 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, ONE EGG and 2 cups of flour.