An excerpt from “Spring Trout and Strawberry Pancakes”
NITTY’S RED CAMP, Nat Foster Lodge and Camp Cozy were three of many sites tucked back in the foothills of the Adirondacks, in Atwell at the headwaters of the Black River. A range of treed-over low mountains separates Atwell from the Fulton Chain. “My husband and I never considered we needed a classier cabin than Cozy for our honeymoon retreat,” said Emily Mitchell Wires when thinking about her family’s Adirondack camp. “Camp Cozy’s atmosphere provided experiences which contributed to my physical growth and character development. It lingers long in my memory.” When Emily Wires wrote these words in 1966, she set a scene familiar and near to the heart of everyone who grew up or vacationed in the Adirondacks. Emily described Camp Cozy as having “a level of comfort above the bare necessities of existence.”
“Back at camp…” The very words bring to mind a mood, a feeling, an image of a place to relax and enjoy a cool breeze on a warm night, a place from which to explore, for reading, rocking, cooking and storytelling. Emily was not the first to find restoration of health and growth of character in a rugged, outdoor existence, but she was one of few who have had the creative ability and descriptive power to make such an experience valuable and stimulating to her grandson, Roy E. Wires. Emily’s legacy is not restricted to a camp diary, recipe book and a box of memorabilia. She told her grandson she was grateful to her grandparents, for her parents’ stories and to the old-timers who were responsible for turning her outdoor life into a storybook populated by the locals who lived robustly in the Black River country.
“Back at camp…” The very words bring to mind a mood, a feeling, an image of a place to relax and enjoy a cool breeze on a warm night, a place from which to explore, for reading, rocking, cooking and storytelling.
Emily was often in the company of her sisters, and the girls became knowledgeable about resident animals and birds, learned to identify trees by their bark patterns, fished and enjoyed helping prepare camp meals. She rated herself as good at fishing and cooking, but a poor markswoman. No matter how good your screens were or how hard you tried, it was impossible to keep all the flies out of the camp, particularly in the fall, when the weather began to grow cold and the old kitchen smelled so nicely of canning, pickling, and cooking. “We used an old method learned from our grandparents to fight flies,” said Emily. “We’d take the stiff paper of a flour sack, cut it into strips, tie the strips to a stick or part of a broom handle. Then with several of these weapons, we would open the door and, starting from the back part of the room, flail the air vigorously until we had chased the flies out.” Then too there were the old-fashioned sticky sheets of fly paper that were hung from the ceiling. They caught their share of flies, and an unsuspecting girl’s hair too.
Emily said she always brought jars of pickles and sauce to camp. Her pickles and sauce recipes are labeled “from Ma Wires.”
CAMP COZY CORN FRITTERS: A fast, easy and filling camp meal.
- 1 cup cream corn;
- 1 egg, beaten;
- 2 rounded tablespoons flour;
- 2 rounded tablespoons baking powder;
- Pinch of salt.
Directions: To egg add corn. Next, add sifted dry ingredients. Fry like pancakes and serve with maple syrup.
