A timeless tradition in a modern world – Peconic Dunes Summer Camp

Written by Melissa Martin, Creative Island

Take a walk with me through the tree-covered path, across the ball field and over to the dock atop the fresh water pond. The reflection off of the water shows a colorful history of children laughing, familiar sounds of splashing and the ritual of summer camp. What if we hiked further down the sandy trail, just over the dunes to the Sound beach? Yet, further still into the timeline of a unique spot on the Northern edge of Peconic where a hidden jewel of a park lives.

In a time of progress and technology, where interactive video games, virtual reality and mobile computer phones intermix with everyday life, it is refreshing to know that there is a place where children can go back to basics. At Peconic Dunes Summer Camp, cell phones and PlayStation games are left behind and classic summertime fun comes to the forefront. It’s interesting to see what happens when a day is spent outside – jumping off of a dock, learning how to sail, creating art from what you find on a nature walk.

Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Peconic Dunes Camp offers an array of activities that include outdoor skills, archery, fishing, canoeing/kayaking, swimming and snorkeling. But what makes Peconic Dunes different? What can campers experience beyond the expected? To answer these questions, I met with Christopher Colahan, managing director, who has been working with the camp for the past five years.

Mr. Colahan has implemented elements to programming that have had quite an impact. One program is Expressive Arts, which offers sessions in videography, photography and performance art as well as environmental arts & crafts. “This program is giving kids an opportunity to be creative.” Chris explains, “It teaches them media literacy.” Another branch of instruction that has been added is the Leadership Development Program, which is a training model that customizes the education of counselors and future counselors, offering them invaluable lessons that they can take with them after camp and into their professional lives.

The park location at 6375 Soundview Avenue in Peconic has a 79-year-old history. Summer camp has obviously evolved over the years and I was interested in learning more about how, exactly. One of the fascinating ways it has incorporated the new priority of environmental awareness is the eight-week ECO program, partnered with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). During ECO, Peconic Dunes collaborates with DEC to develop a “place based” program that teaches children to connect with their surroundings by learning the species that co-exist in our own backyard. This methodology increases knowledge as well as an active interest in caring for the environment.

“Camps are uniquely structured to provide mentors to kids that they can’t find anywhere else.” States Chris Colahan, “Collaborating with school programs, we can creative the most impact in building supportive relationships. By encouraging youth to extend into their challenge zone as well as identify their interests and creative abilities, we bring out self-confidence and independence within each individual.”

This June 18th, Peconic Dunes will host its annual alumni reunion in order to reconnect with the people that have been a part of its long history. While this is open to any and all alumni, the camp along with Cornell Cooperative Extension is making an increased effort to raise awareness and support throughout the community. Hopefully, this will allow for the immediate growth and improvement of the facilities, thereby reaching new goals and helping to always move forward.

“Camps have the power to change lives forever.”~American Camping Association quote and a favorite among Peconic Dunes Staff. If you would like to learn more about the camp for your child, or find out how you may be a part of its supporting community, please visit www.peconicdunes.com.

Follow Your Senses

The strongest of our senses linked to memory is smell. This automatic feature we are built with helps us to decide more things then we may know. What would happen if you followed what your nose told you to do when choosing a menu? You would find out that you were creating something with a little more flavor, out of the ordinary and exactly what you crave.

I did it. I let my senses dictate what I could and could not eat over the past week and it turned out to be a huge success. Tastes and aromas have been affecting me in very different ways lately so I said to myself, "Just go with it." I thumbed through some of my favorite recipe books, took a pencil and a tablet notepad and started writing a grocery list based on the meals that appealed to me. Most of these included lots of spice, bold flavor and, most importantly, were cooked without a frying pan and oil!

Why do I emphasize this detail? My nose. The one and only thing I have not been able to stomach during my pregnancy to date, is the overpowering and heavy aroma of meat (and/or poultry) sizzling in a skillet of oil. It fills every nook of the house and has recently repulsed me. So, I avoided that method completely and found a healthy, delicious way to serve dinner.

Some of these items that I have already cooked and absolutely loved are:

• Chicken breasts sprinkled with a lemon pepper seasoning then broiled and topped with a pesto sauce and served over sauteed orange and yellow peppers (and brown rice).


• Peppercorn and Tuscan seasoned roast beef with a horseradish and sour cream sauce on the side, served with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.


• Eggplant Parmesean made with a homeade tomato sauce and using breaded and baked eggplant slices and generous amounts of Ricotta cheese.


• Smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives on a whole wheat pizza crust garnished with olive tapanade.
  
  

You get the idea, right? The moral of this true story is to hopefully give you the confidence to try and let your cravings create your menu. You may just find something completely new and exciting that will become a staple on your family's table.

Grow

Welcome the light at the beginning of each day.
It brings the hope of something new.
Let its energy inspire you.
For there is so much to do.

Spring. Yes- I said it. It's here. Finally. Although it certainly doesn't feel like it quite yet and Mother Nature teases us with only small glimpses of the mild weather that is to come, we simply have to get ready.

I joined the blogging world approximately one year ago and it was just about this time that we were planting our seeds and tending them in our sunny, warm garden room. Well this year, once again we will watch them grow (among other things, like my belly). Pictured above is our tomato plants, which I happen to be extra excited about. I began telling you about my newfound pickiness in my last post. I also have great big love for certain things as well, such as tomatoes! I sit and dream of the different things I will do with them this summer...tomato, basil and mozzerella sandwiches; roasted tomatoes with garlic; omelettes; salads; stuffed tomatoes... you get the picture.

Other seedlings I am looking forward to are our herbs. I can't wait to use all fresh herbs from outside my front door to formulate the kind of meal we will create.

Aside from the garden update, I am thrilled to report that last night for the very first time in my pregnancy, I completely enjoyed every single thing we were served for dinner. This sounds strange right? Not really- if you know me or if you have ever had a baby. Roger and I attended a dinner party. The food was exquisite from start to finish. Not once did I feel those familiar pangs of discomfort either. It was a joyful moment!

What did we eat, you ask? Let's see...an olive assortment, fresh mozzerella, cucumbers, tomatoes with basil, fresh baguette bread, onion tartlet, halibut coated with cornmeal and parmesean then pan-fried and topped with roasted cherry tomatoes, potato wedges with rosemary and roasted asparagus. Yum. I even enjoyed my first glass of red wine. It was Cabernet Sauvignon from North Carolina, no less. It had soft, fruity notes with a smooth finish. I realized as I enjoyed it with my meal: "Food loves wine and wine loves food. They were made for each other."

As the trees, flowers and veggie gardens begin to sprout and grow along with my re-kindled passion for food, I wish you a very happy beginning of Springtime. I encourage you to spark something new this season from a small project to a much-needed change.

The Food Sabbatical

Hello, to all my friends and family- those who were supportive in following my blog for the majority of 2010. Long time, no write. Well, I have good reason. I swear.

The new year of 2011 brought many wonderful things. I found out in January that I was pregnant! My husband and I are so very excited. As I enter the last week of my first trimester, I can't believe how quickly it has gone. However, my ever-changing physical state coupled with exhaustion leads me to my entire point of this blog post.

For someone who prides herself on her love of foods of all kinds and a passion for wine, my tastes have proven quite opposite for the last three months. Although I continue to eat the best foods that I can, my menus have been scaled down quite a bit. I feel like a six year old in the way that I need to "hide" my veggies with other flavors in creative ways in order to eat them. Also, for some reason, chicken has left my weekly menu planning as I simply cannot bear it. And wine, well for obvious reasons I am not drinking it. Even though my doctor has given me the green light on tasting and a glass once in a while, I cannot even smell wine without feeling sick.

While the past month has found me returning to my station in the kitchen, the first two were a challenge. My appetite was a bit less than normal but I absolutely could not cook. The woes of morning sickness would only hit me hard when I tried to prepare meals. Who'd have thought it?

The repertoire of the Country Hollow Kitchen has certainly changed but it will slowly return. I can feel it. For now, I will continue to cook whatever my hormones (and the baby) tell me to create. I look forward to our garden once again and the joys of warm weather grilling.

Unfortunately, my writing energy and focus are needed in many other places throughout my life at the moment. So, the Blog Sabbatical must continue but I will share anything interesting along the way.

Thank you for your support! For now, please have my share of food and wine.
All of the best to you,
Melissa