At last month’s Redwood Creek Campfire Classic event in National Harbor, MD, four semifinalists from the South (including myself) and four from the Northeast met in a combined event to compete in our respective regions.On contest day, we were each assigned to share a preparation table with a semifinalist from the other region who we weren’t competing against.

I had the pleasure of sharing a table with Melissa Mullins, a charming and talented woman who persevered in the face of unforeseen technical glitches to produce first-rate examples of her beautiful, scrumptious sounding Blackberry Hand Pies with Jar-Whipped Lavender Cream and win the finalist spot for the Northeast Region.

I say scrumptious sounding because, sadly, in all the excitement of the event I never did get a chance to taste them!

But they must have been pretty darn wonderful because, I’m thrilled to report, my tablemate went on to win the Redwood Creek Campfire Classic Grand Prize in NYC this weekend!

Hooray for Melissa! Now I really wish I had gotten to taste those pies!

As it says in an article about the 2008 Redwood Creek Campfire Classic Contest in Epicurious:

“Mullins’s empanada-like pies are baked over the campfire in mini-foil ‘ovens’ that allow the air to circulate, helping the crust get crispy. She says shortening works better than butter for the great outdoors since it doesn’t spoil and also aids in crisping the crust.”

Melissa’s love of local ingredients and culinary ingenuity gave her the inspiration for the winning dish. “The campground we were at was just surrounded by blackberries.” Then she found frozen pie crusts at the camping store, and turned her grill into an oven with tinfoil, according to New York’s Daily News.

Want to make her winning dish during your next cookout? You can see her full recipe here on the Metro Sports NY site.

When you go on a fishing trip or go camping in the mountains, do you enjoy celebrating the pleasure of the great outdoors with a gourmet meal cooked on an open fire?

Fans of outdoor cooking at its finest (as well as gourmet food in general), won’t want to miss the four Redwood Creek Campfire Classic events taking place across the country throughout the spring and summer to kickoff the 2008 camping season.

The most recent event will be held on May 17th, 2008 as part of the Food and Wine Festival at National Harbor in Maryland and will feature the semi-final competitions for the contest for already selected competitors from both the North and Southeast (with Hugging the Coast’s own Doug DuCap competing in the Southeastern Division!).

In addition to the Redwood Creek Campfire Classic cookoffs, the Food and Wine Festival at National Harbor will also feature demonstrations by Michel Richard, the critically acclaimed chef of Citronelle and author of Happy in the Kitchen as well as lectures and samples from dozens of culinary experts from around the country.

Two other Campfire Classic semi-finalist cookoffs will be held in Seattle, WA on May 31st as part of the Pike Place Market Street Festival and in Chicago, IL on June 7th as part of the Chicago Botanic Garden Wine Festival which will determine the finalists from the Northwest and Midwest divisions. (The finalists from the Southwestern division were chosen on May 3rd at Mayfest in Fort Worth, TX.)

Winners of the Campfire Classic Semi-Finals will be awarded $1,000, plus an all-expense paid trip to New York City to compete during the first week of summer for a chance to win a $10,000 Grand Prize. The finals will be judged by Redwood Creek winemaker, Cal Dennison, and Bob Blumer, host of the Food Network’s Glutton for Punishment and The Surreal Gourmet.

Like the poster above? You can get it free here. Also, please see the 2007 Campfire Classic Finalists’ Recipes below to help inspire you on your own culinary campfire adventures:

• 2007 Grand Prize Winner: Coal-Roasted Chuckbox Pozole-Stuffed Onions by Leah Lyon of Ada, Oklahoma

• Chincoteague Scallops by Julia DeCastro of University Park, Florida

• Rocky Mountain Pinon Paella by Paul Heitzenrater of Denver, Colorado

• Down East Lobster Scampi a la Campfire by Brian Mulligan of Bath, Maine

• Lost in the Woods Pork Tenderloin by Kim Wittmers of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Please feel free to enjoy our Southern Coastal Life MP3 Playlist which is filled with 30+ streaming songs that celebrate the pleasures of Southern food, fishing, surfing, and life spent on the water. (Additional music will be periodically added.)

Artists include: The Andrews Sisters, Andy Griffith, Van Morrison, Elijah and the Ebonites, The Weavers, Tom Waits, James Taylor, Carl Perkins, The Drifters, Dizzy Gillespie, Smiley Burnette, Fats Waller, Martha and the Vandellas, Hank Williams Sr., Tim McGraw, Jimmy Buffet, James Taylor, Ryan Adams, Stringbean, Little Milton, Louis Jordan, Dar Williams, and The Preservation Hall Band…good stuff!

You can listen to it here.