camping gear, outdoor sportToday when I was online looking for some extra camping gear, I ran across this really nice 13 quart kettle on a website devoted to camping gear and outdoor sports. I have a hard time saying no to all of these items, but I was able to single out this nice pot that will work well for the camping trips we have in mind this winter and for making soups and broths at home. It's the GSI 13 Qt. Stainless Steel Kettle w/Bail with an aluminum bottom sandwiched between the stainless steel, which in my book, are the absolute best. If I want to make a chicken stew, for example, I can cut the chicken into pieces, brown them, and then add the liquids and vegetables. The browning process is best in stainless steel and not in nonstick cookware, so when I saw this pot, I knew I had to buy it.

We're going on a week's camping trip right after Christmas so I need to make sure we have all the camping gear ready to go. The temperatures won't be that cold, but nothing tastes better than a hot bowl of soup or chili after the sun goes down and the thermometer goes below 50. I also like the fact that this pot has a bail handle so I can carry water in it, too. We have an ingenious water tank installed in the back of our truck that holds over 100 gallons and we put a small battery operated pump on it so we can have lots of fresh water at our campsite for drinking, bathing, cooking, and dowsing the fire.

I found this pot at KE Active Lifestyle located at http://www.kayserenterprises.ispeedway.com. Every time I go there I'm struck by how much camping gear they stock and when I get something as useful as this pot, I don't hesitate to buy it. I have not seen many of these pots with the bail handles that make carrying water or cooking so much easier. In fact, I don't have any at all in the kitchen, so the pot won't be exclusively in the camping gear. Normally I keep my kitchen pots and pans separate from the camping gear pots and pans, but this one is the exception.

Once this pot arrives, I'll probably make up a batch of my favorite soup, matzo balls soup, fill it with carrots, celery, and onions, and then freeze to take camping. I've found that in the winter months, frozen food makes great ice packs for camping and it kills two birds with one stone. We have our food being chilled by food that we can eat once it thaws and we can get so much more food in the cooler doing it this way, too.