Hello, good day and welcome

This is an entirely new idea, and something that I am not entirely sure that I will be good at.  I have never kept a diary - well not for more than a couple of days each year when the new ones are delivered, and my work log book is not the most detailed in the world.  Still here we go.

Let me introduce www.mealsinfields.co.uk.  The website is just one year old and we have a growing community interested in creating healthy meals in caravans, tents, motorhomes, boats and even student lodgings.  The basic premise is that you need good healthy food even if the preparation area is limited.

Try cooking in a boat with limited headroom as it sails across a river or estuary and you will know just how difficult cooking can be - eating in this situation is another problem, but I'll gloss over that one.  Tent campers will also be aware of the issues of safety and the problems of trying to cook outdoors in the pouring rain.  Caravans and motorhomes have it easy - lovely kitchens with almost full sized gas ovens.  Umm but, they are connected to gas bottles which run out, and from time to time as the bottle gets low so does the flame - never trust the 'regulo' number.

So this blog will look at some of the problems of being creative and healthy in cramped conditions, but most of all we will also look at the benefits of using lovely fresh food from local producers and the independent retailer.

Let's start with the old chestnut - fire buckets.  Oh dear, oh dear, why do so many people still believe that a bucket of water outside their tent or caravan will be any use whatsoever in a real emergency?  Ever tried actually throwing the water accurately when you are in a panic?

I was on a fire training course last year and asked the trainer (a firefighter) what he thought of the practice.  We had a great time then with a simple fire on a tray that we tried to put out by throwing buckets of water at it.  The results were quite amazing.  Some people managed to scatter the burning material, thus making the fire worse, and others missed altogether.  You cannot stand above a fire in this exercise as you would not be able to get above a burning tent or caravan.  Water replaced by extinguisher - fire out in seconds.

The second problem is the materials.  Water may have been fine in the old days of wooden caravans, but with modern materials used in the construction of the caravan, not to mention the presence of both gas and electricity (ok 12V from a battery - but) water could make things worse.

The final advice - you are more likely to drown an inquisitive toddler in the bucket than put out the fire.  Carry a small (1Kg) extinguisher - keep it on the A-Frame if you like - and use that only on the smallest fires.  Generally, move other units away and call the fire brigade.  They do know how to tackle the fire.

What do you think?