Peanut Soup

We get pretty creative on the trail, trying to make one-pot meals more interesting. It took two months before I figured out how to make pasta with tomato sauce and cheese "as good as home." We've met hikers who use soup mix with noodles, or crush Doritos into their ramen noodles for flavor.

We learned a few ideas from the Farnsworth House in Gettysburg. Sweeney's Tavern is the casual side of this fine dining spot, more suitable for the likes of us. Both feature "authentic Civil War food," and we had to wonder - what is that?

Another twist on our unusual diet, with a few dishes we might replicate. The platter of sweetbreads and apple butter reminded me of tasty pound cakes with a little extra. The Peanut Soup - "a Georgia Militia Favorite" - was creamy and tasty.

Deconstructing it, I think we might be able to pull it off with peanut butter, chicken bouillon, powdered milk, and water.

Rum pie, however, will just have to wait for off-trail cooking: think of a fluffy chocolate meringue pie except it's pure white and tastes like rum.

Served up by gals and guys in 1860s dress inside a shadowy wood room full of memorabilia from the movie "Gettysburg," it was a memorable off-trail meal.