The Primal Frontier

return to your instincts

We spend entirely too much of our lives indoors now. You work a job under unflattering fluorescent bulbs only to go home and bask in central air and that TV/ phone glow. We’re an adaptable species but that doesn’t mean we’re used to this shit, so every now and then you need to take a break. There’s a good reason why mental health walks are trending on all the apps. Or why every sleep sound is just ambient outdoor noises. We need to be outside to remember how to feel in tune with ourselves. Michael McCarthy, in his excellent book The Moth Snowstorm, put it like this:

“We need constant reminding that we have been operators of computers for a single generation and workers in neon-lit offices for three or four, but we were farmers for 500 generations, and before that hunter-gatherers for perhaps 50,000 or more, living with the natural world as part of it as we evolved, and the legacy cannot be done away with.”

We’ve grown to thrive outside, and these last generations trapped indoors are making us stir crazy. So this summer let’s get the fuck outside. No fancy flights or hotels needed. When you wanna get away without dropping a shitload of cash, there’s no cheaper vacation than camping. Most state-run campsites cost about as much as a couple burritos to rent and you get to do pretty much whateverthefuck you want in the middle of nature, as long as you pack-out whatever weirdness you’re bringing in. It’s cheap, beautiful, and a little gritty- just how we like it. But it seems like camping has fallen out of favor with everybody. People got Airbnb and suddenly they think they’re too good for the forest. Or even worse, they’re ✨glamping✨. Take your ass out to the wilderness and soak up some vitamin D, get some exercise, breathe the fresh air, and grab some dope photos.

feel better just lookin at the photo? now imagine sleeping under those bad boys

Maybe you swore you’re never gonna go camping again since you saw a potato bug and haven’t trusted nature since. It can be scary out there, we get it. But you need to get outside once in a while. Perspective is important and honestly shit is beautiful out there. Sure we love the city, internet, and electricity as much as anyone else but there’s nothing like dragging some friends out of their comfort zone and checking in with nature. You can find that tent you swear you think you have… somewhere, probably in the closet. Or did you loan it to someone? You def own a tent you know that much. You can spend an hour trying to build a campfire before you just say ‘fuck it’ and resort to firestarters. You can stargaze at constellations and pretend to identify them correctly. Trick question, they’re all big dippers. 

So what’s the one thing that keeps you from the great outdoors, aside from the occasional unholy looking insects? Most likely food. Camp food is either hippie granola that looks like tree bark or limp hot dogs cooked from a coat hanger. We get it, cooking while camping is a weird territory because ya got limited cooler space and a makeshift kitchen. But that shouldn’t stop you from whipping up some outdoor friendly food. This week we’re gonna encourage you to venture outside with one of our favorite camping treats ever, Banana Smores. So get the fuck out there and get back to nature. RETURN TO MONKEY. START WITH BANANAS..

Roasted Banana Smores

Makes 4

2 bananas, ends cut off and sliced in half width-wise, peel on

1 bar dark chocolate, broken into 4 rectangular pieces

4 graham crackers, broken in half width-wise

spray oil

Spray the bananas with a little oil and then throw them down on a grill grate over a hot fire. You don’t want the flames hitting them the whole time but you do want those fuckers getting hot. Leave them on there, rotating them occasionally, until all the sides are blackened and the banana looks hot all the way through.

To assemble your s’mores, let the bananas cool for a hot sec, then peel them using tongs and cut the banana in half lengthwise so it will sit kinda flat on your s’more. Put the square of chocolate on top of one of the graham squares, put the roasted banana on top of all that, and then smash the other graham square on top to finish that shit. Didn’t cook your banana long enough to melt the chocolate? Use some fire safe tongs and stick the whole damn s’more into the fire for 30 seconds and then you’re good to go.

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We shot the photos above in the Angeles National Forest, less than an hour drive away from LA. Go support your local National Forest today. 

Thanks for joining us here in The Broiler Room. We’ll see y’all outside. Don’t forget the sunscreen. Maybe bug spray too while you’re at it. BRING BANANA. 

Michelle and Matt