Forget leaving town this August long weekend. Avoid the traffic, pack a cooler full of killer eats, invite some friends out back, and get your outdoors on right here in the city.
Building the ultimate backyard fort
You want to rough it (within reason), so we asked Ken Chong and Zahra Ebrahim, co-owners of King West’s new problem-solving design clinic, The Design Walk-in, to dream up a roomy, outdoor abode using everyday household materials.
The s’mores the s’merrier
We challenged four pastry chefs to elevate the popular campfire dessert. Here’s what they made.
A selection of mosquito-fighting strategies
From the totally harmless to the nuclear option
Can freeze-dried be delicious?
Read the labels in the camping-food aisle at Mountain Equipment Co-op (400 King St. W.) and you’d swear you were in a gourmet prepared-foods shop. We asked Toronto Star food critic (and admitted non-camper) Amy Pataki to review a selection of freeze-dried meals.
Stuffing the ultimate 36-quart cooler
With a little initiative (and some strategic shoehorning), you can pack a cooler for yourself so full of goodies, you’ll forget your kitchen is 10 feet away.
Campfire scare tactics
Camping just isn’t camping without scaring the you-know-what out of your fellow tent buddies with a good, old-fashioned ghost story. Here are five lesser-known tales of the paranormal activity surrounding some of Toronto’s best-known (and now, creepiest) landmarks.
Urban Wildlife: an abbreviated almanac
From tiny deer mice to soaring bald eagles, more than 270 different species of animals call our city home. Here, a wildlife spotter’s cheatsheet.
