Welcome to Let’s Get Lost! I’m Rebecca, a recipe developer, food photographer, passionate people watcher, and chaser of new experiences. You might know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot.
My husband and I are nomads without a home base but with many modes of transportation, namely an RV, a motorcycle, and a sailboat. I write recipes and stories for curious people who believe experiences are more important than things and who want more adventure.
—> Get this and every issue and recipe directly on rebeccablackwell.com.
Are you a fellow food writer or recipe developer? Here are three resources just for you!
In August of last year I went to Mexico with a friend. We had a marvelous time and I brought home three souvenirs: a bottle of top-shelf tequila, a beautiful blue sundress, and COVID. The dress was all mine, but I generously shared the tequila and COVID with Steve.
Within a few days of my return, we were both sick as dogs. At the time, we had been living on our newly purchased sailboat for 6 weeks or so and, honestly, struggling to coexist within 100 square feet of living space. Being sick did us in, and one week after contracting the virus, we pulled our RV out of storage and parked it at Fisherman’s Landing, a campground we had just discovered.
That first night of being back in a normal-size bed was heaven. I mean, we felt like shit. But, our queen-size bed seemed massive and so comfortable I thought I might stay there forever.
Being sick with COVID was an unfortunate experience that I do not care to repeat. But, the bright silver lining was finding Fisherman’s Landing Campground.
In my previous research to find campgrounds somewhere relatively close to the marina that held our sailboat, Fisherman’s Landing had not come up. I don’t know why. But, one day in August I noticed a sign on the bulletin board in the women’s bathrooms of our marina that said, “Save Fisherman’s Landing!” Curious, I did some googling and discovered it was a campground right on Muskegon Lake, the same lake where our marina was located.
So, when we decided that we absolutely had to move off the boat and back into our RV, I called the campground office and practically begged them for a space. It was Labor Day weekend, so I was not optimistic, but to my delight, they had a site opening up on Sunday morning. We took it.
If you are not well versed in RV camping, you may not know that most campgrounds will not let you stay for long stretches of time. Many have two-week limits, and the ones that allow for longer stays often still cap it off at 90 days. This was never an issue for us before we owned a sailboat on Lake Michigan.
Fisherman’s Landing allows full-season space rentals, so before we left Michigan last year, I made our 2026 reservation, securing a lakeside spot from early May until mid-October.
The arrangement has worked out beautifully. Not only do we have a space right on the water, but our marina is just down the road. This allows us to live our normal lives from the RV and treat our sailboat as a fun toy and vacation home.
As you read this, we are very likely on the boat, taking down the sails and getting it ready for winter storage. But earlier this week, we took it out for one final sunset sail, and Steve took this drone footage that captures both the campground that’s been our home for the past 5 months and our sailboat.
For the first few years of RV life, we moved around a lot. So, it’s a little bit strange to stay in one place for such a long time. I feel some ownership over this town.
And also, the roots we’ve put down are shallow, easy to pull up and relocate. I wonder if we’ll ever find a place where we want to just stay? Perhaps a better way to phrase the question is: I wonder if we’ll ever want to find a place to stay?
When people ask us where our favorite places are, we struggle to narrow down the list. But, no matter how much we love a place, we are generally also happy to leave, our restless hearts already looking forward to whatever is around the next corner. It always feels so good to be back on the road.
I suppose it’s possible that one day we’ll wake up to find that our restless nature has retired and all we want to do is stay put. But I wouldn’t place any bets on that day happening any time soon, if ever.
Small luxuries
Some of my favorite things.
On our last long sailing trip, I decided I was sick of coloring the roots of my hair and was ready to just let it all grow in grey. To make the transition easier, or at least shorter, I made an appointment at a local salon and had it all chopped off. It had been a while since I’d gone in for a haircut and my hair was all the way down to my lower back, so the change felt dramatic.
I’m still figuring out the best way to wear it, but it feels kind of awesome to not have all that hair in my way all the time.
The salon I chose is quite large and a section of the lobby is reserved for a cute little boutique. Before leaving, I perused the racks and found a pair of jeans that I was completely in love with. I asked to try them on, knowing full well that it was extremely unlikely that they would fit my 5-foot-nothing frame.
Jeans never fit me. What were the chances that the one pair hanging on the rack would be the right size?
Imagine my delight when they fit. Perfectly. THEY REQUIRE NO HEMMING. This is a real-life miracle.
Also, they are the softest, most comfortable pair of jeans I’ve ever owned. Jeans, in my opinion, are never comfortable. Except these actually are.
I don’t know how they do it, but the material is super stretchy but doesn’t stretch out. I know you know what I’m talking about… you pull on that stretchy pair of jeans in the morning and by 2pm, the butt is sagging down to your knees.
These don’t do that. I wore them all weekend and they stayed as snug as the first moment I pulled them on. I absolutely love them.
If I was a proper influencer, this is where I’d share a series of photos and a reel of me living my absolute best life now that I have the perfect pair of jeans. Instead you get this one. You can’t really see the jeans and my newly cut hair looks a bit of a mess, but I am having a wonderful time. And that’s all that matters, right?
And here’s the punchline, folks. As I was looking up my specific style so I could share it with you, that’s when I realized why that one pair on the rack magically fit my short legs so well. They are cropped, ankle-length jeans.
Of course they are.
I couldn’t find anywhere online that’s selling my exact pair. But the brand is Bayeas and this pair is quite similar, except mine have a button fly.
If you love a button fly, here are two other pairs I have my eye on …
11 Recipes To Welcome Apple Season
Apple Upside Down Cake: This apple upside down cake includes a thick layer of apples drenched in an excessive amount of buttery caramel sauce, because, in my opinion, that gooey baked-on-the-bottom sauce is the best part of an upside down cake.
Apple Streusel Cake: This is a simple butter cake that I’ve flavored with plenty of vanilla plus a touch of almond extract and cloves for a little bit of extra warmth. Thick slices of apples are baked in between the cake and a generous layer of brown sugar cinnamon streusel so that every single bite contains soft cake, roasted apples, and buttery streusel.
Apple Cobbler: There are many ways to make apple cobbler, but this recipe is my favorite… saucy apples spiced with cinnamon and cloves and baked under a chewy cookie topping. The gooey brown sugar topping takes about 5 minutes to make and tastes like a soft, buttery sugar cookie.
German Apple Pie: German Apple Pie is one of the easiest and creamiest apple pies I’ve ever baked. The filling is simply cinnamon and sugar-coated apples covered in cream and sprinkled with sugar.
French Apple Crumb Cake: The traditional French Apple Cake is a simple one-layer cake with an exceptionally high proportion of fruit to cake. It’s typically flavored with rum and has a texture that’s more custardy than cake-like. Like all things French, it contains a lot of butter and is all the more delicious for its elegance. This cake is a loose variation on that simple cake.
Salted Caramel Apple Pie: This is a decadent combination of flavors and textures. From the flaky bottom crust to the saucy caramel apple filling and buttery crumb topping, this pie is impressive and indulgent.
Apple Fritters with Maple Glaze: These are the kind of apple fritters you'd get at the very best kind of doughnut shop. They are made from soft yeast-raised dough, flavored with a hint of nutmeg and orange, filled with buttery cinnamon-coated apples, and covered in a crackly maple glaze.
Apple Cider Cake with Apple Cider Buttercream: This 3-layer cake is bursting with the sweet-tart flavor of crisp apples. The cake includes concentrated apple cider syrup and shredded sour apples for a double hit of apple flavor and enough cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to make you feel all warm and cozy. Fill and frost the layers of apple cake with apple cider buttercream and then cover the whole thing with a drippy, bittersweet blanket of dark chocolate ganache.
Almond and Apple Turnovers: These delicious pastries are filled with easy homemade almond paste and apples cooked in butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until soft and saucy. After the pastries bake until puffed and golden, a generous drizzle of brown sugar glaze makes a good thing even better. Frozen puff pastry is the secret to keeping the prep time to around 30 minutes.
Chicken and Apples with Mushrooms in Cider Cream Sauce: Tender pieces of chicken swimming in a sweet and savory apple cider cream sauce with caramelized mushrooms and golden, buttery apples. This dish will blanket your whole home with the warm, rich smells and flavors of fall.
Spanish Seared Pork Bites with Fried Apples: This is a weeknight staple in our home from October through March. Bite-size pieces of pork tenderloin are coated in a Spanish-inspired dry rub, sautéed quickly in oil until tender and juicy, then tossed with lemon juice, honey, olive oil, and fresh oregano. Pork Bites are delicious all on their own, served as a quick, light supper or tapas-style dish. But, they are positively mouthwatering when eaten with green apples that have been sautéed in butter and brown sugar.
Join me for the October CookStack Collective Class with Nicki Sizemore!
Join Nicki Sizemore and me and on Friday, October 16, when she’ll show us how to make two seasonal staples — a whipped ricotta dip and a grain-free pumpkin apple cake — alongside simple practices for cooking with more intention and joy.
Access to The CookStack Collective is exclusively for members of The Lost Supper Club (paid subscribers). This will be the fourth class in this 12-class series. If you’ve missed the previous classes, here’s where you’ll find the replays and the calendar of upcoming classes.
Join us live on October 16th, at 1:00pm EST.
New Recipe in the Road Food Series: Middle Eastern Meatball Wraps
Road food notes: Packs easily • Stays warm for hours in an insulated container • Delicious hot or at room temperature • Delivers that well-fed feeling you get from a home-cooked meal even when eaten from your car
These meatballs are spiced with cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon, and garlic, fried until crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside, then smothered with a garlicky lemon yogurt sauce and wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla. This is the kind of simple, no-fuss, handheld meal that you can wrap up and take with you anywhere.
This newsletter exists because of the generous support of The Lost Supper Club (paid subscribers). As a thank you, I try to provide those paid subscribers with some cool stuff, including…
The NEW Road Food series
And access to The CookStack Collective, 12 months of cooking classes with 12 incredible chefs!
A subscription is just $35 a year.
❤️ Did you know that if you hit the heart or recycle symbol at the top or bottom of this post, it makes it easier for other people to find this newsletter?