Camping and Dutch oven cooking go well together and it seems to me that one always makes the other all the better. Recently we spent the weekend at Fairfield Lake State Park, one of our favorites, to camp and present a Dutch oven cooking demonstration. The demo was Saturday afternoon and so the order of the day was preparation of food items during the post breakfast mid-afternoon time frame. We fixed a pot of beans, a couple of batches of cornbread, and a peach cobbler dessert for the 2:00 event. By the time we were done with the demo, we were ready to clean the pots, pack up, grab something…
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What’s round, delicious, and easily customized?
What is he up to now? The stack of stainless steel rings on the tailgate does arouse the curiosity. In our house we have a weekly ritual that is known as, “Pizza Night”. It doesn’t matter where we are or what we’re doing, if we’re not already talking about getting pizza on Monday night, we are reminded by our favorite pizza fan what day it is. Over the years we’ve taken this love of pizza into the woods with us and had lots of fun with it. One of the great things about pizza is the unlimited variety of options. Dietary restrictions? No problem. In addition to the traditional blend…
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Demos & Classes, and Coaching, Oh my! (Much less scary than Lions & Tigers and Bears.)
I recall when I first started cooking with a dutch oven, there were lots of stews and more than a few burned cookies or biscuits. There were meals that have multiple parts, some of which were still on the fire and others had already cooled down and needed to be reheated. There were times I had so much charcoal leftover it could be used to start three or four campfires and other times that I had to relight coals in the middle just to get the meal done. Now this is not a complicated form of cooking, but there is definitely a learning curve. Over the years I’ve had the…
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Stuffed Rice Ring
The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of Dutch oven cooking is a camping trip and campfire cooking. Camping meal ideas from past memories used to be primarily burgers, hot dogs or steaks, a pot of beans and maybe some foil wrapped potatoes baking in the campfire. Other campfire memories of meals include stone soup, chili, and stew. There’s no question that a Dutch oven works great for many of the above. When we limit ourselves to those choices though, we are missing out on some real flavor treats. When we think of it as more than a pot, but actually an oven, we open a…
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“Breakfast, it’s the most important meal of the morning!”
Growing up, we always heard about how breakfast was the most important meal of the day and so often we would hear about the importance of a big hearty breakfast. Sometimes when I joke around, I refer to breakfast as the most important meal of the morning. Mom always made sure we had something on our plates before we headed off to school in the mornings. A favorite of mine as I recall was cheese toast, which was nothing more than an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich. After moving out of the house and being responsible for my own breakfast, things changed. The reality in my world today is that breakfast…
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Who’s obsessed with Chocolate Cobbler? I’m not obsessed!
Who’s obsessed with chocolate cobbler? I’m not obsessed! I know, admitting the problem is the first step to overcoming it. I’m not sure I want to overcome my affection for chocolate. Recently, I saw a post on a friend’s Facebook feed that was a memory she was sharing from six years previous. That memory happened to be a recipe for chocolate cobbler. Her post indicated she was ready for some and I responded that there would be some coming to a campfire soon. My thought at the time was to test it and if it worked, take it along to an upcoming camping trip that we might both be attending.…
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Chile, chilli, or chili?
Do you want to start an argument about chili? Is it “chili”, “chile”, or “chilli”? Are we talking about a country, a type of pepper, a seasoning, or a dish? There’s all kinds of camps that will jump at the chance to argue about chile, chilli or chili. I’m not talking about the South American country, that’s a whole other definition and word origin. When we’re on food, first there’s a question about the proper spelling of the word and whether it relates to a meaty, delicious, sometimes burn your mouth, food item also called chili con carne by some. Or, are we talking about the pepper or a particular…
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Fruit, eggs, batter and more; must be healthy…
When cooking for our own enjoyment and for that of others, to me, first and foremost, the mission is to fix something that tastes great. Since first impressions make a difference, it’s nice if what we prepare looks good too. A well made, Pineapple Upside-down Cake can meet both of those goals. Years ago my only experience with Pineapple upside-down cake had been what I had grabbed while in a cafeteria line where I ended up with what I remember as a dry white square piece of cake with a slice of pineapple on top and a cherry. It was not all that great. No, it wasn’t even a little…
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Minimalist? Nah.
Have you ever played with a puppy with a squeaky toy or some sort of a throw toy? They get all excited about those things. While playing, have you ever taken a second toy in your other hand and held a hand on either side of the dog’s head? (I know that’s teasing it, don’t judge me, I’m just painting a word picture.) What happens then, in my experience, is that the pup can’t decide which way to go and all it does is shake its head back and forth. It’s kind of funny to watch but from the dog’s perspective it’s got to be frustrating. Instead of enjoying the…
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How do I get started?
Does Dutch oven cooking interest you but you’re hesitant to jump into it? You’ve seen some YouTube videos about Dutch oven cooking. Maybe you’ve been to a Dutch Oven Gathering, (D.O.G.), a Chuckwagon competition, attended a demo, a cooking class, or a chili cook-off and seen all kinds of various pieces of gear in use. Sometimes it’s easy to be overwhelmed when one looks at a website, a cooking section in the store, or a cooking video and you see all the accessories being used. True there is a lot of cool stuff to use as aides for Dutch oven cooks. There are cooking tables and stands. There are all…
