Outdoor Fun

You might not know it from my more sedate, indoor pursuits like crocheting, but I really like outdoor cooking.  I think it stems from my happy Girl Scout camp memories.  Nothing like s'mores, banana boats, and "hobo stew."  Yesterday, Sis and I spent some time in the woods of central CT cooking outside with other scouts.  With snow on the ground!  Certainly, I never did that as a kid in Texas.

But with two fires set up for various types of cooking, we weren't ever really cold (though we had on our snow boots and gloves.)  The girls made grilled cheeses in pie irons, biscuits in a reflector oven, sloppy joes in a Dutch oven, and spiced apples in foil packets.  Sis loved those pie iron sandwiches--just butter and white bread and American cheese!  I remember that my great-grandmother had a cast iron press that was used indoors--I even inherited it--and she made great toasted sandwiches.  Sky's the limit with those--pizza crust and meatballs, pie crust and pie filling, or pie crust and marshmallows and chocolate, white bread with cream cheese and strawberries, and on and on.  Sis has now put pie iron on her list of things to get and wants to cook outdoors with them this summer.  At least it's easier than Dutch oven to carry and clean!

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Grilled Cheeses in a Pie Iron
Spray pie irons with nonstick spray.  Spread butter liberally on two slices of bread, one side only.  Place in pie iron and add cheese.  Close.  Insert pie iron into the coals, checking your sandwich regularly.  Yum!

Sloppy Joes
Put Dutch oven on rack over coals or in coals, depending on heat of your fire.  Spray with nonstick spray.  Saute onions and peppers.  Add ground beef to brown.  Season with Worchestershire, onion powder, ketchup, and a tiny bit of vinegar.  Add diced tomatoes.  Simmer until done.   Serve with reflector-oven biscuits (just put those store-bought biscuits in that oven and cook til done.)

Spiced Apples
Slice apples and place on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil.  Add cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and a dollop of butter.  Wrap up foil into packet and place in coals until bubbly.

Summer Fun: Summer Days and Nights

We've had a busy ten days or so.  Last week was Bud's week at day camp, his third year at this particular place.  It's a traditional outdoor camp with swimming, games, crafts, games, and activities.  This year, he loved the zip line!   It was a rainy week for camp, though, with Thursday being the first day it didn't shower on them.

Meanwhile, Sis was home with me.  Unlike Bud, she had some friends over a few different times, even going to the movies with one.  And then there was her first sleepover!  She had a friend over on Friday.  And it was great.  I realized that my job as the mom was to feed them, provide entertainment, and step back.  Dinner took a little longer than I expected because Sis wanted to cook out on our campfire and the coals weren't cooperating.  But the friend, who has some of the best manners I've ever seen on a child, was really flexible and liked dinner, which was pocket stew and s'mores.  They also caught fireflies and played on the swingset until the mosquitoes got bad.  Then they watched the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, which Sis's friend hadn't seen, though she is also a huge DW fan.

The only downside is that Bud's own overnight--his first--at his kung fu academy was canceled.  I was mad at the coach because Bud was disappointed.  The coach is probably also canceling kung fu camp, which is also disappointing for Bud.  Good thing Bud doesn't mind too much and that he really likes kung fu.

Last week was also a festival we always go to, this year themed as kind of a country hoedown.  There were even real horses and cowboys and a mechanical bull!  Sis loved the horses and the petting zoo with a calf, a goat, ducks, chickens, sheep, and even a llama.  And Bud line danced the whole night.  "Mom, I will always remember tonight as the night I discovered line dancing."  You should have seen him boot, scoot, and boogie!  I got it all on video, at his request--so he can practice!!

Then over the weekend, we went down to the city to see my in-laws before they head to Thailand.  The kids' great-grandfather, Lao Gong, who is 94+, has metastasized lung cancer.  Ma and Gong are going to stay as long as they can, so this was probably our only shot at the beach for the summer.  And they loved it! They played in the sand and in the waves.  There was a rip tide so they could only wade in, not using the boards Ma and Gong got them.  We also had two wonderful meals and treats from the ice cream truck, not getting home until after 10 p.m.

And now it's another week of camp, this time both of them together.  So I'm home alone, my own "camp" this summer.  In fact, I am taking a camp, a Summer Soul Camp, with Heather Bruggerman of Beauty that Moves.  Just a way to rest and rejuvenate before the rest of the summer.

Summer Fun: More S'mores!

Tonight we had our own backyard campfire cookout, practicing all my Girl Scout skills.  In our new fire pit (alas the old one was destroyed in the garage accident), we set up and started the perfect A-frame fire, after discussing fire safety, the three requirements of a fire (fuel, oxygen, and a spark), the three kinds of firewood (tinder, kindling, and fuel), and setting up a water bucket with a fire stick soaking.  Then, with no paper, no firestarter, just a few extra matches because of the wind (yes, even in the fire pit), I got it lit.  Let the fun begin!

Sis sorted the firewood

The beginning of our campfire

The meal was a bit cattywampus, starting with s'mores.  Then we made our pocket stew dinners--with hamburger patty, onion, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, potatoes, seasoned with Maggi and garlic powder--in foil pouches.  While those cooked for about 30-40 minutes in the coals, we roasted doughboys (crescent roll dough) on sticks, dipping the finished product in sugar.  Then we got to eat the foil packets--yum!  There was even a whole extra packet of vegetables that we all shared; campfires make you hungry!  We had more s'mores and doughboys for dessert, plus banana boats.

The kids did wonderfully well helping with the fire and the cooking.  Sis especially seemed to like to gather wood, feed the fire, and stir things with the soaking fire stick.  Both enjoyed collecting fuel.  Bud liked to pretend he was a witch summoning dark powers; mostly he managed to summon the smoke in his direction (so much for "smoke follows beauty!?!)  He said he wished we could have lit the fire under the giant fire pit and used it like a bubbly cauldron.  We sang a couple of songs, as campfires almost require it, but had done most of our singing and storytelling at our hurricane party two nights before (we turned off the lights, sat around some candles, watched the lightning, sang songs, told stories--NOT ghost stories; I told the tale of the rescue dog Balto--and ate from our stash of snacks, really glad it wasn't truly a hurricane.)

We stayed outside until late, watching the embers die down, and then separated them and sprinkled them with water until they were cool to the touch.  Even the firepit was cool by the time we were done.  And then, with no more smoke, the bugs came out--and our evening came to a close.