Scout Mom and Writer

[CyndiA]

Hi to all. I've visited this site for quite a while and often and just discovered the message boards. Neat place all round.

 

I'm an active Scout mom with 2 sons. I type up the monthly calendars, buy the scrapbooking materials to keep a journal of activities and look around for service project ideas. Our group cooked at the homeless shelter, washed adoptable puppies at the dog pound, and tomorrow we're taking cookies made by the troop for the local blood drive. The guys aren't old enough to donate blood, but they can donate the snacks and hand those out to blood donators.

 

One of my main areas with Scouts is cooking. I help the guys find recipes and set up meals for camping trips. My boys built a fire pit in the yard to test drive recipes before camping trips.

 

It has been hard to find cookbooks for Scouts. I know BSA has a small phamplet. Cee Dub Dutch Oven books have quite a few recipes that work for Scouts. But, overall, this is an area where there is a serious lack.

 

I write freelance part-time, so I decided to write a cookbook for Scouts. The title is "Greasy, Grimy, Gopher Guts and Other Favorite Scouts Recipes." It has both outdoor and indoor recipes, since the cooking merit badge has requirements to cook for the family at home as well.

 

It will be a while before the book is done. Right now, I'm just collecting recipes and the Scouts are trying them out. We're only including the ones that are easy, good, and fairly inexpensive on ingredients.

 

If anyone would like to send a recipe, then I can be contacted at cyndiallison@gmail.com I want to include your name, city, state, and troop number (or troop position) with your recipe if the local Scouts can make it up and like it.

 

If you've seen church or community cookbooks with favorites, this is the style. Hard back with spiral and recipes from a variety of people.

 

Our Scout group is enjoying trying all sorts of new recipes, and I think that this project will be helpful to Scouts down the road when it's done.

 

My dad was a Scoutmaster for many years here in town. Both my brothers made Eagle. My sons are both at First Class currently.

 

Thanks for having a space here to share ideas. I'm glad I found the forums. I've found lots of good information here at Scouter Network.

 

Thanks, Cyndi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SemperParatus]

Welcome to the forum...and best of luck with the book. Let us know when its finished.

 

I like the way you have titled it for future volumes:

 

Vol. II Marinated Monkey Meat and Other Favorite Scout Recipes.

 

Vol. III Little Dirty Birdy Feet and Other Favorite Scout Recipes

 

Vol. IV - Eyeballs Swimming in a Pool of Blood (I forgot my spoon) and Other Favorite Scout Recipes.

 

Vol. V - Scab Sandwiches with Puss on the Top and Other Favorite Scout Recipes.

 

etc.

 

Mmmmm...makes me hungry just thinking about it.

 

 

[CyndiA]

LOL. That's funny. Hadn't thought of the possibilities. Since we're making every dish, and this book should run around 150 recipes, I will be bigger than the barn if we do a series.

 

If folks have interesting service project ideas, I'd love more new ideas.

 

The Red Cross was excited this morning when I took the cookies made by the boys and drinks bought by the troop. That's for the blood drive. The boys will go after school to help with giving out the snacks and clearing up the tables/chairs after.

 

I try to have something new every month or two. I'm checking on Habitat for Humanity currently. I think they plan to start a new house here in March or April.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

 

[EagleInKY]

Cyndi, Welcome to the campfire.

 

Hold it down Semper, you're making us hungry!

[CyndiA]

If those titles don't get you going, then just wait til you see the recipe for baked crickets. Yep. The kind you use for bait when fishing. YUM.

 

Thanks for the second welcome and also for all the great sharing here. I've found lots of wonderful ideas here at Scouter Network.

[Chicken Ranch]

There are several cookbooks published on outdoor & dutch oven cooking. I picked most of mine up at the REI store in Denver and at the Bass Pro place at Springfield MO - both along the way when I attended training somewhere or other.

There's several that I know of... (for those who don't want to experiment & publish their own books)...

Cooking the Dutch Oven Way (Woody Woodruff) in both a first edition and an expanded 2nd edition

Lovin' Dutch Ovens (Joan S. Larsen)

The Outdoor Dutch Oven Cookbook (Sheila Mills)

Camper's Guide to Outdoor Cooking (John G. Ragsdale) in a 1st and 2nd edition

Camp Cookery for small groups (BSA)

Log Cabin Cooking, pioneer recipes & lore (Barbara Swell)

Mom's Camper Cooking (Rita Hewson)

The Wilderness Chef, gourmet recipes for the great outdoors (Claudine Martin)

 

I've found that most recipes can be adapted to outdoor cooking - how else would our pioneer ancestors have survived crossing the prairies and mountains. All you have to do is experiment a bit with the fire and the cooking techniques to make them work. The trick is keeping the staples fresh (flour, sugar, etc) and keeping enough spice and seasoning on hand - and of course - keeping the cooking gear clean and well seasoned for use.

[Fuzzy Bear]

CyndiA,

 

Welcome aboard. The conductor will take your ticket. All passengers must remain seated unless you would like to drive the engine. You are more than welcome to do that at any time but only one driver at a time, please.

 

This is an entry for your cookbook. It is from the 1962 Flintstone Patrol Cookbook, one recipe only. It was invented by none other than their very own beloved Patrol Leader and part-time want-to-be chef. This dish was never field tested but was first tried on the whole patrol during our first and only Semi-Survival Campout. The stew was considered a success. The patrol survived.

 

FLINTSTONE STEW

Open two cans of Pinto Beans or Red Beans (*depending on what you like) and pour them into a large pot. More cans could be used for a bigger patrol or appetites. Cut up one package of hot dogs into bite sized chunks and stir them briskly into the heating pot of beans. Another package could be used for more Scouts or if the day is cold but consider keeping the ratio of beans to dogs but that is not mandatory either. Sprinkle, then stir in a spoonful of chili powder or more to your taste or to the taste of the Scout with the least taste for spice. (*This method is used to keep patrol members from biting into large knots of chili powder.) Consider cutting a medium sized onion into small bits and stir into the stew. (*Some Scouts are afraid of bad breath after two or three days in the woods, so this condiment could be deleted.) Serve hot. Use a Ladle or a cup. After serving, place ladle or cup on nearby rock for later use. If you happen to burn the stew to the bottom of the pan, use sand to scrub. Try to wash pot before dark. If you happen to leave it overnight, it is possible a raccoon or other varmint will clean it for you. These little animals have acquired quite a taste for Flintstone Stew over the years.

 

This recipe can only be used by permission of the Patrol Leader of the Flintstone Patrol, this means it is OK.

 

FB

[CyndiA]

Yes. There are some good cookbooks out there. My favorites are the Cee Dub books. They focus on Dutch Oven but have a few other types of recipes plus "tale tales" (or stories from his camping experiences).

 

My concern with the books available is that they are written with adults in mind. Some of the recipes are pretty complex. Authors assume that those using the books will know cooking terms and even ingredients that they likely won't know. The boys here didn't know what I meant by "rock salt" for instance. My book will include that it's not table salt but a chunky salt in a box.

 

I want to have a book that the guys can use without help. I watch close as they are using books and cooking and write more detailed directions based on what I see happening. While I would know to mix the key lime pie in a bowl and pour in the shell, my Scout was going to toss all the ingredients in the pie shell to mix. Sounds good in theory. No bowl to wash. But, a graham cracker crust won't stand up to mixing.

[CyndiA]

LOL. You are funny. The recipe sounds good. We will have to give that a try. The boys here made a couple of dishes they liked and would likely have made the same ones from here until they aged out of Scouts (-: That's when I started rounding up some recipes. They look the 3 ring book over and decide on things they think sound good. Then they usually make a meal or two they've tried before and a new one on each trip. Titles help. Glad you had a good one.

 

Thank you much!

[Foxwhisker8]

Elephant Stew

 

1 medium-size elephant

Brown gravy

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 rabbits (optional)

 

Cut elephant into bite-size pieces. This should take about 2 months. Cover with brown gravy. Cook over kerosene fire, in big black pot, about 4 weeks at 465 degrees F.

 

Serves 3,800. If more are expected, add 2 rabbits. Add these only if necessary as most people do not like to find hare in their stew.

 

Cheerfully,

Foxwhisker8

 

(Recipe from www.recipegoldmine.com. Excellent resource!)

[mdutch]

Got one question about the stew- how much gravy do I need?

[SemperParatus]

Ivory read the posts (thank goodness they weren't trunkated) and am especially interested in trumpeting the merits of elephant stew. Add a loaf of tuskani bread on the side and you have a feast. Anyone else herd of such a thing? I am all ears.