How Y’all Are? Last weekend we held the 2nd Annual Troop 11 Iron Chef Competiton / Webeloree. Now, with two of these great events under our belt, I officially declare this event a T11 “First Weekend in December ” Tradition. What a great time we had!
We ended up with three patrols for the competition and a hoard of adults showing up, especially around supper time…funny how that works. For those who don’t know how this weekend flows, allow me to enlighten you.
During the day there are several program areas including fire building, the making of box ovens, firestarters, buddy burners and vagabond stoves, Dutch oven cooking, food prep and handling, menu planning, duty rosters, food pricing and oh yeah, outdoor stoves; that’s where Pyro Joe comes in. Note to self…when a boy volunteers WAY too quickly to lead a program area, somethings up! Such was the case with Pyro Joe.
Add a MSR Simmerlite Stove which has a “priming” flare up and Pyro Joe and you have a match (no pun intended) made in heaven. Especially when you can take the white gas bottle off and knock it over onto a flaming buddy burner. Ahhhh, the Assistant Scoutmaster meeting was getting WAY too boring anyway, thanks for the exciting intermission Joe, and congratualtions on earning the first ever “oval” firem’n chit…no corners to tear off from the git go!
Oh, well truth be told, I lit the whole corner of the wooden picnic table up earlier with the same stove, so MSR stove training needed all around lest the Philmont Crew gets blown off of Mt. Baldy next year. Gonna have to break down and read the directions, I guess.
I DO, however, know my way around a Dutch Oven and after the adults wake up from their post meal nap, they will tell you…we had a FINE dinner! This year I had a lot of help from my friends. I delegated dinner (imagine that?) and had Calico Chicken and Byron’s Potatoes going on in one corner, in the other corner Barbecue Corn-on-the-Cob and my specialty for the night a Spicy Cajun Chicken and Sausage served over a bed of white rice with that green stuff in it AND in the middle we had the making of Jalapeno Corn Bread and that Cream Cheese Icing for my “Death by Insulin Shock Strawberry Pecan Cake! OOH LA LA, dem sum gooood stuff there…I Garontee!!! Afterwards, I whipped up a couple of Lemon Raspberry Tarts just for good measure. I’m telling you, eat’in with Troop 11 is a veritable culinary delight!
Now on to the competition. The boys (T11 scouts teamed up with Webleos II) did fine in their own right. They must use the cooking techniques taught earlier in the program areas, they all have the same ingredients, plus “community” spices, sauces, etc. and their task is to ”wow” a panel of judges (aka – adults who don’t know any better) with a plate of their specially prepared fix’ins. I am pleased to announce that all three judges are in stable condition and can now receive visitors between the hours of…just kidding! We had a winner, and I think the key ingredient was grease with a hint of chicken and potato! Congrats to all for a FINE job!
The highlight of the evening however was a Flag Retirement Ceremony for several worn and tattered “Symbols of Freedom” given to us by Langley Air Force Base. Always a touching moment for sure. It’s amazing how hot ”those” flames can get, there has got to be a reason for that! God Bless America and those who defend our freedom!!
Well, another event for the Troop Historian to archive. All’s well that ends well, they say. Y’all come join us next year…hear??   Â