Cub Scouts, Boy scouts and Airplanes
Castle Air Museum hosted their “Open Cockpit” day on May 25th, 2008. I along with several Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and leaders were there to enjoy the event. Rain was in the forecast and rain it did. We where going to camp over night and I was in charge of cooking breakfast the next morning.
We arrived at Castle Air Museum on Saturday afternoon to very light drizzle, it was obvious that we had arrived before the rain did. Before we left home, the clouds had opened up and my wife kept asking if they were going to cancel the event. wishful thinking on her part. Before setting up camp we were treated to a tour of the Museum, all of the boys and adults were amazed at the history of these planes.
Our camp was directly under the wing of a B-36! Not a little plane to be sure. By the time we had set camp it was time to eat! The Boy scouts were on their own and they were all over the preparation of their dinner. I wondered if they did this much work in the kitchen at home. Within minutes they had burgers frying in cast iron skillet and the scouts started lining up with their hamburger buns and fixens.
Master chef Cody at the grill and the rest of the pack lined up for grub!
For the Cub scouts we had planned foil dinners. The idea was simple and it went very smoothly. The adults tore off a square of foil and the Cub scouts placed a hamburger patty, rice, frozen vegetables, hash browns, a spoonful of mushroom soup and some spices. Wrap that concoction up placed it on the barbecue grill and with-in 30-40 minutes they had a edible mixture of foil cooked dinner stuff. It was really good by the time the temperature outside plummeted and the rain kept drizzling on our heads.
Rain, rain, rain, rain all night long! I couldn't of had more than two hour sleep that night. Up at 5:45am to start breakfast, still raining and still cold. Set up my cooking table and Dutch ovens. I started making the Mountain man breakfast first, it was huge with 20 eggs, two sausage roll, a bag of hash brown, onions and garlic all in a 14″ deep dutch oven. Next I made two coffee cakes in my 12″ Dutch ovens followed by two batches of biscuits. It all turned out quit well considering the environment.
After breakfast it was pack-up and clean-up by 8:30am, we were a little rushed but we all made it. The Scouts followed the rule of leave no trace and walked every square inch of our campground to pick up the last of the trash.
The rest of the day was “Open cockpit day”! I cannot describe the experience of climbing into these war planes. You are impressed with a new understanding of what of soldiers went thru flying these aircraft. I was amazed and awed, the conditions that these soldiers had to tolerate were crude and uncomfortable, yet they flew in these planes for hours and hours. What and experience we had that day, the boys were in total awe and enjoyed every moment of their experience.
You can view the rest of my photo's here.
I would just like to thank the staff at Castle Air Museum for their warm welcome and allowing our boys to have such a great experience!
I wonder if you’d be willing to share you “Mountain Man Breakfast” recipe?
I would be happy to share my version with you. I will add it to next weeks blogs. Thanks for asking!!
Oh, but that won’t help me! We’re going camping this weekend and I’m in charge of cooking breakfast for three families. This sounds like the perfect recipe. Would you mind emailing it to me if you aren’t able to post it yet? Sorry for the bother, but I’m very appreciative.
No worries!!
1 sausage log (I like Jimmy Deans)
1 onion (chopped)
2-3 stalks green onion (chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves (chopped}
8-12 eggs (scrambled)
Several mushrooms (sliced)
1 bag shredded hash browns
1 bag “Sharp” chedder cheese (12oz)
Garlic salt
Pepper
Parsley (dried)
Fry up sausage and onion. Add chopped garlic. Cook till sausage is almost done. Drain.
Add all of the other ingerdients (Except cheese) and mix up real good. Cook for about 40 minutes untill egg is done.
Last 5 minutes add cheese to top to melt.
I use a 12″ Dutch oven with 8 coals on bottom and about 16 on top. You will use alot more on bottom to fry up sausage so just dump the total amount on bottom to start then adjust to bake.
This has always been a crowd pleaser!! You can add other items if you want, I have made it with turkey sausage also.
I expand on this latter, I hope this helps!
Gary
This is excellent, Gary! Perfect for breakfast Saturday morning. I’ll be sure to take pictures and post them back. I’m going to try one thing different though. Since I’m taking along the Lodge Sportsman’s Grill, which is completely cast iron and has a flat grilling surface, I’m going to simply set my 12″ dutch oven on top and use the grill like a stove top. Would you have any concerns that this might not work?
Thanks for the comment on our food blog. I am jealous of the biscuits. That is my next attempt. We camp in a tear drop which has the smallest galley around so this is so logical for eating out. I’ll be back, I’m sure.
rmansfield:
My only concern is getting enough heat on the bottom. Couple of options:
1. Just cook on the ground, like the cowboys.
2. Do what i do and just use a galvanized garbage can lid (break off the handle) This make a great cooking table.
You really want to get the coals under the pot and the legs keep it at the right height.
Moon:
Don’t tell anyone … I used buscuits from the tube! Worked great.
Gary, the Mountain Man Breakfast came out great. Since you were worried that I wouldn’t get enough heat, I used a dutch oven without legs that could sit right on the grill.
To see pictures, go to http://gallery.mac.com/rmansfield/100208
Fantastic!!! Glad it worked. great idea using a indoor Dutch oven. great pictures, thanks for sharing them.