"A Scout is: [ . . . also] Clean" in the kitchen.

Much of the anxiety in camp cookery (besides determining what to eat) regards cleanliness.  With news headlines regularly frightening the general public about E. coli outbreaks at national food chains it should come as no surprise.  Fortunately there are a few simple steps that will keep you, your food and equipment clean and ready for use and will reduce the chance of contamination and resulting illness.

Cleaning yourself:
Wash your hands thoroughly before beginning cooking, after handling any raw meats and whenever you have the slightest suspicion that your hands may not clean enough.

Cleaning food:
Rinse fruits, vegetables and meats as part of regular meal preparation.  Store raw meat away from other ingredients during food preparation.

Cleaning equipment:
Wash your cooking gear thoroughly using the three pot method detailed in your Scout Handbook.  If you are using a minimalist cooking kit wash anything that comes into contact with food three times (with hot water containing biodegradable soap,  hot water rinse, then cold water with sanitizer) then allow to air dry.  Also wash all equipment that touches raw meat before reusing it in the same cooking session.  Some equipment such as cast iron and non-stick coated pans require special care - be sure to check out the instructions for cleaning them when they are purchased or ask anyone who uses this equipment regularly about proper cleaning.

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Biscuits and Sausage Gravy 
(Adapted from Pacific Northwest Trail Cook Book by John and Roberta Wolcott)

Preheat stove top oven or dutch oven.

1/3 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cups milk

Mix dry ingredients.  Cut shortening into dry ingredients.  Slowly add milk and knead (less is best - the more you knead the harder the biscuits become).  Roll out and cut biscuits.  Bake until golden brown.  Reduce heat to minimum (or turn off and wrap biscuits in tinfoil) to keep biscuits warm until gravy is ready.  Serves 6.

3 lbs. sausage
3/4 cups flour
Seasoning salt (or salt and pepper) to taste
6 cups milk

Brown sausage in skillet or dutch oven.  Dust flour over the browned sausage and brown it with the already browned sausage.  Add milk slowly and thicken to desired consistency.  Serve poured over biscuits.  Serves 12.

The Swedish Chef.

Anyone who has seen The Swedish Chef on The Muppet Show has realized that the comedy comes from the nonsense and the inevitable mess that the character makes.  But did you know that these are also common pitfalls in real cooking?  The nonsense usually comes from cooking in a hurry, not understanding the recipe or not taking the time to properly prepare ingredients while the mess usually comes from not getting everything organized before the cooking begins.  As you can tell, this month's theme is cooking.  To help with this there will be two posts per week for the month of April.  Each post will also have two sections: The first section will detail some general cooking information or procedures and the second section will feature a recipe that you can try.  Check out the online parts of the Scout Handbook on cooking, your regular Scout Handbook and the pamphlet for the Cooking Merit Badge for more information and most of all have fun!

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A dutch oven is a medium-large cooking vessel with a lid that is typically made of cast iron, steel or ceramic materials.  While not the lightest or smallest of options for cooking and extended trips it is certainly one of the best multi-taskers.  Many recipes can be used with this single pot to greatly simplify your cooking and reduce the dishes that you have to clean.  However, there are some special precautions that need to be used when using a dutch oven.  Some recipes require that charcoal briquettes or coals be placed on the lid once it is on the oven - do not skip this because it sounds odd - the purpose is to create even heating and to increase the heat inside the dutch oven.  Also, do not scrub the inside of a cast iron oven overly hard when cleaning and do not clean with soap as it removes the non-stick coating or "seasoning" from the oven and will make your next meals taste like soap.  Always remember to reseason cast iron dutch ovens after they are clean and dry.  Also avoid high acidity foods with a cast iron oven as this will promote rusting.  If acidic foods are unavoidable simply rinse the oven immediately after it has cooled and don't delay the washing.  Tips like these will help you get the most use out of a dutch oven as you develop your recipes and cooking skills.

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Blackberry Cobbler 
(Adapted from Byron's Dutch Oven Recipes)

4 cups fresh blackberries (or 2 bags of frozen then thawed)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 cup water
 
Wash fresh blackberries and drain (or let frozen berries thaw then rinse).  In a large bowl combine blackberries, 1/2 cup of sugar, lemon zest and water then stir to coat blackberries and let rest.
 
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups milk
 
In a separate bowl combine flour, 2 cups of sugar, baking powder and salt then stir to mix.  Add milk and beat until batter is smooth.
 
1 stick butter
 
Melt butter using 10-12 briquettes under a 12" Dutch oven.  Pour batter over melted butter slowly (do not stir).  Carefully spoon blackberry mix over top of the batter (do not stir).
 
1 tsp. cinnamon
 
Sprinkle cinnamon over top.
 
Cover and bake using 10-12 briquettes under the dutch oven and 18-20 on the lid for 45 to 60 minutes.  Rotate the oven and lid 1/4 turn in opposite directions every 10 minutes until crust is golden brown.  Serves 10.

Fifty and then some!

While the Troop prepares for this Summer's "50-miler" through conditioning hikes, gear preparation and trip planning start thinking about ways that you can contribute to a service project that can help to improve the trail once the final route is determined.  Opportunities should be discussed with Troop leaders who will then check with the recognized authorities responsible for the trail to determine the most practical options.  Bring your ideas to our next planning session for the hike.  Be sure to also check out the requirements for the 50-Miler Award to see how a small service project fits into the overall picture for a long-distance hike by demonstrating Leave No Trace principles as well as good stewardship of natural resources.

The best navigation tool.

Altimeter, GPS, compass, digital compass, map, pace-counting beads, cell phone apps, map measuring tool, UTM ruler, etc.  The list is long for devices that can potentially help you with your orientation, navigation and routefinding.  However, the best navigation tool is right between your ears - that's right, your brain!  Just consider what would happen if you were to get separated from your backpack or otherwise damaged your navigation tools (bug repellant and water have been the culprit many times).  In short you would be fine but only if you keep calm and concentrate on what you know.  The sun, moon, stars, water and vegetation can all help you navigate without the use of a map, compass or other conventional tools.  Check out your Scout Handbook to find out more about how to use these, and other, methods of navigation.  If you study different ways to navigate, with and without tools, you will become more confident when faced with changing conditions, locations and resources.

Compass anatomy.

There are many tools in your camping equipment that can prove crucial in an emergency situation.  Your compass is just such an item, but only if you know how to use it and its different parts.  Take at look at the image in this post then write down the numbers on a piece of paper.  Try to label the parts of the compass next to their corresponding number.  When you are done click the image to see the answers and check your work.  You can study your Scout Handbook to get more familiar with your compass as well as how to use it both by itself and with a topographic map.  Navigation is a technical and perishable skill - practice often and well!

What you might not know can hurt you!

Topographic maps have the most detail when it comes to ground features (topography) and are most useful when on an outing - but only if you know how to correctly interpret the information.  This detail means that there are many topographic features to distinguish and understand.  Unfortunately, most topographic maps have a limited legend that indicates the features found on a particular map sheet.  This makes sense for two reasons: 1. If there was a master legend printed on every sheet there might not be room for the actual terrain features and 2. Not every sheet has the same terrain features (many map legend items might not be necessary).  Your Scout Handbook has a brief legend of some common topographic map features that you may encounter when you look at your next map.  If you would like to see a more inclusive legend you can check out this link.  If you pay attention to contours, ground density features, types of trails and distinct geological features such as mountains, rivers and lakes you will help yourself to be prepared to navigate on your next outing and you will also be able to understand more of the environment around your next encampment.

A tale of two...norths?

Odds are that anyone who has held a map in their hands has tried to make it point north.  But did you realize that there is more than one north?  Both "true north" and "magnetic north" are represented on a topographic map.  True north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic north pole (indicated by the star in the image).  Magnetic north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the magnetic north pole (MN in the image).  In the margin of a topographic map there will be a small graphic that depicts the difference between true and magnetic north.  This value will have to be added to or subtracted from your compass bearings for the best accuracy.  There are also other ways to compensate for this difference (declination).  Check out your Scout Handbook for procedures that involve drawing magnetic north lines on your map and for calibrating a declination-adjustible compass, if you have a compass with this feature.  Once you have a good sense of the difference between the "two norths" and how they relate to using your map and compass together you will not have to worry about following skewed bearings and getting lost due to poor accuracy.

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Bonus: The declination key above is from the 2011 7.5' USGS Quadrangle for Everett.  You can view the map by clicking on the image (it may take a few moments to load).  You can then view the map in your browser or download it to your computer to explore the map features.  If you download the map use the zoom feature to find the "Scout Shack" and most importantly have fun!