Inmate-operated Mobile Kitchen

As a former employee of a large state institution, I’ve always been impressed by inmate-operated mobile kitchen units for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. I’m not alone. Here’s a quote from Meredith Spangler, a dispatcher on the Stephens Fire, near Colfax, California, in August 2004:

At 1900 hours, I reported in for my shift. My partner and I took turns eating from the Mobile Kitchen. The food was very, very good and I ate more than I should have, despite my original reluctance to eat food prepared by convicts (I am primarily a police dispatcher, after all).

Although I can’t say with any accuracy, the kitchen that served the Stephens Fire may have been Mobile Kitchen Unit-45 from the Growlersburg Conservation Camp in Georgetown, California. The Growlersburg MKU was the closest to the fire and, as such, would’ve responded quickly.

Camp -- Post-camp Menu Evaluation

Four large cucumbers, sliced on a mandoline, fit into a 2-inch, half-sized hotel pan.

With camp over, I still have a few post-camp tasks to get done before I set it aside for the better part of eight or nine months. In the week following camp, I like to evaluate the menu, review purchases and analyze the end-of-camp inventory while my memory of camp is fresh.

In past years I've focused my attention on lunch and dinner entrees and the Thursday night banquet. Most campers have accepted these meals. I don't think there's really an issue of running the same meals year after year.

This year I need to focus my attention on the salad bar. I've been unhappy with my reliance on tomatoes and cucumbers for a couple years.

Tomatoes will remain popular. The Northern California FC Camp is always scheduled when the tomato crop is in full "bloom." Camp staff savor tomatoes marinated in an olive oil based vinaigrette with a chiffonade of basil. Tacos, salsa and hamburgers are also well complimented by fresh tomatoes.

So I plan to serve tomatoes on the salad bar in some form each day, even though consumption varies from year to year. This year we only used two and one-half flats (2 layers packed 5 by 6 each). We've used up to five flats in years past.

Cucumbers, more than any other produce item, tends to be inventory driven. Each year I've purchased one flat of 36 large cukes. To exhaust a seemingly endless supply, I push cucumbers on the salad bar each lunch and dinner. The two cucumber salads that were moderately popular were traditional cucumber and onion and a cucumber and tomato salad with a creamy Italian dressing. But four cucumbers will last two or three meals.

Next year, I plan to reduce my purchase of cucumbers to a dozen and run a cucumber salad twice during the week, not daily.

My current task is to get out of this salad rut and locate a few kid friendly salad ideas. Until now, many of our salads were placed on the menu to please the adult staff. Traditional salads like cole slaw, potato and macaroni salads work well in the camp setting. My task now is to menu several kid pleasers, while satisfying the tastes of the adults.

More to come in the weeks ahead...

Fire Camp Kitchen at Warm Incident

Mealtime at the incident command post for the Warm Fire in the Kaibab Nation Forest in Arizona. The kitchen for this fire was operated by Trails End Catering of Kanab, Utah. The Warm Fire was declared 100 percent contained on July 4, 2006. The fire burned approximately 58,630 acres in 27 days. It took took 419 personnel to contain the fire at its peak.

Many mobile kitchen units use these Cambro table-top food bars to serve salads and dessert items. They are available in four-, five- and six-foot lengths and list for $940 to $1,140. The four-, five- and six-foot models hold three, four and five full-sized hotels pans respectively. Cambro literature says: "It is lightweight, easy to handle, extremely durable and affordable. The thick foam ice well holds ice for hours to keep your food presentation looking and tasting fresh. A drain plug is also included to make clean-up quick and easy. This Table Top Model comes complete with a sneeze guard that attaches securely to the Food Bar body. The sneeze guard is double-sided to accomodate serving from both sides of the bar. End panels shield food for even greater food protection."

Camp -- Picture of the Cooks On-stage

Thanks to Roger Lee...

Camp -- 2006 Kitchen Camp Song

Early in the week I learned that my second cook and dining room host (mother and daughter) were scheming to get us all on stage during the talent show. Carol and Elisa came to camp with with words in hand and a skit worked out. We spent Friday working on the song in between meals.

It worked.

All the cooks joined me on stage to sing this song to the tune of the Ballad of the Green Berets:

2006 KITCHEN CAMP SONG

At the Florida College Camp,
We have come to cook and sweat,
And we know that when Saturday comes
All the kids willa been well fed.

Should we by chance cough or sneeze
Just be sure to use those sleeves
Everyone knows that's what they're for
And to wipe things off the floor.

We want those kids to not get sick
So we'll be careful what we lick
We'll be careful how things are done
And always share our cinnamon buns.

Is that a hair? Oh no can't be!
Cause be agree to decree
That all must shave their heads so bare
Or be fired as a volunteer.

When our work at camp is done
And we travel near and far,
We'll think of you from FC Camp
As we hobble to our cars.

See you next year!

Camp -- Clean Up and Ready to Head Home

Has anyone cleaned those shelves?

Camp -- We'll Make Do

On Thursday each year, we offer peanut butter, dill pickle and mayonnaise sandwiches to the campers as an adventuresome alternative to grilled cheese. Although fewer than 10 accept the challenge each year, everyone now knows my favorite peanut butter sandwich!

Last Thursday and Friday the cooks persistently informed that we needed to make a Safeway run. We were already running out of catsup, margarine, white sugar, vegetable oil and dry cereal.

It's human nature. The cooks see that we're out of one or more products and assume that we need to run to the market and replenish the cupboards. I know that my cooks had the camp's best interest in kind when they made the suggestion.

But I had one consistent answer throughout the week: "No, we'll make do."

As chef, I have a job to perform. Budget and the need to use excess stock drove my response. Although I came in about $300 under budget for the week, I saw little need to spend more money. I knew with a little ingenuity, we'd make do.

There are several reasons for running low on stock. This year, the 20 extra campers caught us all by surprise late in the week before camp. We used the last 32 boxes of cereal Friday morning. I had cut my cereal order from five cases to four because the original estimate was for 140 campers and staff, not 165.

I generally buy a one-gallon jug of oil for the week. The olive-vegetable oil mixture is great for salads. But when the jug starts to run on empty, I look for alternatives. Wednesday or Thursday, I instructed my salad cook to assemble a tomato-cucumber salad.

Instead of mixing a vinaigrette dressing, I had her thin the creamy Italian dressing with cider vinegar and milk. It worked well. This was a good use of creamy Italian because we always have one or two quarts left at the end of camp.

With few exceptions -- margarine and cereal among them -- we substituted stock on hand for the missing items. I had my baker use raisin brand and bran flakes in place of the rolled oats for the apple crisp topping. We purchased margarine for toast only. Bacon grease worked well on Friday (we don't serve bacon until Friday).

We served oatmeal for the first time in five years Friday. As an aside, I plan to serve oatmeal maybe two or three days next year. It was very popular.

A word to the wise: Watch your stock. For many dishes, margarine, shortening and oil are interchangeable. But a drive to conserve salad oil, for instance, may push the cooks into using greater quantities of margarine. As chef, you need to constantly balance like products. Ask, "Is margarine best for this menu item?" Or, "Can I use shortening or bacon fat?"

Camp -- Home Now

We served pork roast with caramelized apples at the senior camper banquet Thursday evening.

We arrived home about 7 p.m. last night. I'm showered, rested and heading off to worship. I'll post more pictures and thoughts about the camp kitchen this afternoon -- after I purchase a new USB cable for the camera (left it in the camp office!).

Camp -- Thomas Jefferson Frittata

What do you do with two pans of leftover macaroni and cheese?

The answer: re-package and serve it for breakfast! Thomas Jefferson frittata to be precise. While not a true frittata, our leftover mac and cheese woke a few kids up this morning. It got most thinking, "What's the connection between Jefferson and mac and cheese?" (Jefferson is credited with bringing the first pasta machine to the U.S. from Italy in 1787.)

A slice of true frittata may have been nice next to an oven fresh cinnamon roll and 2-ounce sausage link. But remember, we didn't do anything to the mac and cheese -- only re-packaged it. In the end, 165 kids and adults only ate 24 servings.

I'll have more on leftovers later. Today is "catch up day" in the Northern California FC Camp kitchen.

Camp -- Tacos

Beef tacos are always popular at camp. We prepared 200 tacos (the number of taco shells that come in a box!) for lunch and ran out after seconds. At Northern California FC Camp, we start the kids on one taco, then call seconds after everyone has gone through the line once. There were no leftovers.

BEEF TACOS

22 pounds lean ground beef
2-3/4 cups taco seasoning
200 taco shells
6 pounds cheddar cheese, grated
5-7/8 pounds lettuce, shredded
3-1/2 pounds onion, chopped
3-1/4 quarts salsa

Cook beef until beef loses its pink color; stir to break apart. Drain fat. Add taco seasoning to beef. Saute 5 minutes. CCP: Internal temperature must reach 155 deg F or higher for 15 seconds. CCP: Hold at 135 deg F or higher.

Arrange taco shells on sheet pans. Using a convection oven, bake 2 to 3 minutes at 325 deg F on high fan, open vent until just heated. Place 1/4-cup meat in each taco; line up next to each other in steam table pan. CCP: Hold for service at 135 deg F or higher. Just before serving, top each taco with 2 tablespoons cheese, 2-1/3 tablespoons lettuce, 2 teaspoons onions, and 1 tablespoon taco sauce.

Serving Ideas: Serve 2 tacos per portion. Acceptability is approx 125% when 1 taco is served for firsts and when seconds are considered.

Notes: Substitute ground chicken or turkey for beef if desired.

TACO SEASONING

1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup dried oregano
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Mix; store in air-tight container. Use 2 tablespoons per pound of cooked ground meat. Add water or stock to moisten; heat to 165 deg F for 15 seconds.

Yield: 2-1/2 cups

Serving Ideas: Substitute ground chipotle pepper for a smoky flavor.

Camp -- BBQ Chicken Dinner

And just in case you're interested, the screaming hasn't stopped. It seems to be a natural part of camp! Right now, I've got a group of 4th and 5th grade girls singing, "Guacamole, burrito, cinnamon twist," outside the office door. I'm not sure what it means -- sounds like a counselor is trying to keep them occupied by singing Taco Bell jingles...

We closed the day with a barbecued chicken dinner and paper plates, and we gave the dishwasher the night off. CS, our head dishwasher, also attends to a cabin of 6th and 7th grade boys. He lives in the cabin each night and works in the kitchen by day. A well deserved night off seemed in order.

Camp -- Independence Day Country Breakfast

As I said a few weeks ago, we cooked breakfast outdoors this morning. A used the barbecue grill as my cooktop and prepared scrambled eggs, cottage fried potatoes, buttermilk biscuits and country gravy for 165 campers. (The breakfast bar rounded the menu with apples, oranges, juice, milk, cereal and peanut butter and jelly.)

I lit 24-pounds of Kingsford charcoal at 6:40 this morning. The first thing I did was to sweat chopped onions in margarine for the cottage fried potatoes in a deep Dutch oven. I then used this oven to cook the gravy.

Six quarts of sausage gravy was prepared in a 14-inch deep Dutch oven. I used two 14-inch regular ovens to brown the potatoes. To save time, we use a pre-cooked diced red potato product from Sysco. Thirty pounds of potatoes were cooked in two batches. About four pounds of potatoes fit into each oven.

It took 18-dozen medium eggs to feed 165 campers. We scrambled the eggs in four batches in this wonderful skillet that comes with the camp. One of these days, I'm going to purchase one.

After the meal. We served breakfast from about 8:40 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. The eggs were transferred from the large skillet to a Dutch oven for service. We baked the biscuits in the kitchen to save time, but served them from a Dutch oven. The kids ate everything except for about 10 portions of the potatoes and eggs.

Camp -- Pizza Night

As I write kids are screaming up in the amphitheater (do you see a common thread developing here!). It's Fear Factor...

Tonight was pizza night. This in one of the items that I love to prepare from scratch. Since I couldn't find the dough hook or the rolling pin, I mixed and kneaded a double recipe by hand. I know that these items were around last year, because I used them for the pizza dough and the cinnamon rolls.

I found the dough hook deep behind the mixer stand, almost under the ice machine (the two are located side-by-side). The rolling pin was buried under the large center work table that's in front of the range. My first though was that the camp had disposed of these items. I had visions of rolling pizza dough with a can or bottle!

At the suggestion of my second cook, we prepared these pizzas this year:

4 cheese pizzas
3 chicken pizzas
3 combination pizzas

Unlike past years, we didn't prepare pepperoni pizza tonight. It was time for a change. Three to five pounds of pre-cooked chicken is sufficient for the three pizzas. We buy a Sysco product that comes packed two 5-pound bags per box. The pizzas are cut 4x5. Off 200 servings, 23 were left oven. This meal is the most popular of the week.

PEPPERONI PIZZA

2-3/8 ounces active dry yeast
1-1/8 cups warm water
1-1/2 quarts cold water
6-5/8 pounds bread flour
1 ounce salt
2-1/3 ounces sugar
1-1/2 cups olive oil, divided
1 gallons pizza sauce
4 pounds mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 pound sliced pepperoni
7 ounces Parmesan cheese

Sprinkle yeast over water. Do not use temperatures above 110 deg F. Mix well. Let stand 5 minutes, stir. Place water, flour, salt, sugar and olive oil in mixer bowl in order listed. Add yeast solution. Using a dough hook, mix at low speed about 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough temperature should be 86 deg F to 88 deg F.

Divide dough; shape into 4 (2-pound 2-ounce) balls. Cover; let rise in warm place 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until double in bulk. Coat bottom and sides of each pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Place dough balls on lightly floured working surface. Roll out each ball to 1/8-inch thickness. Transfer dough to 18x26-in sheet pans pushing dough slightly up edges of pan. Using 1 tablespoon oil per pan, lightly brush dough. Gently prick dough to prevent bubbling.

Spread 1 quart sauce evenly over dough in each pan. Sprinkle 1 quart shredded cheese over each pan. Thinly slice pepperoni; evenly distribute 4 ounces over cheese in each pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup grated cheese over mixture in each pan.

Using a convection oven, bake 8 minutes at 450 deg F on high fan, closed vent or until crust is browned and cheese starts to turn golden. Cut each sheet pan 4 by 5. CCP: Hold for service at 135 deg F or higher.

Serving Ideas: This recipe prepares 5 (18x26-in) sheet pans. For 150 campers, prepare 9-10 sheet pans. Serve 1 slice for firsts before calling seconds. Acceptability is approx 115-120%.

This recipe takes about 3-4 hours to set the dough, let it ferment, punch it and roll out the pizzas. You should have sufficient time to work the dough if you activate the yeast at 2:30 p.m. for a 5:30 p.m. dinner. Do not activate the yeast any later than 2:30 p.m. It will take 2 batches as the mixer cannot accommodate any more than 1 recipe. Prepare 1 full recipe for each batch. Each recipe will yield 4-1/2 to 5 sheets of pizza, depending on how efficiently you work.

For cheese pizza, omit the pepperoni.

Camp -- Opening Meal Sunday

As I write kids are screaming up in the amphitheater, about 100 yards from the office. It's opening night rally ...

Opening meal this year was much the same as last year. The menu didn't change. So you can look up last year's comments for the chicken tender, barbecue, roasted potato wedge and broccoli meal.

I have the same 11 staff as last year, save one. As I've said last year, don't fret over the number of staff assigned to the kitchen, especially when working with volunteers. Most are taking a hard earned vacation from work to help feed hungry campers. They'll appreciate a break now and then.

I've assigned positions as follows:

Steve -- Chef (5th year)
CD -- 2nd cook (5th year)
AK -- 3rd cook (2nd year)
HB -- Salads and baker (2nd year)
DK -- Kitchen helper (5th year)
EM -- Dining room host (5th year)
CS -- Dishwasher and utility (3rd year)
AK -- Dishwasher and utility (2nd year)
PD -- Dishwasher and utility (2nd year)
DB -- Dishwasher and utility (2nd year)
KM -- Dishwasher and utility (1st year)

The afternoon started with an staff meeting at 2 p.m. in the kitchen. I explained the flow of the dinner prep and made individual assignments. I also demonstrated the proper method to mix the sanitizer solution. (See last year's comments on sanitizer.)

In addition to dinner prep, I started the staff on three additional items. The salad bar is always a hit at FC Camp. HB sliced 15 tomatoes and prepared a marinade while I sliced 8 cucumbers for cucumber and onions. These two salads anchor the salad bar along with a tossed salad. Four tomatoes slices were left at the end of dinner. Tomatoes are much more popular than the cucumbers.

We also made chocolate chip cookies for lunch tomorrow and panned the sausage for breakfast. The morning cooks return to the kitchen at 7 a.m.

MARINATED TOTATOES

6 pounds fresh tomatoes
3/4 cup onion -- chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup parsley -- chopped
1 tablespoon dried basil -- crumbled
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
2 cups olive oil
1 1/2 cups red wine or balsamic vinegar

Cut tomatoes into 1/4-inch slices. Shingle in 15 sliced tomatoes in bottom of 2-in hotel pan.

Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over tomato slices. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours or until flavors are well blended. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. CCP: Hold for service at 41-deg. F or lower.

Serving Ideas : Self serve on the salad bar. This item is very popular with the adults and senior campers. Plan on 1 to 2 (2-in) hotel pans per dinner meal.

Notes: (1) Figure 15 medium-to-large tomatoes per 6 pounds. Figure 60 to 75 slices from 15 medium-to-large tomatoes. (2) 1/3-cup fresh basil may be substituted for dried. Salad oil may be substituted for olive oil. (3) Refrigerator leftover marinated tomatoes at 41-deg or lower.

Variation: Fresh Tomato Relish -- Cut peeled tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out most of the seeds. Chop coarsely and stir into the marinade.

Camp -- Pizza, More Campers and Training

Good things are in store for the week!

Saturday is training day for kitchen staff at Northern California FC Camp. With the food stowed and the kitchen ready for Sunday dinner, I held a training session for the cooks from 5 to 6 p.m. this evening. The key here is to cover food safety basics, make job assignments and orient all staff to the kitchen, including safety (fire evacuation, etc.). Today's training only took an hour as most of my staff returned from 2005.

Roundtable Pizza hosted dinner tonight. Staff provide their own breakfast and lunch tomorrow. We start cooking dinner at 2 p.m. Sunday and serve the meal after evening worship.

I received news yesterday morning that out camper count unexpectedly climbed to 160 during this past week. We have 20 extra mouths to feed all week. Although this could mean we have to run to Costco Santa Cruz and purchase additional food, I believe we'll be good. I purchased the same quantity of food as last year. Based on the leftovers we had each meal last year, we have sufficient cushion to absorb the extra campers (a split between kids and counselors).

The few items that I cut from last year -- like the chicken tenders and corn dogs -- will good. These were items that I over-purchased and needed to trip. At this point I feel confident that we'll have enough food for the week. Costco is 10 mile south of Felton in the rare event that we need extra food.

Camp -- A Morning Surprise

An early morning call from my camp director brought news for which I wasn't prepared. Sysco made an early delivery. The food service company showed up at 8:30 a.m. to drop 155 cases of food. It looks like our food was loaded on the tail end of the trailer. The driver told me that he had 14 drops today, spread from Santa Cruz to San Jose. I wander how the holiday weekend impacted scheduling.

Sysco's been early in the past, but never at the crack of dawn. The first year (2002), they showed up at 11:30 a.m. In the succeeding years they've arrived with the food in the early afternoon. So this was a shock when Mike called me on my cell phone.

Fortunately, we had stayed at Jaye's Timberlane Resort in Ben Lomond last night, two miles north of here. I dashed over to Daybreak Camp and had all perishables stowed in the walk-in and freezer by 9:30 a.m. This gave me a chance to unload the food that I purchased at Smart and Final Thursday and to unload my cast iron for outdoor meals. Although our account is tagged COD, the driver departed at 9:30 without check in hand. I still have to make payment arrangements as the checkbook wasn't due to arrive until 1 p.m.

This is something that I've worked at to avoid. Each year as I prepare for camp, I give my Sysco representative a list of delivery needs. (To be fair to Sysco, I haven't talked to her yet today.) I make sure that a Saturday delivery is okay (never had an issue with this), and I make sure that the truck doesn't arrive any sooner than 1 p.m.

I also remind Sysco each year of the bridge and its weight limitations. A 35-foot trailer is the longest that Sysco can send over the bridge, which they did this year. We had one year where it took the driver over 30 minutes to make the turn out of the parking lot onto the bridge.

Sysco's early arrival worked out. The camp that had rented the facilities this last week -- an outreach group from Walnut Creek -- checked out yesterday. So my vision of putting food away while the departing group cooked breakfast and cleaned the kitchen never materialized.

I also found out from the camp caretaker that the last group left a sizable donation for us. It's always nice to give and accept such donations. Each year we leave around $150 to $200 in food behind to the next group. The donation included four crates of milk (over 200 cartons), seven gallons of Costco milk, seven dozen eggs (three flats) and plenty of produce. We'll put the food to good use.

Milk and Cookies at Fire Camp

Here's a news story of milk and cookies at the Cherry Creek Fire Camp in the Lolo National Forest, Montana, in August 2003.

The students then went on to visit the other interdisciplinary functions of the Cherry Creek Fire organization – the finance section, the fire information cadre and the logistics unit.

The tour ended up at the fire camp kitchen with milk and cookies for all the young visiting dignitaries. While they ate, the kids were treated to a demonstration featuring what goes into a firefighter’s knapsack, called line gear, for everyday use.

The original story can be found here.

Fire Camp Kitchen

Here's a few photos of the camp kitchen for the Blossom Complex wildland fire last July and August along the Rouge Rive in Oregon. The fire was managed by Pacific Northwest National Incident Management Team 2. Al Maza and Ruth Esperance of the US. Forest Service were the food unit leaders.

Finding Inspiration for the Camp Menu

I glean menu and recipe ideas from many sources. Professional trade magazines -- Foodservice Director and Food Management among them -- give me ideas that are specially suited for the institutional kitchen. Popular magazines like Sunset also provide inspiration. I can often use an idea and work it until it fits a group setting.

A photograph of an artfully arranged collection of skillets arranged on an outdoor buffet table sparked my cowboy breakfast idea. Twin stacks of blue enamel plates and a lone Dutch oven complete the display -- no fancy garnish for the dudes of the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, near Emigrant, Montana.

This thousand-word inspiration gave me the impetuous to celebrate our nation's 230th birthday. The crisp, smoky air of the campfire will greet campers next Tuesday. Bright yellow scrambled eggs, airy biscuits smothered in sausage gravy and gallons of cowboy coffee (hot chocolate for campers) will kick off our celebration next week. The meal will be cooked in cast iron that's stood the test of time from the colonial hearth to the Western range to the backyards of today.

Two years ago, campers kept saying "That's what 4 a.m. rolls look like!" as they walked through the cafeteria line. Their response puzzled me all morning until I walked out into the dining area and saw this hand-printed menu.

Inspiration for camp menu ideas can come from many sources. Television programs, cookbooks and magazines have helped my over 35-year culinary career. The one thing that's worked best for me since the late 1980s has been a series of culinary notebooks.

I keep the notebook handy. Now that I'm commuting to Sacramento each day, the 200-page composition book stays in my daypack. I record ideas -- often gathered from professional magazines on my desk -- and clippings on my hour-long commute home. My 18-notebook collection is full of ideas.

It doesn't matter if the idea comes from TV or print. Shows like Al Rocker's Rocker on the Road can give wonderful ideas. Take Douglas Coffin's New Haven, Conn.-based Big Green Pizza Truck (the show that aired last January). I may not be able to restore a 1946 International Harvester flat-bed truck. But the pizza menu idea will come in handy one day.

They key is to clip ideas and place them in your culinary scrapbook. Soon your collection of ideas, complete with thousand-work photographs will have you cooking for a herd of hungry camper.

Cowboy Independence Day Breakfast

Independence Day is next Tuesday, July 4, 2006. It's Day 3 of Northern California FC Camp in Felton. What better way to start the day that a cowboy breakfast.

Here's the plan:

• Serve breakfast from cast iron Dutch ovens and skillets.
• Fire from charcoal briquettes will cook the breakfast.
• Use the planned menu -- no need to change the meal. Tuesday's menu easily converts to a cowboy breakfast.
• Attire cooks in straw cowboy hats and red bandanas.

The menu:

Fruit cups
Scrambled eggs
Buttermilk biscuits
Sausage gravy
Hot chocolate
Cowboy coffee (the real stuff!)

It's a simple breakfast that the campers will enjoy. The eggs and potatoes fit into large range-sized skillets. Dutch ovens make the perfect cooking vessel for the biscuits and gravy. A stock pot will hold the hot chocolate and a Navy-surplus coffee boiler is a perfect match for the joe.

Ring the dinner triange, holler "Come an' get it" and hide the breakfast cereal bowl packs and bananas. This meal's all about gut fillin', rib sticken' grub.

The picture to the left shows my favorite piece of cast iron at Daybreak Camp. This is a 2004 shot of a roux slowly browning over the rangetop.

I'll report back next week. July 4th opens with a cookout. We end the day with grilled chicken on the barbecue and scalloped potatoes and apple crisp in Dutch ovens.