Dad-schooling: Open Fire Cooking

You probably thought I was kidding about the putting all our money for history curricula into historical reenactment gear, right? Well,since we had some time off last week with nothing to do, we thought, why not learn to cook over an open fire. But what, you say, you live in an urban neighborhood with a tiny lawn, how can you learn to cook over a fire?

Well, the answer is: you put Dad in charge of schooling for the day. If that Dad happens to love tending fires, cast-iron cookware, and historic cooking, well, all the better.So I give you hands-on learning: dad-schooling style.

First, you must procure a cast-iron dutch oven with legs and a lid that will hold coals, a lid lifter, and an iron tripod. Second, you must dig a hole in your backyard and build a fire-pit. Third you must build a fire and build up some coals. Into your pot, you add some chicken, onions, apples, some home-rendered lard, and some spices. Throw some potatoes in the coals, and you have a delicious dinner.

So good, in fact, that the kids insist on making breakfast the next day on the fire. Our first foray into baking worked out pretty well. Biscuits, yum.

 Weekend 2: The kids run in excitedly to tell me that they just started the fire with flint and steel. Not even one match! Not one! They also seem to have found a copper tube to help blow into the fire to fan the flames. They made another fine dinner on the fire: pork roast with carrots, corn and potatoes roasted in the coals. We all feel a little bit more secure knowing that if we lose power, we have a kitchen right in our backyard. Those are some real life skills, along with our history lesson.

Anyone else have any interesting dad-schooling stories to share?