Camp Cooking

A dinner that bonds

One pig in a blanket is never enough!

Why is it that food cooked over a campfire always tastes so good? It’s not like a gourmet chef is present adding a dash of this and a pinch of that. Yesterday, my wife Dawn-Marie, son Braden, and I built a big fire and cooked our lunch. The menu was simple, a hot dog, bread dough, and ketchup. To prepare we found three long green alder branches, de-twigged them, and sharpened the ends to a point. “I want to help,” Braden said. Sitting on a stump in front of his mom, Braden held a knife and with a guiding hand cut the twigs off using a down and away stroke. He smiled. I wasn’t sure if his excitement related to the task or just the fact we let him touch the knife.

The fire grew bigger and bigger as hot coals formed at its base. We planned to use the embers, not the flame, to cook our meal. When enough had formed, we skewered the hot dogs with our sticks and held them over the heat. The fat dripped from the link as we rotated from side to side much like you’d see in a convenience store rotisserie. Ugh, my cholesterol levels were rising just being within ten feet of our meal. I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about dieing from fat hunger, also known as rabbit starvation. Rabbits are considered one of the leanest animals around and some experts believe that a diet limited to rabbits, without an added source of fat, will lead to death.

Once our prime cut was browned and attracting the attention of our three 4-legged dogs, we set them aside. Next, we rolled out the dough that Dawn-Marie had prepared at the house before we ventured out. “Mine looks like a snake.” “Good job Braden.” “Now, let's wrap the snake around the hot dog,” I said. Wrapping the dough makes it easier to attach and by doing it this way it cooks more thoroughly then if you’d encased the wiener. Once again we rotated our sticks over the coals, browning the dough, fighting over the best spot, and joking over whose looked better. Once done, ketchup was added.

"Mmmmmmm, this is really good!" "I couldn't agree more," I said. To tell the truth, it was really good and one was just not enough. Although I knew I’d regret it tomorrow, I agreed to make some more. I could only hope the scales would be friendly when I visited them the next day. And with that, we made more and more. Even the dogs got in on the action and although their meal was cold and straight from the package, they too really liked it. At least they wagged their tales and kept hanging around. I’m not sure what was better, the three ‘pig in a blankets’ I ate or the time we spent together. Either way, we bonded, had a great meal, and did it without a server or chef.