Left to right: Mika Leinen, Kaylana Leinen, Katelyn Griffith and Avalon Hunt (photos by Shannon Richardson)

One-Pot Campfire Wonders

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There’s just something about cooking over an open fire that makes everything taste a little bit better. Whether it’s the wood, smoke or simply the primal method of preparing the meal, food shared via campfire is always warm and delicious, and the Girl Scouts agree. This month they share eight of their favorite recipes, all perfect for a Dutch oven nestled in a bed of hot coals.

Whole Roasted Chicken
1 whole chicken (one chicken will feed about 6 people)
1 large onion, chopped
3 apples, chopped
6-8 potatoes –scrubbed and halved
Olive oil
½ cup water or chicken broth
Lemon pepper, Seasoned Salt or garlic salt to taste

Spray a 12-inch deep Dutch oven with cooking spray or coat with some of the olive oil. Place chicken in pot and put the apples and onions inside and out of the chicken for moisture and flavor. Halve the potatoes and place around the chicken. Pour in the water or chicken broth and add a little extra olive oil. Close lid firmly and cook approximately 1 ½ hours in campfire coals.

Outdoor Biscuits
2 ¾ pounds flour (11 cups)
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
5 heaping tablespoons baking powder
2 sticks real butter (can substitute margarine)
6 cups buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients together. Add butter and stir with fork until grainy. Add the buttermilk and stir with fork until mixed. Roll out three times on a floured surface then cut into biscuits. Put into greased, round biscuit pan and place in Dutch oven. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 40 biscuits. In oven at home, bake at 350 degrees 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Peach Cobbler
2 large (#303) cans sliced peaches
2 yellow cake mixes
1 can 7-UP
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
Cinnamon
1 stick real butter (margarine may be used)
Grease a 12” Dutch oven with either cooking spray or oil. Pour both cake mixes and the juice from the cans of peaches in a large Ziploc bag. Pour peaches into bottom of Dutch oven. Mix with brown sugar and cinnamon as desired. Dot half of the butter on top of the peaches. Pour the 7 UP into the bag, enough to make a good batter, and mix together in the bag. Pour batter over the peaches, add remaining dots of butter. Sprinkle the top with sugar. Cook on coals for 20 minutes and then check crust. (Don’t use very many hot coals with this recipe.)

Ranch Potatoes
1 packet dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 potato per person, scrubbed and cut into cubes
3 tabelspoons olive oil
½ onion chopped, if desired
Large gallon Ziploc bag

Put potatoes, oil and dry Ranch Dressing mix into Ziploc bag. Toss to coat. Pour a little additional olive oil in Dutch oven and heat slightly. Add potatoes and cook until tender and browned.

Camp French Toast
2 eggs per person
Cinnamon
2 slices of bread per person
Water

Scramble eggs, add a little water and sprinkle heavily with cinnamon.
Dip bread into mixture, coating both sides. Place directly on vagabond stove top or into skillet.
Cook until golden brown on both sides.

Shipwreck
¾ lb. bacon
1 onion, diced
2 large potatoes, scrub and diced
8 eggs, beaten

Using a Dutch oven or deep skillet, cook bacon and remove. Fry the potatoes and onions in some of the bacon grease until brown and tender. Crumble bacon and return to skillet or Dutch oven with potatoes and onions. Add eggs and scramble together until eggs are done. Serves 8

Walking Salad and Bugs on a Log
12 apples, washed
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts
1- 16 ounce jar peanut butter

Cut a thin slice off the top of each apple and partially core it, leaving the bottom on. Mix together the mixture of peanut butter, raisins and nuts. Stuff the mixture into the center of the apple. Makes a great snack while waiting for dinner to cook.

Celery, cleaned and cut into sticks
Peanut butter
Raisins

Fill the celery sticks with peanut butter. Place 3 to 4 raisins in a line on top of the peanut butter. Makes a great pre-dinner snack

Baked Egg in the Shell
1 or 2 eggs per person
Salt, pepper

Gently tap the small end of an egg with pin or point of knife until small hole appears. (This allows steam to escape and keep the egg from bursting.) Place egg in warm ashes (not hot coals!) small end up and bake for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how firm you like your egg.