BALOO Training - teaching Cub Scout leaders how to lead a Pack's family campout.
My favorite part of the day was lunch. Outdoors. I forgot my camera, but had more fun making sketches anyway. I share the info with you; click for the big version. I do this to share and to reinforce my own learning. (There I go, homeschooling myself again.)
Notice the notes in the upper left corner. One Scout Leader told of the worst meal made on a campout. A patrol of young Scouts were making Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. (Box meals are allowed on the first few outings.) They somehow skipped over the instruction to
drain and made mac & cheese soup.
We made and ate foil packet meals. They recommended starting with a cabbage leaf on the foil. Even if you toss the cabbage, it provides moisture, form, and support to the rest of the packet. Then the frozen patty and any frozen veggies you wish. Pineapple was also suggested for sweetness and moisture.
The instructor made Breakfast in an Orange. Slice an orange in two and scoop out the orange to eat now or later. In one rind hemisphere, crack and add an egg. In the other rind, add muffin mix that's been made in a food storage bag. Place both rinds side by side on a sheet of foil, wrap and cook.
She also made Meatloaf in an Orange. Pretty basic. Put a serving of meatloaf in a hollowed orange half and cap it with the other hollowed half. Wrap in foil, cook on coals.
Our desserts were chocolate cherry cake from a Dutch oven and some muffin/cake that was made in a box lined with foil. It wasn't a true solar oven, as it was raining that day. I missed the particulars, besides that the box was lined with foil (for reflecting) and the cake pan (lined with foil for easy clean-up) was elevated on three soda pop can weighted with water inside.
We also sampled Banana Boats. Peel open one sector of banana peel. Slice the banana lengthwise, but don't cut the bottom peel. Add marshmallows and chocolate chips to the banana cut. Wrap with foil and cook on coals.
Omelet in a Bag: put eggs and chopped veggies in a bag. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Label your bag (for all these recipes). Drop bag in pot of boiling water.
One leader brought Pie Irons, which make grilled sandwiches. Our fire drum was full of foil supper, so he placed his pie iron on the coals of the Dutch oven that was making the cake.
Last, we made some Bread on a Stick. The presenter said this was a big hit with her boys' troop. Get some dowels, cut to a good length from boy to fire. Wrap Biscuit In A Tube around the stick, either like a snake, or as a cap to fill with butter and jam. Hold the wrapped dough over the fire until it is cooked.
One other leader from my pack (vroom, vroom) went to training with me, but we were placed in separate groups. "Aha," said I. "So we can learn different stuff in our discussion groups and talk about it all the way back home in the car."
"I'm glad you understand," said the training leader with a smile.
Not that I was alone. As luck would have it (much like
Ron's luck), I sat next to a high school acquaintance. Not a chum, but I knew who he was, he knew who I was. He told me that he recognized me at monthly leader meetings but couldn't place my name. Every month, he intended to look me up in the yearbooks but forgot by the time he got back home.
Instead, the kids begrudgingly did math and journaling. They finished in time for an art project that both kids embraced.
Gonzo found two metal cookie cutters in the shape of wee gingerbread folk. He set out to make "my army of doomed minions." From his chatter, I believe that these creations are not destined for a tree but for some battlefield of ultimate destruction. Well, no one was going to eat the bread anyway.
