For some great dutch oven recipes, check out the The Geezer Cookbook by Dwayne Pritchett.

The cookbook has over 350 recipes that Dwayne compiled into an electronic format and which you can download and print for FREE! All you need to be able to download and print the cookbook is Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Dwayne was a Scoutmaster who loved Dutch Oven cooking and spicy foods. Like many of us, he collected recipes on various scraps of paper. Dwayne eventually decided to compile his recipes and share them with his fellow Scouts and Scoutmasters.

Dwayne passed away in August of 1995 after batting cancer. Mark Michalski, who had the opportunity to know Dwayne “Medicine Man” Pritchitt is sharing Dwayne’s story and recipes so his spirit of friendship and sharing can continue on.

You can download and print the cookbook, and also continue the spirit of sharing by letting others know about the cookbook.

There are recipes for appetizers, breads, desserts, breakfast, main dishes (from beef to pork to chicken to fish and other seafood to venison), salads (the dutch oven isn’t needed for every salad but there’s some great salad dressings you can make in the dutch oven), sandwiches, pasta and rice, gravies and sauces, soups, vegetables, and there’s a great “hints and tips” section that first time dutch oven cooks as well as experienced dutch oven cooks will find helpful.

Some of the recipes in the cookbook include: Geezer Come and Get it (a yummy dip), firebird casserole (spicy), armadillo eggs (an armadillo free recipe!), road kill stew (for venison lovers), monkey bread (made from scratch and a little time consuming but who doesn’t love fresh, warm bread?), camper’s breakfast (made with Spam, a favorite of my husband’s), black bear chili (no black bears, just black beans and flank steak), and blackberry cobbler (if you’ve never eaten blackberry cobbler, you’re missing out).

I’ve been doing dutch oven cooking on my camping trips for a little over a year and I love it. The food is great. With a little dutch oven know-how there’s no need to eat burgers, hot dogs, and marshmallows your entire camping trip (unless you want to).

To great this great FREE cookbook, go to macscouter.com.

Sweet corn is at its peak right now here in Wisconsin. Not only is it really tasty but there is an abundant supply of it so it is cheap, which I think makes it taste even better.

Although my standard way of cooking it is to husk it and boil it, it is also kind of boring that way so I have started grilling it which makes it tastes so much better. It really is not that much more work, it just takes a little more patience and time.

This method works well on a cooking rack over a campfire (my favorite method), on a gas grill or on a charcoal grill.

STEP 1 (yes, I’m assuming you have already purchased the corn or picked it from your garden)
Pull back the husk on each cob about 3/4 of the way, pull out as much of the corn silk as possible, and close the husk back up. If you goof and accidentally pull the husk off all the way, use a rubber band to keep the husk on while it’s soaking. Make sure to take off the rubber band before putting the food over heat or it will be really stinky! The husk should stay on just fine as long as you’re careful and don’t fling the ear of corn around too much.

STEP 2
Put enough cold water in a tub or in the sink to cover the corn - about 3″ deep (yes I know corn floats but that’s okay). Toss the corn in the water. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of kosher salt (a couple of handfuls - don’t bother with a measuring cup) on top and swish around.

STEP 3
Let the corn soak in the water for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes, swishing it around every 15 minutes (don’t panic if you forget - it will be okay. While the corn is soaking, enjoy a cold beverage or two (I recommend a nice cold beer), then preheat the grill, start the charcoal or start the campfire.

STEP 4
Remove the corn from its salt water bath, shake off the excess water and place on the grill or cooking grate. Turn the cobs 1/4 turn every 5-7 minutes, depending on the heat of the fire getting a nice char on the outer husk.

STEP 5
Remove from heat, carefully peel back the husk (it’s really hot! - and this is where I should recommend letting the corn sit for 5-10 minutes to cool down before eating it but I can never wait that long), remove any remaining silk, slather with butter and salt, and enjoy!

Here’s the downside: It’s really messy this way. Yes, I know corn on the cob without the husk on is messy but this is even messier so it’s best to eat it outside; otherwise you’ll have lots of little black pieces of corn husk all over the table and floor. But, if that does happen, assign someone else in the family the task of sweeping them up!

Pudgie pies, those yummy sandwiches that come out of a pie iron, are a camping staple for my family.

On a camping trip a few years ago, I decided to not bring pudgie pie ingredients and nearly had a mutiny on my hands! My husband said the food we did have was great but that it just was not the same without pudgie pies.

Now pudgie pies are always on the menu with reuben pudgie pies and dessert ones with pie filling being the two kinds we always have the ingredients for.

But, I’m always looking for new ideas of what to stuff between bread and even for different bread suggestions.

Melanie M Sidwell of the Longmont Times-Call wrote a great article about pudgie pies (also called campfire pies, mountain pies, hobo pies, jaffles, toasties, and pie shams).

In it she gives some great suggestions for fillings to put inside the bread and also for different types breads to hold the filling in such as tortillas, english muffins, pie dough, and cornbread.

Some of her suggestions, such as using a portabella mushroom instead of bread, sound tasty to me although I have to admit some of the other suggestions, such as a trail mix one where chocolate squares, peanut butter, flaked coconut and small nuts or raisins are tucked between two slices of bread, doesn’t sound appetizing to me. But I guess I shouldn’t knock it until I’ve tried it, right?

Here are some of her other suggestions:

- Peanut butter and jelly
- S’mores (marshmallow, chocolate chips and graham cracker crumbles or use graham crackers instead of bread)
- Peanut butter cup (chocolate squares and peanut butter)
- Apple and caramel: (sliced apple with a caramel square, unwrapped)
- Black Forest (fresh cherries and chocolate)
- Banana cream (sliced banana and marshamallow)
- Traditional breakfast (egg, cheese and choice of sausage, bacon, Chorizo or ham)
- Chili (beans, meat and spices with a cornbread crust)
- Samosas (leftover mashed potatoes and peas with cumin, coriander and tumeric)
- Philly cheesesteak (green peppers, onions, cheese and thinly sliced steak meat)

If you’ve never made a pudgie pie, click here for a blog post I wrote on what they are and how to make them.

Happy camping and happy eating!