Getting Ready for Girls Camp

I received the call to be the camp director for our ward a few months ago.  With my Young Women calling, and then filling in for the seminary teacher in April and May

I didn't have a lot of time to plan and mentally prepare.

But now I do, and I have come to realize that although I usually

way over prepare,

that's the way I need to do it or I 'll wake up in a panic during the night--"what about ...?"

So, camp is always on my mind.

What food to prepare?

How to make it fun for the girls?

What about all the equipment?

So we've been doing some dry run-throughs.

Yesterday, Alice and Elizabeth set up the new tent to make sure they

knew how to do it--since it will be the tent they are sleeping in.

I bought the tent 2 years ago and we've never had it out of the box.

And, since it was still raining, off and on outside, we swept out the garage

to try it out.

While we had it set up, we sprayed on some water-proofing around

the seams on the inside

(recommended in the instructions).

We are going to stay dry this year!

***

I've also been brushing up on my outdoor cooking skills. 

In the case of the Dutch oven, I'm starting from scratch.

We got the oven a couple of years ago for emergency preparedness,

then hoped we never had to use it.

Well, I'm happy to report that I have now cooked a casserole in it, and it was delicious! 

And NOT burned, like so many dutch oven meals I've tasted.

I used Grandma Bailey's chicken enchilada casserole recipe.

I started the charcoal in the chimney. 

The one shown is a homemade one, but I actually purchased a bigger one.

And it works GREAT!

2 sheets of newspaper wadded up in the bottom.

24 briquettes in the top.

1 match. 

And in 15 minutes the charcoal was all ready to use. 

(NO stinky lighter fluid).

Then I put 9 briquettes underneath and 15 on top

(using the tongs to place them).

I found out from a presentation that the secret is to rotate the

oven a quarter turn every 5 minutes so you don't get a hot spot.

Also turn the lid a quarter turn.

I REALLY wish I'd remembered to take a picture before

we devoured the food.  The taste was superb!

Tonight, we're going to try monkey bread in the dutch oven.

And, we got out the old camp stove

and cooked dinner on it last night.

I'm really determined to not have any

bad surprises at camp this year!