Secret Combinations...

I've told some of you the saga of the dutch oven cook-off at girls camp.  It started out like this: Each ward was required to supply 3 dishes for the camp cook-off--a main dish, a side dish and a dessert.  Being a novice at dutch oven cooking, I worried a bit about this, and did my best to prepare.  As I got ready for camp, I precooked or premixed the ingredients I could, to cut down on prep time there.

For the peach cobbler, I had a ziploc bag with the flour, sugar and baking powder.

The only problem was, when it came time to make the cobbler, I could NOT find that bag.

It was time to fall back on the first rule of camping--make do with what you have.

And I had pancake mix to take the place of the flour and baking powder and Tang to take the place of the sugar..

As the girls mixed up the bright orange batter, we all wondered how it would turn out.

We just hoped it would actually be edible.

I tried a tiny corner before adding it to the serving table, and it was surprisingly good!  A bit on the sweet side, but alright.  Then came the judging... and the eating.

The "YCL's" (youth camp leaders) got to serve, and

they made sure everyone got to sample all the wonderful dishes.

Then it came time to announce the winners...

Third place was announced first, and although I had no illusions about any of our dishes being "the best", there is always a hope that we might win something.  I thought , if we get anything, it would have to be a bonus prize for "making do."

Then came 2nd place, and finally 1st place was announced, and

our "Secret Combinations" or Tangy Peach Cobbler WON!

My jaw dropped.

We won a cake mix and a wooden spoon with a gold ribbon.

And, if I had been able to find the bag with the dry ingredients,

our peach cobbler would have turned out just like the other peach cobblers that were there--good-tasting, but hardly unique.

So there's my story of how losing a bag of flour led to 1st prize.