Gramps here, welcome to my corner, well actually it’s our corner. You see Gramps isn’t just one old Geezer... it’s a bunch of old Geezers who like to cook outdoors. Age doesn’t matter, it’s all about attitude. From time to time the council of Gramps may allow a member of the fair sex to offer a recipe or two. Now don’t get your dander up about political correctness because we don’t. We cook outdoors and have a bunch of fun doing it.

A number of years ago a friend introduced me to dutch oven cooking. When he first mentioned dutch ovens I immediately thought about the big pot like thing mom used on the stove. Not quite. Real dutch ovens are heavy cast iron pots on tripod legs with a heavy lipped top. 

A dutch oven is probably one of the most versatile cooking utensils for the outdoor enthusiast. Not only do they allow you to prepare delicious meals, but they are easy to use conversation pieces. If you start cooking with a dutch oven in a campground you’ll probably have a bunch of gawkers after a bit just wondering what you are up to.

Dutch oven cookoffs are very popular in parts of our country, especially in the west where they were a required item for pioneer ancestors. 

Speaking of qawkers. Have you ever seen a turkey hung? No, not from a tree. From a vertical spit. There’s nothing like a turkey roasting outdoors to get a whole campground in an uproar. I remember one July afternoon in Michigan at a fairly large campground. I set up my gear and started the bird.

Well the first hour or so folks walking down the drive would look and giggle politely. A bit later as the sweet smell of roasting turkey filled the air I had drawn quite a crowd of folks walking back and forth in front of the site taking quick glances. I couldn’t stant that long so I invited them onto the site and spent a bunch of time explaining all about using a modern vertical spit. (4 pieces of rebar, some chicken wire and a bit of hardware chain)

I had to draw the line at offering samples because we had friends coming for dinner, plus I didn’t want to start a mini-riot.

If you have a recipe to submit you can become an honorary Gramps or Gram, send it along to Gramps@NortheastRVing.com. Please do not include it as an attachment. Just put it right in your email. If you received the recipe from another please give appropriate credit and note any changes you have made.