Our first Dutch Oven Cookout

Roast Chicken & Potatoes

For Mothers Day I requested a cast iron Dutch Oven.  I am a simple girl, & I love to cook.  Mr. Restoration Rambler and the kids ordered one online for me from L.L.Bean.  Amazingly enough, it was free shipping - even here, to Canada!   About 10 days later it had arrived, and we could hardly contain ourselves.  We decided on a whole chicken to start because the kids are kinda picky, but chicken is Rambling family friendly.

The Rub:
1/4 cup parsley
2 tsp. dry salsa spices (I used Epicure Selections)
1 tsp. hot pepper chunks in oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
fresh ground pepper

Light 28 coals for a deep 12", 8 quart Dutch oven.
Meanwhile:  Mix together & rub over the chicken with your bare hands, making sure to get it into the crevaces of the chicken.

• Cut up 1 medium onion in chunks.

• Slice 6-8 potatoes, in thick slices.

• Slice 8 carrots in thick slices.

• Make 4 cups of creamy chicken soup broth:  ~Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add 2-3 Tbsp. of powdered soup base, dissolve & add 2 cups of milk.  Simmer over medium/high heat.

Warm up the Dutch Oven with about 2 Tbsp. of good oil in the bottom.  Use about 16 coals, in the bottom only for now, and when the oil is hot add the onions.  Keep stirring.  When the onions are opaque, add the chicken and brown on all sides to seal in the juices.

Then add the vegetables and pour the thick broth over the vegetables.

Put about 9 coals on the bottom, and 19 on the lid.  Normally for a regular (not deep dish) 12" dutch oven you would use 24 coals  to reach 350 degrees, but we want to be above 350 degrees, and we want some browning on top, so we will put a few extra coals on top.  Hoping to reach about 425 degrees.

We cooked this for about 1 hour & 45 minutes.  At about at the 30 minute mark, we made about 20 more coals, because they generally only last about 45 minutes total.


The result of our first ever Dutch Oven recipe was...FaNtAsTiC!!  It was, hands down, the most moist chicken I have ever had!  We had company for dinner,
& there was not a morsal left! - Success!

Mothers Day Present! - 12" 8 Quart, Deep "Lodge" Dutch Oven

IT CAME!!!!

My Mothers Day present was an 8 quart, 12" deep Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven.  

We have never cooked outside with a Dutch Oven, so this should be pretty cool!

It comes pre-seasoned & ready to use.

We are excited to give this method of cooking a shot!  

The question is, what should we make first??

Canada Forge Cast Iron Pot Restoration

This is one of my first cast iron restorations.

I think it turned out pretty good!

The name on this pot is "Canada Forge" 

& it has the number "260" on the lid.

Does anybody know anything about this pot?

I'm Back!

I know - I have not posted in eons...

Lets review about my blog...I started this blog to record our adventures restoring a vintage travel trailer, one we didn't even own yet.  I wanted to document our adventure finding one, as well as restoring it.  I really, really wanted one.  We tossed ideas around...Teardrop?  Airstream?  Shasta?  Scotty?  Anything towable?....
Although we loved the ease of towing with virtually any vehicle, we ruled out the teardrop due to the fact we are a family of 4...not enough sleeping room. We also liked the outdoor kitchen as we are outdoorsey people - & isn't that the point of camping?

     

Then we almost had an old Airstream, but the price suddenly doubled & we had to back out.

Would have been cool!!

Then we were searching, and came across a steal of a deal on an overhead camper...more my Hubby's idea, although I was not opposed.  It was large, & we had a big deisel truck to carry it.  So we bought it:

Well, this got us camping...for about 1 summer, & it was fantastic!  The camper on the truck was handy when we went to the public beach, at a family reunion at a remote lake, and several other very enjoyable weekends...untill the old truck died. :(

This is when the problem arose:  Most people now do not have an 8 foot box on their trucks anymore, including us!  We tried to sell it for only $500, but no luck!

So now, we have gone full circle...now we want to build a teardrop!

This is my favourite one:

We want to salvage what we can from the overhead...the door, windows, stove, heater, water pump, water holding tank, etc...Its really not so bad inside either...

Another problem...our budget sucks!  So, we are now on the search for a flatbed trailer to build it on.  Hopefully we will have some posts soon.

Was it worth it?

Well, You are probably thinking we are crazy for selling the antique dining room set to buy an old overhead camper.  Well, due to the fact that funds are tight, (my hubby went back to shool full time), we wanted a couple of fun weekends for the kids.  The first time we used the camper we went to my parents - in the country - to do some work on the camper.  My Father has an awesome garage with ALL the tools any man would dream of, (that is the garage in the background directly behind the camper - 2 stories!) and a huge air compressor.  I love how the brown on the old camper brings out the rust on the old truck.  lol

The next day we went to my brother's camp (thats Northern Ontario slang for cottage) and parked in his yard for the weekend.  It was Canada Day weekend.  It was really nice to have our own space and not impose on them too much.

It was a really nice relaxing weekend.  We had our own fireworks, which were awesome, and a bonfire with hotdogs and marshmallows!

Complete with mosquito netting for some! - Not me...I am tougher than them bugs!  lol  This is whom we refer to now as "Netchick", or several in a group are called "Netchix".

My Brother's "camp"

This camp is not on waterfront, but in fact it is an acre of my Grandparents homestead, where the schoolhouse used to be.  But he does have this:

There isn't any running water at his place, so he pays the volunteer fire team to bring the pumper truck over and they suck water out of the creek to fill his pool.  As you can see by the photo, the water is brown and murky for a week or 2 before the filter has cleaned it enough to be clear.  Here it will be a few more days till it is clear, but honestly, we used to swim in the creek!  It is a great way to enjoy the camp, without driving 15 minutes to the beach.  The kids love it!

All in all, so far the camper was worth trading the diningroom set for!

More summer adventures to come!

Overhead camper

Well, it is ours now! The previous post has photos of the overhead camper we now own. - It was pretty good deal, asking $1000, paid $600, and the PO was the one who went down in price! We didn't even have to talk him down.

I sold a walnut diningroom set last week for $580, and that pretty much covered the price of the camper.

The dining set was probably worth a few hundred more than i got for it, but it was big and bulky, without much storage in the buffet.

I expect the memories and adventures with this camper will be far greater than the ones a table brings.

However, now that I think about it, many family meals were enjoyed around that table! Christmases, Thanksgivings, Birthdays....From the time I was a kid when my Mother owned the set. It was given to me when we bought our first house, we got married, our kids were born and raised with it. Their first meals, and first Birthdays, Christmases...OKOK, maybe that table had its own memories! In fact, I may now have some regrets!!! But, time for new memories!

Goodbye walnut dining set: Hello camper.

Tired of looking...ugh

You know.....it was supposed to be fun! I didnt think we were asking for too much. I really thought it would be a lot easier. We have been looking for over a year now, with no luck. Missed out on a couple of good deals, by hesitating. Thought we learned from those experiences....but I guess not. We are about to embark upon an adventure in camping....without sleeping quarters! YIKES! August is only 1 month away! We need to get something before the first weekend in August! We don't even own a tent anymore. I supopose we could borrow one.

Well we have decided that we might pick up an overhead camper....nothing special....because we have discovered that the older ones go pretty cheap!

This is the one we like at the moment. asking $1000 - pretty nice if you ask me! I was very pleasantly suprised!

We have a 3/4 ton, so it can handle a good size one. The good thing about having one, is in a couple of years when we do find our nice little vintage trailer, we can keep the camper for the boys when they go on fishing trips.

We are going to look at one tomorrow for only $500 - so we will see!

Dreamin'

Well, we went to the mall the other day...and look what we saw:

There were hundreds of them!  It was an invasion!  So, we did what any loyal vintage lover would do...we passed them by and continued on our way  we took a look!  It is amazing what they do to these things!  But, really, who needs all of those luxuries?  Who needs a gas fireplace when you are camping?

Who needs pop-outs?

Who needs a separate bedroom?

Who needs electronics....while camping?

I mean afterall, isn't this why we go camping?  To get away from it all!  To enjoy the outdoors!  If i had these luxuries, I would never get my kids outside! I am a simple girl...with simple dreams....here is my dream

Does anyone know what this trailer is?  It is in very rough shape, no windows, sunk into the ground, black electrical tape holding it together.  What would you pay?  Is it worth the effort?

Hunting Continues..................

This one is a '70's Glendale 20ft.  The outside is pretty good for its age,

but the inside needs work.  (Which really, is what we are looking for)

Nice Chandilier!!!   lol

Negatives:

• leak in the roof (they all do at this age)
• ceiling caving in (and someone started to fix it, but thankfully stopped - not pretty!
• dirty
• floor in front of the door is rotten
• step needs welding
• top bunk is on an angle - needs re braced
• 1 known leaky window

Positives: 

• good name
• double axle and seems to sit nice & high
• larger than we had hoped
• outside in decent shape
• leaks can be fixed
• we can clean and even paint or reface
• sleeps 6
• FULL BATHROOM!
• lots of storage
• takes full size car tires
• fibreglass corner moldings on the exterior
• has awning - did not see the canvas opened, but the mechanism seemed good

FULL BATHROOM!!!!!!!!Shower / tub to the right - Comes complete with a fly strip at no extra cost!!

Hmmm, it wasn't jumping out at me, but now that I have the pros & cons sorted...it may not be a bad deal for $800...hmmmmm

I think in my brain, I was really hoping for a "cutsie" canned ham, or even a toaster!  We will see.

Check it out!

This is more what I expect for my price...under $1000...bah-hah-hahhhhhh!

Photos borrowed from:  vintageairstream.com

I love this!  Hard to believe it is an Airstream travel trailer.  This would be so nice for a guest room, or a man cave!  No kitchen though.  Still pretty cool!