Old Fashioned Molasses Cake with Caramel Sauce

Where have we been???? 

I can't believe it has been Almost 6 months since we last posted.  This spring has been really busy for us at the new place- Matt built a cedar picket fence (you can see a bit of it in the pic below) and a lovely garden shed, we planted 15 fruit trees (apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry), planted black raspberries, a couple grape vines, put in a huge garden that seems to take a ton of time, and oh yeah- all of our normal family and work stuff.

Well, we're finally able to slow down a little bit- last night we grilled Pork Burgers, made salads from home-grown produce, and baked this lovely cake in the Dutch Oven.  It was just perfect- sweet, but not too sweet.

Loaded Baked Potato Dip- 10" D.O.

We had an early Christmas celebration with family last weekend at the family farm in Southern Iowa.  Rather than having a big meal before a small fireworks display (Shhhhh.... don't tell on us!) and present opening, we fixed up a variety of appetizers.  We contributed this dip, cooked in our 10" Dutch oven, for the festivities.

This recipe is based on one found from www.kraftrecipes.com, but has a few changes to it that met our tastes a little better.  This would be a great appetizer at the campground while you are cooking up a hearty meal in your other Dutch Ovens!

Beef Stroganoff

It was a guys camping and fishing weekend, and Matt was in charge of the food.  After talking up the biscuits and gravy we made a few camping trips ago, Matt's friend Nick requested them for breakfast.  For suppers they made chicken fajitas and beef stroganoff.  

The picture here were taken on Matt's phone- so it doesn't really do the dish justice.  Matt said that the dish was really good even before the sour cream was added.  But, if you leave the sour cream out, it isn't really a stroganoff, right?

Italian Night: Baked Penne Pasta

Italian Night!  Saturday night at the campground we served up Baked Penne Pasta and Focaccia (post forth coming).

We really enjoyed this pasta recipe- it was simple, but still seemed a bit elegant at the campground!  It went perfectly with the Focaccia bread that we made that night as well.  Nobody went hungry, that's for sure!

A One Pot Meal- Kielbasa and Vegetables

 

Fall is Iowa's Best Season

 

Camping this weekend sure was enjoyable.  The leaves were beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the food was tasty.

Camper's Breakfast Casserole & First Attempt at Coals from the Fire

When we cook in our Dutch ovens, we always use charcoal and count out the number of coals for the top and the bottom to get the right temperature for whatever it is we are making.  We do this because is the easiest and most predictable (most everything turns out good... unless the recipe itself isn't any good).  But those chuck wagon cooks, they really know what they are doing and just use coals from a good hot fire.

Dutch Apple Pumpkin Crisp

Another Fall Dessert- seems like we are always doing a pumpkin or apple something.  Well, now we are doing a Pumpkin and Apple something.

This was quite delicious, but if I were making it for a crowd again, I'd make more.  We ate it all up and I think some folks would have had seconds if they were there.

Buttermilk Biscuits- The Big Batch

 

This is a repeat recipe from one we've featured on this blog before- the only difference is doubling the batch and cooking them in the 14" Dutch oven.  Served up with sausage gravy, this was one excellent camping breakfast dish!  We made 13 big biscuits (we used a mug as a biscuit cutter).  Each person only needed 1 biscuit.  You could use a smaller cutter to make more.

Shepherd's Pie

Finally, we took a camping trip!  First one for our little Owen! 

We camped with Matt's brother & family and took turns cooking our campsite meals.  The next few posts will feature recipes that we tried over the weekend.

There were 6 adults and 3 kiddos (who eat food anyway).  What could we make that could feed a lot of people?  We thought and thought... finally we settled on Shepherd's Pie.  Though traditionally, Shepherd's Pie is made with ground lamb or beef, we decided on a slight twist on the recipe using a shredded beef roast.

Sour Cream Apple Dessert

We didn't disappear, we just haven't been cooking in our D.O.s for a long time.  Winters in Iowa aren't the easiest time to cook in our Dutch ovens- especially with a 2 year old.  Then, on top of that, we've sold our house and are living (temporarily) in a condo while working through a land purchase/house designing/building process.  Then add on top of that the fact that a new little one will be arriving in less than a month (July 7th, hopefully), cooking in our black pots has not been on our radar.

But, last weekend, we took a day trip with some new friends to Ledges State Park (near Boone, IA).  Armed with some steaks and pork chops, we took a couple Dutch ovens and cooked a great feast.  We made a corn casserole (which I've previously blogged about) and a new apple dessert recipe.

Chicken and Biscuits- Campsite Comfort Food

Well, we've camped for the last time this season.  The weather here in Iowa has been fantastic for the past four weeks. Sunny, warm days, cool nights, and basically no rain for a month. So, for our last camping trip we made some just regular comfort food. Now, if we were doing this at home, I’d probably go to the effort of making my own biscuits, but at the campground, the kind in the can are just too easy to pass up. Enjoy!