Boy Scouts at Camp Fawcett, Texas.....continued

This is the second of the two part series on Boy Scouts....

Once the Hoe cakes were going real good I started whipping up a batch of buttermilk biscuits.  Steve explained to the scouts that all the major ingredients could be mixed ahead of time with the buttermilk added right before cooking.  He pointed out how the dough is folded gently so that the biscuits will turn out flakey.

  If you roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1” and the biscuits will be nearly 3” tall when done. 

The biscuits get the good crust on the bottom by adding  is a good amount of oil in the pan and sop the top of the cut biscuits when placing them in the pan.  The main question is always:  “how long does it take to make biscuits"?  The answer is a bit complex when you start with arrival time and start with building a fire and getting the appropriate coals for the top and bottom of the Dutch oven…….in essence it only takes about 20 minutes or to cook once the biscuits are in the pan. Getting the appropriate amount of coals on top and bottom and sufficiently screening the wind from blowing the coals is real important to having a good outcome. 

Buttermilk Biscuits

8 Cups of flour

4 tbs baking powder

2 tsp of baking soda

4 tbs of sugar

2 tsp of salt

1 cup of butter flavored Crisco

4 cups of buttermilk (substitute 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon of milk to make buttermilk)

The weather was for the most part cooperative in that it didn’t get too cold.  There was ice on the ground early morning and the wind blew most of the day but the temperature didn’t remain cold and other than a little wind, it was a beautiful.  We managed to get a big pot of chile cooked up for lunch and served that with onions, cheese, and fritos.  There were several like Mike Kyle that managed to down at least three bowls of the concoction.  It was along about this time that Park Ranger Jack Johnson

came by to give us a special demonstration on making a fire using sticks.  There was a bit of moisture in the air and there was great difficulty in getting the ember.  Jack was very diligent and I am sure making a very interpretive instructor wherever he goes.  Again, I wish we had been able to see some of the things that were going on at Camp Fawcett like:

·         Atl’Atl,

·         Black Powder Shooting

·         Knife Throwing

·         Tomahawk Throwing

         Caber & Cannonball Tossing

·         Flint & Steel Starting

·         Wells Fargo

·         Dutch oven Cooking

·         Old Fashioned Root Beer

·         And the infamous Colter Run

I don’t know if all the events came off as planned as there were some absences in the ranks and the full complement of activities may not have been realized.  However, I find it very impressive that the Boy Scout organizers were able to put together this amazing list of activities to benefit the scouts and traditions they hold.  There are so many things going on for kids these days and I feel that there are none that are more important than what can be learned in scouting.  In my youth, I was a Cup Scout and still think the things I learned as a Cub Scout served me well in later years.  I have no idea why I didn’t pursue the travel into Boy Scouts.  I’m sure I would have been totally consumed by their teachings. 

The final meal for the staff was Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas.  The code of the West, which states “if I give you this recipe-then you can’t give it to someone else.” This recipe was given to me from my friend Carl Hawkins from Santa Fe, New Mexico and he uses it in his catering business so I am bound to keep his secret my secret.  I will say that it is a simple recipe and has a special ingredient that kicks it up several notches.  Hope everyone enjoyed them. 

It was along about suppertime that everyone was pretty well worn out from all of the activities of the day and Steve and I weren’t looking forward to have to load everything on the trailer after the meal was over.  But, not to worry, there were several scouts and scout leaders still around and the chore of loading was diminished considerably and completed almost before it got dark.  

I was privileged to get to spend some quality time with John Martinez.

He is what he calls himself, “a professional scout”.  His title is Wintergarden Senior District Executive.  John is a behind the scenes man who works to get things like this Frontier Day activity organized and supported.  Of course, he is one of many leaders that it takes to pull off all the scouting activities throughout the year.  He says that he enjoys what he does but the true enjoyment comes from being able to participate with the young people and see the benefits of his efforts in the office.  It is also true of the guys that I grew up with as mentioned before, Jimmy, Brad, Billy, Luke, and Michael, whom we got to visit with after they helped us pick up and load everything.  We gathered at the motel in Barksdale and sort of debriefed the day’s activities.  It was clear that these men are Boy Scouts to the bone.  They will do everything within their power to see that the mission of the Boy Scouts is carried out.  And speaking of that mission, it is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the three promises of the Scout Oath.  They are Duty to God and country, Duty to other people, and Duty to self.  

After I was home for a week and finally got my wagon unloaded and the pots and pans washed up I wrote this blog and reflected on what was a wonderful weekend spent with some young and impressionalble minds.  The scout leaders were busy and we didn't get to spend much time together but I was impressed with what they have been able to teach tus far in the lives of these young Scouts.  

Luke Billingsley

I have included a number of pictures I took during the camp but Luke Billingsley and Brad Bradley shot many more of which several are on the Camp Fawcett website. Check it out.

See you on down the trail.............