Cooking Merit Badge Trip

Date: April 11 – 13, 2014

Meeting at Westminster Christian Academy, 10 Scouts and 2 adults prepared for a weekend of cooking merit badge requirements (mostly cooking).  The trip to the campground was a lengthy 8 minutes crossing over the Oconee county line and into Walton County. 

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This weekend camp site, complete with fishing pond, shelter, and bathhouse, was provided by 1 of our families.  I am sure the troop scribe will send a very nice letter of thank you.  Friday night, the cooking began and thanks to the longer days was complete before dark.  The boys spent some time around the campfire under the shelter before turning in around 10:30pm.  There was either lots of wildlife around or some Scouts howling at the nearly full moon that night.

Morning eventually came and with that a day full of cooking and the added benefit of fishing.  Lessons learned about cooking included the unreliability of cooking over a fire, the usefulness of charcoal, the utility of the Dutch oven, and improvising when menu’s or ingredients were incomplete.  Each patrol made some stand out dishes including a wonderful grilled chicken salad (yes, the boys made salad), and jambalaya.  In all, the boys prepared and cooked 6 meals for each patrol including a dessert or two.

In between meals, the boys passed the time with cards, throwing the football or Frisbee, and fishing.  Our fishing champion was Joseph H., catching both bass and bream.  The adults also got into the fishing action and enjoyed the occasional tussle with a fish.  However, the pond struck back and caught its fair share of lures, both under the water and in the trees.  Catch and release was the practice of the day.

Time was also spent learning about the foods we eat as part of the requirements for the cooking merit badge.  The boys spent time talking about their favorite foods within each food group, how much they should eat, the actual serving size, that fat free is not the same as healthy, and that fruit juice is not the main ingredient in Sunny D.   Many of the boys lack only a small portion of this Eagle required merit badge and will be given a progress report on Tuesday.

On Sunday, the groups spent some more time fishing, but also exploring the rest of the property including access to the Appalachee river.   With the last of the meals prepared at lunch, a good cleaning of the grounds, and a Chapel service completed, the Troop packed up and made it’s long journey back the WCA.

Overall it was a wonderful weekend with perfect weather, great food, fellowship, and fun.  A special thanks to Randy L, and David H. for their help and adult leadership this weekend.

 

Submitted by a tired, but well fed Robert P.

Attendees:

Scouts:

Joseph H.

Jack B.

Ryan B.

Jackson S.

Asa A.

Jonathan L.

Conar J.

Stephen P.

Matthew A.

Mason A.

 

Adults:

Tom W.

Robert P.

Randy L.

David H.

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