Busy Summer Start

Cooking is really busy lately. The Northwoods Chapter, International Dutch Oven Society (IDOS) has had a few Dutch Oven Gatherings lately (DOG).

We've gone to Cabela's Richfield Wisconsin to share our love of black pot cooking. There were participants from all over Wisconsin and northernn Illinois. We all gathered around 9am and setup our cooking tables. Lit the charcoal, and created magic!

We cooked cornbread, breakfast pizza, pineapple upside cake, whole turkeys, wontons. The rain came early and stayed all day, sometimes pouring, sometimes the wind blew. Good thing that the porch canopy at the store was wide. We stayed mostly protected. The food was served bit by tasty bit to our adoring public.

In May, we participated at Gander Mtn Joliet store in a Women in the Outdoor Event. It was a slow day, maybe it was the sunshine and perfect weather that kept people from not visiting a store! fun anyway, and it's always good to cook. That day, we had cheesy potatoes, sweet potato cubes in maple glaze, chicken florentine and apple crisp.

We Celebrated Dad with a DOG at Cabela Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Our Northwoods Group cooked and cooked and talked and wowed again. Lisa J learned her first lessons in DO cooking from who else? The DutchOvenDiva! She made biscuits to start with. This teaches heat management techniques. Then Lisa made a chocolate cherry cake. WOW! Great way to start. You made perfect food. We had cacciatore, raised bread filled with tomato/basil and another with Italian coldcuts. Pineapple upside down cake. Apple cakes. And we featured Cabela brand Cobbler Mixes.

DutchOvenDiva celebrated her birthday with a Driveway DOG. Cooking friends came by with their tables and black pots. We enjoyed Coconut Mandarin Orange Cake, Spicy Pasta, and Beef Panang Curry. Great food and wonderful friends. That's what it is all about.

July and August are being planned now..Keep checking back.

Fall starts with the 2009 Midwest Dutch Oven Gathering and Cookoff in Wadsworth, Illinois. Check out http://www.midwestdutchovengathering.com/ for registration and information