Going camping with my Dad was always an adventure. We always did and learned new things. He would point out the things of nature as we hiked, whether they be plant life or animals and tell us how blessed we were to have these things around us. He always pointed out deer and elk along the way and when we were by rivers he always pointed out the beaver dams and the best fishing spots. Dad always liked to try new things out when he cooked. He made the best dutch oven dinners in the whole world. I loved them all but my favorites were the potatoes, onions, and carrots. I can still taste how good they were to this day. The barbecued spare ribs were to die for. I Had a funny experience with those at one of our Bentley reunions. I had gotten my food and went to sit down. The chair I sat in was plastic and we were sitting on a hill. While I was eating the chair gave way (melted from the hot sunshine) and I tumbled backwards clear to the bottom of the hill. I lost my spare ribs. I was so mad. I was glad that Dad made a lot or I would have missed out on them completely. The chicken in the dutch oven was also great. It was so moist and tender. Sometimes he would make up dishes he had created. They turned out pretty good. He never had a recipie for his special dinners. I am so glad that my Dad was so adventurous.
Though these last two things weren't camping trips they were still fun. Every fall we would go pine nut picking. They were easy to gather. We would take them home and roast them. They were so good. I often think of buying them in the stores but they are so expensive I hardly do. When we lived in Parowan He would take us into the desert at times and would show us how to hunt for arrowheads. I remember in the second grade I made him a pen holder with some arrowheads in the molded base. I wonder what he did with that? He had it for years but I never saw it again when they moved into their new house. Easter picnics were fun too. Most of the time we went to the San Rafael Swell where we climbed in the rocks, buried each other in the sand, and had dutch oven dinners. What great times we had.
I know all of you who have had a dutch oven dinner made by grandpa has a favorite one.
Please tell us which one you liked the best and what kind of a event we were at. Camping, out for Easter, just a trip up consumers or in the back yard of grandpa's house. He made every type of event an adventure to remember.
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| Dad checking to see if our dinner was ready. |
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| Dad and Carol preparing our dinner........Yum can't wait. |
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| Couldn't resist this picture.......Mom giving us a cheer. We made it through another fun day out. |
2 comments:
Oh... love those dutch oven dinners dad made! My favorite was also the potatoes, carrots and onions. The meat was always tasty and tender. It was always a surprise when dad cooked up a meal.
All our outings were memorable and fun for me, whether it was in the desert, up Consumers, at Mud Springs, up Price Canyon or Huntington Canyon. It was always an adventure. And we could always count on having the best dinner served up from dad's dutch ovens.
As an adult, I had the most enjoyable time watching dad interact and play with the grand kids. And he made sure they had a healthy heap of dutch oven dinner. I was glad to have those outings at such a critical time in my kids lives. I'll be forever grateful that those memories were made.
The desert wind, the rain up Consumers and severe thunder storm up Mud Springs are vivid memories of outings. The dutch oven dinners come second to nature's fury on those outings.
One Easter, while on the desert, I came home with a terrible case of pink eye.
I suppose I love nature as much as I do because of dad and the care he took to teach us to see it as God made it. Beautiful! He taught us to love and respect nature... the mountains, plants, trees, streams, animals. What a wonderful life we had!
that was a fun post Patty. I love that picture of mom. I loved Dad's dutch oven dinners too and whenever we go camping I have to make sure I make at least one. Dad was a master at making the meal, but he was really bad at the clean up. Mom and I generally ended up cleaning out the dutch oven right before the next event and by then it was usually pretty bad!!!! I do miss watching him cook. I have a set of his cast iron skillets that I use every day, so I think of him often while cooking.
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