Learn to Cook with a Dutch Oven in Arkansas

When I was young I got to stay with my family in an A-frame cabin on Lake Ouachita in Arkansas. I LOVED staying in that A-frame cabin; the triangular shape of it looked like something out of Sesame Street, and the idea of staying in a cabin gave me a taste of what it was like to be Laura Ingall's from Little House on the Prairie.

We took a boat out on the lake and I discovered sparkling quartz crystals on our journey, which looked like enormous diamonds to me. That trip is where I probably developed my love for camping by a lake. We weren't exactly "roughing it" in that A-frame cabin, but I sure loved the idea of being an old-school pioneer like Laura Ingalls.

So, it's only fitting that our trip to Arkansas involves learning to cook with (and care for) a Dutch oven. Dutch ovens are great for cooking over a fire when camping, although you obviously wouldn't want to hike far with one; they are heavy.I can just imagine the early American pioneers carrying their Dutch ovens by wagon across America. The term "Dutch Oven" has been around more than 300 years. They were so valued by the early American colonists that they would specify in their wills who would get their Dutch ovens when they died.

The first 45 record I ever bought was a song called "Pass the Dutchie" by a 1980's Jamaican group called Musical Youth. Until I read about Dutch Ovens on wikipedia today, I had no idea what that song was about all these years. I remember Americans in the 80's suspected they were singing about smoking pot. Of course, I had no idea what pot even was as a little girl; I just liked the song because I had never heard anything like it, and I loved the reggae sound. Now I know, the song did indeed refer to pot. Only it was a different kind of pot - a Dutch oven. Jamaicans call a Dutch oven a Dutchie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFtLONl4cNc

Thank you to AETNTV for posting that helpful video on youtube. They have many other videos about Arkansas too. Learn to cook Campfire Roasted Potatoes with them in a Dutch Oven here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYioBS4ci_0