dutch oven buh-tatoes that ROCK!

Our food-filled trip to the Pacific coast was two weekends ago, but this past weekend we went up to the City of Rocks in Idaho to do some rock-climbing. It's pretty much Richard's new favorite thing in the world to do (comparable to this whole cooking adventure I'm on), and its growing on me, too. Seriously though, I'm no pro, so after an exciting morning and afternoon of climbing I went back to our campsite to whip up a dutch oven dinner of BBQ chicken & potatoes. The title of "buh-tatoes" is one of those family inside jokes that only my family will think is funny, but my family looks at this blog, so the rest of you will just have to endure the Porter sense of humor. We're hilarious, I know. Anyway, This was the only hot meal we had that weekend & it was freaking FREEZING, so everyone loved it. Although, I'm sure they would have loved it anyway. And I'm sure you will, too!

Me getting ready to climb "swiss cheese"

Coming down...and freaking out - yep, I'm definitely

crying like a baby in this picture! Only time it happened

all day...cross my heart. anyway,

see how the rock face looks like swiss cheese?!

Dutch oven buh-tatoes

adapted from my Dad (Don Porter)

Ingredients

10-14 medium russet potatoes, sliced ~1/4 inch.

2 cans cream of mushroom soup (10.5 oz)

3-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped or sliced

1 lb bacon, chopped

2 Tbsp. butter

1 1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

Put onions and butter in dutch oven, over coals. Cook about 5 minutes, until onions start to look translucent, then add bacon & garlic. Cook about 10 minutes, until bacon is looking done. Add soup and mix in with bacon & onions, then add potatoes and stir to coat with soup/bacon mixture. Cover and cook ~1 hour, or until potatoes are tender and done. Top with cheese and let sit 5-10 minutes to melt before serving.

I told them to make "yummy faces" and this is what I got.

My baby and me, trying to stay warm in

our sleeping bag after dinner.

Award-Winning Peach Cobbler & Homemade Ice Cream

You read it right - this is AWARD-WINNING peach cobbler! haha kind of. Earlier this summer our church had a dutch oven cook-off, and after a tie-breaking game of KOOB, I came out victorious! The prize was my very own dutch oven. First of all, if you don't know what KOOB is, you need to google it because it's the greatest yard game ever! Second of all, I had been playing terribly all night until the tie-breaking game where Rich and I faced off against the Jeff's - I totally dominated that game, knocking down the last 3 blocks in a row (that will mean more to you after you've googled)!!! And lastly, although the Jeff's had their game faces on and seriously delivered with THREE delicious dutch oven dishes (who knew you could make rolls in a dutch oven?!), I'm super stoked that my cobbler won! I had been telling Rich how badly I wanted to win, but even I didn't know how serious I was until I actually won. So, thanks to all of the tasters/voters who helped me get the big 'W'! And who am I kidding, I'd have never been able to do it without my Dad (we call him Poppa Don), because it was his recipe, after all!

And now for the homemade ice cream...it is different every single time we make it because of the flavor we choose to make depending on what ingredients we have in our pantry at the time, but there are a few things you have to have every time for the base. It goes great with anything - brownies, cookies, cake, and of course cobbler. But it is also de-lish all by itself. As long as you have an ice cream maker, you're in good shape. But don't make it too often, or you'll be in bad shape (hahaha bad joke, I know!). We got this recipe from my father-in-law, Dale, but we've adapted it a bit. Thank Heaven for Dads!!!

~My PRIZED dutch oven~

Poppa Don's Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

2 large cans sliced peaches, undrained

1 box yellow cake mix

ground cinnamon

Directions

Pour all the peaches into the dutch oven. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the peaches. Sprinkle generous amount of cinnamon evenly over the cake mix. Place ~15 ashy coals on top and beneath dutch oven. Let cook about 45 minutes, or until top is browned, and bubbling. Remove from coals and let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Homemade Ice Cream

Homemade Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cans evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 c. milk

*flavoring of your choice* Example: we sliced 1 1/2 banana & added 2 regular sized bags of peanut butter M&M's. We have also used fresh berries & peaches, crumbled up cookies or brownies with peanut butter & sliced banana, and even cut up a piece of cheesecake!

Directions

Pour evaporated milk, sugar, egg, and milk into ice cream maker & whisk together. Add whatever flavoring you choose. Follow instructions for your ice cream maker. Ours usually takes 45 minutes-1 1/2 hour depending on how thick we want it & what flavoring we used.