Dutch Oven Theology . . .

Cornbread cooking in cast iron pot on
a homemade stand with a homemade lid.

Well, as mentioned in my last blog post, Friday night we indeed made our first attempt at Dutch Oven cooking. We talked and read about pioneer cooking, cast iron cookware, the advent of Dutch Ovens (did you know some historians credit Paul Revere with inventing the flange around a Dutch Oven lid to keep the coals on it?), and more. Then, we gave it a try, making cornbread and a berry cobbler, and finishing it off with some true Cowboy Coffee over the remaining coals (water and grounds in the pot—of course without measuring the grounds—bringing it to a boil and then pouring it through a screen into a mug, knowing you'll still have some thick mud at the bottom!) and it was actually an outstanding tasting cup of coffee! So, here are some pictures for you to share in this slice of our family life. Wish you were here!

Spooning the "crust" over the berries.

So, what about the theology part? Lately I have more and more been craving cooking outdoors. It hasn't even been so much the food itself (though it is wonderful!) but rather the idea of setting aside a few hours when all you can do is focus on the preparation and each other. When you commit to a slow cook BBQ over coals or oak, or a Dutch Oven meal, or things along that line, you are saying that you aren't going to squeeze the meal around the "rest" of your life, but you are going to set the "rest" of your life aside for awhile and be still. You can't rush a meal like that unless you simply turn on a gas grill and crank it up. To start the coals or fire, to wait for them to be ready, to soak some red oak and herbs to put over the coals for a great smoke flavor in the meal, and to put the meal up high enough above the fire that it has to take a long time to cook makes some statement in my spirit about the fact that I am slowing down and just enjoying the moment, my family, Creation around me, and God.

Cobbler just before the coal-covered lid goes on!

I find that things get so busy, and it seems like these last months have been filled with so much pain in so many people's lives, that I have been desperate to drink deeply from God's well, and to simply love and appreciate my family and my friends. God says to be still and know that He is God and unless I force myself to do that it isn't my nature. My nature is rush more, do more, and always assume there is tomorrow. Way too many people lately we know have found that there isn't necessarily tomorrow—and I am finding more and more that I can't live tomorrow on yesterday's closeness with God.

Finished cornbread. Cobbler baking
over and under coals.

So, for me, many times recently, I have found myself crying out for an outdoor cooked meal. I think it is my spirit crying out to slow down, drink deeply of God and the ones I love, and be still—cooking outdoor is simply the vehicle that forces that . . . and, of course, it has great side benefits as well! Not to mention that I am in great company and simply imitating One who went before me on that path . . .

John 21:4-13   Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus . . . When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."  So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." . . . Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. (ESV)

Happy girls! Great cobbler!

A Dutch Oven Slice of Our Life

Bethany & Abigail at the book table.

Many of you readers know my family, and one of the original purposes of this blog was to share not just thoughts and things God has been showing me, but to share slices of our life as well. This last Saturday we got to have a table at a local Dutch Oven fundraiser for a regional museum and interpretive center that will hopefully be built soon. We weren't selling food, but rather displaying the history-cookbook Mary Ann and I wrote for our youth group (see sidebar).

I was amazed at what you can do in a Dutch Oven!

For our family it was a wonderful time. There is something about living where we do that brings out the "outdoor" cooking romance and allure (is that the right word?). To slow cook a Tri-Tip or chicken over crackling oak for hours, or to sit by a firepit under the stars as the food settles in, is something special. There is something about that type of cooking that says, "I can't be in a hurry. I have to build the fire, let it burn down to coals, and then slow cook the food, and it is going to take a few hours." It is an investment in more than a meal, it is a commitment of time, outdoors, slowing down, and savoring a full experience rather than a quick meal. (You can tell from the Tri-Tip over the fire in the picture at the top of my blog page that we "practice" what I "preach".)

Cowboy Coffee . . . Oh, Yeah!

Cooking outdoors is special. That is probably why we added the 96-page section to the history-cookbook and had the whole new section deal with outdoor cooking. There is something I can't explain about connecting with the ways our pioneer fathers cooked. It is like stepping back a bit in time, slowing down, and being more simple. Often it is around the fire while the meat or veggies are slow cooking, or while the fire is burning down, that I'll finally be still enough to notice the miracle of Creation in the animals and plants around me, or the stars above me. "Be still and know that I am God"—He commands it, and, for me, cooking outdoors helps me along that path.

Stacking the "ovens".

A local Chuck Wagon.

The Dutch Oven event was wonderful. There had to be about 50 cooks preparing amazing meals from full main dishes to tantalizing desserts. Then, when it was done, we all lined up with plates and went down the line getting a taste from each cook in our line. An emptied plate later (that was shortly before a heaping and steaming mound of food) and we could contentedly say, "Ahhhh." Then it was off to the oak fire with the pots of strong cowboy coffee steaming over it. It doesn't get much better than that . . .

History-Cookbook Fundraiser

Hello All! As readers know, I rarely mix my pastoring and youth leading with this blog as it is my personal blog, but since so many of you heard about the youth group's fund raising history-cookbook Mary Ann and I spent most of the summer working on (and some of you even sent us recipes for it!) I wanted to take a moment to announce: "It is here!" (The applause is resounding, especially from this house!)

If you want to read more about More Treasures Under the Oaks, or request a copy via PayPal (you don't have to have a PayPal account to do so), you can do so at our fellowship's web page: http://www.truelifecf.org/cookbook.htm. We are asking for a $12 donation per book, and all proceeds from the book go to the youth group and the outreach work we do to local youth (neither Mary Ann or I or any individual receive anything for this book). The postage is a little steep for a single copy, but because of our rural location we can't go to the post office to weigh individual orders so we are using flat rate priority envelopes and boxes. Of course, and I mean it!, don't feel any, any pressure to request a copy.

The book turned out wonderfully, and I don't say that because Mary Ann and I wrote it and typeset it. Simply, God's hand was on it. It is 224 pages of local history and photographs and recipes, with a special, large section on outdoor cooking (barbecuing, grilling, Dutch oven, smoking, etc). Many of the stories we recorded have never been in print before as God led us to interview old timers who have since died or moved and whose stories have never been written down in the past. In many cases these old timers gave us their scrapbooks with photographs never published before and told us to take them for as long as we needed and use what we wanted from them. God is woven throughout the book in scattered verses and the section titles, plus multiple of the articles and other writings. We have received wonderful feedback on the book so far, and it is exciting to me to hear how many people are reading it cover to cover who have never set foot inside the church building or will never hear me teaching or read my blog. It is exciting to realize they will read verses from God's written word, hear the story of a Creation-Scientist with a PhD in Evolutionary Biology who used to be an avid anti-Christian and evolutionist (a recipe from him is in the book), read how our area is not a slice of Heaven, but a shadow of Heaven, all as they read stories of treasures, wild-west shootouts, pioneer life in our area, and so much more! To God be the Glory! Whether or not you get a copy, please keep this in prayer as both a wonderful fund raiser for our youth, and as a door into people's hearts and homes in the region that otherwise might have stayed closed.

BBQ

The original book, when it was the
Dry Bones Youth Group (now it is the True
Life Youth Group).

Outdoor cooking fans, we need your help!

Normally I don't cross the line between this, my personal blog, and my place as the pastor and the youth leader of True Life Christian Fellowship, but Mary Ann and I are reprinting and expanding a fundraising book we did for our youth group about 10 years ago and I would value your help. The original book was filled with recipes, history, old photographs, historical anecdotes, and so much more. It was a real "treasure" as many of the photographs were never before published, and of the 15 people we interviewed for it, 10 have either moved or died since then.

Well, the book has been out of print for many, many years, and since so many people have asked for it (and our youth group needs funds!) we are going to reprint it and add about 60 new pages of photographs, history, and recipes. The emphasis of the recipe portion of this new section is going to be something our area loves to do—cook outdoors!

So, here's what I need—if I can get enough of you to help out, I would like to put in a couple of pages of outdoor cooking tips, tricks, and recipes from other parts of the country (or even the world). Would you consider, please, sending me your favorite outdoor cooking (BBQ, grilling, dutch oven, smoking, deep pit, etc.) recipe, tip, trick, etc. I think it would be so neat to give the book a flavor of what comes from other states and countries (and for the youth to see such support). I am not just looking for recipes, but also the tips and tricks and art of outdoor cooking. So, maybe it isn't you, but it is a family member who excels at this type of cooking. Would you consider sending me your, or their, recipe, tip, trick? It could be for the main course, or something else you grill (like veggies), or a special marinade or rub or seasoning.

You can send them to me in a comment. Remember to follow the comment process all the way through, including the verification step. There is a tab at the top of the blog that helps walk you through the comment process if you have trouble. Please include your name, and the region you are from (i.e., east Texas, central Oklahoma, etc.). If you have a little fun information about the recipe or tip to include I would value that (i.e., "My grandpa always made this on Veteran's Day and he got it from his father," etc.).

Thanks so much! I won't publish these comments, but I will post a comment thanking you. If you don't see that within a few days please try again. You can also try and send it to me at my email: emar (at) tcsn (dot) net. You can replace the words in it with the proper symbols, it is written like that to protect against computer spammers.

Note: This book is completely not for profit as True Life Christian Fellowship is a 501 (3) (c) organization. All money from the book goes to the youth group and helps make the outreach we do to local youth possible. You can learn more about the cookbook project by clicking here.