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By Dave, November 26, 2007 4:50 pm

Eighth wonder of the world? The stunning temples secretly carved out below ground by ‘paranormal’ eccentric | the Daily Mail

Wild stuff! Would like to see more of this place.

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By Dave, November 25, 2007 9:05 am

CAMP OVEN COOKING IN AUSTRALIA (COCIA) — WITH ‘THE CAMP OVEN COOK’ – DEREK BULLOCK

Below is Dave’s (my) modification of Derek’s Pumpkin Fruit Muffins (which can be found at the link above) to work with sweet potatoes instead. There are also a LOT more Dutch oven recipes at that link. Good stuff!

SWEET POTATO MUFFINS – Makes 18 standard sized muffins.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie spice – Nutmeg and Allspice will work also.
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups cooked mashed sweet potato
1 cup milk

METHOD

Mix together the flour, salt, spice, raisins and sugar in a bowl. In another bowl beat together the egg, milk, sweet potato and oil. Combine all the ingredients but don’t over mix. Place paper muffin cups in the muffin pans and divide the mixture evenly between them (about 2 large spoonfuls per cup).

Place muffin tray on a trivet in a preheated 12″ dutch oven and cook for around twenty minutes per pan. I was able to cook all 3 pans with one firing of charcoal briquet’s.

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By Dave, November 25, 2007 8:50 am

Rust removal by electrolysis

Getting more and more cast iron cooking stuff and need to clean it up. Found a post on the Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers site that linked to the above site that shows and explains how to do the deed with washing soda and a battery charger. Looks to be just what I need as it claims to remove paint as well as rust and other crud. Gonna have to try it this coming week as I now have 7 pans, pots, frying pans, lids, and other pieces that I need to clean. Will try to post pix of the whole process.

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By Dave, November 24, 2007 5:06 pm

And that’s about the size of the load from Collinsville today.
Got a roll of foil backed bubblepack insulation that is 4 feet wide and around a hundred feet long. Talked him into letting me have it for $45. He was asking $60 for the one I got. Suspect it was a good deal even at $60 but I liked it much more at $45. 😉
Then went to get some rock screws but found some flat headed tech screws for $3 a pound and got 2 pounds of 1 inch and a pound of 3/4 inch instead. Gonna change out all of the exterior screws in the camper and put these in. Will make it easier to seal and it will look better too.
Then went to look at veggies and got a 50 pound bag of white potatoes for $10. Sucker was a whole lot heaver than the insulation was though the insulation was about 4 to 5 times bigger.

Next stop was a Antique store/flea market where Cat found a few books at a quarter each. I almost got a 10 inch dutch oven but decided against it and am glad of it now.

Lunch was at a boat launch in the middle of no where eaten on the tailgate of the truck. Then a few more stops and back home. Am glad we went and even gladder that we’re home.

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By Dave, November 23, 2007 11:36 am

Motor Home Resin Ornament Santa Collectibles Santa Claus Ornaments – Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland

This is one for those on your list that are into tiny campers and teardrops. Cute stuff!

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By Dave, November 23, 2007 11:25 am

Toy Oscilloscope

This is just too cool! I’ve got a couple of the display tubes and I think all the other tubes down in the barn. Gonna have to dig that stuff out and see about building one of these just to have. Great stuff!

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By Dave, November 23, 2007 11:22 am

Candle Heater or the way he (miss)spells it, KandleHeeter. Cute but really…

Not sure about these inventions. I remember the heat stick from way back when, but it was another one of the neat ideas but just not sure it was worth the time, energy expended, space taken up in the room type devices.

Gonna have to get some flower pots and make one of the Kandleheeters just to see if there is more heat given off by this device than just the candle alone. There are laws about this stuff if I remember my physics right but it may be that some of the radiant energy is converted to heat via the ceramic pots and metal screw, washers, nuts combo. Time and experimentation will tell.

The greenhouse is interesting. Kinda reminds me of one I built back in the early 80’s that was just too small to be of much use but the one I built was a standup inside unit with an isle in the middle whereas his you raise the wall to work with the plants.

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By Dave, November 22, 2007 4:49 pm

The legend of Turkeymas | domesticat.net

I’m thinking Amy just might have been imbibing in some form of holiday cheer… Interesting mangling of fictional facts whatever the source of inspiration. 😉

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By Dave, November 22, 2007 10:16 am

Just a quick post to wish all of our faithful readers a Happy Thanksgiving and upcoming Black Friday. 😉
And for those not in the US of A who don’t know what Black Friday is, it’s the worst shopping day/day to be out in public of the year… *Update, for real reason for the name see Steve’s explanation in the comments.

Got some stuff to post but it’ll be a day or two (or three or four)(or maybe even five or six) before I get back to it (but I will at some point in the future)(really I will)(and soon)(ish).

Dave

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By Dave, November 19, 2007 11:13 am

You should never meddle with dragons…….for you are crunchy and good with ketchup

Author unknown.

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By Dave, November 14, 2007 10:09 am

www.camp-cook.com :: Index

New cast iron/camping cooking forum. Not much there yet but it’s just getting started. There are some tips on seasoning and cooking in dutch ovens that are quite good.

Gonna have to get/build a metal table that I can use to cook on when on the road/not around a campfire. Just not up to spending $140 + for one of the Lodge ready mades…

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By Dave, November 13, 2007 10:50 pm

Just been either busy or camping. Or both.

Last weekend was an airsoft weekend and we had food too so was quite a busy time for yours truly. Also added into the mix was that it was the first time in the camper. Pulled it to the site late Friday afternoon and set it up. Stayed in it that night but with just the futon was not quite up to my old bones or I was not up to it or something. Saturday night was spent at the house. Sunday was back to the camper and the addition of our camping foam pads. Tis good enough but would like another inch of foam or something.

Cat picked up a 12″ Lodge dutch oven Friday. I seasoned it somewhat and cooked some chicken and veggies that night for lunch on Saturday and they were pronounced good as most of them were eaten just after taking off the coals. Saturday she went back and got a 14″ too. With the two of them I think we can cook just about anything. I also have a smaller piece that I think is a bean pot for cooking over coals. Will get a pix of it soon. And of the other stuff. Made a lid lifter but after seeing pix of another one today will be making some major changes to it or just building another all together. Also made a couple of different lid holders.

Got to get the forge back in operation so I can make some other stuff too. Moved all the blacksmithing stuff inside the side shed of the barn. Will try to get a shed built over the area this week so I can get it up and working again. Am gonna build a propane fired forge for small stuff. Got most of what I need and the rest can be bought or built.

Took some old fiberglass tent rods and modified them to help support the canvas at the back of the camper. Will get pix of that too. Too much to try to explain. Rained tonight for the first time in ages. No puddling on the canvas at all. Now need to make side walls with mosquito netting covered windows with zip shut shutters and a zip closed door. Got another old tent or two I may be able to get parts for them from.

Got a lot of organizing left to do to be ready to go camping for real. Figure we’ll make a few more dry runs over here prior to the real thing. Got changes to make to shelves and storage now. Bungies hold the drawers shut fine. Another thing I need to get a picture of.

Spent the last couple of days at the campsite. Have gotten (somewhat) the hang of cooking with the dutch ovens. Biscuits are quite good cooked in one. Did basic drop biscuits with added egg and cheese this morning. Changed the taste and texture. Did cornbread in the 14″ the other day. Burned the bottom (I know why now too) but the rest was quite good. This morning used the lid of the 14″, upside down on the lid holder, with coals underneath as a griddle and cooked the sausage and scrambled eggs. Easy way to do it. 12″ had the biscuits cooking at the same time. Took about 15 to 17 minutes to cook both and be ready to eat. Just got to get the fire going to get the coals first. Will get some charcoal brickets and try cooking with them soon.

Moved the camper back up here to the house to finish the trim and wiring and all the other little details. Took about 15 minutes to put the tarp up. Gonna make some changes in the way I do it but need a couple of rubber straps first. Just got it up when the rain started so sat and watched it run off for a while. Started blowing a bit and came in. May stay out there again tonight. Just testing things out.

And over and out…

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By Dave, November 5, 2007 9:24 am

Horological Experiments : Arcane Times : CafePress.com

Cool Steampunk style clocks! Battery operated, but with ultra cool artwork.

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By Dave, November 1, 2007 7:51 pm

Got the kitchen counter done today. Tile that I had to cut got ground down a bit for a better/cleaner fit. Used the belt sander to clean the edges and ends up. Worked fine. Another couple of days work and I think we are ready to go camping. 😉
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