The Old Black Pot

by Keith Fisher

I planned to take you shopping for cast iron Christmas presents today. (Best laid plans). Anyway, I'm going to save that for next time. So, if you have Dutch oven and campcooking equipment on your Chrsitmas list this year, and if people ask you what you want, send them to the next blog and I'll show you, and them, what to look for.

In the meantime, The contest is going well. I've decided to announce the winner in the next blog. It will give me time to send the prize before Christmas.

I have a couple of treats for you today. One, is a poem alledgedly written by Bruce Kiskaddon (1878-1950). The other, is this great picture taken between 1887 and 1892.

You mind that old oven so greasy and black,
That we hauled in the wagon or put in a pack.
The bisquits she baked wasn't bad by no means,
And she had the world cheated fer cookin' up beans.
If the oven was there you could always git by,
You could bake, you could boil, you could stew, you could fry.

When the fire was built she was throwed in to heat
While they peeled the potaters and cut down the meat.
Then the cook put some fire down into a hole.
Next, he set in the oven and put on some coals.
I allus remember the way the cook did
When he took the old "Goncho" and lifted the lid.

He really was graceful at doin' the trick.
The old greasy sackers they just used a stick
Boy Howdy! We all made a gen'l attack
If the hoss with the dutch oven scattered his pack.
You mind how you lifted your hoss to a lope
And built a long loop in the end of your rope

You bet them old waddies knowed what to expect.
No bisquits no more if that oven got wrecked.
We didn't know much about prayin' or lovin'
But I reckon we worshipped that greasy old oven.
And the old cowboy smiles when his memory drifts back
To the oven that rode in the wagon or pack.

Tips for today:

-Buy an 8-inch Dutch oven and bake a fruitcake. Clean the outside and oil it. Replace the lid and tie a bow on the oven. Your Friends will love the cast iron gift so they won't re-gift your fruit cake. They'll eat it so they can use the Dutch oven.

-Start planning Christmas dinner now. You might have to shovel snow off the patio but it's worth it. Make it simple try this:

Chicken with Onions and peppers

Chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper lrg.
1 green bell pepper
1 large onion
Amounts vary depending on number of chicken breasts.

Heat up a Dutch oven on bottom heat while dicing the vegetables. Then, add chicken and spices to taste. Roast with 9 coals on bottom and 15 on top until chicken is tender. Add BBQ sauce, sweet and sour, or cream of chicken soup for variation.



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