Write it Down

By Keith N Fisher

While working on the cookbook the other day, I wrote:

One time in deer camp, I made a kick butt chili that started out as a way to get rid of the bumper crop of tomatoes from my garden. I didn't intend to make chili, but it worked out that way. For the same meal, I made fry bread using frozen bread dough.

I never made that chili again, but it lives in my memory of great dinners. I can’t, however, remember any of the amounts I put into it. Such is life in camp.
In an attempt to figure it out, I made chili Saturday. I used tomatoes, three kinds of canned beans, turkey burger, and various other things. It ended up as chili, but not like I remembered. I’m certain I added more things on the camping trip. And I think I added more chili powder before. Still it tasted okay, but somebody wanted to use it for Sunday dinner. I didn't even get any pictures.

When it cooled, we put it in the refrigerator and saved it. When I came home for church it was in a crock-pot the "spicy" was missing and tomato sauce had been added. It was okay, but it wasn’t the chili I made on that deer hunt. It wasn’t the chili I made on Saturday.

As I wrote in the cookbook, I’ve always been able to cook on the fly, so to speak. I use what’s available and don’t worry about amounts. The problem is, I sometimes make something really good and forget how it’s made.

Such is life in deer camp, I guess. So, remember, write down the amounts. You might want to cook it again. You might want to write a cookbook.