| SERRO SCOTTY CAMPER ENTHUSIASTS ROSEMARIE'S SILLY STEW |
| Diane's recipe reminds me of a favorite we used to make on the last night group camping with lots of kids and adults. It uses up the left-overs and kids tend to love it because they get to help make it. Kids and adults all choose something (edible) to put in the pot themselves. Silly Stew This requires a large pot and is always fun and tasty when made with a large group. (We used a really large cast iron pot on a tripod over a fire pit.) Optional: For the base, brown together ground beef and finely chopped onion; add any left-over raw veggies and tomatoes (cut-up), a little salt and pepper, and cook until veggies are tender. Now, everybody who plans to eat, adds the equivalent of a can of whatever they want to add. Kids like to add the "eeeeewwww factor" and toss in sauerkraut, pineapple, spinach, mustard and catsup and what not, but you'd be surprised, it's really okay! Someone will put in pinto beans, another might put in baked beans, someone might put in a can of chili, someone Spaghetti-Os, canned spaghetti, potato salad, coleslaw, potatoes, leftover cut-up hot dogs, fish, broken up hamburgers, Sloppy Joes, any kind of nuts, corn cut off the cob, guacamole, onion dip, you get the picture. Add some chicken or beef stock, or water, if too thick. (You might want to put the skids on stuff like chocolate and candies. We had a kid put in a can of chocolate frosting once and it didn't ruin anything. Another time one put in red hots and they didn't hurt anything either.) Cook until hot all the way through and serve with corn bread and butter. (Uncooked canned biscuits can be pinched into quarters and dropped into the pot in the end to make dumplings on top, too. Just make sure to let the stew cook until the dumplings cook through.) This thick, hearty stew, for obvious reasons, tastes different every time you make it. Kids always want to find out what it tastes like and always want to eat it. For some reason, this stew always tastes better eaten from a tin plate or a big mug. And, like most soups and stews, is even better left-over. RoseMarie Dorer in Virginia |