Camp Bars Polly

Okay! You guy's; I know I just disappeared off the face of the earth without so much a "by your leave" and for that I apologize. The week after my last post was really hectic; what with preparation for a weekend Scout camp and then our annual holiday...

While we were at Scout Camp I wasn't allowed near the kitchen. I think that this may have something to do with my insistence on cooking real food and talking about dissecting a chicken for a curry and boiling up the bones for soup the following day. Apparently it's far too time consuming and too much trouble altogether; perhaps this is why we had to wait over an hour and a half for a chicken curry which consisted of bought chicken fillets, a jar of yellow sauce and some Easi-cook rice from Dunne's Stores?

While we were away we were presented with a little challenge; which at the time was quite worrying however a nice evening of cooking together soon calmed us both down. DG's lovely car decided to temporarily give up the ghost; try as he may it steadfastly refused to start. Hence the challenge; the local shop bore little evi

Dice remaining onion and one clove of garlic. Saute in left over chili oil until transparent. Add four large tomatoes, roughly chopped. Season with salt, pepper and a bayleaf.
Cook uncovered on high, until tomatoes begin to liquefy. Stir. Cover and simmer on low until colour of tomatoes changes to a rich orange/red colour. Remove from heat and pour over reserved meatballs stored underneath sleeping bag in children's tent...

Send eldest child and friends down to sea to wash potatoes. Ensure that they return with potatoes immersed in sea water in saucepan.
Place saucepan on high, bring to the boil and simmer for approximately twenty minutes. When cooked pour most of water from pan and return to heat to cook the rest of the water off.
From time to time roll the potatoes around the pan, covering them with the sea water as it reduces and forms a light salty crust around them.
Although the original recipe suggests that it might be advisable to remove any surplus salt from the potatoes we didn't find this step necessary.

Strawberry flavoured instant whip mousse dessert. Pour 1/2 pt whole milk into bowl. Sprinkle Angel Delight powder over milk. Beat lightly with a fork. Allow to set for twenty minutes and serve in individual bowls if this tasty but junk dessert escapes the attention of visiting hoards sheltering from the rain/wind!

Do please bear in mind that this meal was cooked under a variety of difficult circumstances. As well as car failure, a limited selection of meat and only having two gas rings to cook on; it was also very windy, immediately prior to a heavy shower. This meant that I couldn't use the methylated spirits cooker to supplement the breakfast cooker; the fumes are too much to use indoors. We also were over run by visiting children sheltering in our tent from the rain; at one point the head count was ridiculously high two adults, six children and one dog.

Because I had foolishly decided to use one of the boys sleeping bags as my low oven; to keep the cooked food warm, we couldn't allow the kids into the boys side of the tent making the central area somewhat cramped. Regardless, we had a lovely meal; the kids enjoyed robbing us of our dessert and the wine was excellent.

All in all good memories for all; and yes it was well worth the trouble especially because I enjoy a challenge and love to cook...