Campfire cooking

I attended my first overnight SCA camping event at the Endewearde Hunt in Newburgh, Maine, on October 7-9, 2022. I aspire to join the Foresters Guild, and so I must gain skills in forestry and medieval camping. As a Girl Scout leader and long-time car-camper, I have basic but modern camping skills. Now it’s time to streamline and simplify, and return to the roots with medieval campfire cooking.

I’ve started to assemble a medieval cooking kit: cast iron cooking pot, small frypan with a folding handle, and a new pipkin. At Endewearde, I practiced fire-making. I’m not yet up to starting a fire with flint and steel, but I can do well enough with a modern gas match, building up the flame to a proper campfire, and then creating coals for cooking.

At that event, I cooked bannock (simple campfire bread) in the frypan. I also made a stew in the cook pot. The stew included chicken sausage, chopped apple barley, sage, carrots, celery, salt, and pepper. It was tasty and satisfying on a chilly autumn evening.

I look forward to improving my fire-making, coal-managing, and medieval cooking skills over time.