Dutch Oven Club– a thing!

A few weeks ago, we discovered something that we didn’t even know existed. Firstly that there is a Dutch oven club. In case you don’t know, Dutch oven are wrought iron pots used all over the world for hundreds of years. They are almost indestructable, very heavy so they cook evenly, and after a bit of soaking are easy to clean. But they are not pretty, so they do not go with the asthetic of today’s kitchen. In fact, they probably started going out of vogue in the 1950’s. During the era of all things modern

I was raised in a household where “black pots” were always on the stove. Seriously, momma fed a family of ten. She was more concerned about having something in the pot than what the pot looked like. I grew up appreciating and using my set of pots, skillets, even a griddle. When I say set, I mean just whatever that I have. Because they sort of accumulated one-by-one. Garage sales, resale shops, family and so on.

Not so long ago our son, Rory, practically begged for a particular Dutch oven as his Christmas gift. We gave him ours, because we after an extensive search for the exact pot, we concluded that we had the only one in existance. We also planned to purchase another eventually and give him the new pot. It’s been years, we’ve replaced it with a different (not as good) pot, and gave up trying to switch them out. However, black pots get better with age, and Rory knows the difference.

So back to this club idea. Who knew? People (and apparently lots of them from all over) gather once a month to cook using black pots and charcoal. No gas, no electricity. Just like people did 100 years ago. Well, real charcoal, not coal from wood you cut in the back yard. Okay, there’s that. I’m still impressed.

We ate with the Cajun Creole Cookers yesterday. What a way to start out the new year, right? Eating with strangers in a state park, taking a hike after, and enjoying the beauty of nature. A good-for-the-soul kind of day. It turns out you can have a good-for-the-soul day every Saturday. You just have to find the right park, but that’s easy enough: go to the Facebook link above. All the info you need or want is available.

We so enjoyed the park, I thought I’d leave you with a few photos of some interesting views and finds from our trek along one of the three walking paths.