Saturday in the Soup Tent

It was a gorgeous day today, and a lovely one for spending the afternoon in the soup tent.  The menu included chili, cornbread, and ciabatta.  A good hearty meal for any outdoor activity.  The soup tent is working out quite nicely.  It's easy to warm up, thanks to the little Jotul 602, and with the convenience of extension cords, we can keep the soup hot and have a pot of apple cider on the stove.

This is our sixth week of baking bread in the winter, and overall, it is going very well.  Mostly, I've made the usual favorite recipe, which is well-suited to winter baking.  The oven, with its final insulation, warms up quickly, and holds the heat for the time necessary to bake at 500+ degrees.  On Sundays, we will sometimes put together a dutch oven meal, such as a roast or stew.  The oven is usually at about 250 degrees,  so it is perfect for long, slow cooking.  This is turning into a new winter hobby.

We had some new guests arrive at the tent today, including this little sweetie:

Little guy Cameron, just a month old, came to see us at Heston's.  Here he is, meeting his second cousin Paul (or maybe it's first cousin once-removed....I never keep it straight!) He's a precious one, definitely a keeper.  He came to meet his great-grandma Sharlene, and the various aunts, uncles, and cousins in Cook County.  I'm sure that it won't be long before he is back and big enough to be running around, jumping in the lake, exploring the woods, and doing all those other things that boys do outside.  He'll have lots of teachers around here, waiting to show him the adventures they had.