Cooking with a Cookie Tin
Tiger
Guider/Scouter/Trainer
Quebec City, Quebec
Canada
Cookie Tin
Each girl receives a cookie tin (shortbread at
Christmas time?) with a lid. Using a juice punch, holes are
punched around the bottom rim - about 8-10 holes will do. A paper
bag with about a dozen charcoal briquets are stored inside the
tin, and a small round cake rack (Dollar store, again!) is placed
on top and the lid put back on. The lid can be taped down and
this portable barbeque can be transported in the guide's
backpack.
Milk Carton
Another idea is to use a 1 or 2 litre milk
carton. Wash it out and close the spout (stapling works well).
Cut one side open along three edges so you are left with a
hinge-type flap. Cover the inside with foil and place a dozen
briquets inside, cover with foil again and seal the flap with
tape. When out on the hike, simply bring out your portable
barbeque, light the briquets and away you go!
Tip: I have concerns using "Scout
water" or "White Lightning" to douse the briquets
to get them to light. I prefer to use kindling and firestarter
materials - I start a small fire in the container I am using and
gradually add the briquets until they are all lit.
Another tip - Fire Starter Kit: I encourage all 3rd year Guides
and Pathfinders to get themselves a Fire Starter Kit. We use a
small plastic bucket with a tight fitting lid. These buckets can
be found at Dollar Stores which you buy sidewalk chalk in, or
small buckets of jam you purchase at warehouse stores such as
Price Club, or small buckets which contained laundry soap. The
girls collect twigs, dried moss, candle stubs, wood scraps, dryer
lint, dryer fabric sheets (used), shredded paper, homemade fire
starters and a box of strike-anywhere matches. The girls can
waterproof their own matches by double dipping the ends in wax,
or taking a strip of corrugated cardboard, inserting the match
sticks into the holes, dipping in wax and rolling the cardboard
strip up and secure. This way, the girls will always have fire
starter materials at hand and it eliminates the use of all the
paper that people are apt to use. This fire bucket can be gaily
decorated so it is easily recognizable and the girls are
encouraged to re-fill this bucket every chance they get. I also
save left over bits of raffia and rope and wood trimmings from
the craft room and I collect dried pine needles and pine cones
dipped in wax for a quick start. The bucket can be hung on the
outside of the packsack because with a tight fitting lid, it
should also be waterproof.
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