Campers Info Source

I came across some cookware today that is so cool I just have to tel the world about it.  It’s made by CobraCo® and it’s called the “Meat Mark-It” Branding Iron .  This is an incredible tool for branding a special message into meat when you are grilling it.  This all metal branding iron has a sturdy wooden handle and the branding iron part of the tool has 54 die-cast removable letters you can use to create that certain word or words to brand into the meat while you are grilling it.

You can use the name of a favorite sports team or the special occasion you are celebrating!  You can put the names of people who are celebrating a birthday, anniversary, mothers day or fathers day right on the iron and burn the name right into the meat you are cooking.  How Fun!!!  I am going to get one tomorrow and use it during my next camping trip this spring.  Imagine taking this cookware with you when you go fishing with the guys.  You can have a contest to catch the biggest fish and the winner gets his steak branded with his name and the word “Winner” into the steak you are cooking.  The possibilities are endless.

Over the years I’ve heard many times that if you drop your food on the floor, it’s still okay to eat it so long as you pick it up within 5 seconds.  You’ve probably heard this same rule as well.  Now I don’t know if I truly believe in this rule but something happened a couple of days ago that made me wonder about this even more.

The weather warmed up to 55 degrees where I live in Minnesota which is wonderfully warm weather after a long winter.  Many people head outside to take a walk or drive their cars around with the windows rolled down just to enjoy the beautiful day.  Some people like cooking on outdoor grills.  That’s me.  I went out to barbecue some chicken on our outdoor grill.  I took the cover off the grill and before I placed the steaks on the fire, I noticed the utensils were not very clean.  They had some grease and cheese remnants left from last fall.  So I was wondering; does the 5 second rule apply here?  Do I have to wash the utensils before cooking the chicken?  Although no food had been dropped, it had been much longer than 5 seconds since they utensils were used to I obviously decided to wash them.  Whew!!! You probably thought I wouldn’t.  Have you ever opted to just go ahead and cook something with utensils that have laid around for several months?

After washing the utensils I put the chicken on the grill and waited.  While I was waiting I started thinking… now the utensils are not clean again.  And it’s been longer than 5 seconds.  So do I have to wash them again?  I only used them once to put fresh meat on the grill.  I figured that’s silly and continued to cook with them.  But then it happened.  I dropped one of the steaks on the deck floor.  I quickly picked it up in less than 5 seconds and I really wanted to put the steak back on the grill but did I?  What do you think?  What would you have done?

I then wondered, would washing the steak have made me feel more at ease about putting it back on the grill?  What if I had been out camping and accidentally dropped the steak on the ground; a $10 steak.  Would I throw it away or would I wash it?  Does the cost of the food make a difference as to whether I’d choose to throw it away or wash it or maybe even just brush it off and eat it even though it’s a bit dirty.  I asked my wife some of these questions and she says I gotta get a life because I obviously don’t have enough to d0 or think about.  Maybe I’m going a little to far with this but it is kind of an interesting topic.

If you have ever gone camping you have probably roasted marshmallows or hotdogs over an open campfire.  And it’s likely you might have made SMORES which consist of a roasted marshmallow and a piece of a hershey chocolate bar sandwiched between two graham cracker wafters to form a deliciuosly guey, crunchy, chocolatey dessert that melts in your mouth and tastes heavenly.  It tastes so good that you will want SoMORE.  

But it’s unlikely that you have ever made a “Care Bear in a Cloud”.  Listed below are steps to make this tastey dessert so when you plan your next trip and buy your camping supplies, consider making a Care Bear in a Cloud and follow the steps below. 

• Buy one bag of large white marshmallows
• Buy one box of chocolate flavored Teddy Grahams (each Teddy graham looks like a Teddy Bear/Care Bear
• Push one Teddy Graham into one marshmallow (the marshmallow is the cloud)
• Put the mashmallow onto a long stick.
• Put the stick over the campfire until the marshmallow begins to turn golden brown and melts around the Care Bear.
• Eat the “Care Bear in a Cloud” and enjoy 

Kids love it.  It’s easy and fun to make.  Anyone can do it.   It takes only a minute to finish.  It’s less expensive than making Smores and it’s less messy.  Try it out on your next camping trip.