Karen and Crew: Foil Dinners

"Thanksgiving came early today!" That's what Isaac said after his first bite. High praise indeed.

When we were first walking around and getting to know our 3 month home, I saw the brick oven area and rather off-handedly mentioned that we should try foil dinners sometime. The kids held me to it, of course. They have been collecting wood around the grounds, but it was very damp (and never dried out). Then they saw bundles of firewood for sale at the commissary and we bought one. We were going to try for it last week, but one thing and another kept pushing it back. Then it was the weekend and didn't work. Then Monday was scouts. Okay, for sure Tuesday, but when Matt finally was able to get an eye doctor appointment for that late afternoon--yeah!--we had to wait on base after dance until he was done. So Wednesday, for sure!

The kids watched the weather closely during school. There were several brief showers with sunshine in between. They were worried I would call it off because of rain, but I said we would go ahead and just get wet. It stopped around 3 and the girls went out to get instructed on proper Tee-Pee fire construction technique led by Isaac. They did great. It took awhile (and lots of paper, in the end) to get the damp kindling lit, but in the end we had a lovely fire to roast marshmallows on while waiting for the perfect coals.

During this time I went in to prep the ingredients: Chicken, carrots, potatoes, and onions. I assembled mine first while they watched and then let the kids do their own. We seasoned with simply salt and pepper and put them on the coals for 20 minutes. The kids had a hard time waiting 20 minutes. Luckily Thilini and Upatissa came by and talked to them for a bit. They requested a piano concert next time they come. Hooray!

After the allotted time was up, we took one off to test, and presto! It was perfection. They quickly collected the other 3 and we unwrapped our dinners. It was the easiest dishes night ever. Now they want to know when we are doing foil dinners again!

First attempts at lighting the fire.

This never lit until we added paper balls. It doesn't matter how fine the material is if it is too damp.

But it is great construction!

Jess did NOT want to try the matches. She spent her time making a fishing pole.

Ahh, flames!

Tons of smoke. There is no outlet inside what looks like a chimney, but isn't. They ended up grabbing the science goggles which helped immensely. We all reeked of smoke and put our clothes on the balcony for the night until I could wash them the next day.