Camp Pizza

This past weekend I was all set for a weekend camp out with the Boy Scouts but a nasty cold kept me and my son home for the weekend. Although we weren't able spend the night out in the tent we did follow through with one of our weekend plans - perfecting the Camp Pizza.

After an hour with Google and mixing, matching and cutting recipe's we came up with our first candidate. We set the following goals for our recipe:

1. Needed to be quick to fix so no yeast.
2. Minimal number of liquid ingredients.
3. Simple enough to put together in camp with minimal work space.

By the end of the weekend we'd worked out a pretty decent pizza that cooked up in about 20 minutes on our kerosene camp stove in an MSR aluminum pot.

Camp Pizza Crust (makes one 9" pizza):

Mix the following dry ingredients in a zip-lock bag:

• 1 c. All purpose flour (If you use wheat flour you will need more liquid).
• 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/8 tsp salt

When ready to prepare add the following liquid ingredients and mix/knead:

• 1/3-1/2 c. of warm Water
• 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil

Pour about 1 tsp. of Olive Oil in the pot and spread around the bottom to keep the dough from sticking.

Spread the dough in the bottom of the pot making a slightly thicker crust around the edges.

Camp Pizza Sauce (enough for two 9" pizzas):

• 1 6oz. can Tomatoe Paste
• 3 oz. (half can) Water
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Basil
• 1/2 tsp Rosemary
• 1/2 tsp Thyme
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Spread the sauce on the the pizza crust.

Add toppings:

• 1/2 c. Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 sliced Green Pepper
• 1/2 sliced Red Pepper
• 1 sliced cooked Italian Sausage

Cover pot and put on stove to cook at a very low heat (flame should be orange not blue) and check every 5 minutes or so. Once the cheese melts it should be done.

Enjoy!!

Snow in Charleston???

It must be following me from Minnesota, we actually have enough snow on the ground to make a snowman!!

After the the East Coast was buried earlier in the week it was the South's turn for the weekend. The snow followed me back on my return from Atlanta and shortly after I tucked my car into the garage the melting snow started to freeze and stick - made it back just in time.

The challenge is that everyone I know, myself included, got rid of our snow shovels when we moved here so it looks like we'll be waiting for a thaw before we can get the walks cleared.

I guess we'll need to move farther south or import some snow shovels - now about that global warming ...

More touristing in our own town

This past January we once again took advantage of the tourist in your own town passes that we enjoyed so much last year.

This year the weather wasn't as cooperative regarding some of the outdoor opportunities but we had a great time anyway. My children took me to the Yorktown again where we visited the Medal of Honor Museum and read many of the inspirational stories of personal sacrafice over our nation's history.

We also hit several resturaunts and one of our new favorites is The Buccaneer in downtown Charleston.

While I was toiling away Elizabeth and the kids visited a number of plantations, a great out of the classroom addition to our history program.

Another Milestone

This past week our middle child and only daughter took one more step on the path to adulthood. For years her primary income has been as a child and dog sitter and she has done quite well; but she decided it was time for bigger things and will be going to work at Publix grocery store in the next week.

As a father it has been wonderful to see her excitment at being accepted into this new role. For years we've been telling her how capable she is but for some reason she thinks that we're biased so its great to have our opinions confirmed by an outside source.

Pets and More Scouting

Today our Boy Scout earned his Tenderfoot rank. It was great to see him and all the other Scouts recognized for all of the hard work they've put in. He also received his First Aid, Metalworking, Swimming, and near and dear to his father's heart - Small Boat Sailing.

Earlier in the day we took Seabreeze to the Low Country Paws and Claws Pet Expo at the Charleston Convention Center We had a great time and Seabreeze was very well behaved among all of the other dogs at the Expo. For only living in Charleston for a little over a year I was suprised by how many people I knew there (and that they were all pet lovers as well).

Voddie Baucham Conference

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Voddie Baucham conference put on by the James Island Christian Church with my wife and daughter. The subject of the discussion "what he must be to marry my daughter" provided some excellent biblical insight into what the Bible says about the important role that a father plays in helping his daughter find a suitable husband and in the character traits that she needs (from a biblical perspective) to consider as she considers this important decision.

Being able to do this with my daughter was great because it helped us come together on an issue that we were not fully aligned on before. If you haven't had an opportunity to hear any of Voddie's sermons I highly recommend him, his talk on Children of Caesar on YouTube is a great starting place.

Drayton Hall

This past Labor Day weekend we had an opportunity to visit Drayton Hall and had a great time during our visit. Elizabeth's timing was excellent as the visit coincided with several promotions that were going on. The end result was that we only had to pay for one admission for our family of four and recieved a treat bag for the dog as well. Drayton Hall is a preserved, rather than restored plantation so there is paint on the walls that dates from the 1800's and it shows. It's the only plantation along the Ashley River that survived the Civil War among other disasters.

The docent that guided our visit did a great job sharing about the architecture and history of the plantation from its beginnings through phosphate mining and up to the present day.

New Boy Scout

Last week our youngest bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and earned his arrow of light award. This was a fantastic experience and we're really excited about his new troop.

First Fish

On Friday afternoon as I was driving home from work I received an urgent call from my wife; "Stop at the pond!" Our youngest had gone down to the pond near our house to do some fishing and unlike the dozens of times before was met with success rather than disappointment. I arrived at the pond just as they were about to release the 10" Tilapia back to the relative safety of the pond. I'm not an avid fisherman by any stretch of the imagination, but I can say I've never had a bad time fishing. As a result of his success, my wife and I went out for licenses and hope to add some quality fishing time in South Carolina to our list of family recreational activities.

Be a tourist in your own town!

January is be a tourist in your own town month in Charleston. We picked up a family pass and made it our mission to check off as many of the attractions as we could in the month.

The weather was not always cooperative and we weren't able to go to every event together but it was well worth the money and we had a great time. Some of the highlights of our month were our visits to the Hunley, Patriot's Point and the Middleton Plantation.

At Patriot's Point we had a great time touring the ships and learning about their history as well as that of the Port of Charleston. Of particular interest was the Medal of Honor museum, I could have spent hours learning more about the incredible people that have given so much to and for our country.

We also enjoyed visiting the Aiken Rhett House and the Old Charleston Slave Mart. One of the things that struck me during the Slave Mart visit was that not only was slavery a blemish on our nation's past it's prevention is part of our ongoing battle.

We had so much fun this year we'll probably do it agian next year.
See you in Charleston!

Busted

Last night we were doing the soccer parents thing, Elizabeth cut out early to go to a home schooling meeting, I took the kids home in the Minivan and she took the Miata. I was expecting her home about 8:30. At 9 she called and said she'd be home shortly not to worry. Since the McCain - Obama debate was on I was not paying too much attention to the time. At 11:00 the phone rang - she'd lost track of time and after the coffee shop closed they brought the discussion to the parking lot. At 10:50 a police car pulled up to the collection of cars in the parking lot and pointed out the time - all the stores closed nearly two hours earlier. It was time for them to move along or risk a loitering charge. They didn't need a second warning and we're on their way home promptly.

Our first hurricane - almost

As Hanna drifted around in the Caribbean we started to get nervous that this would be our first hurricane since moving to South Carolina. The models were showing a real possibility that it would end up making landfall at Charleston late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

As a family we have fairly good disaster preparedness habits; food, water and other critical supplies on hand, etc. Checking in with our more experienced neighbors we were feeling comfortable but not too comfortable. Being nearly 20 miles in from the coast helped.

Thursday one of my co-workers took the day off to board up his parents beach house on Folly Beach. There was a liberal leave policy implemented so people could make any necessary arrangements for the storm.

Friday morning as I drove to work the clouds were starting to move in and when I drove through the front gate, the hurricane awareness level had changed from 5 to 3, indicating that the area was under a hurricane warning. At about 11 the word was put out that we were shutting down and were expected to be gone before noon; I made it out the gate at about 11:58.

Since we weren't evacuating I spend a few hours reorganizing the garage to get two cars into it. It was tight but we did it. It was starting to rain lightly and now the sky was getting darker. We decided to make a quick run up the road to WalMart for some last minute supplies - after we got on the road (which happened to be a hurricane evacuation route) we discovered that many people had decided not to stay put. The 3 mile drive took about 30 minutes!

The drive home was nearly traffic free and we started watching the news and checking the weather service web site.

As the evening wore on the rain started to come down in buckets and the wind started to pick up a little. The neighborhood kids were out playing in the deluge it looked like fun but I couldn't bring myself to join them. Our neighbors braved the rain and came over for dinner, as the meal came to an end the weather service confirmed that Hanna was going to pass us by.

Saturday morning was a clear sunny day and the only sign that remained of the near miss were all the puddles and full drainage ponds throughout the neighborhood. In retrospect I'm still contemplating a generator just in case we aren't so blessed next time. Ike is making its way across the Atlantic and we're watching it closely.