Campout Recipes

Good Tuesday morning! Well, Mike and I experimented with the photos, and I'm happy to say we were able to add a picture of Roxie and our six-year old beagle, Sparkle.

We tried to get Copper into the picture, too (our other six-year old beagle), but to no avail. He is a sweet, sweet dog, but he has never really taken a good picture. He is in constant motion, and the fact that he's 42 in human years hasn't slowed him down at all. On the other hand, Sparkle acts her age. She still runs and plays, but she has no problem with posing, sitting, or receiving a good ol' belly rub.

When we go camping, we love taking Sparkle with us. She enjoys the people, other dogs, long walks, boat rides and hiking. She rarely barks which is a bit odd for a beagle, and she gladly sleeps inside her carrier in our nice, warm tent. She goes to bed when we go to bed, she goes to sleep when we go to sleep, and most importantly, she doesn't wake up until we wake up. There is no doubt in our minds that Copper would be completely and utterly in "hyper-mode" for the entirety of our trip. He would howl at any and every movement during the wee morning hours, all day and definitely all night. Instead of watching the many people, dogs, cats, deer, cars, RVs, etc. with quiet interest (like Sparkle), he would pull and lunge and bark until he was hoarse... and then he would pull and lunge and bark some more. There isn't a "slow down" switch in Copper's mind. He is a "full steam ahead" type of animal.

We got Sparkle when she was just a six-week old puppy, and we enjoyed her for four years all by herself. However, beagles are very social animals, and with the kids in school all day, I really wanted Sparkle to have a playmate. I checked with several beagle rescue organizations in the area looking for a female about Sparkle's age, and finally spoke with a woman who had a MALE beagle about four years old who would be the perfect match for Sparkle. I told her I wanted a female so she would have a similar temperament as Sparkle. No problem. Just because Copper was male did not mean they would be different in temperament. (Just so you know... that's not true.) There was another obstacle, however. Copper had a bad leg and they weren't sure at the vet's office if it was going to have to be amputated or not. If we didn't adopt him, they were probably going to have to "put him down."

Well, we decided to meet Copper and took Sparkle to the vet's office who was holding him. He was a ball of energy. Sweet, loving, all over us and Sparkle. Sparkle was a little stand-offish which was perfectly understandable, but she didn't growl or act defensive. We decided to take him home for a week to see if everyone would adjust. That's where they get you. No one can take a dog home for just a week. In a family of five, someone is going to get very attached very quickly. Well, in our family it wasn't Sparkle... but she continued to "tolerate" Copper's hyperactive behavior. We decided to keep Copper because in spite of all of the problems his excessive energy caused, he had the most expressive eyes and the most loving personality we had ever seen. And finally, several weeks into our experiment, we found Copper and Sparkle snuggled up together on the bed they share downstairs in our unfinished basement. (It's a good thing the basement was unfinished because Copper ate half a wall and came through part of a door before he settled into his new surroundings!)

Copper still has his leg and it hasn't slowed him down one bit. The only thing we've noticed in the negative regarding his leg is he is not a digger, and most people will tell you that beagles like to dig. We like this about him... the fact that he eats walls, but he is not a digger. It is one of his most endearing qualities.

Well, enough about the Faulkner pets. On with the recipes. These go with the Campout Party from yesterday's post, and while they are easy, kid-friendly recipes, many of the recipes I will post later will be cakes, pies, crockpot dinners, etc. They won't all be as simple as the following:

Crockpot Hot Dogs

Just put ten hot dogs in a crockpot on low for three hours. Do not add water. Do not add anything. Turn the hot dogs over after two hours. They taste wonderful. Almost like they were cooked over an open fire. The crockpot even makes turkey dogs taste great!

Inside S'mores

Give each child one piece of aluminum foil. Have the child place half of a graham cracker on top of the foil. On top of the graham cracker add three squares of a Hershey bar and one large marshmallow. Top with the other half of graham cracker. Wrap the foil loosely around the s'more and with a Sharpie write the child's initials on top. Put all of the s'mores on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Check one to make sure the marshmallow has melted. Pass them out to the kids and enjoy.

Banana Boats

I learned this one in Girl Scouts 100 years ago. Take an unpeeled banana and with a knife cut through the skin into the banana from the top all the way to the bottom. Open the banana up just enough to put a square of Hershey chocolate, a mini marshmallow, a square of Hershey chocolate, a mini marshmallow, etc. all the way down the cut into the banana. (There should be room for three squares and three marshmallows.) Wrap the banana loosely in aluminum foil (again write the child's name or initials with a Sharpie) and bake at 200 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Check one banana to make sure melting has taken place. Give everyone a banana boat and a spoon. They taste just like hot banana splits! Very good. (REMEMBER: The skin of the banana should stay on the entire time. It makes a "bowl" for the dessert.)

Like I said earlier, these are super easy. Next Tuesday's recipe is for all the chocolate lovers out there and is a great dessert for company or the holidays.

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday. Tune in Wednesday for a fun, family October tradition!