Our Ohio

I'm not a magazine person. In fact, I don't have a single magazine subscription in my name (The Husband and the kids are a different story). "Our Ohio" is sent to us as a benefit of membership in the Ohio Farm Bureau, however, and I thoroughly enjoy its bi-monthly editions. It's a great way to learn about various local farms, vineyards, businesses, and events. It also has a recipe feature with each edition, where one ingredient (usually seasonal) is featured.

The reason I'm sharing this little treasure of information with you now, though, is because the November/December issue featured a couple of "alternative cooking" methods that is right up the alley of any homesteader. The recipe theme was campfire recipes (which you can find online at Our Ohio), which was preceded with a short, sweet article entitled "Fun With Campfire Cooking." There's also another article called "Fire it Up" about hearthside cooking lessons in Lucas County.


Unfortunately, I won't be doing any hearthside cooking anytime soon. That loverly picture to the left is my "hearth," a non-functioning, capped gas fireplace which we haven't even come close to restoring yet. After a dreadful Yuletide ice storm in our apartment years with 1-year-old twins in which our electricity (including our electric heat) was knocked out for days, we purposely looked for a home with a fireplace... just in case. Once we had it, however, The Husband was so worried that the twins would be burned that he had his step-dad cap the gasline going to the fireplace and remove the fixture. Then the worry was that the twins would climb the chimney, so our fireplace was turned ever so stylish with the addition of a lovely baby gate to the front. That was a long way of telling you that I don't have the proper equipment for hearthside cooking. ;)

Annnnnnyway, check out "Our Ohio" if you have the chance, especially if you happen to, uh, be in Ohio. If you don't have access to the mag but the idea of hearthside/campfire cooking has intrigued you, check out The Magic of Fire by William Rubel for another jumping off point. Happy cooking!