Our goal with this blog is just to have fun, of course, and we never expected to collect a ton of followers (and those of you not reading this have not disappointed). As I often say, “aim low, fail anyway, and then lie about it.” That said, I was curious as to whether or not there was anybody else out there writing about outdoor cooking–in particular dutch oven cooking. So I Googled away for a grand total of about three minutes, and here’s a sampling of what else is out there, listed in ascending order of incredulity.
First and foremost, it’s worth sharing that there are a few sites that share recipe collections and provide useful information, most notably Dutch Oven Dude, and a guy in Northwest Canada that puts up Youtube videos on outdoor cooking and survival skills. Some good stuff there, but fewer sites than I might have guessed.
Moving down the line, I was surprised to find an organization based in Salt Lake City, called the International Dutch Oven Society, with more than a thousand members.(!) On top of that, Japan has it’s own Japan Dutch Oven Society, and Arkansas apparently needed its very own state-level Arkansas Dutch Oven Society. Now I’m all for advocacy and kinship, but I’m not sure all of these competing Societies are really necessary for a piece of cookware. It conjures up memories of Gilda Radner as Emily Litella talking about the National Canker Society.
But what takes the dutch oven cake is this: in 2005, the Texas State Legislature passed a resolution proclaiming the dutch oven as the “official state cooking implement,” joining other items such as the state “epic poem” (Legend of Old Stone Ranch) and the state “flying mammal” (Mexican Free-tailed Bat).
Where in the heck was the skillet lobby when this was happening?
Photo: Jason Slemon
Very clever. I love it. I think I’ll get one…..Dutch oven, that is.
>