The Willow Creek Bunch

For our listeners with an appreciation for the art of cooking, we will be posting Bryson family favorites on this page. Recipes good for the campfire are marked with a plus sign.

Bryson Breakfast

+ Egg in a Bag
This recipe is great for cooking over the fire, or just over the stove. This is a fun recipe with varying ingredients, based on what you enjoy. Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients/Supplies

1 big pot
6 FREEZER bags. DO NOT USE REGULAR ZIPLOC BAGS!
1 Sharpie/permanent marker
6 tortillas
12 eggs

Optional Ingredients

Shredded Cheese
1 Capsicum/Bell Pepper
1 Onion
Bacon bits
Ham/Other lunchmeat

Cooking Directions

• Boil water in the big pot
• Cut the capsicum, onions, and ham into little squares.
• Crack 2 eggs into each freezer bag
• Add onions, capsicum, cheese, ham, and bacon bits to each bag. The amounts will vary person to person, so if everyone is having different toppings, write their names on the freezer bags with the permanent marker. Close the freezer bags (try to get some air out of them first) and then gently squeeze the bags until the ingredients are all mixed in together.
• Place the freezer bags into the pot of boiling water. You may need to only put a few into the pot at a time based on how big the pot is and how many servings you are making.
• There is no specific time that it will take to cook, it depends on pot size and the amount of freezer bags in the pot. The freezer bags should not melt in the time it will take for the egg to cook through, but other types of baggies, such as sandwich or snack baggies, can melt, so it is good to experiment and see how long it will take the egg to cook and find the freezer bags that work best for you.
• Once the egg is cooked through, take the bags out of the pot and let them cool for several minutes.
• Once they are cool enough to handle, remove the eggs from the bags, trying to keep them in their cylindrical shape. Then lay the egg on a tortilla and wrap it up like a burrito.

This recipe is great for cooking over the fire, since you don't have to spend much time near the fire and it is easy to carry the ingredients in a pack. This recipe is used at many a Girl Scout camp, and we hope you can use this recipe in your own family (and at your own Girl Scout camp!)

Bryson's Best Spaghetti (Grandad's Secret Recipe)

This is the spaghetti recipe that the Brysons love. They often eat it with toasty bread and a big salad. Makes five servings- double the recipe for easy leftovers.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti
• One jar of any spaghetti sauce/one tin of pureed tomatoes
• Two tins of peeled/diced tomato (Trader Joe's has a nice fire roasted tomatoes, but any will work)
• One clove garlic
• Two handfuls of cherry tomatoes (any colour)
• One medium to large onion
• One head of broccoli
• Olive oil
• Dried basil
• Dried oregano
• Dried thyme
• Cheese
• Water
• Salt/pepper to taste

Supplies:

• 1 frying pan of a reasonably large size
• 1 pot
• 1 baking sheet
• Baking paper
• Cutting board
• Knife for cutting
• Cheese grater
• Rolling pin
• Sieve
• Wooden spoon

Instructions:

• Pre heat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit
• Boil the broccoli (should be 2-4 mins) in a pot of water.
• Strain the broccoli and set it aside.
• Remove the white peel from the garlic and smash it with the rolling pin.
• Cut the cherry tomatoes into little quarters/ halves for smaller tomatoes.
• Cut up the onion
• Put the garlic, tomatoes, and onion on the baking tray on top of some baking paper.
• Put some olive oil on top of that, along with a sprinkling of the herbs mentioned in the ingredients list.
• Put that in the oven until the vegetables are somewhat cooked.
• Open the tins and dump the tomatoes and the pureed tomato/sauce into the saucepan and put it on the stove under medium-high heat.
• Add a bit of olive oil and the same herbs to the pan. Stir occasionally.
• Boil the spaghetti according to the directions on the packet. A bit of olive oil with prevent the pot from boiling over.
• When it is done cooking, strain it.
• Take the tray out of the oven and add its contents to the frying pan to cook. Let it cook for a minute or so before adding the broccoli.
• Grate the cheese.
• Put everything together in bowls for eating. Tip: After cooking, the baking paper should have debris (for lack of a better word) all over it. Instead of throwing that out, rub it on some lightly toasted bread.

Scrumptious Sides

Lemon Pepper Pan-Fried Veg
One of Anne and David's go-tos for a quick vegetable- the kids are always happy to eat it up! Makes six servings to go on the side of any main meal.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of broccoli
• 3 cups of brussels sprouts
• 4 tablespoons of lemon juice
• Ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt to taste

Supplies:

• Frying pan
• Medium pot
• Sieve

Instructions:

• Slice the brussels sprouts in half.
• Boil the broccoli and brussels sprouts until nearly done.
• Strain the veggies and add them to the pan on medium heat with olive oil.
• Add the lemon juice and pepper, and fry.

Delicious Desserts

+ How to Make a Perfect Toasted Marshmallow

About the Campfire

When you are making a campfire for marshmallow toasting, you need to wait quite a while for it to burn down. There needs to be hot coals, because the coals won't catch your marshmallow on fire. Whenever I see people toasting marshmallows, they always start right with the fire, but that can not give you a golden marshmallow, it will just burn your marshmallow.

How to Toast

You will want to find a pocket with enough room for you to stick the marshmallow between several logs. The pocket should be away from the flames, but be near hot coals. Slowly rotate the marshmallow until it is cooked to your satisfaction.

Suggestion: Instead of using graham crakers to make s'mores, try using different scout cookies to add extra flavor to your s'mores.