I've been out in the woods again with my friend Mandy from Mud Pie Adventures. For the first of our summer events we headed to Aberdeen's Hazelhead Park for two days with 160 big and little kids to indulge in Banana Boats, S'mores, Campfire Coffee and Mud Pies.
The main event was of course the Campfire Banana Boats. For these, and as many of our other ingredients as we could, we opted for Fairtrade products. Filter coffee, bananas, tea, instant coffee, sugar, chocolate and charcoal all carried the Fairtrade mark. At the Monday afternoon session we had a very special visitor. FT Banana the mascot of Aberdeen's Fairtrade group. Please be assured that he was not roasted in his skin, split open and filled with chocolate, marshmallows, honey and cream. But lots of his friends were!
We met up with our young explorers and their grown ups and dished out buckets for them to collect sticks for our campfire - child labour at its best. On the way to base camp we kept our eyes and ears open and spotted caterpillars in cocoons, heard baby kestrels and smelt elderflowers. Sticks were sorted into sizes, rules about fires were discussed to keep everyone safe and the campfire was lit with flint, steel and cotton wool.
Whilst waiting for the fire to get hot enough for cooking there was plenty to keep everyone occupied. Hammocks to swing in, chalk to draw on trees and stones, teddies and dinosaurs to play with, dens to build, mountains to climb, and mudpies to make. It was only after the event that we found out that our second day coincided with National Hammock Day on 22nd July.
CAMPFIRE BANANA BOATS
Fairtrade Bananas
Chocolate Buttons (the giant ones work particularly well)
Mini Marshmallows
Squirty Cream
Honey
This will work on a BBQ or campfire, you could even make them in the oven.
Get the fire nice and hot, we used charcoal as a base.
Let the flames die down a bit and snuggle the bananas into the coals.
Cook for 8-10 minutes until the skins go black. Turn over half way through cooking time.
Let the flames die down a bit and snuggle the bananas into the coals.
Cook for 8-10 minutes until the skins go black. Turn over half way through cooking time.
Remove with tongs and slit each banana lengthwise through the peel, making sure not to cut all the way through to the other side.
Stuff the bananas with chocolate buttons. Briefly close them together to melt the chocolate.
Add mini marshmallows, honey and squirty cream to taste.
Grab a spoon, scoop and enjoy!
Variations
For adults try adding a splash of Baileys or Rum!
Additional filling suggestions - peanut butter, nuts, caramel sauce, desiccated coconut, glace cherries, cinnamon, sprinkles, M&M's, brown sugar.
You can't have a campfire without marshmallows and it was time to get toasting. Foodie Loon had received an awesome marshmallow toasting tree for Father's Day and let us borrow it. Don't you just love when you a buy a pressie for someone that's really for yourself?! Rustic campfire coffee was brewed up in an enamel coffee pot and tasted so much better than the stuff from bigbucks coffee shops.
Time to introduce S'mores. Two digestives, three giant chocolate buttons and one toasted marshmallow made an awesome sandwich which just like their name left everyone wanting some more! Over the two days we got through dozens of bananas, 28 bags of giant chocolate buttons, multiple packets of digestives and several kilogrammes of marshmallows. No wonder I get strange looks in the supermarket.
We're back in the woods next week for 4 more events for 2-12 year olds. This time at Countesswells where we'll be on a Blaeberry Bash cooking up jam, pancakes, marshmallows and mudpies. Book places and sign up for our mailing list at www.mudpieadventures.co.uk to be kept informed of future events.
For further campfire cooking inspiration take a look at the following recipes:
Chocolate Orange Camp-Fire Cake by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
Scottish S'Mores aka BBQ Tunnock's Teacakes by Foodie Quine
