The Outpost Village Update
There’s no doubt about it, winter is here. The heavy jackets, boots, beanies, and long johns are all out of storage. There’s less daylight, more snow, and a lot more reasons to stay inside. But a little bit of winter can’t keep us Outpost Village folk indoors forever!
A few weeks ago, we came together at ‘Z’ Frank Apachi to bring a bit of the Outpost spirit to Chicago. It was one of the first weekends where it really felt like winter, but Outpost newbies and veterans alike bundled up and showed up for some Outpost-style fun in the cold.
We kept it true to the Outpost vibe and did some open fire cooking and nature-oriented art. First, we gathered around the fire and got to know our new friends. Then we split into groups and mixed together all the ingredients to make a lovely bread dough.
Since the dough needed time to rise before it would be ready to cook, we left it alone and began building little birdhouses out of cedar planks to help our animal friends keep warm through the winter. The campers gathered natural materials to decorate their birdhouses and give each one their own personal touch.
As the glue dried, we returned to our dough, now ready to bake. You might be wondering “how does one make bread outside in the cold?!” Well, I’ll tell you! When we were gathering our birdhouse decorations, we also found some big sticks. We cut the dough into small pieces, rolled them into tubes, and wrapped them tightly around the end of our sticks. Then we roasted them over the fire! Slowly but surely our stick breads turned golden brown, and we ate ‘em up with jam, marshmallow fluff, and all sorts of delicious toppings!
With our bellies full we bid farewell to our friends both new and old, and we each took home a unique birdhouse and a recipe for a new way to bake bread!
We’ll have more events like these in the New Year so stay tuned. And if you consider yourself Outpost folk, or know someone who might, save the date: January 18th at 7PM for an online info session about The Outpost Village at Camp Chi. Register Here.