Grandpa’s Biscuits – A Family Campfire Tradition

My family went camping this past weekend, and as is our tradition we went camping with my parents.  What could be better than having a couple people along who help you set up your tent, play with your kids, and wash the dishes?  Not a whole lot!

My trip got me thinking about how food (it’s Wednesday – this is supposed to be a food post) connects with family history and tradition.  Obviously there are a ton of ways these things are related. In fact, last Christmas I shared a recipe that is connected with my own grandfather.  But this weekend, the boys enjoyed hearing about a family tradition from their own grandparents.

Apparently one day when they were camping, my dad told my mom and her parents that they needed to collect some large sticks that he was going to use for a surprise.  He wouldn’t tell them what it was, so all day they were very curious and one point my grandfather said he couldn’t wait to discover “Len’s Surprise”.  Ooooooh, the suspense. Turns out the surprise was a yummy biscuit baked over the campfire! Of course my kids loved the snack’s funny name and the story that went along with it.  If you’d like to make “Len’s Surprise” over your next campfire, here’s how.   Feel free to change the name, though…

Follow the recipe for biscuits (the kind your roll out, not the drop kind) on your favorite kind of biscuit mix.

You need to have a large wooden pole to make these the way we did.  Our poles are about 1.5 inches in diameter.  Press the biscuit dough into a thin layer around the pole.  Try to make the layer even so it will cook evening.  Roll it in cinnamon and sugar.

Cook your biscuit over the fire.  You’ll be able to tell the biscuit is cooked through when you give it a little twist and can feel it come loose from the pole.

Slide your biscuit off the pole and spread with butter and jam.  Enjoy the campfire yummy-ness!

Is there a special family recipe you’d like your parents to share with their grandchildren?  Make sure you let them know, and enjoy watching how family traditions can be passed from one generation to the next.  Or, check out Christina’s post on recreating a favorite family photo.