Damper in the House

School holidays is a great time for us to do the things that we just don’t seem to have time to do during the term… and some special things.

The kids have been wanting to make damper for ages after hearing us talk about the way the old stockies used to, while they were out in the stock camps in the north.

There was lots of fun and laughs while we mixed the dough together, Hayden didn’t like the stickiness on his hands while Rochelle loved it.

Rochelle kept making small rolls while Hayden made huge ones! It was heaps of fun!

I was kept busy making sure the fire had enough coals in readiness for this culinary delight we were about to experience… problem was I didn’t light the fire early enough and there weren’t heaps of coals but, as we found out, enough to cook it all through.

Then as the camp oven went onto the fire, the phone rang! I raced inside to answer it, then proceeded to have a long conversation with my editor!

Hayden had had enough of this and wanted to check the damper out. His thinking stunned me – innovation at it’s best.

He found an old dog chain and clipped it onto the handle to the camp oven handle and dragged it off the fire! There was no change of burning himself and it was ready, left any longer and the precious food would’ve burnt. Well done Hayden!

We proceeded to stuff ourselves full of damper and golden syrup, a truly yummy meal!