Feb 2008 DOG ~ After the event

Many thanks to all those that showed up. We had around 25 to 30 people show up and it was pretty well divided between chapters. Bakin' Bill showed up from Lake Bonneville... so the directors from all three chapters in Region 3 were there. It was a good event. Three of us showed up early to cook on site. The rest were smart enough to cook in the warmth of their homes and bring their dishes. =0) But me, Ron, and Jack had a good time weathering the weather.

We had whole grain rolls, biscuits, cactus stew, caramel apple pie, brownies, roast chicken legs, elk chili, boiled peanuts, ranch beans, Mexican goulash, corned beef, chicken noodle casserole, oven chicken bake, BBQ chicken, rice, and a few other dishes. There was a lot of food!!

Pictures can be found on the chapter photo page... http://picasaweb.google.com/stormmtn/Feb2008DOG.

I am still trying to plan a DOG for next month, March. I would like to know if there is an interest in having a DOG in March and on what weekend you would prefer. I had thought of having a DOG event on Saturday, 8 Mar... the week before the World's Championship Cook-Off... to let the competing teams practice their dishes. Is there enough interest in this weekend? I know Dallin Cromer is getting married that weekend and Debbie Hair was suckered into helping cook for the reception. Should we have it on the 22nd or 29th? Does anyone want to host the event for March? If not, I am sure there is a church location or two that might be available.

Heck, maybe we can just have a DOG event at Dallin's reception? =0)

Annual Chapter Meeting Summary

Howdy all,

I feel we had a very successful and productive meeting this past Saturday. Thanks to Jack for taking pictures during the event. I'll try to recap the meeting without getting too lengthy.

First, let me get the elections out of the way. By a majority vote of those in attendance, the following members were elected to office.

Ranes Carter ~ Director
Carol Hokanson ~ Assistant Director
Debbie Hair ~ Secretary / Treasurer

I would like to thank Scott Clawson and the past officers for doing such a great job of organizing and starting the Storm Mountain Chapter. I hope we will all offer our support to Scott Clawson in his new role of IDOS Vice President. And, I want to thank Carol and Debbie for 'volunteering' for the positions for this year.

Now that the politics are out of the way, I'll detail the rest of the meeting… in no particular order.

I would like to welcome the newest chapter members, Del and Brenda Atikinson. The Atikinsons have offered their yard for a DOG event in a couple of months. And, welcome to Mark Hansen. I'm sure we will be hearing more from Mark in the near future. His passion for cooking is impressive. I've been trying to get Mark to visit with us at a DOG for months!

At some point, I mentioned that I would like to have most of the DOG events and cook-offs planned for the year. This will allow chapter members to plan accordingly… but more importantly, we can offer this information to visitors to our cook-offs and DOG events. While a visitor is showing interest in Dutch Oven cooking, we can hand them a flyer that details upcoming DOGs, demos, and cook-offs… and links to websites. These can made available at DOG events, cook-offs, the WCCO, the Spring Convention, the Camp Chef DOG, etc, etc, etc. Let's all support each other by advertising all of our events.

On the calendar page of the Storm Mountain website, I have a list of upcoming events. Here is a quick list of DOG events that are in the works:

* Feb 16 ~ with Oquirrh Mountain
* Mar ~ I wouldn't mind having a DOG a week before World's (8 Mar) to give teams a chance to practice. I would really like to hear from everyone if they like this idea. Otherwise we could have a DOG on 22 or 29 Mar.
* Apr ~ The Atkinsons joined our chapter on Saturday. They have offered their home for the April DOG. The 26th might be the better date with hopes of warm weather.
* May ~ Pretty much wide open right now. I welcome any suggestions. Might be a good time for a breakfast DOG or a camping trip?
* June ~ 21 June in Lehi, a week before the Lehi cook-off
* July ~ Sort of wide open, but there will be cook-offs and holidays to plan around.
* Aug ~ August is packed with cook-offs. We might skip this month.
* Sep ~ Annual FEKA DOG… combined event with geocachers.
* Oct ~ Currently wide open
* Nov ~ Last Chance Chapter cook-off and DOG to nominate a team for the 2009 WCCO.
* Dec ~ Only if enough people will voice an interest

As you can see, the year is pretty much booked with DOG events. I would really appreciate someone planning an event for March, May, July, and October. Maybe the Atikinsons might be willing to switch April another month if needed? I wouldn't mind a month or two with two events if needed (like community events, etc). I would really like a camping DOG at some point. If we use a campground that is near, we could have a night event and those that can't stay could go home. And we could have a breakfast event the next morning? Just ideas...

While discussing DOG events, I mentioned the fact that Storm Mountain doesn't charge a fee to be a member, but you should be active with IDOS. Because we don't charge a fee, we have to rely on other ways of making money. I suggested a 'kitty jar' to be available at DOG events for those that would like to donate during the events. In the past, we have sold cook-books, spices, and dutch oven related items during events. And, we had raffles during our DOGs. We made $80 for the chapter this Saturday. Thanks to Scott and Jack for donating a keg roaster, a 14 inch DO, and 5 DO lids. Congrats to the winners. Donations for raffles are always welcome.

I also suggested that we should have a cooking fund raiser or two. One suggestion in the past was to have a offer a Thanksgiving Dinner. An additional option is to have demos during the day that details the preparation of a Thanksgiving meal… to be concluded by having the meal. One idea is to have a set price per person to sit through any of the demos they would like, then have dinner. As an example, someone could demo making a scratch bread. While that rises, someone could demo a turkey in an UTR. This could be followed by a dessert demo, or finishing the scratch bread, etc. Once all the demo'd foods are done, we serve the food to the 'students'. Of course, there are other options. If anyone is motivated to take on this task, I would really appreciate it. I have yet to do a demo and would prefer one of you pros to take this one.

At some point, we discussed upcoming cook-offs. I mentioned that hosting a cook-off can be a little stressful. I suggested that chapter members that aren't into competing could offer their support by helping with the cook-offs. I can think of eight to ten cook-offs that are held by members of Storm Mountain. And, I am sure there are other cook-offs that might not mind a helping hand. I think it would be great to have chapter members doing demos during a cook-off… or having members help set up and break down… or having members operate an information and/or merchandise booth. This will promote our chapter, which will promote IDOS, and help raise funds for the chapter. And, it will help our chapter members get to know each other better. I know everyone can't help all the time, but if most could help with just one event, it would really help those in charge of the events.

For those hosting cook-offs (Debbie, Todd, Bill, Scott, Thayns), I would really appreciate updated information as soon as you have it. I really want to keep my information current and correct. And for any of you that do demos, let me know so I can get it posted and advertised on the calendar.

Another subject was supporting IDOS and Region 4. I think it would be awesome to have chapter members at the World Championship Cook-Off in March in different positions. In the past, they have needed people to help with starting charcoal and with being cook's aids for the competing teams. I am planning on being there all four days as a cook's aid. I think we could help sell the cook-books or help with staffing the break room or help in an information booth or any other things that need to be done.

The same thing goes for the Spring Convention. It would be great if we could help with demos, or The Taste of Dutch, or the Youth Cook-Off, or crowd control, or an information booth, or anything that needs to be done. For those that have items for sale, you could be a vendor for the event.

Another possibility is supporting the Camp Chef DOG this June! They might be in need of volunteers.

It would be nice to be able to tell IDOS we have members that are willing to do what needs to be done to help support these events.

This lead into another topic of support. Debbie Hair cooked for the Ronald McDonald house a few weeks ago. I thought this was awesome and I applaud her for making this effort! I suggested we get involved with more community projects. It would be nice to offer food to a street cleaning crew (like at a Cache In Trash Out geocaching event), or maybe for community building projects, or for a family center, or any other areas that would appreciate our efforts. I know there were Dutch Oven cooks that fed the rescue crews in Price last year, as an example.

Finally, I talked about a new idea for the chapter. Right now, we have a chapter website, a chapter photo page, and a blog site (that is nothing more than my bulk emails). This last week, in the Yahoo group, there was a discussion on Cee Dub's newest episode of cooking a prime rib in Rock Salt. There have been a few people detail this process in both forums… especially Dave from California… but it was nice to see a video of how simple the process is. So… long story short… I created a Storm Mountain account on YouTube. I did a quick search of Dutch Oven videos and added those as favorites for now. I even found an interview with Wil Ward and Jan Smith from the 2008 WCCO. You can see Jack Wallace walking around in the background.

My goal is to video chapter members doing random tasks and posting those to YouTube. These videos will be edited to be five to eight minutes long. Some ideas for videos are how to season a Dutch Oven (it's talked about, but a video would be nice), how to save a rusted Dutch Oven (Jack?), how to store your Dutch Ovens, how to make a Prime Rib in rock salt, how to make bread or braid bread, how to make a turkey in an UTR (Bill?), how to make other things in an UTR, how to start and maintain coals, the use of a windscreen and dutch oven tables… and on, and on, and on. It would be really nice to have chapter members that are good at a particular dish to demo that dish for these videos. And it would be very nice to have many different members offer these demos. There are many people out there that are scared to try a Dutch Oven because they don't understand just how easy it can be. Maybe one person could do the cooking while another talks for the camera? Offering a recipe is one thing… offering a video that details the process is so much better. Another idea is to take digital images during the process to post with recipes. A step by step guide with pictures. Ideas for videos are welcome, volunteers to demo for the video are much appreciated.

There were other conversations during the meeting, but that is a pretty good summary of the chapter related events. For those that didn't make it, I sure would appreciate any input about any of the topics that you would like to share.

On that note, I would like to mention the IDOS forums. For those that haven't visited in a while, there are a couple of new forums… the Recipe Forum and the Regions Forum. The Recipe Forums have different topics to make posting and finding recipes easier. The Regions Forum has the Regions broken down. Under the Regions Forum is a Region 4 topic. Feel free to use this area to openly discuss chapter related events.

I really hope that many of you can make it to the combined event in February. I think it will be really great to get to know our neighboring chapter better. I hope to do more combined events in the future.

To the IDOS officials reading this, please consider this the minutes from our annual meeting.

To all those that read this far... thanks! I have to be honest and let you know that I spent longer on this email than the meeting itself!

Many thanks,

Ranes
=0)

Storm Mountain Chapter updates ~ 23 Jan 2008

Howdy All,

It's been slow these last couple of months... but I think it's going to be a busy year. I think it will be a great one!

Items covered in this email:

* Calendars and Planning
* January DOG ~ 26 June
* February Events
~ Storm Mountain / Oquirrh Mountain Chapter DOG
~ Snake Black Pot Chapter DOG
* March Events
~ DOS WCCO
~ March DOG
* April Events
~ April DOG
~ IDOS Spring Convention
~ Geocaching / Dutch Oven / Camping event in Idaho
* The rest of the year

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* Calendars and Planning

In an effort to plan events, I am continuing my quest to maintain a calendar of Dutch Oven events in our area. Actually, I am maintaining multiple calendars. I have an IDOS Cook-Off and DOG events calendar posted on the IDOS forums under the Region section... and I have a local calendar posted on the Storm Mountain Chapter website on the Calendar page, and I have the same calendar posted on the forums under Region 4 of the Regions section.

And... I have a table located on the bottom of the DOG page on the Storm Mountain chapter site. This table shows events that are planned, being organized, or dates that are open for suggestions. Please, take a moment to look at that table to see if you are willing to host a DOG event on any of the open months.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* January DOG

Our January DOG is this Saturday, 26 January. We are having the DOG event at the Golden Corral in West Jordan (8860 South Redwood Road) from 1pm to 3pm.

During this event, we will have our annual meeting to elect this years officers, discuss the chapter website, discuss upcoming DOG events and cook-offs, and discuss the direction and growth of the chapter.

Scott has done a wonderful job as chapter director over the last couple of years. This year, he will be Vice President of IDOS. I would like to run for Chapter Director. We need as Assistant Director and a Treasurer / Secretary. There are other options for those interested, but we need at least a Director, Assistant Director, and Treasurer / Secretary. Of course, we could always use volunteers to help with events, etc. We will discuss this at the meeting this weekend.

Scott is donating a Keg Roaster to be raffled, and Terry has said he will make a rolling pin for the raffle!! Many thanks to Scott and Terry for donating these items. Any other donated items would be greatly appreciated.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* February Events

~ Storm Mountain / Oquirrh Mountain Chapter DOG

For our February DOG, we will be joining the Oquirrh Mountain Chapter at their location in Salt Lake City. The Oquirrh Mountain Chapter meets the third Thursday of every month, except December and January. During warmer months, the cook and eat in the pavilion of a church parking lot. During colder months, they meet inside the church. The church is located at 5025 West 4865 South in Salt Lake City.

Dinner is served at 6:00pm. For those that want to cook on site, a few of us should be there around 3:00pm.

I am hoping the Lake Bonneville Chapter will be able to join us.

I hope to do more combined events with all three chapters in Region 4 on a regular basis.


~ Snake Black Pot Chapter DOG

The Snake Black Pot Chapter will be having a DOG event on 23 February in Burley, Idaho. Dian and Omar are having this DOG event to allow some WCCO teams the chance to practice their dishes before the big competition in March. I don't have an exact location or times just yet, but I'm betting I'll get them soon.

If any of you are interested, we should try to car pool. We can discuss this at the meeting this weekend.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* March Events

~IDOS WCCO

The IDOS World Championship Cook-Off will be held at the International Sportsmans Expo in Salt Lake City from 13 March to 15 March... with an Iron Chef Challenge for professional chefs to be held on Sunday, 16 March.

There are many Storm Mountain Chapter members cooking at the WCCO, and I would really like have other members help during the event. I have volunteered to be a cooks aid for all four days. Being a cooks aid is a great way to meet others and learn some tips and tricks.

~ March DOG

Following the example of the Snake Black Pot Chapter, I think it would be a great idea to have a DOG event the weekend before the WCCO for those that are competing will have a chance to practice some (or all) of their dishes. I would like to have a DOG event on 8 March.. but I don't have a location, yet. Any suggestions?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* April Events

~ April DOG

I would like to have the April DOG on 5 April. Does anyone want to host the event for this month? Is this a good month for Tabby Mountain?

~ IDOS Spring Convention

This year, the IDOS Spring Convention will be on 19 April. These events are being held in Region 4 and I really think it would be great if some chapter members would be willing to help support the event by volunteering. There is a youth cook-off, a Taste of Dutch, demos, etc. Even if you don't want to cook, I bet there are other areas where volunteers would be appreciated. For any attending, it might be nice to wear a chapter shirt to show support for the chapter.

~ Geocaching / Dutch Oven / Camping event in Idaho

Wow... April is a busy month... and the upcoming months after April will be even busier! Team Dutch Oven Delights from Idaho and the Snake Black Pots Chapter will be having a Dutch Oven Gathering / Geocaching / Camping event in Boise Idaho. There were a few geocachers from Idaho that attended one of our combined events last fall, and they thought it was a good enough idea to hold their own.

I'll get more information about the event and maybe some of us could carpool to Boise for the event.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* The rest of the year

Here is some information I have about upcoming events in our area for the rest of the year. These events can be found on the Calendar page on the Storm Mountain Chapter website, and under the Regions 4 topic of the Regions section on the IDOS forums. Feel free to look at these calendars when planning any of your events. If you have any updates or see anything missing, please let me know so I can get them posted.

So far, I have heard of the following upcoming events for our area.

May ~ Wide open for DOGs... anyone interested in hosting this month? I have no information about local cook-offs yet.

7 June ~ Camp Chef DOG !!! This is an awesome event and there are some great deals to be had.
14 June ~ City Weekly Cook-Off
21 June ~ Probably a DOG event in Lehi, UT
28 June ~ Lehi Rodeo Cook-off... any volunteers are appreciated

4 July ~ 4th of July Cook-Off, Debbie Hair
July ~ Need a date and place for a DOG... anyone interested?

Aug ~ No DOG events planned, will be LOTS of cook-offs

Sept ~ Annual FEKA DOG, date and time not known

Oct ~ No DOG events planned, yet. Anyone interested in hosting this month?

Nov ~ Last Chance Chapter Cook-Off / DOG, date and time not known.

That's about it. July and August will fill up very quickly with county fairs and local cook-offs. It will be another busy year, I'm sure! I'll add the information to the calendars as I get them.

If you have any updates on these events, please let me know.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks for taking the time to read all this,

Ranes

January DOG and annual meeting

Howdy one and all,

Our January DOG event has been planned... meaning we finally figured out which Golden Corral to have the event. We're still working on the itinerary. Thanks to Scott for making the phone calls.

Date:
Saturday, 26 January 2008

Time:
1pm to 3pm

Location:
Golden Corral
8860 South Redwood Road
West Jordan, UT 84088

Prices:
Adults $9.49
Children ages 9 thru 12 ~ $4.99
Children ages 4 thru 8 ~ $3.69
Children 3 and under free

We chose a buffet for this "DOG" event for a couple of different reasons. One, it's cold out there. Two, some of us would really like the chance to socialize without worrying about burning dinner. And third, we needed an indoor location for our annual meeting.

We would like everyone to show up by 1:00 so we can all pig out for a while. Then, after most folks are about ready to pop, we will have our annual chapter meeting. Getting thirds and fourths on dessert is fine.

Our main purpose for this annual meeting is to vote for the 2008 Chapter Officers. At a minimum, a chapter has to have a Director, an Assistant Director, and a Treasurer/Secretary. We could have a membership clerk, or a merchandise clerk, or a chapter photographer. If anyone is interested in any of these positions, please let me know before the event. If you would like to nominate someone, please contact me. We will vote by show of hands at the event.

During our meeting, I would like to discuss our current membership and members. According to my records, there are 6 members that are past due with their IDOS fees, and there are 12 members that will expire in March 2008. The Storm Mountain Chapter no longer charges a fee to be a chapter member, but you should be an IDOS member in good standing. Feel free to contact me if you need help renewing your membership.

I am hoping that this will be an active year for our chapter. During our January meeting, I would like to discuss upcoming Dutch Oven Gatherings and Cook-Offs. I would like to get the year outlined (if at all possible) to avoid conflicts with other Cook-Offs and DOG events. And, I would like to discuss some chapter fund raisers, charity events, and demos for the upcoming year. I would really like to see chapter members support each other with our Cook-Offs and DOG events. We could help each other setup, break down, offer support to the teams, finding sponsors and prizes, etc, etc. I have already started planning the Lehi Rodeo Cook-Off for 28 June!!

While we are at it, I would like to discuss the chapter website, the chapter photo pages, and the chapter BLOG site (which is really just a collection of the bulk emails that are sent to the chapter). If you have any concerns, questions, comments, etc... let's talk about it during the meeting.

And, during the meeting, we will raffle off a few items. I'm not sure if this will be a fund raiser for the chapter or not. If anyone has any items they would like to donate towards the raffle, please contact me. Scott Clawson has already offered an item.

The 2008 IDOS WCCO is coming up in March and the IDOS Spring Convention is coming up in April. I would really like to see our chapter support these two events and show our support to IDOS. We could all wear our chapter shirts! =0)

I'm sure there will be some other items to discuss during the meeting... as well as a lot of tall tales and just getting to know each other better. I hope everyone can make it.

See you then,

Ranes

Howdy one and all,

In this email, I will discuss:

Ronald McDonald House
Chapter Elections
Upcoming Chapter Events
The Chapter Online
IDOS Memberships and Chapter Dues

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ronald McDonald House

Debbie Hair is volunteering her time this New Year's Eve (Monday, 31 Dec) to serve dinner to about 40 people at the Ronald McDonald House in Salt Lake City. I'm hoping some of the chapter will be able to help. Dinner is to be served at 6:00... allowing plenty of time for those that want to celebrate later.

Debbie Hair and Cindy Ayres are making the main dish... Mondo Meat Balls. They need people to help cook and / or donate food for the rest of the meal. They need desserts, dinner rolls, green salads, drinks, etc. Debbie hopes that at least the main dish and desserts will be made on site.

If anyone is interested in helping or donating, contact Debbie at debDhair@yahoo.com. Or you can call her at 484-6966 (home) or 585-3296 (work with voice mail).

Debbie has signed up for this event under the name of Storm Mountain... making this a chapter event.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chapter Elections

My first DOG event was at Falcon Park with Storm Mountain in the fall of 2006. My second DOG event was Feb 2007 where Scott asked if I would be the chapter assistant director. I think we may have had somewhere between 10 and 20 families with the chapter at the time. My current chapter list has 52 names!! I'd say it was a great year for the chapter!

It's time for the chapter to elect their officers for 2008. I'm not really sure how to go about the whole process, but I would like to have an event in January or February where the chapter can voice their opinions, concerns, complaints, etc... make any suggestions to help improve the chapter... and vote on next year's officers. I have thought about having this event at a restaurant so we can all socialize instead of stressing over cooking and cleaning. Otherwise, the event will probably be at a church where we can cook outside and eat inside. I'm open to suggestions.

If anyone has any interest in running for office, or wants to help the chapter in any way, please contact me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Upcoming Chapter events

So far, I don't have many firm dates for events next year, but there are already a lot of events being discussed and planned. On the bottom of the Chapter DOG events main page, I have a table that lists the months and the chapter activities that are being discussed and planned. I am listing these events so we can plan around cook-offs and other Dutch Oven events. If you would like to host, or help plan a DOG event, Demos, or cook-offs, feel free to contact me. We are in need of some locations for the upcoming months.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Chapter online

As most of you are aware (like I give anyone the chance to forget), I think communication is very important. Because of this, I try to keep the Storm Mountain Chapter website up to date. On this website, I keep a list of the past DOG events and past Cook-Offs. I try to maintain a calendar of ANY Dutch Oven Event for Utah (and a few from Idaho). And, I have a web photo album that contains pictures from our events. One or two of you know about the Chapter Blog site that I created a month or so ago. Okay... only one person has really hit the blog site (thanks Ted). The blog site will be where I post these chapter emails... so those that aren't on the chapter list can get the same information and so new members can see what we have been doing. It's not a site that needs to be visited on regular occasions, but it can be a site that you can offer your friends that are interested in what we are doing... or instead of fowarding these emails, you can just offer a link to the blog site.

This past week, I was granted access to update our Chapter page on the IDOS site . I spent a little time today playing around with the page... maybe a little too much time... but I think it looks pretty good. Earlier this year, Clyde was nice enough to point the links on the IDOS page to our chapter website. I think it's better to maintain consistency within the IDOS site and changed those links to point back to the IDOS chapter page. Of course, I've loaded that page with links to our website! =0)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
IDOS Memberships and Chapter Dues

Of the 52 names I have on the chapter list, there are six or seven families that have lapsed with IDOS, or never signed up. I only bring this up in case a few of you may have forgotten. If you think your membership maybe have lapsed, feel free to contact me and I'll help you renew. You have to be an active IDOS member to be eligible to vote for chapter officers.

As most of you know, the Storm Mountain Chapter doesn't charge a fee or have dues anymore... though you are supposed to be current with IDOS. Because we no longer charge fees, we have been relying on selling items at our chapter events to support the chapter. Next year, I would like to keep a few standard Dutch Oven items to offer to the chapter and to the public that visits our events (Dutch Ovens, Cook-Books, Trivets, etc). And, I am thinking of offering a 'kitty jar' at our DOG events for donations... unless there are any objections.

A few people have mentioned having a fund raising event for the chapter... like possibly a Thanksgiving event were the chapter members will demo the menu items for a Thanksgiving meal... then offer the food as a complete meal. I think this would be a great opportunity for some of us novices to do our first Demo with some pros behind us to help us out. And, it would be a great social event for the chapter. If anyone is interested in helping... or planning... such an event, please contact me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many thanks,

Ranes

Chapter Cook-Off and DOG event ~ 17 November

Wow... where do I begin? Do I start with how beautiful today was? Do I detail how great the cook-off was today? Do I talk about the wonderful DOG event after the cook-off?

To start with... many thanks to Debbie Hair for finding the location for today's event. The Pioneer Craft house is central to most chapter members. Including Omar and Dian from Idaho... and Terry Lewis from Tabiona, UT... AND, there was a truck driver that read about our event online and drove over a thousand miles just to hang out with us today. That's dedication.

The sun was shining for most of the day. The temperature was great for a November day. There was little to no wind. There were one or two teams concerned about their dough rising, but I thought every one's bread was great. It was a great day for a cook-off.

We had six teams show up for today's Chapter cook-off. Five of the six teams competed at the Lehi Rodeo Cook-Off back in June. Each of the teams did a great job on their dishes and I am sure the judges had a hard time judging. I had three judges for the desserts, three for the breads, and three for the main dishes. Jack Wallace was our field judge, and there were three different 'cutters' to assist the judges. I have to admit that I feel this was a well organized cook-off and I think all the teams enjoyed it. At least I hope they all enjoyed it.

The prizes for the event were a 14" Hard Anodized Aluminum Dutch Oven from GSI (Thanks GSI), a Camp Chef grill box (Thanks Terry), two dinners for two from Rodizio (Thanks Eduardo!), and two $50 gift certificates from Sportsmans Warehouse (Thanks Jon). I really do appreciate the generosity of all our sponsors. (And I'll be hitting all of them up in the next couple of months for more prizes for the Lehi Rodeo Cook-Off next June!)

Right after the judges were done, I invited all the teams and chapter members to taste all of the presented dishes. I think it really helps a team to taste the dishes presented by other competing teams... and I like having the chapter members get this same chance by tasting the dishes after the judges and teams were done.

After the judges were done with the main dishes, I asked all the chapter members that cooked for the DOG event to place their dishes on the same table as the presented main dishes. All the teams and all the chapter members... as well as a few guests from the Pioneer House... got the chance to taste the six amazing main dishes and some very good dishes made by the other chapter members. I have to admit that I sort of expected the teams to be tired and want to take off after cooking. I was very pleased to see all the teams and all the chapter members sitting around, chatting, and enjoying the food. This has to be the best attended DOG event this year. I really think that everyone enjoyed the afternoon.

Congrats to Debbie and Mindy Hair for winning first place and qualifying for the 2008 WCCO.

Congrats to Damon Faust and Cyd Horne for winning second place... and being nominated to represent the Storm Mountain Chapter for the 2008 WCCO.

Tim and Amanda Watt came in third place.

Ted and Dallin Cromer came in fourth place.

Erik and Kris Hansen came in fifth.

Mary Allen and Julie Dwire came in sixth.

Of course I am going to include some links!!!

I have added pictures to the Teams on the chapter website...
http://stormmtn.phpnet.us/cook_offs/Chapter_07/index.htm#teams

I have the recipes from the cook-off online as a PDF file...
http://stormmtn.phpnet.us/cook_offs/Chapter_07/files/Recipe_Book.pdf

I have pictures on the chapter website... and I will probably be adding pictures over the next few days...
http://picasaweb.google.com/stormmtn/2007StormMountainChapterCookOffDOGEvent

Many thanks to all the teams, all the judges, and all the people that brought food for the DOG. Thanks to all the chapter members and friends that showed up to help us enjoy such a wonder November day!

At the event, we signed up THREE new members to IDOS, and a chapter member renewed his membership with IDOS. I have the Storm Mountain / IDOS sign up and renewal from on the last page of the cook-off cookbook... so we might have a few more people joining up soon. I'd say it was a great day for IDOS as well!

Chapter Updates ~ 5 November 2007

Howdy one and all,

First... I'd like to welcome all the new members to Storm Mountain. There are a few names I've added to the list that were in the IDOS database as Storm Mountain Chapter members that I just now found out about. And, we have had a few more people sign up recently. All of the chapter members are listed on the Contacts page of the Storm Mountain Chapter website: http://stormmtn.phpnet.us/contacts.htm

On the bottom of the Contacts Page, I have added a Google map that has icons of chapter members and their locations. None of these icons point to the actual home address of any members but they are near the city location for that member. The exception is for Trikke SLC. The pin does point to their location because it is a business. Chapter members icons are green, chapter cook-off icons are yellow.

And, there are a few members with IDOS membership renewals coming up... and a few (7) that have exipred IDOS memberships. You can pay me at the next event, send me a check payable to IDOS, or I have a paypal account set up for the chapter. Or, if you send your payments directly to IDOS, let me know so I can update our records.

I guess with all that said, I should include that if you don't want to be a member of Storm Mountain, let me know and I'll remove your name from the mailing list. But who wouldn't want to belong to such an awesome chapter??

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Next... The Storm Mountain Chapter Cook-Off / DOG event is only 12 days away. This is a chapter only cook-off to qualify a team and nominate a team for next year's WCCO. Because of this, all teams need to be members of the chapter and currently active with IDOS. IDOS rules will apply. Contact me with any questions before the event.

I don't really need recipes until the week of the event... let's say Wednesday, 14 November. Feel free to send them any time you'd like, but they aren't required until that Wednesday. I will print these to hand out to others. For those cooking for the DOG event, I can include your recipes if you want.

The entry fee for this cook-off is $10, payable the morning of the event. What isn't used to cover costs of the cook-off will be given to the chapter.

I have a few prizes, but I'm not contacting too many people for gift items for this event. I want to save my begging for the Lehi cook-off next year. If anyone wants to donate items for prizes, I'll gladly accept them. Thanks to Terry for donating an item already. Instead of saying "this item is for first place, this item is for second"... I'm going to let the first place team pick and item, then the second place team pick an item, etc until we run out. This might blow up in my face, but I'll try it for this event.

Here is the webpage that details this event... http://stormmtn.phpnet.us/cook_offs/Chapter_07/index.htm

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As of right now, the chapter cook-off / DOG event is the last planned event until next year. I didn't think anyone would be that interested in doing a DOG event in December, but if anyone wants to plan one, I'll promote it.

A few of you have contacted me with ideas for DOG events for next year. I wouldn't mind getting these events planned and scheduled. I would really like to be able to announce an upcoming DOG event at all of our cook-offs and DOG events. And, I think it would be cool to have a couple of themed DOG events... Mexican, Asian, chili, etc.

Kent Mayberry has mentioned doing a breakfast DOG. I think this is an awesome idea. Maybe a camping DOG the night before? Those that don't want to camp can show up for breakfast? Possibly in the early spring? Awesome idea.

Terry Lewis has mentioned we can have a DOG event on his family's property in Tabiona, UT. It would be nice to step away from the cities and head east for an event.

I am going to contact someone from Oquirrh Mountain and see if we can join them for one of their monthly DOG events. I like combining these DOG events and getting to know our neighbors.

There is the Camp Chef DOG event... usually in June I think. And, I will have a DOG in Lehi a week or two before the Lehi Rodeo Round Up Cook-Off. The Cook-Off will be on 28 June.

Shawn Conlin will put on his annual FEKA DOG event later in the fall.

Kent has mentioned doing a Thanksgiving DOG event next year. The idea is to have chapter members do a demo for the different dishes for Thanksgiving... and offer a dinner to help raise money for the chapter. A few can demo desserts, a few can demo potatoes, side dishes, breads, etc, and a few can demo cooking a Dutch Oven Turkey. If we are good with our scheduling, all these dishes will be done by a specific time and the general public will be able to purchase these Thanksgiving meals. What a great way to promote Dutch Oven cooking, teaching the public our tips and tricks, and raising money for the chapter at the same time. Great idea! I know Colleen Sloan does a Turkey Demo every year on National Turkey Day at the General Army Navy Store in SLC... maybe we can join up with them?

If anyone knows of any indoor locations for the upcoming winter months, I'd be interested in hearing about them!

I'm not sure if the annual Klondike is in the works for next January, but it might be nice to support it.

So... We already have many DOG events in the works. If anyone wants to host a DOG event, or has any suggestions for locations, feel free to contact me so we can start planning these things!

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If you have or know of ANY cook-offs, Demos, DO Classes, or DOG events scheduled for next year, PLEASE let me know so we can start getting them posted, published, advertised, promoted, etc. I would very much like to see the chapter support more Demos next year. I know that Kristen is working on getting a list of all the upcoming cook-offs for 2008. I would like to help her in any way I can.

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If you've read this far down... thanks!