[Philmont] One pot meals, rotating vs. permanent assignments, etc.

Bill Sheehan:
 
Spaghetti/corn is delicious. As is Chicken Rice/cheddar bacon mashed potatoes. As is (how you say?) stir fry/ramen noodles.

Terry Pogue:

I chuckle every year when I see "Ramon" noodles on PSR's food list. As for your preference in trail entrees "No accounting for some folk's tastes" or as my father says "that's why they make cars in different colors".

Calvin H. Gray:
 
Ugh! I'm glad it has been a while since I had lunch. :-)

Comments (on the above and other recent posts):

Food is yet another instance where one size does not fit all. My crews look at the hand we've been dealt by the Philmont commissary folks and decide how to play it. Sometimes it all goes into one pot (though NEVER dessert), sometimes some of it goes into one pot, sometimes we don't combine anything.

A big piece of that decision is recognizing you only have ONE BOWL. Are you going to mix the stuff together there to eat it? If so, why not cook it together?

Soups into the entrée sometimes for flavor, sometimes not if it is cooler and we want the warmth of the hot soup. Vegetables almost always in, including corn in spaghetti.

Most desserts are now no-cook – cookies, etc., so adding them into the pot for the most part is no longer an issue. But we always make and eat the cook desserts separately.

We always treat mashed potatoes as an appetizer – boil water and add it to half a package of potatoes in each bowl, just like oatmeal.

Regarding permanent vs. rotating assignments. Clearly, the crew should rotate during shakedowns to learn all the assignments - at Philmont is not the place for that. But once the youth select a Crew Leader, why not let them select which way they want to organize THEIR crew? There are pluses and minuses, pros and cons, to both methods – give them the real world opportunity to weigh the options and choose. It is NOT a health and safety issue, so the advisors should not be involved except to make sure they understand what the pros and cons are.

Regarding micro management – again, it is the youth's crew. THEY manage it completely at Philmont. Shakedowns are to prepare them for that. In many cases there are perfectly acceptable alternatives – the advisor's role is to present the alternatives, not to choose one.

And, of course, the main advisor job to work on team-building. Year after year, the feedback from our Patriots' Path advisors (16+ crews a year) to the Watchu team (www.watchu.org) that presents a Philmont orientation / training program for them is that "Hiking is a Team Sport" is the top tip they took away. Advisors are the coaches, but it is the youth who are the team on the field.

- Al Thomson
Troop 120, Seneca SC / Patriots' Path Council NJ
Treks '99, '01 & '03; AA '00, '02, '04, '06, and '08

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Received on Sat Oct 13 09:37:33 2007