8th October 2018 by Claire Shadbolt
Congratulations to the two teams who entered the District Cooking Competition on Saturday 6 October.
Team North America cooked a vegetable chowder, shredded salmon in a tomato sauce on a bed of rice, and a lime cheesecake.
They narrowing missed nailing the chowder. Just needed to check the seasoning. Unfortunately the cheesecake didn’t set in time. But the judges praised the flavour.
Team Asia cooked Thai sweet potato soup, Stir fry with tofu and egg noodles, and crepes with exotic fruits.
Each of the dishes were of very good standard.
Team North America came fourth and Team Asia came second. Plus Team Asia were so close to winning best fancy dress as well. Congratulations to 6th Croydon with their Mexican team who won the competition.
30th March 2018 by Claire Shadbolt
‘Twas the weekend before Easter when seven intrepid scouts headed out for the Surrey Hills on their expedition.
Two patrols walked some of the North Downs Way and surrounding villages to reach Bentley Copse, where we camped overnight.
Both patrols thought they understood navigation. They understood how OS maps and compasses worked. But one patrol found they don’t help that much if you are just walking along, singing a song, and scorfing Skittles. Both groups went off course, and eventually they worked out where they were. They got to the checkpoint, and later to the campsite a bit behind their predicted time.
They cooked their evening meal and breakfast over triangias – meth burners. Perhaps their evening meal could have done with a little more thought to make it a feast, rather than something to fill their bellies. Anyone fancy egg noddles, hot dogs and chicken cup-a-soup that has been on the boil for 30 minutes? There was flapjacks and hot chocolate as well. For breakfast they had porridge with Cadburys Flake and/or golden syrup followed by bacon and sausages. They did go to sleep and start in the morning having had enough to eat.
It did feel like a constant found of washing up. They were quite good at team work and making sure that everyone pulled their weight.
Over night they slept in small hike tents in twos and a one. The weather was kind, with very little rain and dropping to around 2ºC. That was very mild compared to the week before when it was snowing! The Scouts slept well with most falling asleep around 10:00 and the last talking quietly until 11:30. Just as well it was an early night as the clocks went forward and we lost an hour’s sleep.
Day two and they left the campsite only an hour late. That washing up seems to grow! One patrol stayed almost exactly on route and made good time through out the day. We did wonder why the second patrol was going at 0mph, until they let slip they had found a playground. Their navigation was much improved overnight and they more or less stayed on route – well the route they chose which went past the playground.
Both patrols finished the hike in reasonable time. The journey home in the minibus was very quiet. Most of them caught up on a bit more sleep.
Special congratulations to Hemlock patrol who hiked both days, more or less on route, correcting their own mistakes and not needing any additional help. Foxglove patrol also did well, although they need need a lift (or three) to get them back onto into the time schedule. This is still an achievement.
We are looking forward on their reports and looking forward to news on their task – “To compare different environments and see what plants are in them.”
Many thanks to Claire, Bobby, Anneka and Ben for supporting the event.
22nd October 2017 by Claire Shadbolt
Three Scouts from Scafell troop and two Scouts from Snowdon troop entered the District Cooking Competition.
There were some very tasty dishes including Italian Chicken Satay, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Spaghetti alla Carbonara, Eton Mess and Budino Di Cioccolato.
Out of 13 teams, Snowdon were placed sixth and Scafell were seventh. It was very close, just one point separated them.
Well done to all the scouts. We are proud of you.
11th February 2017 by Claire Shadbolt
Congratulations to the two teams from 28th Croydon who entered the county cooking competition.
Scafell came joint third with 53 points. Snowdon came joint 11th with 50 points.
Also an apology. I sneaked in to take some photos. At that time Snowdon were being judged, so I couldn’t approached them. By the time I came back, all the food had gone!
1st June 2016 by Claire Shadbolt
What was the best thing about camp?
“Teamworking” “Food” “Activities” “Wide games”
Scafell camped at Pinewood Campsite from Friday 27 to Sunday 30 May.
The hike was challenging, not due to the terrain or length, the challenge was the geocaching. We found the first two, but the ones in Addington Hills alluded us.
We attended mass at Our Lady’s and the scouts were suitably behaved.
Then the scouts cooked a meal using the ingredients they bought earlier in the day – they all choose burgers.
Sunday saw us developing our knife skills. We whittled some boats and sailed them on the lake. Dave (owner Bobby), The Failure (Kieran) and Montana’s nameless boat seemed to sail the furthest.
Then for dinner we had roast chicken, roast potatoes and roast veg followed by steamed chocolate pudding. All cooked in Dutch ovens over an open fire.
We followed it with a huge campfire.
Monday saw us learning it takes a long time to clean a billy if they haven’t wiped it with washing up liquid before they started cooking.
10th April 2016 by Claire Shadbolt
Five scouts from 28th Croydon and dozens of over scouts from other troops simulated a survival situation Pinewood Scout Centre on 9 April 2016.
The morning we spent brushing up our skills that would help us in a survival situation. Ask one of them what way is north just by looking at a mossy tree and they will tell you. Plus they may show you their spoons that they whittled themselves.
Then they had to survive for 24 hours.
Before we knew it, the shelters were built, their fire pits were going and they were butchering a rabbit for dinner. The challenging bit was the night. It was very cold. At one stage it was minus one degrees. So some of them warmed up around the fire in the middle of the night.
In the morning the scouts had to cross a “raging river” just using a rope. They got enough over and successfully earnt their fish for lunch. They gutted and prepared the fish. Wrapped it in wet newspapers and cooked it on their fires.
The end was in site. The parents were on their way. All they had to do was signal them. So they built a smoke signal which could be seen for miles and they were rescued hurrah!
What was the best bit? Most of them said, “Fire”. Some said, “Meeting new people”.
What was the worst bit? “Someone following me around with a camera.” See if you can guess who said that from the photos below.
19th February 2016 by Claire Shadbolt
Six intrepid scouts traipsed to Hook to represent 28th Croydon scouts in Greater London South West county cooking competition.
The theme was A Meal Fit for Today and our scouts choose menus based on that.
Team A choose a start of mozzarella cheese and tomato which was beautifully presented. Followed by chicken casserole which was a challenge being prepared in a small space and on a gas burner. And for dessert they made Eton Mess.
Team B chose mackerel, halloumi and salad for a starter. It was a shame that the one piece that the judges tried had a bone in it even though the fish had bought deboned. Their main course was breaded chicken and salad in wraps. Finally for dessert they did home-made icecream. It must be the only recipe that calls for duct tape and woolly gloves.
The competition was fierce and there were lots of teams. Team A came joint fifth and Team B came 18. Well done both teams.
13th October 2014 by Webmaster
Last Thursday night saw the culmination of Scafell Troop’s cooking preparations. The troop split into groups and had an hour to prepare their dishes.
The fare was wide and varied and included wraps, customised beans, fried chicken and rice, beef burgers, tomato and vegetable soup, hot chocolate and ‘bacon pancakes’.
