Cooking outdoors is magical with a Stone Soup AdventureCooking outdoors brings on a spirit of adventure. And, kids love to re-enact folk tales. Come to think of it, so do some older people. A wonderful family of 13 (yes, 13!) mostly adopted kids from toddler to older teens approached their mom one day announcing they wanted to make stone soup. Period. She obliged and they had a wonderful time._______________ (For more outdoor cooking ideas, see these affiliates: Outdoor Campfire Cookbook or for very serious competition barbecuing, check out The Best Competition Barbecue Secrets) _______________ 
Though it can be done inside or out, the Stone Soup Adventure makes a particularly fun outdoor group activity with kids.1. Find an illustrated version of the Stone Soup folk tale at your library or bookstore 2. Set up and test the space for cooking outdoors 
Cooking outdoors can be simple, such as a square of bricks on top of foil on the ground, filled with bbq charcoal and topped with a recycyled, cleaned firepit grill. You can also start cooking outdoors with a camping cookstove, a firepit with a cooking grill, or your own custom outdoor kitchen. If you can buy, borrow or even rent a large black cauldron, all the better. Just use the cauldron or a large soup cooking pot of water and a pinch of salt to first test how long it will take to boil liquid in your outdoor cooking area. 3. Find the perfect stone Find a tennis-ball sized stone, the prettier the better. Scrub it with dish soap, rinse well. Then sterilize it by boiling it for 10 minutes. Make sure you have a real stone, not a broken piece of concrete that looks like a rock but can be toxic. 4. Gather the ingredients for the soup you’ll be cooking outdoors Hamburger soup, or a vegetarian alternative, is usually a surefire soup kids love to eat. Recipes vary, and you probably have several in your own cookbook. So adapt according to the number of kids involved. But basic simple ingredients are: - (Hopefully organic and grass-finished) ground beef/turkey/chicken or a ground soy substitute. - Enough organic beef or vegetarian soup broth to fill the pot two thirds full - Barley - Fresh or frozen corn kernals - Carrots - Potatoes - Celery - Fresh green beans - Dried herbs and sea salt mixed to taste (celery salt, organic herb salt substitute, dried basil, Redmonds Sea Salt, onion powder, for example. Onion powder is easier for kids to handle than chopping fresh onions.) 5. Read the story the night before and set the kids up for magic The evening before the day of outdoor cooking with the kids, read the Stone Soup story. Tell them that the next day, a magic stone will appear (you decide where and when… believe me, they will ask) and you’re going to all be making stone soup together, cooking it outside, for supper. The magic stone can suddenly appear, for example, inside a specified cupboard at 3 o’clock, or it could be found
Treasure Hunt
style). But they can’t hunt for it until allowed, or its magic may go away. 6. The stone appears... prepare the Stone Soup Once the stone has been found, set in a place of honor and put out bowls for each ingredient to be added to the soup. Supervise kids in chopping vegetables, pouring the right amount of frozen corn kernels, cooked burger, mixing spices and salts, and pouring barley into each bowl. It's tempting to do this step yourself, but they'll love the adventure and flavor even more if they take part in this step. For your contribution or an older child's, pour the desired amount of broth into a pitcher. 7. The Stone Soup procession begins One by one, start the procession: One child starts it off by setting the magic stone into the pot which already has about a quart of cold water. Then each child pours his or her contribution into the pot. You complete it by pouring in the broth.
- Add peasant dress-up clothes for the kids (second hand stores can be a treasure trove for this).  Custom Search Return from Cooking Outdoors: Stone Soup Adventure to Great Group Activities Home |
Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for one to three hours. Depending on the kids’ ages and the type of situation you have for cooking outdoors, let them help stir and otherwise be involved in the cooking at the beginning.
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