When I got to the store this morning, I decided to check and see how "smokey" it might get by lighting the charcoal on our propane burner, using my charcoal lighter basket. I'm sure glad I did! I tried and tried, and couldn't get the flame high enough on the burner to even get the charcoal started!
YIKES! I MUST be low on propane . . . that HAD to be the reason! Well, that was NOT the reason. I discovered that I had turned on the propane on the tank too fast, which caused some sort of "low flow" thing to activate as a safety feature and that's why I couldn't get the burner on high enough to light the coals. I turned the tank off and turned it on SLOWLY, and Wahoo! It worked just great! In fact, it worked SO great that half our store got a tad smokey and the fumes permeated through the mall from the charcoal. OK, so that was NOT good! In case you're wondering, when I'm cooking in my Dutch ovens on my propane burner, I use our charcoal lighter basket to get my coals going for the heat on top. Instead of putting newspaper underneath the lighter basket, I put it on a burner and turn it on. That way, you don't get those newspaper ashes flying around. It works GREAT and your charcoal is good to go in a matter of minutes, without the need for lighter fluid.
So we have a slight problem!
I got some fans from our neighbors at Dollar General next door (thanks, Jackie!), and opened the back door (it was a balmy 19 outside at the time!) and got the fans going to blow the smoke and odor out. Unfortunately, the odor managed to permeate most of the mall we're located in. To help get rid of the odor, I made a batch of popcorn . . . which really got rid of any odors all the way up and down the mall. 
We had taken every precaution imaginable, including having a fire extinguisher close-by. We got the OK from the mall owner (our landlord) and had the fire chief come into the store and check on everything we were going to do. Everyone was absolutely OK with our plans. I was doing the bulk of my cooking on the propane burner, which is as safe as using a gas stove. The charcoal was only being used for heat on the top of the
Dutch oven, so we made sure to have all our ducks in a row before we even started.
Because of the smoke, I called Greg and told him he had to bring our little tabletop grill so he could light the charcoal outside for me so we wouldn't have that problem during our class. You know, it's not easy to get charcoal going outside when the winds are starting to blow at 25 mph and it's snowing outside! Fortunately, Greg has been known as "Greg Grill" for years and years and years, so he was able to handle his duties as my chief charcoal starter without problems!
For the record, he was NOT happy that I had encountered these problems, as that was what he was worried about all along. I, on the other hand, firmly believe that it was the fact that I had the burner on too high to light the charcoal to begin with. Fortunately, starting the coals outside and bringing them in when they were ready worked GREAT! We had NO smoke and NO odors from doing it that way and that's the way we will handle things from now on when we have classes inside at the store. We had five folks at the class today, which was pretty good, considering that the outside temps were dropping like crazy throughout the day, from about 22 when I went to the store (and no wind chill) to about 15 (and well below zero wind chills) when the class started and that there wasn't a lot of advertising for the classes. Most folks called because they saw the ads that I had put in the local paper for them, so I'll be sure to continue doing that.
In the class, we went over basic Dutch oven care, from seasoning to handling rust, to everyday use and cleaning. Of course, we did some cooking, too! I made a Mountain Man breakfast, which is great, because it really shows the versatility of the Dutch oven as you start frying, and end up baking. I also made a VERY difficult Apple Crisp.
Of course, everyone got to munch on everything I cooked, as well. The class size was perfect, as they could interrupt and ask questions, and could get up and look into the oven to see how things were cooking and how it looked. I was really pleased, once I settled down a bit and was able to talk without being so nervous. My "students" were quite pleased (at least that's what they told me!). Obviously, I hadn't done a dry run of everything, as I wasn't sure how it would go with questions and all, but we had the class scheduled for two hours, and we finished about 10 minutes early, so the timing went quite well!
Abby was my "gofer" today and provided a bit of comic relief as well, when she broke into the discussion. Everyone enjoyed her comments and she event received a $1.00 "tip" from one of the participants as a thank you for helping out and serving the food, etc. She was in heaven and can't wait until the next class! I think I have an apprentice!
So, all in all, I'm quite pleased! I'm also VERY happy that the very FIRST class is done and over with! I'm certainly no Emeril or Rachel Ray, but you know, everyone has to start somewhere!
As to other news . . . there's not much. Erica is still sick. She still has a slight fever and stayed on the couch all day. Aaron was supposed to work from 8-4 today and he left County Market at about 2 because now HE'S sick with whatever Erica has. Not surprising. Greg is working 4-midnight, and of course, he's getting sick, too. That kind of goes without saying. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't get as sick as Erica, because if he does, he's going to end up in the hospital. His body just can't take that sort of illness. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one!
So, we had a GREAT day, even though it's colder than a witches "you know what" outside! I'm hoping and praying that the animals outside are able to withstand another two days of horribly cold weather and we don't lose any more. In the grand scheme of things, we're lucky. We have three wonderful children, we all have full bellies, we're healthy (relatively speaking), and we have a sturdy house to keep us warm in these frigid temps. Yes, I'm happy and grateful for all our blessings.
Hope everyone had a GREAT day!
Julie
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