Kids' Campfire-Roasted Dinner

Summer is quickly winding down. Vacations are coming to an end. The crazy shopping for school clothes and back-to-school supplies has ensued. Haircuts are a must. Soon gone will be the days where our daily wardrobe was a swimsuit and flip flops. Back to our regular bedtimes. And...I'm back to the blog.

What a great summer it has been. Not because of some fancy vacation where I was gallivanting across the globe, but because of the simple pleasures I was able to indulge in. Reading. Reading actual books instead of magazines. Cooking and baking - or not! Hitting the pool every other day. Going to the beach more than I have in the last 10 years. Visiting with friends. Vacations. And being with my kids.

Even though summer is almost gone, I still wanted to do something fun for the kids without going on a big trip. I planned a camp out in the backyard with the works. We put up a couple tents, started with a campfire-roasted dinner, played game after game of UNO, roasted marshmallows to make S'mores, and sat around the campfire laughing and talking. The kids had a blast, and so did we. I just loved that no one was on the computer, watching TV or checking their phone. I really loved just spending quality time with my family.

So, if your summer is winding down and you don't have time to go on a big camping trip, I say bring the campground to your home, make this for dinner, and let the good times roll. Happy End of Summer everyone!

Kids’ Campfire-Roasted Dinner

Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook

serves 8 campers

1 chicken (3 ½ pounds), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces (I just used chicken legs)

16 baby new potatoes, halved (and quartered)

1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled

4 carrots, peeled and cut into big chunks

2 ears of corn, shucked and each ear quartered crosswise

2 large yellow onions, quartered through the stem end

4 plum tomatoes, cored and halved lengthwise

½ cup olive oil

2 TB fresh rosemary leaves, plus 8 sprigs

4 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp black pepper

Place the chicken, potatoes, garlic, corn, onions, and tomatoes in a very large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary leaves, and season with salt and pepper. Cut 16 sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil into 14-inch lengths. Lay 2 sheets of foil on a work surface, one on top of the other, to create a double thickness. On one half of the foil, place 1 piece of chicken. Arrange 4 potato pieces, 1 garlic clove, 2 carrot chinks, 1 piece of corn, 1 onion quarter, and 1 tomato half around the chicken. Garnish with a rosemary sprig. Fold the foil over the chicken and vegetables, and then roll, crimp, and seal the edges tightly to form a packet. Repeat to make 8 packets of chicken and vegetables. Refrigerate the packets until ready to cook.

Build a campfire and allow it to burn until you have some orange coals. Pull some of the coals away from the center of the fire to create a thin, even bed. Set the packets, top-side up, on the coals and scoot some additional coals around the packets. Cook the packets, replenishing the coals as needed, for 50-70 minutes. Open 1 packet to test for doneness; the chicken juices should run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife in the thickest part and the vegetables should be tender.

To serve, open packets carefully ad enjoy.