Label for Dutch Oven Dish – Makes a DOG Successful

As we start to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, I’m getting excited about going to Dutch Oven Gatherings (DOG) again.  We have missed seeing friends as so many DOGs were cancelled due to COVID-19.  The biggest DOG to be rescheduled due to the virus was the National Dutch Oven Gathering (NDOG). When the sad news came that the NDOG was going to be pushed back to 2021, no-one was surprised.  So now that it is just six months away, we are starting to make plans to attend the 2021 National DOG in Mineola Texas.

Texas Iron Chef is proud to be a sponsor of the NDOG and we look forward to seeing y’all there. If you are planning to go to Mineola, please let us know in the comments below. We are working on a special surprise for our subscribers who attend the NDOG so stay tuned for details.

And as we start making plans to attend DOGs, I’ve bee thinking about what makes a DOG, small or huge, successful.  These are my suggestions if you are planning to host a DOG.  This tiny detail is a good place to start:  Ingredient Label and Double Clothes Pin Holder.

Some smart outdoor cook came up with the idea for an ingredient label a while back and I know you’ll agree, it’s a smart and thoughtful way to protect those who have food allergies and also let people know who to hunt down if they loved the dish and want the recipe.  I’ve recreated this file to share with you.  You can download it to your computer or share with friends. If you are going to host a DOG, I recommend printing it out on card stock and not regular paper so that it stands up properly.  Printing it out on colorful card stock also helps to draw attention to the information.  All that’s left to do is to cut them apart with scissors or slice them with a paper cutter.

Hosts who are thoughtful to print up these labels for their DOG also have a basket of the double clothes pins that are perfect for holding the label up for easy reading and safely clip to the side of a camp Dutch oven without scratching the oven’s patina.   As shown above, it is easy to glue two clothes pins together, each facing the opposite direction so that one end clamps on the oven and the other holds the ingredient card.  Brilliant!

These are small ways to help make a DOG successful.  I’d love to hear from you if there are special ways you’ve seen a host make a DOG successful.  Share your stories in the comments below.