Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Thursday April 10th, 2025.
Have your host James Jamel off here at 430 today.
We're going to welcome in our good friend Laura Huber for each program
educator with UW-Madison Extension Wood County.
Right now we have in studio some great friends of ours.
We're going to talk history right now in historic point boss.
We've got Tom Bremmer in us.
Tom, always good to see you.
Thank you.
And we have Larry Knudsen with us.
Larry, good to have you here.
Good morning on this typical Wisconsin weather.
Yes, it really is.
Here's hoping for good weather for Pioneer for the Pioneer days.
Pioneer Fest and Civil War days that we're going to get to a little bit later.
But we're here to start off talking about the Campfire Cooking Workshop.
I love this event that you guys do.
You guys know I'm a sucker for history in general.
But the idea of bringing back previous techniques or recipes.
We're seeing more and more of that, especially with the younger generations where you can go on
any social media app and they're bringing up a recipe from the 1800s or something.
And I really think it's kind of cool to see this love going on for not only old cooking,
but old techniques and old technology.
We're seeing more and more of this.
You guys were ahead of the curve on this stuff.
Been doing this for a long time.
Well, and now the other generations started to pick up out of the world.
We got into it because people would we would cook out there as part of a demonstration.
And we also have to eat lunch.
So what the heck.
And they, well, how do you do this or that?
And that's kind of how we came up with this idea.
We used to call it Pioneer Cooking.
But we've kind of expanded it a little more now into Campfire Cooking because a lot of families
camp and like to do that stuff, but they don't necessarily want to be
historically accurate.
Sure.
You know, but so we kind of blend the two together.
We do some really primitive stuff and some Dutch oven stuff.
And then we do some more or less modern camping type stuff that you would do as a family.
There's certain things that, you know, we've talked about this for years.
There's certain things that you guys can emulate really well and really bring people back
to those moments and have some understanding of what it might have been like.
And there's certain stuff that technology or life in general or the environment or whatever it is.
It's just moved so forward that we can only do so much again close to those.
But you guys do such an amazing job, even with those things,
getting people really close to those times.
Tom, what are some of the fun things people can look forward to in this event?
Well, we're going to go over all the
do's and don'ts of cast iron cooking.
Yeah.
How to season the utensils, how to clean them,
because they can be almost not quite non-stick, but almost.
If you do it properly, cast iron is easy to cook and it's anything else.
Some I found out as a teenager with my grandmothers, cast iron stuff,
it's not the same as cooking on things if you've never cooked on it before.
It's a great thing to be able to learn about from somebody knows what they're talking about.
I could have used that as a kid. I got trouble.
And a little bacon grease doesn't hurt.
No, no.
But then we're going to go into some really primitive stuff,
where the native people used to heat their food, some of it, with hot rocks,
in a large container.
And there's a whole science about that too.
And one of our guys is we've had a lot of log and we're going to
we do it mostly to show that you can boil water in a log, which rocks.
It is amazing.
It's amazing.
I know, it's really cool.
We do it with the thermometer, so you can watch the progression.
Really good, I know.
That's cool.
Well, it stays burning in your fingers.
That's it.
Then we're going to move into stuff like our main dishes that are going to cook a while.
Now,
tentatively at least, and it looks like it's going to be, we're going to make lasagna in a
Dutch oven over a campfire.
Wow.
We're going to do spare ribs and sauerkraut, which, I mean,
you got it.
That's cheating, that's so good.
We're going to do a cobbler, which is a little more modern one.
Yeah.
No, I mean, cobblers are old, but we're going to do it
detect what you're using.
We're going to use Bisquick instead of, and we're not going to tell them any, I mean,
it's, we're going to admit that we're going to do it that way, because that's what they're
going to do when they get out with their fans.
Right, right.
And then we're going to do one called Blooming Cabbage.
I've not heard of that.
Cabbage and butter and bacon, and yeah, I'm sold.
Yeah, you want, you want, you sold it there.
Put it in the Dutch oven to cook it till it's well done, and honestly, most of this stuff,
you had me a Dutch oven.
I mean, if you haven't had something that's cooked in one of those before, there's nothing
like it.
It's really, really, real quick.
Have you guys made lasagna before?
Yes.
Okay, I thought so.
It's really unique being able to make, again, making it in, cooking it in something like that.
My son is the one that brought that one up.
He comes up and helps us.
He lives in the Madison area, and he really likes Dutch ovens and grilling and all that stuff.
And so I, when we first started doing this, I recruited him to come and help.
And one year he brought lasagna, and I'm going, you're out of your mind, and he's going,
don't mind, do it all the time, and it works.
I love it that I always haven't bring that, because that's one thing I really like to eat.
Yeah, speaking of that, Tom, with this stuff we're talking about in the cooking of it and
everything, we want people to be able to learn how to do these things themselves and stuff.
The chance on.
Are people going to be able to sample any of the food?
They're going to sample it, that we're going to have a feast.
But they're also going to get to help make it.
Yeah.
These four things that we're going to do here, each, we'll have a staff person
leading it, but you get to, you can work with this guy for a while and come over and
see about this one and move on to the next one, so that you can kind of participate in a lot
of this stuff.
You know, and one of the things that I always think of when we're talking about this,
and this particular one that you guys do and everything, in this day and age, I know
convenience is king and, you know, speed and we want our fast food in two seconds and all that,
and understand people of busy lives, they have a lot of things going on, so sometimes you have
to do that.
When you have the time to take a moment and cook your meal and take some time with it,
it just tastes different, man.
Oh, yeah.
It just, there's something different about it and there's nothing like cooking something and seeing
your loved ones eating it and enjoying it and that.
It's similar if you've ever been in construction and building something in years later,
being able to look at that building that you help build or anything and seeing it.
The cooking is very similar, right?
Courage people have not only taken this test, but I take in this great thing that you guys are
doing with the, but also cook some more, you know, you have to do a little more, take a
little more time to cook.
After we get done with, you get that stuff on the coal, so it takes a long time to cook,
we're going to go to where we reflect our oven and they're going to make pineapple upside
down cake in a reflector oven in front of a campfire.
Oh, God, that's perfect.
And then,
it's a Norman Rockwell painting right there.
Yeah, it's awesome.
It is good.
It's good.
It's good.
Then we're going to go into Larry can speak on this one.
We're going to go into fire starting with flint and steel with looking glad if we have sunshine.
We will use the, what we would call a magnifying glass.
They call them a burning glass to start fires.
Why don't you?
Yeah, Larry, can you tell us a little more about that?
Well, it's part of a break, I call it a breakout section, I guess, if you will.
We have two fire pits there.
We got the main fire pit where Tom is at where he does the majority of the cooking and stuff.
But then I've got a little fire pit up on the hill and then we kind of split people
up and then I teach him how to make fire with flint and steel and burning, using the burning
glass and using charcoal off and things like that.
It's the way they would have done it back in a pineapple days, if you will.
But then also up there, I have, because food is the main stay of our event there.
I am smoking venison loin up there over the campfire, which you get to taste.
And then I also do something, one of my favorites is what we call bread on a stick.
And it's, everybody's familiar with roasting marshmallows on a stick, but we roast bread on a stick.
And just nobody has ever had a negative comment, but they love it.
And actually, I even go beyond bread on a stick where you cinnamon rolls.
Oh, yeah.
There's a thing.
Oh, my God.
Oh, well, well, it's an alternative.
And some people, I think, really have enjoyed it.
It's an alternative when you're camping to just a marshmallow on a stick.
I can tell you right now, you guys know how much I respect you.
You are not playing fair.
How is somebody not going to go to this event?
Yeah, we're not even 10 minutes out of here.
Yeah, we're not even 10 minutes into the interview.
You've already sold this.
Tell me, I don't know how anybody is not going to attend this event.
We'll sign you up, please, too.
Larry, I don't know if I've gotten asked to use this before.
These techniques that you're showing and you're teaching, how did you learn them?
Where did you come across them?
Well, like a lot of people, I use the internet some,
but I've had some people help me through, you know, learning how and stuff.
But some of it is you can explain.
Somebody can explain it to you, but unless you're a hands-on,
and that's what we are at Point Boss.
We are a hands-on organization where I've got flint and steel.
You can try doing it yourself and until you actually do it yourself,
it's really, you know, it's easy to watch, but to actually get it done.
Did you learn this a little later in life, Larry?
Have you done this for a long time?
No, yeah.
No, I learned it since I've been a member at Point Boss down there,
because, you know, once you start getting into it,
it's all this stuff really becomes intriguing.
I, yeah, as with cooking with cast iron.
You know, cast iron can be a task from hell.
You know, I'm trying to clean cast iron, you know.
I just, so I was at a camping myself one time,
and my wife and I were walking down the roads between the campers,
and there was one gentleman by a fire scraping out a cast iron dot job,
and you know, that he had cooked something and he was brand new at it,
and he was, has few fine words.
Let's call him, you know, just cleaning that out,
and I went over and talked to him,
and I told him, gave him some hints, and later he's,
Oh, thank you, thank you.
I appreciate you sharing that, Larry.
I ask because we're always encouraging people to attend these things
and these workshops and the different events that you guys have.
And regardless of your age,
and we love younger people being a part of these things, and that,
but no matter what your age are, you know,
it's never a question to me if an old dog can't learn new tricks.
Does dog want to learn?
If the dog wants to learn, it doesn't matter what age it is,
it can learn new trick,
and you're a real example of this, Larry,
of coming into these things later,
and I hear you talk about it,
and you got a real passion for it, you really enjoy this.
You can have that kind of passion get volunteering,
or being a part of things at this torque point bus.
I appreciate you sharing that,
because we can hopefully encourage more people to join the team over there.
Each year, those of us who are supposed to be the teachers
usually learn something from the students.
Yeah.
You know, they've done it this way,
have you tried that, or granny used to do it this way?
And it's like, oh, we've got to try that.
I think my favorite thing about teaching is learning.
I have learned that teaching is a learning experience.
It's a really good point there, Tom, I appreciate it.
We're speaking with Tom and Larry from this torque point bus,
talking a bit about the campfire cooking workshop
they have coming up Saturday, April 26th,
going on nine to four over at this torque point bus.
I've mentioned a handful of things about the event,
guys, is there anything else you want to make sure we touch now?
Oh, yeah, we're going to do a lot of real primitive cooking.
We've got a piece of stone,
and we're going to make bacon and eggs on a stone.
On the stone?
Yep, no.
And some things called corn Dodgers.
I bet.
It's boiled cornmeal that you make into a patty,
and then fried cornbread, you know, it doesn't rise.
It's not the Johnny cake looking thing.
Sure.
But it's what a lot of our ancestors used on the move west.
Oh, yeah.
It's easy to do, you know.
Oh, yeah, I could see it.
You can see the cook and carry.
We're going to cook Larry's going to cook fish in clay.
I was in clay and make a package.
And then you put it in there.
It was something I learned.
I was in the Air Force up in North Dakota.
I went on the Red River, which is all clay.
That's why they call it the Red River.
And some men were fishing catfish there,
and they would catch catfish,
and then they would just go over and take some clay from the bank.
Wrap it around the fish and throw it in the campfire
and continue fishing.
And then later you take it out,
you crack it open, and your fish is done.
Oh, that is awesome.
I've never heard of that before.
But it's one of those things you say in, like, of course.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Oh, I wouldn't have thought of it, though.
You're right.
It's a process.
Yeah, you know.
Oh, is that cool?
That's really interesting.
Yeah, we're going to do fish on the stick.
Oh, right.
The most thing, you know, I mean,
you can get a perch that's a reasonable size.
Yeah.
The easiest shape, of course.
Yeah.
We're going to do fish on the half shell.
We'll leave that be a mystery.
Oh, there is such a thing.
Nice.
Okay.
We're going to do kabobs or the fire,
that sort of thing.
We're going to make a Dutch baby.
I don't know if I should have follow up questions.
So that was about, no, no, no, it's a German pancake.
Ah, there we go.
It's, uh, uh,
and it's interesting.
I, my wife has been making them.
I never heard of them until.
Yeah, and I were together, you know,
but, um,
what is different about that?
That they're there.
They're flour and milk and sugar
and a little bit of baking powder.
And you put them in an oven in a, you know,
container, uh, could be, uh,
we always have them at home in a cast iron,
frying pan in the oven,
and they kind of swell up almost like, uh,
you get, uh, uh,
pretty, uh, the, uh, yorkshire pudding.
Oh, okay.
It's not savory like that.
It's more sweet.
And it kind of swell up almost like a souffle
and then they kind of crash back down when you take them out.
Excellent.
Oh, man, that sounds good.
It smears a little butter and down on there and that's,
we're going to do one of those in a great big,
we got a Dutch oven that's two foot across.
Uh, we're going to cook it in there.
Um, sounds great.
Yeah, we're going to do
beans in the, in a hole in the ground
where they cook like four or five, six hours
in a hole on the ground.
And we're going to cook venison and vegetables that way too.
Very early on long before
us Europeans showed up here,
they were doing it that way and
it's not bad stuff.
Yeah, yeah.
Sounds really good.
Yeah.
A lot of great stuff there.
And, uh, you know, one of the other things, uh,
in case it isn't, uh, cleared everybody out there,
you got a little something for everybody.
And no matter what your tastes are or anything,
there's something there for everybody to try.
Well, and, and we're,
like I say, I like to keep pointing out, uh,
point bosses living history museum.
It's a, it's a hands-on museum.
You get to use the stuff and we want to have you
do the full experience out there.
And part of that full experience in a cooking class is doing dishes.
Uh, yes, uh, we actually have you doing dishes,
but it's not a waste of time.
You actually learn how to clean cast iron
and things like that.
Which is, which is actually one of the most important thing is
to clean cast iron properly.
Yeah, yeah, but it's a great point.
Yeah, that's really good, Larry.
And, and a great part of this.
I, I think, I don't know, I, I've done a lot of dishes in my life,
so I don't have any problem with that.
But I, I, I love the incorporation of that part into this.
Yeah, that's really cool.
Because there's things you really shouldn't do with cast iron
that you can do with it.
Uh, yeah.
I can still hear my grandmother yelling at me.
Yes, yeah, I hear you.
Uh, uh, this event is right around the corner,
if I had the campfire cooking workshop of be Saturday,
April 26th, nine to four,
over at the beautiful historic point,
boss at 364 Wiggly Road in Nekusa.
And you got to sign up in advance.
Yes, uh, they, it is really helpful for them to know how many people
are going to be attending these things.
And it, and there's a cost.
It's $15.
Um, no, it's a half a day workshop.
25 this year.
Huh?
25 this year.
Hmm.
Uh, uh, uh,
really?
Yeah, I've got 15 on the website.
I got to get in here.
Yeah, does it?
Yeah, um, I would encourage it because on the website it says 15.
And, you know, you go to the website.
You can also, uh,
I'm sorry.
It's not worth it.
I understand.
No worries, man.
Uh, it's 15 and you can sign up on the website or you can call the phone numbers,
on the posters.
It's seven, five, four, five, nine, one, seven, two, two.
Nice job.
Yeah, I got it.
I got it right in front of me.
I'm cheating.
Well, uh, yeah.
I've been trying to memorize it all.
Oh, you got it.
Um, yeah, it's 15.
You can go there.
You can sign up for the workshop at historicpointboss.com.
I'm encouraged to do that.
And at 15, it's not only affordable for families, but it is an investment in our future.
It is investment, uh, and keeping the past alive at the historic point of
us and helping them do a great events like this that we've been talking about.
And, uh, I want to certainly mention, uh, a couple of other events just so
people can put them on their calendar before we wrap up, guys.
We got Pioneer Fest right around the corner that'll be Saturday, June 7th
and Sunday, June 8th.
It's a really fun event.
I think she said 16 or 17 campers are coming in.
Besides our, we've got all buildings now.
What 11 of them are usable.
Uh, yeah.
The stair talk of town hall is still a work in progress.
But, uh, we're going to be there with all our people.
And then another 15 somewhere in that number of, of outsiders that come
in to camp and demonstrate, and that's a ball.
Oh, yeah.
That's going to be a little fun, especially bringing in other people like that.
That's going to bring a lot of unique, different perspectives and ideas and
techniques and stuff.
And then Civil War days we wanted to mention as well.
That is coming up Saturday, July 26th.
Uh, that'll also be at this torque point, boss.
That's another great event for everybody.
And I know it's during the summer, but a great event for kids, uh, I think,
to learn history.
26 and 27th, I believe, uh, two-day event and they, uh,
we have, um, uh, infantry.
We have artillery.
We have cavalry.
There's potentially, uh, we're still actually in a negotiating stage,
stage with the Civil War members.
Uh, there's potentially over 75 to 100 Civil War reenactors coming to
the torque point, boss.
Wow.
And having battle there and we have a general that's setting all that up and stuff.
And, uh, these kind of events are very popular.
Um, and, and in part because I think that it's, uh, something that you were
touching on before, Larry, that I love whenever it's brought up about this torque point, boss.
It is a museum that you can work and learn and touch things and everything.
You're, you're an interactive museum, the store point, boss.
Civil War days and Civil War reenactments.
I think are a similar thing in that regard of people being able to not just read a book
or watch a movie for that matter, but in person seeing it.
And you get a little bit more, I think, of an empathy and feeling for this.
Um, I don't, every war should be researched and learned, uh, for,
not only the history aspect, but for our soldiers and the people that gave the
ultimate sacrifice for these things.
Um, but also, I think it's just really interesting.
And in American history, I admit is, is the most interesting history to me.
Uh, and so here it is right there playing out in front of you.
Yeah.
That's pretty cool.
It's what people live through back then.
And it was just what they live through as every day life is just unfathomable
today, uh, how people actually made it through a day.
And, and it's the, uh, it is the intertwining of our history.
It is, it is the story of America so much of this, uh, which is, it should be, uh,
you know, not only, uh, learned by everybody, but I think respected and appreciated by everybody.
And two weekly sons and a son-in-law were members of the iron brigade from Wisconsin
that went to Civil War.
I, I think that people would be surprised how many ties that you, you, you,
you and your family or somebody you know's family might have to that time.
We had one last night.
We had our annual meeting last night and we were discussing, uh, the guy was talking about
logging and that, and ladies there, um, told about her grandfather, great-grandfather,
who had been in the Civil War with the Wacley boys and had been a logger and all this stuff.
And she still lives in his house.
Wow.
And then, you know, it's like, that's his main thing.
I mean, none of us, she knew that, but she related it to the rest of us.
That's cool that you share that.
Isn't that just the coolest thing?
Yeah, but we're, we're blessed with the Civil War event coming up too because it's,
it's the only one in central Wisconsin.
The, the later one of the members, uh, that's very strong in, in, uh,
member in the event to say that this, uh, having it in central Wisconsin is going to be, uh,
something completely new.
That's really, that's great to hear.
I look forward to talking more about it as we get closer to it.
Thank you guys for the time.
I appreciate you sign up for the campfire cooking class by going to
HistoricPointboss.com and of course, uh, mark off your calendars for all the other events
that they're doing over there.
Keep history alive with our friends at the historic pointboss at historicpointboss.com.
We'll be back with more show right here at 975 FM.
