Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Fire in a Bag


“Fire in a bag- The most genius thing ever created.” These are the words of my husband Joe who after some serious thought and consideration finally devised the perfect plan for helping me build a fire in our wood stove on my own.

This is how it works… Start out with a brown paper grocery bag. Fill it with crumpled newspaper and kindling chips. Gently roll up the bag, but not too tightly (remember, fires need air). Place the bag in the wood stove and carefully light the edge. Once the bag burns down and the kindling chips have caught fire, place slightly larger pieces of kindling in. Adding larger and larger logs until you’ve created a masterpiece of warmth.

Joe’s invention really works! - I’m living proof of that. Using Joe’s pre-made fire bags, I’ve successfully built my first woodstove fire. When I asked Joe how he thought of such a good idea, his response was, “I’ve always been amazing, so I’m not surprised that I came up with something this good.” He was joking, of course.

But the real key to every good fire is taking time to enjoy it. Enjoy the building process and after you’ve got it going, enjoy the beauty and warmth of its glow. Isn’t amazing how you can sit and watch the flames forever? The colors of the coals are exquisite and the fire flames are so fascinating.


6 comments:

  1. Grace - I remember the first time I had a successful fire going in our wood stove when Nate came home from work. I was so proud of myself! Fires make the house feel so cozy and homey. If you ever run out of bags, Nate found something called 'firestarters' that work really well. They are little squares of something natural that you light under your kindling. We love them. Of course, Joe's bags sound pretty great, too!

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  2. Sounds great. I'll have to come up and get warmy by your fire now that the cold weather is coming :)

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  3. Joe's such a modest fellow, isn't he?
    I'm sure he would agree.

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  4. Just make sure you don't dispose of the hot (even if you think they are cooled) ashes in another paper bag... ;-)

    Bless you, Grace Krawczyk

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  5. Yeah, Grace K, just ask Tricia why not, right?

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  6. Good For You Grace - I too am learning to make successful fires! I think I've made two that haven't gone out!!! woohoo- I think I got too used to the turn on kind (not a farm girl either)

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