Scott Donaldson

Scott Donaldson (www.scottyds.com) will serve as Chef for the Double P Ranch during the 2008 hunting season. Scott brings a diverse background of culinary skills and is a lifelong hunting and fishing enthusiast.

Scott grew up in the farmlands of Illinois where he learned fresh gardening and cooking techniques from his mother and grandmother. His father taught him old school hunting skills and safety at an early age.

Although born in the Midwest, Scott spent most of his adulthood in the mountains of northern Idaho. He enjoyed plenty of big game hunting including elk, whitetail and mule deer and was fortunate enough to draw a once in a lifetime moose permit, which he turned into a successful hunt. He swears the waterfowl hunting in north Idaho is severely underrated and spent a good majority of his days in the field chasing ducks and geese up and down the Pend Oreille River. Grouse in the mountains and Chukar partridge on the banks of the Snake River also provided many entertaining hunts. The diverse bird and waterfowl opportunities also led to a hobby of raising Labrador retrievers for ten years.

With the harvesting of game also came the opportunity to hone knife, cooking and meat smoking skills. The early lessons taught using local, fresh ingredients never left and were beneficial in defining his passion for the culinary arts. Scott enjoys cooking almost entirely from scratch and using pure, natural ingredients.

Scott and his wife, Sheila, moved to Minnesota in 2001 and currently reside in East Bethel. The cooking of wild game and their own farm raised pork and poultry led to a keen interest in outdoor slow cooking and grilling. Scott and Sheila had a custom designed BBQ trailer built for entertaining, catering and competitions. They started mixing their own seasonings and sauces and now sell their own brand of rubs and BBQ sauce.

Scott looks forward to cooking for the Double P guests in 2008 and sharing their stories from the field.