Seneca

Outfit for Cooking on a Cruise.—Value of a Single Receptacle for Everything Necessary to Prepare a Meal.—The Canoeist's "Grub Box."—The Same as a Seat.—Water-tight Tins.—Necessary Provisions and Utensils.—Waterproof Bags for Surplus Provisions.—Portable Oven.—Canoe Stoves.—Folding Stoves a Nuisance.—Hints for Provisioning for a Cruise.

For canoe cruising a certain amount of food supplies and the necessary utensils for cooking should be carried in a single box or chest, so that when one cooks a meal on board he may have in one receptacle everything necessary for preparing a meal, and when going ashore for his repast he can take in his hands everything requisite at one journey. If on a long cruise the large portion of his food supply may be kept in different parts of the canoe, but the box should contain sufficient for at least three meals, and can be replenished from the larger store when stopping for the night or at a camping place for any length of time. The larger the box that his stowage room will allow the greater will be the comfort of the canoeist.

The box may be made of wood, tin or galvanized iron. The former costs but little, can be made by the cruiser himself, and if properly made and properly taken care of, should answer the purpose; but a box of either japanned or painted tin or galvanized iron will stand much knocking about without fracture, and is therefore preferable when its expense is no objection. Of course it must be water-tight, and if made of wood the nicest joining and dove-tailing must be done, and it should be varnished inside and out with shellac or boat varnish. Arbitrary dimensions cannot be given because of the varying sizes of canoes and the different amounts of provisions carried on cruises, therefore let each canoeist first determine what amount and variety of eatables he will carry, and then construct the box according to his needs and his stowage room in the cockpit. If made of wood quarter inch or 5/16 stuff (pine) will do, and if the box is to be used as a seat the top and bottom pieces should be heavier, say 3/8 of an inch. The cover should be two inches deep and the handle by which the box is carried should be a thin, wide, flat strap tacked to the cover. If the box is not used as a seat but is stowed under the deck it will be found an advantage to have the flanges of the cover fall over the side pieces of the box and the strap tacked to one end piece, carried over the cover and fastened by a hook to an eye in the other end piece in reach of the hand, so that the cover may be removed and articles obtained from the box without taking it from under the deck. If used as a seat the cover may be hinged on one side and two hooks fastened at the ends on the other, and for the back rest two pieces of three-quarter inch pine are screwed to the sides, running aft horizontally six or eight inches from the aftermost end of the box, holes being bored in them an inch apart "athwartship" and cut opposite each other, through which a quarter-inch brass rod is passed for the back rest to play on. As the lower end of the back rest strikes the end of the box near the floor when in use, it may be "slanted" as inclination demands by changing the brass rod from one set of holes to another.

To carry the provisions in the box so that they will not mix or spill, several water-tight tins should be used. The Consolidated Fruit Jar Company, 49 Warren Street, New York, makes tin screw-tops for jars and canisters that are perfectly water-tight. Send for several of these tops, of assorted sizes, and have a tinsmith make the tin cans of the dimensions you desire, so that they will nest in the box closely. The same company will also furnish you with a pint or quart earthen jar with water-tight screw-top, in which butter may be kept sweet for a long time in hot weather, and which may be enveloped in a net and lowered to the bottom of the river or lake without fear of its leaking.

In the tin cans may be carried coffee, tea (or cocoa), sugar, flour (or meal), rice and alcohol. (A special screw-top is made for fluid cans.) Pepper and salt are in small spice boxes with two covers, the one underneath being perforated. Eggs are safest carried in the tins with the flour, coffee and rice; bread and bacon (or salt pork) are wrapped in macintosh and put near the top of the chest; the vinegar goes in a whisky flask (mark it to avoid mistakes), and canned goods, condensed milk, baking powder, etc., in their own cans. The alcohol stove and utensils necessary to cook a meal should go in the box, such as coffee pot, cup, fork, knife, spoon, frying pan and plates. The coffee pot should be of small size, with handle and lip riveted. If soldered, they are likely to melt off. Cups or plates should be of tin or granite ware. The fork and knife have their sheaths of leather inside the box cover. The plates should nest in the frying pan, which should have no handle, and is fastened inside the chest cover by two buttons, so that it may be readily released. Next the knife and fork have a sheath for a pair of small blacksmith's pliers. This instrument serves as a handle to the frying pan and a lifter for everything on the fire, and can always be kept cool. A three-quart tin or granite ware pail is necessary for stews, and two smaller ones may be nested in it, of two-quart and three-pint capacity, respectively. Put the can of condensed milk in the smallest pail. It will be out of the way, and won't make the rest of the things in the chest sticky. If you carry potatoes, onions or other vegetables, always have enough in the chest for three meals. The surplus supplies of provisions, such as vegetables, extra bread, crackers, flour, meal, pork or bacon, etc., should be carried in waterproof bags, and they can then be stowed wherever necessary to properly trim the canoe. These waterproof bags may be used also for clothing and blankets. They are made of unbleached muslin, sewn in a lap seam, with a double row of stitches. When sewn they are dipped in water and slightly shaken to remove the drops, and then while wet a mixture of equal parts of boiled oil, raw oil and turpentine is applied to the outside with a brush. This takes about a week to become thoroughly dry, and then another coat is put on without dampening the cloth, and if a little liquid drier is added to the mixture, this coat will dry in four or five days. Having prepared several bags, the provisions, clothing, blankets, etc., are put in the bag, and its mouth is inserted in that of another bag of the same size, the latter being drawn on like a stocking as far as it will go. If several bags are used instead of one or two large ones, the canoe can be trimmed and packed to better advantage.

A canoeist's portable oven is made of two small basins, one of which has "ears" riveted to its rim, so that when it is placed bottom up on the other the ears will spring over the rim of the second basin, thus making an oven that is not air-tight, allowing gases to escape. The basins should be made of sheet-iron, and, as their interiors can easily be kept clean, they answer very well for soup dishes. Instructions for baking in them will be given later on. These should not go in the provision chest, as they will smut everything with which they come in contact. Butter, I have found, keeps better in its jar outside of the chest than in. Outside, too, are kept a small jug of molasses, and a jug of fresh water, if cruising on the "briny."

There is no perfect canoe stove. The "flamme forcÉ" is probably as good as any. It takes up a little more room than the folding "pocket" variety, and it does not give more heat; but it burns for a longer time, and is not top-heavy when a heavy pot or pan is set on it. For cooking in large utensils have three of these flamme forcÉ alcohol lamps, light them and place them side by side, and you can cook in this way a dozen slapjacks at once on a big griddle, if you like. Danforth, the fluid man, makes a small canoe stove that would be preferable to all others if his fluid were obtainable at all the corners of the earth that canoeists frequent; but unfortunately it is not. Beware of "folding stoves" to use ashore and burn wood in. They are the greatest possible nuisances—smutty, red-hot and cumbersome. Don't carry an oil stove. But if you really must, put the nasty thing in a large bucket, and only remove it from this receptacle when absolutely necessary.

Now as to eatables in general, besides what I have already mentioned, condensed milk is a good thing, but condensed coffee, condensed eggs and condensed beef are abominations. Self-raising or Hecker's prepared flour, wheat, rye, Indian or Graham, is easily made into bread and slapjacks. The directions come with the packages. Pilot bread will keep an indefinite time, and is not so unpalatable as hard-tack. Indian meal is very nutritious and easily made up, as it requires nothing to lighten it; scald it before using when it is not fresh. Canned tomatoes, corn, fruits, beans, soups, salmon, etc., are easy to prepare, and can be stored as ballast in the canoe. Mr. Hicks, of the Toronto Canoe Club, prepares certain kinds of food in cans for ballast as follows, according to the American Canoeist:

"Get a number of flat square tin cans made like oyster cans, of a handy size to lie under your floor boards. Then cook a turkey, some chickens, a sirloin of beef, etc. Cut the hot meat up into large dice-shaped pieces, and put it in the tins hot, then pour melted fat in till the tins are full, and then solder them tight. Get as much meat in as you can before putting in the fat. Put up fruit in square flat cans in the same way. There is your ballast, and heavy stuff it is. When the provisions run short let the crew feed on the ballast. The preparation described is far more nutritious than canned corned beef, is more palatable, and will keep indefinitely—that is, throughout a very long cruise."

I have not tried this method of preserving provisions, but the theory is excellent, and I do not see why it would not be a feasible scheme. The Brunswick canned soups are the cheapest made, are easily prepared and as wholesome as any; but I have known squeamish canoeists who would not use them because they didn't like the looks of the powder to which they are desiccated. Dried beef, corned beef, lemons and sardines make good additions to an outfit. Potatoes, onions and other vegetables should be procured en route as needed, if possible.

As it may puzzle some neophytes to know how much of each article of food to take on a cruise, I give below the exact amount of provisions I carried on a cruise of a week last autumn. I did not run short of anything at the end of the week, but I had not provisions enough left for three square meals: 1 lb. sugar (cut loaf); 1/8 lb. tea; 1 lb. flour; 1-1/2 lbs. crackers; 1/2 lb. lard; 1/2 lb. rice; 1/2 lb. bacon; 3/4 lb. coffee; 1 lb. butter; 1 can condensed milk; 3 loaves bread; 3/4 peck potatoes; 1/2 peck meal; 1 pint molasses; 2 oz. pepper; 1 bottle pickles; 1 bottle yeast powder; 1 qt. salt.

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Soups.—Canned Soups.—The Brunswick Goods Cheap, Wholesome, and Convenient.—Huckins' Soups.—Oyster, Clam, Onion, and Tomato Soups.

Canoeists will hardly take the time and trouble to make soups out of meats and vegetables, unless they are in a permanent camping place for some length of time. Nearly all soups require several hours to cook properly, as they must be boiled very slowly to retain the aroma of the ingredients used.

Canned soups, therefore, are the handiest for the canoeist or single-hand cruiser. I can recommend the Brunswick variety as cheap, convenient, wholesome and easy to prepare if the directions on the cans are implicitly followed. Any variation from these instructions, however, is certain to result in an unpalatable mess. The higher priced soups, Huckins' and other varieties, are more like home-made soups than the Brunswick kind, and hence a fastidious taste will prefer them. They are bulkier to carry, but are quite as easily prepared, and I would recommend those made by Huckins as especially good. The great objection to them is their high price.

There are a few good soups that can be prepared from materials readily accessible to the canoeist, and in a comparatively short time. These are:

Oyster Soup.

Put a quart of milk and a piece of butter as large as an egg into the pot and heat gradually. When hot, stir in the strained liquor of one pint of oysters, very gradually, to prevent the milk from curdling, then one-quarter pound of crushed crackers or bread crumbs. When it has come to a boil put in the oysters (one pint), and let it cook till the edges of the oysters curl up, when it should be seasoned and served.

Clam Soup.

Exactly the same as oyster soup, using clams instead of oysters.

Onion Soup.

Put three tablespoonfuls of butter in a frying pan, cut six large onions in slices, and stir them into the butter over the fire till they begin to cook. Then cover tight and set them where they will simmer slowly for half an hour. Put a quart of milk with a tablespoonful of butter on to boil, and while this is doing stir into the onions a tablespoonful of flour while they are simmering. Turn the mixture into the boiling milk and cook quarter of an hour, seasoning with salt and pepper. If an old tin pan is handy that you can use for the purpose, the soup will be improved by knocking small holes in the bottom of the pan, thus making a colander, and straining the soup through it, afterwards adding the well-beaten yolks of four eggs and cooking three minutes longer.

Tomato Soup.

Mix one tablespoonful of flour and a piece of butter the size of an egg into a smooth paste, and if you have onions, chop up fine one medium-sized one. Prepare about one pound of tomatoes by scalding, peeling and slicing them (the same amount of canned tomatoes may be used), and put all the ingredients with a pinch of salt into one pint of cold water. Boil gently for an hour, stirring frequently enough to dissolve the tomatoes and prevent burning, then stir in one cup of boiled milk, and let it come again to a boil, constantly stirring. Season and serve. The soup will be good if the milk is omitted.

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Fish.—Fish Caught in Muddy Streams.—Kill your Fish as Soon as Caught.—Fish Grubs.—Fish Fried, Planked, Skewered, and Boiled.—Fish Sauce, Fish Roe, Shell-Fish.

Fish should naturally have a prominent place in the canoeist's larder. Few streams that he will navigate are entirely destitute of edible fish, and a few minutes spent in angling will amply repay the cruiser.

Fish caught out of muddy streams have an unpleasant taste, and their flavor can be improved by soaking them half an hour or more in strong salted water. Fish should be killed as soon as caught by a sharp rap on the back just aft of the head with a stick or the handle of your big knife, not only in justice to the fish, but because he tastes better, for the same reason that a butchered steer is preferable to one smothered to death.

You may find grubs in fish along the backbone in July and August. You will generally remove them by taking out the backbone and its branches. But if you don't get them all out, never mind; they are good to eat; but if any one of the party is squeamish, tell him you have got them all out anyway: he won't know any better after they are cooked. It is supposed that everybody has known how to clean fish ever since he was a schoolboy, so we will proceed at once to the instructions for cooking.

Fried Fish.

Small fish may be fried whole, but large ones should be cut up. Have enough pork fat or lard bubbling hot in the frying-pan to well cover the fish. Smear the fish well with dry corn meal or flour, or, what is better, dip it into well-beaten egg and then into bread or cracker crumbs, and fry both sides to a clear golden brown. Sprinkle lightly with pepper and salt just as it is turning brown.

Planked Fish.

Shad, flounders, sunfish or any other "flat" fish may be "planked." Cut off the head and tail, split open the back, but do not cut clear through the belly, leaving the fish so that it may be opened wide like a book and tacked on a plank or piece of bark. Tack some thin slices of bacon or pork to the end of the fish that will be uppermost when before the fire, and, if you like, a few slices of raw onion sprinkled with pepper and salt. Sharpen one end of the plank and drive it into the ground, before a bed of hot coals. Catch the drippings in a tin cup or large spoon and baste the fish continually till it smells so good you can't wait another instant to eat it. It is then done.

Skewered Trout.

Sharpen a small, straight stick, and on it skewer small trout and thin slices of bacon or pork in alternation. Hold over a bed of hot coals and keep constantly turning, so that the juices will not be lost in the fire. A very few minutes will suffice to cook the trout.

Boiled Fish.

Tie or pin the fish (which should not weigh less than three pounds) in a clean cloth. If the pot is too small for the fish, skewer the tail into the mouth. Put into enough boiling water to cover it about an inch, and simmer steadily until done. Some fish boil quicker than others; as a general rule those of white flesh requiring less time than those of a darker tinge. If a couple of tablespoonfuls of salt and four ditto of vinegar are put into the water the fish will cook sooner. About twenty-five minutes are necessary for a three-pound fish, and over that six minutes extra to every pound. An underdone fish is not fit to eat, and one boiled too long is insipid. When the meat separates easily from the backbone it is cooked just right. Take it up, remove the cloth carefully, and pour over it the following hot

Fish Sauce.

Put two tablespoonfuls of butter and two ditto of flour into a hot frying pan over the fire and mix them together with a spoon into a smooth paste. Pour over very gradually about a pint of the water in which the fish was boiled, stirring it well in. Boil up once and season with pepper and salt. If an acid taste is desired, add a few drops of vinegar.

Boiled Fish Roe.

Wash and wipe the roes with a soft cloth. Wrap in a cloth and boil the same as fish. Or, they may be tied inside the fish with a string and boiled with it.

Fried Fish Roe.

Prepare as above, dredge in meal or flour, and fry exactly as fish.

Soft Crabs.

Have enough boiling hot grease in a pan over a hot fire to cover the crabs. Throw them in as soon as possible after they are taken, with a little salt. Let them brown and turn them once. When done cut off the gills or "dead men's fingers," and serve on toast.

Hard Shell Crabs.

These are best steamed. Boil two cups of water in your largest pail. Put in two or three large handfuls of grass and then the crabs, as soon as possible after they are caught. Over them put more grass, and, covering the pail, let them steam thoroughly over the fire for twenty minutes. When done, eat all except the shell, the gills and the stomach, which last is in an easily distinguished sack. Be sure to have sufficient water in the pail to keep up the steam for the requisite time.

Fried Oysters.

Strain the liquor from the oysters. Crush crackers into fine crumbs; or, if you have no crackers, toast some slices of bread and crush them fine. Beat up an egg (both white and yolk) in a tin cup with a spoon. Dip the oysters into the beaten egg, then roll them in the crumbs, and put over the fire in a pan of boiling fat over half an inch deep. Turn when brown on one side, and let the other side brown. If the oysters are small do not prepare them singly, but place them two together (the large portions at opposite ends), then immerse them in the egg and crumbs together. If the crumbs do not readily adhere, pat the oysters gently while rolling them in the crumbs.

Blanketed Oysters.

Get the largest oysters you can find, cut fat bacon into very thin slices, wrap an oyster in each slice, and skewer with a small stick. Heat a frying pan very hot, put in your oysters, and cook long enough to just crisp the bacon—not over two minutes—taking care that they do not burn. Serve immediately without removing the skewers.

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Meats and Game.—Salt Pork.—Ham and Eggs.—Broiling and Boiling Meats.—Pigeons, Squirrels, Ducks, Grouse, Woodcock, Rabbits, Frogs, etc.

In selecting salt pork pick out that which is smooth and dry. Damp, clammy pork is unwholesome. Canned corn beef is palatable, and useful in making hash, but is sometimes poisonous from the solder used in sealing the cans. If canned beef is carried, use only the portion that does not touch the metal of the cans, throwing away the remainder.

Fried Salt Pork (or Bacon).

Slice thin, put in frying pan with cold water enough to cover, let it come to a boil and boil two or three minutes; then turn off the water and fry brown on both sides; or, soak one hour in cold water, then roll in bread or cracker crumbs and fry with a little butter or lard in the pan.

Broiled Salt Pork.

Slice thin, and broil on the end of a green switch held over the coals, using extra care that the smoke and flame from the drippings do not reach the pork.

Ham and Eggs.

Fry the ham first, the same as pork or bacon, and fry the eggs in the fat left in the pan. Break each egg separately into a cup, and thence transfer it to the pan, by which means the yolks are kept intact and bad eggs are discovered before it is too late. While the eggs are frying dip up some of the fat with a spoon and pour it over the tops of the eggs.

Broiled Steaks.

If the steak is tough, beat it on both sides, but not enough to tear the meat and allow the juices to escape. Sharpen a green switch at the end, secure the steak on it, and place over a bed of hot coals, turning frequently. Do not let the escaping juices set fire to the meat. Season, after it is done, with pepper and salt, and if a gravy is desired, put a half teaspoonful of salt, half as much pepper, and a piece of butter or fat as large as a duck's egg into a hot dish, and add two tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Pour it over the steak slowly, so that every part of the latter will be moistened.

Broiling in a Frying Pan.

Broiling can be done as well with a frying pan as with a gridiron, and all the juices are preserved. Heat the empty pan very hot first, then put in the meat to be broiled, cover over with a tin plate, and turn the meat often in the pan.

Boiled Meat.

Put the meat into enough boiling water so that the former will be a little more than covered. Cover the pot and boil till cooked, which will take about fifteen minutes for every pound of meat. Skim constantly while boiling, and turn the meat several times. Replenish when necessary with boiling water. One teaspoonful of salt for each five pounds of meat should be put into the pot a short time before the meat is done. If there is a layer of fat on top after the meat is cold, remove it. Beef or venison may be used for frying.

Fried Pigeons.

Dress them, parboil until they are tender, then cut off the legs and wings, slice off the breast pieces, roll in flour or meal and fry in hot pork fat till they are nicely browned. Grouse, ducks, quail, snipe and plover may also be fried, but are better cooked as given below. Snipe, quail and plover need no parboiling.

Fried Squirrels.

Skin and clean, cutting off heads, tails and feet. Parboil and fry, same as pigeons.

Roast Quail, Snipe or Plover.

Dress and impale each on a stick with a piece of fat pork in each bird. Set the stick in the ground before a big bed of live coals in a slanting position so that the heat will fall evenly on all portions of the bird, and turn frequently till a sharp sliver will easily pass through the breast. Catch the drippings in a tin cup and pour over the birds again and again, and if they are served on toast pour the drippings also on the toast. The blacksmith's pliers mentioned in Chapter I. will come in handy for turning the birds before the fire on their sticks and holding the cup to catch the drippings. Without this tool the cook's hands are likely to be roasted by the time the birds are done.

Roast Ducks and Grouse.

Parboil till tender, then roast as above.

Roast Woodcock.

Pick, but do not clean. Roast as above without parboiling. Remove the entrails after the bird is done.

Rabbits or Hares.

These require considerable parboiling unless young. They may be fried like squirrels, cutting them into pieces, or made into stews.

Stewed Rabbit.

After skinning and cleaning the rabbit cut it into pieces, and wash again in cold water. Mince an onion, cleanse and cut into small pieces one-half pound of fat salt pork, and put with the cut-up rabbit into a pot with about a pint of cold water. Season with pepper and salt, cover the pot and let it simmer till the flesh can be easily pierced with a sharp sliver. Take it up when done and set where it will keep warm, and make a gravy by adding to the water left in the pot one cup of boiling milk or water, stirring in gradually one well-beaten egg and one or two tablespoonfuls of flour made into a smooth paste with cold water. Boil one minute and then pour over the rabbit. This gravy will be nearly or quite as good if the egg is omitted.

Stewed Ducks or Pigeons.

Stew exactly the same as rabbits. The pork may be omitted without detracting from the edible quality of the dish.

Frogs.

Use only the hind legs of small frogs, but both the fore and hind legs of large ones. They are best broiled, but may be fried in butter.

Vegetables.—Potatoes and Green Corn, Boiled, Fried, Roasted and Stewed.

The canoeist, whose stowage room is limited, will not carry with him a variety of vegetables, therefore completer directions for cooking these edibles will be left for Part II. of this book, and instructions will here be given only for the preparation of the potatoes, which he will most certainly carry, and green corn, which, in its season, he can obtain readily, if his cruise leads him through a farming country. These two articles will form the canoeist's mainstay in the vegetable line, and can be prepared in several appetizing ways.

Boiled Potatoes.

Small or medium-sized potatoes are preferable to large ones. Choose those with small eyes, as those with large eyes are generally about to sprout and are of poor quality. Do not pare unless they are very old, and in the latter case put them in cold water and allow it to boil. If they are of unequal size cut the large ones, so that they will boil evenly; wash, cut out bad places and eyes, and slice off a piece of skin at each pointed end. Put, unless old, into enough boiling salted water to cover them, and simmer steadily till a sliver will easily pierce the largest. Strain when done, and set the pot near the fire, shaking them occasionally to dry them.

Mashed Potatoes.

After boiling, peel and mash thoroughly with the bottom of a large bottle, working in pepper, salt, butter, and sufficient hot milk or water to make them into the consistency of soft dough. If mashed in an iron pot they will be discolored, but will taste just as good as if mashed in tin or earthenware.

Roasted Potatoes.

Wash and wipe them dry, and cut off the ends. Bury them in the ashes till a sliver will easily pierce them. Do not make the common mistake of putting them among the live coals of the fire, or they will be burned, not cooked through.

Fried Cooked Potatoes.

Peel and slice cold cooked potatoes, and put them into enough "screeching hot" lard or pork fat to cover the bottom of the pan. Stir frequently and fry slowly, seasoning with pepper and salt.

Fried Raw Potatoes.

Wash, peel, and slice very thin. Put few at a time into enough boiling fat to float the slices. If too many are put in at one time they will chill the fat and will not fry evenly. Turn and fry a light brown on both sides. When done remove with a fork, leaving as much grease as possible, and shake them up in a covered dish to eliminate the grease still further.

Stewed Potatoes.

Cut cold boiled potatoes into pieces the size of a hickory nut, put them into enough boiling milk to cover them, and let them simmer slowly till the milk is nearly exhausted, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Season with pepper, salt and butter.

Sweet Potatoes.

Are cooked the same as Irish potatoes, but require longer time. See time table in Part II.

Boiled Green Corn.

The sweetness of corn is better preserved in the boiling if the outer layer of husks only is stripped off. Turn back the inner husks and strip off the silk, then replace the inner husks and tie the ends. Put the corn into enough boiling salt water to cover it. Boil, if young, twenty-five minutes; if old, nearly or quite twice as long. After half an hour's boiling, an ear had best be removed occasionally and the kernels prodded with a sliver, to see if they have cooked tender. Overboiling spoils corn. Drain off the water as soon as they are done.

Fried Corn.

Cut cold boiled corn from the cob, mix with mashed potatoes, and fry in butter or pork fat.

Roasted Corn.

Leave the ear in the husks, cover it well with the hot ashes, and let it remain from forty-five minutes to an hour.

Stewed Corn.

Cut the corn from the cob, put it into a pot, barely covering it with cold milk. Season it with pepper and salt, and if common field corn, with sugar. Cover and stew gently till very tender.

Coffee and Tea.—Mush, Johnnycake and Hoecake.—Slapjacks, Corn Dodgers, Ash Cakes, Biscuits, Camp Bread.—Eggs.

Coffee.

The simplest way to make good coffee is to put into the pot two tablespoonfuls of the ground and browned berry to each cupful of the beverage. Pour on cold water to the required amount, remove it from the fire when it first boils up, let it stand a few moments in a warm place, and then pour into the pot half a cup of cold water to settle it.

Coffee, No. 2.

If the ground coffee is running low or the cook wishes to economize and has plenty of time and utensils, I will give him a recipe which requires much less of the berry to produce the required strength, as follows: Put the dry coffee into the pot, and heat it, stirring it constantly. Then pour over it one quart of boiling water to every two tablespoonfuls of coffee, and set the pot where it will keep hot but not boil. After standing ten or fifteen minutes it is ready to drink.

Tea.

For most teas the right proportion is one tablespoonful of tea for every teacup that is to be drawn and one "for the pot." The simplest method of making it is to put cold water on the tea in the pot, set over the fire and let it almost boil. Just as it begins to steam remove it to a place less hot, where it will simmer and not boil for five minutes. If it boils or simmers too long the tannin will be dissolved, and the tea will have a disagreeable astringent taste. When the liquid is all used out of the pot I do not throw away the "grounds," but add one-half the quantity for the next drawing, and so on till the pot is one-third full of grounds, when it is all emptied and the pot thoroughly washed.

Cornmeal Mush.

The main difficulties in making good cornmeal mush are the care necessary to prevent the formation of lumps and the long time required to cook it. The surest way to avoid lumps is to mix the meal first with cold water enough to make a thin batter, and then pour this batter into the pot of boiling water (slightly salted) very gradually, so as not to stop the boiling process. Sufficient of the batter should be stirred in to make a thin mush, and the latter should then be boiled until it is of such consistency that it will hang well together when taken out with a spoon. The longer it is allowed to boil the better it will be, and if long boiling makes it too thick, add more boiling water. It can be advantageously boiled two hours, but is eatable after twenty minutes' boil. If it is sprinkled into the pot of boiling water dry, do so very gradually and stir it constantly to prevent its lumping.

Fried Cold Mush.

Cut cold cornmeal mush into slices half an inch thick, and fry on both sides in boiling pork fat or butter. Or, dip each slice into beaten egg (salted), then into bread or cracker crumbs, and fry. If fried in lard add a little salt.

Oatmeal Mush.

Is made the same as cornmeal mush, but must always be sprinkled dry into the pot of boiling water.

Johnnycake.

Make a thick batter by mixing warm (not scalding) water or milk with one pint of cornmeal, and mix in with this a small teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of melted lard. Grease your bake-tins (described in Chapter I.) thoroughly with lard or butter, set the Johnnycake batter in one, cover over with the other, and bury the oven amongst the hot coals and ashes of the camp-fire, heaping the coals around it so as to have an equal heat on all portions of the oven. In twenty minutes dig out the oven, open it with the pliers and test the Johnnycake. It should be thoroughly baked in a good fire in from twenty to thirty minutes. If the meal is mixed with scalding water it will be lumpy and difficult to work into a batter.

Hoe Cakes.

Johnnycake batter, thinned down with more warm water or milk, may be fried the same as slapjacks.

Slapjacks.

To properly cook slapjacks the frying pan should be perfectly clean and smooth inside. If it is not, too much grease is required in cooking. Scrape it after each panful is cooked, and then only occasional greasing will be required, and this is best done with a clean rag containing butter. Drop thin batter in with a spoon, so that the cake will be very thin. Disturb it as little as possible, and when the cake is cooked firm on one side, turn it and cook on the other.

Cornmeal Slapjacks.

One quart of cold water is mixed with meal enough to make a thin batter, one teaspoonful of salt and one or two teaspoonfuls of baking powder having been stirred into the latter. The addition of one or two well-beaten eggs will improve it. Cook on a very hot pan, as above.

Wheat Slapjacks.

Make as above, except using wheat flour, and adding last of all one heaping tablespoonful of melted lard or butter, thoroughly stirred in.

Hecker's Flour Slapjacks.

Mix well one pint of Hecker's prepared flour with one-half pint of cold milk or water. Cook as above.

Corn Dodgers.

Mix one pint of corn meal, one small teaspoonful of salt and one tablespoonful of sugar with warm (not scalding) water enough to make a moderately stiff batter. Make into flat cakes about three-quarters of an inch thick, and fry in boiling fat till brown. Fried in bacon fat and eaten with the fried bacon they are very palatable.

Corn Pone or Ash Cakes.

If unprovided with the portable oven or bake tin recommended in Chapter I., mix up a pint of corn meal with water and a pinch of salt into a stiff dough, make into cakes, and set them on a clean, hot stone close to the coals of a hot fire. When the outside of the cakes has hardened a little cover them completely in hot ashes. In fifteen to twenty-five minutes rake them out, brush off the ashes, and devour quickly. Any ashes adhering after the brushing process can be readily removed by cutting out the irregularities in the crust where they have lodged. The writer has known a party of ladies, who could scarcely be induced to taste these cakes at first, become so fond of them after a trial as to insist upon having them three times a day for a week in camp.

Baking Powder Biscuits.

Put one pint of flour into a deep vessel, mix into it two large teaspoonfuls of baking powder[A] and a pinch of salt; then rub in one small teaspoonful of lard or butter, lessening the amount of salt if the latter is used, and add enough cold water or milk to make a soft dough. Handle as little as possible, but roll into a sheet about three-quarters of an inch thick, and cut into round cakes with an empty tin cup. Lay the biscuits close together in a well-greased tin, and bake a few minutes in the coals, as described above for Johnnycake.

Hecker's Flour Biscuits.

Require only the mixing of the flour with water, and are then ready to bake.

Quick Camp Bread.

Make a biscuit dough as above, and roll it to a thickness of half an inch. Grease a frying-pan and set it over the hot embers till the grease begins to melt. Then put the dough into the pan and set it on the fire, shaking it frequently to prevent the dough from adhering. When the crust has formed on the bottom, take the bread out of the pan and prop it up on edge, close to the fire, turning it occasionally to insure its being baked through. Or, turn the bread in the frying pan until it is cooked through. This bread will not keep soft long, and the writer prefers, when depending for any length of time upon his own baking, to make

Unleavened Bread.

This is the kind almost wholly used by coasting vessels, and is cooked as above in a frying-pan, even when there is a galley-stove with a good hot oven on board the vessel. The dough is mixed up with a quart of wheat flour, one teaspoonful of lard, a teaspoonful of salt and sufficient water to make it stiff. It is then beaten or hammered lustily on a board or smooth log until it becomes elastic. When cut up into biscuit it can be baked in the portable oven among the coals. It is called "Maryland Biscuit" along the Potomac and Chesapeake.

Fried and Boiled Eggs

Are so easy to prepare that no instruction is necessary in these familiar methods of cooking them.

Poached Eggs.

Into a frying pan nearly full of boiling water containing a teaspoonful of salt slip carefully the eggs one by one, breaking each previously into a cup. Keep them on the surface of the water, if possible, and boil gently three or four minutes, dipping up some of the water with a spoon and pouring it over the tops of the eggs. Serve on toast.

Scrambled Eggs.

Break the eggs into a cup to insure their freshness, and throw them into the frying pan with a lump of butter and salt and pepper. Stir over a fire of coals until they are almost hard. Do not break the yolks at first.