Camping For Boys

by H. W. Gibson

CHAPTER IX—FOOD—ITS FUNCTION, PURCHASE, PREPARATION, COOKING, SERVING

GOOD COOKING FOOD CHARTS DIGESTION CHARTS TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES PURCHASE OF FOOD GROCERY LIST THE STEWARD COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT THE COOK LIST OF FOODS WEEK OF MENUS A FEW HINTS TABLE ETIQUETTE GRACE AT MEALS SERVING DISH WASHING

We may live without friends, we may live without books,
But civilized man cannot live without cooks.

Good Cooking

The normal boy sums up life in two words of three letters each: "F-u-n" and "E-a-t." As long as there is plenty of fun and plenty to eat, he thinks life is worth living, and he is not so far from the truth, for it is only when the fun of living dies within us, and our digestive apparatus refuses to do its function that we "become of all men most miserable." A boy will put up with all sorts of inconvenience but rebels at once at poor food and bad cooking. The good nature, congenial atmosphere, and contentedness of camp life is largely due to good cooking. Economize in every other way, but think twice before cheap cooks are employed or a cheap grade of food purchased.

[Illustration: Where They Eat to Live]

A good cook will economize, he knows what to do with left-overs and how to prepare menus of variety. The quantity of swill soon reveals the worth of the cook. In a large camp a hundred dollars may easily find its way into the garbage can because of cheap cooks and poor food. A growing boy demands relatively more of the tissue-building kind of food than a grown person, because the body is being built up. When the full stature is reached the tissue-building part of the food is only required to take the place of that worn out each day. Professor Atwater has told us that the boy of fifteen or sixteen requires ninety per cent of the food ration of the adult man engaged in moderate muscular work. Boys at twelve require seventy per cent.

Vegetables, fruits, cereals, bread, nuts and meats furnish the essentials. Sugar and fat have only part of them. Coffee and tea have no food values except for the milk and sugar added. They tend to check certain normal secretion in the body and should not be used during growth.

Food Charts

The United States Department of Agriculture publishes a series of fifteen food charts of exceptional value. Leaders and cooks will find them helpful in providing and planning the food for the boys. Boys will be interested in the information given and the attractive form of presentation. The set costs $1.00. Send to Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. The following table is a condensation of the facts given on the charts, and will help in planning menus:

Prepared by C. F. LANGWORTHY. Expert in charge of Nutrition Investigation.

Carbohy- Calories
Chart 1 Protein Fat drates Ash Water per
Whole milk 3.3 4.0 5.0 0.7 87.0 310
Skim milk 3.4 0.3 5.1 0.7 90.5 165
Buttermilk 3.0 0.5 4.8 0.7 91.0 160
Cream 2.5 18.5 4.5 2.5 74.0 865

Chart 2
Whole egg 14.8 10.5 —- 1.0 73.7 700
Egg white 13.0 0.2 —- 0.6 86.2 265
Egg yolk 16.1 33.3 —- 1.1 49.5 1608
Cream cheese 25.9 33.7 2.4 3.8 34.2 1950
Cottage cheese 20.9 1.0 4.3 1.8 72.0 510

Chart 3
(edible portion of)
Lamb chop 17.6 28.3 —- 1.0 53.1 1540
Pork 16.9 30.1 —- 1.0 52.0 1580
Smoked ham 16.1 38.8 —- 4.8 40.3 1940
Beefsteak 18.6 18.5 —- 1.0 61.9 1130
Dried beef 30.0 6.6 —- 9.1 54.3 840

Chart 4
Cod, lean fish 15.8 0.4 —- 1.2 82.6 325
Cod, Salt 21.5 0.3 —- 24.7 53.5 410
Oyster 6.2 1.2 3.7 2.0 86.9 235
Smoked herring 36.4 15.8 —- 13.2 34.6 1355
Mackerel, fat 18.3 7.1 —- 1.2 73.4 645

Chart 5
Olive Oil —- 100.0 —- —- —— 4080
Bacon 9.4 67.4 —- 4.4 18.8 3030
Beef suet 4.7 81.8 —- 0.3 13.2 3510
Butter 1.0 85.0 —- 3.0 11.0 3410
Lard —- 100.0 —- —- —— 4080

Chart 6
Corn 10.0 4.3 73.4 1.5 10.8 1800
Wheat 12.2 1.7 73.7 1.8 10.6 1750
Buckwheat 10.0 2.2 73.2 2.0 12.6 1600
Oat 11.8 5.0 69.2 3.0 11.0 1720
Rice 8.0 2.0 77.0 1.0 12.0 1720
Rye 12.2 1.5 73.9 1.9 10.5 1750

Chart 7
White bread 9.2 1.3 53.1 1.1 35.3 1215
Whole wh bread 9.7 0.9 49.7 1.3 38.4 1140
Oat breakfast
food (cooked) 2.8 0.5 11.5 0.7 84.5 285
Toasted bread 11.5 1.6 61.2 1.7 24.0 1420
Cornbread 7.9 4.7 46.3 2.2 38.9 1205
Macaroni 3.0 1.5 15.8 1.3 78.4 415

Chart 8
Sugar, granulated —- 100.0 —- —— 1860
Molasses 2.4 —- 69.3 3.2 25.1 1290
Stick candy —- —- 96.5 0.5 3.0 1785
Maple sugar —- —- 82.8 0.9 16.3 1540
Honey 0.4 —- 81.2 0.2 18.2 1520

Chart 9
Parsnip 1.6 0.5 13.5 1.4 83.0 230
Onion 1.6 0.3 9.9 0.6 87.6 225
Potato 2.2 0.1 18.4 1.0 78.3 385
Celery 1.1 —- 3.4 1.0 94.5 8

Carbohy- Fuel Value
Chart 10 Protein Fat drates Ash Water Calories per
Shelled beans. fresh 9.4 0.6 29.1 2.0 58.9 740
Navy beans, dry 22.5 1.8 59.6 3.5 12.6 1600
String beans, green 2.3 0.3 7.4 0.8 89.2 195
Corn, green 3.1 1.1 19.7 0.7 75.4 500

Chart 11
Apple(edible portion) 0.4 0.5 14.2 0.3 84.6 290
Fried fig 4.3 0.3 74.2 2.4 18.8 1475
Strawberry 1.0 0.6 7.4 0.6 90.4 180
Banana 1.3 0.6 22.0 0.8 75.3 460

Chart 12
Grapes(edible portion)1.3 1.6 19.2 0.5 77.4 450
Raisins 2.6 3.3 76.1 3.4 14.6 1605
Canned fruit 1.1 0.1 21.1 0.5 77.2 415
Fruit jelly —- —- 78.3 0.7 21.0 1455
Grape juice 0.2 —- 7.4 0.2 92.2 150

Chart 13
Walnut 16.6 63.4 16.1 1.4 2.5 3285
Chestnut 10.7 7.0 74.2 2.2 5.9 1875
Peanut 25.8 38.6 22.4 2.0 9.2 2500
Peanut butter 29.3 46.5 17.1 5.0 2.1 2825
Coconut, desiccated 6.3 57.4 31.5 1.3 3.5 3121

[Illustration: Chart 14 Functions and Uses of Food; Constituent of Food]

Chart 15
DIETARY STANDARD FOR MAN IN FULL VIGOR AT MODERATE MUSCULAR WORK
Protein Energy
Condition Considered Grams Calories
Food as purchased 115 3,800
Food eaten 100 3,500
Food digested 95 3,200

ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF MINERAL MATTER REQUIRED PER MAN PER DAY
Grams
Phosphoric acid (P2O5) 3 to 4
Calcium oxid 0.7 to 1.0
Sulphuric acid (SO3) 2 to 3.5
Magnesium oxid 0.3 to 0.5
Potassium oxid 2 to 3
Iron 0.006 to 0.012
Sodium oxid 4 to 6
Clorin 6 to 8

Time required for Digestion of various Foods:
Hrs. Min.
Apples, sweet 1 30
Apples, sour 2
Beans, pod, boiled 2 30
Beef, fresh, rare roasted 3
Beef, dried 3 30
Beets, boiled 3 45
Bread, wheat, fresh 3 40
Bread corn 3 15
Butter (melted) 3 30
Cabbage, raw, with vinegar 2
Cabbage, boiled 4 30
Cheese 3 30
Codfish 2
Custard, baked 2 45
Ducks, wild, roasted 4 30
Eggs, fresh, soft boiled 3
Eggs, fresh, hard boiled 3 30
Eggs, fresh, fried 3 30
Lamb, fresh, boiled 2 30
Milk, raw 2 15
Milk, boiled 2
Parsnips, boiled 2 30
Mutton, roast 3 15
Mutton, boiled 3
Mutton, broiled 3
Pork, roast 5 15
Potato, boiled 3 30
Potato, baked 2 30
Rice, boiled 1
Sago, boiled 1 45
Salmon, boiled 4
Soup, beef, vegetable 4
Soup, chicken 3
Tapioca, boiled 2
Trout, boiled or fried 1 30
Turnips, boiled 3 30
Veal, fresh, boiled 4

Food naturally falls into four classes. Potatoes and grains furnish starches. The starchy foods are heat and force producers. Eggs, meats, nuts, milk, dried beans, peas and lentils furnish nitrogen, and are flesh and muscle producers. Butter, oil, lard, and fatty meats supply fats. Sugar, molasses, honey, fruit, etc., furnish sugar.

Starchy foods should be cooked at a high temperature and either boiled or baked; nitrogenous and fatty foods at lower temperature, prolonging the time. Meats are much better broiled, roasted, or stewed than fried. Vegetables should be steamed or baked so that the juices may not be wasted. Veal and pork (except ham and bacon) should have no place in the menu of a boys' summer camp. Both require from four to five hours and fifteen minutes to digest. Study carefully the above tables and then plan your meals intelligently.

Table of Approximate Weights and Measures Three teaspoonfuls = one tablespoon. Four tablespoonfuls = one wine glass. Two wine glasses = one gill. Two gills = one tumbler or cup. Two cupfuls = one pint. One quart sifted flour = one pound. One quart granulated sugar = one pound, nine ounces. One pint closely packed butter = one pound. Three cupfuls sugar = one pound. Five cupfuls sifted flour = one pound. One tablespoonful salt = one ounce. Seven tablespoonfuls granulated sugar = one half pint. Twelve tablespoonfuls flour = one pint. Three coffee cupfuls = one quart. Ten eggs = one pound.

Buying Food

The purchase of food is an important item of expense in operating a boys' camp, large or small. If the camp is a large one, one hundred or more boys, and you have a good-sized refrigerator and storehouse, always purchase in bulk form from a wholesale firm. Canned goods, such as peas, tomatoes, corn, and apples, buy in gallon cans in case lots and save cost of extra tin and labels. Cocoa may be purchased in five-pound cans. Condensed milk (unsweetened) in 20-ounce cans. Flour and sugar by the barrel. Beans by the bushel. Butter by the firkin[1]. For instance, a good heavy 200-pound hind quarter of beef will furnish a roast beef dinner, a steak breakfast, a meat stew supper, a meat hash breakfast, and a good thick soup full of nourishment from the bones. The suet may be rendered into lard. There will be no waste, and you get the very best of meat. Buy lamb whole and fowl cleaned, and eggs by the crate. Keep an accurate inventory, also the cost of foods. It will be found interesting to make a resume of food at the end of each season, listing quantities, costs, and amounts used each day and ascertain the actual cost per day for each boy.

[Transcriber's Footnote 1: About 1/4 of a barrel or 9 gallons (34 liters).]

The following "Grocery List" is for a large camp, but it will serve also to form the basis of providing for small camps:

Cocoa
Coffee
Sugar (granulated)
Beans, yellow
Beans, red kidney
Tapioca
Rice
Oatmeal (in bulk)
Cornmeal
Toasted Corn Flakes
Cream of Wheat
Shredded Wheat
Salt (table)
Salt (rock)
Pepper, black
Ginger
Cloves
Soda
Cinnamon
Baking Powder
Cream of Tartar
Magic yeast
Raisins (seeded)
Currants
Flour
Graham flour
Corn starch
Gelatin
Figs
Prunes
Evaporated fruits
Codfish cakes
Macaroni
Crackers
Ginger Snaps
Pilot Biscuits
Extracts:
Vanilla,
Lemon
Kitchen Boquet (for gravy)
Chocolate cake
Lemons
Olive Oil
Vinegar
Lard
Butter
Eggs
Onions
Potatoes
Sapolio [soap]
Gold Dust
Laundry soap
Mustard (dry)
Mustard (prepared in mugs);
Chow Chow
Pickles
Piccalilli;
Chili Sauce
Bacon
Ham
Dried beef
Salt pork
Cheese
Matches
Candles
Kerosene oil
Lantern wicks
Chloride of Lime.

CANNED GOODS

Corn; Sliced peaches; Tomatoes; Shredded pineapple;
Peas; Strawberries; Lima beans; Clams (for chowder);
Beets; Condensed milk (unsweetened); Apples; Salmon;
Plums;

The Steward

A reliable person should be in charge of the food supplies. In some camps he is called the Steward. He will see that the supply is sufficient, arrange the menus in consultation with the Chef, keep his storeroom neat and scrupulously clean. As a matter of record and for the purpose of ascertaining cost of feeding the boys, a number of camps keep a daily record like the illustrated form.

The Cook

The cook is the keynote of happiness or unhappiness. Get a good cook, professionally and morally, one who understands that he is not in camp for a vacation. A capable cook will take care of fifty boys without any assistance, except what help the boys may render in the preparation of vegetables. For years two cooks have looked after the meals of 175 to 200 boys in the camps conducted each season by the writer. The wages of the head cook or chef range from two to three dollars and fifty cents a day. Some camps secure cooks from the hotels and restaurants, others from the lumber camps. No matter where he is secured, be sure that he is clean, in person, in habits, and in speech. Do not permit boys to loaf about the kitchen. In the planning of menus, food value and variety must be considered. The following represents the staple articles of food for a boys' camp.

[Illustration: COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT CAMP BECKET]

SUGGESTED LIST OF DISHES FOR BOYS' CAMPS
Breakfast

Fruit: Bananas, raspberries, blueberries, cantaloupes, apples, stewed prunes, applesauce, baked apples, stewed apples, stewed apricots, stewed figs.

Cereals: Oatmeal, Shredded Wheat, Cream of Wheat, Toasted

Corn Flakes; corn meal mush and milk, Hominy Grits, Puffed Rice,
Wheatlets.

Eggs: Fried, boiled, scrambled, omelette, poached on toast.

Meats and Fish: Bacon, meat hash, meat stew, chopped meat on toast, codfish cakes, creamed codfish, fried fresh fish, creamed dried beef, fresh sausage.

Vegetables: Potatoes-Baked, creamed, mashed, browned, German fried; baked beans.

Drinks: Cocoa, milk, coffee (only occasionally), pure water.

Bread: Toasted bread, corn bread, muffins, biscuits, hot cakes.

Dinner

Soups: Old-fashioned vegetable soup, bean soup, clam or fish chowder, corn chowder. Thick soups are preferable for camps.

Meats: Roasts—beef, lamb, chicken. Stews—-beef, lamb, Steak, Fricassee of chicken, fricassee of lamb, haricot of lamb, pot roast of beef, Hamburg steak, corned beef, boiled ham, meat pie.

Fish: Baked, fried, boiled; escalloped salmon, salmon croquettes.

Vegetables: Potatoes—mashed, boiled, French fried, browned. Cabbage. Corn—stewed, escalloped, corn pie, corn on cob. Peas— creamed with carrots. Lima beans. Summer squash. Tomatoes— stewed, escalloped, au gratin with tomatoes. Apple sauce, creamed onions; cabbage slaw. Greens-spinach, beet tops.

Desserts: Ice Cream-vanilla, chocolate, strawberry (preserved),
raspberry, lemon, coffee, caramel, peach, pineapple (shredded),
orange, lemon. Sherbet—lemon, orange, pineapple, raspberry. Rice
pudding, plain with fruit sauce, rice with raisins. Tapioca pudding
with apples or fruit. Bread pudding. Cottage pudding, lemon sauce or
fruit sauce. Banana pudding. Sliced peaches with cream. Pie-apple,
blueberry, blackberry. Cornstarch pudding.

Supper

Cereals: Cream of Wheat, mush and milk, Shredded Wheat.

Cold Dishes: Sliced beef, ham, corned beef, potato salad, Cabbage slaw, pressed meats.

Hot Dishes: Irish stew, meat croquettes, frankfurters, potato cakes, baked beans, thick soups, stewed kidney beans. Potatoes—baked, fried, creamed. Creamed salmon with peas; codfish; macaroni and cheese; potato hash.

Desserts: Prunes, stewed apples, stewed apricots, fresh fruits, stewed pears, stewed figs.

Cakes: Gingerbread, sweetbread, cookies.

Relishes: Pickles beets, chow chow, piccalilli, watermelon spiced.

Drinks: Lemonade, iced tea, cocoa, hot milk.

Local geographical conditions will suggest a variety of dishes. There should be plenty of milk to drink, and good bread and butter. Cake and fancy dishes are not necessary. The bill of fare should be an elastic one. When the day is cold and dreary, hot chowders, soups, cocoa, etc., should be served.

On a warm day, lemonade and cold dishes are desirable. Every camp should, if possible, have its own ice-cream freezer, as ice-creams, sherbets, and water ices are not only healthy but inexpensive. An occasional delicacy is desirable. Canned shredded pineapple, strawberries and sliced peaches make excellent sherbets and ice cream. In one camp chicken and ice cream are served every Sunday dinner.

A Sample Week of Menus

MONDAY

BREAKFAST
Oatmeal
Fried potatoes
Cocoa
Cream of tartar
biscuits.

DINNER
Irish stew
Boiled potatoes
Green corn on cob
Apple tapioca
Bread and butter.

SUPPER
Fried eggs
Prunes
Sweet cake
Bread and butter
Cocoa.