Camp Cooking
Recipes. The quantities given are for but two people. When the number is greater, corresponding quantities of materials should be used.
Biscuits. There are many brands of prepared flour which contain baking powder, shortening and other ingredients. These flours require nothing [[116]]more than the addition of enough water to make a soft dough before baking. The baking may be done in a skillet, by simply placing the dough on the bottom of the skillet after greasing and heating. When done on one side the dough should be turned.
If the camper has a reflector oven or a stove oven, roll out or even pat out with the hand the dough to a thickness of half an inch; then with the top of a baking powder can cut out the biscuits one by one and bake until brown. If there be no baking-powder can at hand the biscuits may be roughly shaped with the hand.
If the flour used is not “prepared,” mix in a pan one pint of ordinary flour with a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. Add a tablespoonful of fat (butter, lard, or other shortening), half a teaspoonful of salt, and three tablespoonfuls of evaporated milk, putting in also just enough water to make a soft dough. Handle the dough as little as possible. Rub flour on the bread board, or, lacking a board, on the bottom of a pan or any flat surface, and then cut out as above. A knife can be used for cutting if nothing else is at hand. Put into a greased pan and place baker before the fire. If there is a good hot fire, the biscuits will be done in about twelve minutes. Stick in a fork, and if no dough sticks to it when withdrawn the biscuits are done.
Flapjacks may be mixed up as biscuits, but the dough should be thin enough to run. This dough is then to be poured or dipped onto the hot skillet, griddle, or pan, baked until one side is done and then [[117]]turned with a turner, unless the camper is skillful enough to turn his pancakes by tossing.
The prepared flour is by all odds the best for pancakes because all you have to add is water. But if the camper prefers to do his own mixing let him mix as for biscuit, but in addition put in a tablespoonful of dried eggs. A large spoonful of batter will make a moderate sized pancake.
Corn Bread. The best corn bread is made by taking the old-fashioned whole corn meal, and buttermilk or clabbered milk, with baking soda. All that was necessary was to take a quart of buttermilk, a couple of pinches of salt (according to taste), a teaspoonful of baking soda, and then add the corn meal until there was a thick batter. This was then poured into a deep pan which had been greased and baked for half an hour. The difficulty with this recipe is that the fundamental ingredient is unobtainable. The corn meal that can be bought in stores is almost always a bolted, devitalized stuff that is very unsatisfactory for corn bread. In some rural districts one can, once in a while, come across a country miller who grinds the old-time corn meal. If the camper comes across such an one, let him buy some of this meal and try it out as above.
Here is one of the modern recipes for what is called corn bread. Into a bread pan put one half pint of flour and one half pint of corn meal, thoroughly mixed with a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, and half a teaspoonful of salt, a dessert spoonful of desiccated eggs, a half teaspoonful of [[118]]sugar, and a tablespoonful of cold pork fat, lard or vegetable substitute. Add three dessertspoonfuls of evaporated milk and sufficient water to make a thick batter. Stir well, pour into a greased pan and place baker before fire of hot coals.
Corn Meal Mush may be made by pouring slowly into a quart of boiling water to which has been added a half teaspoonful of salt, one cupful of corn meal, stirring constantly. If you wish to avoid its being lumpy, better feed in the corn meal through your fingers, so as to scatter it as it reaches the water.
Fish is best broiled. Rub fat on the grid to prevent sticking. If the fish is large remove head and entrails, split down the back and lay on the broiler with slices of bacon or pork placed across. Pepper and salt to suit taste. To fry small fish, put in pan with plenty of bacon or pork fat. Turn frequently to insure thorough cooking. When done spread with butter and brown for a few minutes. To bake small fish wrap each in wet paper and cover in hot ashes.
Squirrels should be broiled, using only young ones. After skinning and cleaning, soak in cold salted water for an hour. Wipe dry and place on a grid with slices of bacon laid across for basting. To fry old ones, parboil slowly for half an hour in salted water and fry in fat or butter until brown.
Rabbits, after being cleaned and skinned, should have the head removed. Then cut off the legs at the body joint and cut the back into three or four [[119]]pieces. Parboil in salted water. To stew leave in pot, add pepper, a tablespoonful each of rice and beans and a teaspoonful of dried onions. Add water so that the pieces of meat keep covered and boil until the meat will separate from the bones. To fry, remove from the pot when parboiled, sprinkle the meat with flour and fry in butter or fat until brown. Use only young animals for frying. To roast, remove from pot and place in pan, spread a piece of pork on each piece of rabbit, and baste frequently until done.
Game Birds should first be plucked, then cleaned, singed, and the head and legs removed. To fry, cut into convenient pieces and parboil until tender. Sprinkle with pepper, salt, and flour. Fry in pork fat. When done stir into frying pan a half cupful of flour until dark brown, add some of the liquor in which the bird was parboiled and bring to a boil. Pour this gravy over the bird on the dish. To broil, split the bird up back and place on the grid. Baste with drippings from a piece of pork held above on a stick. Cuts of larger birds like ducks or prairie chickens may be sliced off and held over the coals on sticks. To fricassee, cut into convenient pieces and parboil. When tender, drain off the water and sprinkle the pieces with salt, pepper, and flour. Fry some slices of pork and add to the fat some flour, stirring until brown. Pour into this the liquor in which the bird was parboiled and bring to a boil. Put the pieces of bird in a hot dish and pour the gravy over them. [[120]]
How to Boil Potatoes. This may seem superfluous, but of a truth most campers do not have much success in boiling potatoes, but get a soggy product which is anything but appetizing.
Peel the potatoes and allow them to stand in water for a short time. Then place the pot over hot coals. When boiling add salt and when the potatoes are done drain off the water thoroughly. Put the pot with the lid on back over the fire for a minute. Then, holding the lid on firmly, shake the pot well, and turn out the potatoes. They will be mealy and delicious. To bake potatoes, wrap each potato in wet paper and place in hot ashes until done, which will be in about half an hour—depending somewhat on the size of the potatoes and the heat of the ashes.
To make mashed potatoes, take a cup of dried (dehydrated) potatoes and a cup and a half of boiling water. Boil and stir for three minutes, and then add a dessertspoonful of evaporated milk. Salt, pepper, and butter to taste. To make potato cakes, prepare as above, add a teaspoonful of flour and form into small cakes. Sprinkle with flour and fry in pork fat.
Pork fat is frequently mentioned in these recipes. A vegetarian will perhaps be better satisfied by using a vegetable substitute.
Baking in Clay where clay is procurable gives satisfactory results. Cover bird or fish drawn, or undrawn, with a coating of wet clay a couple of inches thick. Place in live coals and cover with [[121]]hot ashes. In about an hour the clay will be baked hard. Crack open lengthwise and remove the meat, which will be tender, well-flavored and juicy. If baked undrawn the entrails should be removed after baking. [[122]]
CHAPTER IX
CAMP HEALTH AND RECREATION
Making a Pleasure Rather Than a Business of Camping—Coöperation in the Camp—Rightly Selecting the Camp Site—Playing by the Way—Basket-ball, Quoits, etc.—Exercise—Emergencies, First Aid—Prone Pressure Method of Restoring the Unconscious—Poisons and Antidotes—Position of Tent—Supposed Hardships of Camping Mostly Illusory—Keeping Dry—Keeping Out Insects—Sample List for a Medicine Kit—Care of the Car—Evening Sports.
A motor-camping trip is not a business trip, but a journey whose object is recreation and rejuvenation. Consequently the pace should be easy and the intervals of rest frequent. Those who push on relentlessly, driving forward from morning until evening, and then camp for the night only to journey on again the next day, miss much of the good that may be gained from a camping tour.
The trip should be by easy stages, without definite objectives for each day. The aim should be enjoyment and leisure rather than “to get there.” If a place proves unattractive tarry but for a night, but otherwise camp for several days, or until the local attractions have been sufficiently explored for satisfaction. [[123]]