Remove all refuse and leavings to a good distance from camp, and never allow the vicinity of the tent to become littered up with tomato cans, old cartridge shells, bones, feathers, corn-husks, etc.
CHAPTER II.
Soups.—General Remarks on Cooking Soups.—Soups made of Meat, Vegetables, Deer's Heads, Small Game, Rice, Fish and Turtle.
Soups should be made in camp as often as the materials are at hand. They are wholesome and invigorating, and not difficult to prepare; and so many different kinds can be made that no camper's appetite need be cloyed by lack of variety. Most canned soups are excellent, and the directions for cooking which come with them should be closely followed.
The time given for cooking soups in the recipes that follow may seem unnecessarily long, but if it is done in a less time, it is at a loss in the flavor. Fast boiling drives off considerable of the aroma of the ingredients used, the water evaporates fast and requires constant replenishing with boiling water, which compels the cook to have an additional vessel always on the fire. Constant skimming is necessary, and an occasional slight stirring will prevent any of the vegetables from burning on the pot where but little water is used.
Campers do not commonly have fresh meat in camp, unless in a portion of the country where venison, buffalo or bear meat form a part of the larder. With any one of these, or with beef, we can make what I will call
Meat Soup.
Use one pound of lean meat (cut into pieces the size of an egg) to a quart of water. Put on the fire with the water cold, and let it heat gradually and simmer rather than boil, skimming it constantly and keeping the cover on the pot when this operation is not being performed. If any cooked meat or bones are to be added, this should be done after the soup has cooked three-quarters of an hour. From four and a half to five hours are necessary for the soup to cook. Just before it is done, season with salt and pepper. If made in an iron pot it should be transferred as soon as done to a tin or earthen vessel. In cold weather this soup may be kept fresh and sweet for a week and "warmed over" as long as it lasts.