A Green Pole Placed in a Forked Stick Provides a Pot Hanger for a Noonday Meal
For cooking the noonday meal a small fire will suffice to boil the pot and furnish the heat sufficient to make a fry. Simply drive a forked stick in the ground and lay a green stick in the fork with the opposite end on the ground with a rock laid on it to keep it down, and hang the pot on the projecting stub left for this purpose. A long stick with projecting stubs, planted in the ground to slant over the fire at an angle, will serve as well. Let the pot hang about 2 ft. from the ground, collect an armful of dry twigs and plenty of larger kindling sticks. Now shave three or four of the larger sticks and leave the shavings on the ends, stand them up beneath the pot, tripod fashion, and place the smaller sticks around them to build a miniature wigwam. While the pot is boiling get a couple of bed chunks, or andirons, 4 or 5 in. in diameter, set and level these on each side of the fire, and put the frying pan on them. When the pot has boiled there will be a nice bed of coals for frying that will not smoke the meal.
When the woodsman makes “one-night stands,” he will invariably build the fire and start the kettle boiling while he or a companion stakes the tent, and as soon as the meal is prepared, a pot of water is started boiling for dish washing.
For roasting and baking with the reflector, a rather high fire is needed and a few sticks, a yard or more long, resting upright against a backlog or rock, will throw the heat forward. When glowing coals are wanted one can take them from the camp fire, or split uniform billets of green, or dead, wood about 2 in. thick and pile them in the form of a hollow square, or crib. The fire is built in the center of the crib and more parallel sticks are laid on top until it is a foot or more higher. The crib will act as a chimney, and a roaring fire will result, which upon burning down will give a glowing mass of coals.
Camp cookery implies the preparation of the more simple and nutritious foods, and in making up a list it is well to include only the more staple foodstuffs, which are known to have these qualities. Personal ideas are certain to differ greatly, but the following list may be depended upon and will serve as a guide.
Provision List
This list of material will be sufficient for two persons on an outing of two weeks. Carry in a stout canvas food bag 12 lb. of common wheat flour. The self-raising kind is good, but the common flour is better. It is well to bring a little yellow, or white, corn meal, about 6 lb., to be served as a johnny cake, hot, cold, or fried mush. It is fine for rolling a fish in for frying. Rice is very nutritious, easily digested, and easy to cook. It is good when boiled with raisins. When cold, it can be fried in slices. About 3 lb. will be sufficient. Oatmeal is less sustaining than rice, but it is good for porridge, or sliced when cold and fried. Take along about 3 lb. About 2 lb. of the self-raising buckwheat flour should be taken along, as it is the favorite for flapjacks or griddle cakes. Beans are very nutritious, and about 2 lb. of the common baking kind will be required, to boil or bake with the salt pork. For soups, take 2 lb. of split peas. They can also be served as a vegetable. Salt pork is a stand-by, and 5 lb. of it is provided and carried in friction-top tins or a grease-proof bag. It should be parboiled before adding to the beans or when fried like bacon. The regulation meat of the wilderness is bacon, and 5 lb. of it is carried in a tin or bag. Carry along 3 lb. of lard in a tin or bag, for bread-making and frying. About 3 lb. of butter is carried in a friction-top tin. For making rice puddings, take along 1 lb. of raisins. About 1 lb. of shredded codfish is good for making fish balls. Other small articles, such as ¹⁄₂ lb. of tea; 1 lb. of coffee; 3 lb. of granulated sugar; 1 pt. of molasses; 1 pt. of vinegar; 4 cans of condensed milk; 1 can of milk powder, a good substitute for fresh milk; 1 can egg powder, good for making omelets or can be scrambled; 1 lb. salt; 2 oz. pepper; 1 package each of evaporated potatoes, onions, and fruits, and 3 packages of assorted soup tablets.
This list is by no means complete, but it will suffice for the average person on the average trip, since the occasional addition of a fish or game will help to replenish the stores. When going very light by pack, only the most compact and nutritious foods should be selected, while on short, easy trips the addition of canned goods will supply a greater variety.