Camp cookery (Kephart)

Dumplings. — Those of biscuit dough have already been mentioned. When specially prepared they may be made as follows: Yz pint flour, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, ^ teaspoonful salt, % teaspoonful sugar, Yq pint milk. The stew that they are to be cooked with should be nearly done before the dumplings are started. Then mix the dry ingredients thoroughly. Wet with the milk and stir quickly into a smooth ball. Roll into a sheet three-quarters of an inch thick, and cut like biscuit. Meantime bring the stew to a sharp boil. Arrange dumplings on top of it, cover the vessel, and cook exactly ten minutes. MACARONI. Boiled Macaroni. — For one-half pound macaroni have not less than three quarts of salted water boiling rapidly. Break the macaroni into short pieces, and boil thirty-five minutes for the small, forty-five minutes for the large. Then drain, and pour sauce over it, or bake it. It is better if boiled in good broth instead of water. Tomato Sauce. — 1 quart can tomatoes, 1 tablespoonful butter, Q tablespoon fuls flour, 1 teaspoonful salt, Ys teaspoonful pepper, 1 teaspoonful sugar. Rub the flour into the butter until they blend. Brown this in a pan. Add the tomatoes and simmer thirty minutes. Stir frequently. Add the seasoning, along with spices, if you wish. This makes enough sauce for 1% pounds macaroni, but it keeps well in cold weather, and can be used with other dishes. Good in combination with the following : Macaroni with Cheese. — After the macaroni is boiled, put it in a pan with a little butter and some grated cheese. Stir gently, and as soon as the cheese is melted, serve; or, pour the above sauce over it. Macaroni, Baked.- — Boil first, as above. Drain. Place in a deep pan, add a cupful of cold milk, sprinkle in three tablespoonfuls grated cheese and one tablespoonful butter. Then bake until brown. PORRIDGE. Corn Meal Mush. — Mix two level tablespoonfuls salt with one quart meal. Bring four quarts of water (for yellow meal, or half as much for fresh white meal) to a hard boil in a two-gallon kettle. Mix the salted meal with enough cold water to make a batter that will run from the spoon; this is to prevent it from getting lumpy. With a large spoon drop the batter into the boiling water, adding gradually, so that water will not fall below boiling point. Stir constantly for ten minutes. Then cover pot and hang it high enough above fire to insure against scorching. Cook thus for one hour, stirring occasionally, and thinning with boiling water if it gets too thick. Fried Mush. — This, as Father Izaak said of another dish, is "too good for any but very honest men." The only drawback to this gastronomic joy is that it takes a whole panful for one man. As it is rather slow to fry, let each man perform over the fire for himself. The mush should have been poured into a greased pan the previous even- ing, and set in a cool place over night to harden. Cut into slices one-third of an inch thick, and fry in very hot grease until nicely browned. Eat with syrup, or au naturel.