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.
TUESDAY
BREAKFAST
Toasted Cornflakes
Fish cakes
Corn bread
Cocoa.
DINNER
Beef steak
Mashed potatoes
Peas
Corn starch
pudding
Bread and butter.
SUPPER
Vegetable soup
Stewed figs
Gingerbread
Bread and butter.
WEDNESDAY
BREAKFAST
Cream of Wheat
Meat hash
Cocoa
Bread and butter.
DINNER
Roast lamb
Tomato sauce
Boiled potatoes
Lemon sherbet
Bread and butter.
SUPPER
Creamed fish
Apple sauce
Sweet cake
Bread and butter.
THURSDAY
BREAKFAST
Shredded Wheat
Baked potatoes
Creamed codfish
Bread and butter
Cocoa.
DINNER
Boiled beef
Mashed potatoes
Corn starch
Pudding with
Strawberry sauce.
SUPPER
Creamed dried beef
Apple sauce
Gingerbread
Bread and Butter.
FRIDAY
BREAKFAST
Oatmeal
Codfish cakes
Bread and butter
Cocoa.
DINNER
Fried weak fish
Stewed tomatoes
Boiled potatoes
Vanilla ice cream.
SUPPER
Vegetable soup
Bread and butter
Sweet cake.
SATURDAY
BREAKFAST
Puffed Rice
Fried eggs
Bread and butter
Cocoa.
DINNER
Escalloped salmon
Rice
Boiled Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Bread and butter.
SUPPER
Boston baked beans
Tomato catsup
Sweetbread.
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
Cream of Wheat
Bananas
Fried mush and maple syrup
Coffee.
DINNER
Roast chicken
Creamed onions
Mashed potatoes
Pineapple sherbet
Bread and butter.
SUPPER
Cold beef
Apple sauce
Sweet cake
Bread and butter.
Serving
Each table is provided with meat platter, vegetable dishes, bread plate,
butter dish, sugar bowl, milk pitcher, water pitcher, salt and pepper
shakers, etc. The only need of a waiter is to bring the food to the tables
and replenish the dishes. Each boy takes his turn at waiting. If there are
seven boys in a tent, a boy serves one day in seven. He usually sits at
the right side of the leader and eats his meal with the others. This does
away with a second or "waiter" table. By this system you avoid the
tendency to smartness and roughness. Each leader is careful to see that
food is not wasted at his table, that decency and order is preserved, and
wholesome conversation and pleasantries indulged in during the meal, as an
aid to good digestion.
Dishwashing
Some camps pay for all work done and give boys more freedom, but
experience has clearly proven that the successful camp is the one where
boys all have responsibility and definite duties to perform. Dishwashing
is never attractive. It may be made less irksome by carefully
systematizing the work. There are several ways. One way is that of having
each boy wash his own dishes, working a tent at a time. A number of tubs
of hot, soapy water are provided for washing, and several extra tubs
filled with very hot water for rinsing. At a signal from the Camp Director
or person in charge, each table of boys by rotation passes from the dining
room with the dishes to these tubs and each boy proceeds to do his own
dishwashing and rinsing and drying. Another way is to provide two
good-sized dish-pans for each table, and assign two boys to do the
dish-washing for the day. The dishes are washed at the tables and stowed
away in a closet, each table having its own closet. Another way is to
purchase a good dish-washing machine, like that made by the Fearless
Dishwashing Co., Rochester, N. Y. (Cost, $100), and install it in the
kitchen. This plan is in operation at Camp Dudley and Camp Hayo-Went-Ha.
[Illustration: Camp Hayo-Went-Ha dishwashing]
Cleanliness must be insisted upon. Never leave anything unwashed until it
is used again. The eating from dirty and greasy plates, forks, knives, and
spoons will result in disease. No matter what system you use, do not let
down on dirty dishes.
A FEW HINTS
Soup
"Soup makes the soldier," said Napoleon I. Bones should never be thrown
away, but cracked and placed in stock pot, covered with water and let
simmer. This makes "stock" which is the foundation of all soup.
All green vegetables should be washed well in cold water and put in
boiling salted water, and boiled slowly until tender. All white and
underground vegetables should be cooked in boiling unsalted water, the
salt being added at the last moment.
Potatoes take from twenty to thirty minutes to boil. In boiling and
roasting allow about a quarter of an hour for every pound of meat. The
fire should be medium hot. Boiled fish should be cooked ten minutes to
each pound.
Water
Water is the only true beverage. Forming as it does three-quarters of the
weight of the human body, it is of next importance to the air we breathe.
Milk is a food and not a beverage.
Onions
Peel or slice onions in water and you will not shed tears.
Egg Test
To test the freshness of an egg, drop into cold water. If the egg sinks
quickly it is fresh, if it stands on end it is doubtful, and quite bad if
it floats. The shell of a fresh egg looks dull; a stale one is glossy.
Mending Pots
A pot may be mended by making a paste of flour, salt and fine wood ashes.
Plaster it on where the leak is and let it dry before using.
Table Etiquette
A mother complained that her boy, after being in camp for two weeks,
returned home speaking a new language, particularly at the dining table.
If he wanted milk, he called for "cow," butter was "goat," biscuits were
"sinkers," meat was "corpse," and there were several other terms and
phrases peculiar to camp life. He had to learn all over the ways of
decency and reasonable table refinement. There is no plausible reason why
this should be so in a boys' camp. Grabbing of food, yelling for food,
upsetting of liquids, and table "rough-house" will be largely prevented by
the system of seating and of serving. The most satisfactory way is to seat
by tent groups. Have as many tables as you have tents. Let each tent
leader preside at the head of his table, and serve the food in family
style. The leader serves the food, and sees that the boys observe the same
delightful table life in camp as at home.
Grace at Meals
Grace should be said before each meal, either silently or audibly. In the
morning the hymn on the following page is sung by the boys at Camp Becket,
followed with bowed heads in silent prayer:
MORNING PRAYER HYMN FOR BOYS' CAMPS
To be sung at morning meal
Words and Music by H. W. Gibbon.
[Illustration: Music]
Morning
Gracious Giver of all good,
Thee we thank for rest and food.
Grant that all we do or say
In Thy service be this day.
Noon
Father for this noonday meal
We would speak the praise we feel,
Health and strength we have from Thee,
Help us, Lord, to faithful be.
Night
Tireless guardian of our way,
Thou hast kept us well this day.
While we thank Thee, we request
Care continued, pardon, rest.
-Camp Wawayanda.
[Illustration: Forest scene]
Go abroad upon the paths of Nature,
And when all its voices whisper, and its silent things
Are breathing the deep beauty of the world--
Kneel at its ample altar.-Bryant.