Part 16 (1/2)

”Some campers boil the corn in the husk and think it is better that way, but I find I always burn my fingers taking off the leaves and silk, so I believe in peeling it as we do at home,” said Jack's father, as he put the ears in the kettle slowly, so as not to stop the boiling of the water. ”Now for supper, this is the way to fix it:”

ROAST CORN

Take off the husks and silk. Put a stick in the end of the ear, and toast it brown over a bed of coals; have ready b.u.t.ter and salt to put on each.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Roasting Corn Over a Bed of Coals]

The baked beans proved all their cook promised they should be, and almost the best thing about them was that they were just as good cold as hot, and so saved cooking things sometimes when they were in a hurry.

One day, they caught a perfectly huge fish, too large to broil well, and then their little stove proved a treasure, for the oven would just hold a baking pan; they cooked it in this way:

BAKED FISH

Clean and scale the fish, but do not take off the head or tail.

Slice an onion fine, and fry brown in two tablespoonfuls of fat; add to this a cup of fine, dry bread crumbs and a little salt and pepper, and stir till brown. Wipe dry the inside of the fish, and put this stuffing in; wind a string around the outside to hold it firmly in place. Put in a pan with four slices of salt pork or bacon, and lay three or four more on the top of the fish; shake a little flour, salt, and pepper over all. Bake in a hot oven till the skin begins to break open a little; every fifteen minutes open the oven door and baste the fish; that is, pour a spoonful of juice from the pan over the fish; if there is not enough, pour a small cup of boiling water into the pan.

With this they had

BOILED ONIONS

Peel onions of about the same size, and drop them in a kettle of boiling, salted water; when they have cooked half an hour, throw this water away and put them in fresh boiling water. This will prevent their being too strong. Cook for one hour altogether. Put melted b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt over them.

Before they could possibly think it was time to go home, their vacation was over.

For dinner, the last night, Father Blair made something very good indeed:

CAMP PUDDING

1/2 pound of dried prunes.

8 slices of bread, cut thin and b.u.t.tered.

1/2 cup of sugar.

1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter.

Wash the prunes and cover them with cold water, and let them stand all night. In the morning, put them on the fire in this water, and cook slowly till they are very soft; then take out the stones.

Line a dish with the bread, cut in pieces, with a layer on the bottom; put on a spoonful of prunes and juice, then a layer of bread, and so on till the dish is full, with bread on top; sprinkle with sugar and bits of b.u.t.ter and bake brown.

”My, but we've had a good time!” said Jack, thoughtfully rubbing the end of his sunburned nose as he watched the sh.o.r.es of the lake fade away the next day. ”I never supposed it was such fun to camp. And I've become quite a cook; now haven't I, Father Blair?”

”I should say you had. Too bad your mother and the girls can't know about it. But they will never know!” and his father smiled mischievously.

”Well, perhaps some day I'll cook something for them,” said Jack, sheepishly. ”I don't mind knowing how to cook as much as I thought I should, now that I know men cook. I guess I'll surprise them some day, Father!”

CHAPTER X

JAMS AND JELLY

Norah was preserving peaches. The fragrant odor filled the house one day, and Mildred sniffed it delightedly. ”Dear me! I wish I could make preserves,” she sighed. ”Norah's always look so lovely in their jars, and they taste so good, too. I wonder if she would let me help her?”