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CHAPTER II.

Table of Contents

Soups.—Canned Soups.—The Brunswick Goods Cheap, Wholesome, and Convenient.—Huckins' Soups.—Oyster, Clam, Onion, and Tomato Soups.

Canoeists will hardly take the time and trouble to make soups out of meats and vegetables, unless they are in a permanent camping place for some length of time. Nearly all soups require several hours to cook properly, as they must be boiled very slowly to retain the aroma of the ingredients used.

Canned soups, therefore, are the handiest for the canoeist or single-hand cruiser. I can recommend the Brunswick variety as cheap, convenient, wholesome and easy to prepare if the directions on the cans are implicitly followed. Any variation from these instructions, however, is certain to result in an unpalatable mess. The higher priced soups, Huckins' and other varieties, are more like home-made soups than the Brunswick kind, and hence a fastidious taste will prefer them. They are bulkier to carry, but are quite as easily prepared, and I would recommend those made by Huckins as especially good. The great objection to them is their high price.

There are a few good soups that can be prepared from materials readily accessible to the canoeist, and in a comparatively short time. These are:

Oyster Soup.

Put a quart of milk and a piece of butter as large as an egg into the pot and heat gradually. When hot, stir in the strained liquor of one pint of oysters, very gradually, to prevent the milk from curdling, then one-quarter pound of crushed crackers or bread crumbs. When it has come to a boil put in the oysters (one pint), and let it cook till the edges of the oysters curl up, when it should be seasoned and served.

Clam Soup.

Exactly the same as oyster soup, using clams instead of oysters.

Onion Soup.

Put three tablespoonfuls of butter in a frying pan, cut six large onions in slices, and stir them into the butter over the fire till they begin to cook. Then cover tight and set them where they will simmer slowly for half an hour. Put a quart of milk with a tablespoonful of butter on to boil, and while this is doing stir into the onions a tablespoonful of flour while they are simmering. Turn the mixture into the boiling milk and cook quarter of an hour, seasoning with salt and pepper. If an old tin pan is handy that you can use for the purpose, the soup will be improved by knocking small holes in the bottom of the pan, thus making a colander, and straining the soup through it, afterwards adding the well-beaten yolks of four eggs and cooking three minutes longer.

Tomato Soup.

Mix one tablespoonful of flour and a piece of butter the size of an egg into a smooth paste, and if you have onions, chop up fine one medium-sized one. Prepare about one pound of tomatoes by scalding, peeling and slicing them (the same amount of canned tomatoes may be used), and put all the ingredients with a pinch of salt into one pint of cold water. Boil gently for an hour, stirring frequently enough to dissolve the tomatoes and prevent burning, then stir in one cup of boiled milk, and let it come again to a boil, constantly stirring. Season and serve. The soup will be good if the milk is omitted.