Old recipes still work

[Tennessee Viking]

I got my hands on an old National Geographic journal from the 70s of a couple guys driving along the AT. One breakfast recipe was called Creek Jello.

Using regular Jello packets, mixed it in a bag or pot of water with dried fruits and nuts. Lay it a good running creek overnight to set. Enjoy in the morning.

[starvingmusician]

Recipe from "The Lady's Companion", 1753...

"Take a Leg of Veal, strip it of the Skin and the Fat, then take all the muscular or fleshy Parts from the Bones; boil this Flesh gently in such a Quantity of Water, and so long a Time, till the Liquor will make a strong Jelly when it is cold; This you may try by taking out a small Spoonful now and then, and letting it cool. Here it is to be supposed, that though it will jelly presently in small Quantities, yet all the Juice of the Meat may not be extracted; however, when you find it very strong, strain the Liqour through a Sieve, and let it settle;

then provide a large Stew-pan, with Water, and some China Cups, or glazed Earthen-ware; fill these Cups with Jelly, taken clear from the Settling, and set them in a Stew-pan of Water, and let the Water boil gently till the jelly becomes as thick as Glue; after which, let them stand to cool, and then turn out the Glue upon a Piece of new Flannel, which will draw out the Moisture; turn them once is six or eight Hours, and put them upon a fresh Flannel, and so continue to do till they are quite dry, and keep them in a dry warm Place;

This will harden so much, that it will be stiff and hard as Glue in a little Time, and may be carried in the Pocket without Inconvenience..."

The recipe goes on to say that to use the "glue" simply stir a piece about the size of a walnut into a pint of water. Salt and pepper should be added to taste.

The writer goes on to caution "there must be nothing of that Kind [seasonings] among the Veal when you make the Glue, for any Thing of that Sort would make it mouldy".

Bon Apetit

Judy (the Goodewyfe Judith)

[sarbar]

That sounds like a cool old NG magazine. That would be a cool scan to read.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Instant pudding + powdered whole milk + water + 1 qt shaker container (plastic chinese soup containers work great). Shake like hell for a few minutes. Allow to cool in creek, stream, etc while cooking dinner. Nice cool pudding dessert. Still a favorite.

[sarbar]

Instant pudding + powdered whole milk + water + 1 qt shaker container (plastic chinese soup containers work great). Shake like hell for a few minutes. Allow to cool in creek, stream, etc while cooking dinner. Nice cool pudding dessert. Still a favorite.

Yep, that one works like a charm. I use 2/3 cup dry milk + a shy 2 cups very cold water. (Non fat milk works fine, takes a bit longer to set up.)

[Tennessee Viking]

That sounds like a cool old NG magazine. That would be a cool scan to read.

Its pretty interesting. Mainly goes over most of the highlight spots on trail. Then big events at trail towns. Then they drive to some of the famous off-trail towns like Linville & Cherokee, NC. The authors even tell of their day hike on the Roan Highlands with Stan Murray.

[Alligator]

I used heavy cream one winter morning on the trail for my pudding. Outstanding. The heavy cream was left over extra from an Alfredo dinner the night before.

[Nearly Normal]

Recipe from "The Lady's Companion", 1753...

"Take a Leg of Veal, strip it of the Skin and the Fat, then take all the muscular or fleshy Parts from the Bones; boil this Flesh gently in such a Quantity of Water, and so long a Time, till the Liquor will make a strong Jelly when it is cold; This you may try by taking out a small Spoonful now and then, and letting it cool. Here it is to be supposed, that though it will jelly presently in small Quantities, yet all the Juice of the Meat may not be extracted; however, when you find it very strong, strain the Liqour through a Sieve, and let it settle;

then provide a large Stew-pan, with Water, and some China Cups, or glazed Earthen-ware; fill these Cups with Jelly, taken clear from the Settling, and set them in a Stew-pan of Water, and let the Water boil gently till the jelly becomes as thick as Glue; after which, let them stand to cool, and then turn out the Glue upon a Piece of new Flannel, which will draw out the Moisture; turn them once is six or eight Hours, and put them upon a fresh Flannel, and so continue to do till they are quite dry, and keep them in a dry warm Place;

This will harden so much, that it will be stiff and hard as Glue in a little Time, and may be carried in the Pocket without Inconvenience..."

The recipe goes on to say that to use the "glue" simply stir a piece about the size of a walnut into a pint of water. Salt and pepper should be added to taste.

The writer goes on to caution "there must be nothing of that Kind [seasonings] among the Veal when you make the Glue, for any Thing of that Sort would make it mouldy".

Bon Apetit

Judy (the Goodewyfe Judith)

Interesting post.

I remember as a boy my Grandparents killin hogs. The only thing wasted was the squeal. Souse meat utilized the hock for it's jelling quality.
Sure do miss my grandmothers cracklin bread.

[shelterbuilder]

Instant pudding + powdered whole milk + water + 1 qt shaker container (plastic chinese soup containers work great). Shake like hell for a few minutes. Allow to cool in creek, stream, etc while cooking dinner. Nice cool pudding dessert. Still a favorite.

I first tasted THAT one at Sages Ravine - swapping foods with a couple of thru's on my first night out for a section hike back in the mid-80's (I had steak, and lots of it!). I believe they called it "pudding slurry" - they rarely left it sit long enough to fully set up.

[Bulldawg]

Man, the pudding in the creek sounds like a great idea, I'd never have thought of it without WhiteBlaze!

[4eyedbuzzard]

I first tasted THAT one at Sages Ravine - swapping foods with a couple of thru's on my first night out for a section hike back in the mid-80's (I had steak, and lots of it!). I believe they called it "pudding slurry" - they rarely left it sit long enough to fully set up.

I ususally use a little less water than is called for. The directions call for two cups of cold milk, I usually go with about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of water and enough powdered milk plus a little for that amount. I've found powdered whole milk rather than non-fat works slightly better. The colder the water of course the better. In really hot weather use less milk(1 1/2 cups) and shake like the devil as long as you can. Even so, unless the water(or ambient temp) is really cool, it never sets up as good as at home in a 40F fridge, the degree of set is kind of proportional to the the water temp - but it's still a nice spoonable treat.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Another pretty good old one is bisquick breadsticks over a campfire. (There are lots of other bisquick recipes that adapt well to trail cooking as well - pan breads, pigs-in-blankets, cornbreads, etc) Just mix up a stiff batch of bisquick(do this by mixing/kneading in a ziplock) and then roll the dough in your hands to make a rope shape anywhere from about 1/4 to 1/2" thick(not real critical, depends upon personal preference, I like them thinner and quicker). Wrap the dough rope on a stick (green and stripped of bark is best - okay not true LNT) like a spiral breadstick shape, pinch the dough on pretty good on the nubs left on the stick from branches(keeps it from sliding/turning) and bake it over campfire(coals work much better) the same way you'd roast a marshmellow. Cook anywhere from about 7-8 minutes or so for the thin ones, and up to 20 minutes or more for the thicker ones rotating often(cook time is very variable due to thickness of dough rope and fire temp/proximity)until brown. Takes a little practice to hold it close enough to bake but not burn. You can also just prop up the stick or suspend it horizontally. You want to see the dough rise a bit before it starts to really brown. Enjoy as is, with a little squeeze margarine, dip in honey, cinnamon-sugar, in your soup, hot cocoa, etc.

P.S. You can sprinkle it with a little garlic powder and salt for an italian twist or cinnamon sugar for a bisquick "trail churro" if you really want to go all out. For the churro the best way I found is to wait until it's cooked, put a very light coat of oil or squeeze margarine on it, then sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar, and re-roast it lightly for just a minute to finish and crisp it up. If you put the cinnamon-sugar on in the beginning prior to baking the sugar tends to caramelize and/or burn. Not as good as a deep-fried churro but pretty tasty for trail food.

[sheepdog]

One of my favorite trail deserts is; minute rice, cinnamon, brown sugar, and dried fruit. Add enough boiling water to cook rice and rehydrate the fruit. I put the dry mix together ahead of time in a freezer bag.

[headchange4u]

Instant pudding + powdered whole milk + water + 1 qt shaker container (plastic chinese soup containers work great). Shake like hell for a few minutes. Allow to cool in creek, stream, etc while cooking dinner. Nice cool pudding dessert. Still a favorite.

I do the same thing.

Get some of the Jello instant pudding, Cheesecake flavor, and take with you a small amount of graham cracker crumbs with a little butter powder in them. At camp add a very small amount of water to the graham cracker crumbs and press them into the bottom of a bowl. Make the pudding just like you said and then pour it on top the the graham cracker crumbs. Instant cheesecake on the trail.

[Strategic]

Well, being an historian by trade and a cook by choice, I can hardly resist the lure of historical recipes. You should really think about scanning that National Geographic article and putting it up somewhere, buliwyf. Word and a few other programs can convert scans to .pdf files, great for the purpose (though good old fashioned .jpg files work fine too.)

In that spirit, I've attached a scan of a recipe that I was given back in 1976 by an assistant scoutmaster (really a 21 year old recreation major, it's a long story.) I've kept it these way-too-many years and much modified it for my own use (I posted the current version that I use in power bars here.) The original has seen a lot of action over the years, even me drawing a sketch of a one-man tent prototype on the back (look close and you can see the ghost of it in the scan) but it's still with me as a link to that time.

Unfortunately, the rest of the several pages of trail recipes that this was originally a part of are long gone, lost somewhere in my wandering twenties. Most would have looked strange to a lot of hikers today though, what with the vast differences in available packaged food and all, unless you cook and dehydrate extensively for the trail. Even so, it was a much simpler (and probably less healthy) approach to trail eating than is common today. Not that I miss most of it, mind you; it's more nostalgia than anything else. So enjoy a little bit of my nostalgia and a weathered old scrap of trail history.

[sarbar]

"A 2" x 2" square will sustain a man for a day." You have to love that from the recipe (Probably cause it took all day to eat that square )lol....