Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-27
How Their Thanksgiving Dinners
Will Be Prepared.
AT HOME And IN The FIELD
Recipes That Are Approved by the
Secretary of War.
TURKEY AND PUDDINGS
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star
Copyrighted 1899. by Frank C. Carpenter
Thanksgiving day with the soldiers! 1t
will be celebrated in the barracks of Porto
Rico, in the camps of Cuba, upon the
transports which are carrying thousands of
American boys across the Pacific, and also
1t is to be hoped on the very battlefeids
of the Philippines. Cuba and Porto Rico
have as fine turkeys as any part of the
United States. There is plenty of game in
the Philippines and the Chinese of the is
lands will probably supply soldiers with
the great American bird, which they also
raise. and with the succulent Chinese pig
fed on sweet potatoes and chestnuts for
which parts of the celestial empire are so
famous. The transports which have left
have already laid in their supplies for a
Thanksgiving dinner, and the turkeys, oys-
tiers and plum buildings viii be washed
down with the most delicious of coffee,
which will taste none the worse from the
fact that it is laded out in cups of tin.
Few people have any idea of the wonder
full system which Uncle Sam has as 10
feeding his soldiers. We have now more
than 10000 men in the Philippines alone.
We have soldiers and officers scattered over
the United States and upon our islands of
the West Indies, and every man of them
must have his three meals day. 1t takes
shiploads of coffee. tons upon tons of bread
and vast quantity of all kinds of supplies.
1t requires cooks and quartermasters In
deed, the feeding brigade which Uncle Sam
has would make a little army in itself.
There is one branch of the War Department
under the commissary general which has TO
do with the direction of this food. In the
library of this department you will find all
sorts of books on the health of the soldiers.
on just what man should have to eat from
day to day and week to week to keep him
perfect in
rations he needs for life in the tropics. and
those which he should have if perchance he
should be ordered to the frigid zone. More
than that you will find directions as to how
such things should be cooked, and if you
bring the right influences to bear you may
perchance get a look at the army cook
| book which has been prepared by our gov
eminent for the use of the cooks who sup
ply the soldiers.
Uncle Sans Army Cook Book.
An army cook book! Yes: a cook book
got up under the immediate direction of the
| commissary general and published by the
| authority of the Secretary of War for use
| in the army of the United States. A cook
| book published at the government printing
/ office, but only for army cooks and not to
| be distributed all over the country like
| Congressmens seeds or Agricultural Re-
| ports. l have copy of the book before
| me. 1t contains three hundred pages of
| recipes, not recipes clipped from old news
| pdpciS IlOi got up Dy professional COOK
| book makers, but recipes all of which have
| been practically tested again and again be-
| fore they have been given to the soldiers.
| The book is full of practical suggestions,
| which are as valuable to the housewife as
| to the army cook. Every page of it teens
| WITH good things, and it is, L venture, one
| OF the few books which are worth their
| weight in gold. 1t is from this book that
l copy the following extracts which show
| how our soldiers Thanksgiving dinners will
be cooked. 1t may be that from them some
| of our soldiers wives and soldiers friends
| at nome may get suggestions which will
| ala them IN the preparation of their feastS.
Baked Turkey a la Secretary of War;
| Here, for instance, is what the Secretary
| of War has to say about turkey:
| Tame and wild turkeys are prepared
| and cooked alike. The time for cooking is
| from fifteen to twenty minutes to the
pound, depending upon the age of the bird
| Success lies in cooking it long enough and
| frequent basting.
| Put the turkey into pan of cold water
| rinse it inside and out in three or four
spoonful of bicarbonate of soda. Fill the
body with this water, shake 1t well, then
pour 1t off and rinse with fresh water. Now
wipe 1t dry inside and out and rub it inside
| with pepper and salt.
| Next prepare a dressing as follows Mix
into enough grated bread crumbs to fill the
| cIaw and body of the turkey a half tea
| spoonful of pepper, one teaspoonful of salt
| one teaspoonful of summer savory, thyme,
| or sage, with sufficient butter, beef drip
| pings or lard to make the mixture slightly
moist, After this has been thoroughly
mixed stuff the craw and body with It.
| Now tie string tightly about the neck,
sew up the incision, tie down the wings and
legs and then lay 1t on its back in the bak-
ing pan. Wet the skin, season it with salt
and pepper and dredge it with flour. Dis
tribute on the upper side of the turkey
small pieces of butter, put into the pan
! about a pint of boiling stock or quarter
nj md Of ht1ty Dol WITTY I,r;c1 f.n
to a rich brown. Basic at least every ten
minutes If it browns too rapidly, lay a
wet sheet of white paper over it until the
lower part is done. When the turkey is
| Drowned on the breast, turn it over in the
pan while In the oven.
Now again pepper, salt and dredge the
back with -four, and bake until brown,
basting as above. When baked remove
the string from neck and body, put it into
hot dish and serve with a gravy pre-
pared as follows:
| Turkey Gravy.
Cleanse the gizzard, liver and heart of
the turkey thoroughly in cold water, mince
them and put them into pot with enough
cold water to cover them. Stew gently I'M
til tender and keep warm. When the
| turkey is removed from the pan add the
giblets with the water in which they were
| stewed to the drippings remaining in the
pan, put the pan on the fire, thicken with
| two tablespoonfuls of blended Drowned
| -four, stirring it in gradually, let it boil up
once, then season with pepper and salt,
| pour it into a separate dish and serve
| Some prefer to omit the dressing from
the body in order that the turkey NAV be
more thoroughly cooked. The stuffing
thus omitted may be made into cakes and
| fried. The turkeys may be stuffed with
sausage meat, fresh oysters or roasted
chestnuts."
Plum Puddings Recommended,
In nearly every camp plum pudding will
| be on the bill of fare. Every army cook
will be thumbing this book and serving
this dainty according to one of the follow
ing recipes First. however, let me give
| an extract or two on general remarks on
puddngs made by Secretary Root:
Puddings are variously compounded
They are always either boiled or baked
When boiled a cloth or bag. well Toured in
| side. should be used to enYelon than The