The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-14

was bad the moH Soe eAAo 5AS"A "hN wouldn't sing at all, and when 1t was good they felt fine and sang the prettiest songs they knew"
 If fs rather heartening to think that the men can have the same food i'll the field as they do in barracks. This ia accomplished by the bakeries, which are portable, easily taken down and set up, and by the very remarkable rolling kitchens" which cook meal as the army marches, naVing luncn or sumner ready when the order comes to nitcb camp. There are several models of this rolling kitchen. some more in- tricate than others and some very ranch more substantial than others. The government has ordered a large number of a model which weighs 5000 pounds. All of these Kitchens have stoves for burning oil and also ar rangements for the use or coal or wood. One model, of which the gov ernment has ordered a great many, has two double boilers where oatmeal, for instance. may be cooked as the big stove on wheels trails or supply wagon or truck. Also there are direct-heat boi1ers where coffee may be made, or one of the many delicious stews, the familiar Irish, the savory "El Rancho" (containing everything eat able on a ranch), or the very delect- able AncT1CdH SlSWt ltN OAiNSU CtA shO Mexican border and the nrst tavorlte at Sammies' table,
 There is also an oven where roast may be brought to turn and, as surprise to you, big, smooth plate where flapjacks come to life. One kitchen wilt feed 2C0 men, a war strength com pany. and 1t will need three men to operate 1t at its maximum company.
 Trailing each Kitchen Is a fireless
 1ar Cnr 1rOor rfr tc These are very convenient in that the fin receptacles fit either the stove or the fireless department and can be trans- ferred without the bother of emptying of food from one vessel to another.
 There are new four regular schools for army cooks, at Fort Sam Houston, Tex; Fort Riley, Kan; Monterey, Cal, and Washington barracks. The new can- tonments will increase these schools manyfold. It takes about four months of rigorous instruction to make a first class army cook, but under the intensive method the cantonment cooks will be educated in half this time.
 Oddly enough, the fact that a man
 has had previous experience is more apt to be a hndrance than help and there
 is a great deal in his natural endowment.
 As the sergeant in charge of the cook ing school at Washington barracks said. You can do more with some men in five minutes talk than you can with another in a months hard work" The work be- gins with talk on spices, which, to most of us. seems the final touch rather than the rudiments of cooking But in the army they really begin with the first principles The desire for food known as appetite. and certainly spices do much toward making simple dishes tempting and palatable.
 Take, for instance. the army Irish stew. It is far removed from the dull wash day dish which answers to that name in most households. The vegetables are tender and flavorous, the meat tround steak) is very delicious. because 1t IS prop erly cooked, and the gravy, it's thick but not thckening, and so very good 1 with the meat juices and vegetables flavoring skillfully accented with spices that there Is a justifiable temptation. 10 wipe the last bit of it from the plate 1 with a piece of the excellent army bread. l To the average cook and housewife | this >bread is very remarkable, for it IS made without milk and without lard ! When you see it going into action in the I floured hands of squad of bakers your 1 comment is that the shortening IS ei- bow grease" for 1t Is worked until the dough is perfectly smooth. They 'cut Il over" five times, which takes about 4s minutes of hard working, so hard nc mixing machine is strong enough to de l the work.
 The most difficult thing to teach the I student bakers, or slick ears, as they are called is the shaping of loaf. This must be uniform, as there must always he 12 pounds. divided into six equa lloayes. in a pan The recipe for a batcf of bread calls for 200 pounds of Hour 4 hounds sugar, pounds salt, 11a pound' yeast and 1314 gallons of water Ih' bakery at Washington barracks turn'
 out 35OO pounds day, and every mal
 gets his pound.
 There are many very delicious ana e@
 ceedingly efflcnent recipes In the Manua
 for Army Cooks, and uncle sam sNe his bows all three of their excellent meat
 for an average of 40 cents a day. II th
 economy of the army kitchen could b. brought into all American homes "
 would hear little of food conservation
 for the utilization of every ediple more
 cule Is nothing short of marvellous, q |. i, ,s inc system of accounting for ever. l,ncredient that comes out of the store room. ! On Sunday, June 9, the bakers an cooks mess had the following meais' BREAKFAST.
 creamed beef on toast, French toast butter. fried potatoes. strawDerrie and cream, coffee with milk, bread. DINNER.
 Chicken soup with noodles, chicke' fricassee. cucumbers, young lettuce white radishes, fruit salad with may ] onnaise. strawberry shortcake. lemoi. } ade. sliced bread, butter, cheese. SUPPER
 Reef loaf. brown gravy, creamsd DO ) tatoes. plain mullins and sirup. i'm, beans, iced tea.
 Now. the actual cost or those tnre . meals for 100 men was $o02S. Ant , every gram of every material, as wei } as every cent of every dollar, IS az } counted for Part of the training Q . student cook is the preparation of ; days menu and the listing of the ex
 act amounts and exact cost Of ever. . article used. And when you have seel , tha kitchens and tasted the food an i. Investigated the system of accountlnl vou have every sympathy and enthu siasm for the new project of bestowini i commissions on instructors of tn bakers and COOKS.
 Ana if there is any anxious mothe , who after reading these lines, stil , l thinks that her boy is going to Franc
 k to be starved or Ill l-nourished by tn i government that sent him, let her talk 1 these favorite recipes, home and tr them on her gas range:
 REEF TURKISH (FOR 60 MEND. Eirhteen pounds beef. 5 pounds ric' | no,,nd fat (butter preferred),
 nound flour Drowned in fat. 2 pound
 onions (browned), 8 gallons stock. : Make batter of flour and fat. ad
 d;ng the stock and onions to make , rrayv. Cut the meat in 1-inch cubei , isaason with cayenne pepper. salt an