Hardtack, a military staple by Barbara Edwards

150 First Manassas

Hardtack is a cracker. I’m familiar with the hard, square, almost tasteless food from my years re-enacting with a Confederate Civil War company. As cook, I learned how to make them.

Hardtack wasn’t a pleasure food. Wrapped in brown paper and tied with a piece of twine, the cracker fit in a pocket or knapsack. Soldiers needed food that was easily carried, wouldn’t spoil or go bad. Now the modern army has MREs Meals Ready to Eat - a definite step up.

  

About 2 1/2 inches square with holes dimpled across the surface the cracker resembles a modern saltine. Only hardtack was hard.

Hardtack needed to be softened to eat. It could be soaked in a cup of coffee or its substitute Chickory until it was breakable. Or fried in fatback until the melting lard made it malleable.

I baked Hardtack for my company.

The recipe is simple.

4 cups flour

1 cup water or enough to moisten the mix

1 teaspoon salt.

Mix in a large bowl until smooth.

Roll out on a floured surface.

Cut into squares.

After the first time I bought a cutter from a sutler at a Re-enactment. It’s hard to make the small holes evenly without one.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a low oven 250 degrees for three hours or until hard, really hard.

The crackers won't brown.

Cool then wrap in brown paper and tie with a piece of hemp twine.

The resulting crackers are hard as a rock. They will last forever. I had soldiers carry mine for years.

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Ancient Awakening

In Ancient Awakening, Police Officer ‘Mel’ Petersen investigates a death only she believes is murder. By disobeying direct orders from the Rhodes End Chief, she risks her career to follow clues that twist in circles to her backyard and lead the killer to her.

Her neighbor Stephen Zoriak is a prime suspect. Steve worked for a major pharmaceutical company where he discovered a weapon so dangerous he destroys the research. He is exposed to the dangerous organism. He suspects he is the killer and agrees to help her find the truth.

In the course of their investigation Mel and Steve find the real killer and a love that defies death. 

Buy hyperlink Ancient Awakening http://www.wildrosepress.us/maincatalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=177_136&products_id=4511

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Try Camping by Barbara Edwards

Camping opens a whole world of new experiences. Maybe instead of camping month it should be camping all year. For a writer, camping appeals to the need for quiet time to find the inner muse.

Camping exposes you to scents, sounds, touch that the ordinary life doesn’t have along with a variety of interesting people. I could tell you about the places I’ve camped, but I already do on my regular blog, http://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com.

 My first time camping was with the Girl Scouts in a canvas shelter on a platform. Not too wild, but the air was clear. At night I needed a flashlight to find the path to an old-fashioned out- house.  Yep, I remember that trip as the scariest in my life.

Since then I’ve camped rough, with a sleeping bag and a water-proof ground cloth.  It had its moments as we watched meteors burn into the atmosphere in August. I backpacked the Appalachian train with a tiny tent that had flexible poles. That time we got caught in the remnants of a hurricane and hunkered in the tents until the trail dried.

I camped in a blue canvas tent at a Camporee with the Boy Scouts. Ten thousand boys, two thousand male leaders and two women together in that tent who shared the fun over a long weekend.

Then I started Civil War Re-enacting with the Third Florida, Company A. Our Captain believes in as authentic a portrayal as possible. For years we set-up a six-foot canvas A-frame just like the ones used by Confederate troops.  I learned that if you touch canvas in the rain it leaks like a sieve. It can be warmed with a kerosene heater. To be cool, you leave the flaps open and hope for a breeze. It is glorious fun.

The next logical step was a tag-a-long trailer. I found a small trailer the incentive to kill the person I shared it with within a month.  

The next year we bought a fifth-wheel that is hitched to our pick-up truck. Roomy enough for our big dog, we have traveled to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Florida Keys, Charleston and twenty years of Civil War battle re-enactments.

We’ve talked about getting a RV like the Holiday Rambler or Prevost, but I like smaller. 

Maybe a class C or even a Truck Camper with a slide. We’ll see.

I hope I let you see how much I love camping. I hope to see you there, exploring the world.

Check out my website: www.barbaraedwards.net