More on Food - Chocolate Doughnuts!

When we came down the Waimakariri we’d been short of food for a couple of days, it was cold and wet, we’d been going for two hours and hadn’t had any breakfast.  We stopped at Anti-Crow Hut to have a break from the weather and found, in a corner of the hut, an old camp oven half full of what seemed to be solid tallow or mutton fat.  A search of the hut, which seemed to have been vacated recently by hunters revealed a good quantity of flour, sugar, cocoa and some baking powder.  It didn’t take much imagination!  We had time up our sleeves and soon had a good fire going and the camp oven sitting on the embers.  While the fat melted and heated we set about the mixture.  As soon as the fat was hot enough we dropped our doughboys into the fat and watched them grow.  When they had developed a golden crust we fished them out with the No8 wire toaster and set them to drain on the hearth.  As soon as they had cooled enough we devoured them.  They were warm, chocolate sweet with enough satisfying fat and a warm golden colour on the outside.  They were more than satisfying.  Better than fish and chips!

Two Hours To Go

We trudge down valley

cold, wet and out of food

legs drag aching foot

after aching foot

hunger verging on weakness

gnaws deep beneath our ribs

we stop beside the hut

only two hours to go.

Anticrow Hut - 1950s

Inside is dry wood

a camp oven and fat

self raising flour

sugar and cocoa

and we have time

up our sleeves - yes

the last two hours

we do in one.