Semper Fine: The Marine training kitchen

Things sure have changed since I had mess duty in Dong Ha 39 years ago.

The Marines were at their stations by 0900 hours, knives in hand, ready for a tough new mission. Before the morning was out, they would slice, braise and deglaze like never before....

Good article, includes 2 recipes.

http://www.buffalonews.com/340/story/280636.html

Howie-
Indeed that is quite a different world than you and I recall.
And, with that you get a Redwinger KP war story (sorry):
I was pulling KP duty at a small Army base in Western Maryland one Thanksgiving in the mid 1960's. The plan was to have two seatings. First seating was to feed the junior enlisted folks, and everything went peachy. The second was for officers, senior enlisted, their wives and kids. Well, there was a problem. The two cooks (the only people able to turn food into shit without the aid of digestion) got into a fist fight (they had been drinking since early morning) that quickly and violently spilled out into the dining area. Tables flying, kids crying, wives yelling and scampering for cover. The more people who tried to intervene, the closer the event came to a riot. This only reinforced my long held belief, even at that tender age, that one should never try to break up a fight. It went on for a good 10 minutes before the MPs were finally able to restore order.
Returning you to 2008.
Redwinger

Things sure have changed since I had mess duty in Dong Ha 39 years ago.

The Marines were at their stations by 0900 hours, knives in hand, ready for a tough new mission. Before the morning was out, they would slice, braise and deglaze like never before....

Good article, includes 2 recipes.

http://www.buffalonews.com/340/story/280636.html

I can relate on a couple of levels.

Cu Chi, where I was - when I was in the base camp - had inedible grub. I preferred the C-Rations.

And the photo takes me back to that time - let's see, oh yeah, a year ago, when I had just about that many folks standing around in their whites as I taught them technique.

The two simple sautes in the article are a good place to start rookies.

Nice article, Howie ! And Bill, you crack me up...the only people able to turn food into shit without the aid of digestion ...