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Science in the Kitchen.

Mrs. E. E. Kellogg

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Title: Science in the Kitchen.

Author: Mrs. E. E. Kellogg

Release Date: May 3, 2004 [eBook #12238]

Language: English

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SCIENCE IN THE KITCHEN.

A Scientific Treatise on Food Substances and Their Dietetic Properties,

together with a Practical Explanation of the Principles of Healthful

Cookery, and a Large Number of Original, Palatable, and Wholesome Recipes.

MRS. E. E. KELLOGG, A.M.

Superintendent of the Sanitarium School of Cookery and of the Bay View

Assembly School of Cookery, and Chairman of the World's Fair Committee

on Food Supplies, for Michigan

1893

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PREFACE.

The interest in scientific cookery, particularly in cookery as related

to health, has manifestly increased in this country within the last

decade as is evidenced by the success which has attended every

intelligent effort for the establishment of schools for instruction in

cookery in various parts of the United States. While those in charge of

these schools have presented to their pupils excellent opportunities for

the acquirement of dexterity in the preparation of toothsome and

tempting viands, but little attention has been paid to the science of

dietetics, or what might be termed the hygiene of cookery.

A little less than ten years ago the Sanitarium at Battle Creek Mich.,

established an experimental kitchen and a school of cookery under the

supervision of Mrs. Dr. Kellogg, since which time, researches in the

various lines of cookery and dietetics have been in constant progress in

the experimental kitchen, and regular sessions of the school of cookery

have been held. The school has gradually gained in popularity, and the

demand for instruction has become so great that classes are in session

during almost the entire year.

During this time, Mrs. Kellogg has had constant oversight of the cuisine

of both the Sanitarium and the Sanitarium Hospital, preparing bills of

fare for the general and diet tables, and supplying constantly new

methods and original recipes to meet the changing and growing demands of

an institution numbering always from 500 to 700 inmates.

These large opportunities for observation, research, and experience,

have gradually developed a system of cookery, the leading features of

which are so entirely novel and so much in advance of the methods

heretofore in use, that it may be justly styled, _A New System of

Cookery_. It is a singular and lamentable fact, the evil consequences of

which are wide-spread, that the preparation of food, although involving

both chemical and physical processes, has been less advanced by the

results of modern researches and discoveries in chemistry and physics,

than any other department of human industry. Iron mining, glass-making,

even the homely art of brick-making, and many of the operations of the

farm and the dairy, have been advantageously modified by the results of

the fruitful labors of modern scientific investigators. But the art of

cookery is at least a century behind in the march of scientific

progress. The mistress of the kitchen is still groping her way amid the

uncertainties of mediaeval methods, and daily bemoaning the sad results

of the "rule of thumb." The chemistry of cookery is as little known to

the average housewife as were the results of modern chemistry to the old

alchemists; and the attempt to make wholesome, palatable, and

nourishing food by the methods commonly employed, is rarely more

successful than that of those misguided alchemists in transmuting lead

and copper into silver and gold.

The new cookery brings order from out the confusion of mixtures and

messes, often incongruence and incompatible, which surrounds the average

cook, by the elucidation of the principles which govern the operations

of the kitchen, with the same certainty with which the law of gravity

rules the planets.

Those who have made themselves familiar with Mrs. Kellogg's system of

cookery, invariably express themselves as trebly astonished: first, at

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the simplicity of the methods employed; secondly, at the marvelous

results both as regards palatableness, wholesomeness, and

attractiveness; thirdly, that it had never occurred to them "to do this

way before."

This system does not consist simply of a rehash of what is found in

every cook book, but of new methods, which are the result of the

application of the scientific principles of chemistry and physics to the

preparation of food in such a manner as to make it the most nourishing,

the most digestible, and the most inviting to the eye and to the palate.

Those who have tested the results of Mrs. Kellogg's system of cookery at

the Sanitarium tables, or in their own homes through the instruction of

her pupils, have been most enthusiastic in their expressions of

satisfaction and commendation. Hundreds of original recipes which have

appeared in her department in _Good Health_, "Science in the Household",

have been copied into other journals, and are also quite largely

represented in the pages of several cook books which have appeared

within the last few years.

The great success which attended the cooking school in connection with

the Bay View Assembly (the Michigan Chautauqua), as well as the uniform

success which has met the efforts of many of the graduates of the

Sanitarium school of cookery who have undertaken to introduce the new

system through the means of cooking classes in various parts of the

United States, has created a demand for a fuller knowledge of the

system.

This volume is the outgrowth of the practical and experimental work, and

the popular demand above referred to. Its preparation has occupied the

entire leisure time of the author during the last five or six years. No

pains or expense has been spared to render the work authoritative on all

questions upon which it treats, and in presenting it to the public, the

publishers feel the utmost confidence that the work will meet the

highest expectations of those who have waited impatiently for its

appearance during the months which have elapsed since its preparation

was first announced. PUBLISHERS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

FOODS

Properties of food

Food elements

Uses of food elements

Proper combinations of food

Proper proportion of food elements

Condiments

Relation of condiments to intemperance

Variety in food

Table topics.

THE DIGESTION OF FOODS

The digestive organs

The digestion of a mouthful of bread

Salivary digestion

Stomach digestion

Intestinal digestion

Other uses of the digestive fluids

Absorption

Liver digestion

Time required for digestion

Dr. Beaumont's table made from experiments on Alexis St. Martin

Hygiene of digestion

Hasty eating

Drinking freely at meals

Eating between meals

Simplicity in diet

Eating when tired

Eating too much

How much food is enough

Excess of certain food elements

Deficiency of certain food elements

Food combinations

Table topics.

COOKERY

Evils of bad cookery

The principles of scientific cookery

Fuels

Making fires

Care of fires

Methods of cooking

Roasting

Broiling or grilling

Baking

The oven thermometer

Boiling

The boiling point of water

How to raise the boiling point of water

Action of hot and cold water upon foods

Steaming

Stewing

Frying

Evaporation

Adding foods to boiling liquids

Measuring

Comparative table of weights and measures

Mixing the material

Stirring

Beating

Kneading

Temperature

Cooking utensils

Porcelain ware

Granite ware

Galvanized iron ware

Tests for lead

Adulterated tin

Table topics.

THE HOUSEHOLD WORKSHOP

Description of a convenient kitchen

The kitchen furniture

Cupboards

A convenient kitchen table

The kitchen sink

Drainpipes

Stoves and ranges

Oil and gas stoves

The "Aladdin Cooker"

Kitchen utensils

The tin closet

The dish closet

The pantry

The storeroom

The refrigerator

The water supply

Test for pure water

Filters

Cellars

Kitchen conveniences

The steam cooker

The vegetable press-The lemon drill

The handy waiter

The wall cabinet

The percolater holder

Kneading table

Dish-towel rack

Kitchen brushes

Vegetable brush

Table topics.

THE GRAINS, OR CEREALS, AND THEIR PREPARATION

General properties of grains

Cooking of grains

The double boiler

Table showing amount of liquid, and time required for cooking

different grains

Grains for breakfast-Grains an economical food

Wheat

Description of a grain of wheat

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Pearl wheat

Cracked wheat

Rolled wheat

Boiled wheat

Wheat with raisins

Wheat with fresh fruit

Molded wheat

Finer mill products of wheat

_Recipes_:

Farina

Farina with fig sauce

Farina with fresh fruit

Molded farina

Graham grits

Graham mush

Graham mush No. 2

Graham mush No. 3

Graham mush with dates

Plum porridge

Graham apple mush

Granola mush

Granola fruit mush

Granola peach mush

Bran jelly

The oat, description of

Oatmeal

Brose

Budrum

Flummery

Preparation and cooking of oats

_Recipes_:

Oatmeal mush

Oatmeal fruit mush

Oatmeal blancmange

Oatmeal Blancmange No. 2

Jellied oatmeal

Mixed mush

Rolled oats

Oatmeal with apple

Oatmeal porridge

Barley, description of

Gofio

Scotch milled or pot barley

Pearl barley

Suggestions for cooking barley

_Recipes_:

Baked barley

Pearl barley with raisins

Pearl barley with lemon sauce

Rice, description of

Rice paddy

Preparation and cooking of rice

_Recipes_:

Steamed rice

Boiled rice

Rice with fig sauce

Orange rice

Rice with raisins

Rice with peaches

Browned rice

Rye, description of

Rye meal

Rye flour

_Recipes_:

Rolled rye

Rye mush

Maize, or Indian corn, description of

Suggestions for cooking corn

_Recipes_:

Corn meal mush

Corn meal mush with fruit

Corn meal cubes

Browned mush

Samp

Cerealine flakes

Hulled corn

Coarse hominy

Fine hominy or grits

Popped corn

Macaroni, description of

Semolina

Spaghetti

Vermicelli

To select macaroni

To prepare and cook macaroni

_Recipes_:

Homemade macaroni

Boiled macaroni

Macaroni with cream sauce

Macaroni with tomato sauce

Macaroni baked with granola

Eggs and macaroni

Table topics.

BREADSTUFFS AND BREAD-MAKING

The origin of bread

Chestnut bread

Peanut bread

Breadstuffs

Qualities necessary for good bread

Superiority of bread over meat

Graham flour

Wheat meal

Whole-wheat or entire wheat flour

How to select flour

To keep flour

Deleterious adulterations of flour

Tests for adulterated flour

Chemistry of bread-making

Bread made light by fermentation

The process of fermentation

Fermentative agents

Yeast

Homemade yeasts

How to keep yeast

Bitter yeast

Tests for yeast

Starting the bread

Proportion of materials needed

Utensils

When to set the sponge

Temperature for bread-making

How to set the sponge

Lightness of the bread

Kneading the dough

How to manipulate the dough in kneading

How many times shall bread be kneaded

Dryness of the surface

Size of loaves

Proper temperature of the oven

How to test the heat of an oven

Care of bread after baking

Best method of keeping bread

Test of good fermented bread

Whole-wheat and Graham breads

Toast

Steamed bread

Liquid yeast

_Recipes_:

Raw potato yeast

Raw potato yeast No. 2

Hop yeast

Boiled potato yeast

Boiled potato yeast No. 2

Fermented breads

_Recipes_:

Milk bread with white flour

Vienna bread

Water bread

Fruit roll

Fruit loaf

Potato bread

Pulled bread

Whole-wheat bread

Whole-wheat bread No. 2

Miss B's one-rising bread

Potato bread with whole-wheat flour

Rye bread

Graham bread

Graham bread No. 2

Graham bread No. 3

Raised biscuit

Rolls

Imperial rolls

French rolls

Crescents

Parker House rolls

Braids

Brown bread

Date bread

Fruit loaf with Graham and whole-wheat flour

Raised corn bread

Corn cake

Oatmeal bread

Milk yeast bread

Graham salt rising bread

Unfermented breads

Passover cakes

Tortillas

Evils of chemical bread raising

Rochelle salts in baking powders

General directions

Gem irons

Perforated sheet-iron pan for rolls

Unfermented batter breads

Unfermented dough breads

_Recipes_:

Whole-wheat puffs

Whole-wheat puffs No. 2

Whole-wheat puffs No. 3

Graham puffs

Graham puffs No. 2

Currant puffs

Graham gems

Crusts

Rye puffs

Rye puffs No. 2

Rye gems

Blueberry gems

Hominy gems

Sally Lunn gems

Corn puffs

Corn puffs No. 2

Corn puffs No 3

Corn puffs No. 4

Corn dodgers

Corn dodgers No. 2

Cream corn cakes

Hoe cakes

Oatmeal gems

Snow gems

Pop overs

Granola gems

Bean gems

Breakfast rolls

Sticks

Cream Graham rolls

Corn mush rolls

Fruit rolls

Cream mush rolls

Beaten biscuit

Cream crisps

Cream crisps No. 2

Graham crisps

Oatmeal crisps

Graham crackers

Fruit crackers

Table topics.

FRUITS:

Chemical constituents of

Value as nutrients

Structure of fruits

The jelly-producing principle

Digestibility of fruits

Unripe fruits

Table of fruit analysis

Ripe fruit and digestive disorders

Over-ripe and decayed fruits

Dangerous bacteria on unwashed fruit

Free use of fruit lessens desire for alcoholic stimulants

Beneficial use of fruits in disease

Apples

The pear

The quince

The peach

The plum

The prune

The apricot

The cherry

The olive; its cultivation and preservation

The date, description and uses of

The orange

The lemon

The sweet lemon or bergamot

The citron

The lime

The grape-fruit

The pomegranate, its antiquity

The grape

Zante currants

The gooseberry

The currant

The whortleberry

The blueberry

The cranberry

The strawberry

The raspberry

The blackberry

The mulberry

The melon

The fig, its antiquity and cultivation

The banana

Banana meal

The pineapple

Fresh fruit for the table

Selection of fruit for the table

Directions for serving fruits

Apples

Bananas

Cherries

Currants

Goosberries

Grapes

Melons

Oranges

Peaches and pears

Peaches and cream

Pineapples

Plums

Pressed Figs

Raspberries, Blackberries, Dewberries, Blueberries and Whortlberries

Frosted fruit

Keeping fresh fruit

Directions for packing, handling, and keeping fruits

_Recipes_:

To keep grapes

To keep lemons and oranges

To keep cranberries

Cooked fruit

General suggestions for cooking fruit

_Recipes_:

Baked apples

Citron apples

Lemon apples

Baked pears

Baked quince

Pippins and quince

Baked apple sauce

Baked apple sauce No. 2

Apples stewed whole

Steamed apples

Compote of apples

Apple compote No. 2

Stewed pears

Stewed apple sauce

Boiled apples with syrup

Stewed apples

Stewed crab apples

Sweet apple sauce with condensed apple juice

Apples with raisins

Apples with apricots

Peaches, pears, cherries, berries, and other small fruits

Baked apples

Baked pears

Baked peaches

Cranberries

Cranberries with raisins

Cranberries with sweet apples

Oranges and apples

Stewed raisins

Dried apples

Dried apples with other dried fruit

Dried apricots and peaches

Evaporated peach sauce

Dried pears

Small fruits

Prunes

Prune marmalade

Canning fruit

Selection of cans

How to test and sterilize cans

Selection of fruit

Directions for preparing fruit

Cooking fruit for canning

Storing of canned fruit

Mold on canned fruit

Opening of canned fruit

Rules for selecting canned fruit

_Recipes_:

To can strawberries

To can raspberries, blackberries and other small fruit

To can gooseberries

To can peaches

To can pears

To can plums

To can cherries

To can mixed fruit

Quinces and apples

Plums with sweet apples

To can grapes

To can crab apples

To can apples

To can pineapples

Fruit jellies

_Recipes_:

Apple jelly

Apple jelly without sugar

Berry and currant jellies

Cherry jelly

Crab apple jelly

Cranberry jelly

Grape jelly

Orange jelly

Peach Jelly

Quince jelly

Plum jelly

Fruit in jelly

Fruit juices, value of

How to prepare fruit juices

_Recipes:_

Grape juice or unfermented wine

Grape juice No. 2

Another method

Fruit syrup

Currant syrup

Orange syrup

Lemon syrup

Lemon syrup No 2

Blackberry syrup

Fruit ices

Nuts

Composition and nutritive value of

The almond

Almond bread

The Brazil nut

The cocoanut, its uses in tropical countries

The chestnut

Chestnut flour

The acorn

The hazel nut

The filbert

The cobnut

The walnut

The butternut

The hickory nut

The pecan

The peanut or ground nut

_Recipes:_

To blanch almonds

Boiled chestnuts

Mashed chestnuts

Baked chestnuts

To keep nuts fresh

Table topics.

THE LEGUMES

Composition and nutritive value

Legumes as a substitute for animal food

Legumin, or vegetable casein

Chinese cheese

Legumes the "pulse" of Scripture

Diet of the pyramid builders

Digestibility of legumes

A fourteenth century recipe

The green legumes

Suggestions for cooking

Slow cooking preferable

Soaking the dry seeds

Effects of hard water upon the legumes

Temperature of water for cooking

Amount of water required

Addition of salt to legumes

Peas, description of

Buying votes with peas

A commemorative dinner

Peas bainocks

Peas sausages

Peas pudding

Time required for cooking

_Recipes:_

Stewed split peas

Peas puree

Mashed peas

Peas cakes

Dried green peas

Beans, description of

Mention of beans in Scripture

Beans in mythology

Time required for digestion

Method of cooking

Experiment of an English cook

Parboiling beans

Time required to cook

_Recipes:_

Baked beans

Boiled beans

Beans boiled in a bag

Scalloped beans

Stewed beans

Mashed beans

Stewed Lima beans

Succotash

Pulp succotash

Lentils, description of

Use of lentils by the ancients

Lentil meal

Preparation for cooking

_Recipes:_

Lentil puree

Lentils mashed with beans

Lentil gravy with rice

Table topics.

VEGETABLES

Composition and nutritive value of vegetables

Exclusive diet of vegetables not desirable

To select vegetables

Poison in potato sprouts

Stale vegetables a cause of illness

Keeping vegetables

To freshen withered vegetables

Storing winter vegetables

Preparation and cooking

To clean vegetables for cooking

Methods of cooking

Time required for cooking various vegetables

Irish potato, description of

The chemistry of cooking

Digestibility of the potato

New potatoes

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Potatoes boiled in "jackets"

Boiled potatoes without skins

Steamed potatoes

Roasted potatoes

Baked potatoes

Stuffed potatoes

Stuffed potatoes No. 2

Mashed potatoes

New potatoes

Cracked potatoes

Creamed potatoes

Scalloped potatoes

Stewed potatoes

Potatoes stewed with celery

Potato snow balls

Potato cakes

Potato cakes with egg

Potato puffs

Browned potatoes

Ornamental potatoes

Broiled potatoes

Warmed-over potatoes

Vegetable hash

The sweet potato, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Baked sweet potatoes

Baked sweet potatoes No 2

Boiled sweet potatoes

Steamed sweet potatoes

Browned sweet potatoes

Mashed sweet potatoes

Potato hash

Roasted sweet potatoes

Turnips, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Boiled turnips

Baked turnips

Creamed turnips

Chopped turnips

Mashed turnips

Scalloped turnips

Steamed turnips

Stewed turnips

Turnips in juice

Turnips with cream sauce

Parsnips, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Baked parsnips

Baked parsnips No. 2

Boiled parsnips

Browned parsnips

Creamed parsnips

Mashed parsnips

Parsnips with cream sauce

Parsnips with egg sauce

Parsnips with potatoes

Stewed parsnips

Stewed parsnips with celery

Carrots, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Boiled carrots

Carrots with egg sauce

Stewed carrots

Beets, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Baked beets

Baked beets No. 2

Beets and potatoes

Beet hash

Beet greens

Beet salad or chopped beets

Beet salad No 2

Boiled beets

Stewed beets

Cabbage, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Baked cabbage

Boiled cabbage

Cabbage and tomatoes

Cabbage and celery

Cabbage hash

Chopped cabbage or cabbage salad

Mashed cabbage

Stewed cabbage

Cauliflower and Broccoli, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Boiled cauliflower

Browned cauliflower

Cauliflower with egg sauce

With tomato sauce

Stewed cauliflower

Scalloped cauliflower

Spinach, description of

Preparation and cooking

Celery

To keep celery fresh

_Recipes_:

Celery salad

Stewed celery

Stewed celery No. 2

Celery with tomato sauce

Celery and potato hash

Asparagus, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Asparagus and peas

Asparagus Points

Asparagus on toast

Asparagus with cream sauce

Asparagus with egg sauce

Stewed asparagus

Sea-kale, description of

Lettuce and radish, description of

_Recipes:_

Lettuce

Radishes

Cymling

Description

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes:_

Mashed squash

Squash with egg sauce

Stewed squash

Winter squash

Preparation and cooking

Time required for cooking

_Recipes_:

Baked squash

Steamed squash

The pumpkin, description of

_Recipes_:

Baked pumpkin

Stewed pumpkin

Dried pumpkin

Tomato, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Baked tomatoes

Baked tomatoes No. 2

Scalloped tomatoes

Stewed corn and tomatoes

Tomato gravy

Tomato salad

Tomato salad No. 2

Broiled tomatoes

Tomato pudding

Stewed tomatoes

Tomato with okra

Egg plant, description of

Nutritive value

_Recipes_:

Scalloped egg plant

Baked egg plant

Cucumber, description of

Digestibility

Preparation and cooking

Salsify or vegetable oyster, description of

Preparation and cooking

_Recipes_:

Scalloped vegetable oysters

Stewed vegetable oysters

Green corn, peas, and beans, description of

General suggestions for selecting and cooking

_Recipes for corn_:

Baked corn

Baked corn No. 2

Boiled green corn

Stewed corn pulp

Corn cakes

Corn pudding

Roasted green corn

Stewed green corn

Summer succotash

Dried corn

_Recipe for peas_:

Stewed peas

_Recipes for beans_:

Lima beans

Shelled beans

String beans

Canning vegetables

_Recipes_:

Canned corn

Canned corn and tomatoes

Canned peas

Canned tomatoes

Canned tomatoes No. 2

String beans

Canned pumpkin and squash

Table topics.

SOUPS

Value of soup as an article of diet

Superiority of soups made from grain and legumes

Economical value of such soups

Digestibility of soups

Cooking of material for soups

Use of a colander in preparing soups

Quantity of salt required

Flavoring soups

Seasoning of soup

Chinese soup strainer

Whole grains, macaroni, shredded vegetables, etc., for soups

Milk in the preparation of soups

Consistency of soups

Preparation of soups from left-over fragments

Croutons

_Recipes_:

Asparagus soup

Baked bean soup

Bean and corn soup

Bean and hominy soup

Bean and potato soup

Bean and tomato soup

Black bean soup

Black bean soup No. 2

Bran stock

Brown soup

Canned green pea soup

Canned corn soup

Carrot soup

Celery soup

Chestnut soup

Combination soup

Combination soup No. 2

Another

Cream pea soup

Cream barley soup

Green corn soup

Green pea soup

Green bean soup

Kornlet soup

Kornlet and tomato soup

Lentil soup

Lentil and parsnip soup

Lima bean soup

Macaroni soup

Oatmeal soup

Parsnip soup

Parsnip soup No. 2

Pea and tomato soup

Plain rice soup

Potato and rice soup

Potato soup

Potato and vermicelli soup

Sago and potato soup

Scotch broth

Split pea soup

Sweet potato soup

Swiss potato soup

Swiss lentil soup

Tomato and macaroni soup

Tomato cream soup

Tomato and okra soup

Tomato soup with vermicelli

Vegetable oyster soup

Vegetable soup

Vegetable soup No. 2

Vegetable soup No. 3

Vegetable soup No. 4

Velvet Soup

Vermicelli soup No. 2

White celery soup

Table topics.

BREAKFAST DISHES

Importance of a good breakfast

Requirements for a good breakfast

Pernicious custom of using fried and indigestible foods for breakfast

Use of salted foods an auxiliary to the drink habit

The ideal breakfast

Use of fruit for breakfast

Grains for breakfast

An appetizing dish

Preparation of zwieback

Preparation of toast

_Recipes_:

Apple toast

Apricot toast

Asparagus toast

Banana toast

Berry toast

Berry toast No. 2

Celery toast

Cream toast

Cream toast with poached egg

Cherry toast

Gravy toast

Dry toast with hot cream

Grape toast

Lentil toast

Prune toast

Peach toast

Snowflake toast

Tomato toast

Vegetable oyster toast

_Miscellaneous breakfast dishes:_

Brewis

Blackberry mush

Dry granola

Frumenty

Macaroni with raisins

Macaroni with kornlet

Peach mush

Rice with lemon

Table topics.

DESSERTS

Appropriate and healthful desserts

Objections to the use of desserts

The simplest dessert

General suggestions

Importance of good material

Preparation of dried fruit for dessert

Molded desserts

_Suggestions for flavoring:_

To prepare almond paste

Cocoanut flavor

Orange and lemon flavor

To color sugar

Fruit desserts

_Recipes:_

Apple dessert

Apple meringue dessert. Apple rose cream

Apple snow

Baked apples with cream

Baked sweet apple dessert

Bananas in syrup

Baked bananas

Fresh fruit compote

Grape apples

Peach cream

Prune dessert

Desserts made of fruit with grains, bread, etc.

_Recipes:_

Apple sandwich

Apple sandwich No. 2

Baked apple pudding

Barley fruit pudding

Barley fig pudding

Blackberry cornstarch pudding

Cocoanut and cornstarch blancmange

Cornstarch blancmange

cornstarch with raisins

Cornstarch with apples

Cornstarch fruit mold

Cornstarch fruit mold No. 2

Cracked wheat pudding

Cracked wheat pudding No. 2

Farina blancmange

Farina fruit mold

Fruit pudding

Jam pudding

Plain fruit pudding or Brown Betty

Prune pudding

Rice meringue

Rice snowball

Rice fruit dessert

Rice dumpling

Rice cream pudding

Rice pudding with raisins

Red rice mold

Rice and fruit dessert

Rice and tapioca pudding

Rice flour mold

Rice and stewed apple dessert

Rice and strawberry dessert

Stewed fruit pudding

Strawberry minute pudding

Sweet apple pudding

Whortleberry pudding

Desserts with tapioca, sago, manioca, and sea moss

_Recipes_:

Apple tapioca

Apple tapioca No. 2

Banana dessert

Blackberry tapioca

Cherry pudding

Fruit tapioca

Molded tapioca with fruit

Pineapple tapioca

Prune and tapioca pudding

Tapioca and fig pudding

Peach tapioca

Tapioca jelly

Apple sago pudding

Red sago mold

Sago fruit pudding

Sago pudding

Manioca with fruit

Raspberry manioca mold

Sea moss blancmange

Desserts made with gelatin

Gelatine an excellent culture medium

Dangers in the use of gelatine

Quantity to be used

_Recipes_:

Apples in jelly

Apple shape

Banana dessert

Clear dessert

Fruit foam dessert

Fruit shape

Gelatine custard

Layer-pudding

Lemon jelly

Jelly with fruit

Orange dessert; Oranges in jelly

Orange jelly

Snow pudding

Desserts with crusts

_Recipes_:

Apple tart

Gooseberry tart

Cherry tart

Strawberry and other fruit shortcakes

Banana shortcake

Lemon shortcake

Berry shortcake with prepared cream

Cream

Raised pie

Baked apple loaf

Custard puddings

Importance of slow cooking

Best utensils for cooking

Custard desserts in cups

To stir beaten eggs into heated milk

To flavor custards and custard puddings

_Recipes_:

Apple custard

Apple custard No. 2

Apple custard No. 3

Apple cornstarch custard

Apple and bread custard

Almond cornstarch pudding

Almond cream

Apple charlotte

Banana custard

Boiled custard

Boiled custard bread pudding

Bread and fruit custard

Bread custard pudding

Bread and fig pudding

Bread and apricot pudding

Caramel custard

Carrot pudding

Cocoanut cornstarch pudding

Cocoanut custard

Cocoanut rice custard

Corn meal pudding

Corn meal pudding No. 2

Corn meal and fig pudding

Cornstarch meringue

Cracked wheat pudding

Cup custard

Farina custard

Farina pudding

Floating island

Fruit custard

Graham grits pudding

Ground rice pudding

Lemon pudding

Lemon cornstarch pudding

Lemon cornstarch pudding No. 2

Macaroni pudding

Molded rice or snowballs

Orange float

Orange custard

Orange pudding

Peach meringue

Picnic pudding

Plain cornstarch pudding

Plain custard

Prune pudding

Prune whip

Rice apple custard pudding

Rice custard pudding

Rice snow

Rice snow with jelly

Rice with eggs

Snow pudding

Steamed custard

Strawberry charlotte

Pop corn pudding

Sago custard pudding

Sago and fruit custard pudding

Snowball custard

Tapioca custard

Tapioca pudding

Vermicelli pudding

White custard

White custard No. 2

Steamed pudding

Precautions to be observed in steaming puddings

_Recipes:_

Batter pudding

Bread and fruit custard

Date pudding

Rice balls

Steamed bread custard

Steamed fig pudding

Pastry and cake

Deleterious effects from the use of

Reasons for indigestibility

General directions for making pies

_Recipes_

Paste for pies

Corn meal crust

Granola crust

Paste for tart shells

Cream filling

Grape tart

Lemon filling

Tapioca filling

Apple custard pie

Banana pie

Bread pie

Carrot pie

Cocoanut pie

Cocoanut pie No. 2

Cream pie

Cranberry pie

Dried apple pie

Dried apple pie with raisins

Dried apricot pie

Farina pie

Fruit pie

Grape jelly pie

Jelly custard pie

Lemon pie

Lemon meringue custard

One crust peach pie

Orange pie

Peach custard pie

Prune pie

Pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie No. 2

Pumpkin pie without eggs

Simple custard pie

Squash pie

Squash pie without eggs

Sweet apple custard pie

Sweet potato pie

Cake

General suggestions for preparation of

Cake made light with yeast

Cake made light with air

_Recipes:_

Apple cake

Cocoanut custard cake

Cream cake

Delicate cup cake

Fig layer cake

Fruit jelly cake

Gold and silver cake

Icing for cakes

Orange cake

Fruit cake

Loaf cake

Pineapple cake

Plain buns

Sponge cake

Sugar crisps

Variety cake

Table topics.

GRAVIES AND SAUCES

Importance of proper preparation

Accuracy of measurement

Proportion of material necessary

The double boiler for cooking gravies

Flavoring of gravies for vegetables

Gravies and sauces for vegetables

_Recipes:_

Brown sauce

Cream and white sauce

Celery sauce

Egg sauce

Pease gravy

Tomato gravy

Tomato cream gravy

Sauces for desserts and puddings

_Recipes:_

Almond sauce

Caramel sauce

Cocoanut sauce

Cream sauce

Cranberry pudding sauce

Custard sauce

Egg sauce

Egg sauce No. 2

Foamy sauce

Fruit cream

Fruit sauce

Fruit sauce No. 2

Lemon pudding sauce

Mock cream

Molasses sauce

Orange sauce

Peach sauce

Plain pudding sauce

Red Sauce

Rose cream Sago sauce

Whipped cream sauce

Table topics.

BEVERAGES

Large quantities of fluid prejudicial to digestion

Wholesome beverages

The cup that cheers but not inebriates

Harmful substances contained in tea

Theine

Tannin

Use of tea a cause of sleeplessness and nervous disorders

Tea a stimulant

Tea not a food

Coffee, cocoa, and chocolate

Caffein

Adulteration of tea and coffee

Substitutes for tea and coffee

_Recipes:_

Beet coffee

Caramel coffee

Caramel coffee No. 2

Caramel coffee No. 3

Caramel coffee No. 4

Mrs. T's caramel coffee

Parched grain coffee

Wheat, oats, and barley coffee

_Recipes for cold beverages:_

Blackberry beverage

Fruit beverage

Fruit beverage No. 2

Fruit cordial

Grape beverage

Lemonade

Mixed lemonade

Oatmeal drink

Orangeade

Pineapple beverage

Pineapple lemonade

Pink lemonade

Sherbet

Tisane

Table topics.

MILK, CREAM, AND BUTTER

Milk, chemical composition of

Proportion of food elements

Microscopic examination of milk

Casein

Casein coagulated by the introduction of acid

Spontaneous coagulation or souring of milk

Adulteration of milk

Quality of milk influenced by the food of the animal

Diseased milk

Kinds of milk to be avoided

Distribution of germs by milk

Proper utensils for keeping milk

Where to keep milk

Dr. Dougall's experiments on the absorbent properties of milk

Washing of milk dishes

Treatment of milk for cream rising

Temperature at which cream rises best

Importance of sterilizing milk

To sterilize milk for immediate use

To sterilize milk to keep

Condensed milk

Cream, composition of

Changes produced by churning

Skimmed milk, composition of

Buttermilk, composition of

Digestibility of cream

Sterilized cream

Care of milk for producing cream

Homemade creamery

Butter, the composition of

Rancid butter

Tests of good butter

Flavor and color of butter

Artificial butter

Test for oleomargarine

Butter in ancient times

Butter making

Best conditions for the rising of cream

Upon what the keeping qualities of butter depend

Cheese

Tyrotoxicon

_Recipes_:

Hot milk

Devonshire or clotted cream

Cottage cheese

Cottage cheese from buttermilk

Cottage cheese from sour milk

French butter

Shaken milk

Emulsified butter

Table topics.

EGGS

Eggs a concentrated food

Composition of the egg

How to choose eggs

Quality of eggs varied by the food of the fowl

Stale eggs

Test for eggs

How to keep eggs

To beat eggs

Albumen susceptible to temperature

Left-over eggs

_Recipes_:

Eggs in shell

Eggs in sunshine

Eggs poached in tomatoes

Eggs in cream

Poached or dropped eggs

Poached eggs with cream sauce

Quickly prepared eggs

Scrambled eggs

Steamed eggs

Whirled eggs

Omelets

_Recipes_:

Plain omelets

Foam omelets

Fancy omelets

soft omelets

Table topics.

MEATS

Character of meat

Nutritive value

Excrementitious elements

Flesh food a stimulant

Diseased meats

Jewish customs in regard to meat

Trichina

Tapeworm and other parasites

Meat unnecessary for health

The excessive use of meat tending to develop the animal propensities

Objections to its use

Pork

Calves' brains and other viscera

Meat pies

Scallops

Pates

Comparative nutritious value

Variation and flavor

Composition and digestibility

Selection of meats

Preservation of meats

Jerked beef

Pemmican

Preparation and cooking of meat

Frozen beef

Best methods of cooking

Boiling

Stewing

Steaming

Roasting

Broiling

Beef, economy and adaptability in selection of

_Recipes_:

Broiled beef

Cold meat stew

Pan-broiled steak

Pan-broiled steak No. 2

Roast beef

Smothered beef

Vegetables with stewed beef

Stewed beef

Mutton

Cause of Strong flavor of

_Recipes_:

Boiled leg of mutton

Broiled chops

Pot roast lamb

Roast mutton

Stewed mutton

Stewed mutton chop

Stewed mutton chop No. 2

Veal and lamb

Poultry and game

To dress poultry and birds

To truss a fowl or bird

To stuff a fowl or bird

_Recipes_:

Birds baked in sweet potatoes

Boiled fowl

Broiled birds

Broiled fowl

Corn and chicken

Pigeons

quails

and partridges

Roast chicken

Roast turkey

Smothered chicken

Steamed chicken

Stewed chicken

Fish, two classes of

Difference in nutritive value

Flavor and wholesomeness

Poison fish

Parasites in fish

Fish as a brain food

Salted fish

Shellfish (Oysters, Clams, Lobsters, Crabs)

Not possessed of high nutritive value

Natural scavengers

Poisonous mussels

How to select and prepare fish

Frozen fish

Methods of cooking

_Recipes_:

Baked fish

Broiled fish

Meat soup

Preparation of stock

Selection of material for stock

Quantity of materials needed

Uses of scraps

Extracting the juice

Temperature of the water to be used

Correct proportion of water

Time required for cooking

Straining the stock

To remove the fat

Simple Stock or broth

Compound stock or double broth

To clarify soup stock

_Recipes_:

Asparagus soup

Barley

rice

sago

or tapioca soup

Caramel for coloring soup brown

Julienne soup

Tomato soup

White soup

Vermicelli or macaroni soup

Puree with chicken

Tapioca cream soup

Table Topics.

FOOD FOR THE SICK

Need of care in the preparation of food for the sick

What constitutes proper food for the sick

Knowledge of dietetics an important factor in the education of

every woman

No special dishes for all cases

Hot buttered toast and rich jellies objectionable

The simplest food the best

Scrupulous neatness in serving important

To coax a capricious appetite

A "purple" dinner

A "yellow" dinner

To facilitate the serving of hot foods

Cooking utensils

Gruel

Long-continued cooking needed

Use of the double boiler in the cooking of gruels

Gruel strainer

_Recipes_:

Arrowroot gruel

Barley gruel

Egg gruel

Egg gruel No. 2

Farina gruel

Flour gruel

Gluten gruel

Gluten gruel No. 2

Gluten cream

Gluten meal gruel

Graham gruel

Graham grits gruel

Gruel of prepared flour

Indian meal gruel

Lemon oatmeal gruel

Milk oatmeal gruel

Milk porridge

Oatmeal gruel

Oatmeal gruel No. 2

Oatmeal gruel No. 3

Peptonized' gluten gruel

Raisin gruel

Rice water

Preparations of milk

Milk diet

Advantages of

Quantity of milk needed

Digestibility of milk

_Recipes_:

Albumenized milk

Hot milk

Junket, or curded milk

Koumiss

Milk and lime water

Peptonized milk for infants

Beef tea, broths, etc.

Nutritive value

Testimony of Dr. Austin Flint

_Recipes_:

Beef extract

Beef juice

Beef tea

Beef tea and eggs

Beef broth and oatmeal

Bottled beef tea

Chicken broth

Mutton broth

Vegetable broth

Vegetable broth No. 2

Mixed vegetable broth

_Recipes for Panada_:

Broth panada

Chicken panada

Egg panada

Milk panada

Raisin panada

Grains for the sick

_Recipes_:

Gluten mush

Tomato gluten

Tomato gluten No. 2

Meats for the sick

Importance of simple preparation

_Recipes_:

Broiled steak

Chicken

Chicken jelly

Minced chicken

Mutton chop

Minced steak

Scraped steak

Eggs for the sick

_Recipes_:

Floated egg

Gluten meal custard

Gluten custard

Steamed eggs

Soft custard

Raw egg

White of egg

White of egg and milk

Refreshing drinks and delicacies for the sick

Nature's delicacies

How to serve

Fruit juices

_Recipes_:

Acorn coffee

Almond milk

Apple beverage

Apple beverage No. 2

Apple toast water

Baked milk

Barley lemonade

Barley and fruit drinks

Barley milk

Cranberry drink

Currantade

Crust coffee

Egg cream

Egg cream No. 2

Egg cream No. 3

Egg lemonade

Flaxseed coffee

Gum Arabic water

Hot water

Hot lemonade

Irish moss lemonade

Orangeade

Plain lemonade

Slippery elm tea

Toast water

Tamarind water

Bread

_Recipes_;

Diabetic biscuit

Diabetic biscuit No. 2

Gluten meal gems

Jellies and other desserts for the side

_Recipes_:

Arrowroot jelly

Arrowroot blancmange

Currant jelly

Iceland moss jelly

Iceland moss blancmange

Orange whey

White custard

Table topics.

FOOD FOR THE AGED AND THE VERY YOUNG

Requisites of food for the aged

Stimulating diet not necessary

Flesh food unsuitable

Bill of fare

Quantity of food for the aged

Heavy meals a tax upon digestion

Cornaro's testimony

Diet for the young

Causes of mortality among young children

Best artificial food

Use of sterilized milk.

Difference between cows' milk and human milk

Common method of preparing cows' milk

Artificial human milk

Artificial human milk No. 2

Artificial human milk No. 3

Peptonized milk

Mucilaginous food excellent in gastro-enteritis

Preparation of food for infants

Time required for digestion of artificial food

Quantity of food for infants

Rules for finding the amount of food needed

Table for the feeding of infants

Interval between feeding

Intervals for feeding at different ages

Manner of feeding artificial foods

Danger from unclean utensils

Diet of older children

An abundance of nitrogenous material important

Flesh food unnecessary

Experiments of Dr. Camman

Testimony of Dr. Clouston

Candy and similar sweets

Eating between meals

Education of the appetite

Inherited appetites and tendencies

Table topics.

FRAGMENTS AND LEFT-OVER FOODS

Preserving and utilizing the left-over fragments

Precautions to be observed

Uses of stale bread

To insure perfect preservation of fragments

Preparation of zwieback and croutons

Left-over grains

Left-over vegetables

Left-over meats

Left-over milk

Table topics.

THE ART OF DINING

Pleasant accessories essential

The dining room

Neatness an essential

Care of the dining room

Furnishings of the dining room

Table talk

A pleasant custom

Table manners

Suggestions for table etiquette

The table

Its appearance and appointments

The table an educator in the household

A well ordered table an incentive to good manners

Ostentation not necessary

Setting the table

The sub-cover

Napkins

The center piece

Arrangement of dishes

"Dishing up"

Setting the table over night

Warming the dishes

The service of meals

A capital idea

Fruit as the first course at breakfast

To keep the food hot

A employed

General suggestions for waiters

Suggestions concerning dinner parties

Proper form of invitation

Arrangement and adornment of table

A pleasing custom

The _menu_ card

Service for a company dinner

Etiquette of dinner parties

Table topics.

AFTER MEALTIME

Clearing the table

Washing the dishes

_papier-mache_ tubs

Ammonia, uses of

Clean dishes not evolved from dirty dishwater

Washing all dishes of one kind together

Washing milk dishes

Uses of the dish mop

Cleaning of grain boilers and mush kettles

Washing of tin dishes

To clean iron ware

To wash wooden ware

Care of steel knives and forks

Draining the dishes

Dishcloths and towels

To make a dish mop

The care of glass and silver

To keep table cutlery from rusting

To wash trays and Japanned ware

Care of the table linen

To remove stains

To dry table linen

To iron table linen

Washing colored table linen

The garbage

Table topics.

A YEAR'S BREAKFASTS AND DINNERS

A perplexing problem

Requisites for a well arranged _menu_

Suggestions for preparing bills of fare

Table of food analyses

Fifty-two weeks' breakfasts and dinners

Average cost

Analysis of various bills of fare

Table topics.

A BATCH OF DINNERS

Holiday dinners

Holiday feasting

Holiday dinners opposed to temperance

Thanksgiving _menus_

Holiday _menus_

Picnic dinners

The lunch basket, provision for

Fruit sandwiches

Egg sandwiches

Picnic biscuit

Fig wafers

Suitable beverages

School lunches

Deficiency of food material in the ordinary school lunch

Why the after dinner session of school drags wearily

Simple lunches desirable

Suggestions for putting up the lunch

Creamy rice

Neatness and daintiness essential

The lunch basket

Sabbath dinners

A needed reform

Feasting on the Sabbath, deleterious results of

Simple meals for the Sabbath

A Sabbath bill of fare

Table topics.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE ALIMENTARY CANAL

AN OVEN THERMOMETER

CONVENIENT KITCHEN TABLE

A DOUBLE BOILER

COMPARTMENT SINK FOR DISH-WASHING OPEN

COMPARTMENT SINK FOR DISH-WASHING CLOSED

THE STEAM COOKER

VEGETABLE PRESS

LEMON DRILL

THE HANDY WAITER

WALL CABINET

PERCOLATER HOLDER

KNEADING TABLE

DISH TOWEL RACK

VEGETABLE BRUSH

A DOUBLE BOILER

SECTIONAL VIEW OF WHEAT KERNEL

MEASURING CUPS

BREAD PAN

MEXICAN WOMEN MAKING TORTILLAS

STONE METATE

GEM IRONS

PERFORATED SHEET IRON PAN FOR ROLLS

MAKING UNFERMENTED BREAD

CANNING UTENSILS

BAIN MARIE

CHINESE SOUP STRAINER

CREAMERY

ORIENTAL BUTTER MAKING

ARRANGEMENTS FOR STRAINING STOCK

GRUEL STRAINER

EXTENSION STRAINER

WIRE DISHCLOTH

A PICNIC DINNER

INTRODUCTION.

No one thing over which we have control exerts so marked an influence

upon our physical prosperity as the food we eat; and it is no

exaggeration to say that well-selected and scientifically prepared food

renders the partaker whose digestion permits of its being well

assimilated, superior to his fellow-mortals in those qualities which

will enable him to cope most successfully with life's difficulties, and

to fulfill the purpose of existence in the best and truest manner. The

brain and other organs of the body are affected by the quality of the

blood which nourishes them, and since the blood is made of the food

eaten, it follows that the use of poor food will result in poor blood,

poor muscles, poor brains, and poor bodies, incapable of first-class

work in any capacity. Very few persons, however, ever stop to inquire

what particular foods are best adapted to the manufacture of good blood

and the maintenance of perfect health; but whatever gratifies the palate

or is most conveniently obtained, is cooked and eaten without regard to

its dietetic value. Far too many meals partake of the characteristics of

the one described in the story told of a clergyman who, when requested

to ask a blessing upon a dinner consisting of bread, hot and tinged with

saleratus, meat fried to a crisp, potatoes swimming in grease, mince

pie, preserves, and pickles, demurred on the ground that the dinner was

"not worth a blessing." He might with equal propriety have added, "and

not worth eating."

The subject of diet and its relation to human welfare, is one deserving

of the most careful consideration. It should be studied as a science, to

enable us to choose such materials as are best adapted to our needs

under the varying circumstances of climate growth, occupation, and the

numerous changing conditions of the human system; as an art, that we may

become so skilled in the preparation of the articles selected as to make

them both appetizing and healthful. It is an unfortunate fact that even

among experienced housekeepers the scientific principles which govern

the proper preparation of food, are but little understood, and much

unwholesome cookery is the result. The mechanical mixing of ingredients

is not sufficient to secure good results; and many of the failures

attributed to "poor material," "bad luck," and various other subterfuges

to which cooks ignorance of scientific principles. The common method of

blindly following recipes, with no knowledge of "the reason why," can

hardly fail to be often productive of unsatisfactory results, which to

the uninformed seem quite inexplicable.

Cookery, when based upon scientific principles, ceases to be the

difficult problem it so often appears. Cause and effect follow each

other as certainly in the preparation of food as in other things; and

with a knowledge of the underlying principles, and faithfulness in

carrying out the necessary details, failure becomes almost an

impossibility. There is no department of human activity where applied

science offers greater advantages than in that of cookery, and in our

presentation of the subjects treated in the following pages, we have

endeavored, so far as consistent with the scope of this work, to give

special prominence to the scientific principles involved in the

successful production of wholesome articles of food. We trust our

readers will find these principles so plainly elucidated and the subject

so interesting, that they will be stimulated to undertake for

themselves further study and research in this most important branch of

household science. We have aimed also to give special precedence of

space to those most important foods, the legumes, and grains and their

products, which in the majority of cook books are given but little

consideration or are even left out altogether, believing that our

readers will be more interested in learning the many palatable ways in

which these especially nutritious and inexpensive foods may be prepared,

than in a reiteration of such dishes as usually make up the bulk of the

average cook book.

For reasons stated elsewhere (in the chapter on Milk, Cream, and

Butter), we have in the preparation of all recipes made use of cream in

place of other fats; but lest there be some who may suppose because

cream occupies so frequent a place in the recipes, and because of their

inability to obtain that article, the recipes are therefore not adapted

to their use, we wish to state that a large proportion of the recipes in

which it is mentioned as seasoning, or for dressing, will be found to be

very palatable with the cream omitted, or by the use of its place of

some one of the many substitutes recommended. We ought also to mention

in this connection, that wherever cream is recommended, unless otherwise

designated, the quality used in the preparation of the recipes is that

of single or twelve hour cream sufficiently diluted with milk, so that

one fourth of each quart of milk is reckoned as cream. If a richer

quality than this be used, the quantity should be diminished in

proportion; otherwise, by the excess of fat, a wholesome food may become

a rich, unhealthful dish.

In conclusion, the author desires to state that no recipe has been

admitted to this work which has not been thoroughly tested by repeated

trials, by far the larger share of such being original, either in the

combination of the materials used, the method employed, or both

materials and method. Care has been taken not to cumber the work with

useless and indifferent recipes. It is believed that every recipe will

be found valuable, and that the variety offered is sufficiently ample,

so that under the most differing circumstances, all may be well served.

We trust therefore that those who undertake to use the work as a guide

in their culinary practice, will not consider any given recipe a failure

because success does not attend their first efforts. Perseverance and a

careful study of the directions given, will assuredly bring success to

all who possess the natural or acquired qualities essential for the

practice of that most useful of the arts,--"Healthful Cookery."

ELLA E. KELLOGG.

_Battle Creek, April 20, 1892._

Foods

The purposes of food are to promote growth, to supply force and heat,

and to furnish material to repair the waste which is constantly taking

place in the body. Every breath, every thought, every motion, wears out

some portion of the delicate and wonderful house in which we live.

Various vital processes remove these worn and useless particles; and to

keep the body in health, their loss must be made good by constantly

renewed supplies of material properly adapted to replenish the worn and

impaired tissues. This renovating material must be supplied through the

medium of food and drink, and the best food is that by which the desired

end may be most readily and perfectly attained. The great diversity in

character of the several tissues of the body, makes it necessary that

food should contain a variety of elements, in order that each part may

be properly nourished and replenished.

THE FOOD ELEMENTS.--The various elements found in food are the

following: Starch, sugar, fats, albumen, mineral substances,

indigestible substances.

The digestible food elements are often grouped, according to their

chemical composition, into three classes; _vis._, carbonaceous,

nitrogenous, and inorganic. The carbonaceous class includes starch,

sugar, and fats; the nitrogenous, all albuminous elements; and the

inorganic comprises the mineral elements.

_Starch_ is only found in vegetable foods; all grains, most vegetables,

and some fruits, contain starch in abundance. Several kinds of _sugar_

are made in nature's laboratory; _cane_, _grape_, _fruit_, and _milk_

sugar. The first is obtained from the sugar-cane, the sap of maple

trees, and from the beet root. Grape and fruit sugars are found in most

fruits and in honey. Milk sugar is one of the constituents of milk.

Glucose, an artificial sugar resembling grape sugar, is now largely

manufactured by subjecting the starch of corn or potatoes to a chemical

process; but it lacks the sweetness of natural sugars, and is by no

means a proper substitute for them. _Albumen_ is found in its purest,

uncombined state in the white of an egg, which is almost wholly composed

of albumen. It exists, combined with other food elements, in many other

foods, both animal and vegetable. It is found abundant in oatmeal, and

to some extent in the other grains, and in the juices of vegetables. All

natural foods contain elements which in many respects resemble

_albumen_, and are so closely allied to it that for convenience they are

usually classified under the general name of "albumen." The chief of

these is _gluten_, which is found in wheat, rye, and barley. _Casein_,

found in peas, beans, and milk, and the _fibrin_ of flesh, are elements

of this class.

_Fats_ are found in both animal and vegetable foods. Of animal fats,

butter and suet are common examples. In vegetable form, fat is abundant

in nuts, peas, beans, in various of the grains, and in a few fruits, as

the olive. As furnished by nature in nuts, legumes, grains, fruits, and

milk, this element is always found in a state of fine subdivision, which

condition is the one best adapted to its digestion. As most commonly

used, in the form of free fats, as butter, lard, etc., it is not only

difficult of digestion itself, but often interferes with the digestion

of the other food elements which are mixed with it. It was doubtless

never intended that fats should be so modified from their natural

condition and separated from other food elements as to be used as a

separate article of food. The same may be said of the other carbonaceous

elements, sugar and starch, neither of which, when used alone, is

capable of sustaining life, although when combined in a proper and

natural manner with other food elements, they perform a most important

part in the nutrition of the body. Most foods contain a percentage of

the _mineral_ elements. Grains and milk furnish these elements in

abundance. The cellulose, or woody tissue, of vegetables, and the bran

of wheat, are examples of _indigestible_ elements, which although they

cannot be converted into blood in tissue, serve an important purpose by

giving bulk to the food.

With the exception of gluten, none of the food elements, when used

alone, are capable of supporting life. A true food substance contains

some of all the food elements, the amount of each varying in different

foods.

USES OF THE FOOD ELEMENTS.--Concerning the purpose which these

different elements serve, it has been demonstrated by the experiments of

eminent physiologists that the carbonaceous elements, which in general

comprise the greater bulk of the food, serve three purposes in the body;

1. They furnish material for the production of heat;

2. They are a source of force when taken in connection with other food

elements;

3. They replenish the fatty tissues of the body. Of the carbonaceous

elements,--starch, sugar, and fats,--fats produce the greatest amount of

heat in proportion to quantity; that is, more heat is developed from a

pound of fat than from an equal weight of sugar or starch; but this

apparent advantage is more than counterbalanced by the fact that fats

are much more difficult of digestion than are the other carbonaceous

elements, and if relied upon to furnish adequate material for bodily

heat, would be productive of much mischief in overtaxing and producing

disease of the digestive organs. The fact that nature has made a much

more ample provision of starch and sugars than of fats in man's natural

diet, would seem to indicate that they were intended to be the chief

source of carbonaceous food; nevertheless, fats, when taken in such

proportion as nature supplies them, are necessary and important food

elements.

The nitrogenous food elements especially nourish the brain, nerves,

muscles, and all the more highly vitalized and active tissues of the

body, and also serve as a stimulus to tissue change. Hence it may be

said that a food deficient in these elements is a particularly poor

food.

The inorganic elements, chief of which are the phosphates, in the

carbonates of potash, soda, and lime, aid in furnishing the requisite

building material for bones and nerves.

PROPER COMBINATIONS OF FOODS.--While it is important that our food

should contain some of all the various food elements, experiments upon

both animals and human beings show it is necessary that these elements,

especially the nitrogenous and carbonaceous, be used in certain definite

proportions, as the system is only able to appropriate a certain amount

of each; and all excess, especially of nitrogenous elements, is not only

useless, but even injurious, since to rid the system of the surplus

imposes an additional task upon the digestive and excretory organs. The

relative proportion of these elements necessary to constitute a food

which perfectly meets the requirements of the system, is six of

carbonaceous to one of nitrogenous. Scientists have devoted much careful

study and experimentation to the determination of the quantities of each

of the food elements required for the daily nourishment of individuals

under the varying conditions of life, and it has come to be commonly

accepted that of the nitrogenous material which should constitute one

sixth of the nutrients taken, about _three ounces_ is all that can be

made use of in twenty-four hours, by a healthy adult of average weight,

doing a moderate amount of work. Many articles of food are, however,

deficient in one or the other of these elements, and need to be

supplemented by other articles containing the deficient element in

superabundance, since to employ a dietary in which any one of the

nutritive elements is lacking, although in bulk it may be all the

digestive organs can manage, is really starvation, and will in time

occasion serious results.

It is thus apparent that much care should be exercised in the selection

and combination of food materials. The table on page 484, showing the

nutritive values of various foods, should be carefully studied. Such

knowledge is of first importance in the education of cooks and

housekeepers, since to them falls the selection of the food for the

daily needs of the household; and they should not only understand what

foods are best suited to supply these needs, but how to combine them in

accordance with physiological laws.

CONDIMENTS.--By condiments are commonly meant such substances as

are added to season food, to give it "a relish" or to stimulate

appetite, but which in themselves possess no real food value. To this

category belong mustard, ginger, pepper, pepper sauce, Worcestershire

sauce, cloves, spices, and other similar substances. That anything is

needed to disguise or improve the natural flavor of food, would seem to

imply either that the article used was not a proper alimentary

substance, or that it did not answer the purpose for which the Creator

designed it. True condiments, such as pepper, pepper sauce, ginger,

spice, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, etc., are all strong irritants. This

may be readily demonstrated by their application to a raw surface. The

intense smarting and burning occasioned are ample evidence of the

irritating character. Pepper and mustard are capable of producing

powerfully irritating effects, even when applied to the healthy skin

where wholly intact. It is surprising that it does not occur to the

mother who applies a mustard plaster to the feet of her child, to

relieve congestion of the brain, that an article which is capable of

producing a blister upon the external covering of the body, is quite as

capable of producing similar effects when applied to the more sensitive

tissues within the body. The irritating effects of these substances upon

the stomach are not readily recognized, simply because the stomach is

supplied with very few nerves of sensation. That condiments induce an

intense degree of irritation of the mucous membrane of the stomach, was

abundantly demonstrated by the experiments of Dr. Beaumont upon the

unfortunate Alexis St. Martin. Dr. Beaumont records that when St. Martin

took mustard, pepper, and similar condiments with his food, the mucous

membrane of his stomach became intensely red and congested, appearing

very much like an inflamed eye. It is this irritating effect of

condiments which gives occasion for their extended use. They create an

artificial appetite, similar to the incessant craving of the chronic

dyspeptic, whose irritable stomach is seldom satisfied. This fact with

regard to condiments is a sufficient argument against their use, being

one of the greatest causes of gluttony, since they remove the sense of

satiety by which Nature says, "Enough."

To a thoroughly normal and unperverted taste, irritating condiments of

all sorts are very obnoxious. It is true that Nature accommodates

herself to their use with food to such a degree that they may be

employed for years without apparently producing very grave results; but

this very condition is a source of injury, since it is nothing more nor

less than the going to sleep of the sentinels which nature has posted at

the portal of the body, for the purpose of giving warning of danger. The

nerves of sensibility have become benumbed to such a degree that they no

longer offer remonstrance against irritating substances, and allow the

enemy to enter into the citadel of life. The mischievous work is thus

insidiously carried on year after year until by and by the individual

breaks down with some chronic disorder of the liver, kidneys, or some

other important internal organ. Physicians have long observed that in

tropical countries where curry powder and other condiments are very

extensively used, diseases of the liver, especially acute congestion and

inflammation, are exceedingly common, much more so that in countries and

among nations where condiments are less freely used. A traveler in

Mexico, some time ago, described a favorite Mexican dish as composed of

layers of the following ingredients: "Pepper, mustard, ginger, pepper,

potato, ginger; mustard, pepper, potato, mustard, ginger, pepper." The

common use of such a dish is sufficient cause for the great frequency of

diseases of the liver among the Mexicans, noted by physicians traveling

in that country. That the use of condiments is wholly a matter of habit

is evident from the fact that different nations employ as condiments

articles which would be in the highest degree obnoxious to people of

other countries. For example, the garlic so freely used in Russian

cookery, would be considered by Americans no addition to the natural

flavors of food; and still more distasteful would be the asafetida

frequently used as a seasoning in the cuisine of Persia and other

Asiatic countries.

The use of condiments is unquestionably a strong auxiliary to the

formation of a habit of using intoxicating drinks. Persons addicted to

the use of intoxicating liquors are, as a rule, fond of stimulating and

highly seasoned foods; and although the converse is not always true, yet

it is apparent to every thoughtful person, that the use of a diet

composed of highly seasoned and irritating food, institutes the

conditions necessary for the acquirement of a taste for intoxicating

liquors. The false appetite aroused by the use of food that "burns and

stings," craves something less insipid than pure cold water to keep up

the fever the food has excited. Again, condiments, like all other

stimulants, must be continually increased in quantity, or their effect

becomes diminished; and this leads directly to a demand for stronger

stimulants, both in eating and drinking, until the probable tendency is

toward the dram-shop.

A more serious reason why high seasonings leads to intemperance, is in

the perversion of the use of the sense of taste. Certain senses are

given us to add to our pleasure as well as for the practical, almost

indispensable, use they are to us. For instance, the sense of sight is

not only useful, but enables us to drink in beauty, if among beautiful

surroundings, without doing us any harm. The same of music and other

harmonics which may come to us through the sense of hearing. But the

sense of taste and was given us to distinguish between wholesome and

unwholesome foods, and cannot be used for merely sensuous gratification,

without debasing and making of it a gross thing. An education which

demands special enjoyment or pleasure through the sense of taste, is

wholly artificial; it is coming down to the animal plane, or below it

rather; for the instinct of the brute creation teaches it merely to eat

to live.

Yet how wide-spread is this habit of sensuous gratification through the

sense of taste! If one calls upon a neighbor, he is at once offered

refreshments of some kind, as though the greatest blessing of life came

from indulging the appetite. This evil is largely due to wrong

education, which begins with childhood. When Johnnie sits down to the

table, the mother says, "Johnnie, what would you like?" instead of

putting plain, wholesome food before the child, and taking it as a

matter of course that he will eat it and be satisfied. The child grows

to think that he must have what he likes, whether it is good for him or

not. It is not strange that an appetite thus pampered in childhood

becomes uncontrollable at maturity; for the step from gormandizing to

intoxication is much shorter than most people imagine. The natural,

unperverted taste of a child will lead him to eat that which is good for

him. But how can we expect the children to reform when the parents

continually set them bad examples in the matter of eating and drinking?

The cultivation of a taste for spices is a degradation of the sense of

taste. Nature never designed that pleasure should be divorced from use.

The effects of gratifying the sense of taste differ materially from

those of gratifying the higher senses of sight and hearing. What we see

is gone; nothing remains but the memory, and the same is true of the

sweetest sounds which may reach us through the ears. But what we taste

is taken into the stomach and what has thus given us brief pleasure

through the gratification of the palate, must make work in the

alimentary canal for fourteen hours before it is disposed of.

VARIETY IN FOOD.--Simplicity of diet should be a point of first

consideration with all persons upon whom falls the responsibility of

providing the family bills of fare, since the simplest foods are, as a

rule, the most healthful. Variety is needed; that is, a judicious

mingling of fruits, grains, and vegetables; but the general tendency is

to supply our tables with too many kinds and to prepare each dish in the

most elaborate manner, until, in many households, the cooking of food

has come to be almost the chief end of life. While the preparation of

food should be looked upon as of so much importance as to demand the

most careful consideration and thought as to its suitability,

wholesomeness, nutritive qualities, and digestibility, it should by no

means be made to usurp the larger share of one's time, when simpler

foods and less labor would afford the partakers equal nourishment and

strength.

A great variety of foods at one meal exerts a potent influence in

creating a love of eating, and is likewise a constant temptation to

overeat. Let us have well-cooked, nutritious, and palatable food, and

plenty of it; variety from day to day, but not too great a variety at

each meal.

The prevalent custom of loading the table with a great number of viands,

upon occasions when guests are to be entertained in our homes, is one to

be deplored, since it is neither conducive to good health nor necessary

to good cheer, but on the contrary is still laborious and expensive a

practice that many are debarred from social intercourse because they

cannot afford to entertain after the fashion of their neighbors. Upon

this subject a well-known writer has aptly said: "Simplify cookery, thus

reducing the cost of living, and how many longing individuals would

thereby be enabled to afford themselves the pleasure of culture and

social intercourse! When the barbarous practice of stuffing one's guests

shall have been abolished, a social gathering will not then imply, as it

does now, hard labor, expensive outlay, and dyspepsia. Perhaps when that

time arise, we shall be sufficiently civilized to demand pleasures of a

higher sort. True, the entertainments will then, in one sense, be more

costly, as culture is harder to come by than cake. The profusion of

viands now heaped upon the table, betrays poverty of the worst sort.

Having nothing better to offer, we offer victuals; and this we do with

something of that complacent, satisfied air with which some more

northern tribes present their tidbits of whale and walrus."

TABLE TOPICS.

"Let appetite wear reason's golden chain,

and find in due restrain its luxury."

A man's food, when he has the means and opportunity of selecting it,

suggests his moral nature. Many a Christian is trying to do by

prayer that which cannot be done except through corrected

diet.--_Talmage._

Our pious ancestors enacted a law that suicides should be buried

where four roads meet, and that a cart-load of stones should be

thrown upon the body. Yet, when gentlemen or ladies commit suicide,

not by cord or steel, but by turtle soup or lobster salad, they may

be buried on consecrated ground, and the public are not ashamed to

read an epitaph upon their tombstones false enough to make the

marble blush.--_Horace Mann._

It is related by a gentleman who had an appointment to breakfast

with the late A.T. Stewart, that the butler placed before them both

an elaborate bill of fare; the visitor selected a list of rare

dishes, and was quite abashed when Mr. Stewart said, "Bring me my

usual breakfast,--oatmeal and boiled eggs." He then explained to his

friend that he found simple food a necessity to him, otherwise he

could not think clearly. That unobscured brain applied to nobler

ends would have won higher results, but the principle remains the

same.--_Sel._

Study simplicity in the number of dishes, and a variety in the

character of the meals.--_Sel._

I have come to the conclusion that more than half the disease which

embitters life is due to avoidable errors in diet, ... and that more

mischief, in the form of actual disease, of impaired vigor, and of

shortened life, accrues to civilized man from erroneous habits of

eating than from the habitual use of alcoholic drink, considerable

as I know that evil to be.--_Sir Henry Thompson._

The ancient Gauls, who were a very brave, strong, and hearty race,

lived very abstemiously. Their food was milk, berries, and herbs.

They made bread of nuts. They had a very peculiar fashion of wearing

a metal ring around the body, the size of which was regulated by act

of Parliament. Any man who outgrew in circumference his metal ring

was looked upon as a lazy glutton, and consequently was disgraced.

To keep in health this rule is wise:

Eat only when you need, and relish food,

chew thoroughly that it may do you good,

have it well cooked, unspiced, and undisguised.

--_Leonardo da Vinci_

THE DIGESTION OF FOODS.

It is important that the housekeeper not only understand the nature and

composition of foods, but she should also know something of their

digestive properties, since food, to be serviceable, must be not only

nutritious, but easily digested. Digestion is the process by which food

rendered soluble, and capable of being absorbed for use in carrying on

the various vital processes.

The digestive apparatus consists of a long and tortuous tube called the

alimentary canal, varying in length from twenty-five to thirty feet,

along which are arranged the various digestive organs,--the mouth, the

stomach, the liver, and the pancreas,--each of which, together with the

intestines, has an important function to perform. In these various

organs nature manufactures five wonderful fluids for changing and

dissolving the several food elements. The mouth supplies the saliva; in

the walls of the stomach are little glands which produce the gastric

juice; the pancreatic juice is made by the pancreas; the liver secretes

bile; while scattered along the small intestines are minute glands

which make the intestinal juice. Each of these fluids has a particular

work to do in transforming some part of the food into suitable material

for use in the body. The saliva acts upon the starch of the food,

changing it into sugar; the gastric juice digests albumin and other

nitrogenous elements; the bile digests fat, and aids in the absorption

of other food elements after they are digested; the pancreatic juice is

not confined in its action to a single element, but digests starch,

fats, and the albuminous elements after they have been acted upon by the

gastric juice; the intestinal juice is capable of acting upon all

digestible food elements.

[Illustration: The Alimentary Canal, _a._ Esophagus; _b._ Stomach; _c._

Cardiac Orifice; _d._ Pylorus; _e._ Small Intestine; _f._ Bile Duct;

_g._ Pancreatic Duct; _h._ Ascending Colon; _i._ Transverse Colon; _j._

Descending Colon; _k._ Rectum.]

THE DIGESTION OF A MOUTHFUL OF BREAD.--A mouthful of bread

represents all, or nearly all, the elements of nutrition. Taking a

mouthful of bread as a representative of food in general, it may be said

that its digestion begins the moment that it enters the mouth, and

continues the entire length of the alimentary canal, or until the

digestible portion of the food has been completely digested and

absorbed. We quote the following brief description of the digestive

process from Dr. J.H. Kellogg's Second Book in Physiology[A]:--

[Footnote A: Good Health Pub. Co., Battle Creek, Mich.]

"_Mastication._--The first act of the digestive process is mastication,

or chewing the food, the purpose of which is to crush the food and

divide it into small particles, so that the various digestive fluids may

easily and promptly come into contact with every part of it.

"_Salivary Digestion._--During the mastication of the food, the salivary

glands are actively pouring out the saliva, which mingles with the food,

and by softening it, aids in its division and prepares it for the action

of the other digestive fluids. It also acts upon the starch, converting

a portion of it into grape-sugar.

"_Stomach Digestion._--After receiving the food, the stomach soon begins

to pour out the gastric juices, which first makes its appearance in

little drops, like beads of sweat upon the face when the perspiration

starts. As the quantity increases, the drops run together, trickle down

the side of the stomach, and mingle with the food. The muscular walls of

the stomach contract upon the food, moving it about with a sort of

crushing action, thoroughly mixing the gastric juice with the food.

During this process both the openings of the stomach are closed tightly.

The gastric juice softens the food, digests albumen, and coagulates

milk. The saliva continues its action upon starch for sometime after the

food reaches the stomach.

"After the food has remained in the stomach from one to three hours, or

even longer, if the digestion is slow, or indigestible foods have been

eaten, the contractions of the stomach become so vigorous that the more

fluid portions of the food are squeezed out through the pylorus, the

lower orifice of the stomach, thus escaping into the intestine. The

pylorus does not exercise any sort of intelligence in the selection of

food, as was once supposed. The increasing acidity of the contents of

the stomach causes its muscular walls to contract with increasing

vigor, until finally those portions of the food which may be less

perfectly broken up, but which the stomach has been unable to digest,

are forced through the pylorus.

"_Intestinal Digestion._--As it leaves the stomach, the partially

digested mass of food is intensely acid, from the large quantity of

gastric juices which it contains. Intestinal digestion cannot begin

until the food becomes alkaline. The alkaline bile neutralizes the

gastric juice, and renders the digesting mass slightly alkaline. The

bile also acts upon the fatty elements of the food, converting them into

an emulsion. The pancreatic juice converts the starch into grape-sugar,

even acting upon raw starch. It also digest fats and albumem. The

intestinal juice continues the work begun by the other digestive fluids,

and, in addition, digests cane-sugar, converting it into grape-sugar.

"_Other Uses of the Digestive Fluids._--In addition to the uses which we

have already stated, several of the digestive fluids possess other

interesting properties. The saliva aids the stomach by stimulating its

glands to make gastric juice. The gastric juice and the bile are

excellent antiseptics, by which the food is preserved from fermentation

while undergoing digestion. The bile also stimulates the movements of

the intestines by which the food is moved along, and aids absorption. It

is remarkable and interesting that a fluid so useful as the bile should

be at the same time composed of waste matters which are being removed

from the body. This is an illustration of the wonderful economy shown by

nature in her operations.

"The food is moved along the alimentary canal, from the stomach

downward, by successive contractions of the muscular walls of the

intestines, known as peristaltic movements, which occur with great

regularity during digestion.

"_Absorption_.--The absorption of the food begins as soon as any portion

has been digested. Even in the mouth and the esophagus a small amount is

absorbed. The entire mucous membrane lining the digestive canal is

furnished with a rich supply of blood-vessels, by which the greater part

of the digestive food is absorbed.

"_Liver Digestion._--The liver as well as the stomach is a digestive

organ, and in a double sense. It not only secretes a digestive fluid,

the bile, but it acts upon the food brought to it by the portal vein,

and regulates the supply of digested food to the general system. It

converts a large share of the grape-sugar and partially digested starch

brought to it into a kind of liver starch, termed glycogen, which it

stores up in its tissues. During the interval between the meals, the

liver gradually redigests the glycogen, reconverting it into sugar, and

thus supplying it to the blood in small quantities, instead of allowing

the entire amount formed in digestion to enter the circulation at once.

If too large an amount of sugar entered the system at once, it would be

unable to use it all, and would be compelled to get rid of a

considerable portion through the kidneys. The liver also completes the

digestion of albumen and other food elements."

TIME REQUIRED FOR DIGESTION.--The length of time required for

stomach digestion varies with different food substances. The following

table shows the time necessary for the stomach digestion of some of the

more commonly used foods:--

min

Rice 1 00

Sago 1 45

Tapioca 2 00

Barley 2 00

Beans, pod, boiled 2 30

Bread, wheaten 3 30

Bread, corn 3 15

Apples, sour and raw 2 00

Apples, sweet and raw 1 30

Parsnips, boiled 2 30

Beets, boiled 3 45

Potatoes, Irish, boiled 3 30

Potatoes, Irish, baked 2 30

Cabbage, raw 2 30

Cabbage, boiled 4 30

Milk, boiled 2 00

Milk, raw 2 15

Eggs, hard boiled 3 30

Eggs, soft boiled 3 00

Eggs, fried 3 30

Eggs, raw 2 00

Eggs, whipped 1 30

Salmon, salted, boiled 4 00

Oysters, raw 2 55

Oysters, stewed 3 30

Beef, lean, rare roasted 3 00

Beefsteak, boiled 3 00

Beef, lean, fried 4 00

Beef, salted, boiled 4 15

Pork, roasted 5 15

Pork, salted, fried 4 15

Mutton, roasted 3 15

Mutton, broiled 3 00

Veal, broiled 4 00

Veal, fried 4 30

Fowls, boiled 4 00

Duck, roasted 4 30

Butter, melted 3 30

Cheese 3 30

Soup, marrowbone 4 15

Soup, bean 3 00

Soup, mutton 3 30

Chicken, boiled 3 00

The time required for the digestion of food also depends upon the

condition under which the food is eaten. Healthy stomach digestion

requires at least five hours for its completion, and the stomach should

have an hour for rest before another meal. If fresh food is taken before

that which preceded it is digested, the portion of food remaining in the

stomach is likely to undergo fermentation, thus rendering the whole mass

of food unfit for the nutrition of the body, besides fostering various

disturbances of digestion. It has been shown by recent observations that

the length of time required for food to pass through the entire

digestive process to which it is subjected in the mouth, stomach, and

small intestines, is from twelve to fourteen hours.

HYGIENE OF DIGESTION.--With the stomach and other digestive organs

in a state of perfect health, one is entirely unconscious of their

existence, save when of feeling of hunger calls attention to the fact

that food is required, or satiety warns us that a sufficient amount or

too much has been eaten. Perfect digestion can only be maintained by

careful observance of the rules of health in regard to habits of eating.

On the subject of Hygiene of Digestion, we again quote a few paragraphs

from Dr. Kellogg's work on Physiology, in which is given a concise

summary of the more important points relating to this:--

"The hygiene of digestion has to do with the quality and quantity of

food eaten, in the manner of eating it.

"_Hasty Eating._--If the food is eaten too rapidly, it will not be

properly divided, and when swallowed in coarse lumps, the digestive

fluids cannot readily act upon it. On account of the insufficient

mastication, the saliva will be deficient in quantity, and, as a

consequence, the starch will not be well digested, and the stomach will

not secrete a sufficient amount of gastric juice. It is not well to eat

only soft or liquid food, as we are likely to swallow it without proper

chewing. A considerable proportion of hard food, which requires thorough

mastication, should be eaten at every meal.

"_Drinking Freely at Meals_ is harmful, as it not only encourages hasty

eating, but dilutes the gastric juice, and thus lessens its activity.

The food should be chewed until sufficiently moistened by saliva to

allow it to be swallowed. When large quantities of fluid are taken into

the stomach, digestion does not begin until a considerable portion of

the fluid has been absorbed. If cold foods or drinks are taken with the

meal, such as ice-cream, ice-water, iced milk or tea, the stomach is

chilled, and a long delay in the digestive process is occasioned.

"The Indians of Brazil carefully abstain from drinking when eating, and

the same custom prevails among many other savage tribes.

"_Eating between Meals._--The habit of eating apples, nuts, fruits,

confectionery, etc., between meals is exceedingly harmful, and certain

to produce loss of appetite and indigestion. The stomach as well as the

muscles and other organs of the body requires rest. The frequency with

which meals should be taken depends somewhat upon the age and occupation

of an individual. Infants take their food at short intervals, and owing

to its simple character, are able to digest it very quickly. Adults

should not take food oftener than three times a day; and persons whose

employment is sedentary say, in many cases at least, adopt with

advantage the plan of the ancient Greeks, who ate but twice a day. The

latter custom is quite general among the higher classes in France and

Spain, and in several South American countries.

"_Simplicity in Diet._--Taking too many kinds of food at a meal is a

common fault which is often a cause of disease of the digestive-organs.

Those nations are the most hardy and enduring whose dietary is most

simple. The Scotch peasantry live chiefly upon oatmeal, the Irish upon

potatoes, milk, and oatmeal, the Italian upon peas, beans, macaroni, and

chestnuts; yet all these are noted for remarkable health and endurance.

The natives of the Canary Islands, an exceedingly well-developed and

vigorous race, subsist almost chiefly upon a food which they call

gofio, consisting of parched grain, coarsely ground in a mortar and

mixed with water.

"_Eating when Tired._--It is not well to eat when exhausted by violent

exercise, as the system is not prepared to do the work of digestion

well. Sleeping immediately after eating is also a harmful practice. The

process of digestion cannot well be performed during sleep, and sleep is

disturbed by the ineffective efforts of the digestive organs. Hence the

well-known evil effects of late suppers.

"_Eating too Much._--Hasty eating is the greatest cause of over-eating.

When one eats too rapidly, the food is crowded into the stomach so fast

that nature has no time to cry, 'Enough,' by taking away the appetite

before too much has been eaten. When an excess of food is taken, it is

likely to ferment or sour before it can be digested. One who eats too

much usually feels dull after eating.

"_How Much Food is Enough?_--The proper quantity for each person to take

is what he is able to digest and utilize. This amount of various with

each individual, at different times. The amount needed will vary with

the amount of work done, mental or muscular; with the weather or the

season of the year, more food being required in cold than in warm

weather: with the age of an individual, very old and very young persons

requiring less food than those of middle age. An unperverted appetite,

not artificially stimulated, is a safe guide. Drowsiness, dullness, and

heaviness at the stomach are indications of an excess of eating, and

naturally suggest a lessening of the quantity of food, unless the

symptoms are known to arise from some other cause.

"_Excess of Certain Food Elements._--When sugar is too freely used,

either with food or in the form of sweetmeats or candies, indigestion,

and even more serious disease, is likely to result. Fats, when freely

used, give rise to indigestion and 'biliousness.' An excess of albumen

from the too free use of meat is harmful. Only a limited amount of this

element can be used; an excess is treated as waste matter, and must be

removed from the system by the liver and the kidneys. The majority of

persons would enjoy better health by using meat more moderately than is

customary in this country.

"_Deficiency of Certain Food Elements._--A diet deficient in any

important food element is even more detrimental to health than a diet in

which certain elements are in excess.

"The popular notion that beef-tea and meat extracts contain the

nourishing elements of meat in a concentrated form, is a dangerous

error. Undoubtedly many sick persons have been starved by being fed

exclusively upon these articles, which are almost wholly composed of

waste substances. Prof. Paule Bernard, of Paris, found that dogs fed

upon meat extracts died sooner than those which received only water."

FOOD COMBINATIONS.--Some persons, especially those of weak

digestive powers, often experience inconvenience in the use of certain

foods, owing to their improper combinations with other articles. Many

foods which are digested easily when partaken of alone or in harmonious

combinations, create much disturbance when eaten at the same meal with

several different articles of food, or with some particular article with

which they are especially incompatible. The following food combinations

are among the best, the relative excellence of each being indicated by

the order in which they are named: Milk and grains; grains and eggs;

grains and vegetables or meats; grains and fruits.

Persons with sound stomachs and vigorous digestion will seldom

experience inconvenience in making use of other and more varied

combinations, but dyspeptics and persons troubled with slow digestion

will find it to their advantage to select from the bill of fare such

articles as best accord with each other, and to avoid such combinations

as fruits and vegetables, milk and vegetables, milk and meats, sugar and

milk, meat or vegetables, fats with fruits, meats, or vegetables, or

cooked with grains.

TABLE TOPICS.

Now good digestion waits on appetite, and health on

both--_Shakespeare._

We live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest.--_Abernethy._

If we consider the amount of ill temper, despondency, and general

unhappiness which arises from want of proper digestion and

assimilation of our food, it seems obviously well worth while to put

forth every effort, and undergo any sacrifice, for the purpose of

avoiding indigestion, with its resulting bodily ills; and yet year

after year, from the cradle to the grave, we go on violating the

plainest and simplest laws of health at the temptation of Cooks,

caterers, and confectioners, whose share in shortening the average

term of human life is probably nearly equal to that of the combined

armies and navies of the world.--_Richardson._

Almost every human malady is connected, either by highway or byway,

with the stomach.--_Sir Francis Head._

It is a well-established fact that a leg of mutton caused a

revolution in the affairs of Europe. Just before the battle of

Leipsic, Napoleon the Great insisted on dining on boiled mutton,

although his physicians warned him that it would disagree with him.

The emperor's brain resented the liberty taken with its colleague,

the stomach; the monarch's equilibrium was overturned, the battle

lost, and a new page opened in history.--_Sel._

Galloping consumption at the dinner table is one of the national

disorders.--_Sel._

The kitchen (that is, your stomach) being out of order, the garret

(the head) cannot be right, and every room in the house becomes

affected. Remedy the evil in the kitchen, and all will be right in

parlor and chamber. If you put improper food into the stomach, you

play the mischief with it, and with the whole machine

besides.--_Abernethy._

Cattle know when to go home from grazing, but a foolish man never

knows his stomachs measures.--_Scandinavian proverb._

Enough is as good as a feast.

Simplicity of diet is the characteristic of the dwellers in the

Orient. According to Niebuhr, the sheik of the desert wants only a

dish of pillau, or boiled rice, which he eats without fork or spoon.

Notwithstanding their frugal fare, these sons of the desert are

among the most hearty and enduring of all members of the human

family. A traveler tells of seeing one of them run up to the top of

the tallest pyramid and back in six minutes.

One fourth of what we eat keeps us, and the other three fourths we

keep at the peril of our lives.--_Abernethy._

COOKERY.

It is not enough that good and proper food material be provided; it must

have such preparation as will increase and not diminish its alimentary

value. The unwholesomeness of food is quite as often due to bad cookery

as to improper selection of material. Proper cookery renders good food

material more digestible. When scientifically done, cooking changes each

of the food elements, with the exception of fats, in much the same

manner as do the digestive juices, and at the same time it breaks up the

food by dissolving the soluble portions, so that its elements are more

readily acted upon by the digestive fluids. Cookery, however, often

fails to attain the desired end; and the best material is rendered

useless and unwholesome by a improper preparation.

It is rare to find a table, some portion of the food upon which is not

rendered unwholesome either by improper preparatory treatment, or by the

addition of some deleterious substance. This is doubtless due to the

fact that the preparation of food being such a commonplace matter, its

important relations to health, mind, and body have been overlooked, and

it has been regarded as a menial service which might be undertaken with

little or no preparation, and without attention to matters other than

those which relate to the pleasure of the eye and the palate. With taste

only as a criterion, it is so easy to disguise the results of careless

and improper cookery of food by the use of flavors and condiments, as

well as to palm off upon the digestive organs all sorts of inferior

material, that poor cookery has come to be the rule rather than the

exception.

Another reason for this prevalence of bad cookery, is to be found in the

fact that in so many homes the cooking is intrusted to an ignorant class

of persons having no knowledge whatever of the scientific principles

involved in this most important and practical of arts. An ethical

problem which we have been unable to solve is the fact that women who

would never think of trusting the care of their fine china and

bric-a-brac to unskilled hands, unhesitatingly intrust to persons who

are almost wholly untrained, the preparation of their daily food. There

is no department of life where superior intelligence is more needed than

in the selection and preparation of food, upon which so largely depend

the health and physical welfare of the family circle.

The evils of bad cookery and ill-selected food are manifold, so many, in

fact, that it has been calculated that they far exceed the mischief

arising from the use of strong drink; indeed, one of the evils of

unwholesome food is its decided tendency to create a craving for

intoxicants. Bad cookery causes indigestion, indigestion causes thirst,

and thirst perpetuates drunkenness. Any one who has suffered from a fit

of indigestion, and can recollect the accompanying headache and the

lowness of spirits, varying in degree from dejection or ill-humor to the

most extreme melancholy, until the intellectual faculties seemed dazed,

and the moral feelings blunted, will hardly wonder that when such a

condition becomes chronic, as is often the case from the use of

improperly prepared food, the victim is easily led to resort to

stimulants to drown depression and enliven the spirits.

A thorough practical knowledge of simple, wholesome cookery ought to

form a part of the education of every young woman, whatever her station

in life. No position in life is more responsible than that of the person

who arranges the bills of fare and selects the food for the household;

and what higher mission can one conceive than to intelligently prepare

the wherewithal to make shoulders strong to bear life's burdens and

heads clear to solve its intricate problems? what worthier work than to

help in the building up of bodies into pure temples fit for guests of

noble thoughts and high purposes? Surely, no one should undertake such

important work without a knowledge of the principles involved.

THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC COOKERY.

Cookery is the art of preparing food for the table by dressing, or by

the application of heat in some manner.

FUELS.--Artificial heat is commonly produced by combustion, caused

by the chemical action of the oxygen of the air upon the hydrogen and

carbon found in fuel. The different fuels in common use for cooking

purposes are hard wood, soft wood, charcoal, anthracite coal, bituminous

coal, coke, lignite, kerosene oil, gasoline, and gas. As to their

respective values, much depends upon the purpose for which they are to

be used. Wood charcoal produces a greater amount of heat than an equal

weight of any other fuel. Soft wood burns quicker and gives a more

intense heat than hard wood, and hence is best for a quick fire. Hard

wood burns slowly, produces a larger mass of coals, and is best where

long-continued heat is desired. Anthracite coal kindles slowly, and

burns with little flame or smoke, but its vapor is sulphurous, and on

that account it should never be burned in an open stove, nor in one with

an imperfect draft. Its heat is steady and intense. Bituminous coal

ignites readily, burns with considerable flame and smoke, and gives a

much less intense heat than anthracite, Lignite, or brown coal, is much

less valuable as fuel. Coke is useful when a short, quick fire is

needed. Kerosene and gas are convenient and economical fuels.

MAKING FIRES.--If coal is the fuel to be used, first clean out the

stove by shaking the grate and removing all ashes and cinders. Remove

the stove covers, and brush the soot and ashes out of all the flues and

draft holes into the fire-box. Place a large handful of shavings or

loosely twisted or crumpled papers upon the grate, over which lay some

fine pieces of dry kindling-wood, arranged crosswise to permit a free

draft, then a few sticks of hard wood, so placed as to allow plenty of

air spaces. Be sure that the wood extends out to both ends of the

fire-box. Replace the covers, and if the stove needs blacking, mix the

polish, and apply it, rubbing with a dry brush until nearly dry, then

light the fuel, as a little heat will facilitate the polishing. When the

wood is burning briskly, place a shovelful or two of rather small pieces

of coal upon the wood, and, as they ignite, gradually add more, until

there is a clear, bright body of fire, remembering, however, never to

fill the stove above the fire bricks; then partly close the direct

draft. When wood or soft coal is used, the fuel may be added at the same

time with the kindling.

CARE OF FIRES.--Much fuel is wasted through the loss of heat from

too much draft. Only just enough air should be supplied to promote

combustion. A coal fire, when well kindled, needs only air enough to

keep it burning. When the coal becomes red all through, it has parted

with the most of its heat, and the fire will soon die unless

replenished. To keep a steady fire, add but a small amount of fuel at a

time, and repeat often enough to prevent any sensible decrease of the

degree of heat. Rake the fire from the bottom, and keep it clear of

ashes and cinders. If a very hot fire is needed, open the drafts; at

other times, keep them closed, or partially so, and not waste fuel.

There is no economy in allowing a fire to get low before fuel is added;

for the fresh fuel cools the fire to a temperature so low that it is not

useful, and thus occasions a direct waste of all fuel necessary to again

raise the heat to the proper degree, to say nothing of the waste of time

and patience. The addition of small quantities of fuel at short

intervals so long as continuous heat is needed, is far better than to

let the fuel burn nearly out, and then add a larger quantity. The

improper management of the drafts and dampers has also much to do with

waste of fuel. As stoves are generally constructed, it is necessary for

the heat to pass over the top, down the back, and under the bottom of

the oven before escaping into the flue, in order to properly heat the

oven for baking. In order to force the heat to make this circuit, the

direct draft of the stove needs to be closed. With this precaution

observed, a quick fire from a small amount of fuel, used before its

force is spent, will produce better results than a fire-box full under

other circumstances.

An item of economy for those who are large users of coal, is the careful

sifting of the cinders from the ashes. They can be used to good

advantage to put first upon the kindlings, when building the fire, as

they ignite more readily than fresh coal, and give a greater, quicker

heat, although much less enduring.

METHODS OF COOKING.--A proper source of heat having been secured,

the next step is to apply it to the food in some manner. The principal

methods commonly employed are roasting, broiling, baking, boiling,

stewing, simmering, steaming, and frying.

_Roasting_ is cooking food in its own juices before an open fire. A

clear fire with intense heat is necessary.

_Broiling_, or _grilling_, is cooking by radiant heat over glowing

coals. This method is only adapted to thin pieces of food with a

considerable amount of surface. Larger and more compact foods should be

roasted or baked. Roasting and broiling are allied in principle. In

both, the work is chiefly done by the radiation of heat directly upon

the surface of the food, although some heat is communicated by the hot

air surrounding the food. The intense heat applied to the food soon

sears its outer surfaces, and thus prevents the escape of its juices. If

care be taken frequently to turn the food so that its entire surface

will be thus acted upon, the interior of the mass is cooked by its own

juices.

_Baking_ is the cooking of food by dry heat in a closed oven. Only foods

containing a considerable degree of moisture are adapted for cooking by

this method. The hot, dry air which fills the oven is always thirsting

for moisture, and will take from every moist substance to which it has

access a quantity of water proportionate to its degree of heat. Foods

containing but a small amount of moisture, unless protected in some

manner from the action of the heated air, or in some way supplied with

moisture during the cooking process, come from the oven dry, hard, and

unpalatable.

Proper cooking by this method depends greatly upon the facility with

which the heat of the oven can be regulated. When oil or gas is the fuel

used, it is an easy matter to secure and maintain almost any degree of

heat desirable, but with a wood or coal stove, especial care and

painstaking are necessary.

It is of the first importance that the mechanism of the oven to be used,

be thoroughly understood by the cook, and she should test its heating

capacity under various conditions, with a light, quick fire and with a

more steady one; she should carefully note the kind and amount of fuel

requisite to produce a certain degree of heat; in short, she should

thoroughly know her "machine" and its capabilities before attempting to

use it for the cooking of food. An oven thermometer is of the utmost

value for testing the heat, but unfortunately, such thermometers are not

common. They are obtainable in England, although quite expensive. It is

also possible at the present time to obtain ranges with a very reliable

thermometer attachment to the oven door.

[Illustration: An Oven Thermometer]

A cook of good judgment by careful observation and comparison of

results, can soon learn to form quite a correct idea of the heat of her

oven by the length of time she can hold her hand inside it without

discomfort, but since much depends upon the construction of stoves and

the kind of fuel used, and since the degree of heat bearable will vary

with every hand that tries it, each person who depends upon this test

must make her own standard. When the heat of the oven is found to be too

great, it may be lessened by placing in it a dish of cold water.

_Boiling_ is the cooking of food in a boiling liquid. Water is the usual

medium employed for this purpose. When water is heated, as its

temperature is increased, minute bubbles of air which have been

dissolved by it are given off. As the temperature rises, bubbles of

steam will begin to form at the bottom of the vessel. At first these

will be condensed as they rise into the cooler water above, causing a

simmering sound; but as the heat increases, the bubbles will rise higher

and higher before collapsing, and in a short time will pass entirely

through the water, escaping from its surface, causing more or less

agitation, according to the rapidity with which they are formed. Water

boils when the bubbles thus rise to the surface, and steam is thrown

off. If the temperature is now tested, it will be found to be about

212 deg. F. When water begins to boil, it is impossible to increase its

temperature, as the steam carries off the heat as rapidly as it is

communicated to the water. The only way in which the temperature can be

raised, is by the confinement of the steam; but owing to its enormous

expansive force, this is not practicable with ordinary cooking utensils.

The mechanical action of the water is increased by rapid bubbling, but

not the heat; and to boil anything violently does not expedite the

cooking process, save that by the mechanical action of the water the

food is broken into smaller pieces, which are for this reason more

readily softened. But violent boiling occasions an enormous waste of

fuel, and by driving away in the steam the volatile and savory elements

of the food, renders it much less palatable, if not altogether

tasteless. The solvent properties of water are so increased by heat that

it permeates the food, rendering its hard and tough constituents soft

and easy of digestion.

The liquids mostly employed in the cooking of foods are water and milk.

Water is best suited for the cooking of most foods, but for such

farinaceous foods as rice, macaroni, and farina, milk, or at least part

milk, is preferable, as it adds to their nutritive value. In using milk

for cooking purposes, it should be remembered that being more dense than

water, when heated, less steam escapes, and consequently it boils sooner

than does water. Then, too, milk being more dense, when it is used alone

for cooking, a little larger quantity of fluid will be required than

when water is used.

The boiling point for water at the sea level is 212 deg. At all points

above the sea level, water boils at a temperature below 212 deg., the exact

temperature depending upon the altitude. At the top of Mt. Blanc, an

altitude of 15,000 feet, water boils at 185 deg. The boiling point is

lowered one degree for every 600 feet increase in altitude. The boiling

point may be increased by adding soluble substances to the water. A

saturated solution of common baking soda boils at 220 deg. A saturated

solution of chloride of sodium boils at 227 deg. A similar solution of

sal-ammoniac boils at 238 deg. Of course such solutions cannot be used

advantageously, except as a means of cooking articles placed in

hermetically sealed vessels and immersed in the liquid.

Different effects upon food are produced by the use of hard and soft

water. Peas and beans boiled in hard water containing lime or gypsum,

will not become tender, because these chemical substances harden

vegetable casein, of which element peas and beans are largely composed.

For extracting the juices of meat and the soluble parts of other foods,

soft water is best, as it more readily penetrates the tissue; but when

it is desired to preserve the articles whole, and retain their juices

and flavors, hard water is preferable.

Foods should be put to cook in cold or boiling water, in accordance with

the object to be attained in their cooking. Foods from which it is

desirable to extract the nutrient properties, as for broths, extracts,

etc., should be put to cook in cold water. Foods to be kept intact as

nearly as may be, should be put to cook in boiling water.

Hot and cold water act differently upon the different food elements.

Starch is but slightly acted upon by cold water. When starch is added

to several times its bulk of hot water, all the starch granules burst on

approaching the boiling point, and swell to such a degree as to occupy

nearly the whole volume of the water, forming a pasty mess. Sugar is

dissolved readily in the either hot or cold water. Cold water extracts

albumen. Hot water coagulates it.

_Steaming_, as its name implies, is the cooking of food by the use of

steam. There are several ways of steaming, the most common of which is

by placing the food in a perforated dish over a vessel of boiling water.

For foods not needing the solvent powers of water, or which already

contain a large amount of moisture, this method is preferable to

boiling. Another form of cooking, which is usually termed steaming, is

that of placing the food, with or without water, as needed, in a closed

vessel which is placed inside another vessel containing boiling water.

Such an apparatus is termed a double boiler. Food cooked in its own

juices in a covered dish in a hot oven, is sometimes spoken of as being

_steamed_ or _smothered_.

_Stewing_ is the prolonged cooking of food in a small quantity of

liquid, the temperature of which is just below the boiling point.

Stewing should not be confounded with simmering, which is slow, steady

boiling. The proper temperature for stewing is most easily secured by

the use of the double boiler. The water in the outer vessel boils, while

that in the inner vessel does not, being kept a little below the

temperature of the water from which its heat is obtained, by the

constant evaporation at a temperature a little below the boiling point.

_Frying_, which is the cooking of food in hot fat, is a method not to be

recommended--Unlike all the other food elements, fat is rendered less

digestible by cooking. Doubtless it is for this reason that nature has

provided those foods which require the most prolonged cooking to fit

them for use with only a small proportion of fat, and it would seem to

indicate that any food to be subjected to a high degree of heat should

not be mixed and compounded largely of fats. The ordinary way of frying,

which the French call _sauteing_, is by the use of only a little fat in

a shallow pan, into which the food is put and cooked first on one side

and then the other. Scarcely anything could be more unwholesome than

food prepared in this manner. A morsel of food encrusted with fat

remains undigested in the stomach because fat is not acted upon by the

gastric juice, and its combination with the other food elements of which

the morsel is composed interferes with their digestion also. If such

foods are habitually used, digestion soon becomes slow and the gastric

juice so deficient in quantity that fermentation and putrefactive

changes are occasioned, resulting in serious disturbance of health. In

the process of frying, the action of the heat partially decomposes the

fat; in consequence, various poisonous substances are formed, highly

detrimental to the digestion of the partaker of the food.

ADDING FOODS TO BOILING LIQUIDS.--Much of the soddenness of

improperly cooked foods might be avoided, if the following facts were

kept in mind:--

When vegetables, or other foods of ordinary temperature, are put into

boiling water, the temperature of the water is lowered in proportion to

the quantity and the temperature of the food thus introduced, and will

not again boil until the mass of food shall have absorbed more heat from

the fire. The result of this is that the food is apt to become more or

less water-soaked before the process of cooking begins. This difficulty

may be avoided by introducing but small quantities of the food at one

time, so as not to greatly lower the temperature of the liquid, and then

allowing the latter to boil between the introduction of each fresh

supply, or by heating the food before adding it to the liquid.

EVAPORATION is another principle often overlooked in the cooking of

food, and many a sauce or gravy is spoiled because the liquid, heated in

a shallow pan, from which evaporation is rapid, loses so much in bulk

that the amount of thickening requisite for the given quantity of fluid,

and which, had less evaporation occurred, would have made it of the

proper consistency, makes the sauce thick and unpalatable. Evaporation

is much less, in slow boiling, than in more rapid cooking.

MEASURING.--One of the most important principles to be observed in

the preparation of food for cooking, is accuracy in measuring. Many an

excellent recipe proves a failure simply from lack of care in this

respect. Measures are generally more convenient than weights, and are

more commonly used. The common kitchen cup, which holds a half pint, is

the one usually taken as the standard; if any other size is used, the

ingredients for the entire recipe should be measured by the same. The

following points should be observed in measuring:--

1. The teaspoons and tablespoons to be used in measuring, are the silver

spoons in general use.

2. Any material like flour, sugar, salt, that has been packed, should

either be sifted or stirred up lightly before measuring.

3. A cupful of dry material is measured level with the top of the cup,

without being packed down.

4. A cupful of liquid is all the cup will contain without running over.

Hold the cup in a saucer while measuring, to prevent spilling the liquid

upon the floor or table.

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.--The following

comparative table of weights and measurements will aid in estimating

different materials:--

One heaping tablespoonful of sugar weighs one ounce.

Two round tablespoonfuls of flour weigh one ounce.

Two cupfuls of granulated sugar weigh one pound.

Two cupfuls of meal weigh one pound.

Four cupfuls of sifted flour weigh one pound.

One pint of oatmeal, cracked wheat, or other coarse grains, weighs about

one pound.

One pint of liquid weighs one pound.

One pint of meat chopped and packed solid weighs one pound.

Seven heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar = one cupful.

Five heaping tablespoonfuls of flour = one cupful.

Two cupfuls of liquid or dry material = one pint

Four cupfuls of liquid or dry material = one quart.

MIXING MATERIALS.--In the compounding of recipes, various modes are

employed for mingling together the different ingredients, chief of which

are _stirring_, _beating_, and _kneading_.

By _stirring_ is meant a continuous motion round and round with a spoon,

without lifting it from the mixture, except to scrape occasionally from

the sides of the dish any portion of the material that may cling to it.

It is not necessary that the stirring should be all in one direction, as

many cooks suppose. The object of the stirring is to thoroughly blend

the ingredients, and this may be accomplished as well by stirring--in

one direction as in another.

_Beating_ is for the purpose of incorporating as much air in the mixture

as possible. It should be done by dipping the spoon in and out, cutting

clear through and lifting from the bottom with each stroke. The process

must be continuous, and must never be interspersed with any stirring if

it is desired to retain the air within the mixture.

_Kneading_ is the mode by which materials already in the form of dough

are more thoroughly blended together; it also serves to incorporate air.

The process is more fully described in the chapter on "Bread,"

TEMPERATURE.--Many a cook fails and knows not why, because she does

not understand the influence of temperature upon materials and food.

Flour and liquids for unfermented breads cannot be too cold, while for

bread prepared with yeast, success is largely dependent upon a warm and

equable temperature throughout the entire process.

COOKING UTENSILS.--The earliest cookery was probably accomplished

without the aid of any utensils, the food being roasted by burying it in

hot ashes or cooked by the aid of heated stones; but modern cookery

necessitates the use of a greater or less variety of cooking utensils to

facilitate the preparation of food, most of which are so familiar to the

reader as to need no description. (A list of those needed for use will

be found on page 66.) Most of these utensils are manufactured from some

kind of metal, as iron, tin, copper, brass, etc. All metals are

dissolvable in certain substances, and some of those employed for making

household utensils are capable of forming most poisonous compounds when

used for cooking certain foods. This fact should lead to great care on

the part of the housewife, both in purchasing and in using utensils for

cooking purposes.

Iron utensils, although they are, when new, apt to discolor and impart

a disagreeable flavor to food cooked in them, are not objectionable from

a health standpoint, if kept clean and free from rust. Iron rust is the

result of the combination of the iron with oxygen, for which it has so

great an affinity that it will decompose water to get oxygen to unite

with; hence it is that iron utensils rust so quickly when not carefully

dried after using, or if left where they can collect moisture. This is

the reason why a coating of tallow, which serves to exclude the air and

moisture, will preserve ironware not in daily use from rusting.

"Porcelain ware" is iron lined with a hard, smooth enamel, and makes

safe and very desirable cooking utensils. German porcelain ware is

unexcelled for culinary purposes.

"Granite ware" is a material quite recently come into use, the

composition of which is a secret, although pronounced by eminent

chemists to be free from all injurious qualities. Utensils made from it

are light in weight, easily kept clean, and for most cooking purposes,

are far superior to those made from any other material.

What is termed "galvanized iron" is unsuitable for cooking utensils, it

being simply sheet iron coated with zinc, an exceedingly unsafe metal to

be used for cooking purposes.

Tin, which is simply thin sheet iron coated with tin by dipping several

times into vats of the melted metal, is largely employed in the

manufacture of cooking utensils. Tinware is acted upon by acids, and

when used for holding or cooking any acid foods, like sour milk, sour

fruits, tomatoes, etc., harmful substances are liable to be formed,

varying in quantity and harmfulness with the nature of the acid

contained in the food.

In these days of fraud and adulteration, nearly all the cheaper grades

of tinware contain a greater or less amount of lead in their

composition, which owing to its greater abundance and less price, is

used as an adulterant of tin. Lead is also used in the solder with which

the parts of tinware are united. The action of acids upon lead form very

poisonous compounds, and all lead-adulterated utensils should be wholly

discarded for cooking purposes.

_Test for Lead-Adulterated Tin._--Place upon the metal a small drop of

nitric acid, spreading it to the size of a dime, dry with gentle heat,

apply a drop of water, then add a small crystal of iodide of potash. If

lead is present, a yellowish color will be seen very soon after the

addition of the iodide. Lead glazing, which is frequently employed on

crockery and ironware in the manufacture of cooking utensils, may also

be detected in the same manner.

Cooking utensils made of copper are not to be recommended from the point

of healthfulness, although many cooks esteem them because copper is a

better conductor of heat than iron or tin. The acids of many fruits

combine with copper to form extremely poisonous substances. Fatty

substances, as well as salt and sugar, act upon copper to a greater or

less degree, also vegetables containing sulfur in their composition and

produce harmful compounds.

Utensils made of brass, which is a compound of copper and zinc, are not

safe to use for cooking purposes.

TABLE TOPICS.

Bad cooking diminishes happiness and shortens life.--_Wisdom of

Ages._

Says Mrs. Partington: "Many a fair home has been desiccated by poor

cooking, and a man's table has been the rock on which his happiness

has split."

SIGNIFICANT FACT.--_Lady_--"Have you had much experience as a cook?"

_Applicant_--"Oh, indeed I have. I was the cook of Mr. and Mrs.

Peterby for three years."

_L._--"Why did you leave them?"

_A._--"I didn't leave them. They left me. They both died."

_L._--"What of?"

_A._--"Dyspepsia."

Cooking is generally bad because people falling to routine; habit

dulls their appreciation, and they do not think about what they are

eating.--_Didsbury._

_Lilly_ (Secretary of the cooking class)--"Now girls, we've learned

nine cakes, two kinds of angel food, and seven pies. What next?"

_Susie_ (engaged)--"Dick's father says I must learn to bake bread."

_Indignant chorus_--"Bread? How absurd! What are bakers for?"

It is told of Philip Hecgnet, a French, physician who lived in the

17th, century, that when calling upon his wealthy patients, he used

often to go to the kitchen and pantry, embrace the cooks and

butlers, and exhort them to do their duty well. "I owe you so much

gratitude, my dear friends," he would say; "you are so useful to us

doctors; for if you did not keep on poisoning the people, we should

all have to go to the poorhouse."

There are innumerable books of recipes for cooking, but unless the

cook is master of the principles of his art, and unless he knows the

why and the wherefore of its processes, he cannot choose a recipe

intelligently and execute it successfully.--_Richard Estcourt._

They who provide the food for the world, decide the health of the

world. You have only to go on some errands amid the taverns and

hotels of the United States and Great Britain, to appreciate the

fact that a vast multitude of the human race are slaughtered by

incompetent cookery. Though a young woman may have taken lessons in

music, and may have taken lessons in painting, and lessons in

astronomy, she is not well educated unless she has taken lessons in

dough!--_Talmage._

HOUSEHOLD WORKSHOP

It is a mistake to suppose that any room, however small and unpleasantly

situated, is "good enough" for a kitchen. This is the room where

housekeepers pass a great portion of their time, and it should be one of

the brightest and most convenient rooms in the house; for upon the

results of no other department of woman's domain depend so greatly the

health and comfort of the family as upon those involved in this

"household workshop." The character of a person's work is more or less

dependent upon his surroundings, hence is it to be greatly wondered at

that a woman immured in a small, close, dimly-lighted room, whose only

outlook may be the back alley or the woodshed, supplies her household

with products far below the standard of health and housewifely skill?

Every kitchen should have windows on two sides of the room, and the sun

should have free entrance through them; the windows should open from the

top to allow a complete change of air, for light and fresh air are among

the chief essentials to success in all departments of the household.

Good drainage should also be provided, and the ventilation of the

kitchen ought to be even more carefully attended to than that of a

sleeping room. The ventilation of the kitchen should be so ample as to

thoroughly remove all gases and odors, which, together with steam from

boiling and other cooking processes, generally invade and render to some

degree unhealthful every other portion of the house. It is the steam

from the kitchen which gives a fusty odor to the parlor air and provides

a wet-sheet pack for the occupant of the "spare bed." The only way of

wholly eradicating this evil, is the adoption of the suggestion of the

sanitary philosopher who places the kitchen at the top of the house.

To lessen to discomforts from heat, a ventilator may be placed above the

range, that shall carry out of the room all superfluous heat, and aid in

removing the steam and odors from cooking food. The simplest form of

such a ventilator this inverted hopper of sheet iron fitted above the

range, the upper and smaller end opening into a large flue adjacent to

the smoke flue for the range. Care must be taken, however, to provide an

ample ventilating shaft for this purpose, since a strong draft is

required to secure the desired results.

There should be ample space for tables, chairs, range, sink, and

cupboards, yet the room should not be so large as to necessitate too

many steps. A very good size for the ordinary dwelling is 16 x 18 feet.

Undoubtedly much of the distaste for, and neglect of, "housework," so

often deplored in these days, arises from unpleasant surroundings. If

the kitchen be light, airy, and tidy, and the utensils bright and clean,

the work of compounding those articles of food which grace the table and

satisfy the appetite will be a pleasant task, and one entirely worthy of

the most intelligent and cultivated woman.

It is desirable, from a sanitary standpoint, that the kitchen floor be

made impervious to moisture; hence, concrete or tile floors are better

than wooden floors. If wooden floors are used, they should be

constructed of narrow boards of hard wood, carefully joined and

thoroughly saturated with hot linseed oil, well rubbed in to give polish

to the surface.

Cleanliness is the great _desideratum_, and this can be best attained

by having all woodwork in and about the kitchen coated with varnish;

substances which cause stain and grease spots, do not penetrate the wood

when varnished, and can be easily removed with a damp cloth. Paint is

preferable to whitewash or calcimine for the walls, since it is less

affected by steam, and can be more readily cleaned. A carpet on a

kitchen floor is as out of place as a kitchen sink would be in a parlor.

The elements of beauty should not be lacking in the kitchen. Pictures

and fancy articles are inappropriate; but a few pots of easily

cultivated flowers on the window ledge or arranged upon brackets about

the window in winter, and a window box arranged as a jardiniere, with

vines and blooming plants in summer, will greatly brighten the room, and

thus serve to lighten the task of those whose daily labor confines them

to the precincts of the kitchen.

THE KITCHEN FURNITURE.--The furniture for a kitchen should not be

cumbersome, and should be so made and dressed as to be easily cleaned.

There should be plenty of cupboards, and each for the sake of order,

should be devoted to a special purpose. Cupboards with sliding doors are

much superior to closets. They should be placed upon casters so as to be

easily moved, as they, are thus not only more convenient, but admit of

more thorough cleanliness.

Cupboards used for the storage of food should be well ventilated;

otherwise, they furnish choice conditions for the development of mold

and germs. Movable cupboards may be ventilated by means of openings in

the top, and doors covered with very fine wire gauze which will admit

the air but keep out flies and dust. All stationary cupboards and

closets should have a ventilating flue connected with the main shaft by

which the house is ventilated, or directly communicating with the outer

air.

No kitchen can be regarded as well furnished without a good timepiece as

an aid to punctuality and economy of time. An eight-day clock with large

dial and plain case is the most suitable.

Every kitchen should also be provided with a slate, with sponge and

pencil attached, on one side of which the market orders and other

memoranda may be jotted down, and on the other the bills of fare for the

day or week. In households where servants are kept, the slate will save

many a vexatious blunder and unnecessary call to the kitchen, while if

one is herself mistress, cook, and housekeeper, it may prove an

invaluable aid and time-saver if thus used.

[Illustration: A Convenient Kitchen Table.]

Lack of sufficient table room is often a great source of inconvenience

to the housekeeper. To avoid this, arrange swinging tables or shelves at

convenient points upon the wall, which may be put up or let down as

occasion demands. For ordinary kitchen uses, small tables of suitable

height on easy-rolling casters, and with zinc tops, are the most

convenient and most easily kept clean. It is quite as well that they be

made without drawers, which are too apt to become receptacles for a

heterogeneous mass of rubbish. If desirable to have some handy place for

keeping articles which are frequently required for use, an arrangement

similar to that represented in the accompanying cut may be made at very

small expense. It may be also an advantage to arrange small shelves

about and above the range, on which may be kept various articles

necessary for cooking purposes.

One of the most indispensable articles of furnishing for a

well-appointed kitchen, is a sink; however, a sink must be properly

constructed and well cared for, or it is likely to become a source of

great danger to the health of the inmates of the household. Earthen-ware

is the best material for kitchen sinks. Iron is very serviceable, but

corrodes, and if painted or enameled, this soon wears off. Wood is

objectionable from a sanitary standpoint. A sink made of wood lined with

copper answers well for a long time if properly cared for.

The sink should if possible stand out from the wall, so as to allow free

access to all sides of it for the sake of cleanliness, and under no

circumstances should there be any inclosure of woodwork or cupboards

underneath to serve as a storage place for pots and kettles and all

kinds of rubbish, dust, and germs. It should be supported on legs, and

the space below should be open for inspection at all times. The pipes

and fixtures should be selected and placed by a competent plumber.

Great pains should be taken to keep the pipes clean and well

disinfected. Refuse of all kinds should be kept out. Thoughtless

housekeepers and careless domestics often allow greasy water and bits of

table waste to find their way into the pipes. Drain pipes usually have a

bend, or trap, through which water containing no sediment flows freely;

but the melted grease which often passes into the pipes mixed with hot

water, becomes cooled and solid as it descends, adhering to the pipes,

and gradually accumulating until the drain is blocked, or the water

passes through very slowly. A grease-lined pipe is a hotbed for disease

germs.

Water containing much grease should be cooled and the grease removed

before being turned into the kitchen sink, while bits of refuse should

be disposed of elsewhere, since prevention of mischief is in this case,

as in most others, far easier than cure. It is customary for

housekeepers to pour a hot solution of soda or potash down the sink

pipes occasionally, to dissolve any grease which may tend to obstruct

the passage; but this is only a partial safeguard, as there is no

certainty that all the grease will be dissolved, and any particles

adhering to the pipes very soon undergo putrefaction.

A frequent flushing with hot water is important; besides which the pipes

should be disinfected two or three times a week by pouring down a gallon

of water holding in solution a pound of good chloride of lime.

STOVES AND RANGES.--The furnishing of a modern kitchen would be

quite incomplete without some form of stove or range. The multiplicity

of these articles, manufactured each with some especial merit of its

own, renders it a somewhat difficult task to make a choice among them.

Much must, however, depend upon the kind of fuel to be used, the size of

the household, and various other circumstances which make it necessary

for each individual housekeeper to decide for herself what is best

adapted to her wants. It may be said, in brief, that economy of fuel,

simplicity of construction, and efficiency in use are the chief points

to be considered in the selection of stoves and ranges.

A stove or range of plain finish is to be preferred, because it is much

easier to keep clean, and will be likely to present a better appearance

after a few months' wear than one of more elaborate pattern. But

whatever stove or range is selected, its mechanism should be thoroughly

understood in every particular, and it should be tested with dampers

open, with dampers closed, and in every possible way, until one is

perfectly sure she understands its action under all conditions.

OIL AND GAS STOVES.--In many households, oil, gas, and gasoline

stoves have largely taken the place of the kitchen range, especially

during the hot weather of summer. They can be used for nearly every

purpose for which a wood or a coal range is used; they require much less

labor and litter, and can be instantly started into full force and as

quickly turned out when no longer required, while the fact that the heat

can be regulated with exactness, makes them superior for certain

processes of cooking to any other stove. But while these stoves are

convenient and economical, especially in small families, they should be

used with much care. Aside from the danger from explosion, which is by

no means inconsiderable in the use of gasoline and oil stoves, they are

not, unless well cared for altogether healthful. Unless the precaution

is taken to use them in well-ventilated rooms or to connect them with a

chimney, they vitiate the atmosphere to a considerable extent with the

products of combustion. Oil stoves, unless the wicks are kept well

trimmed, are apt to smoke, and this smoke is not only disagreeable, but

extremely irritating to the mucous membrane of the nose and throat. Oil

stoves are constructed on the same principle as ordinary oil lamps, and

require the same care and attention.

Quite recently there has been invented by Prof. Edward Atkinson a very

unique apparatus for cooking by means of the heat of an ordinary

kerosene lamp, called the "Aladdin Cooker." The food to be cooked is

placed in a chamber around which hot water, heated by the flame of the

lamp, circulates. The uniform heat thus obtained performs the process of

cooking, slowly, but most satisfactorily and economically, the result

being far superior to that obtained by the ordinary method of cooking by

quick heat. The cooker is only used for stewing and steaming; but Mr.

Atkinson has also invented an oven in which the heat is conveyed to the

place where it is needed by a column of hot air instead of hot water.

With this oven, which consists of an outer oven made of non-conducting

material, and an inner oven made of sheet iron, with an intervening

space between, through which the hot air circulates, no smoke or odor

from the lamp can reach the interior.

KITCHEN. UTENSILS.--The list of necessary kitchen utensils must of

course be governed somewhat by individual circumstances, but it should

not be curtailed for the sake of display in some other department, where

less depends upon the results. A good kitchen outfit is one of the

foundation-stones of good housekeeping. The following are some of the

most essential:--

Two dish pans; two or more _papier-mache_ tubs for washing glassware;

one kneading board; one bread board; one pair scales, with weights;

scrubbing and stove brushes; brooms; dustpans; roller for towel;

washbowl; soap dish; vegetable brushes.

[Illustration: A Double Boiler.]

FOR THE TIN CLOSET.-One dipper; one egg-beater; one two-quart pail;

one four-quart pail; six brick-loaf bread pans; three shallow tins;

three granite-ware pie tins; two perforated sheet iron pans for rolls,

etc.; one set of measures, pint, quart, and two quart; two colanders;

two fine wire strainers; one flour sifter; one apple corer; one set

patty pans; two dripping pans; two sets gem irons; one set muffin rings;

one toaster; one broiler; the six saucepans, different sizes; two

steamers; six milk-pans; one dozen basins, different sizes; one chopping

bowl and knife; six double boilers; two funnels, large and small; one

can opener; griddle; kettles, iron and granite ware; two water baths.

FOR THE DISH CLOSET.--One half dozen iron-stone china cups; three

quart bowls; three pint bowls; two large mixing bowls; two quart bowls

with lip; six deep plates; three kitchen pitchers; one glass rolling

pin; six wooden and six iron spoons, assorted sizes; six kitchen

teaspoons; one stone baking pot; glass jars for stores; crocks and jars.

THE PANTRY.--The pantry and china closet should have direct light

and good ventilation. The dark, dingy places sometimes used for this

purpose are germ breeders. There should be plenty of shelf room and

cupboards for the fine glass and china-ware, with a well-arranged sink

for washing the dishes. The sink for this purpose is preferably one

lined with tinned or planished copper; for dishes will be less liable to

become injured and broken then when washed in an iron or earthen-ware

sink. Extension or folding shelves are a great convenience, and can be

arranged for the sink if desired. The accompanying cuts illustrate a

sink of four compartments for dish-washing, devised by the writer for

use in the Sanitarium Domestic Economy kitchen, which can be closed and

used as a table. Two zinc trays fit the top, upon which to place the

dish drainers. If preferred, the top might be arranged as a drainer, by

making it of well-seasoned hard wood, with a number of inclined grooves

to allow the water to run into the sink. If the house be heated by

steam, a plate-warmer is an important part of the pantry furnishing.

[Illustration: Compartment Sink for Dish-Washing. Open.]

THE STOREROOM.--If possible to do so, locate the room for the

keeping of the kitchen supplies on the cool side of the house. Plenty of

light, good ventilation, and absolute cleanliness are essential, as the

slightest contamination of air is likely to render the food supply unfit

for use.

The refrigerator should not be connected with the kitchen drain pipe,

and the greatest care should be taken to keep it clean and sweet. It

should be thoroughly scrubbed with borax or sal-soda and water, and well

aired, at least once a week. Strongly flavored foods and milk should not

be kept in the same refrigerator. The ice to be used should always be

carefully washed before putting in the refrigerator. Care should also be

taken to replenish it before the previous supply is entirely melted, as

the temperature rises when the ice becomes low, and double the quantity

will be required to cool the refrigerator that would be necessary to

keep it of uniform temperature if added before the ice was entirely out.

THE WATER SUPPLY.--The water used for drinking and cooking purposes

should receive equal consideration with the food supply, and from

whatever source obtained, it should be frequently tested for impurities,

since that which looks the most refreshing may be contaminated with

organic poison of the most treacherous character.

[Illustration: Compartment Sink for Dish-Washing. Closed.]

A good and simple test solution, which any housewife can use, may be

prepared by dissolving twelve grains of caustic potash and three of

permanganate of potash in an ounce of distilled water, or filtered soft

water. Add a drop of this solution to a glass of the water to be tested.

If the pink color imparted by the solution disappears at once, add

another drop of the solution, and continue adding drop by drop until the

pink color will remain for half an hour or more. The amount of the

solution necessary to security permanent color is very fair index to the

quality of the water. If the color imparted by the first one or two

drops disappears within a half hour, the water should be rejected as

probably dangerous. Water which is suspected of being impure may be

rendered safe by boiling. Filters are only of service in removing

suspended particles and the unpleasant taste of rain water; a really

dangerous water is not rendered safe by filtering in the ordinary

manner.

CELLARS.--Sanitarians tell us that cellars should never be built

under dwelling houses. Because of improper construction and neglect,

they are undoubtedly the cause of much disease and many deaths. A

basement beneath the house is advantageous, but the greatest of care

should be given to construct it in accord with sanitary laws. It should

be thoroughly drained that there may be no source of dampness, but

should not be connected with a sewer or a cesspool. It should have walls

so made as to be impervious to air and water. An ordinary brick or stone

wall is inefficient unless well covered with good Portland cement

polished smooth. The floors should likewise be covered with cement,

otherwise the cellar is likely to be filled with impure air derived from

the soil, commonly spoken of as "ground air," and which offers a

constant menace to the health of those who live over cellars with

uncemented walls and floors.

Light and ventilation are quite as essential to the healthfulness of a

cellar as to other rooms of the dwelling. Constantly during warm

weather, and at least once a day during the winter season, windows

should be opened wide, thus effecting a free interchange of air. All

mold and mustiness should be kept out by thorough ventilation and

frequent coats of whitewash to the walls. Vegetables and other

decomposable articles, if stored in the basement, should be frequently

sorted, and all decaying substances promptly removed. This is of the

utmost importance, since the germs and foul gases arising from

decomposing food stuffs form a deadly source of contamination through

every crack and crevice.

KITCHEN CONVENIENCES.

In these days of invention and progress, much thought and ingenuity have

been expended in making and perfecting labor-saving articles and

utensils, which serve to make housework less of a burden and more of a

delight.

THE STEAM-COOKER.--One of the most unique of these conveniences is

the steam-cooker, one kind of which is illustrated by the accompanying

cut. Steaming is, for many foods, a most economical and satisfactory

method of cooking. Especially is this true respecting fruits, grains,

and vegetables, the latter of which often have the larger proportion of

their best nutritive elements dissolved and thrown away in the water in

which they are boiled. In the majority of households it is, however, the

method least depended upon, because the ordinary steamer over a pot of

boiling water requires too much attention, takes up too much stove room,

and creates too much steam in the kitchen, to prove a general favorite.

The steam-cooker has an escape-steam tube through which all excess of

steam and odors passes into the fire, and thus its different

compartments may contain and cook an entire dinner, if need be, and over

one stove hole or one burner of an oil or gasoline stove.

[Illustration: The Steam-Cooker.]

THE VEGETABLE PRESS.--The accompanying cut represents this handy

utensil, which is equally useful as a potato and vegetable masher; as a

sauce, gruel, and gravy strainer; as a fruit press, and for many other

purposes for which a colander or strainer is needed, while it economizes

both time and labor.

[Illustration: Vegetable Press.]

LEMON DRILL.--This little article for extracting the juice of the

lemon, and which can be purchased of most hardware dealers, is quite

superior to the more commonly used lemon squeezer. Being made of glass,

its use is not open to the danger that the use of metal squeezer is are

from poisonous combinations of the acid and metal, while the juice

extracted is free from pulp, seeds, and the oil of the skin.

[Illustration: Lemon Drill.]

A HANDY WAITER.--In many households where no help is employed, a

labor-saving device like the one represented in the accompanying

illustration, will be found of great service. It is a light double table

on easy-rolling casters, and can be readily constructed by anyone handy

in the use of tools. If preferred, the top may be covered with zinc. In

setting or clearing the table, the dishes may be placed on the lower

shelf, with the food on the top, and the table rolled from pantry to

dining room, and from dining room to kitchen; thus accomplishing, with

one trip, what is ordinarily done with hundreds of steps by the weary

housewife. If desirable to reset the table at once after a meal, the

waiter will be found most serviceable as a place whereon the glassware

and silverware may be washed. It is equally serviceable for holding the

utensils and material needed when cooking; being so easily moved, they

can be rolled to the stove and is always convenient.

[Illustration: The Handy Waiter.]

WALL CABINET.--where cupboard space is limited, or where for

convenience it is desirable to have some provision for supplies and

utensils near the range and baking table, a wall cabinet offers a most

convenient arrangement. It may be made of a size to fit in any

convenient niche, and constructed plainly or made as ornamental as one

pleases, with doors to exclude the dust, shelves on which to keep tin

cans filled with rice, oatmeal, cracked wheat, and other grains; glass

jars of raisins, sugar, citron, cornstarch, etc.; hooks on which may

hang the measures, egg-beater, potato masher, and such frequently needed

utensils; and with drawers for paring knives, spoons, and similar

articles, the wall cabinet becomes a _multum in parvo_ of convenience

which would greatly facilitate work in many households.

[Illustration: Wall Cabinet.]

PERCOLATE HOLDER.--The accompanying cut illustrates an

easily-constructed device for holding a jelly bag or percolate. It may

be so made as to be easily screwed to any ordinary table, and will save

the housekeeper far more than its cost in time and patience.

KNEADING TABLE.--Much of the tiresome labor of bread-making can be

avoided if one is supplied with some convenient table similar to the one

represented in the cut, wherein the needed material and utensils may be

kept in readiness at all times. The table illustrated has two large tin

drawers, each divided into two compartments, in which may be kept corn

meal, entire wheat, and Graham and white flours. Two drawers above

provide a place for rolling-pin, bread mallet, gem irons, spoons, etc.,

while a narrow compartment just beneath the hardwood top affords a place

for the kneading board. The table being on casters is easily moved to

any part of the kitchen for use.

[Illustration: Percolater Holder.]

[Illustration: Kneading Table.]

DISH-TOWEL RACK.--Nothing adds more to the ease and facility with

which the frequent dish-washings of the household may be accomplished

than clean, well-dried towels. For quick drying,--an item of great

importance if one would keep the towels fresh and sweet,--the towel rack

represented in the cut, and which can be made by any carpenter, is a

most handy device. When not in use, it can be turned up against the wall

as illustrated. It is light, affords sufficient drying space so that no

towel need be hung on top of another, and projecting out from the wall

as it does, the free circulation of air between the towels soon dries

them.

[Illustration: Dish-Towel Rack.]

KITCHEN BRUSHES.--These useful little articles can be put to such a

variety of uses that they are among the chiefest of household

conveniences. They are also so inexpensive, costing but five cents

apiece without handles and seven cents with handles, that no housewife

can afford to be without a supply of them. For the washing of dishes

with handles, the outside of iron kettles, and other cooking utensils

made of iron, they are especially serviceable. The smaller sizes are

likewise excellent for cleaning cut glass ware, Majolica ware,--in fact,

any kind of ware with raised figures or corrugated surfaces. For

cleaning a grater, nothing is superior to one of these little brushes.

Such a brush is also most serviceable for washing celery, as the

corrugated surface of the stalk makes a thorough cleaning with the hands

a difficult operation. Then if one uses a brush with handle, ice water,

which adds to the crispness of the celery, may be used for the cleaning,

as there will be no necessity for putting the hands in the water. A

small whisk broom is also valuable for the same purpose. Such vegetables

as potatoes, turnips, etc., are best cleaned with a brush. It makes the

work less disagreeable, as the hands need not be soiled by the process,

and in no other way can the cleaning be so well and thoroughly done.

[Illustration: Vegetable Brush.]

All brushes after being used should be carefully scalded and placed

brush downward in a wire sponge basket, or hung up on hooks. If left

around carelessly, they soon acquire the musty smell of a neglected

dishcloth.

TABLE TOPICS.

The kitchen is a chemical laboratory, in which are conducted a

number of chemical processes by which our food is converted from its

crudest state to condition more suitable for digestion and

nutrition, and made more agreeable to the palate.--_Prof. Matthew

Williams._

Half the trouble between mistresses and maids arises from the

disagreeable surroundings to which servants are confined. There is

no place more dismal than the ordinary kitchen in city dwellings. It

is half underground, ill-lighted, and unwholesome. What wonder,

then, in the absence of sunlight, there is a lack of sunny temper

and cheerful service? An ill-lighted kitchen is almost sure to be a

dirty one, where germs will thrive and multiply. Let sanitary

kitchens be provided, and we shall have more patient mistresses and

more willing servants.--_Sel._

A sluggish housemaid exclaimed, when scolded for the uncleanliness

of her kitchen, "I'm sure the room would be clean enough if it were

not for the nasty sun, which is always showing the dirty

corners."--_Sel._

If we would look for ready hands and willing hearts in our kitchens,

we should make them pleasant and inviting for those who literally

bear the "burden and heat of the day" in this department of our

homes, where, emphatically, "woman's work is never done." We should

no longer be satisfied to locate our kitchens in the most

undesirable corner of the house. We should demand ample

light,--sunshine if possible,--and justly too; for the very light

itself is inspiring to the worker. It will stir up cheer and breed

content in the minds of those whose lot is cast in this work-a-day

room.--_Sel._

Any invention on the part of the housekeeper intended to be a

substitute for watchfulness, will prove a delusion and a

snare.--_Sel._

"The first wealth is health," says Emerson.

A knowledge of sanitary principles should be regarded as an

essential part of every woman's education, and obedience to sanitary

laws should be ranked, as it was in the Mosaic code, as a religious

duty.--_Sel._

Much of the air of the house comes from the cellar. A heated house

acts like a chimney. A German experimenter states that one half of

the cellar air makes its way into the first story, one third into

the second, and one fifth into the third.

CEREALS AND THEIR PREPARATION FOR THE TABLE

Cereal is the name given to those seeds used as food (wheat, rye, oats,

barley, corn, rice, etc.), which are produced by plants belonging to the

vast order known as the grass family. They are used for food both in the

unground state and in various forms of mill products.

The grains are pre-eminently nutritious, and when well prepared, easily

digested foods. In composition they are all similar, but variations in

their constituent elements and the relative amounts of these various

elements, give them different degrees of alimentary value. They each

contain one or more of the nitrogenous elements,--gluten, albumen,

caseine, and fibrin,--together with starch, dextrine, sugar, and fatty

matter, and also mineral elements and woody matter, or cellulose. The

combined nutritive value of the grain foods is nearly three times that

of beef, mutton, or poultry. As regards the proportion of the food

elements necessary to meet the various requirements of the system,

grains approach more nearly the proper standard than most other foods;

indeed, wheat contains exactly the correct proportion of the food

elements.

Being thus in themselves so nearly perfect foods, and when properly

prepared, exceedingly palatable and easy of digestion, it is a matter of

surprise that they are not more generally used; yet scarcely one family

in fifty makes any use of the grains, save in the form of flour, or an

occasional dish of rice or oatmeal. This use of grains is far too meager

to adequately represent their value as an article of diet. Variety in

the use of grains is as necessary as in the use of other food material,

and the numerous grain preparations now to be found in market render it

quite possible to make this class of foods a staple article of diet, if

so desired, without their becoming at all monotonous.

In olden times the grains were largely depended upon as a staple food,

and it is a fact well authenticated by history that the highest

condition of man has always been associated with wheat-consuming

nations. The ancient Spartans, whose powers of endurance are proverbial,

were fed on a grain diet, and the Roman soldiers who under Caesar

conquered the world, carried each a bag of parched grain in his pocket

as his daily ration.

Other nationalities at the present time make extensive use of the

various grains. Rice used in connection with some of the leguminous

seeds, forms the staple article of diet for a large proportion of the

human race. Rice, unlike the other grain foods, is deficient in the

nitrogenous elements, and for this reason its use needs to be

supplemented by other articles containing an excess of the nitrogenous

material. It is for this reason, doubtless, that the Hindoos use

lentils, and the Chinese eat peas and beans in connection with rice.

We frequently meet people who say they cannot use the grains,--that they

do not agree with them. With all deference to the opinion of such

people, it may be stated that the difficulty often lies in the fact that

the grain was either not properly cooked, not properly eaten, or not

properly accompanied. A grain, simply because it is a grain, is by no

means warranted to faithfully fulfil its mission unless properly

treated. Like many another good thing excellent in itself, if found in

bad company, it is prone to create mischief, and in many cases the root

of the whole difficulty may be found in the excessive amount of sugar

used with the grain.

Sugar is not needed with grains to increase their alimentary value. The

starch which constitutes a large proportion of their food elements must

itself be converted into sugar by the digestive processes before

assimilation, hence the addition of cane sugar only increases the burden

of the digestive organs, for the pleasure of the palate. The Asiatics,

who subsist largely upon rice, use no sugar upon it, and why should it

be considered requisite for the enjoyment of wheat, rye, oatmeal,

barley, and other grains, any more than it is for our enjoyment of bread

or other articles made from these same grains? Undoubtedly the use of

grains would become more universal if they were served with less or no

sugar. The continued use of sugar upon grains has a tendency to cloy the

appetite, just as the constant use of cake or sweetened bread in the

place of ordinary bread would do. Plenty of nice, sweet cream or fruit

juice, is a sufficient dressing, and there are few persons who after a

short trial would not come to enjoy the grains without sugar, and would

then as soon think of dispensing with a meal altogether as to dispense

with the grains.

Even when served without sugar, the grains may not prove altogether

healthful unless they are properly eaten. Because they are made soft by

the process of cooking and on this account do not require masticating to

break them up, the first process of digestion or insalivation is usually

overlooked. But it must be remembered that grains are largely composed

of starch, and that starch must be mixed with the saliva, or it will

remain undigested in the stomach, since the gastric juice only digests

the nitrogenous elements. For this reason it is desirable to eat the

grains in connection with some hard food. Whole-wheat wafers, nicely

toasted to make them crisp and tender, toasted rolls, and unfermented

zwieback, are excellent for this purpose. Break two or three wafers into

rather small pieces over each individual dish before pouring on the

cream. In this way, a morsel of the hard food may be taken with each

spoonful of the grains. The combination of foods thus secured, is most

pleasing. This is a specially advantageous method of serving grains for

children, who are so liable to swallow their food without proper

mastication.

COOKING OF GRAINS.--All grains, with the exception of rice, and the

various grain meals, require prolonged cooking with gentle and

continuous heat, in order to so disintegrate their tissues and change

their starch into dextrine as to render them easy of digestion. Even the

so-called "steam-cooked" grains, advertised to be ready for use in five

or ten minutes, require a much longer cooking to properly fit them for

digestion. These so-called quickly prepared grains are simply steamed

before grinding, which has the effect to destroy any low organisms

contained in the grain. They are then crushed and shredded. Bicarbonate

of soda and lime is added to help dissolve the albuminoids, and

sometimes diastase to aid the conversion of the starch into sugar; but

there is nothing in this preparatory process that so alters the chemical

nature of the grain as to make it possible to cook it ready for easy

digestion in five or ten minutes. An insufficiently cooked grain,

although it may be palatable, is not in a condition to be readily acted

upon by the digestive fluids, and is in consequence left undigested to

act as a mechanical irritant.

[Illustration: A Double Boiler.]

For the proper cooking of grains the double boiler is the best and most

convenient utensil for ordinary purposes. If one does not possess a

double boiler, a very fair substitute may be improvised by using a

covered earthen crock placed within a kettle of boiling water, or by

using two pails, a smaller within a larger one containing boiling water.

A closed steamer or steam-cooker is also valuable for the cooking of

grains. Grains may be cooked in an ordinary kettle, but the difficulties

to be encountered, in order to prolong the cooking sufficiently and

prevent burning, make it the least desirable utensil for this purpose.

Water is the liquid usually employed for cooking grains, but many of

them are richer and finer flavored when milk is mixed with the

water,--one part to two of water. Especially is this true of rice,

hominy, and farina. When water is used, soft water is preferable to

hard. No salt is necessary, but if used at all, it is generally added to

the water before stirring in the grain or meal.

The quantity of liquid required varies with the different grains, the

manner in which they are milled, the method by which they are cooked,

and the consistency desired for the cooked grain, more liquid being

required for a porridge than for a mush. The following table gives the

time necessary for cooking and the quantity of liquid required for the

various grains, with the exception of rice, when cooked in a double

boiler or closed steamer, to produce a mush of ordinary consistency. If

an ordinary kettle is used for cooking the grains, a larger quantity of

water will be needed:--

TABLE SHOWING PROPORTION OF GRAIN AND LIQUID REQUIRED, WITH APPROXIMATE

TIME, WHEN A DOUBLE BOILER IS USED.

Quantity of Water Hours to

Grain. Required. Cook.

Graham Grits 1 part 4 parts 3 to 5

Rolled Wheat 1 " 3 " 3 to 4

Cracked " 1 " 4-1/2 " 3 to 4

Pearl " 1 " 4 " 4 to 5

Whole " 1 " 5 " 6 to 8

Rolled Oats 1 " 3 " 3 to 4

Coarse Oatmeal 1 " 4 " 4 to 6

Rolled Rye 1 " 3 " 3 to 4

Pearl Barley 1 " 5 " 4 to 5

Coarse Hominy 1 " 5 " 6 to 10

Fine Hominy 1 " 4 " 4 to 6

Cerealine 1 " 1 part 1/2

All grains should be carefully looked over before being put to cook.

In the cooking of grains, the following points should be observed:--

1. Measure both liquid and grain accurately with the same utensil, or

with two of equal size.

2. Have the water boiling when the grain is introduced, but do not

allow it to boil for a long time previous, until it is considerably

evaporated, as that will change the proportion of water and grain

sufficiently to alter the consistency of the mush when cooked. Introduce

the grain slowly, so as not to stop the sinking to the bottom, and the

whole becomes thickened. If the grain is cooked in a double boiler, this

first boiling should be done with the inner dish directly over the fire,

and when the grain has thickened or become "set," as it is termed, the

dish should at once be placed in the outer boiler, the water in which

should be boiling. It will then require no further care during the

entire cooking, safe to keep the outer boiler filled and the water

boiling. If the grain is to be cooked in a steam-cooker, as soon as set

it may be turned into a china or an earthen dish, suitable for use on

the table, and placed at once in the steamer to complete the cooking. If

an ordinary kettle is used, it is well to place it upon an iron ring or

brick on some part of the range were it will just simmer, for the

remainder of the cooking.

3. Stir the grain continuously until it has set, but not at all

afterward. Grains are much more appetizing if, while properly softened,

they can still be made to retain their original form. Stirring renders

the preparation pasty, and destroys its appearance. Grains cooked in a

double boiler will require no stirring, and there will be little danger

of their being lumpy, underdone on top, and scorched at the bottom, as

is so often the case when cooked in a single boiler.

4. Cook continuously. If it be necessary to replenish the water in the

outer boiler at anytime, let it be done with water of boiling

temperature. If it is desired to have the mush quite thick and dry, the

boiler should be left uncovered during the latter part of the cooking.

If preferred moist, keep the cover on.

In the preparation of all mushes with meal or flour, it is a good plan

to make the material into a batter with a portion of the liquid retained

from the quantity given, before introducing it into the boiling water.

This prevents the tendency to cook in lumps, so frequent when dry meal

is scattered into boiling liquid. Care must be taken, however, to add

the moistened portion very slowly, stirring vigorously meantime, so that

the boiling will not be checked. Use warm water for moistening. The

other directions given for the whole or broken grains are applicable to

the ground products.

GRAINS FOR BREAKFAST.--Since hasty preparation will not suffice for

the grains, they cannot be conveniently cooked in the morning in time

for breakfast. This difficulty may be obviated by cooking the day

previous, and reheating in the following way:--

Place the grain, when sufficiently cooked, in the refrigerator or in

some place where it will cool quickly (as slow cooling might cause

fermentation), to remain overnight. If cooked in a porcelain-lined or

granite-ware double boiler, it may be left undisturbed, if uncovered. If

cooked in tin or iron, turn the grain into a large earthen or china

dish. To heat in the morning, fill the outer boiler with boiling water,

place the inner dish containing the grain therein, and steam until

thoroughly heated. No stirring and no additional liquid will be

necessary, and if placed upon the stove when beginning the preparations

for breakfast, it will be ready for serving in good season. If the grain

has been kept in an earthen dish, it may best be reheated by placing

that inside the steam cooker or an ordinary steamer over a kettle of

boiling water.

Cracked wheat, pearl wheat, oatmeal, and other course grain preparations

to be reheated, require for cooking a half cup of water in addition to

the quantity given in the table. For rolled wheat, rolled oats, rolled

rye, and other crushed grains, no more is needed. Grains may be used for

breakfast without reheating, if served with hot milk or cream. If one

has an Aladdin oven, the problem of grains for breakfast may be easily

solved by cooking them all night, and if started late in the evening,

they may be thus cooked over a single burner oil stove with the flame

turned low.

GRAINS AN ECONOMICAL FOOD.--While grains are pre-eminently among

the most nutritious of foods, they are also among the most economical,

the average price being from five to seven cents a pound, and even less

when purchased in bulk. If it be objected that they require much fuel to

secure the prolonged cooking necessary, we would say that a few cents'

worth of oil a week and a small lamp stove will accomplish the cooking

in a most efficient manner. For a hot-weather food there are few

articles which give greater satisfaction and require less time and labor

on the part of the housewife than grains, cooked by the aid of a small

lamp stove.

WHEAT.

DESCRIPTION.--Wheat is the most important of the grain foods. It is

probably a native of Southwestern Asia, though like most grains

cultivated from the earliest periods, its history is extremely obscure.

Wheat is of two principal kinds, characterized as soft and hard wheat,

though there are hundreds of named varieties of the grain. The

distinction between many of these is due to variation in the relative

proportions of starch and nitrogenous matter. Some contain not more than

eight per cent of nitrogenous elements, while others contain eighteen or

twenty per cent, with a corresponding decrease in carbonaceous elements.

This difference depends upon the soil, cultivation, season, climate, and

other conditions under which the grain is produced.

The structure of the wheat grain consists of an external tegument of a

hard, woody nature, so coherent that it appears in the form of scales or

bran when the wheat is ground, and an inner portion, more soft and

friable, consisting of several cellular layers. The layer nearest the

outer husk contains vegetable fibrin and fatty matter. The second layer

is largely composed of gluten cells; while the center comprising the

bulk of the grain, is chiefly made up of starch granules with a small

proportion of gluten.

The structure of a wheat kernel is well illustrated in the are situated

in different parts of the grain, and not uniformly distributed

throughout its structure. The outer husk of the berry is composed wholly

of innutritious and indigestible matter, but the thin layers which lie

next this outer covering contain the larger proportion of the

nitrogenous elements to be found in the entire kernel. The central

portion consists almost wholly of farinaceous matter.

[Illustration: Sectional View of Wheat Kernel.]

Phosphates and other mineral matter are present to some extent

throughout the entire grain, but preponderates in the external part.

Here is also found a peculiar, soluble, active principle called

diastase, which possesses the power of converting starch into sugar. The

dark color and marked flavor of Graham bread is undoubtedly due to the

influence of this element.

Until within a few years the unground grain was rarely used as an

article of food, but people are beginning to appreciate its

wholesomeness, and cracked, rolled, and pearled wheats are coming

rapidly into favor. Cracked wheat is the grain cleaned and then cut into

two or more pieces; in rolled wheat the grains are mashed between

rollers, by which process they are thoroughly softened in every part,

and are then easily cooked. Pearl wheat is the whole grain cleaned and

dressed. The whole grain is also cooked sometimes in its natural state.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Few articles of food show greater

difference between good and poor cooking than the various grains. Dry,

harsh, or underdone, they are as unwholesome as unpalatable. Like most

of the grains, wheat, with the exception of new wheat boiled whole,

should be put into boiling water and allowed to cook continuously but

slowly until done. Any of the unground preparations require prolonged

cooking. The average length of time and the approximate amount of water

needed in cooking _one cupful_ of the various wheat preparations in a

double boiler is stated on page 82.

_RECIPES._

PEARL WHEAT.--Heat a quart of water to boiling in the inner dish of

a double boiler, and stir into it one cup or one-half pint of pearl

wheat. Let it boil rapidly until thickened and the wheat has ceased

settling, then place in the outer boiler, in which the water should be

boiling, and cook continuously from three to four hours.

CRACKED WHEAT.--Cracked wheat may be cooked in the same manner as

pearl wheat, by using four and one-half parts of water to one of grain.

The length of time required to cook it thoroughly is about the same as

for pearl wheat.

ROLLED WHEAT.--This preparation of wheat requires only three parts

water to one of wheat. It should be cooked in the same way as pearled

wheat, but requires only three hours' cooking.

BOILED WHEAT (sometimes called frumenty).--Select newly-cut wheat,

well rubbed or threshed out. Look it over carefully, wash, and put to

cook in five times its measure of cold water. Let it come to a boil, and

cook gently until the grains burst open, and it can be readily mashed

between the thumb and finger. This will require from four to ten hours,

depending upon the age and variety of the wheat used. When done, it

should be even full of a rich, thick liquor. If necessary, add more

boiling water, but stir as little as possible. It may be served with

cream, the same as other wheat preparations. It is also excellent served

with lemon and other fruit sauces.

WHEAT WITH RAISINS.--Raisins or Zante currants may be added to any

of the foregoing recipes, if desired. The raisins or currants should be

well steamed previously, however, and stirred in lightly and evenly just

before dishing. If cooked with the grain, they become soft, broken, and

insipid. Figs, well steamed and chopped, may be added in the same way.

WHEAT WITH FRESH FRUIT.--Fresh whortleberries, blueberries, and

blackberries stirred into any of the well-cooked wheat preparations just

before serving, make a very desirable addition. A most delicious dish

may be prepared by stirring into well-cooked cracked wheat a few

spoonfuls of rather thick cream and some fresh wild blackberries. Serve

hot.

MOLDED WHEAT.--Cracked wheat, rolled wheat, or pearl wheat, cooked

according to the foregoing recipes, and turned into molds until cold,

makes a very palatable dessert, and may be served with sugar and cream

or with fruit juice. Bits of jelly placed on top of the molds in the

form of stars or crosses, add to the appearance. Molded grains are also

very nice served with fresh berries, either mashed or whole, arranged

around the mold.

FINER MILL PRODUCTS OF WHEAT.

The grain of wheat is inclosed in a woody envelope. The cellular layers

just beneath contain the largest proportion of nitrogenous matter, in

the form of gluten, and are hard of pulverization, while the starchy

heart of the grain is easily crumbled into fine dust. Thus it will be

readily understood that when the grain is subjected to an equal

pulverizing force, the several portions will be likely to be crushed

into particles of different sizes. The outer husk being toughest, will

be the least affected, the nitrogenous or glutenous portion will be much

finer, while the brittle starch will be reduced to powder. This first

simple product of grinding is termed wheat meal, unbolted, or Graham

flour, and of course contains all the elements of the grain. In ordinary

milling, however, this is subjected to various siftings, boltings, or

dressings, to separate the finer from the coarser particles, and then

subdivided into various grades of flour, which vary much in composition

and properties. The coarser product contains the largest proportion of

nutrients, while in the finer portions there is an exclusion of a large

part of the nitrogenous element of the grain. The outer portions of the

wheat kernel, which contain the greater part of the nitrogenous element,

are darker in color than the central, starchy portion. It will be

apparent, then, that the finer and whiter the flour, the less nutriment

it is likely to contain, and that in the use of superfine white flour

the eye is gratified at the expense of the body.

A preparation called farina, is made from the central portion of wheat,

freed from bran, and crushed into granules. Another preparation, called

Graham grits, is prepared by granulating the outer layers of the kernel

together with the germ of the wheat. This preparation, comparatively a

new one, includes the most nutritious properties of the grain, and its

granular form renders it excellent for mushes as well as for other

purposes. Farina is scarcely more nutritious than white flour, and

should not be used as a staple food. Graham grits contains the best

elements of the wheat grain in good proportion, and is one of the best

preparations of wheat. Other preparations of wheat somewhat similar in

character are farinose, germlet, etc.

_RECIPES._

FARINA.--Heat a pint of milk and one of water, or if preferred, a

quart of milk, in the inner cup of a double boiler; and when boiling,

stir in five tablespoonfuls of farina, moistened evenly with a little

milk. Let it boil rapidly until well set, which will be in about five or

eight minutes; then place in the outer boiler, and cook one hour. Serve

cold or hot with a dressing of cream or fruit juices. Farina may be

cooked in water alone, but on account of its lack of nutritive elements,

it is more valuable if prepared with milk.

FARINA WITH FIG SAUCE.--Cook the farina as in the foregoing recipe,

and serve hot with a fig sauce prepared as follows:--

Carefully look over, washed, and chop or cut quite finally, enough good

figs to make a cupful. Stew in a pint of water, to which has been added

a tablespoonful of sugar, until they are one homogeneous mass. If the

figs are not of the best quality and do not readily soften, it is well,

after stewing for a time, to rub them through a colander or vegetable

press to break up the tough portions and make a smooth sauce. Put a

spoonful of the hot fig sauce on each individual dish of farina, and

serve with cream or without dressing.

FARINA WITH FRESH FRUIT.--Cook the farina as previously directed.

Have some sliced yellow peaches, mellow sweet apples, or bananas in a

dish, turn the farina over them, stir up lightly with a fork, and serve

hot with cream.

MOLDED FARINA.--Farina to be used cold may be cooked in the same

manner as before described, with two or three tablespoonfuls of sugar

added at the same time with the farina, and when done, molded in cups

previously wet with a little cold water. Serve with a dressing of fruit

juice, whipped cream flavored with lemon, or mock cream flavored with

cocoanut.

GRAHAM GRITS.--To four parts of water boiling in the inner dish of

a double boiler add slowly, so as not to stop the boiling of the water,

one part of Graham grits. Stir until thickened, then place in the outer

boiler, and steam from three to five hours. Serve hot with cream, or

mold in cups previously dipped in cold water, and serve with a dressing

of fruit juice. The fig sauce prepared as previously directed, is also

excellent with Graham grits.

GRAHAM MUSH NO. 1.--Good flour is the first requisite for making

good Graham mush. Poor Graham flour cannot be made into first-class

mush. Flour made from the best white winter wheat is perhaps the best.

It may be used either sifted or unsifted, as preferred. The proportion

of flour and liquid to be used will necessarily vary somewhat with the

quality of the flour, but in general, three parts water to one of flour

will be needed. Too much flour not only makes the mush too thick, but

gives it an underdone taste. Stir the dried flour rapidly into boiling

water, (which should not cease to boil during the process), until a

thick porridge is obtained. It is well to have it a little thinner at

first than is desirable for serving, as it will thicken by cooking. Cook

slowly at least one hour. A longer time makes it more digestible.

Left-over Graham mush is nice spread on rather shallow tins, and simply

heated quickly in a hot oven.

GRAHAM MUSH NO. 2.--Moisten one pint of good Graham flour with a

pint of warm water, or enough to make a batter thin enough to pour. (The

quantity of water needed will vary a little with the fineness and

quality of the flour.) Pour this batter into a quart of water boiling in

the inner cup of a double boiler. Remember to add the batter

sufficiently slow, so as not to stop the boiling of the water. When

thickened, put into the outer boiler, and cook for one hour.

GRAHAM MUSH NO. 3.--Prepare in the same way as above, using milk or

part milk in the place of water. Left-over Graham mush at breakfast,

which has been prepared with water, is very nice if, while it is still

warm, a small quantity of hot milk is well stirred into it, and it is

then set by to be reheated in a double boiler for dinner.

GRAHAM MUSH WITH DATES.--Prepare a mush as for Graham mush No. 2.

When done, place in the dish in which the mush is to be served, some

nice, fresh dates from which the stones have been removed. Pour the mush

over them, and stir up lightly, taking care not to break the fruit, and

serve. Raisins previously steamed, or figs steamed and cut into pieces,

may be used instead of dates. Serve hot with cream, or mold, and serve

cold.

PLUM PORRIDGE.--Prepare a Graham mush as previously directed, and

when done, add to it a cup of well-steamed raisins and sufficient rich

milk to thin it to the consistency of porridge.

GRAHAM APPLE MUSH.--Prepare a smooth apple sauce of rather tart

apples. Sweeten it slightly, and thin with boiling water. Have this

mixture boiling, and add to it Graham flour, either sprinkled in dry or

moistened with water, sufficient to make a well-thickened mush. Cook,

and serve hot with cream.

GRANOLA MUSH.--Granola, a cooked preparation of wheat and oats,

manufactured by the Sanatarium Food Co., makes a most appetizing and

quickly prepared breakfast dish. Into a quart of boiling water sprinkle

a pint of granola. Cook for two or three minutes, and serve hot with

cream.

GRANOLA FRUIT MUSH.--Prepare the mush as directed, and stir into

it, when done, a large cupful of nicely-steamed, seedless raisins. Serve

hot with cream. Milk may be used instead of water, if preferred.

GRANOLA PEACH MUSH.--Instead of the raisins as directed in the

foregoing recipe, add to the mush, when done, a pint of sliced yellow

peaches. Finely-cut, mellow sweet apples, sliced bananas, and

blueberries may be used in a similar way.

BRAN JELLY.--Select some clean wheat bran, sprinkle it slowly into

boiling water as for Graham mush, stirring briskly meanwhile with a

wooden spoon, until the whole is about the consistency of thick gruel.

Cook slowly in a double boiler for two hours. Strain through a fine wire

sieve placed over the top of a basin. When strained, reheat to boiling.

Then stir into it a spoonful or so of sifted Graham flour, rubbed smooth

in a little cold water. Boil up once; turn into molds previously wet in

cold water, and when cool, serve with cream or fruit juice.

THE OAT, OR AVENA.

DESCRIPTION.--The native country of the plant from which our common

varieties of the oat are derived, is unknown. Oat grains have been found

among the remains of the lake-dwellers in Switzerland, and it is

probable that this plant was cultivated by the prehistoric inhabitants

of Central Europe.

The ancient Greeks and Romans used oats, ranking them next in value to

barley, which they esteemed above all other cereals. Although

principally grown as food for horses, the oat, when divested of its husk

and broken by a process of milling, is an exceedingly nutritious and

valuable article of diet for human beings; and there is no article of

food that has increased in general favor more rapidly in the last few

years than this grain.

The Scotch have long been famed for their large consumption of oatmeal.

It forms the staple article of diet for the peasantry, to which fact is

generally attributed the fine physique and uniform health for which

they, as a race, are particularly noted. It is related that Dr. Johnson,

of dictionary fame, who never lost an opportunity to disparage the

Scotch, on one occasion defined oats as, "In Scotland, food for men; in

England, food for horses." He was well answered by an indignant

Scotchman who replied, "Yes; and where can you find such fine men as in

Scotland, or such horses as in England?"

Oatmeal justly ranks high as an alimentary substance. It contains about

the same proportion of nitrogenous elements as wheat, and with the

exception of maize, is richer in fatty matter than any other of the

cultivated cereals. In general structure the oat resembles wheat.

To prepare oats for food, the husk, which is wholly indigestible in

character, must be thoroughly removed. To accomplish this, the grain is

first kiln-dried to loosen the husk, and afterward submitted to a

process of milling. Denuded of its integument, the nutritive part of the

grain is termed groats; broken into finer particles, it constitutes what

is known as oatmeal; rolled oats, or avena, is prepared by a process

which crushes the kernels. Oatmeal varies also in degrees of

trituration, some kinds being ground much finer than others. The more

finely-ground products are sometimes adulterated with barley meal, which

is cheaper than oatmeal and less nutritious. The black specks which are

sometimes found in oatmeal are particles of black oats which have been

ground in connection with the other.

Oatmeal lacks the tenacity of wheaten flour, and cannot, without the

addition of some other flour, be made into light bread. It is, however,

largely consumed by the inhabitants of Scotland and the north of

England, in the form of oatcakes. The oatmeal is mixed with water,

kneaded thoroughly, then rolled into very thin cakes, and baked on an

iron plate or griddle suspended over a fire. So much, however, depends

upon the kneading, that it is said that the common inquiry before the

engagement of a domestic servant in Scotland, is whether or not she is a

good kneader of oatcakes.

The most common use of oatmeal in this country is in the form of mush or

porridge. For this the coarser grades of meal are preferable. For people

in health, there is no more wholesome article of diet than oatmeal

cooked in this way and eaten with milk. For growing children, it is one

of the best of foods, containing, as it does, a large proportion of bone

and muscle-forming material, while to almost all persons who have become

accustomed to its use, it is extremely palatable. The time required for

its digestion is somewhat longer than that of wheaten meal prepared in

the same manner. It is apt to disagree with certain classes of

dyspeptics, having a tendency to produce acidity, though it is

serviceable as an article of diet in some forms of indigestion. The

manner of its preparation for the table has very much to do with its

wholesomeness. Indeed, many objectionable dishes are prepared from it.

One of these, called _brose_, much used in Scotland, is made by simply

stirring oatmeal into some hot liquid, as beef broth, or the water in

which a vegetable has been boiled. The result is a coarse, pasty mass of

almost raw oatmeal, an extremely indigestible compound, the use of which

causes water brash. A preparation called _sowens_, or flummery, made by

macerating the husks of the oats in water from twenty-four to thirty-six

hours, until the mixture ferments, then boiling down to the consistency

of gruel, is a popular article of food among the Scotch and Welsh

peasantry. When boiled down still more, so it will form a firm jelly

when cold, the preparation is called _budrum_.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Oatmeal requires much cooking in order to

break its starch cells; and the coarser the meal, the longer it should

be allowed to cook. A common fault in the use of oatmeal is that it is

served in an underdone state, which makes a coarse, indigestible dish of

what, with more lengthy preparation, would be an agreeable and

nutritious food. Like most of the grains, it is best put into boiling

soft water, and allowed to cook continuously and slowly. It is greatly

injured by stirring, and it is therefore preferably cooked in a double

boiler or closed steamer. If it is necessary to use an ordinary kettle,

place it on some part of the range where the contents will only simmer;

or a hot brick may be placed under it to keep it from cooking too fast.

It may be cooked the day previous, and warmed for use the same as other

grains.

RECIPES.

OATMEAL MUSH.--Heat a quart of water to boiling in the inner dish

of a double boiler, sift into it one cup of coarse oatmeal, and boil

rapidly, stirring continuously until it sets; then place in the outer

boiler, the water in which should be boiling, and cook three hours or

longer. Serve with cream.

OATMEAL FRUIT MUSH.--Prepare the oatmeal as directed above, and

stir in lightly, when dishing for the table, some sliced mellow and

juicy raw sweet apples. Strawberry apples and other slightly tart apples

are likewise excellent for the purpose. Well-ripened peaches and bananas

may also be used, if care is taken to preserve the slices whole, so as

to present an appetizing appearance. Both this and the plain oatmeal

mush are best eaten with toasted whole-wheat wafers or some other hard

food.

OATMEAL BLANCMANGE NO. 1.--Soak a cupful of coarse oatmeal over

night in a pint and a half of water. In the morning, beat the oatmeal

well with a spoon, and afterwards pass all the soluble portion through a

fine strainer. Place the liquid in the inner dish of a double boiler,

and cook for half an hour. Turn into cups, cool fifteen or twenty

minutes, and serve warm with cream and sugar, or a dressing of fruit

juice. A lemon sauce prepared as directed on page 354 likewise makes an

excellent dressing.

OATMEAL BLANCMANGE NO. 2.--Take a pint of well-cooked oatmeal, add

to it a pint of milk, part cream if obtainable. Beat well together, and

strain through a fine wire sieve. Turn the liquid into a saucepan, and

boil for a few moments, until it is thick enough to drop from the point

of a spoon; then turn into cups previously wet in cold water, and mold.

Serve with a dressing of fruit juice or whipped cream slightly sweetened

and flavored with lemon.

JELLIED OATMEAL.--Cook oatmeal or rolled oats with an additional

cup or cup and a half of water, and when done, turned into cups and

mold. Serve cold with hot cream.

MIXED MUSH.--A cup and a half of rolled wheat, mixed with one-half

cup of coarse oatmeal, and cooked the same as oatmeal, forms a mush

preferred by some to oatmeal alone.

ROLLED OATS.--This preparation of oats should be cooked the same

as oatmeal, but requires only three parts water to one of rolled oats,

when cooked in a double boiler.

OATMEAL WITH APPLE.--Cold oatmeal which has been left over may be

made into an appetising dish by molding in alternate layers with

nicely-steamed tart apple, sprinkled lightly with sugar. Serve with

cream. Other cooked fruit, such as cherries, evaporated peaches, and

apricots may be used in the same way. A very pleasing dish is made by

using between the layers ripe yellow peaches and plums sliced together,

and lightly sprinkled with sugar.

OATMEAL PORRIDGE.--Into a quart and a half of water, which should

be boiling in the inner dish of a double boiler, sprinkle one cup of

rather coarse oatmeal. Boil rapidly, stirring meanwhile until the grain

is set; then place in the outer boiler, and cook continuously for three

hours or longer. A half cup of cream added just before serving, is a

desirable addition.

BARLEY.

DESCRIPTION.--Barley is stated by historians to be the oldest of

all cultivated grains. It seems to have been the principal bread plant

among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. The Jews especially held

the grain in high esteem, and sacred history usually uses it

interchangeably with wheat, when speaking of the fruits of the Earth.

Among the early Greeks and Romans, barley was almost the only food of

the common people and the soldiers. The flour was made into gruel, after

the following recipe: "Dry, near the fire or in the oven, twenty pounds

of barley flour, then parch it. Add three pounds of linseed meal, half a

pound of coriander seeds, two ounces of salt, and the water necessary."

If an especially delectable dish was desired, a little millet was also

added to give the paste more "cohesion and delicacy." Barley was also

used whole as a food, in which case it was first parched, which is still

the manner of preparing it in some parts of Palestine and many districts

of India, also in the Canary Islands, where it is known as _gofio_. Of

this custom a lady from Palestine writes: "The reapers, during barley

harvest, take bunches of the half-ripe grain, and singe, or parch, it

over a fire of thorns. The milk being still in the grain, it is very

sweet, and is considered a delicacy."

In the time of Charles I, barley meal took the place of wheat almost

entirely as the food of the common people in England. In some parts of

Europe, India, and other Eastern countries, it is still largely consumed

as the ordinary farinaceous food of the peasantry and soldiers. The

early settlers of New England also largely used it for bread making. At

the present day only a very insignificant quantity of barley is used for

food purposes in this country, and most of this in the unground state.

Barley is less nutritious than wheat, and to many people is less

agreeable in flavor. It is likewise somewhat inferior in point of

digestibility. Its starch cells being less soluble, they offer more

resistance to the gastric juice.

There are several distinct species of barley, but that most commonly

cultivated is designated as two-rowed, or two-eared barley. In general

structure, the barley grain resembles wheat and oats.

Simply deprived of its outer husk, the grain is termed _Scotch milled_

or _pot barley_. Subjected still further to the process by which the

fibrous outer coat of the grain is removed, it constitutes what is known

as _pearl barley_. Pearl barley ground into flour is known as _patent

barley_. Barley flour, owing to the fact that it contains so small a

proportion of gluten, needs to be mixed with wheaten flour for

bread-making purposes. When added in small quantity to whole-wheat

bread, it has a tendency to keep the loaf moist, and is thought by some

to improve the flavor.

The most general use made of this cereal as a food, is in the form of

pearl, or Scotch, barley. When well boiled, barley requires about two

hours for digestion.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR COOKING BARLEY.--The conditions requisite

for cooking barley are essentially the same as for oatmeal. It is best

cooked slowly. Four parts of water to one of grain will be needed for

steaming or cooking in a double boiler, and from four to five hours'

time will be required, unless the grain has been previously soaked for

several hours, in which case three hours will do. If the strong flavor

of the grain is objected to, it may be soaked over night and cooked in

fresh water. This method will, however, be a sacrifice of some of the

nutriment contained in the grain. Barley thus soaked will require only

three parts water to one of barley for cooking.

_RECIPES._

BAKED BARLEY.--Soak six tablespoonfuls of barley in cold water over

night. In the morning, turn off the water, and put the barley in an

earthen pudding dish, and pour three and one half pints of boiling water

over it; add salt if desired, and bake in a moderately quick oven about

two and one half hours, or till perfectly soft, and all the water is

absorbed. When about half done, add four or five tablespoonfuls of sugar

mixed with grated lemon peel. It may be eaten warm, but is very nice

molded in cups and served cold with cream.

PEARL BARLEY WITH RAISINS.--Carefully look over and wash a cupful

of pearl barley. Cook in a double boiler in five cups of boiling water

for four hours. Just before serving, add a cupful of raisins which have

been prepared by pouring boiling water over them and allowing them to

stand until swollen. Serve hot, with cream.

PEARL BARLEY WITH LEMON SAUCE.--Pearl barley cooked in the same

manner, but without the addition of the raisins, is excellent served

with cream or with a lemon sauce prepared as directed on page 354.

RICE.

DESCRIPTION.--Rice is one of the most abundantly used and most

digestible of all the cereals. It grows wild in India, and it is

probable that this is its native home. It is, however, now cultivated in

most tropical and sub-tropical climates, and is said to supply the

principal food for nearly one third of the human race. It is mentioned

in history several hundred years before Christ. According to Soyer, an

old writer on foods, the Greeks and Romans held rice in high esteem,

believing it to be a panacea for chest and lung diseases.

The grain is so largely grown and used by the Chinese that "fan," their

word for rice, has come to enter into many compound words. A beggar is

called a "tou-fan-tee," that is, "the rice-seeking one." The ordinary

salutation, "Che-fan," which answers to our "How do you do?" means,

"Have you eaten your rice?"

Rice requires a wet soil, and the fields in which the grain is raised,

sometimes called "paddy" fields, are periodically irrigated. Before

ripening, the water is drained off, and the crop is then cut with a

sickle, made into shocks, stacked, threshed, and cleaned, much like

wheat. The rice kernel is inclosed within two coverings, a course outer

husk, which is easily removed, and an inner, reddish, siliceous coating.

"Paddy" is the name given in India to the rice grain when inclosed in

its husk. The same is termed "rough rice" in this country. The outer

husk of the rice is usually removed in the process of threshing, but the

inner red skin, or hull, adheres very closely, and is removed by rubbing

and pounding. The rough rice is first ground between large stones, and

then conveyed into mortars, and pounded with iron-shod pestles. Thence,

by fanning and screening, the husk is fully removed, and the grain

divided into three different grades, whole, middlings, and small whole

grains, and polished ready for market. The middlings consist of the

larger broken pieces of the grain; the small rice, of the small

fragments mixed with the chit of the grain. The broken rice, well dried,

is sometimes ground into flour of different degrees of fineness. The

small rice is much sweeter and somewhat superior in point of nutritive

value to the large or head rice usually met with in commerce.

Rice is characterized by a large percentage of starch, and is so

deficient in other food elements that if used alone, unless consumed in

very large quantities, it will not furnish the requisite amount of

nitrogenous material necessary for a perfect health food. For this

reason, it is necessary to supplement its use with some other food

containing an excess of nitrogenous elements, as peas, beans, milk, etc.

Associated with other articles rich in albuminous elements, rice is

exceedingly valuable, and one of the most easily digested foods. Boiled

or steamed rice requires but a little over one hour for digestion.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Rice needs to be thoroughly washed to

remove the earthy taste it is so apt to have. A good way to do this is

to put it into a colander, in a deep pan of water. Rub the rice well

with the hands, lifting the colander in and out the water, and changing

the water until it is clear; then drain. In this way the grit is

deposited in the water, and the rice left thoroughly clean.

The best method of cooking rice is by steaming it. If boiled in much

water, it loses a portion of its already small percentage of nitrogenous

elements. It requires much less time for cooking than any of the other

grains. Like all the dried grains and seeds, rice swells in cooking to

several times its original bulk. When cooked, each grain of rice should

be separate and distinct, yet perfectly tender.

RECIPES.

STEAMED RICE.--Soak a cup of rice in one and a fourth cups of water

for an hour, then add a cup of milk, turn into an earthen dish suitable

for serving it from at table, and place in a steam-cooker or a covered

steamer over a kettle of boiling water, and steam for an hour. It should

be stirred with a fork occasionally, for the first ten or fifteen

minutes.

BOILED RICE (Japanese method).--Thoroughly cleanse the rice by

washing in several waters, and soak it overnight. In the morning, drain

it, and put to cook in an equal quantity of boiling water, that is, a

pint of water for a pint of rice. For cooking, a stewpan with tightly

fitting cover should be used. Heat the water to boiling, then add the

rice, and after stirring, put on the cover, which is not again to be

removed during the boiling. At first, as the water boils, steam will

puff out freely from under the cover, but when the water has nearly

evaporated, which will be in eight to ten minutes, according to the age

and quality of the rice, only a faint suggestion of steam will be

observed, and the stewpan must then be removed from over the fire to

some place on the range, where it will not burn, to swell and dry for

fifteen or twenty minutes.

Rice to be boiled in the ordinary manner requires two quarts of boiling

water to one cupful of rice. It should be boiled rapidly until tender,

then drained at once, and set in a moderate oven to become dry. Picking

and lifting lightly occasionally with a fork will make it more flaky and

dry. Care must be taken, however, not to mash the rice grains.

RICE WITH FIG SAUCE.--Steam a cupful of best rice as directed

above, and when done, serve with a fig sauce prepared as directed on

page 89. Dish a spoonful of the fig sauce with each saucer of rice, and

serve with plenty of cream. Rice served in this way requires no sugar

for dressing, and is a most wholesome breakfast dish.

ORANGE RICE.--Wash and steam the rice according to directions

already given. Prepare some oranges by separating into sections and

cutting each section in halves, removing the seeds and all the white

portion. Sprinkle the oranges lightly with sugar, and let them stand

while the rice is cooking. Serve a portion of the orange on each

saucerful of rice.

RICE WITH RAISINS.--Carefully wash a cupful of rice, soak it, and

cook as directed for Steamed Rice. After the rice has began to swell,

but before it has softened, stir into it lightly, using a fork for the

purpose, a cupful of raisins, or Zante currents. Serve with cream.

RICE WITH PEACHES.--Steam the rice as previously directed, and when

done, serve with cream and a nicely ripened peach pared and sliced on

each individual dish.

BROWNED RICE.--Spread a cupful of rice on a shallow baking tin, and

put into a moderately hot oven to brown. It will need to be stirred

frequently to prevent burning and to secure a uniformity of color. Each

rice kernel, when sufficiently browned, should be of a yellowish brown,

about the color of ripened wheat. Steam the same as directed for

ordinary rice, using only two cups of water for each cup of browned

rice, and omitting the preliminary soaking. When properly cooked, each

kernel will be separated, dry, and mealy. Rice prepared in this manner

is undoubtedly more digestible than when cooked without browning.

RYE.

DESCRIPTION.--Rye is much more largely grown and used in European

countries that in America. In appearance it closely resembles wheat,

although somewhat darker in color and smaller in size. Bread made from

rye constitutes the staple food of the people in many parts of Europe.

In nutritive value such bread nearly equals that made from wheat, but it

has an acid taste not relished by persons unaccustomed to its use.

Rye is found in market deprived of its husk and crushed or rolled, and

also in the form of meal and flour.

_RECIPES._

ROLLED RYE.--Into three parts water boiling in the inner dish of a

double boiler, stir one part rolled rye. Boil rapidly until set,

stirring meanwhile, then place in the outer boiler, and cook for three

or more hours.

RYE MUSH.--Stir a cupful of rye meal to a smooth batter with a

cupful of water, then turn it slowly into three cupfuls of water, which

should be boiling on the range, in the inner dish of a double boiler.

Stir until thickened, then place in the outer boiler, and cook for an

hour or longer.

MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN.

DESCRIPTION.--There can be little doubt that maize is of American

origin. The discoverers of the new world found it cultivated by the

aborigines, and from the fact that corn was the generic term then

largely used to designate grain (in old English, "corn" means grain),

they named it "Indian corn." Since that time it has been carried to

nearly every part of the globe, and probably it is more extensively used

than any other one of the cereals, with the exception of rice. This is

undoubtedly due to the fact that it is the most prolific of the grains,

and is adapted to the widest range of climate.

Maize was the chief food of the slaves of Brazil, as it used to be of

those in our own Southern States, and is very largely consumed in Mexico

and Peru. It was used very little in Europe until the Irish famine in

1847; since then, it has become a staple food with the poorer classes.

The varieties of corn are almost too numerous to be counted. For general

purposes, however, they may be classified as field corn, sweet corn, and

pop corn.

Corn is characterized by an excess of fatty matter, containing upwards

of three times the amount of that element to be found in wheat. Corn

requires stronger powers of digestion than wheat, and is unsuited to

some stomachs.

The skin of the corn kernel is thin, and when subjected to milling

processes, is included in the grinding. When well ground, it can be

digested, with the exception of the siliceous coating.

Sweet corn and some of the field varieties, form a nutritious and

favorite food while green. The mature grain is used in many forms. The

whole grain, hulled, is an agreeable food. Hulled, broken, or split to

various degrees of fineness, it is known according to the size to which

the grain has been reduced as hominy, fine hominy, or grits; or, if

finer still, as samp. Subjected to a process of still finer trituration,

it forms meal. Cornstarch consists of the farinaceous portions of the

grain.

On account of the large proportion of fatty matter contained in maize,

it acquires, if kept for some time and unpleasant, rancid taste,

occasioned by the usual change which takes place in fat when exposed to

the atmosphere.

The new process granular meal, which is prepared from corn dried for a

long period before grinding, becomes rank less quickly than that ground

in the old way.

Maize meal is very largely consumed in the form of mush or porridge.

This, in Ireland, is termed "stirabout;" in Italy it is called

"polenta;" and in British Honduras it is known as "corn lob."

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR COOKING.--Most of the various preparations

from maize require prolonged cooking to render them wholesome; this is

equally true respecting mushes prepared from samp or meal, a dish which

unfortunately some cook in bygone days saw fit to term "hasty pudding."

Unthinking people since, supposing it to have been so named because of

the little time required to cook it, have commonly prepared it in

fifteen or twenty minutes, whereas from one to two hours, or even

longer, are necessary to cook it properly. Hulled corn, hominy, and

grits, all require prolonged cooking. The time for cooking these

preparations may be somewhat lessened if they are previously soaked over

night. They should, however, be cooked in the same water in which they

are soaked.

_RECIPES._

CORN MEAL MUSH.--stir together one pint of cornmeal, one

tablespoonful of flour, and one pint of cold milk. Turn this slowly,

stirring well meanwhile, into one quart of boiling water, which should

not cease to boil during the introduction of the batter. Cook three or

four hours. If milk is not obtainable, water alone may be used, in which

case two tablespoonfuls of flour will be needed. Cook in a double

boiler.

CORN MEAL MUSH WITH FRUIT.--Mush prepared in the above manner may

have some well-steamed raisins or chopped figs added to it just before

serving.

CORN MEAL CUBES.--Left-over corn meal mush may be made into an

appetizing dish by first slicing into rather thick slices, then cutting

into cubes about one inch squares. Put the cubes into a tureen and turn

over them a quantity of hot milk or cream. Cover the dish, let them

stand until thoroughly heated through, then serve.

BROWNED MUSH.--Slice cold corn meal mush rather thin, brush each

slice with thick, sweet cream, and brown in a moderate oven until well

heated through.

SAMP.--Use one part of samp to four and one half parts of boiling

water. It is the best plan to reserve enough of the water to moisten the

samp before adding it to the boiling water, as it is much less likely to

cook in lumps. Boil rapidly, stirring continuously, until the mush has

well set, then slowly for from two to three hours.

CEREALINE FLAKES.--Into one measure of boiling liquid stir an equal

measure of cerealine flakes, and cook in a double boiler from one half

to three fourths of an hour.

HULLED CORN.--_To Hull the Corn._--Put enough wood ashes into a

large kettle to half fill it; then nearly fill with hot water, and boil

ten minutes. Drain off the water from the ashes, turn it into a kettle,

and pour in four quarts of clean, shelled field corn, white varieties

preferred. Boil till the hulls rub off. Skim the corn out of the lye

water, and put it into a tub of fresh cold water. To remove the hulls,

scrub the corn well with a new stiff brush broom kept for the purpose,

changing the water often. Put through half a dozen or more waters, and

then take the corn out by handfuls, rubbing each well between the hands

to loosen the remaining hulls, and drop again into clear water. Pick out

all hulls. Cleanse the corn through several more waters if it is to be

dried and kept before using. Well hulled corn is found in the markets.

_To Cook._--If it is to be cooked at once, it should be parboiled in

clear water twice, and then put into new water and cooked till tender.

It should be nearly or quite dry when done. It may be served with milk

or cream.

COARSE HOMINY.--For coarse hominy use four parts of water or milk

and water to one of grain. It is best steamed or cooked in a double

boiler, though it may be boiled in a kettle over a slow fire. The only

objection to this method is the need of frequent stirring to prevent

sticking, which breaks and mashes the hominy. From four to five hours'

slow cooking will be necessary, unless the grain has been previously

soaked; then about one hour less will be required.

FINE HOMINY OR GRITS.--This preparation is cooked in the same

manner as the foregoing, using three and one half or four parts of water

to one of the grain. Four or five hours will be necessary for cooking

the unsoaked grits.

POPPED CORN.--The small, translucent varieties of maize known as

"pop corn," possessed the property, when gently roasted, of bursting

open, or turning inside out, a process which is owing to the following

facts: Corn contains an excess of fatty matter. By proper means this fat

can be separated from the grain, and it is then a thick, pale oil. When

oils are heated sufficiently in a vessel closed from the air, they are

turned into gas, which occupies many times the bulk of the oil. When pop

corn is gradually heated, and made so hot that the oil inside of the

kernel turns to gas, being unable to escape through the hull of the

kernel, the pressure finally becomes strong enough to burst the grain,

and the explosion is so violent as to shatter it in a most curious

manner.

Popped corn forms an excellent food, the starch of the grain being will

cooked. It should, however, be eaten in connection with other food at

mealtime, and not as a delicacy between meals. Ground pop corn is

considered a delectable dish eaten with milk or cream; it also forms the

base of several excellent puddings.

To pop the corn, shell and place in a wire "popper" over a bed of bright

coals, or on the top of a hot stove; stir or shake continuously, so that

each kernel may be subjected to the same degree of heat on all sides,

until it begins to burst open. If a popper is not attainable, a common

iron skillet covered tightly, and very lightly oiled on the bottom, may

be used for the purpose. The corn must be very dry to begin with, and if

good, nearly every kernel will pop open nicely. It should be used within

twenty-four hours after popping.

MACARONI.

DESCRIPTION.--Macaroni is a product of wheat prepared from a hard,

clean, glutenous grain. The grain is ground into a meal called

_semolina_, from which the bran is excluded. This is made into a tasty

dough by mixing with hot water in the proportion of two thirds

_semolina_ to one third water. The dough after being thoroughly mixed is

put into a shallow vat and kneaded and rolled by machinery. When well

rolled, it is made to assume varying shapes by being forced by a

powerful plunger through the perforated head of strong steel or iron

cylinders arranged above a fire, so that the dough is partially baked as

it issues from the holes. It is afterwards hung over rods or laid upon

frames covered with cloth, and dried. It is called by different names

according to its shape. If in the shape of large, hollow cylinders, it

is _macaroni;_ if smaller in diameter, it is _spaghetti;_ if fine,

_vermicelli;_ if the paste is cut into fancy patterns, it is termed

_pasta d'Italia_.

Macaroni was formerly made only in Italy, but at present is manufactured

to a considerable extent in the United States. The product, however, is

in general greatly inferior to that imported from Italy, owing to the

difference in the character of the wheat from which it is made, the

Italian macaroni being produced from a hard, semi-translucent wheat,

rich in nitrogenous elements, and which is only grown successfully in a

hot climate. Like all cereal foods, macaroni should be kept in a

perfectly dry storeroom.

TO SELECT MACARONI.--Good macaroni will keep in good condition for

years. It is rough, elastic, and hard; while the inferior article is

smooth, soft, breaks easily, becomes moldy with keeping. Inferior

macaroni contains a large percentage of starch, and but a small amount

of gluten. When put into hot water, it assumes a white, pasty

appearance, and splits in cooking. Good macaroni when put into hot water

absorbs a portion of the water, swells to nearly double its size, but

perfectly retains its shape. Inferior macaroni is usually sold a few

cents cheaper per pound than the genuine article. It contains a much

smaller amount of gluten. The best quality of any shape one pleases can

be bought in most markets for ten or fifteen cents a pound.

TO PREPARE AND COOK MACARONI.--Do not wash macaroni. If dusty, wipe

with a clean, dry cloth. Break into pieces of convenient size. Always

put to cook in boiling liquid, taking care to have plenty of water in

the saucepan (as it absorbs a large quantity), and cook until tender.

The length of time required may vary from twenty minutes, if fresh, to

one hour if stale. When tender, turn into a colander and drain, and pour

cold water through it to prevent the tubes from sticking together. The

fluid used for cooking may be water, milk, or a mixture of both; also

soup stock, tomato juice, or any preferred liquid.

Macaroni serves as an important adjunct to the making of various soups,

and also forms the basis of other palatable dishes.

_RECIPES._

HOME-MADE MACARONI.--To four cupfuls of flour, add one egg well

beaten, and enough water to make a dough that can be rolled. Roll thin

on a breadboard and cut into strips. Dry in the sun. The best

arrangement for this purpose is a wooden frame to which a square of

cheese-cloth has been tightly tacked, upon which the macaroni may be

laid in such a way as not to touch, and afterwards covered with a

cheese-cloth to keep off the dust during the drying.

BOILED MACARONI.--Break sticks of macaroni into pieces about an

inch in length, sufficient to fill a large cup; put it into boiling

water and cook until tender. When done, drained thoroughly, then add a

pint of milk, part cream if it can be afforded, a little salt and one

well-beaten egg; stir over the fire until it thickens, and serve hot.

MACARONI WITH CREAM SAUCE.--Cook the macaroni as directed in the

proceeding, and serve with a cream sauce prepared by heating a scant

pint of rich milk to boiling, in a double boiler. When boiling, add a

heaping tablespoonful of flour, rubbed smoothed in a little milk and one

fourth teaspoonful of salt. If desired, the sauce may be flavored by

steeping in the milk before thickening for ten or fifteen minutes, a

slice of onion or a few bits of celery, and then removing with a fork.

MACARONI WITH TOMATO SAUCE.--Break a dozen sticks of macaroni into

two-inch lengths, and drop into boiling milk and water, equal parts. Let

it boil for an hour, or until perfectly tender. In the meantime prepare

the sauce by rubbing a pint of stewed or canned tomatoes through a

colander to remove all seeds and fragments. Heat to boiling, thicken

with a little flour; a tablespoonful to the pint will be about the

requisite proportion. Add salt and if desired, a half cup of very thin

sweet cream. Dish the macaroni into individual dishes, and serve with a

small quantity of the sauce poured over each dish.

MACARONI BAKED WITH GRANOLA.--Break macaroni into pieces about an

inch in length sufficient to fill a large cup, and cook until tender in

boiling milk and water. When done, drain and put a layer of the macaroni

in the bottom of an earthen pudding dish, and sprinkle over it a scant

teaspoonful of granola. Add a second and third layer and sprinkle each

with granola; then turn over the whole a custard sauce prepared by

mixing together a pint of milk, the well beaten yolks of two eggs or one

whole egg, and one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt. Care should be taken

to arrange the macaroni in layers loosely, so that the sauce will

readily permeate the whole. Bake for a few minutes only, until the

custard has well set, and serve.

EGGS AND MACARONI.--Break fifteen whole sticks of macaroni into

two-inch lengths, and put to cook in boiling water. While the macaroni

is cooking, boil the yolks of four eggs until mealy. The whole egg may

be used if caught so the yolks are mealy in the whites simply jellied,

not hardened. When the macaroni is done, drain and put a layer of it

arranged loosely in the bottom of an earthen pudding dish. Slice the

cooked egg yolks and spread a layer of them over the macaroni. Fill the

dish with alternate layers of macaroni and egg, taking care to have the

top layer of macaroni. Pour over the whole a cream sauce prepared as

follows: Heat one and three fourths cup of rich milk to boiling, add one

fourth teaspoonful of salt and one heaping spoonful of flour rubbed

smooth in a little cold milk. Cook until thickened, then turn over the

macaroni. Sprinkle the top with grated bread crumbs, and brown in a hot

oven for eight or ten minutes. Serve hot.

TABLE TOPICS.

Sir Isaac Newton, when writing his grail work, "Principia," lived

wholly upon a vegetable, diet.

ROBERT COLLYER once remarked; "One great reason why I never had a

really sick day in my life was that as boy I lived on oatmeal and

milk and brown bread, potatoes and a bit of meat when I could get

it, and then oatmeal again."

HOT-WEATHER DIET.--The sultry period of our summer, although

comparatively slight and of short duration, is nevertheless felt by

some people to be extremely oppressive, but this is mainly due to

the practice of eating much animal food or fatty matters, conjoined

as it often is with the habit of drinking freely of fluids

containing more or less alcoholics. Living on cereals, vegetables,

and fruits, and abstaining from alcoholic drinks, the same persons

would probably enjoy the temperature, and be free from the thirst

which is the natural result of consuming needlessly heating

food.--_Sir Henry Thompson._

_Mistress_ (arranging for dinner)--"Didn't the macaroni come from

the grocer's, Bridget?"

_Bridget_--"Yis, mum, but oi sint it back. Every won av thim leetle

stims wuz impty."

Some years since, a great railroad corporation in the West, having

occasion to change the gauge of its road throughout a distance of

some five hundred miles, employed a force of 3,000 workmen upon the

job, who worked from very early in the morning until late at night.

Alcoholic drinks were strictly prohibited, but a thin gruel made of

oatmeal and water was kept on hand and freely partaken of by the men

to quench their thirst. The results were admirable; not a single

workmen gave out under the severe strain, and not one lost a day

from sickness. Thus this large body of men were kept well and in

perfect strength and spirits, and the work was done in considerably

less time than that counted on for its completion.

In Scotch households oatmeal porridge is as inevitable as breakfast

itself, except perhaps on Sundays, as this anecdote will illustrate.

A mother and child were passing along a street in Glasgow, when this

conversation was overheard:--

"What day is the morn, mither?"

"Sabbath, laddie."

"An' will wi hae tea to breakfast, mither?"

"Aye, laddie, gin we're spared."

"An' gin we're no spared, will we hae parrich?"

BREADSTUFFS AND BREADMAKING

Although the grains form most nutritious and palatable dishes when

cooked in their unground state, this is not always the most convenient

way of making; use of them. Mankind from earliest antiquity has sought

to give these wonderful products of nature a more portable and

convenient form by converting them into what is termed bread, a word

derived from the verb _bray_, to pound, beat, or grind small, indicative

of the ancient manner of preparing the grain for making bread. Probably

the earliest form of bread was simply the whole grain moistened and then

exposed to heat. Afterward, the grains were roasted and ground, or

pounded between stones, and unleavened bread was made by mixing this

crude flour with water, and baking in the form of cakes. Among the many

ingenious arrangements used by the ancients for baking this bread, was a

sort of portable oven in shape something like a pitcher, in the inside

of which a fire was made. When the oven was well heated, a paste made of

meal and water was applied to the outside. Such bread was baked very

quickly and taken off in small, thin sheets like wafers. A flat cake was

the common form in which most of the bread of olden times was baked;

being too brittle to be cut with a knife, the common mode of dividing it

was by breaking and hence the expression "breaking bread" so common in

Scripture.

Various substances have been and are employed for making this needful

article. Until the last few decades, barley was the grain most

universally used. Chestnuts, ground to a flour, are made into bread in

regions where these nuts abound. Quite recently, an immense peanut crop

in the Southern States was utilized for bread-making purposes. In

ancient times, the Thracians made to bread from a flour made from the

_water coltran_, a prickly root of triangular form. In Syria, mulberries

were dried and grounded to flour. Rice, moss, palm tree piths, and

starch producing roots are used by different nationalities in the

preparation of bread. In many parts of Sweden, bread is made from dried

fish, using one half fish flour and one half barley flour; and in

winter, flour made from the bark of trees is added. Desiccated tomatoes,

potatoes, and other vegetables are also mixed with the cereals for

bread-making. In India, the lower classes make their bread chiefly from

millet. Moss bread is made in Iceland from the reindeer moss, which

toward autumn becomes soft, tender, and moist, with a taste like wheat

bran. It contains a large quantity of starch, and the Icelanders gather,

dry, pulverize it, and thus prepare it for bread-making. The ancient

Egyptians often made their bread from equal parts of the whole grain and

meal.

The breadstuff's most universally used among civilized nations at the

present time are barley, rye, oats, maize, buckwheat, rice, and wheat,

of which the last has acquired a decided preference.

If made in the proper manner and from suitable material, bread is, with

the exception of milk, the article best fitted for the nourishment of

the body, and if need be, can supply the place of all other foods. Good

bread does not cloy the appetite as do many other articles of food, and

the simplest bill of fare which includes light, wholesome bread, is far

more satisfying than an elaborate meal without it. Were the tables of

our land supplied with good, nutritious, well-baked bread, there would

be less desire for cake, pastry, and other indigestible particles,

which, under the present system of cookery, are allowed to compensate

for the inferior quality and poor preparation of more wholesome foods.

Bread has been proverbially styled the "staff of life." In nearly all

ancient languages the entomology of the word "bread" signifies all,

indicating; that the bread of earlier periods was in truth what it

should be at the present time,--a staff upon which all the functions of

life might with safety depend.

Notwithstanding the important part bread was designed to play in the

economy of life, it would be hardly possible to mention another aliment

which so universally falls below the standard either through the manner

of its preparation or in the material used.

Bread, to answer the requirements of a good, wholesome article of food,

beside being palatable, must be light, porous, and friable, so that it

can be easily insalivated and digested. It should not contain

ingredients which will in any way be injurious if taken into the system,

but should contain as many as possible of the elements of nutrition.

Wheat, the substance from which bread is most generally made, contains

all the necessary food elements in proper proportions to meet the

requirements of nutrition, and bread should also contain them. The

flour, however, must be made from the whole grain of the wheat, with the

exception of the outer husk.

What is ordinarily termed fine flour has a large part of the most

nutritive properties of the grain left out, and unless this deficiency

is made up by other foods, the use of bread made from such material will

leave the most vital tissues of the body poorly nourished, and tend to

produce innumerable bad results. People who eat bread made from fine

white flour naturally crave the food elements which have been eliminated

from the wheat, and are thus led to an excessive consumption of meat,

and the nerve-starvation and consequent irritability thus induced may

also lead to the use of alcoholic drinks. We believe that one of the

strongest barriers women could erect against the inroads of intemperance

would be to supply the tables of the land with good bread made from

flour of the entire wheat.

The superiority of bread made from the entire wheat or unbolted meal has

been attested by many notable examples in history. In England, under the

administration of William Pitt, there was for several years such a

scarcity of wheat that to make it hold out longer, a law was passed by

Parliament that the army should be supplied with bread made of unbolted

flour. This occasioned much murmuring on the part of the soldiers, but

nevertheless the health of the army improved so greatly as to be a

subject of surprise. The officers and the physicians at last publicly

declared that the soldiers had never before been so robust and healthy.

According to the eminent Prof. Liebig, whole-wheat bread contains 60 per

cent more of the phosphate or bone forming material than does meat, and

200 per cent more gluten than white bread. To the lack of these elements

in a food so generally used as white flour bread, is undoubtedly due the

great prevalence of early decaying teeth, rickets, and other bone

diseases. Indeed, so many are the evils attendant upon a continued use

of fine flour bread that we can in a great measure agree with a writer

of the last century who says, in a quaint essay still to be seen at the

British Museum, that "fine flour, spirituous liquors, and strong

ale-house beer are the foundations of almost all the poverty and all the

evils that affect the labouring part of mankind."

Bread made from the entire wheat is looked upon with far more favor than

formerly, and it is no longer necessary to use the crude products of the

grain for its manufacture, since modern invention has worked such a

revolution in milling processes that it is now possible to obtain a fine

flour containing all the nutritious elements of the grain. The old-time

millstone has been largely superceded by machinery with which the entire

grain may be reduced to fine flour without the loss of any of its

valuable properties. To be sure, the manufacture of fine white flour of

the old sort, is still continued, and doubtless will be continued so

long as color takes precedence over food value. The improved processes

of milling have, however, enabled the millers to utilize a much larger

proportion of the nutritious elements of the grain than formerly, and

still preserve that whiteness is so pleasing to many consumers. Although

it is true that there are brands of white flour which possess a large

percentage of the nutrient properties of the wheat, it is likewise true

that flour which contains _all_ the nutritive elements is _not_ white.

Of flours made from the entire grain there are essentially two different

varieties, that which is termed _unbolted wheat meal_ or _Graham_ flour,

and that called _wheat-berry, whole-wheat_, or _entire-wheat_ flour. The

principal difference between the two consists in the preliminary

treatment of the wheat kernel before reduction, Graham flour containing

more or less of the flinty bran, which is wholly innutritious and to a

sensitive stomach somewhat irritating. In the manufacture of _whole_ or

_entire_-wheat flour, the outer, flinty bran is first removed by special

machinery, and then the entire grain pulverized, by some of approved

method, to different grades of fineness. The absence of the indigestible

bran renders the entire-wheat flour superior in this respect to Graham,

though for many persons the latter is to preferred.

HOW TO SELECT FLOUR.--The first requisite in the making of good

bread is good flour. The quality of a brand of flour will of course

depend much upon the kind of grain from which it is prepared--whether

new or old, perfect, or deteriorated by rust, mold, or exposure, and

also upon the thoroughness with which it has been cleansed from dust,

chaff, and all foreign substances, as well as upon the method by which

it is ground. It is not possible to judge with regard to all these

particulars by the appearance of the flour, but in general, good flour

will be sweet, dry, and free from any sour or musty smell or taste. Take

up a handful, and if it falls from the hand light and elastic, it is

pretty sure to be good. If it will retain the imprint of the fingers

and falls and a compact mass or a damp, clammy, or sticky to the touch,

it is by no means the best. When and knead a little of it between the

fingers; if it works soft and sticky, it is poor. Good flour, when made

into dough, is elastic, and will retain its shape. This elastic property

of good flour is due to the gluten which it contains. The more gluten

and the stronger it is, the better the flour. The gluten of good flour

will swell to several times its original bulk, while that of poor flour

will not.

In buying white flour, do not select that which is pure white with a

bluish tinge, but that which is of a creamy, yellowish-white tint. While

the kinds of flour that contain the entire nutritive properties of the

wheat will necessarily be darker in color, we would caution the reader

not to suppose that because flour is dark in color it is for that reason

good, and rich in nutritive elements. There are many other causes from

which flour may be dark, such as the use of uncleansed or dark varieties

of wheat, and the large admixture of bran and other grains; many

unscrupulous millers and flour dealers make use of this fact to palm off

upon their unsuspecting customers an inferior article. Much of the

so-called Graham flour is nothing more than poor flour mixed with bran,

and is in every way inferior to good white flour. Fine flour or made

from the entire wheat may generally be distinguished from a spurious

article by taking a small portion into the mouth and chewing it. Raw

flour made from the entire grain has a sweet taste, and a rich, nutty

flavor the same as that experienced in chewing a whole grain of wheat,

and produces a goodly quantity of gum or gluten, while a spurious

article tastes flat and insipid like starch, or has a bitter, pungent

taste consequent upon the presence of impurities. This bitter taste is

noticeable in bread made from such flour. A given quantity of poor flour

will not make as much bread as the same quantity of good flour, so that

adulteration may also be detected in this way. Doubtless much of the

prejudice against the use of whole-wheat flour has arisen from the use

of a spurious article.

As it is not always possible to determine accurately without the aid of

chemistry and a microscope whether flour is genuine, the only safe way

is to purchase the product of reliable mills.

It is always best to obtain a small quantity of flour first, and put it

to the test of bread-making; then, if satisfactory, purchase that brand

so long as it proves good. It is true economy to buy a flour known to be

good even though it may cost more than some others. It is not wise to

purchase too large a quantity at once unless one has exceptionally good

facilities for storage, as flour is subject to many deteriorating

influences. It is estimated that a barrel of good flour contains

sufficient bread material to last one person one year; and from this

standard it can be easily estimated in what proportion it is best to

purchase.

TO KEEP FLOUR.--Flour should always be kept in a tight receptacle,

and in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. It should not be allowed to

remain in close proximity to any substances of strong odor, as it very

readily absorbs odors and gaseous impurities. A damp atmosphere will

cause it to absorb moisture, and as a result the gluten will lose some

of its tenacity and become sticky, and bread made from the flour will be

coarser and inferior in quality. Flour which has absorbed dampness from

any cause should be sifted into a large tray, spread out thin and

exposed to the hot sun, or placed in a warming oven for a few hours.

DELETERIOUS ADULTERATIONS OF FLOUR.--Besides the fraud frequently

practiced of compounding whole-wheat flour from inferior mill products,

white flour is sometimes adulterated--more commonly, however, in

European countries that in this--with such substances as alum, ground

rice, plaster of Paris, and whiting. Alum is doubtless the most commonly

used of all these substances, for the reason that it gives the bread a

whiter color and causes the flour to absorb and retain a larger amount

of water than it would otherwise hold. This enables the user to make,

from an inferior brand of flour, bread which resembles that made from a

better quality. Such adulteration is exceedingly injurious, as are other

mineral substances used for a similar purpose.

The presence of alum in flour or bread may be detected in the following

way: Macerate a half slice of bread in three or four tablespoonfuls of

water; strain off the water, and add to it twenty drops of a strong

solution of logwood, made either from the fresh chips or the extract.

Then add a large teaspoonful of a strong solution of carbonate of

ammonium. If alum is present, the mixture will change from pink to

lavender blue.

The _Journal of Trade_ gives the following simple mode of testing for

this adulterant: "Persons can test the bread they buy for themselves, by

taking a piece of it and soaking it in water. Take this water and mix it

with an equal part of fresh milk, and if the bread contains alum, the

mixture will coagulate. If a better test is required, boil the mixture,

and it will form perfect clot."

Whiting can be detected by dipping the ends of the thumb and forefinger

in sweet oil and rubbing the flour between them. If whiting is present,

the flour will become sticky like putty, and remain white; whereas pure

flour, when so rubbed, becomes darker in color, but not sticky. Plaster

of Paris, chalk, and other alkaline adulterants may be detected by a few

drops of lemon juice: if either be present, effervescence will take

place.

CHEMISTRY OF BREAD-MAKING.--Good flour alone will not insure good

bread. As much depends upon its preparation as upon the selection of

material; for the very best of flour may be transformed into the poorest

of bread through improper or careless preparation. Good bread cannot be

produced at random. It is not the fruit of any luck or chance, but the

practical result of certain fixed laws and principles to which all may

conform.

The first step in the conversion of flour into bread is to incorporate

with it a given amount of fluid, by which each atom of flour is

surrounded with a thin film of moisture, in order to hydrate the starch,

to dissolve the sugar and albumen, and to develop the adhesiveness of

the gluten, thus binding the whole into one coherent mass termed

_dough_, a word from a verb meaning to wet or moisten. If nothing more

be done, and this simple form of dough be baked, the starch granules

will be ruptured by the heat and thus properly prepared for food; but

the moistening will have developed the glue-like property of the gluten

to the extent of firmly cementing the particles of flour together, so

that the mass will be hard and tough, and almost incapable of

mastication. If, however, the dough be thoroughly kneaded, rolled very

thin, made into small cakes, and then quickly baked with sufficient

heat, the result will be a brittle kind of bread termed unleavened

bread, which, although it requires a lengthy process of mastication, is

more wholesome and digestible than soft bread, which is likely to be

swallowed insufficiently insalivated.

The gluten of wheat flour, beside being adhesive, is likewise remarkably

elastic. This is the reason why wheat flour is much more easily made

into light bread than the product of other cereals which contain less or

a different quality of gluten. Now if while the atoms of flour are

supplied with moisture, they are likewise supplied with some form of

gaseous substance, the elastic walls of the gluten cells will become

distended, causing the dough to "rise," or grow in bulk, and at the same

time become light, or porous, in texture.

This making of bread light is usually accomplished by the introduction

of air into the dough, or by carbonic acid gas generated within the

mass, either before or during the baking, by a fermentative or chemical

process.

When air is the agency used, the gluten, by its glue-like properties,

catches and retains the air for a short period; and if heat is applied

before the air, which is lighter than the dough, rises and escapes, it

will expand, and in expanding distend the elastic glutinous mass,

causing it to puff up or rise. If the heat is sufficient to harden the

gluten quickly, so that the air cells throughout the whole mass become

firmly fixed before the air escapes, the result will be a light, porous

bread. If the heat is not sufficient, the air does not properly expand;

or if before a sufficient crust is formed to retain the air and form a

framework of support for the dough, the heat is lessened or withdrawn,

the air will escape, or contract to its former volume, allowing the

distended glutinous cell walls to collapse; in either case the bread

will be heavy.

If carbonic acid gas, generated within the dough by means of

fermentation or by the use of chemical substances, be the means used to

lighten the mass, the gluten by virtue of its tenacity holds the bubbles

of gas as they are generated, and prevents the large and small ones from

uniting, or from rising to the surface, as they seek to do, being

lighter than the dough. Being thus caught where they are generated, and

the proper conditions supplied to expand them, they swell or raise the

dough, which is then termed a loaf. (This word "loaf" is from the

Anglo-Saxon _hlifian_, to raise or lift up.) The structure is rendered

permanent by the application of heat in baking.

BREAD MADE LIGHT BY FERMENTATION.

For general use, the most convenient form of bread is usually considered

to be that made from wheat flour, raised or made light by some method of

fermentation, although in point of nutritive value and healthfulness, it

does not equal light, unfermented, or aerated bread made without the aid

of chemicals.

THE PROCESS OF FERMENTATION.--Fermentation is a process of

decomposition, and hence more or less destructive to the substances

subjected to its influence. When animal and vegetable substances

containing large amounts of nitrogenous elements are in a moist state

and exposed to air, they very soon undergo a change, the result of which

is decomposition or decay. This is occasioned by the action of germs,

which feed upon nitrogenous substances, as do the various species of

fungi. Meat, eggs, milk, and other foods rich in nitrogenous elements

can be preserved but a short time if exposed to the atmosphere. The

carbonaceous elements are different in this respect. When pure starch,

sugar, or fat is exposed to the air in a moistened state, they exhibit

the very little tendency to change or decay. Yet if placed in contact

with decomposing substances containing nitrogen, they soon begin to

change, and are themselves decomposed and destroyed. This communication

of the condition of change from one class of substances to another, is

termed fermentation. If a fermenting substance be added to a watery

solution containing sugar, the sugar will be changed or decomposed, and

two new substances, alcohol and carbonic acid gas, are produced.

The different stages of fermentation are noted scientifically as

alcoholic, acetous, and putrefactive. The first is the name given to the

change which takes place in the saccharine matter of the dough, which

results in the formation of alcohol and carbonic acid gas. This same

change takes place in the saccharine matter of fruits under the proper

with conditions of warmth, air, and moisture, and is utilized in the

production of wines and fermented liquors.

In bread-making, the alcohol and carbonic acid gas produced during the

fermentation, are formed from sugar,--that originally contained in the

flour and the additional quantity formed from starch during the

fermenting process. It is evident, therefore, that bread cannot be

fermented without some loss in natural sweetness and nutritive value,

and bread made after this method should be managed so as to deteriorate

the material as little as possible.

If this fermentation continues long enough, the acetous fermentation is

set up, and _acetic_ acid, the essential element of vinegar, is formed

and the dough becomes sour. If the process of fermentation is very much

prolonged, the putrefactive change is set up, and the gluten is more or

less decomposed.

If the dough be baked during the alcoholic and carbonic-acid stage of

fermentation, the gas will render the loaf light and porous. The alcohol

will be dissipated by the heat during the baking, or evaporated shortly

afterward, provided the baking be thorough. If the fermentation is

allowed to proceed until the acetous fermentation has begun, the loaf,

when baked, will be "sad" and heavy, since there is no longer any gas to

puff it up. If, however, during the first or alcoholic stage of

fermentation, new material be added, the same kind of fermentation will

continue for a certain period longer.

These facts serve to show that great care and attention are necessary to

produce good bread by a fermentative process. If the fermentation has

not been allowed to proceed far enough to generate a sufficient amount

of gas to permeate the whole mass, the result will be a heavy loaf; and

if allowed to proceed too far, acid fermentation begins, the gas

escapes, and we have sour as well as heavy bread. It is not enough,

however, to prevent bread from reaching the acetous or sour stage of

fermentation. Bread may be over-fermented when there is no appreciable

sourness developed. Fermentation may be carried so far as to destroy

much of the richness and sweetness of the loaf, and yet be arrested by

the baking process just before the acetous stage begins, so that it will

be light and porous, but decidedly lacking in flavor and substance.

Over-fermentation also develops in the bread various bitter substances

which obscure the natural sweetness of the bread and give to it an

unpleasant flavor. Many of these substances are more or less harmful in

character, and include many poisons known as ptomaines, a class of

chemical compounds produced by germs whenever fermentation or

decomposition of organic matter takes place. Much skill is required to

determine at what point to arrest the fermentation, in order to save the

sweetness and richness of the bread.

FERMENTATIVE AGENTS.--Fermentation in vegetable matter is always

accompanied by the growth of living organisms. The development of these

minute organisms is the exciting cause of fermentation and putrefaction.

The germs or spores of some of these fermenting agents are always

present in the air. It is well known to housekeepers that if a batter

of flour and water and a little salt be kept in a jar of water at a

temperature of from 100 deg. to 110 deg., it will ferment in the course

of five or six hours. Scientists assure us that this fermentation is

occasioned by the introduction of the spores of certain species of

fungi which are continually floating in the atmosphere, and the proper

conditions of warmth and moisture being supplied, they at once begin to

grow and multiply. This method of securing fermentation is utilized by

housewives in making what is termed salt-rising bread. The raising of

dough by this process is lengthy and uncertain, and a far more convenient

method is to accelerate the fermentation by the addition of some active

ferment. The ancient method of accomplishing this was by adding to the

dough a leaven, a portion of old dough which had been kept until it had

begun to ferment; but since the investigations of modern chemistry have

made clear the properties of yeast, that has come to be considered the

best agent for setting up the process of alcoholic fermentation in bread.

The use of leaven is still practiced to somewhat in some European

countries. The bread produced with leaven, although light and spongy in

texture, has an unpleasant, sour taste, and is much less wholesome than

that produced with fresh yeast.

Yeast is a collection of living organisms or plants belonging to the

family of fungi, which, like all other plants, require warmth, moisture,

and food, in order to promote growth, and when properly supplied with

these, they begin to grow and multiply rapidly. Fermentation will not

take place at a temperature below 30 deg., it proceeds slowly at 45 deg.,

but from 70 deg. to 90 deg. it goes on rapidly. Fermentation may be

arrested by the exhaustion of either the fermenting agent or the food

supply, or by exposure to heat at the temperature of boiling water. This

latter fact enables the housewife to arrest the process of fermentation,

when the loaf has become sufficiently light, by baking it in a hot oven.

Heat destroys most of the yeast cells; a few, however, remain in the loaf

unchanged, and it is for this reason that yeast bread is considered less

wholesome for dyspeptics than light unleavened bread. It is apparent,

then, that the more thoroughly fermented bread is baked, the more

wholesome it will be, from the more complete destruction of the yeast

germs which it contains.

YEAST.--Next to good flour, the most important requisite in the

manufacture of fermented bread is good yeast. The best of flour used in

conjunction with poor yeast will not produce good bread. The most

convenient and reliable kind of marketable yeast, when fresh, is the

compressed yeast. The dry though they are always ready for use, the

quality of the bread they produce is generally inferior to that made

with either compressed yeast or good liquid yeast. If this sort of yeast

must be depended upon, the cakes known as "Yeast Foam" are the best of

any with which we are acquainted.

Of homemade yeasts there are almost as many varieties as there are

cooks. Their comparative value depends mainly upon the length of time

they will keep good, or the facility with which they can be prepared.

Essentially the same principles are involved in the making of them all;

viz., the introduction of a small quantity of fresh, lively yeast into a

mixture of some form of starch (obtained from flour, potato, or a

combination of both) and water, with or without the addition of such

other substances as will promote fermentation, or aid in preventing the

yeast from souring. Under proper conditions of warmth, the small amount

of original yeast begins to supply itself with food at once by

converting the starch into dextrine, and then into grape sugar, and

multiplies itself with great rapidity, and will continue to do so as

long as there is material to supply it with the means of growth. While

its growth is rapid, its decay is equally so; and unless some means of

preservation be employed, the yeast will die, and the mixture become

sour and foul. Ordinarily it can be kept good for several days, and

under the best conditions, even three or four weeks. After it has been

kept from four to six hours, it should be placed in some receptacle as

nearly air-tight as possible and set in the cellar or refrigerator,

where it can be kept at a temperature not conducive to fermentation.

Thus the little yeast organisms will remain in a quiescent state, but

yet alive and capable of multiplying themselves when again surrounded

with favorable conditions.

The yeast should be kept in glass or glazed earthen ware. The vessel

containing it should be washed and scalded with scrupulous care before

new yeast is put in, since the smallest particle of sour or spoiled

yeast will ruin the fresh supply in a very short time. It is generally

conceded that yeast will keep longer if the material of which it is made

be mixed with liquid of a boiling temperature, or cooked for a few

minutes at boiling heat before adding the yeast. The reason for this

undoubtedly lies in the fact that the boiling kills foreign germs, and

thus prevents early souring or putrefaction. The yeast must not be

added, however, until the liquid has cooled to a little more than blood

heat, as too great heat will kill the yeast cells.

The starch of the potato is thought to furnish better material for the

promotion of yeast growth than that of wheat flour; but whether the

potato be first cooked, mashed, and then combined with the other

ingredients, or grated raw and then cooked in boiling water, makes

little difference so far as results are concerned, though the latter

method may have the advantage of taking less time. If potatoes are used

for this purpose, they should be perfectly mature. New ones will not

answer.

Sugar assists in promoting the growth of the yeast plant, and a small

amount is usually employed in making yeast. Hops serve to prevent the

yeast from souring, and an infusion of them is frequently used for this

purpose.

While it is essential that the water used should be boiling, it is also

necessary that the mixture should cooled to a lukewarm temperature

before the introduction of the original yeast, as intense heat will kill

the yeast plant. Freezing cold will likewise produced the same result.

While a cool temperature is one of the requisites for keeping yeast

fresh, care must be taken, especially in winter, that it does not get

chilled.

When yeast is needed for bread, it is always the best plan to take a cup

to the cellar or refrigerator for the desired quantity, and re-cover the

jar as quickly as possible. A half hour in a hot kitchen would be quite

likely to spoiled it. Always shake or stir the whole well before

measuring out the yeast. In making yeast, used earthen bowls for mixing,

porcelain-lined or granite-ware utensils for boiling, and silver or

wooden spoons for stirring.

BITTER YEAST.--It sometimes happens that an excessive use of hops

in the making of yeast gives to it so bitter a flavor as to communicate

a disagreeable taste to the bread. To correct this bitterness, mix with

the yeast a considerable quantity of water, and let it stand for some

hours, when the thickest portion will have settled at the bottom. The

water, which will have extracted much of the bitterness, can then be

turned off and thrown away. Yeast also sometimes becomes a bitter from

long keeping. Freshly burnt charcoal thrown into the yeast is said to

absorb the odors and offensive matter and render the yeast more sweet;

however, we do not recommend the use of any yeast so stale as to need

sweetening or purifying. Yeast that is new and fresh is always best; old

and stale yeast, even though it may still possess the property of

raising the dough, will give an unpleasant taste to the bread, and is

much less wholesome.

TESTS FOR YEAST.--Liquid yeast, when good, is light in color and

looks foamy and effervescent; it has a pungent odor somewhat similar to

weak ammonia, and if tasted will have a sharp, biting flavor. Yeast is

poor when it looks dull and watery, and has a sour odor. Compressed

yeast, if good, breaks off dry and looks white; if poor, it appears

moist and stringy.

If there is any question as to the quality of yeast, it is always best

to test it before use by adding a little flour to a small quantity and

setting it in a warm place. If it begins to ferment in the course of

fifteen or twenty minutes, it is good.

STARTING THE BREAD.--Having secured good yeast, it is necessary in

some way to diffuse it through the bread material so that it will set up

an active fermentation, which, by the evolution of gas, will render the

whole mass light and porous. As fermentation is more sure, more rapid,

and requires less yeast to start it when set in action in a thin mixture

than when introduced into stiff dough, the more common method of

starting fermented bread is by "setting a sponge;" viz., preparing a

batter of flour and liquid, to which potato is sometimes added, and into

which the yeast is introduced. Some cooks, in making the batter, use

the whole amount of liquid needed for the bread, and as the sponge

rises, add flour in small quantities, beating it back, and allowing it

to rise a second, third, or even fourth time, until sufficient flour has

been added to knead; others use only half the liquid in preparing the

sponge, and when it has well risen, prepare a second one by adding the

remainder of the liquid and fresh flour, in which case the fermented

batter acts as a double portion of yeast and raises the second sponge

very quickly. The requisite amount of flour is then added, the dough

kneaded, and the whole allowed to rise a third time in the loaf. Other

cooks dispense altogether with the sponge, adding to the liquid at first

the requisite amount of flour, kneading it thoroughly and allowing it to

rise once in mass and again after molding into loaves. As to the

superiority of one method over another, much depends upon their

adaptability to the time and convenience of the user; light bread can be

produced by either method. Less yeast but more time will be required

when the bread is started with a sponge. The end to be attained by all

is a complete and equal diffusion of gas bubbles generated during

fermentation throughout the whole mass of dough.

The preferable method of combining the materials needed for the batter

is by first mingling the yeast with the water or milk. If condensed or

dry yeast is used, previously dissolve it well in a half cupful or less

of lukewarm water. Stir the flour slowly into the liquid mixture and

beat it _very thoroughly_ so that the yeast shall be evenly distributed

throughout the whole.

PROPORTION OF MATERIALS NEEDED.--The material needed for making:

the bread should all be carefully measured out beforehand and the flour

well sifted. Many housekeepers fail in producing good bread, because

they guess at the quantity of material to be used, particularly the

flour, and with the same quantity of liquid will one time use much more

flour that at another, thus making the results exceedingly variable.

With this same brand of flour, this same quantity should always be used

to produce a given amount of bread. This amount will depend upon the

quality of the material used. Good flour will absorb a larger quantity

of liquids than that of an inferior quality, and the amount of liquid a

given quantity of flour will take up determines the quantity of bread

that can be produced from it. This amount is chiefly dependent upon the

proportion of gluten contained in the flour. One hundred pounds of good

flour will absorb sufficient water to produce one hundred and fifty

pounds of bread. One reason why bread retains so much water is that

during the baking a portion of starch is converted into gum, which holds

water more strongly than starch. Again: the gluten, when wet, is not

easily dried, while the dry crust which forms around the bread in baking

is merely impervious to water, and, like the skin of a baking potato,

prevents the moisture from escaping.

Kinds of flour vary so considerably in respect to their absorbent

properties that it is not possible to state the exact proportions of

flour and liquid required; approximately, three heaping measures of

flour for one scant measure of liquid, including the yeast, will in

general be found a good proportion. Bread made from the entire wheat

will require from one half to one cupful less flour than that made of

white flour. A quart of liquid, including the yeast, is sufficient for

three ordinary-sized loaves. One half or two thirds of a cup of homemade

yeast, according to its strength, or one half a cake of compressed yeast

dissolved in a half cup of lukewarm water, will be sufficient for one

quart of liquid. It is a common mistake to use too much yeast. It

lessens the time required, but the result is less satisfactory. Bread to

be set over night requires less yeast.

Whether water or milk should be used for bread-making, depends upon

taste and convenience. Bread retains more nearly the natural flavor of

the grain if made with water, and is less apt to sour; at the same time,

bread made with milk is more tender than that made with water. Bread

made with milk requires from one half to one cupful less of flour.

Potatoes are sometimes used in conjunction with flour for bread-making.

They are by no means necessary when good flour is used, but bread made

from inferior flour is improved by their use. Only potatoes that are

fully matured should be used for this purpose, and they should be well

cooked and smoothly mashed. Neither sugar nor salt is essential for the

production of good bread, though most cook books recommend the use of

one or both. The proportion of the former should not exceed one even

tablespoonful to three pints of flour, and the very smallest amount of

salt, never more than a half teaspoonful, and better less. No butter or

other free fat is required; the tenderness of texture produced by its

use can be secured as well by the use of unskimmed milk and thorough

kneading.

UTENSILS.--For bread-making purposes, earthen or china ware is

preferable to either tin or wooden utensils: being a poor conductor, it

protects the sponge from the cold air much more effectually than tin,

and is much more easily kept clean and sweet than wood. The utensil

should be kept exclusively for the purpose of bread-making, and should

never be allowed to contain any sour substance. The bowl should be

thoroughly scalded before and after each using. Use silver or

granite-ware spoons for stirring the bread. Iron and tin discolor the

sponge. For measuring the material, particularly the liquid and the

yeast, half-pint cups, divided by marks into thirds and fourths, as

shown in the cut, are especially serviceable.

[Illustration: Measuring Cup] [Illustration: Measuring Cup]

WHEN TO SET THE SPONGE.--The time to set the sponge for

bread-making is a point each housekeeper must determine for herself. The

fact before stated, that temperature controls the activity of

fermentation, and that it is retarded or accelerated according to the

conditions of warmth, enables the housewife, by keeping the

bread-mixture at a temperature of about 50 deg. F., to set her bread in the

evening, if desired, and find it light and ready for further attention

in the morning. In winter, the sponge will need to be prepared early in

the evening and kept during the night at as even a temperature as

possible. A good way to accomplish this is to cover the bowl with a

clean napkin and afterwards wrap it about very closely with several

folds of a woolen blanket. In extremely cold weather bottles of hot

water may be placed around the bowl outside the wrappings. In case this

plan is employed, care must be taken to have sufficient wrappings

between the bread and the bottles to prevent undue heat, and the bottles

should be covered with an additional blanket to aid in retaining the

heat as long as possible.

If the sponge is set in the evening, if in very warm weather, it should

be started as late as practicable, and left in a rather cool place.

Cover closely to exclude the air, but do not wrap in flannel as in

winter. It will be likely to need attention early in the morning.

TEMPERATURE FOR BREAD-MAKING.--Except in very warm weather, the

ferment or sponge should be started with liquid at a lukewarm

temperature.

The liquid should never be so cold as to chill the yeast. Milk, if used,

should be first sterilized by scalding, and then cooled before using.

After the sponge is prepared, the greatest care must be taken to keep it

at an equable temperature. From 70 deg. to 90 deg. is the best range of

temperature, 75 deg. being considered the golden mean throughout the

entire fermentative process of bread-making.

After fermentation has well begun, it will continue, but much more

slowly if the temperature be gradually lowered to 45 deg. or 50 deg. If

it is necessary to hasten the rising, the temperature can be raised to

80 deg. or 85 deg., but it will necessitate careful watching, as it will

be liable to over-ferment, and become sour. Cold arrests the process of

fermentation, while too great heat carries forward the work too rapidly.

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance of an equable

temperature. The housewife who permits the fermentation to proceed very

slowly one hour, forces it rapidly by increased heat the next, and

perhaps allows it to subside to a chilling temperature the third, will

never be sure of good bread.

Putting the bowl containing the sponge into a dish of warm (not hot)

water, or keeping it in the warming oven, or on the back of the range,

are all methods which may bring about good results, provided the same

degree of heat can be maintained continuously; but if the fire is one

which must be increased or diminished to suit the exigencies of

household details, nothing but the closest and most careful attention

will keep the sponge at uniform temperature. The better way is to cover

the bowl with a napkin, and in cold weather wrap closely in several

thicknesses of flannel, and place on a stand behind the stove, or in

some place not exposed to draughts. A bread-raiser purposely arranged

for keeping the bread at proper temperature is a great convenience. Two

small and rather thick earthen ware crocks of the same size, serve very

well for this purpose. Scald both with hot water, and while still warm,

put the sponge in one, invert the other for a cover, and leave in a warm

room. All flour used in the bread should be warm when added.

LIGHTNESS OF THE BREAD.--The time required for bread in its

different stages to grow light will vary according to the quantity and

strength of the yeast used and the amount of warmth supplied. A thin

batter is light enough when in appearance it resembles throughout a mass

of sea foam. It will not greatly increase in bulk, but will be in the

state of constant activity, sending up little bubbles of gas and

emitting a sharp, pungent odor like fresh yeast.

When the thicker batter or second sponge is sufficiently light, it will

have risen to nearly double its original bulk and become cracked over

the top like "crazed" china. It should never be allowed to rise to the

point of sinking or caving in, and should be kneaded as soon as ready.

If for any reason it is not possible to knead the bread at once when it

has arrived at this stage, do not allow it to stand, but take a knife or

spoon and gently beat it back a little. This dissipates some of the gas

and reduces the volume somewhat. Let it rise again, which it will do in

a short time, if it has not been allowed to become too light. If dough

that has been kneaded and allowed to rise in mass, becomes sufficiently

light at some inopportune moment for shaping into loaves, it may be kept

from becoming too light and souring, by taking a knife and cutting it

away from the sides of the bowl and gradually working it over toward the

center. Re-cover and put in a warm place. It will soon assume its former

bulk. This "cutting down" may be repeated several times if necessary,

provided the bread has not been allowed to become too light at any time,

and some cook's recommend it as a uniform practice. We do not, however,

except in case of necessity; since, though it may possibly make the

bread more light, the long-continued fermentation destroys more than is

necessary of the food elements of the flour, and develops an unnecessary

amount of the products of fermentation. Lightness is not the only

requisite for bread, and should be secured with as little deterioration

of the flour as possible.

An important point in the preparation of bread is to decide when it is

sufficiently light after having been molded and placed in pans. The

length of time cannot be given, because it will vary with the

temperature, the quality of the flour, and the quantity added during the

kneading. At a temperature of 75 deg., an hour or an hour and a half is

about the average length of time needed. A loaf should nearly double its

size after being placed in a pan, before baking; when perfectly risen,

the bread feels light when lifted and weighed upon the hand. It is

better to begin the baking before it has perfectly risen them to wait

until it has become so light as to commence to fall, since if the

fermentation proceeds too far, the sweetness of the grain will be

destroyed, and the bread will be tasteless and innutritious, even if it

does not reach the acetous stage.

The exercise of a little judgment and careful attention to detail will

soon enable a person successfully to determine the proper degree of

lightness of bread in its various stages. Bread which passes the extreme

point of fermentation, or in common phrase gets "too light," will have a

strong acid odor, and will pull away from the bowl in a stringy mass,

having a watery appearance very different from the fine, spongy texture

of properly risen dough. The acidity of such dough may be neutralized by

the addition of an alkali, and housewives who through carelessness and

inattention have allowed their bread to become "sour," often resort to

saleratus or soda to neutralize the acid. The result of such treatment

is unwholesome bread, wholly unfit for food. It is better economy to

throw away bread material which needs to be sweetened with soda than to

run the risk of injury to health by using it.

KNEADING THE DOUGH.--As fresh flour is added during the

bread-making, it is necessary to mix it in thoroughly. As long as the

batter is thin, this can be done by thoroughly beating the mixture with

the addition of material; but when it is a thick dough, some other

method must be adopted to bring about the desired result. The usual way

is by mixing the dough to a proper consistency, and working it with the

hands. This is termed _kneading_. Much of the excellence of bread

depends upon the thoroughness of this kneading, since if the yeast is

not intimately and equally mixed with every particle of flour, the bread

will not be uniform; some portions will be heavy and compact, while

others will be full of large, open cavities, from the excessive

liberation of gas.

The length of time required for kneading depends upon the perfection

with which the yeast cells have been previously diffused throughout the

sponge, and upon the quality of the flour used in preparing the bread,

much less time being required for kneading dough made from good flour.

Some consider an hour none too long to knead bread. Such a lengthy

process may be advantageous, since one of the objects of kneading is to

render the glutinous parts of the flour so elastic that the dough may be

capable of expanding to several times its bulk without cracking or

breaking, but excellent results can be obtained from good flour with

less labor. Bread has been kneaded all that is necessary when it will

work clean of the board, and when, after a smart blow with the fist in

the center of the mass, it will spring back to its original shape like

an India rubber ball. Its elasticity is the surest test of its goodness;

and when dough has been thus perfectly kneaded, it can be molded into

any shape, rolled, twisted, or braided with ease. Chopping, cutting,

stretching, and pulling--the dough are other methods for accomplishing

the same end.

If a large mass is to be kneaded, it is better to divide it into several

portions and knead each separately. It is less laborious and more likely

to result in an equal diffusion of the yeast. Bread is often spoiled by

the addition of too much flour during kneading. Dough should always be

kneaded as soft as it can be handled, and only sufficient flour added to

prevent its sticking to the board. Stiff bread is close in texture, and

after a day or two becomes dry and hard.

HOW TO MANIPULATE THE DOUGH IN KNEADING.--Sprinkle the board well

with flour, and scrape the dough from the bowl with a knife. Dust the

hands with flour, and then draw the dough with a rolling motion from the

farthest side toward you, using the finger tips for the purpose, but

pressing firmly down upon the mass with the palm of the hands. Reach

forward again with the finger tips, and again press the ball of the

hands upon the dough. Continue this process of manipulation until the

mass is very much elongated; then turn at right angles and repeat the

process, taking care that the finger tips do not break through the light

film which will form upon the outside of soft dough when well managed.

_Keep the dough constantly in motion_ until it is smooth, elastic, and

fine-grained. The hands and the board may need a light dusting of flour

at frequent intervals. If the dough sticks, lift it quickly, and clean

the board, that it may be kept smooth. The dough will not stick if kept

in constant motion. Do not rub off little wads of dough either from the

hands or the board and keep kneading them into the loaf; they will

seriously injure the uniform texture of the bread.

HOW MANY TIMES SHALL BREAD BE KNEADED?--As the objects to be

attained in kneading dough are to render the gluten more elastic and

thoroughly to diffuse the yeast, it will be seen that there has been

sufficient kneading when all the flour necessary for the bread has been

added. Furthermore, it must be apparent that continued manipulation of

the dough at this stage will dissipate and press out the little vesicles

of gas held in place by the elastic gluten, and thus lose in part what

so much pains has been taken to secure. At whatever stage the requisite

amount of flour be added, the dough should then be thoroughly kneaded

once for all. If allowed to rise in bulk, when light it should be shaped

into loaves with the greatest care, handled lightly, and worked as

little as possible, and if at all diminished, allowed to rise again

before baking.

DRYNESS OF THE SURFACE.--Bread in all stages should be covered over

the top, since it rises much more evenly, and does not have a stiff,

dried surface, as when placed in a warm place exposed to air. It

sometimes happens that this precaution is forgotten or not sufficiently

attended to, and a dry crust forms and over the dough, which, if kneaded

into the loaves, leaves hard, dry spots in the bread. In case of such a

mishap, take the dry crust off, dissolve it in a little warm water, add

flour enough to mold, make it into a small loaf, and raise it

separately.

SIZE OF LOAVES.--The lightness of the bread after baking depends

upon the perfection with which the little air-cells, formed during the

fermenting process, have become fixed by the heat during the baking. The

heat expands the carbonic acid gas contained within the open spaces in

the dough, and at the same time checks further development of gas by

destroying the yeast plant. The sooner, then, that the cells can be made

permanent after the arrest of fermentation, the more light and porous

the bread will be. Although this fixing of the cells is largely

dependent upon the degree of heat maintained, it likewise in a measure

depends upon the size of the loaf, as the heat will penetrate and fix

the cells of a small loaf throughout much sooner than, those of a large

one. Therefore, bake in small loaves, and have a separate pan for each,

as that admits of an equal degree of heat to all sides. This aids in a

more rapid fixing of the air-cells and likewise gives more crust, which

is the sweetest and most digestible part of the bread.

Sheet-iron pans, about eight inches in length, four in width, and five

in depth, are the most satisfactory. After the dough is molded, divide

it into loaves which will fill such pans to the depth of two inches. Let

them rise until double their first volume, and then put them in the

oven. In baking, the loaves will rise still higher, and if about five

inches high when done, will have expanded to about the right

proportions.

[Illustration: Bread Pan]

PROPER TEMPERATURE OF THE OVEN.--The objects to be attained in the

baking of bread are to break up the starch and gluten cells of the Sour

so as to make them easily digestible, to destroy the yeast plant, and

render permanent the cells formed by the action of the carbonic acid

gas. To accomplish well these ends, the loaf must be surrounded by a

temperature ranging from 400 deg. to 600 deg. The oven should be one in

which the heat is equal in all parts, and which can be kept at a steady,

uniform heat. Old-fashioned brick ovens were superior in this respect to

most modern ranges. The fire for baking bread should be of sufficient

strength to keep the oven heated for at least an hour. If the oven has

tendency to become too hot upon the bottom, a thin, open grate, broiler,

or toasting rack, should be placed underneath the tins to allow a

circulation of air and avoid danger of burning. If the heat be

insufficient, fermentation will not cease until the bread has become

sour; the cells will be imperfectly fixed or entirely collapsed; too

little of the moisture will have evaporated, and the result will be a

soft, wet, and pasty or sour loaf. If the heat be too great, the bread

will be baked before it has perfectly risen, or a thick, burned crust

will be produced, forming a non-conducting covering to the loaf, which

will prevent the heat from permeating the interior, and thus the loaf

will have an overdone exterior, but will be raw and doughy within. If,

however, the temperature of the oven be just right, the loaf will

continue for a little time to enlarge, owing to the expansion of the

carbonic acid gas, the conversion of the water into steam, and the

vaporizing of the alcohol, which rises in a gaseous form and is driven

off by the heat; a nicely browned crust will be formed over the surface,

the result of the rapid evaporation of water from the surface and

consequent consolidation of the dough of this portion of the loaf, and a

chemical change caused by the action of the heat upon the starch by

which is converted into dextrine, finally assuming a brown color due to

the production of a substance known to the chemist as _assama_.

Bread is often spoiled in the baking. The dough may be made of the best

of flour and yeast, mixed and kneaded in the most perfect manner, and

may have risen to the proper degree of lightness' before going to the

oven, yet if the oven is either too hot or not hot enough, the bread

will be of an inferior quality.

Without an oven thermometer, there is no accurate means of determining

the temperature of the oven; but housekeepers resort to various means to

form a judgment about it. The baker's old-fashioned method is to throw a

handful of flour on the oven bottom. If it blackens without igniting,

the heat is deemed sufficient. Since the object for which the heat is

desired is to cook the flour, not to burn it, it might be supposed that

this would indicate too high a temperature; but the flour within the

loaf to be baked is combined with a certain amount of moisture, the

evaporation of which lowers the temperature of the bread considerably

below that of the surrounding heated atmosphere. The temperature of the

inner portion of the loaf cannot exceed 212 deg. so long as it continues

moist. Bread might be perfectly cooked at this temperature by steam, but

it would lack that most digestible portion of the loaf, the crust.

A common way of ascertaining if the heat of the oven is sufficient, is

to hold the bare arm inside it for a few seconds. If the arm cannot be

held within while thirty is counted, it is too hot to begin with. The

following test is more accurate: For rolls, the oven should be hot

enough to brown a teaspoonful of flour in _one_ minute, and for loaves

in _five_ minutes.

The temperature should be high enough to arrest the fermentation, which

it will do at a point considerably below the boiling point of water, and

at the same time to form a shell or crust, which will so support the

dough as to prevent it from sinking or collapsing when the evolution of

carbonic acid gas shall cease; but it should not be hot enough to brown

the crust within ten or fifteen minutes. The heat should increase for

the first fifteen minutes, remain steady for the next fifteen minutes,

and may then gradually decrease during the remainder of the baking. If

by any mischance the oven be so hot as to brown the crust too soon,

cover the loaf with a clean paper for a few minutes. Be careful that no

draught reaches the bread while baking; open the oven door very seldom,

and not at all for the first ten minutes. If it is necessary to turn the

loaf, try to do so without bringing it to the air. From three fourths of

an hour to an hour is usually a sufficient length of time to bake an

ordinary sized loaf. Be careful not to remove the bread from the oven

until perfectly done. It is better to allow it to bake ten minutes too

long than not long enough. The crust of bread, when done, should be

equally browned all over.

The common test for well-baked bread is to tap it on the bottom with the

finger; if it is light and well done, it will sound hollow; heavy bread

will have a dull sound. A thoroughly baked loaf will not burn the hand

when lifted upon it from the pan.

CARE OF BREAD AFTER BAKING.--When done, remove the loaves from the

tins, and tilt them upon edge so that the air may circulate freely on

all sides of them to prevent "sweating." Do not, however, lay them on a

pine shelf or table to absorb the odor of the wood. A large tin dripping

pan turned over upon the table does very well to tilt them on. If they

are turned often, so that they will not soften on one side, but a fine

wire bread cooler is the best thing. If this is not obtainable, a fair

substitute can be easily improvised by tacking window-screen wire to a

light frame of sufficient size to hold the requisite number of loaves.

If the bread is left exposed to the air until cold, the crust will be

crisp; if a soft crust is desired, it can be secured by brushing the top

of the loaf while hot, with tepid water, and covering with several

thicknesses of a clean bread cloth.

If by accident any portion of the crust is burnt, grate it away as soon

as cold; this is preferable to cutting or clipping it off.

BEST METHOD OF KEEPING BREAD.--When the bread is quite cold, put it

away in a bread box, which should be of tin, or of wood lined with tin,

convenient in form and supplied with a well-fitting cover. Never use an

unlined wooden box of any kind, as it cannot easily be kept fresh and

free from musty odors, which bread so readily absorbs.

Stone and earthen ware are not open to this objection, but they are

likely to collect moisture, and hence are not equal to a tin receptacle.

Do not keep bread in the cellar or any other damp place, nor in a close

closet, where there are other foods from which it can absorb odors. The

bread box should be kept well covered, and free from crumbs and stale

bits. It should be carefully washed in boiling soapsuds, scalded, and

dried, every two or three days. If cloths are used to wrap or cover the

bread, they too should be washed and scalded every week, and oftener if

at any time the loaf about which they are wrapped becomes moldy or

musty.

TEST OF GOOD FERMENTED BREAD.--A loaf of good bread, well risen and

perfectly baked, may be taken in the hands, and, with the thumb on the

top crust and fingers upon the bottom of the loaf, pressed to less than

half its thickness, and when the pressure is removed, it will

immediately expand like a sponge, to its former proportions.

Good yeast bread, while it should be firm and preserve a certain amount

of moisture, will, when cold, crumble easily when rubbed between the

fingers. If, instead, it forms a close, soggy mass, it may be regarded

as indigestible. This is one reason why hot, new yeast bread and biscuit

are so indigestible. In demonstration of this, take a small lump of new

bread, gently roll it into a ball, and put into a glass of water, adding

a similar quantity of stale bread of the same kind also. The latter will

crumble away very soon, while the former will retain its form for hours,

reminding one of its condition in the stomach, "as hard as a bullet,"

for a long time resisting the action of the gastric juice, although,

meanwhile, the yeast germs which have not been killed in the oven are

converting the mass into a lump of yeast, by which the whole contents of

the stomach are soured. A soluble article like salt or sugar in fine

powdered form is much more easily and quickly dissolved than the same

article in solid lumps, and so it is with food. The apparent dryness of

stale bread is not caused by its loss of moisture; for if carefully

weighed, stale bread will be found to contain almost exactly the same

proportion of water as new bread that has become cold. The moisture has

only passed into a state of concealment, as may be demonstrated by

subjecting a stale loaf inclosed in a tightly-sealed receptacle to a

temperature equal to boiling heat in an oven for half an hour, when it

will again have the appearance of new bread.

Hot bread eaten with butter is still more unwholesome, for the reason

that the melted grease fills up the pores of the bread, and further

interferes with the action of the digestive fluids.

WHOLE-WHEAT AND GRAHAM BREADS.--The same general principles are

involved in the making of bread with whole-wheat and Graham flours as in

the production of bread from white flour. Good material and good care

are absolutely essential.

Whole-wheat flour ferments more readily and rises more quickly than does

white flour, hence bread made with it needs more careful management, as

it is more liable to sour. The novice in bread-making should not

undertake the preparation of bread with whole-wheat flour, until she has

thoroughly mastered all the details of the art by practical experience,

and can produce a perfect loaf from white flour.

Breads from whole-wheat and Graham flours require less yeast and less

flour than bread prepared from white flour. A slower process of

fermentation is also advantageous.

Such breads will be lighter if at least one third white flour be

employed in their manufacture. When the bread is made with a sponge,

this white flour may be utilised for the purpose. Thus the length of

time the whole-wheat flour will be undergoing fermentation will be

somewhat lessened, and its liability to become sour diminished. This

plan is a preferable one for beginners in bread-making.

Graham and whole-wheat flour breads must be kneaded longer than

white-flour bread, and require a hotter oven at first and a longer time

for baking. Much Graham and whole-wheat bread is served insufficiently

baked, probably owing to the fact that, being dark in color, the crust

appears brown very soon, thus deluding the cook into supposing that the

loaf is well baked. For thorough baking, from one to one and a half

hours are needed, according to the size of the loaf and the heat of the

oven.

TOAST.--Toasting, if properly done, renders bread more digestible,

the starch being converted into dextrine by the toasting process; but by

the ordinary method of preparing toast, that of simply browning each

side, only the surfaces of the slices are really toasted, while the

action of the heat upon the interior of the slice, it is rendered

exactly in the condition of new bread, and consequently quite as

indigestible. If butter is added while the toast is hot, we have all the

dyspepsia-producing elements of new bread and butter combined. Although

considered to be the dish _par excellence_ for invalids, nothing could

be more unwholesome than such toast. To properly toast the bread, the

drying and browning should extend throughout the entire thickness of the

slice. Bread may be thus toasted before an open fire, but the process

would be such a lengthy and troublesome one, it is far better to secure

the same results by browning the bread in a moderate oven.

Such toast is sometimes called _zwieback_ (twice baked), and when

prepared from good whole-wheat bread, is one of the most nourishing and

digestible of foods. Directions for its preparation and use will be

found in the chapter on "Breakfast Dishes."

STEAMED BREAD.--Steaming stale bread is as open to objection as the

surface toasting of bread, if steamed so as to be yielding and adhesive.

It is not, perhaps, as unwholesome as new bread, but bread is best eaten

in a condition dry and hard enough to require chewing, that its starch

may be so changed by the action of the saliva as to be easily digested.

LIQUID YEAST.

_RECIPES._

RAW POTATO YEAST.--Mix one fourth of a cup of flour, the same of

white sugar, and a teaspoonful of salt to a paste with a little water.

Pare three medium-size, fresh, and sound potatoes, and grate them as

rapidly as possible into the paste; mix all quickly together with a

silver spoon, then pour three pints of boiling water slowly over the

mixture, stirring well at the same time. If this does not rupture the

starch cells of the flour and potatoes so that the mixture becomes

thickened to the consistency of starch, turn it into a granite-ware

kettle and boil up for a minute, stirring well to keep it from sticking

and burning. If it becomes too much thickened, add a little more boiling

water. It is impossible to give the exact amount of water, since the

quality of the flour will vary, and likewise the size of the potatoes;

but three pints is an approximate proportion. Strain the mixture through

a fine colander into an earthen bread bowl, and let it cool. When

lukewarm, add one cup of good, lively yeast. Cover with a napkin, and

keep in a moderately warm place for several hours, or until it ceases to

ferment. As it begins to ferment, stir it well occasionally, and when

well fermented, turn into a clean glass or earthen jar. The next morning

cover closely, and put in the cellar or refrigerator, not, however, in

contact with the ice. It is best to reserve enough for the first baking

in some smaller jar, so that the larger portion need not be opened so

soon. Always shake the yeast before using.

RAW POTATO YEAST NO. 2.--This is made in the same manner as the

preceding, with this exception, that one fourth of a cup of loose hops

tied in a clean muslin bag, is boiled in the water for five minutes

before pouring it into the potato and flour mixture. Many think the

addition of the hops aids in keeping the yeast sweet for a longer

period. But potato yeast may be kept sweet for two weeks without hops,

if cared for, and is preferred by those who dislike the peculiar flavor

of the bread made from hop yeast.

HOP YEAST.--Put half a cup of loose hops, or an eighth of an ounce

of the pressed hops (put up by the Shakers and sold by druggists), into

a granite-ware kettle; pour over it a quart of boiling water, and simmer

about five minutes. Meanwhile stir to a smooth paste in a tin basin or

another saucepan, a cup of flour, and a little cold water. Line a

colander with a thin cloth, and strain the boiling infusion of hops

through it onto the flour paste, stirring continually. Boil this thin

starch a few minutes, until it thickens, stirring constantly that no

lumps be formed. Turn it into a large earthen bowl, add a tablespoonful

of salt and two of white sugar, and when it has cooled to blood heat,

add one half cup of lively yeast, stirring all well together. Cover the

bowl with a napkin, and let it stand in some moderately warm place

twenty-four hours, or until it ceases to ferment or send up bubbles,

beating back occasionally as it rises; then put into a wide-mouthed

glass or earthen jar, which has been previously scalded and dried, cover

closely, and set in a cool place. Yeast made in this manner will keep

sweet for two weeks in summer and longer in winter.

BOILED POTATO YEAST.--Peel four large potatoes, and put them to

boil in two quarts of cold water. Tie two loose handfuls of hops

securely in a piece of muslin, and place in the water to boil with the

potatoes. When the potatoes are tender, remove them with a perforated

skimmer, leaving the water still boiling. Mash them, and work in four

tablespoons of flour and two of sugar. Over this mixture pour gradually

the boiling hop infusion, stirring constantly, that it may form a smooth

paste, and set it aside to cool. When lukewarm, add a gill of lively

yeast, and proceed as in the preceding recipe.

BOILED POTATO YEAST NO. 2.--To one teacupful of very smoothly

mashed, mealy potato, add three teaspoonfuls of white sugar, one

teaspoonful of salt, and one cup of lively yeast, or one cake of Yeast

Foam, dissolved in a very little water. The potatoes should be warm, but

not hot enough to destroy the yeast. Allow this to stand until light,

when it is ready for use.

FERMENTED BREADS.

In the preparation of breads after the following recipes, the measure of

flour should be heaping.

_RECIPES._

MILK BREAD WITH WHITE FLOUR.--Scald and cool on pint of unskimmed

milk. Add to the milk when lukewarm, one fourth of a cup, or three

tablespoonfuls, of liquid yeast, and three cups of flour. Give the

batter a vigorous beating, turn it into a clean bread bowl or a small

earthen crock, cover, and let it rise over night. In the morning, when

well risen, add two or three cupfuls of warm flour, or sufficient to

knead. Knead well until the dough is sufficiently elastic to rebound

when struck forcibly with the fist. Allow it to rise again in mass; then

shape into loaves; place in pans; let it stand until light, and bake. If

undesirable to set the bread over night, and additional tablespoonfuls

or two of cheese may be used, to facilitate the rising.

VIENNA BREAD.--Into a pint of milk sterilized by scalding, turn a

cup and a half of boiling water. When lukewarm, add one half cup of warm

water, in which has been dissolved a cake of compressed yeast, and a

quart of white flour. Beat the batter thus made very thoroughly, and

allow it to rise for one hour; then add white flour until the dough is

of a consistency to knead. Knead well, and allow it to rise again for

about three hours, or until very light. Shape into four loaves, handling

lightly. Let it rise again in the pans, and bake. During the baking,

wash the tops of the loaves with a sponge dipped in milk, to glaze them.

WATER BREAD.--Dissolve a tablespoonful of sugar in a pint of

boiling water. When lukewarm, add one fourth of a cup full of liquid

yeast, and sufficient flour to make a batter thick enough to drop from

the spoon. Beat vigorously for ten minutes, turn into a clean,

well-scalded bread bowl, cover (wrapping in a blanket if in cold

weather), and let it rise over night. In the morning, when well risen,

add flour to knead. Knead well for half an hour, cover, and let it

become light in mass. When light, shape into loaves, allow it to rise

again, and bake.

FRUIT ROLL.--Take some bread dough prepared as for Milk Bread,

which has been sufficiently kneaded and is ready to mold, and roll to

about one inch in thickness. Spread over it some dates which have been

washed, dried, and stoned, raisins, currants, or chopped figs. Roll it

up tightly into a loaf. Let and it rise until very light, and bake.

FRUIT LOAF.--Set a sponge with one pint of rich milk, one fourth

cup of yeast, and a pint of flour, over night. In the morning, add two

cups of Zante currents, one cup of sugar, and three cups of flour, or

enough to make a rather stiff dough. Knead well, and set to rise; when

light, mold into loaves; let it rise again, and bake.

POTATO BREAD.--Cook and mash perfectly smooth, potatoes to make a

cupful. Add a teaspoonful of best white sugar, one cup and a half of

warm water, and when the mixture is lukewarm, one half cup of yeast,

prepared as directed for Boiled Potato Yeast No. 2, and flour to make a

very thick batter. Allow it to rise over night. In the morning, add a

pint of warm water and flour enough to knead. The dough will need to be

considerably stiffer than when no potato is used, or the result will be

a bread too moist for easy digestion. Knead well. Let it rise, mold into

four loaves, and when again light, bake.

PULLED BREAD.--Remove a loaf from the oven when about half baked,

and lightly pull the partially set dough into pieces of irregular shape,

about half the size of one's fist. Do not smooth or mold the pieces;

bake in a slow oven until browned and crisp throughout.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD.--The materials needed for the bread are: one

pint of milk, scalded and cooled, one quart of wheat berry flour, one

pint Minnesota spring wheat flour, one third cup of a soft yeast, or one

fourth cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in one third cup of cold

water. Stir enough flour into the milk to make a stiff batter, put in

the yeast, and let it rise until foamy. Have the milk so warm that, when

the flour is put in, the batter will be of a lukewarm temperature. Wrap

in a thick blanket, and keep at an equable temperature. When light, stir

in, slowly, warm flour to make a soft dough. Knead for fifteen minutes,

and return to the bowl (which has been washed and oiled) to rise again.

When risen to double its size, form into two loaves, place in separate

pans, let rise again, and bake from three fourths to one and one half

hours, according to the heat of the oven.

WHOLE-WHEAT BREAD NO. 2.--Scald one pint of unskimmed milk; when

lukewarm, add one half cup of liquid yeast, or one fourth cake of

compressed yeast, dissolved in one half cup of warm water, and a pint of

Pillsbury's best white flour. Beat this batter thoroughly, and allow it

to rise. When well risen, add three and two thirds cups of wheat berry

flour. Knead thoroughly, and allow it to become light in mass; then

shape into two loaves, allow it to rise again, and bake.

MISS. B'S ONE-RISING BREAD.--Sift and measure three and three

fourths cups of wheat berry flour. Scald and cool a pint of unskimmed

milk. When lukewarm, add one tablespoonful of lively liquid yeast. By

slow degrees add the flour, beating vigorously until too stiff to use a

spoon, then knead thoroughly for half an hour, shape into a loaf, place

in a bread pan, cover with a napkin in warm weather, wrap well with

blankets in cold weather, and let rise over night. In the morning, when

perfectly light, pat in a well heated oven, and bake.

POTATO BREAD WITH WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR.--Take a half gill of liquid

yeast made as for Boiled Potato Yeast No. 2, and add milk, sterilised

and cooled to lukewarm, to make a pint. And one cup of well-mashed,

mealy potato and one cup of white flour, or enough to make a rather

thick batter Beat thoroughly, cover, and set to rise. When well risen,

add sufficient whole-wheat flour to knead. The quantity will vary

somewhat with the brand of flour used, but about four and one fourth

cupfuls will in general be needed. Knead well, let it rise in mass and

again in the loaf, and bake.

RYE BREAD.--Prepare a sponge over night with white flour as for

Water Bread. In the morning, when light, add another tablespoonful of

sugar, and rye flour to knead. Proceed as directed for the Water Bread,

taking care to use only enough rye flour to make the dough Just stiff

enough to mold. Use white flour for dusting than kneading board, as the

rye flour is sticky.

GRAHAM BREAD.--Take two tablespoonfuls of lively liquid yeast, or a

little less than one fourth cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in a

little milk, and add new milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm, to make

one pint. Add one pint of white flour, beat very thoroughly, and set to

rise. When very light, add three find one half cupfuls of sifted Graham

flour, or enough to make a dough that can be molded. Knead well for half

an hour. Place in a clean, slightly oiled bread bowl, cover, and allow

it to rise. When light, shape into a loaf: allow it to rise again, and

bake.

GRAHAM BREAD NO. 2.--Mix well one pint of white and two pints of

best Graham flour. Prepare a batter with a scant pint of milk, scalded

and cooled, two table spoonfuls of liquid yeast, or a little less than

one fourth of a cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in two table

spoonfuls of milk, and a portion of the mixed flour. Give it a vigorous

beating, and put it in a warm place to rise. When well risen, add more

flour to make a dough sufficiently stiff to knead. There will be some

variation in the amount required, dependent upon the brands of flour

used, but in general, two and one half pints of the flour will be enough

for preparing the sponge and kneading the dough. Knead thoroughly for

twenty-five or thirty minutes. Put into a clean and slightly oiled bread

bowl, cover, and set to rise again. When double its first bulk, mold

into a loaf; allow it to rise again, and bake.

GRAHAM BREAD NO. 3.--Mix three pounds each of Graham and Minnesota

spring wheat flour. Make a sponge of one and a half pints of warm water,

one half cake compressed yeast, well dissolved in the water, and flour

to form a batter. Let this rise. When well risen, add one and a half

pints more of warm water, one half cup full of New Orleans molasses, and

sufficient flour to knead. Work the bread thoroughly, allow it to rise

in mass; then mold, place in pans, and let it rise again. The amount of

material given is sufficient for four loaves of bread.

RAISED BISCUIT.--These may be made from dough prepared by any of

the preceding recipes for bread. They will be more tender if made with

milk, and if the dough is prepared expressly for biscuits, one third

cream may be used. When the dough has been thoroughly kneaded the last

time, divide into small, equal-sized pieces. A quantity of dough

sufficient for one loaf of bread should be divided into twelve or

sixteen such portions. Shape into smooth, round biscuits, fit closely

into a shallow pan, and let them rise until very light. Biscuit should

be allowed to become lighter than bread before putting in the oven,

since, being so much smaller, fermentation is arrested much sooner, and

they do not rise as much in the oven as does bread.

ROLLS.--Well kneaded and risen bread dough is made into a variety

of small forms termed rolls, by rolling with the hands or with a

rolling-pin, and afterward cutting or folding into any shape desired,

the particular manner by which they are folded and shaped giving to the

rolls their characteristic names. Dough prepared with rich milk or part

cream makes the best rolls. It may be divided into small, irregular

portions, about one inch in thickness, and shaped by taking each piece

separately in the left hand, then with the thumb and first finger of the

right hand, slightly stretch one of the points of the piece and draw it

over the left thumb toward the center of the roll, holding it there with

the left thumb. Turn the dough and repeat the operation until you have

been all around the dough, and each point has been drawn in; then place

on the pan to rise. Allow the rolls to become very light, and bake.

Rolls prepared in this manner are termed _Imperial Rolls_, and if the

folding has been properly done, when well baked they will be composed of

a succession of light layers, which can be readily separated.

_French Rolls_ may be made by shaping each portion of dough into small

oval rolls quite tapering at each end, allowing them to become light,

and baking far enough apart so that one will not touch another.

If, when the dough is light and ready to shape, it be rolled on the

board until about one eighth of an inch in thickness, and cut into

five-inch squares, then divided through the center into triangles,

rolled up, beginning with the wide side, and placed in the pan to rise

in semicircular shape, the rolls are called _Crescents_.

What are termed _Parker House Rolls_ may be made from well-risen dough

prepared with milk, rolled upon the board to a uniform thickness of

about one forth inch; cut into round or oval shapes with the cutter;

folded, one third over the other two thirds; allowed to rise until very

light, and baked.

The light, rolled dough, may be formed into a _Braid_ by cutting into

strips six inches in length and one in width, joining the ends of each

three, and braiding.

The heat of the oven should be somewhat greater for roils and biscuit

than for bread. The time required will depend upon the heat and the size

of the roll, but it will seldom exceed one half hour. Neither rolls nor

biscuits should be eaten hot, as they are then open to the same

objections as other new yeast bread.

BROWN BREAD.--To one and one fourth cups of new milk which has been

scalded and cooled, add one fourth of a cup of lively yeast, three

tablespoonfuls of sugar, and one cup each of white flour, rye flour or

sifted rye meal, and yellow corn meal. With different brands of flour

there may need to be some variation in the quantity of liquid to be

used. The mixture should be thick enough to shape. Allow it to rise

until light and cracked over the top; put into a bread pan, and when

again well risen, bake for an hour and a half or two hours in an oven

sufficiently hot at first to arrest fermentation and fix the bread

cells, afterwards allowing the heat to diminish somewhat, to permit a

slower and longer baking. Graham flour may be used in place of rye, if

preferred.

DATE BREAD.--Take a pint of light white bread sponge prepared with

milk, add two tablespoons of sugar, and Graham flour to make a very

stiff batter. And last a cupful of stoned dates. Turn into a bread pan.

Let it rise, and bake.

FRUIT LOAF WITH GRAHAM AND WHOLE-WHEAT FLOUR.--Dissolve one fourth

cake of compressed yeast in a pint of sterilized milk; and a pint of

white flour; heat thoroughly, and set to rise. When well risen, add

three and one fourth cups of flour (Graham and whole-wheat, equal

proportions, thoroughly mixed), or sufficient to knead. Knead well for

half an hour, and just at the last add a cup of raisins, well washed,

dried, and dusted with flour. Let the loaf rise in mass; then shape, put

in the pan, allow it to become light again, and bake.

RAISED CORN BREAD.--Into two cupfuls of hot mush made from white

granular corn meal, stir two cupfuls of cold water. Beat well, and add

one half cup of liquid yeast, or one half cake of compressed yeast,

dissolved in one half cup of warm water, and two teaspoonfuls of

granulated sugar. Stir in white or sifted Graham flour to make it stiff

enough to knead. Knead very thoroughly, and put in a warm place to rise.

When light, molded into three loaves, put into pans, and allow it to

rise again. When well risen, bake at least for three fourths of an hour.

CORN CAKE.--Sterilise a cupful of rich milk or thin cream. Cool to

lukewarm, and dissolve in it half a cake of compressed yeast Add two

small cupfuls of white flour; beat very thoroughly, and put in a warm

place to rise. When light, add a cup of lukewarm water or milk, and two

cups of best yellow cornmeal. Turn into a shallow square pan, and leave

until again well risen. Bake in a quick oven. A tablespoonful of sugar

may be added with the corn meal, if desired.

OATMEAL BREAD.--Mix a quart of well-cooked oatmeal mush with a pint

of water, beating it perfectly smooth; add a cupful of liquid yeast and

flour to make a stiff batter. Cover, and let it rise. When light, add

sufficient flour to mold; knead as soft as possible, for twenty or

thirty minutes; shape into four or more loaves, let it rise again, and

bake.

MILK YEAST BREAD.--Prepare the yeast the day before by scalding

three heaping teaspoonfuls of fresh cornmeal with boiling milk. Set in a

warm place until light (from seven to ten hours); then put in a cool

place until needed for use. Start the bread by making a rather thick

batter with one cupful of warm water, one teaspoonful of the prepared

yeast, and white flour. Put in a warm place to rise. When light, add to

it a cupful of flour scalded with a cupful of boiling milk, and enough

more flour to make the whole into a rather stiff batter. Cover, and

allow it to rise. When again well risen, add flour enough to knead.

Knead well; shape into a loaf; let it rise, and bake. Three or four

cupfuls of white flour will be needed for all purposes with the amount

of liquid given; more liquid and flour may be added in forming the

second sponge if a larger quantity of bread is desired. In preparing

both yeast and bread, all utensils used should first be sterilized by

scalding in hot sal-soda water.

GRAHAM SALT-RISING BREAD.--Put two tablespoonfuls of milk into a

half-pint cup, add boiling water to fill the cup half full, one half

teaspoonful of sugar, one fourth teaspoonful of salt, and white flour to

make a rather stiff batter. Let it rise over night. In the morning, when

well risen, add a cup and a half of warm water, or milk scalded and

cooled, and sufficient white flour to form a rather stiff batter. Cover,

and allow it again to rise. When light, add enough sifted Graham flour

to knead. When well kneaded, shape into a loaf; allow it to become light

again in the pan, and bake. All utensils used should be first well

sterilized by scalding in hot sal-soda water.

UNFERMENTED BREADS.

The earliest forms of bread were made without fermentation. Grain was

broken as fine as possible by pounding on smooth stones, made into dough

with pure water, thoroughly kneaded, and baked in some convenient way.

Such was the "unleavened breads" or "Passover cakes" of the Israelites.

In many countries this bread is the only kind used. Unleavened bread

made from barley and oats is largely used by the Irish and Scotch

peasantry. In Sweden an unleavened bread is made of rye meal and water,

flavored with anise seed, and baked in large, thin cakes, a foot or more

in diameter.

[Illustration: Mexican Woman Making Tortillas]

Some savage tribes subsists chiefly upon excellent corn bread, made

simply of meal and water. Unleavened bread made of corn, called

_tortillas_, forms the staple diet of the Mexican Indians. The corn,

previously softened by soaking in lime water, is ground to a fine paste

between a stone slab and roller called a _metate_, then patted and

tossed from hand to hand until flattened into thin, wafer-like cakes,

and baked over a quick fire, on a thin iron plate or a flat stone.

Unquestionably, unleavened bread, well kneaded and properly baked, is

the most wholesome of all breads, but harder to masticate than that made

light by fermentation, but this is an advantage; for it insures more

thorough mixing with that important digestive agent, the saliva, than is

usually given to more easily softened food.

[Illustration: Stone Metate.]

What is usually termed unfermented bread, however, is prepared with

flour and liquid, to which shortening--of some kind is added, and the

whole made light by the liberation of gas generated within the dough

during the process of baking. This is brought about either by mixing

with the flour certain chemical substances, which, when wet and brought

into contact, act upon each other so as to set free carbonic acid gas,

which expands and puffs up the loaf; or by introducing into the dough

some volatile substance as carbonate of ammonia, which the heat during

baking will, cause to vaporize, and which in rising produces the same

result.

Carbonic acid gas maybe for this purpose developed by the chemical

decomposition of bicarbonate of potassa (saleratus), or bicarbonate of

soda, by some acid such as sour milk, hydrochloric acid, tartaric acid,

nitrate of potassa, or the acid phosphate of lime.

The chemical process of bread-raising originally consisted in adding to

the dough definite proportions of muriatic acid and carbonate of soda,

by the union of which carbonic acid gas and common salt were produced.

This process was soon abandoned, however, on account of the propensity

exhibited by the acid for eating holes in the fingers of the baker as

well as in his bread pans; and a more convenient one for hands and

pans, that of using soda or salaratus with cream of tartar or sour milk,

was substituted. When there is an excess of soda, a portion of it

remains in the loaf uncombined, giving to the bread a yellow color and

an alkaline taste, and doing mischief to the delicate coating of the

stomach. Alkalies, the class of chemicals to which soda and salaratus

belong, when pure and strong, are powerful corrosive poisons. The acid

used with the alkali to liberate the carbonic-acid gas in the process of

bread-making, if rightly proportioned, destroys this poisonous property,

and unites with it to form a new compound, which, although not a poison,

is yet unwholesome.

We can hardly speak too strongly in condemnation of the use of chemicals

in bread-making, when we reflect that the majority of housewives who

combine sour milk and salaratus, or cream of tartar and soda, more

frequently than otherwise _guess_ at the proportions, or measure them by

some "rule of thumb," without stopping to consider that although two

cups of sour milk may at one time be sufficiently acid to neutralize a

teaspoonful of saleratus, milk may vary in degree of acidity to such an

extent that the same quantity will be quite insufficient for the purpose

at another time; or that though a teaspoonful of some brand of cream of

tartar will neutralize a half teaspoonful of one kind of soda, similar

measures will not always bring about the same result. Very seldom,

indeed, will the proportions be sufficiently exact to perfectly

neutralise the alkali, since chemicals are subject to variations in

degree of strength, both on account of the method by which they are

manufactured and the length of time they have been kept, to say nothing

of adulterations to which they may have been subjected, and which are so

common that it is almost impossible to find unadulterated cream of

tartar in the market.

Baking powders are essentially composed of bicarbonate of soda and cream

of tartar, mixed in the proper proportions to exactly neutralize each

other, and if they were always pure, would certainly be as good as soda

and cream of tartar in any form, and possess the added advantage of

perfect proportions; but as was demonstrated not long ago by the

government chemist, nearly every variety of baking powder in the market

is largely adulterated with cheaper and harmful substances. Alum, a most

frequent constituent of such baking powders, is exceedingly injurious to

the stomach. Out of several hundred brands of baking powder examined,

only one was found pure.

Even when in their purest state, these chemicals are not harmless, as is

so generally believed. It is a very prevalent idea that when soda is

neutralized by an acid, both chemical compounds are in some way

destroyed or vaporized in the process, and in some occult manner escape

from the bread during the process of baking. This is altogether an

error. The alkali and acid neutralize each other chemically, but they do

not destroy each other. Their union forms a salt, exactly the same as

the Rochelle salts of medicine, a mild purgative, and if we could

collected from the bread and weigh or measure it, we would find nearly

as much of it as there was of the baking powder in the first place. If

two teaspoonfuls of baking powder to the quart of flour be used, we have

remaining in the bread made with that amount of flour 165 grains of

crystallized Rochelle salts, or 45 grains more than this to be found in

a Seidlitz powder. It may be sometimes useful to take a dose of salts,

but the daily consumption of such chemical substances in bread can

hardly be considered compatible with the conditions necessary for the

maintenance of health. These chemical substances are unusable by the

system, and must all be removed by the liver and excretory organs, thus

imposing upon them an extra and unnecessary burden. It has also been

determined by scientific experimentation that the chemicals found in

baking powders in bread retard digestion.

These substances are, fortunately, not needed for the production of good

light bread. The purpose of their use is the production of a gas; but

air is a gas much more economical and abundant than carbonic-acid gas,

and which, when introduced into bread and subjected to heat, has the

property of expanding, and in doing, puffing up the bread and making it

light. Bread made light with air is vastly superior to that compounded

with soda or baking powder, in point of healthfulness, and when well

prepared, will equal it in lightness and palatableness. The only

difficulty lies in catching and holding the air until it has

accomplished the desired results. But a thorough understanding of the

necessary conditions and a little practice will soon enable one to

attain sufficient skill in this direction to secure most satisfactory

results.

[Illustration: Gem Irons]

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.--All materials used for making aerated bread

should be of the very best quality. Poor flour will not produce good

bread by this or by any other process. Aerated breads are of two kinds:

those baked while in the form of a batter, and such as are made into a

dough before baking.

[Illustration: Perforated Sheet Iron Pan for Rolls.]

All breads, whether fermented or unfermented, are lighter if baked in

some small form, and this is particularly true of unfermented breads

made light with air. For this reason, breads made into a dough are best

baked in the form of rolls, biscuits, or crackers, and batter breads in

small iron cups similar to those in the accompanying illustration. These

cups or "gem irons" as they are sometimes called, are to be obtained in

various shapes and sizes, but for this purpose the more shallow cups are

preferable. For baking the dough breads a perforated sheet of Russia

iron or heavy tin, which any tinner can make to fit the oven, is the

most serviceable, as it permits the hot air free access to all sides of

the bread at once. If such is not obtainable, the upper oven grate,

carefully washed and scoured, may be used Perforated pie tins also

answer very well for this purpose.

[Illustration: Making Unfermented Bread.]

The heat of the oven for baking should be sufficient to form a slight

crust over all sides of the bread before the air escapes, but not

sufficient to brown it within the first fifteen minutes. To aid in

forming the crust on the sides and bottom of batter breads, the iron

cups should be heated previous to introducing the batter. The degree of

heat required for baking will be about the same as for fermented rolls

and biscuit, and the fire should be so arranged as to keep a steady but

not greatly increasing heat.

Air is incorporated into batter breads by brisk and continuous agitating

and beating; into dough breads by thorough kneading, chopping, or

pounding.

Whatever the process by which the air is incorporated, it must be

_continuous_. For this reason it is especially essential in making

aerated bread that every thing be in readiness before commencing to put

the bread together. All the materials should be measured out, the

utensils to be used in readiness, and the oven properly heated. Success

is also dependent upon the dexterity with which the materials when ready

are put together. Batter bread often proves a failure although the

beating is kept up without cessation, because it is done slowly and

carelessly, or interspersed with stirring, thus permitting the air to

escape between the strokes.

If the bread is to be baked at once, the greater the dispatch with which

it can be gotten into a properly-heated oven the lighter it will be.

Crackers, rolls and other forms of dough breads often lack in lightness

because they were allowed to stand some time before baking. The same is

true of batter breads. If, for any reason, it is necessary to keep such

breads for any length of time after being prepared, before baking, set

the dish containing them directly on ice.

The lightness of aerated bread depends not only upon the amount of air

incorporated in its preparation, but also upon the expansion of the air

during the baking. The colder the air, the greater will be its expansion

upon the application of heat. The colder the materials employed, then,

for the bread-making, the colder will be the air confined within it, and

the lighter will be the bread. For this reason, in making batter bread,

it will be found a good plan, when there is time, to put the materials

together, and place the dish containing the mixture on ice for an hour

or two, or even over night. When ready to use, beat thoroughly for ten

or fifteen minutes to incorporate air, and bake in heated irons. Rolls

and other breads made into a dough, may be kneaded and shaped and put

upon ice to become cold. Thus treated, less kneading is necessary than

when prepared to be baked at once.

Many of the recipes given for the batter breads include eggs. The yolk

is not particularly essential, and if it can be put to other uses, may

be left out. The white of an egg, because of its viscous nature, when

beaten, serves as a sort of trap to catch and hold air, and added to the

bread, aids in making it light. Very nice light bread may be made

without eggs, but the novice in making aerated breads will, perhaps,

find it an advantage first to become perfectly familiar with the

processes and conditions involved, by using the recipes with eggs before

attempting those without, which are somewhat more dependent for success

upon skill and practice.

When egg is used in the bread, less heating of the irons will be

necessary, and not so hot an oven as when made without.

If the bread, when baked, appears light, but with large holes in the

center, it is probable that either the irons or the oven was too hot at

first. If the bread after baking, seems sticky or dough-like in the

interior, it is an indication that either it was insufficiently baked,

or that not enough flour in proportion to the liquid has been used. It

should be stated, that although the recipes given have been prepared

with the greatest care, and with the same brands of flour, careful

measurement, and proper conditions, prove successful every time, yet

with different brands of flour some variation in quantity may needed,--a

trifle more or less,--dependent upon the absorbent properties of the

flour, and if eggs are used, upon the size of the eggs.

A heavy bread may be the result of the use of poor flour, too much

flour, careless or insufficient beating, so that not enough air was

incorporated, or an oven not sufficiently hot to form a crust over the

bread before the air escaped. Breads made into a dough, if moist and

clammy, require more flour or longer baking. Too much flour will make

them stiff and hard.

The length of time requisite for baking aerated breads made with

whole-wheat, wheat berry, or Graham flours, will vary from forty minutes

to one hour, according to the kind and form in which the bread is baked,

and the heat of the oven.

The irons in which batter breads are to be baked should not be smeared

with grease; if necessary to oil them at all, they should only be wiped

out lightly with a clean, oiled cloth. Irons well cared for, carefully

washed, and occasionally scoured with Sapolio to keep them perfectly

smooth, will require no greasing whatever.

In filling the irons, care should be taken to fill each cup at first as

full as it is intended to have; it, as the heat of the irons begins the

cooking of the batter as soon as it is put in, and an additional

quantity added has a tendency to make the bread less light.

_RECIPES._

WHOLE-WHEAT PUFFS.--Put the yolk of an egg into a basin, and beat

the white in a separate dish to a stiff froth. Add to the yolk, one half

a cupful of rather thin sweet cream and one cupful of skim milk. Beat

the egg, cream, and milk together until perfectly mingled and foamy with

air bubbles; then add, gradually, beating well at the same time, one

pint of what berry flour. Continue the beating vigorously and without

interruption for eight or ten minutes; then stir in, lightly, the white

of the egg. Do not beat again after the white of the egg is added, but

turn at once into heated, shallow irons, and bake for an hour in a

moderately quick oven. If properly made and carefully baked, these puffs

will be of a fine, even texture throughout, and as light as bread raised

by fermentation.

WHOLE-WHEAT PUFFS NO. 2.--Make a batter by beating together until

perfectly smooth the yolk of one egg, one and one half cups of new or

unskimmed milk, and one pint of whole-wheat flour. Place the dish

containing it directly upon ice, and leave for an hour or longer. The

bread may be prepared and left on the ice over night, if desired for

breakfast. When ready to bake the puffs, whip the white of the egg to a

stiff froth, and after vigorously beating the batter for ten minutes,

stir in lightly the white of the egg; turn at once into heated irons,

and bake. If preferred, one third white flour and two thirds sifted

Graham flour may be used in the place of the wheat berry flour.

WHOLE-WHEAT PUFFS NO. 3.--Take one cupful of sweet cream

(twelve-hour cream), one half cupful of soft ice water, and two slightly

rounded cupfuls of wheat berry flour. Beat the material well together,

and set the dish containing it on ice for an hour or more before using.

When ready to bake, beat the mixture vigorously for ten minutes, then

turn into heated iron cups (shallow ones are best), and bake for about

an hour in a quick oven.

GRAHAM PUFFS.--Beat together vigorously until full of air bubbles,

one pint of unskimmed milk, the yolk of one egg, and one pint and three

or four tablespoonfuls of Graham flour, added a little at a time. When

the mixture is light and foamy throughout, stir in lightly and evenly

the white of the egg, beaten to a stiff froth; turn into heated irons,

and bake in a rather quick oven. Instead of all Graham, one third white

flour may be used if preferred.

GRAHAM PUFFS NO. 2.--Beat the yolks of two eggs in two cupfuls of

ice water; then add gradually, beating well meantime, three and one

fourth cupfuls of Graham flour. Continue the beating, after all the

flour is added, until the mixture is light and full of air bubbles. Add

last the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, and bake at once

in heated irons.

CURRANT PUFFS.--Prepare the puffs as directed in any of the

foregoing recipes with the addition of one cup of Zante currants which

have been well washed, dried, and floured.

GRAHAM GEMS.--Into two cupfuls of unskimmed milk which has been

made very cold by standing on ice, stir gradually, sprinkling it from

the hand, three and one fourth cupfuls of Graham flour. Beat vigorously

for ten minutes or longer, until the batter is perfectly smooth and full

of air bubbles. Turn at once into hissing hot gem irons, and bake in a

hot oven. If preferred, the batter may be prepared, and the dish

containing it placed on ice for an hour or longer; then well beaten and

baked. Graham gems may be made in this manner with soft water instead of

milk, but such, in general, will need a little more flour than when made

with milk. With some ovens, it will be found an advantage in baking

these gems to place them on the upper grate for the first ten minutes or

until the top has been slightly crusted, and then change to the bottom

of the oven for the baking.

CRUSTS.--Beat together very thoroughly one cupful of ice-cold milk,

and one cupful of Graham flour. When very light and full of air bubbles,

turn into hot iron cups, and bake twenty-five or thirty minutes. The

best irons for this purpose are the shallow oblong, or round cups of the

same size at the bottom as at the top. Only a very little batter should

be put in each cup. The quantity given is sufficient for one dozen

crusts.

RYE PUFFS.--Beat together the same as for whole-wheat puffs one

cupful of milk, one tablespoonful of sugar, and the yolk of an egg. Add

one cupful of good rye flour, mixed with one half cupful of Graham

flour, and stir in lastly the well beaten white of the egg. Bake at

once, in heated gem-irons.

RYE PUFFS NO. 2.--Beat together until well mingled one pint of thin

cream and the yolk of one egg. Add gradually, beating meanwhile, four

cups of rye flour. Continue to beat vigorously for ten minutes, then add

the stiffly-beaten white of the egg, and bake in heated irons.

RYE GEMS.--Mix together one cupful of corn meal and one cupful of

rye meal. Stir the mixed meal into one and a half cupfuls of ice water.

Beat the batter vigorously for ten or fifteen minutes, then turn into

hot irons, and bake.

BLUEBERRY GEMS.--To one cupful of rich milk add one tablespoonful

of sugar, and the yolk of an egg. Beat well till full of air bubbles;

then add gradually one cupful of Graham flour, and one cupful of white

flour, or white corn meal. Beat vigorously until light; stir in the

beaten white of the egg, and one cupful of fresh, sound blueberries.

Bake in heated irons, in a moderately quick oven. Chopped or sour apples

may be used in place of the berries.

HOMINY GEMS.--Beat one egg until very light, add to it one

tablespoonful of thick sweet cream, a little salt if desired, and two

cupfuls of cooked hominy (fine). Thin the mixture with one cupful or

less of boiling water until it will form easily, beat well, and bake in

heated irons.

SALLY LUNN GEMS.--Beat together the yolk of one egg, two

tablespoonfuls of sugar, and one cupful of thin, ice-cold, sweet cream.

Add slowly, beating at the same time, one cup and two tablespoonfuls of

sifted Graham flour. Beat vigorously, until full of air bubbles, add the

white of the egg beaten stiffly, and bake in heated irons.

CORN PUFFS.--Mingle the yolk of one egg with one cupful of rich

milk. Add to the liquid one cupful of flour, one-half cupful of fine,

yellow corn meal, and one-fourth cupful of sugar, all of which have

previously been well mixed together. Place the batter on ice for an

hour, or until very cold. Then beat it vigorously five or ten minutes,

till full of air bubbles; stir in lightly the stiffly beaten white of

the egg, and put at once into heated irons. Bake in a moderately quick

oven, thirty or forty minutes.

CORN PUFFS NO. 2.--Scald two cupfuls of fine white corn meal with

boiling water. When cold, add three tablespoonfuls of thin sweet cream,

and the yolk of one egg. Beat well, and stir in lastly the white of the

egg, beaten to a stiff froth. The batter should be sufficiently thin to

drop easily from a spoon, but not thin enough to pour. Bake in heated

irons, in a moderately quick oven.

CORN PUFFS NO. 3.--Take one cupful of cold mashed potato, and one

cupful of milk, rubbed together through a colander to remove all lumps.

Add the yolk of one well beaten, egg, and then stir in slowly, beating

vigorously meantime, one cupful of good corn meal. Lastly, stir in the

white of the egg beaten to a stiff froth, and bake in heated irons, in a

rather quick oven.

CORN PUFFS NO. 4.--Beat together one and one-half cupfuls of

unskimmed milk and the yolks of two eggs, until thoroughly blended. Add

two cupfuls of flour, and one cupful best granular corn meal. Beat the

batter thoroughly; stir in lightly the whites of the eggs, beaten to a

stiff froth, turn into heated irons, and bake.

CORN DODGERS.--Scald one cupful of best granular corn meal, with

which a tablespoonful of sugar has been sifted, with one cup of boiling

milk. Beat until smooth, and drop on a griddle, in cakes about one inch

in thickness, and bake slowly for an hour. Turn when brown.

CORN DODGERS NO. 2.--Mix one tablespoonful of sugar with two cups

best corn meal. Scald with one cup of boiling water. Add rich milk to

make a batter thin enough to drop from a spoon. Lastly, add one egg,

yolk and white beaten separately, and bake on a griddle in the oven from

three fourth of an hour to one hour.

CREAM CORN CAKES.--Into one cup of thin cream stir one and one half

cups of granular corn meal, or enough to make a stiff batter; beat well,

drop into heated irons, and bake.

HOE CAKES.--Scald one pint of white corn meal, with which, if

desired, a tablespoonful of sugar, and one half teaspoonful of salt have

been mixed, with boiling milk, or water enough to make a batter

sufficiently thick not to spread. Drop on a hot griddle, in large or

small cakes, as preferred, about one half inch in thickness. Cook

slowly, and when well browned on the under side, turn over. The cake may

be cooked slowly, until well done throughout, or, as the portion

underneath becomes well browned the first browned crust may be peeled

off with a knife, and the cake again turned. As rapidly as a crust

becomes formed and browned, one may be removed, and the cake turned,

until the whole is all browned. The thin wafer-like crusts are excellent

served with hot milk or cream.

OATMEAL GEMS.--To one cupful of well-cooked oatmeal add one half

cupful of rich milk or thin cream, and the yolk of one egg. Beat all

together thoroughly; then add, continuing to beat, one and one third

cupfuls of Graham flour, and lastly the stiffly beaten white of the egg.

Bake in heated irons. If preferred, one cupful of white flour may be

used in place of the Graham.

SNOW GEMS.--Beat together lightly but thoroughly two parts clean,

freshly fallen, dry snow, and one part best granular corn meal. Turn

into hot gem irons and bake quickly. The snow should not be packed in

measuring, and the bread should be prepared before the snow melts.

POP OVERS.--For the preparation of these, one egg, one cupful of

milk, and one scant cupful of white flour are required. Beat the egg,

yolk and white separately. Add to the yolk, when well beaten, one half

of the milk, and sift in the flour a little at a time, stirring until

the whole is a perfectly smooth paste. Add the remainder of the milk

gradually, beating well until the whole is an absolutely smooth, light

batter about the thickness of cream. Stir in the stiffly beaten white of

the egg, and bake in hot earthen cups or muffin rings, and to prevent

them from sticking, sift flour into the rings after slightly oiling,

afterward turning them upside down to shake off all of the loose flour.

GRANOLA GEMS.--Into three fourths of a cup of rich milk stir one

cup of Granola (prepared by the Sanitarium Food Co.). Drop into heated

irons, and bake for twenty or thirty minutes.

BEAN GEMS.--Prepare the gems in the same manner as for Whole-Wheat

Puffs, using one half cup of milk, one egg, one cup of cooked beans

which have been rubbed through a colander and salted, and one cup and

one tablespoonful of white flour. A little variation in the quantity of

the flour may be necessary, dependent upon the moisture contained in the

beans, although care should be taken to have them quite dry.

BREAKFAST ROLLS.--Sift a pint and a half of Graham flour into a

bowl, and into it stir a cupful of very cold thin cream or unskimmed

milk. Pour the liquid into the flour slowly, a few spoonfuls at a time,

mixing each spoonful to a dough with the flour as fast as poured in.

When all the liquid has been added, gather the fragments of dough

together, knead thoroughly for ten minutes or longer, until perfectly

smooth and elastic. The quantity of flour will vary somewhat with the

quality, but in general, the quantity given will be quite sufficient for

mixing the dough and dusting the board. When well kneaded, divide into

two portions; roll each over and over with the hands, until a long roll

about once inch in diameter is formed; cut this into two-inch lengths,

prick with a fork and place on perforated tins, far enough apart so that

one will not touch another when baking. Each roll should be as smooth

and perfect as possible, and with no dry flour adhering. Bake at once,

or let stand on ice for twenty minutes. The rolls should not be allowed

to stand after forming, unless on ice. From thirty to forty minutes will

be required for baking. When done, spread on the table to cool, but do

not pile one on top of another.

Very nice rolls may be made in the same manner, using for the wetting

ice-cold soft water. They requite a longer kneading, are more crisp, but

less tender than those made with cream.

With some brands of Graham flour the rolls will be much lighter if one

third white flour be used. Whole-wheat flour may be used in place of

Graham, if preferred.

STICKS.--Prepare, and knead the dough the same as for rolls. When

ready to form, roll the dough much smaller; scarcely larger than one's

little finger, and cut into three or four-inch lengths. Bake the same as

rolls, for about twenty minutes.

CREAM GRAHAM RAILS.--To one half cup cold cream add one half cup of

soft ice water. Make into a dough with three cups of Graham flour,

sprinkling in slowly with the hands, beating at the same time, so as to

incorporate as much air as possible, until the dough is too stiff to be

stirred; then knead thoroughly, form into rolls, and bake.

CORN MUSH ROLLS.--Make a dough of one cup of corn meal mush, one

half cup of cream, and two and one half cups of white flour; knead

thoroughly, shape into rolls, and bake.

FRUIT ROLLS.--Prepare the rolls as directed in the recipe for

Breakfast Rolls, and when well kneaded, work into the dough a half

cupful of Zante currants which have been well washed, dried, and

floured. Form the rolls in the usual manner, and bake.

CREAM MUSH ROLLS.--Into a cupful of cold Graham mush beat

thoroughly three tablespoonfuls of thick, sweet cream. Add sufficient

Graham flour to make a rather stiff dough, knead thoroughly, shape into

roils, and bake. Corn meal, farina, and other mushes may be used in the

place of the Graham mush, if preferred.

BEATEN BISCUIT.--Into a quart of whole-wheat flour mix a large cup

of must be very stiff, and rendered soft and pliable by thorough

kneading and afterward pounding with a mallet for at least half an hour

in the following manner: Pound the dough oat flat, and until of the same

thickness throughout; dredge lightly with flour; double the dough over

evenly and pound quickly around the outside, to fasten the edges

together and thus retain the air within the dough. When well worked, the

dough will appear flaky and brittle, and pulling a piece off it quickly

will cause a sharp, snapping sound. Mold into small biscuits, making an

indenture in the center of each with the thumb, prick well with a fork,

and place on perforated sheets, with a space between, and put at once

into the oven. The oven should be of the same temperature as for rolls.

If they are "sad" inside when cold, they were not well baked, as they

should be light and tender. If preferred, use one third white flour,

instead of all whole-wheat. Excellent results are also obtained by

chopping instead of pounding the dough.

CREAM CRISPS.--Make a dough of one cupful of thin cream, and a

little more than three cups of Graham flour. Knead until smooth, then

divide the dough into several pieces, and place in a dish on ice for an

hour, or until ice cold. Roll each piece separately and quickly as thin

as brown paper. Cut with a knife into squares, prick with a fork, and

bake on perforated tins, until lightly browned on both sides.

CREAM CRISPS NO. 2.--Into two and one half cups of cold cream or

rich milk, sprinkle slowly with the hands, beating meanwhile to

incorporate air, four cups of best Graham flour, sifted with one half

cup of granulated sugar. Add flour to knead; about two and one fourth

cups will be required. When well kneaded, divide into several portions,

roll each as thin as a knife blade, cut into squares, prick well with a

fork, and bake.

GRAHAM CRISPS.--Into one half cupful of ice-cold soft water, stir

slowly, so as to incorporate as much air as possible, enough Graham

flour to make a dough stiff enough to knead. A tablespoonful of sugar

may be added to the water before stirring in the flour, if desired.

After kneading fifteen minutes, divide the dough into six portions;

roll each as thin as brown paper, prick with a fork, and bake on

perforated tins, turning often until both sides are a light, even brown.

Break into irregular pieces and serve.

OATMEAL CRISPS.--Make a dough with one cupful of oatmeal porridge

and Graham flour. Knead thoroughly, roll very thin, and bake as directed

for Graham Crisps. A tablespoonful of sugar may be added if desired.

GRAHAM CRACKERS.--Make a dough of one cup of cream and Graham flour

sufficient to make a soft dough. Knead thoroughly, and place on ice for

half an hour; then roll thin, cut into small cakes with a cookie-cutter,

prick with a fork, and bake on floured pans, in a brisk oven. A

tablespoonful of sugar may be added if desired.

FRUIT CRACKERS.--Prepare a dough with one cup of cold sweet cream

and three cups of Graham flour, knead well, and divide into two

portions. Roll each quite thin. Spread one thickly with dates or figs

seeded and chopped; place the other one on top and press together with

the rolling pin. Cut into squares and bake. An additional one fourth of

a cup of flour will doubtless be needed for dusting the board and

kneading.

TABLE TOPICS.

Behind the nutty loaf is the mill wheel; behind the mill is the

wheat field; on the wheat field rests the sunlight; above the sun is

God.--_James Russell Lowell._

Bread forms one of the most important parts of the ration of the

German soldier. In time of peace, the private soldier is supplied

day by day with one pound and nine ounces of bread; when fighting

for the Fatherland, every man is entitled to a free ration of over

two pounds of bread, and field bakery trains and steam ovens for

providing the large amount of bread required, form a recognized part

of the equipment of the German army.

The wandering Arab lives almost entirely upon bread, with a few

dates as a relish.

According to Count Rumford, the Bavarian wood-chopper, one of the

most hardy and hard-working men in the world, receives for his

weekly rations one large loaf of rye bread and a small quantity of

roasted meal. Of the meal he makes an infusion, to which he adds a

little salt, and with the mixture, which he calls burned soup, he

eats his rye bread. No beer, no beef, no other food than that

mentioned, and no drink but water; and yet he can do more work and

enjoys a better digestion and possesses stronger muscles than the

average American or Englishman, with their varied dietary.

The following truthful bit of Scandinavian history well illustrates

the influence of habits of frugality upon national character: "The

Danes were approaching, and one of the Swedish bishops asked how

many men the province of Dalarna could furnish.

"'At least twenty thousand,' was the reply; 'for the old men are

just as strong and brave as the young ones.'

"'But what do they live upon?'

"'Upon bread and water. They take little account of hunger and

thirst, and when corn is lacking, they make their bread out of tree

bark.'

"'Nay,' said the bishop, 'a people who eat tree bark and drink

water, the devil himself could not vanquish!' and neither were they

vanquished. Their progress was one series of triumphs, till they

placed Gustavus Vasa on the throne of Sweden."

The word _biscuit_ embodies the process by which this form of bread

was made from time immemorial down to within the last century. _Bis_

(twice), and _coctus_ (cooked), show that they were twice baked.

Fragments of unfermented bread were discovered in the Swiss

lake-dwellings, which belong to the Neolithic age.

Fermented bread is seldom seen in Northern Europe and Asia except

among the rich or the nobility. At one time, the captain of an

English vessel requested a baker of Gottenburg to bake a large

quantity of loaves of raised bread. The baker refused to undertake

an order of such magnitude, saying it would be quite impossible to

dispose of so much, until the captain agreed to take and pay for it

all.

I made a study of the ancient and indispensable art of bread-making,

consulting such authorities as offered, going back to the primitive

days and first invention of the unleavened kind, and traveling

gradually down in my studies through that accidental souring of the

dough which it is supposed taught the leavening process, and through

the various fermentations thereafter till I came to "good, sweet,

wholesome bread,"--the staff of life. Leaven, which some deemed the

soul of bread, the _spiritus_ which fills its cellular tissues,

which is religiously preserved like the vestal fire,--some precious

bottleful, I suppose, brought over in the Mayflower, did the

business for America, and its influence is still rising, swelling,

spreading in cerulean billows over the land,--this seed I regularly

and faithfully procured from the village, until one morning I forgot

the rules and scalded my yeast; by which accident I discovered that

even this was not indispensable, and I have gladly omitted it ever

since. Neither did I put any soda or other acid or alkali into my

bread. It would seem that I made it according to the recipe which

Marcus Porcius Cato gave about two centuries before Christ: "Make

kneaded bread thus: Wash your hands and trough well. Put the meal

into the trough, add water gradually, and knead it thoroughly. When

you have needed it well, mold it, and bake it under a cover," that

is in a baking kettle.--_Thoreau in Walden._

FRUITS

Of all the articles which enter the list of foods, none are more

wholesome and pleasing than the fruits which nature so abundantly

provides. Their delicate hues and perfect outlines appeal to our sense

of beauty, while their delicious flavors gratify our appetite. Our

markets are supplied with an almost unlimited variety of both native and

tropical fruits, and it might be supposed that they would always appear

upon the daily bill of fare; yet in the majority of homes this is rarely

the case. People are inclined to consider fruit, unless the product of

their own gardens, a luxury too expensive for common use. Many who use a

plentiful supply, never think of placing it upon their tables, unless

cooked. Ripe fruit is a most healthful article of diet when partaken of

at seasonable times; but to eat it, or any other food, between meals, is

a gross breach of the requirements of good digestion.

Fruits contain from seventy-five to ninety-five per cent of water, and a

meager proportion of nitrogenous matter; hence their value as

nutrients, except in a few instances, is rather small; but they supply a

variety of agreeable acids which refresh and give tone to the system,

and their abundant and proper use does much to keep the vital machinery

in good working order.

Aside from the skin and seeds, all fruits consist essentially of two

parts,--the cellulose structure containing the juice, and the juice

itself. The latter is water, with a small proportion of fruit sugar

(from one to twenty per cent in different varieties), and vegetable

acids. These acids are either free, or combined with potash and lime in

the form of acid salts. They are mallic, citric, tartaric, and pectic

acids. The last-named is the jelly-producing principle.

While the juice, as we commonly find it, is readily transformable for

use in the system, the cellular structure of the fruit is not so easily

digested. In some fruits, as the strawberry, grape, and banana, the cell

walls are so delicate as to be easily broken up; but in watermelons,

apples, and oranges, the cells are coarser, and form a larger bulk of

the fruit, hence are less easily digested. As a rule, other points being

equal, the fruits which yield the richest and largest quantity of

juices, and also possess a cellular framework the least perceptible on

mastication, are the most readily digested. A certain amount of waste

matter is an advantage, to give bulk to our food; but persons with weak

stomachs, who cannot eat certain kinds of fruit, are often able to

digest the juice when taken alone.

Unripe fruits differ from ripe fruits in that they contain, starch,

which during ripening is changed into sugar, and generally some

proportion of tannic acid, which gives them their astringency. The

characteristic constituent of unripe fruit, however, is pectose, an

element insoluble in water, but which, as maturation proceeds, is

transformed into pectic and pectosic acids. These are soluble in boiling

water, and upon cooling, yield gelatinous solutions. Their presence

makes it possible to convert the juice of ripe fruits into jelly. Raw

starch in any form is indigestible, hence unripe fruit should never be

eaten uncooked. As fruit matures, the changes it undergoes are such as

best fit for consumption and digestion. The following table shows the

composition of the fruits in common use:--

ANALYSIS.

Water. Albumen. Sugar. Free Acid. Pectose. Cellulose Mineral

Matter.

Apples 83.0 0.4 6.8 1.0 5.2 3.2 0.4

Pears 84.0 0.3 7.0 0.1 4.6 3.7 0.3

Peaches 85.0 0.5 1.8 0.7 8.0 3.4 0.6

Grapes 80.0 0.7 Glucose. Tartaric. 3.1 2.0 0.4

13.0 0.8

Plums 82.0 0.2 3.6 0.5 5.7 ... 0.6

Gooseberries 86.0 0.4 7.0 1.5 1.9 2.7 0.5

Strawberries 87.6 0.5 4.5 1.3 0.1 ... 0.6

Raspberries 86.+ 0.5 4.7 1.3 1.7 ... 0.4

Currants 85.2 0.4 6.4 1.8 0.2 ... 0.5

Blackberries 86.4 0.5 4.4 1.1 1.4 ... 0.4

Cherries 75.0 0.9 13.1 0.3 2.2 ... 0.6

Apricots 85.0 .08 1.0 ... 5.9 ... 0.8

Oranges 86.0 [A] 8 to 10 ... ... ... ...

Dates 20.8 6.6 54.0 Fat. 12.3 5.5 1.6

0.2

Bananas 73.9 4.8 19.7[B] Fat. ... 0.2 0.8

0.6

Turkey Figs 17.5 6.1 57.5 Fat. 8.4[C] 7.3 2.3

0.9

[Table Note A: Small quantities of albumen, citric acid, citrate of

potash, cellulose, etc.]

[Table Note B: Sugar and pectose.]

[Table Note C: Starch, pectose, etc.]

There is a prevailing notion that the free use of fruits, especially in

summer, excites derangement of the digestive organs. When such

derangement occurs, it is far more likely to have been occasioned by the

way in which the fruit was eaten than by the fruit itself. Perhaps it

was taken as a surfeit dish at the end of a meal. It may have been eaten

in combination with rich, oily foods, pastry, strong coffee, and other

indigestible viands, which, in themselves, often excite an attack of

indigestion. Possibly it was partaken of between meals, or late at

night, with ice cream and other confections, or it was swallowed without

sufficient mastication. Certainly, it is not marvelous that stomach and

bowel disorders do result under such circumstances. The innocent fruit,

like many other good things, being found in "bad company," is blamed

accordingly. An excess of any food at meals or between meals, is likely

to prove injurious, and fruits present no exception to this rule. Fruit

taken at seasonable times and in suitable quantities, alone or in

combination with proper foods, gives us one of the most agreeable and

healthful articles of diet. Fruit, fats, and meats do not affiliate, and

they are liable to create a disturbance whenever taken together.

Partially decayed, stale, and over-ripe, as well as unripe fruit, should

never be eaten. According to M. Pasteur, the French scientist, all

fruits and vegetables, when undergoing even incipient decay, contain

numerous germs, which, introduced into the system, are liable to produce

disturbances or disease. Perfectly fresh, ripe fruit, with proper

limitations as to quantity and occasion, may be taken into a normal

stomach with impunity at any season.

It is especially important that all fruits to be eaten should not only

be sound in quality, but should be made perfectly clean by washing if

necessary, since fruit grown near the ground is liable to be covered

with dangerous bacteria (such as cause typhoid fever or diphtheria),

which exist in the soil or in the material used in fertilizing it.

Most fruits, properly used, aid digestion either directly or indirectly.

The juicy ones act as dilutents, and their free use lessens the desire

for alcohol and other stimulants. According to German analysts, the

apple contains a larger percentage of phosphorus than any other fruit,

or than any vegetable. In warm weather and in warm climates, when foods

are not needed for a heat-producing purpose, the diet may well consist

largely of fruits and succulent vegetables, eaten in combination with

bread and grains. In case of liver and kidney affections, rheumatism,

and gout, the use of fruit is considered very beneficial by many

scientific authorities.

To serve its best purpose, raw fruit should be eaten without sugar or

other condiments, or with the addition of as small a quantity as

possible.

It is a disputed question whether fruits should begin or end the meal;

but it is generally conceded by those who have given the matter

attention, that fruit eaten at the beginning of a meal is itself the

more readily digested, and aids in the digestion of other foods, since

fruits, like soups, have the property of stimulating the flow of the

digestive juices. Something, however, must depend upon the character of

the fruit; oranges, melons, and like juicy fruits, are especially useful

as appetizers to begin the meal, while bananas and similar fruits agree

better if taken with other food, so as to secure thorough mixture with

saliva. This is true of all fruits, except such pulpy fruits as

strawberries, peaches, melons, grapes, and oranges. It is often

erroneously asserted that fruit as dessert is injurious to digestion.

For those people, however, who regulate their bill of fare in accordance

with the principles of hygiene, a simple course of fruit is not only

wholesome, but is all that is needed after a dinner; and much time,

labor, and health will be saved when housekeepers are content to serve

desserts which nature supplies all ready for use, instead of those

harmful combinations in the preparing of which they spend hours of

tiresome toil.

DESCRIPTION.--For convenience, fruits may be grouped together; as,

_pomaceous_ fruits, including the apple, quince, pear, etc.; the

_drupaceous_ fruits, those provided with a hard stone surrounded by a

fleshy pulp, as the peach, apricot, plum, cherry, olive, and date; the

orange or citron group, including the orange, lemon, lime, citron, grape

fruit, shaddock, and pomegranate; the _baccate_ or berry kind,

comprising the grape, gooseberry, currant, cranberry, whortleberry,

blueberry, and others; the _arterio_ group, to which belong raspberries,

strawberries, dewberries, and blackberries; the fig group; the gourd

group, including--melons and cantaloupes; and foreign fruits.

It is impossible, in the brief scope of this work, to enumerate the

infinite varieties of fruit; but we will briefly speak of some of the

most common found in the gardens and markets of this latitude.

APPLES.--The origin and first home of the apple, is unknown. If

tradition is to be believed, it was the inauspicious fruit to which may

be traced all the miseries of mankind. In pictures of the temptation in

the garden of Eden, our mother Eve is generally represented as holding

an apple in her hand.

We find the apple mentioned in the mythologies of the Greeks, Druids,

and Scandinavians. The Thebans offered apples instead of sheep as a

sacrifice to Hercules, a custom derived from the following

circumstance:--

"At one time, when a sacrifice was necessary, the river Asopus had so

inundated the country that it was impossible to take a sheep across it

for the purpose, when some youths, recollecting that the Greek word

_melon_ signified both sheep and an apple, stuck wooden pegs into the

fruit to represent legs, and brought this vegetable quadruped as a

substitute for the usual offering. After this date, the apple was

considered as especially devoted to Hercules."

In ancient times, Greece produced most excellent apples. They were the

favorite dessert of Phillip of Macedon and Alexander the Great, the

latter causing them to be served at all meals. Doubtless they came to be

used to excess; for it is recorded of the Athenian lawgiver, Solon, that

he made a decree prohibiting a bridegroom from partaking of more than

one at his marriage banquet, a law which was zealously kept by the

Greeks, and finally adopted by the Persians. In Homer's time the apple

was regarded as one of the precious fruits. It was extensively

cultivated by the Romans, who gave to new varieties the names of many

eminent citizens, and after the conquest of Gaul, introduced its culture

into Southwestern Europe, whence it has come to be widely diffused

throughout all parts of the temperate zone.

Apples were introduced into the United States by the early settlers,

and the first trees were planted on an island in Boston Harbor, which

still retains the name of Apple Island. The wild crab tree is the parent

of most of the cultivated varieties.

THE PEAR.--The origin of the pear, like that of the apple, is

shrouded in obscurity, though Egypt, Greece, and Palestine dispute for

the honor of having given birth to the tree which bears this prince of

fruits. Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher of the fourth century, speaks

of the pear in terms of highest praise; and Galen, the father of medical

science, mentions the pear in his writings as possessing "qualities

which benefit the stomach." The pear tree is one of the most hardy of

all fruit trees, and has been known to live several hundred years.

THE QUINCE.--This fruit appears to have been a native of Crete,

from whence it was introduced into ancient Greece; and was largely

cultivated by both Greeks and Romans. In Persia, the fruit is edible in

its raw state; but in this country it never ripens sufficiently to be

palatable without being cooked. The fruit is highly fragrant and

exceedingly acid, and for these reasons it is largely employed to flavor

other fruits.

THE PEACH.--This fruit, as its botanical name, _prinus Persica_,

indicates, is a native of Persia, and was brought from that country to

Greece, from whence it passed into Italy. It is frequently mentioned by

ancient writers, and was regarded with much esteem by the people of

Asia. The Romans, however, had the singular notion that peaches gathered

in Persia contained a deadly poison, but if once transplanted to another

soil, this injurious effect was lost. In composition, the peach is

notable for the small quantity of saccharine matter it contains in

comparison with other fruits.

THE PLUM.--The plum is one of the earliest of known fruits. Thebes,

Memphis, and Damascus were noted for the great number of their plum

trees in the early centuries. Plum trees grow wild in Asia, America, and

the South of Europe, and from these a large variety of domestic plum

fruits have been cultivated.

Plums are more liable than most other fruits to produce disorders of

digestion, and when eaten raw should be carefully selected, that they be

neither unripe nor unripe. Cooking renders them less objectionable.

THE PRUNE.--The plum when dried is often called by its French

cognomen, _prune_. The larger and sweeter varieties are generally

selected for drying, and when good and properly cooked, are the most

wholesome of prepared fruits.

THE APRICOT.--This fruit seems to be intermediate between the peach

and the plum, resembling the former externally, while the stone is like

that of the plum. The apricot originated in Armenia, and the tree which

bears the fruit was termed by the Romans "the tree of Armenia." It was

introduced into England in the time of Henry VIII. The apricot is

cultivated to some extent in the United States, but it requires too much

care to permit of its being largely grown, except in certain sections.

THE CHERRY.--The common garden cherry is supposed to have been

derived from the two species of wild fruit, and historians tell us that

we are indebted to the agricultural experiments of Mithridates, the

great king of ancient Pontus, for this much esteemed fruit. It is a

native of Asia Minor, and its birthplace.

THE OLIVE.--From time immemorial the olive has been associated with

history. The Scriptures make frequent reference to it, and its

cultivation was considered of first importance among the Jews, who used

its oil for culinary and a great variety of other purposes. Ancient

mythology venerated the olive tree above all others, and invested it

with many charming bits of fiction. Grecian poets sang its praises, and

early Roman writers speak of it with high esteem. In appearance and size

the fruit is much like the plum; when ripe, it is very dark green,

almost black, and possesses a strong, and, to many people, disagreeable

flavor. The pulp abounds in a bland oil, for the production of which it

is extensively cultivated in Syria, Egypt, Italy, Spain, and Southern

France. The fruit itself is also pickled and preserved in various ways,

but, like all other similar commodities when thus prepared, it is by no

means a wholesome article of food.

THE DATE.--The date is the fruit of the palm tree so often

mentioned in the Sacred Writings, and is indigenous to Africa and

portions of Asia. The fruit grows in bunches which often weigh from

twenty to twenty-five pounds, and a single tree will bear from one to

three thousand pounds in a season. The date is very sweet and

nutritious. It forms a stable article of diet for the inhabitants of

some parts of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia, and frequently forms the chief

food of their horses, dogs, and camels. The Arabs reduce dried dates to

a meal, and make therefrom a bread, which often constitutes their sole

food on long journeys through the Great Desert. The inhabitants of the

countries where the date tree flourishes, put its various productions to

innumerable uses. From its leaves they make baskets, bags, mats, combs,

and brushes; from its stalks, fences for their gardens; from its fibers,

thread, rope, and rigging; from its sap, a spirituous liquor; from its

fruit, food for man and beast; while the body of the tree furnishes them

with fuel. The prepared fruit is largely imported to this country. That

which is large, smooth, and of a soft reddish yellow tinge, with a

whitish membrane between the flesh and stone, is considered the best.

THE ORANGE.--According to some authors, the far-famed "golden fruit

of the Hesperides," which Hercules stole, was the orange; but it seems

highly improbable that it was known to writers of antiquity. It is

supposed to be indigenous to Central and Eastern Asia. Whatever its

nativity, it has now spread over all the warmer regions of the earth.

The orange tree is very hardy in its own habitat, and is one of the most

prolific of all fruit-bearing trees, a single tree having been known to

produce twenty thousand good oranges in a season. Orange trees attain

great age. There are those in Italy and Spain which are known to have

flourished for six hundred years. Numerous varieties of the orange are

grown, and are imported to our markets from every part of the globe.

Florida oranges are among the best, and when obtained in their

perfection, are the most luscious of all fruits.

THE LEMON.--This fruit is supposed to be a native of the North of

India, although it is grown in nearly all sub-tropical climates. In

general, the fruit is very acid, but in a variety known as the sweet

lemon, or bergamot (said to be a hybrid of the orange and lemon), the

juice is sweet. The sour lemon is highly valued for its antiscorbutic

properties, and is largely employed as a flavoring ingredient in

culinary preparations, and in making a popular refreshing beverage.

THE CITRON.--The citron is a fruit very similar to the lemon,

though larger in size and less succulent. It is supposed to be identical

with the Hebrew _tappuach_, and to be the fruit which is mentioned in

the English version of the Old Testament as "apple." The citron is not

suitable for eating in its raw state, though its juice is used in

connection with water and sugar to form an excellent acid drink. Its

rind, which is very thick, with a warty and furrowed exterior, is

prepared in sugar and largely used for flavoring purposes.

THE LIME.--The fruit of the lime is similar to the lemon, though

much smaller in size. It is a native of Eastern Asia, but has long been

cultivated in the South of Europe and other sub-tropical countries. The

fruit is seldom used except for making acidulous drinks, for which it is

often given the preference over the lemon.

THE GRAPE FRUIT.--This fruit, a variety of shaddock, belongs to the

great _citrus_ family, of which there are one hundred and sixty-nine

known varieties. The shaddock proper, however, is a much larger fruit,

frequently weighing from ten to fourteen pounds. Although a certain

quantity of grape fruit is brought from the West Indies, our principal

supply is derived from Florida. It is from two to four times the size of

an ordinary orange, and grows in clusters. It is rapidly gaining in

favor with fruit lovers. Its juice has a moderately acid taste and makes

a pleasing beverage. The pulp, carefully separated, is also much

esteemed.

THE POMEGRANATE.--This fruit has been cultivated in Asia from

earliest antiquity, and is still quite generally grown in most tropical

climes. In the Scriptures it is mentioned with the vine, fig, and olive,

among the pleasant fruits of the promised land. It is about the size of

a large peach, of a fine golden color, with a rosy tinge on one side.

The rind is thick and leathery. The central portion is composed of

little globules of pulp and seeds inclosed in a thin membrane, each seed

being about the size of a red currant. It is sub-acid, and slightly

bitter in taste. The rind is strongly astringent, and often used as a

medicine.

THE GRAPE.--Undoubtedly the grape was one of the first fruits eaten

by mankind, and one highly valued from antiquity down to the present

time. Although this fruit is often sadly perverted in the manufacture of

wine, when rightly used it is one of the most excellent of all fruits.

The skins and seeds are indigestible and should be rejected, but the

fresh, juicy pulp is particularly wholesome and refreshing. Several

hundred varieties of the grape are cultivated. Some particularly sweet

varieties are made into raisins, by exposure to the sun or to artificial

heat. Sun-dried grapes make the best raisins. The so-called English or

Zante currant belongs to the grape family, and is the dried fruit of a

vine which grows in the Ionian Islands and yields a very small berry.

The name _currant_, as applied to these fruits, is a corruption of the

word _Corinth_, where the fruit was formerly grown.

THE GOOSEBERRY.--The gooseberry probably derives its name from

gorse or goss, a prickly shrub that grows wild in thickets and on

hillsides in Europe, Asia, and America. It was known to the ancients,

and is mentioned in the writings of Theocritus and Pliny. Gooseberries

were a favorite dish with some of the emperors, and were extensively

cultivated in gardens during the Middle Ages. The gooseberry is a

wholesome and agreeable fruit, and by cultivation may be brought to a

high state of perfection in size and flavor.

THE CURRANT.--This fruit derives its name from its resemblance to

the small grapes of Corinth, sometimes called Corinthus, and is

indigenous to America, Asia, and Europe. The fruit is sharply acid,

though very pleasant to the taste. Cultivation has produced white

currants from the red, and in a distinct species of the fruit grown in

Northern Europe and Russia, the currants are black or yellow.

THE WHORTLEBERRY AND BLUEBERRY.--These are both species of the same

fruit, which grows in woods and waste places in the North of Europe and

America. Of the latter species there are two varieties, the high-bush

and the low-bush, which are equally palatable. The fruit is very sweet

and pleasant to the taste, and is one of the most wholesome of all

berries.

THE CRANBERRY.--A German writer of note insists that the original

name of this fruit was cram-berry, because after dinner, when one was

filled with other food, such was its pleasant and seductive flavor that

he could still "cram" quite a quantity thereof, in defiance of all

dietetic laws. Other writers consider the name a corruption of

craneberry, so called because it is eagerly sought after by the cranes

and other birds which frequent the swamps and marshes where it chiefly

grows. The fruit is extremely acid, and is highly valued for sauces and

jellies. Cranberries are among the most convenient fruits for keeping.

Freezing does not seem to hurt them, and they may be kept frozen all

winter, or in water without freezing, in the cellar, or other cool

places, for a long period.

THE STRAWBERRY.--The flavor of antiquity rests upon the wild

strawberry. Its fruit was peddled by itinerant dealers about the streets

of ancient Grecian and Roman cities. Virgil sings of it in pastoral

poems, and Ovid mentions it in words of praise. The name by which the

fruit was known to the Greeks indicates its size; with the Latins its

name was symbolic of its perfume. The name _strawberry_ probably came

from the old Saxon _streawberige_, either from some resemblance of the

stems to straw, of from the fact that the berries have the appearance

when growing of being strewn upon the ground. In olden times, children

strung the berries upon straws, and sold so many "straws of berries" for

a penny, from which fact it is possible the name may have been derived.

The strawberry is indigenous to the temperate regions of both the

Eastern and Western Hemispheres, but it seems to have been matured in

gardens, only within the last two centuries.

THE RASPBERRY.--This fruit grows in both a wild and a cultivated

state. It derives its name from the rough rasps or spines with which the

bushes are covered. Among the ancients it was called "the bramble of Mt.

Ida," because it was abundant upon that mountain. It is a hardy fruit,

found in most parts of the world, and is of two special varieties, the

black and the red.

THE BLACKBERRY.--This fruit is a native of America and the greater

part of Europe. There are one hundred and fifty-one named species,

although the high-blackberry and the low-blackberry, or dewberry, are

said to have furnished the best cultivated varieties.

THE MULBERRY.--Different varieties of the mulberry tree produce

white, red, and black mulberries of fine aromatic flavor, and acidulous

or sweet taste. Persia is supposed to be the native home of this fruit,

from whence it was carried, at an early date, to Asia Minor and to

Greece. The Hebrews were evidently well acquainted with it. It was also

cultivated by the farmers of Attica and Peloponnesus. The ancient

mulberry was considered the wisest and most prudent of trees, because it

took care not to put forth the smallest bud until the cold of winter had

disappeared, not to return. Then, however, it lost no time, but budded

and blossomed in a day. Several varieties are found in the United

States.

THE MELON.--This is the generic name for all the members of the

gourd tribe known as cantaloupes, muskmelons, and watermelons. The fruit

varies greatly in size and color, and in the character of the rind. When

fresh and perfectly ripe, melons are among the most delicious of edible

fruits.

THE FIG.--In the most ancient histories, the fig tree is referred

to as among the most desirable productions of the earth. It was the

only tree in the garden of Eden of which the Sacred Writings make

particular mention. Among the inhabitants of ancient Syria and Greece,

it formed one of the principal articles of food. Its cultivation was,

and is still, extensively carried on in nearly all Eastern countries;

also in Spain, Southern France, and some portions of the United States.

The fruit is pear-shaped, and consists of a pulpy mass full of little

seeds. Dried and compressed figs are largely imported, and are to be

found in all markets. Those brought from Smyrna are reputed to be the

best.

THE BANANA.--This is essentially a tropical fruit growing very

generally in the East, the West Indies, South American countries, and

some of the Southern States. The plant is an annual, sending up stems to

the height of ten or fifteen feet, while drooping from the top are

enormous leaves three or four feet in length, and looking, as one writer

has aptly said, like "great, green quill pens." It is planted in fields

like corn, which in its young growth it much resembles. Each plant

produces a single cluster of from eighty to one hundred or more bananas,

often weighing in the aggregate as high as seventy pounds. The banana is

exceedingly productive. According to Humboldt, a space of 1,000 feet,

which will yield only 38 pounds of wheat, or 462 pounds of potatoes,

will produce 4,000 pounds of bananas, and in a much shorter period of

time. It is more nutritious than the majority of fruits, and in tropical

countries is highly valued as a food, affording in some localities the

chief alimentary support of the people. Its great importance as a food

product is shown by the fact that three or four good sized bananas are

equal in nutritive value to a pound of bread. The amount of albumen

contained in a pound of bananas is about the same as that found in a

pound of rice, and the total nutritive value of one pound of bananas is

only a trifle less than that of an equal quantity of the best beefsteak.

The unripe fruit, which contains a considerable percentage of starch, is

often dried in the oven and eaten as bread, which, in this state, it

considerably resembles in taste and appearance. Thus prepared, it may be

kept for a long time, and is very serviceable for use on long journeys.

The variety of the banana thus used is, however, a much larger kind

than any of those ordinarily found in our Northern markets, and is known

as the plantain. The dried plantain, powdered, furnishes a meal of

fragrant odor and bland taste, not unlike common wheat flour. It is said

to be easy of digestion, and two pounds of the dry meal or six pounds of

the fruit is the daily allowance for a laborer in tropical America.

THE PINEAPPLE.--This delicious fruit is a native of South America,

where it grows wild in the forests. It is cultivated largely in tropical

America, the West Indies, and some portions of Europe. The fruit grows

singly from the center of a small plant having fifteen or more long,

narrow, serrated, ridged, sharp-pointed leaves, seemingly growing from

the root. In general appearance it resembles the century plant, though

so much smaller that twelve thousand pineapple plants may be grown on

one acre. From the fibers of the leaves is made a costly and valuable

fabric called _pina_ muslin.

Nothing can surpass the rich, delicate flavor of the wild pineapple as

found in its native habitat. It is in every way quite equal to the best

cultivated variety. The most excellent pineapples are imported from the

West Indies, but are seldom found in perfection in out Northern markets.

FRESH FRUIT FOR THE TABLE.

All fruit for serving should be perfectly ripe and sound. Immature fruit

is never wholesome, and owing to the large percentage of water in its

composition, fruit is very prone to change; hence over-ripe fruit should

not be eaten, as it is liable to ferment and decompose in the digestive

tract.

Fruit which has begun, however slightly, to decay, should be rejected.

Juice circulates through its tissues in much the same manner as the

blood circulates through animal tissues, though not so rapidly and

freely. The circulation is sufficient, however, to convey to all parts

the products of decomposition, when only a small portion has undergone

decay, and although serious results do not always follow the use of

such fruit, it certainly is not first-class food.

If intended to be eaten raw, fruit should be well ripened before

gathering, and should be perfectly fresh. Fruit that has stood day after

day in a dish upon the table, in a warm room, is far less wholesome and

tempting than that brought fresh from the storeroom or cellar. All

fruits should be thoroughly cleansed before serving. Such fruit as

cherries, grapes, and currants may be best washed by placing in a

colander, and dipping in and out of a pan of water until perfectly

clean, draining and drying before serving.

_DIRECTIONS FOR SERVING FRUITS._

APPLES.--In serving these, the "queen of all fruits," much

opportunity is afforded for a display of taste in their arrangement.

After wiping clean with a damp towel, they may be piled in a fruit

basket, with a few sprigs of green leaves here and there between their

rosy cheeks. The feathery tops of carrots and celery are pretty for this

purpose. Oranges and apples so arranged, make a highly ornamental dish.

Raw mellow sweet apples make a delicious dish when pared, sliced, and

served with cream.

BANANAS.--Cut the ends from the fruit and serve whole, piled in a

basket with oranges, grapes, or plums. Another way is to peel, slice,

and serve with thin cream. Bananas are also very nice sliced, sprinkled

lightly with sugar, and before it had quite dissolved, covered with

orange juice. Sliced bananas, lightly sprinkled with sugar, alternating

in layers with sections of oranges, make a most delicious dessert.

CHERRIES.--Serve on stems, piled in a basket or high dish, with

bits of green leaves and vines between. Rows of different colored

cherries, arranged in pyramidal form, make also a handsome dish.

CURRANTS.--Large whole clusters may be served on the stem, and when

it is possible to obtain both red and white varieties, they make a most

attractive dish. Put them into cold water for a little time, cool

thoroughly, and drain well before using. Currants, if picked from the

stems after being carefully washed and drained, may be served lightly

sprinkled with sugar. Currants and raspberries served together, half and

half, or one third currants two thirds raspberries, are excellent. Only

the ripest of currants should be used.

GOOSEBERRIES.--When fresh and ripe, the gooseberry is one of the

most delicious of small fruits. Serve with stems on. Drop into cold

water for a few moments, drain, and pile in a glass dish for the table.

GRAPES.--Grapes need always to be washed before serving. Drop the

bunches into ice water, let them remain ten of fifteen minutes, then

drain and serve. An attractive dish may be made by arranging bunches of

different colored grapes together on a plate edged with grape leaves.

MELONS.--Watermelons should be served very cold. After being well

washed on the outside, put on ice until needed. Cut off a slice at the

ends, that each half may stand upright on a plate, and then cut around

in even slices. Instead of cutting through the center into even halves,

the melon may be cut in points back and forth around the entire

circumference, so that when separated, each half will appear like a

crown. Another way is to take out the central portion with a spoon, in

cone-shaped pieces, and arrange on a plate with a few bits of ice. Other

melons may be served in halves, with the seeds removed. The rough skin

of the cantaloupe should be thoroughly scrubbed with a vegetable brush,

then rinsed and wiped, after which bury the melon in broken ice till

serving time; divide into eighths or sixteenths, remove the seeds,

reconstruct the melon, and serve surrounded with ice, on a folded

napkin, or arranged on a bed of grape leaves. Do not cool the melon by

placing ice upon the flesh, as the moisture injures the delicate flavor.

ORANGES.--Serve whole or cut the skin into eighths, halfway down,

separating it from the fruit, and curling it inward, thus showing half

the orange white and the other half yellow; or cut the skin into

eighths, two-thirds down, and after loosening from the fruit, leave them

spread open like the petals of a lily. Oranges sliced and mixed with

well ripened strawberries, in the proportion of three oranges to a quart

of berries, make--a palatable dessert.

PEACHES AND PEARS.--Pick out the finest, and wipe the wool from the

peaches. Edge a plate with uniform sized leaves of foliage plant of the

same tints as the fruit, and pile the fruit artistically upon it,

tucking sprays or tips of the plant between. Bits of ice may also be

intermingled. Yellow Bartlett pears and rosy-cheeked peaches arranged in

this way are most ornamental.

PEACHES AND CREAM.--Pare the peaches just as late as practicable,

since they become discolored by standing. Always use a silver knife, as

steel soon blackens and discolors the fruit. If sugar is to be used, do

not add it until the time for serving, as it will start the juice, and

likewise turn the fruit brown, destroying much of its rich flavor. Keep

on ice until needed for the table. Add cream with each person's dish.

PINEAPPLES.--The pineapple when fresh and ripened to perfection, is

as mellow and juicy as a ripe peach, and needs no cooking to fit it for

the table. Of course it must be pared, and have the eyes and fibrous

center removed. Then it may be sliced in generous pieces and piled upon

a plate, or cut into smaller portions and served in saucers. No

condiments are necessary; even the use of sugar detracts from its

delicate flavor. Pineapples found in our Northern markets are, however,

generally so hard and tough as to require cooking, or are valuable only

for their juice, which may be extracted and used for flavoring other

fruits. When sufficiently mellow to be eaten raw, they are usually so

tart as to seem to require a light sprinkling of sugar to suit most

tastes. Pineapples pared, cut into dice or small pieces, lightly

sprinkled with sugar, to which just before serving, a cup of orange

juice is added, form a delicious dish.

PLUMS.--Plums make a most artistic fruit piece, served whole and

arranged with bunches of choice green grapes, in a basket or glass dish.

A fine edge may be made from the velvety leaves of dark purple foliage

plants.

PRESSED FIGS.--Look over carefully, and select only such as are

perfectly good. They may be served dry, mixed with bunches of raisins,

or steamed over a kettle of boiling water. Steamed figs make an

excellent breakfast dish, and are considered much more wholesome then

when used dry. Steamed raisins are likewise superior to dried raisins.

RASPBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, DEWBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES AND WHORTLEBERRIES,

require careful looking over to remove all insects, stems, and over-ripe

fruit. Blueberries and whortleberries frequently need to be washed. They

are then drained by spreading on a sieve or colander. Perfectly ripe,

they are more healthful without condiments; but sugar and cream are

usually considered indispensable.

If necessary to wash strawberries, they should be put into cold water, a

few at a time, pushed down lightly beneath the water several times until

entirely clean, then taken out one by one, hulled, and used at once.

Like all other small fruits and berries they are more wholesome served

without cream, but if cream is used, each person should be allowed to

add it to his own dish, as it quickly curdles and renders the whole dish

unsightly; if allowed to stand, it also impairs the flavor of the fruit.

FROSTED FRUIT.--Prepare a mixture of the beaten white of egg,

sugar, and a very little cold water. Dip nice bunches of clean currants,

cherries, or grapes into the mixture; drain nearly dry, and roll lightly

in powdered sugar. Lay them on white paper to dry. Plums, apricots, and

peaches may be dipped in the mixture, gently sprinkled with sugar, then

allowed to dry. This method of preparing fruit is not to be commended

for its wholesomeness, but it is sometimes desirable for ornament.

KEEPING FRESH FRUIT.

Of the numerous varieties of fruits grown in this country, apples and

pears are about the only ones that can be kept for any length of time

without artificial means. As soon as fruit has attained its maturity, a

gradual change or breaking down of tissues begins. In some fruits this

process follows rapidly; in other it is gradual. There is a certain

point at which the fruits are best suited for use. We call it

mellowness, and say that the fruit is in "good eating condition." When

this stage has been reached, deterioration and rotting soon follow. In

some fruits, as the peach, plum, and early varieties of apples and

pears, these changes occur within a few days after maturity, and it is

quite useless to attempt to keep them; in others, like the later

varieties of apples and pears, the changes are slow but none the less

certain. To keep such fruits we must endeavor to retard or prolong the

process of change, by avoiding all conditions likely to hasten decay.

Even with ordinary care, sound fruit will keep for quite a length of

time; but it can be preserved in better condition and for a longer

period by careful attention to the following practical points:--

1. If the fruit is of a late variety, allow it to remain on the tree as

long as practicable without freezing.

2. Always pick and handle the fruit with the greatest care.

3. Gather the fruit on a dry, cool day, and place in heaps or bins for

two or three weeks.

4. Carefully sort and pack in barrels, placing those most mellow and

those of different varieties in different barrels; head the barrels,

label, and place in a cool, dry place where the temperature will remain

equable. Some consider it better to keep fruit in thin layers upon broad

shelves in a cool place. This plan allows frequent inspection and

removal of all affected fruit without disturbance of the remainder.

5. Warmth and moisture are the conditions most favorable to

decomposition, and should be especially guarded against.

6. The best temperature for keeping fruit is about 34 deg. F., or 2 deg.

above freezing.

Another method which is highly recommended is to sprinkle a layer of

sawdust on the bottom of a box, and then put in a layer of apples, not

allowing them to tough each other. Upon this pack more sawdust; then

another layer of apples, and so on until the box is filled. After

packing, place up from the ground, in a cellar or storeroom, and they

will keep perfectly, retaining their freshness and flavor until brought

out. The _Practical Farmer_ gives the following rough but good way to

store and keep apples: "Spread plenty of buckwheat chaff on the barn

floor, and on this place the apples, filling the interstices with the

chaff. Cover with the chaff and then with straw two or three feet deep.

The advantage of this is that covering and bedding in chaff excludes

cold, prevents air currents, maintains a uniform temperature, absorbs

the moisture of decay, and prevents the decay produced by moisture."

The ordinary cellar underneath the dwelling house is too warm and damp

for the proper preservation of fruit, and some other place should be

provided if possible. A writer in the _American Agriculturist_ thus

calls attention to an additional reason why fruit should not be stored

beneath living-rooms: "After late apples are stored for the winter, a

gradual change begins within the fruit. It absorbs oxygen from the air

of the room, and gives off carbonic acid gas. Another change results in

the formation of water, which is given off as moisture. The taking up of

oxygen by the fruit and the giving off of carbonic acid, in a short time

so vitiates the atmosphere of the room in which the fruit is kept, that

it will at once extinguish a candle, and destroy animal life. An

atmosphere of this kind tends to preserve the fruit. There being little

or no oxygen left in the air of the room, the process of decay is

arrested. Hence it is desirable that the room be air tight, in order to

maintain such an atmosphere."

The production of carbonic acid shows that a cellar in or under a

dwelling, is an improper place for storing fresh fruit. When the gas is

present in the air in sufficient proportion, it causes death, and a very

small quantity will cause headache, listlessness, and other unpleasant

effects. No doubt many troubles attributed to malaria, are due to gases

from vegetables and fruits stored in the cellar. A fruit cellar should

be underneath some other building rather than the dwelling, or a fruit

house may be built entirely above the ground. A house to keep fruit

properly must be built upon the principle of a refrigerator. Its walls,

floor, and ceiling should be double, and the space between filled with

sawdust. The doors and windows should be double; and as light is

undesirable, the windows should be provided with shutters. There should

be a small stove for use if needed to keep a proper temperature in

severe weather.

TO KEEP GRAPES.--Select such bunches as are perfect, rejecting all

upon which there are any bruised grapes, or from which a grape has

fallen. Spread them upon shelves in a cool place for a week or two. Then

pack in boxes in sawdust which has been recently well dried in an oven.

Bran which has been dried may also be used. Dry cotton is employed by

some. Keep in a cool place.

Some consider the following a more efficient method: select perfect

bunches, and dip the broken end of the stems in melted paraffine or

sealing wax. Wrap separately in tissue paper, hang in a cool place, or

pack in sawdust.

TO KEEP LEMONS AND ORANGES.--Lemons may be kept fresh for weeks by

placing them in a vessel of cold water in a very cool cellar or ice

house. Change the water every day. Oranges may be kept in the same way.

The usual method employed by growers for keeping these fruits is to wrap

each one separately in tissue paper, and put in a cool, dry place.

TO KEEP CRANBERRIES.--Put them in water and keep in a cool place

where they will not freeze. Change the water often, and sort out berries

which may have become spoiled.

COOKED FRUIT.

Perfectly ripe fruit is, as a rule, more desirable used fresh than in

any other way. Fruits which are immature, require cooking. Stewing and

baking are the simplest methods of preparation.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR COOKING FRUIT.--The utensils for stewing

should be porcelain-lined, or granite ware. Fruit cooked in tin loses

much of its delicate flavor; while if it be acid, and the tin of poor

quality, there is always danger that the acid of the fruit acting upon

the metal will form a poisonous compound. Cover with a china plate or

granite-ware cover, never with a tin one, as the steam will condense and

run down into the kettle, discoloring the contents. Use only silver

knives for preparing the fruit, and silver or wooden spoons for

stirring. Prepare just before cooking, if you would preserve the fruit

perfect in flavor, and unimpaired by discoloration. In preparing apples,

pears, and quinces for stewing, it is better to divide the fruit into

halves or quarters before paring. The fruit is more easily handled, can

be pared thinner and cored more quickly. Peaches, apricots, and plums,

if divided and stoned before paring, can be much more easily kept whole.

Cook in a small quantity of boiling water, and if economy is a point to

be considered, do not add sugar until the fruit is done. Sugar boiled

with an acid will be converted into glucose, two and one half pounds of

which only equal one pound of cane sugar in sweetening properties. It

will require a much larger amount of sugar to sweeten fruit if added

before the cooking process is completed. Fruit should be cooked by

stewing, or by gentle simmering; hard boiling will destroy the fine

flavor of all fruits, and especially of berries and other small fruits.

Cinnamon, cloves, or other spices, should not be added, as their

stronger flavors deaden or obliterate the natural flavor, which should

always be preserved as perfectly as possible. If desirable to add some

foreign flavor, let it be the flavor of another fruit, or the perfume

of flowers. For Instance, flavor apple with lemon, pineapple, quince, or

rose water.

Unripe fruit is improved by making the cooking quite lengthy, which acts

in the place of the ripening process, changing the starchy matter to

saccharine elements. In cooking fruit, try to preserve its natural form.

The more nearly whole it is, the better it looks, and the more natural

will be its flavor.

Apples are best cooked by baking. Pears and quinces are also excellent

baked. The oven should be only moderately hot; if the heat is too great,

they brown on the outside before they are done throughout. In cooking

fruit by any method, pains should be taken to cook together such as are

of the same variety, size, and degree of hardness; if it is to be cut in

pieces, care should be taken to have the pieces of uniform size.

_RECIPES._

BAKED APPLES.--Moderately tart apples or very juicy sweet ones are

best for baking. Select ripe apples, free from imperfections, and of

nearly equal size. Wipe carefully and remove the blossom ends. Water

sufficient to cover bottom of the baking dish, should be added if the

fruit is not very juicy. If the apples are sour and quite firm, a good

way is to pare them before baking, and then place them in an earthen pie

dish with a little hot water. If they incline to brown too quickly,

cover the tops with a granite-ware pie dish. If the syrup dries out, add

a little more hot water. When done, set them away till nearly cold, then

transfer to a glass dish, pour the syrup, which should be thick and

amber colored, over them. Sour apples are excellent pared, cored, and

baked with the centers filled with sugar, jelly, or a mixture or chopped

raisins and dates. They should be put into a shallow earthen dish with

water sufficient to cover the bottom, and baked in a quick oven, basting

often with the syrup. Sweet apples are best baked without paring. Baked

apples are usually served as a relish, but with a dressing of cream they

make a most delicious dessert.

CITRON APPLES.--Select a few tart apples of the same degree of

hardness, and remove the cores. Unless the skins are very tender, it is

better to pare them. Fill the cavities with sugar, first placing in each

apple a few bits of chopped citron. If the skins have been removed,

place the stuffed apples on a flat earthen dish with a tablespoonful of

water on the bottom; cover closely, and bake till perfectly tender, but

not till they have fallen to pieces. If the skins are left on, they may

be baked without covering. When cold, serve in separate dishes, with or

without a spoonful or two of whipped cream on each apple.

LEMON APPLES.--Prepare tart apples the same as for citron apples.

Fill the cavities made by removing the cores with a mixture of grated

lemon and sugar, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over each apple, and

bake. Serve with or without whipped cream.

BAKED PEARS.--Hard pears make an excellent dessert when baked.

Pare, halve, remove seeds, and place in a shallow earthen dish, with a

cup of water to each two quarts of fruit. If the pears are sour, a

little sugar may be added. Bake, closely covered, in a moderate oven

until tender. Serve with sugar and cream. Tart pears are the best for

baking, as the sweet varieties are often tasteless.

BAKED QUINCES.--Pare and remove the cores. Fill the cavities with

sugar, put in a shallow earthen dish, and add water to cover the bottom;

bake till soft, basting often with the syrup. If the syrup dries out

before the fruit is perfectly tender, add a little more hot water.

PIPPINS AND QUINCE.--Pare and quarter nice golden pippins, and cook

in boiling water until reduced to a jelly. Add two or three quinces

sliced, and simmer slowly in the jelly until the quince is tender. Add

sugar to taste. Serve cold.

BAKED APPLE SAUCE.--Pare, core, and quarter apples to fill an

earthen crock or deep pudding dish, taking care to use apples of the

same degree of hardness, and pieces of the same size. For two quarts of

fruit thus prepared, add a cup of water, and if the apples are sour, a

cup of sugar. Cover closely, and bake in a moderate oven several hours,

or until of a dark red color.

Sweet apples and quinces in the proportion of two parts of apple to one

of quince, baked in this way, are also good. Cut the apples into

quarters, but slice the quinces much thinner, as they are more difficult

to cook. Put a layer of quince on the bottom of the dish, alternating

with a layer of apple, until the dish is full. Add cold water to half

cover the fruit, and stew in the oven well covered, without stirring,

until tender.

Pears may be cooked in a similar way, and both apples and pears thus

cooked may be canned while hot and kept for a long period.

BAKED APPLE SAUCE NO. 2.--Prepare nice tart apples as for No. 1.

Bake, with a small quantity of water, in a covered pudding dish, in a

moderate oven, until soft. Mash with a spoon, add sugar, and when cold,

a little grated orange rind.

APPLES STEWED WHOLE.--Take six large red apples, wash carefully,

and put in a fruit kettle with just enough boiling water to cover. Cover

the kettle, and cook slowly until the apples are soft, with the skins

broken and the juice a rich red color. After removing the apples, boil

the juice to a syrup, sweeten, and pour over the apples.

STEAMED APPLES.--Select pound sweets of uniform size, wipe, cut

out the blossom-ends, and pack in a large pudding dish. Pour in a cupful

of water, cover the dish closely, set in a moderate oven, and steam till

the apples are tender. Remove from the dish, and pour the liquor over

them frequently as they cool.

COMPOTE OF APPLES.--Pare and extract the cores from moderately

tart, juicy apples. Place them in a deep pudding dish with just enough

water to cover them. Cover, place in a moderate oven, and stew until

they are tender. Remove the apples and place in a deep dish to keep hot.

Measure the juice and pour it into a saucepan, add a few bits of lemon

rind, and boil up until thickened almost like a jelly. While the juice

is boiling, heat some sugar, one tablespoonful to each cup of juice, in

the oven, and add to the juice when thickened. Pour scalding hot over

the apples, and cover until cold.

APPLE COMPOTE NO. 2.--Pare eight or ten rather tart, finely

flavored and easy-cooking apples, carefully removing the cores, and put

them into a broad, shallow, granite-ware saucepan with just enough hot

water to cover the bottom. Cover tightly and place over the fire. The

steam will cook the apples tender in a short time. Do not allow them to

fall to pieces. Make a syrup by dissolving one cup of sugar in a pint of

hot water. Add three teaspoonfuls of the juice of canned pineapple, and

pour over the apples while both are hot.

STEWED PEARS.--Select some fine Bartlett pears which are ripe, but

have hardly begun to soften; remove the skins, cut in halves or

quarters, and take out the seeds. Put loosely in a granite-ware kettle,

and add a pint of water for three and a half quarts of fruit. Cover

closely, and when it begins to boil, set it where it will just simmer

until the top pieces are tender. Serve cold. Sugar will not be necessary

if the fruit is of good quality.

SMOOTH APPLE SAUCE.--If fruit is not sufficiently perfect to be cut

into uniform quarters, a good way to prepare it is to pare, core, and

slice into thin slices. Cook in as small a quantity of water as

possible, the fruit covered closely, so that the top portion will steam

tender as soon as the bottom, and when done rub through a colander, or

beat smooth with a wooden spoon or an egg beater. Let it cool before

adding sugar. A little lemon peel may be added to the fruit just long

enough before it is done to flavor it, if desired.

BOILED APPLES WITH SYRUP.--Halve and remove the cores of a half

dozen nice apples, leaving the skins on. Boil till tender in sufficient

water to cover them. Take out with a fork into a glass dish. Add to the

juice three or four slices of a large lemon; boil for ten or fifteen

minutes; sweeten to taste; then pour over the apples, and cool.

STEWED APPLES.--Select fine fruit of a sub-acid flavor and not

over-ripe. Pare, remove the cores and all blemishes, and divide into

sixths if large, into quarters if small. Put into a porcelain or

granite-ware kettle with enough boiling water to cook and leave a good

liquor. Cover, and simmer gently, without stirring, from one to two

hours. Do not add sugar till cold. Be careful not to break the fruit in

serving.

STEWED CRAB APPLES.--Select perfect fruit. Wash and stew in but

little water until they are very soft. Rub through a coarse sieve or

colander to remove the seeds and skins. Sweeten to taste.

SWEET APPLE SAUCE WITH CONDENSED APPLE JUICE.--For the juice, wash,

divide, and core rather tart apples and cook until softened with one cup

of water for every six pounds of fruit. When soft, put into a percolater

and drain off the juice or extract it with a fruit press. Boil until it

is reduced one half. Skim if needed while boiling, and if not perfectly

clear allow it to settle before using. A considerable quantity of the

juice may be thus prepared and put into stone jars, to be used as

needed. For the sauce, pare, core, and quarter sweet apples. Put into a

porcelain kettle with enough of the condensed juice to cover. Cook

slowly until tender.

APPLES WITH RAISINS.--Pare, core, and quarter a dozen or more

medium sized sour apples. Clean thoroughly one fourth as many raisins as

apples, and turn over them a quart of boiling water. Let them steep

until well swollen, then add the apples, and cook until tender. Sugar to

sweeten may be added if desired, although little will be needed unless

the apples are very tart. Dried apples soaked over night may be made

much more palatable by stewing with raisins or English currants, in the

same way.

APPLES WITH APRICOTS.--Pare, core, and quarter some nice, sour

apples. Put them to cook with two halves of dried apricot for each

apple. When tender, make smooth by beating or rubbing through a

colander, and sweeten. Dried apples may be used in place of fresh ones.

PEACHES, PLUMS, CHERRIES, BERRIES, and all small fruits may be

cooked for sauce by stewing in a small amount of water, adding sugar to

sweeten when done.

BAKED APPLES.--Take any good tart apples; peel, cut in halves, and

remove the cores. Scatter a few spoonfuls of sugar in the bottom of a

dish, and lay the apples in, flat side down; add a teacupful of cold

water, and bake till tender. Let stand in the dish till cold, then take

up the pieces in a vegetable dish, and poor over them what juice

remains. Sweet apples are good baked in this way without sugar.

BAKED PEARS.--Peel ripe pears; cut in halves, and pack in layers in

a stone ware jar. Strew a little sugar over each layer, and add a small

cupful of water, to prevent burning. Cover tightly, and bake three or

four hours in a well-heated oven. Let them get very cold, and serve

with sweet cream.

BAKED PEACHES.--Peaches which are ripe but too hard for eating, are

nice baked. Pare, remove the stones, and place in loose layers in a

shallow, earthen pudding dish with a little water. Sprinkle each layer

lightly with sugar, cover and bake.

CRANBERRIES.--Cranberries make an excellent sauce, but the skins

are rather hard of digestion, and it is best to exclude them. Stew in

the proportion of a quart of berries to a pint of water, simmering

gently until the skins have all burst, and the quantity is reduced to a

pint. Put through a colander to remove the skins, and when nearly cool,

add for the quart of berries two thirds of a cup of sugar.

CRANBERRIES WITH RAISINS.--Cook the cranberries as in the preceding

recipe, and when rubbed through the colander, add for every pound of

cranberries before cooking, one fourth pound of raisins which have been

steeped for half an hour in just sufficient boiling water to cover. A

little less sugar will be needed to sweeten than when served without the

raisins.

CRANBERRIES AND SWEET APPLES.--Stew equal parts of cranberries and

sweet apples together. Mash, rub through a fine sieve or colander to

remove the skins and make the whole homogeneous. This makes a very

palatable sauce without the addition of sugar. California prunes and

cranberries stewed together in equal proportion, in a small quantity of

water, also make a nice sauce without sugar.

ORANGES AND APPLES.--The mild, easy cooking, tart varieties of

apples make an excellent sauce stewed with one third sliced oranges from

which the seeds have been removed. Pare, core, and slice the apples, and

cook gently so as to preserve the form of both fruits until the apples

are tender. Add sugar to sweeten, and if desired a very little of the

grated yellow of the orange rind.

STEWED RAISINS.--Soak a pint of good raisins, cleaned and freed

from stems, in cold water for several hours. When ready to cook, put

them, with the water in which they were soaked, in a fruit kettle and

simmer until the skins are tender. Three or four good-sized figs,

chopped quite fine, cooked with the raisins, gives an additional

richness and thickness of juice. No sugar will be needed.

DRIED APPLES.--Good apples properly dried make a very palatable

sauce; but unfortunately the fruit generally selected for drying is of

so inferior a quality that if cooked in its fresh state it would not be

good. The dried fruit in most of our markets needs to be looked over

carefully, and thoroughly washed before using. Put into a granite-ware

kettle, cover with boiling water, and cook gently until tender. Fresh

steam-dried or evaporated apples will cook in from one half to three

fourths of an hour; if older, they may require from one to two more

hours. Add boiling water, as needed, during the cooking. If when tender

they are lacking in juice, add a little boiling water long enough before

lifting from the fire to allow it to boil up once. If the fruit is very

poor, a few very thin slices of the yellow portion of lemon or orange

rind added a half hour before it is done, will sometimes be an

improvement.

DRIED APPLES WITH OTHER DRIED FRUIT.--An excellent sauce may be

made by cooking a few dried plums with dried or evaporated apples. Only

enough of the plums to give a flavor to the apples will be needed; a

handful of the former to a pound of apples will be sufficient. Dried

cherries, raisins, English currants, dried apricots, prunelles, and

peaches are also excellent used in combination with dried apples.

DRIED APRICOTS AND PEACHES.--These fruits, if dried with the skins

on, need, in addition to the preparation for cooking recommended for

dried apples, a thorough rubbing with the fingers, while being washed,

to remove the down. Put into boiling water in about the proportion of

two parts of fruit to three of water. If the fruit was pared before

drying, a little more water will be required. Cook quickly, but gently,

until just tender, and take from the fire as soon as done. If too soft,

they will be mushy and insipid.

EVAPORATED PEACH SAUCE.--Soak the peaches over night in just enough

water to cover. In the morning put to cook in boiling water. When

tender, sweeten and beat perfectly smooth with an egg beater.

DRIED PEARS.--These may be treated in the same way as dried apples.

SMALL FRUITS.--These when dried must be carefully examined,

thoroughly washed, and then cooked rather quickly in boiling water. They

swell but little, do not require much water, and usually cook in a few

minutes. They should be taken from the fire as soon as soft, as long

standing makes them insipid.

PRUNES.--Use only the best selected prunes. Clean by putting them

into warm water; let them stand a few minutes, rubbing them gently

between the hands to make sure that all dust and dirt is removed; rinse,

and if rather dry and hard, put them into three parts of water to one of

prunes; cover closely, and let them simmer for several hours. If the

prunes are quite easily cooked, less water may be used. They will be

tender, with a thick juice. The sweet varieties need no sugar whatever.

Many persons who cannot eat fruit cooked with sugar, can safely partake

of sweet prunes cooked in this way. A slice of lemon added just before

the prunes are done, is thought an improvement.

PRUNE MARMALADE.--Cook sweet California prunes as directed above.

When well done, rub through a colander to remove the skins and stones.

No sugar is necessary. If the pulp is too thin when cold, it may be

covered in an earthen pudding dish and stewed down by placing in a pan

of hot water in a moderate oven.

THE PRESERVATION OF FRUIT.

Fresh fruit is so desirable, while at the same time the season during

which most varieties can be obtained is so transient, that various

methods are resorted to for preserving it in as nearly a natural state

as possible. The old-fashioned plans of pickling in salt, alcohol, or

vinegar, or preserving in equal quantities of sugar, are eminently

unhygienic. Quite as much to be condemned is the more modern process of

keeping fruit by adding to it some preserving agent, like salicylic acid

or other chemicals. Salicylic acid is an antiseptic, and like many other

substances, such as carbolic acid, creosote, etc., has the power of

preventing the decay of organic substances. Salicylic acid holds the

preference over other drugs of this class, because it imparts no

unpleasant flavor to the fruit. It is nevertheless a powerful and

irritating drug, and when taken, even in small doses, produces intense

burning in the stomach, and occasions serious disturbances of the heart

and other organs. Its habitual use produces grave diseases.

What is sold as antifermentive is simply the well-known antiseptic,

salicylate of soda. It should be self-evident to one at all acquainted

with the philosophy of animal existence, that an agent which will

prevent fermentation and decay must be sufficiently powerful in its

influence to prevent digestion also.

The fermentation and decay of fruits as well as that of all other

organic substances, is occasioned by the action of those minute living

organisms which scientists call germs, and which are everywhere present.

These germs are very much less active in a dry, cold atmosphere, and

fruit may be preserved for quite a long period by refrigeration, an

arrangement whereby the external air is excluded, and the surrounding

atmosphere kept at an equal temperature of about 40 deg. F. The most

efficient and wholesome method of preserving fruit, however, is

destruction of the germs and entire exclusion from the air. The germs

are destroyed at a boiling temperature; hence, if fruit be heated to

boiling, and when in this condition sealed in air-tight receptacles, it

will keep for an unlimited period.

CANNING FRUIT.

Canning consists in sealing in air-tight cans or jars, fruit which has

been previously boiled. It is a very simple process, but requires a

thorough understanding of the scientific principles involved, and

careful management, to make it successful. The result of painstaking

effort is so satisfactory, however, it is well worth all the trouble,

and fruit canning need not be a difficult matter if attention is given

to the following details:--

Select self-sealing glass cans of some good variety. Tin cans give more

trouble filling and sealing, are liable to affect the flavor of the

fruit, and unless manufactured from the best of material, to impair its

wholesomeness. Glass cans may be used more than once, and are thus much

more economical. Those with glass covers, or porcelain-lined covers, are

best. Test the cans to see if they are perfect, with good rubbers and

covers that fit closely, by partly filling them with cold water,

screwing on the tops, and placing bottom upward upon the table for some

time before using. If none of the water leaks out, they may be

considered in good condition. If the cans have been previously used,

examine them with special care to see that both cans and covers have

been carefully cleaned, then thoroughly sterilize them, and fit with new

rubbers when necessary.

Cans and covers should be sterilized by boiling in water for half an

hour, or by baking in an oven, at a temperature sufficient to scorch

paper, for two hours. The cans should be placed in the water or oven

when cold, and the temperature allowed to rise gradually, to avoid

breaking. They should be allowed to cool gradually, for the same

purpose.

Select only the best of fruit, such as is perfect in flavor and neither

green nor over-ripe. Fruit which has been shipped from a distance, and

which is consequently not perfectly fresh, contains germs in active

growth, and if the least bit musty, it will be almost sure to spoil,

even though the greatest care may be taken in canning.

Poor fruit will not be improved by canning; over-ripe fruit will be

insipid and mushy; and though cooking will soften hard fruit, it cannot

impart to it the delicate flavors which belong to that which is in its

prime. The larger varieties of fruit should not be quite soft enough for

eating. Choose a dry day for gathering, and put up at once, handling as

little as possible. Try to keep it clean enough to avoid washing. If the

fruit is to be pared, use a silver knife for the purpose, as steel is

apt to discolor the fruit. If the fruit is one needing to be divided or

stoned, it will be less likely to become broken if divided before

paring.

Cook the fruit slowly in a porcelain-lined or granite-ware kettle, using

as little water as possible. It is better to cook only small quantities

at a time in one kettle. Steaming in the cans is preferable to stewing,

where the fruit is at all soft. To do this, carefully fill the cans with

fresh fruit, packing it quite closely, if the fruit is large, and set

the cans in a boiler partly filled with cold water, with something

underneath them to prevent breaking,--muffin rings, straw, or thick

cloth, or anything to keep them from resting on the bottom of the boiler

(a rack made by nailing together strips of lath is very convenient);

screw the covers on the cans so the water cannot boil into them, but not

so tightly as to prevent the escape of steam; heat the water to boiling,

and steam the fruit until tender. Peaches, pears, crab apples, etc., to

be canned with a syrup, may be advantageously cooked by placing on a

napkin dropped into the boiling syrup.

Fruit for canning should be so thoroughly cooked that every portion of

it will have been subjected to a sufficient degree of heat to destroy

all germs within the fruit, but overcooking should be avoided. The

length of time required for cooking fruits for canning, varies with the

kind and quality of fruit and the manner of cooking. Fruit is more

frequently spoiled by being cooked an insufficient length of time, than

by overcooking. Prolonged cooking at a boiling temperature is necessary

for the destruction of certain kinds of germs capable of inducing

fermentation. Fifteen minutes may be considered as the shortest time for

which even the most delicate fruits should be subjected to the

temperature of boiling water, and thirty minutes will be required by

most fruits. Fruits which are not perfectly fresh, or which have been

shipped some distance, should be cooked not less than thirty minutes.

The boiling should be very slow, however, as hard, rapid boiling will

break up the fruit, and much of its fine flavor will be lost in the

steam.

Cooking the sugar with the fruit at the time of canning, is not to be

recommended from an economical standpoint; but fruit thus prepared is

more likely to keep well than when cooked without sugar; not, however,

because of the preservative influence of the sugar, which is too small

in amount to prevent the action of germs, as in the case of preserves,

but because the addition of sugar to the water or fruit juice increases

its specific gravity, and thus raises the boiling point. From

experiments made, I have found that the temperature of the fruit is

ordinarily raised about 5 deg. by the addition of the amount of sugar

needed for sweetening sub-acid fruit. By the aid of this additional

degree of heat, the germs are more certainly destroyed, and the

sterilization of the fruit will be accomplished in a shorter time.

Another advantage gained in cooking sugar with the fruit at the time of

canning, is that the fruit may be cooked for a longer time without

destroying its form, as the sugar abstracts the juice of the fruit, and

thus slightly hardens it and prevents its falling in pieces.

The temperature to which the fruit is subjected may also be increased by

the same method as that elsewhere described for sterilizing milk, the

covers of the cans being screwed down tightly before they are placed in

the sterilizer, or as soon as the boiling point is approached, so that

the steam issues freely from the can. See page 396. If this method is

employed, it must be remembered that the cans should not be removed from

the sterilizer until after they have become cold, or nearly so, by being

allowed to stand over night.

Use the best sugar, two tablespoonfuls to a quart of fruit is

sufficient for most sub-acid fruits, as berries and peaches; plums,

cherries, strawberries, and currants require from five to eight

tablespoonfuls of sugar to a quart. Have the sugar hot, by spreading it

on tins and heating in the oven, stirring occasionally. See that; it

does not scorch. Add it when the fruit is boiling. Pears, peaches,

apples, etc., which contain a much smaller quantity of juice than do

berries, may be canned in a syrup prepared by dissolving a cup of sugar

in two or three cups of water. Perfect fruit, properly canned, will keep

without sugar, and the natural 'flavor of the fruit is more perfectly

retained when the sugar is left out, adding the necessary amount when

opened for use.

If the fruit is to be cooked previous to being put in the cans, the cans

should be heated before the introduction of the fruit, which should be

put in at a boiling temperature. Various methods are employed for this

purpose. Some wrap the can in a towel wrung out of hot water, keeping a

silver spoon inside while it is being filled; others employ dry heat by

keeping the cans in a moderately hot oven while the fruit is cooking.

Another and surer way is to fill a large dishpan nearly full of scalding

(not boiling) water, then gradually introduce each can, previously

baked, into the water, dip it full of water, and set it right side up in

the pan. Repeat the process with other cans until four or five are

ready. Put the covers likewise into boiling water. Have in readiness for

use a granite-ware funnel and dipper, also in boiling water; a cloth for

wiping the outside of the cans, a silver fork or spoon, a dish for

emptyings, and a broad shallow pan on one side of the range, half filled

with boiling water, in which to set the cans while being filled. When

everything is in readiness, the fruit properly cooked, and _at a boiling

temperature,_ turn one of the cans down in the water, roll it over once

or twice, empty it, and set in the shallow pan of hot water; adjust the

funnel, and then place first in the can a quantity of juice, so that

when the fruit is put in, no vacant places will be left for air, which

is sometimes quite troublesome if this precaution is not taken; then

add the fruit. If any bubbles of air chance to be left, work them out

with a fork or spoon handle, which first dip in boiling water, and then

quickly introduce down the sides of the jar and through the fruit in

such a way that not a bubble will remain. Fill the can to overflowing,

remembering that any vacuum invites the air to enter; use boiling water

or syrup when there is not enough juice. Skim all froth from the fruit,

adding more juice if necessary; wipe the juice from the top of the can,

adjust the rubber, put on the top, and screw it down as quickly as

possible. If the fruit is cooked in the cans, as soon as it is

sufficiently heated, fill the can completely full with boiling juice,

syrup, or water; run the handle of a silver spoon around the inside of

the can, to make sure the juice entirely surrounds every portion of

fruit, and that no spaces for air remain, put on the rubbers, wipe off

all juice, and seal quickly.

[Illustration: Canning Utensils.]

As the fruit cools, the cover can be tightened, and this should be

promptly done again and again as the glass contracts, so that no air may

be allowed to enter.

If convenient to fill the cans directly from the stove, the fruit may be

kept at boiling heat by placing the kettle on a lamp stove on the table,

on which the other utensils are in readiness. Many failures in fruit

canning are due to neglect to have the fruit boiling hot when put into

the cans.

When the cans are filled, set them away from currents of air, and not on

a very cold surface, to avoid danger of cracking. A good way is to set

the cans on a wet towel, and cover with a woolen cloth as a protection

from draughts.

After the cans have cooled, and the tops have been screwed down tightly,

place them in a cool place, bottom upward, and watch closely for a few

days. If the juice begins to leak out, or any appearance of fermentation

is seen, it is a sign that the work has failed, and the only thing to do

is to open the can immediately, boil the fruit, and use as quickly as

possible; recanning will not save it unless boiled a long time. If no

signs of spoiling are observed within two or three weeks, the fruit may

be safely stored away in a dark, cool place. If one has no dark

storeroom, it is an advantage to wrap each can in brown paper, to keep

out the light.

Sometimes the fruit will settle so that a little space appears at the

top. If you are perfectly sure that the can is tight, do not open to

refill, as you will be unable to make it quite as tight again, unless

you reheat the fruit, in which case you would be liable to have the same

thing occur again. Air is dangerous because it is likely to contain

germs, though in itself harmless.

If mold is observed upon the top of a can, it should be opened, and the

fruit boiled and used at once, after carefully skimming out all the

moldy portions. If there is evidence of fermentation, the fruit should

be thrown away, as it contains alcohol.

If care be taken to provide good cans, thoroughly sterilized, and with

perfectly fitting covers; to use only fruit in good condition; to have

it thoroughly cooked, and at boiling temperature when put into the can;

to have the cans well baked and heated, filled completely and to

overflowing, and sealed at once while the fruit is still near boiling

temperature, there will be little likelihood of failure.

OPENING CANNED FRUIT.--Canned fruit is best opened a short time

before needed, that is may be will aerated; and if it has been canned

without sugar, it should have the necessary quantity added, so that it

may be well dissolved before using.

Fruit purchased in tin cans should be selected with the utmost care,

since unscrupulous dealers sometimes use cans which render the fruit

wholly--unfit for food.

The following rules which we quote from a popular scientific journal

should be 'carefully observed in selecting canned fruit:--

"Reject every can that does not have the name of the manufacturer or

firm upon it, as well as the name of the company and the town where

manufactured. All 'Standards' have this. When the wholesale dealer is

ashamed to have his name on the goods, be shy of him.

"Reject every article of canned goods which does not show the line of

resin around the edge of the solder of the cap, the same as is seen on

the seam at the side of the can.

"Press up the bottom of the can; if decomposition is beginning, the tin

will rattle the same as the bottom of your sewing-machine oil can does.

If the goods are sound, it will be solid, and there will be no rattle to

the tin.

"Reject every can that show any rust around the cap on the inside of the

head of the can. Old and battered cans should be rejected; as, if they

have been used several times, the contents are liable to contain small

amounts of tin or lead"

_RECIPES._

TO CAN STRAWBERRIES.--These are generally considered more difficult

to can than most other berries. Use none but sound fruit, and put up the

day they are picked, if possible. Heat the fruit slowly to the boiling

point, and cook fifteen minutes or longer, adding the sugar hot, if any

be used, after the fruit is boiling. Strawberries, while cooking, have a

tendency to rise to the top, and unless they are kept poshed down, will

not be cooked uniformly, which is doubtless one reason they sometimes

fail to keep well. The froth should also be kept skimmed off. Fill the

cans as directed on page 197, taking special care to let out every air

bubble, and to remove every particle of froth from the top of the can

before sealing. If the berries are of good size, the may be cooked in

the cans, adding a boiling syrup prepared with one cup of water and one

of sugar for each quart can of fruit.

If after the cans are cold, the fruit rises to the top, as it frequently

does, take the cans and gently shake until the fruit is well saturated

with the juice and falls by its own weight to the bottom, or low enough

to be entirely covered with the liquid.

TO CAN RASPBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, AND OTHER SMALL FRUITS.--Select

none but good, sound berries; those freshly picked are best; reject any

green, over-ripe, mashed, or worm-eaten fruit. If necessary to wash the

berries, do so by putting a quart at a time in a colander, and dipping

the dish carefully into a pan of clean water, letting it stand for a

moment. If the water is very dirty, repeat the process in a second

water. Drain thoroughly, and if to be cooked previous to putting in the

cans, put into a porcelain kettle with a very small quantity of water,

and heat slowly to boiling. If sugar is to be used, have it hot, but do

not add it until the fruit is boiling; and before doing so, if there is

much juice, dip out the surplus, and leave the berries with only a small

quantity, as the sugar will have a tendency to draw out more juice, thus

furnishing plenty for syrup.

Raspberries are so juicy that they need scarcely more than a pint of

water to two quarts of fruit.

The fruit may be steamed in the cans if preferred. When thoroughly

scalded, if sugar is to be used, fill the can with a boiling syrup made

by dissolving the requisite amount of sugar in water; if to be canned

without sugar, fill up the can with boiling water or juice.

Seal the fruit according to directions previously given.

TO CAN GOOSEBERRIES.--Select such as are smooth and turning red,

but not fully ripe; wash and remove the stems and blossom ends. For

three quarts of fruit allow one quart of water. Heat slowly to boiling;

cook fifteen minutes, add a cupful of sugar which has been heated dry

in the oven: boil two or three minutes longer, and can.

TO CAN PEACHES.--Select fruit which is perfectly ripe and sound,

but not much softened. Free-stone peaches are the best. Put a few at a

time in a wire basket, and dip into boiling water for a moment, and then

into cold water, to cool fruit sufficiently to handle with comfort. The

skins may then be rubbed or peeled off easily, if done quickly, and the

fruit divided into halves; or wipe with a clean cloth to remove all dirt

and the wool, and with a silver knife cut in halves, remove the stone,

and then pare each piece, dropping into cold water at once to prevent

discoloration. Peaches cut before being pared are less likely to break

in pieces while removing the stones. When ready, pour a cupful of water

in the bottom of the kettle, and fill with peaches, scattering sugar

among the layers in the proportion of a heaping tablespoonful to a quart

of fruit. Heat slowly, boil fifteen minutes or longer till a silver fork

can be easily passed through the pieces; can in the usual way and seal;

or, fill the cans with the halved peaches, and place them in a boiler of

warm water with something underneath to avoid breaking; cook until

perfectly tender. Have ready a boiling syrup prepared with one half cup

of sugar and two cups of water, and pour into each can all that it will

hold, remove air bubbles, cover and seal. A few of the pits may be

cooked in the syrup, and removed before adding to the fruit, when their

special flavor is desired.

ANOTHER METHOD.--After paring and halving the fruit, lay a clean napkin

in the bottom of a steamer; fill with fruit. Steam until a fork will

easily penetrate the pieces. Have ready a boiling syrup prepared as

directed above, put a few spoonfuls in the bottom of the hot cans, and

dip each piece of fruit gently in the hot syrup; then as carefully place

it in the jars. Fill with the syrup, and finish in the usual way.

Peaches canned without sugar, retain more nearly their natural flavor.

To prepare in this way, allow one half pint of water to each pound of

fruit. Cook slowly until tender, and can in the usual manner. When

wanted for the table, open an hour before needed, and sprinkle lightly

with sugar.

TO CAN PEARS.--The pears should be perfectly ripened, but not soft.

Pare with a silver knife, halve or quarter, remove the seeds and drop

into a pan of cold water to prevent discoloration. Prepare a syrup,

allowing a cup of sugar and a quart of water to each two quarts of

fruit. When the syrup boils, put the pears into it very carefully, so as

not to bruise or break them, and cook until they look clear and can be

easily pierced with a fork. Have the cans heated, and put in first a

little of the syrup, then pack in the pears very carefully; fill to

overflowing with the scalding syrup, and finish as previously directed.

The tougher and harder varieties of pears must be cooked till nearly

tender in hot water, or steamed over a kettle of boiling water, before

adding to the syrup, and may then be finished as above. If it is

desirable to keep the pears whole, cook only those of a uniform size

together; or if of assorted sizes, put the larger ones into the syrup a

few minutes before the smaller ones. Some prefer boiling the kins of the

pears in the water of which the syrup is to be made, and skimming them

out before putting in the sugar. This is thought to impart a finer

flavor. Pears which are very sweet, or nearly tasteless, may be improved

by using the juice of a large lemon for each quart of syrup. Pears may

be cooked in the cans, if preferred.

TO CAN PLUMS.--Green Gages and Damsons are best for canning. Wipe

clean with a soft cloth. Allow a half cup of water and the same of sugar

to every three quarts of fruit, in preparing a syrup. Pick each plum

with a silver fork to prevent it from bursting, and while the syrup is

heating, turn in the fruit, and boil until thoroughly done. Dip

carefully into hot jars, fill with syrup, and cover immediately.

TO CAN CHERRIES.--These may be put up whole in the same way as

plums, or pitted and treated as directed for berries, allowing about two

quarts of water and a scant pint of sugar to five quarts of solid fruit,

for the tart varieties, and not quite half as much sugar for the sweeter

ones.

TO CAN MIXED FRUIT.--There are some fruits with so little flavor

that when cooked they are apt to taste insipid, and are much improved by

canning with some acid or strongly flavored fruits.

Blackberries put up with equal quantities of blue or red plums, or in

the proportion of one to three of the sour fruit, are much better than

either of these fruits canned separately. Black caps are much better if

canned with currants, in the proportion of one part currants to four of

black caps.

Red and black raspberries, cherries and raspberries, are also excellent

combinations.

QUINCES WITH APPLES.--Pare and cut an equal quantity of firm sweet

apples and quinces. First stew the quinces till they are tender in

sufficient water to cover. Take them out, and cook the apples in the

same water. Lay the apples and quinces in alternate layers in a

porcelain kettle or crock. Have ready a hot syrup made with one part

sugar to two and a half parts water, pour over the fruit, and let it

stand all night. The next day reheat to boiling, and can.

Quinces and sweet apples may be canned in the same way as directed below

for plums and sweet apples, using equal parts of apples and quinces, and

adding sugar when opened.

PLUMS WITH SWEET APPLES.--Prepare the plums, and stew in water

enough to cover. When tender, skim out, add to the juice an equal

quantity of quartered sweet apples, and stew until nearly tender. Add

the plumbs again, boil together for a few minutes, and can. When wanted

for the table, open, sprinkle with sugar if any seems needed, let stand

awhile and serve.

TO CAN GRAPES.--Grapes have so many seeds that they do not form a

very palatable sauce when canned entire. Pick carefully from the stems,

wash in a colander the same as directed for berries, and drain. Remove

the skins, dropping them into one earthen crock and the pulp into

another. Place both crocks in kettles of hot water over the stove, and

heat slowly, stirring the pulp occasionally until the seeds will come

out clean.

Then rub the pulp through a colander, add the skins to it, and a cupful

of sugar for each quart of pulp. Return to the fire, boil twenty minutes

until the skins are tender, and can; or, if preferred, the whole grapes

may be heated, and when well scalded so that the seeds are loosened,

pressed through a colander, thus rejecting both seeds and skins, boiled,

then sweetened if desired, and canned.

TO CAN CRAB APPLES.--These may be cooked whole, and canned the same

way as plums.

TO CAN APPLES.--Prepare and can the same as pears, when fresh and

fine in flavor. If old and rather tasteless, the following is a good

way:--several thin slices of the yellow part of the rind, four cups of

sugar, and three pints of boiling water. Pare and quarter the apples, or

if small, only halve them, and cook gently in a broad-bottomed

closely-covered saucepan, with as little water as possible, till tender,

but not broken; then pour the syrup over them, heat all to boiling, and

can at once. The apples may be cooked by steaming over a kettle of hot

water, if preferred. Care must be taken to cook those of the same degree

of hardness together. The slices of lemon rind should be removed from

the syrup before using.

TO CAN PINEAPPLES.--The writer has had no experience in canning

this fruit, but the following method is given on good authority: Pare

very carefully with a silver knife, remove all the "eyes" and black

specks; then cut the sections in which the "eyes" were, in solid pieces

clear down to the core. By doing this all the valuable part of the fruit

is saved, leaving its hard, woody center. As, however, this contains

considerable juice, it should be taken in the hands and wrung as one

wrings a cloth, till the juice is extracted, then thrown away. Prepare a

syrup with one part sugar and two parts water, using what juice has been

obtained in place of so much water. Let it boil up, skim clean, then add

the fruit. Boil just as little as possible and have the fruit tender, as

pineapples loses its flavor by overcooking more readily than any other

fruit. Put into hot cans, and seal.

FRUIT JELLIES.

The excess of sugar commonly employed in preparing jellies often renders

them the least wholesome of fruit preparations, and we cannot recommend

our readers to spend a great amount of time in putting up a large stock

of such articles.

The juice of some fruits taken at the right stage of maturity may be

evaporated to a jelly without sugar, but the process is a more lengthy

one, and requires a much larger quantity of juice than when sugar is

used.

Success in the preparation of fruit jellies depends chiefly upon the

amount of pectose contained in the fruit. Such fruits as peaches,

cherries, and others containing but a small proportion of pectose,

cannot be made into a firm jelly. All fruit for jelly should, if

possible, be freshly picked, and before it is over-ripe, as it has then

a much better flavor. The pectose, the jelly-producing element,

deteriorates with age, so that jelly made from over-ripe fruit is less

certain to "form." If the fruit is under-ripe, it will be too acid to

give a pleasant flavor. Examine carefully, as for canning, rejecting all

wormy, knotty, unripe, or partially decayed fruit. If necessary to wash,

drain very thoroughly.

Apples, quinces, and similar fruits may require to be first cooked in a

small amount of water. The juice of berries, currants, and grapes, may

be best extracted by putting the fruit in a granite-ware double boiler,

or a covered earthen crock placed inside a kettle of boiling water,

mashing as much as possible with a spoon, and steaming without the

addition of water until the fruit is well scalded and broken.

For straining the juice, have a funnel-shaped bag made of coarse flannel

or strong, coarse linen crash. The bag will be found more handy if a

small hoop of wire is sewn around the top and two tapes attached to hang

it by while the hot juice is draining, or a wooden frame to support the

bag may be easily constructed like the one shown on page 74. A dish to

receive the juice should be placed underneath the bag, which should

first be wrung out of hot water, and the scalded fruit, a small quantity

at a time, turned in; then with two large spoons press the sides of the

bag well, moving the fruit around in the bag to get out all the juice,

and removing the pressed pulp and skins each time before putting in a

fresh supply of the hot fruit. If a very clear jelly is desired, the

juice must be allowed to drain out without pressing or squeezing. The

juice of berries, grapes, and currants may be extracted without the

fruit being first scalded, if preferred, by putting the fruit into an

earthen or granite-ware dish, and mashing well with a wooden potato

masher, then putting into a jelly bag and allowing the juice to drain

off for several hours.

When strained, if the jelly is to be prepared with sugar, measure the

juice and pour it into a granite or porcelain fruit kettle with a very

broad bottom, so that as much surface can be on the stove possible. It

is better to boil the juice in quantities of not more than two or three

quarts at a time, unless one has some utensil in which a larger quantity

can be cooked with no greater depth of liquid than the above quantity

would give in a common fruit kettle. The purpose of the boiling is to

evaporate the water from the juice, and this can best be accomplished

before the sugar is added. The sugar, if boiled with the juice, also

darkens the jelly.

The average length of time required for boiling the juice of most

berries, currants, and grapes, extracted as previously directed, before

adding the sugar, is twenty minutes from the time it begins to bubble

all over its surface. It is well to test the jelly occasionally,

however, by dropping a small quantity on a plate to cool, since the

quantity of juice and the rapidity with which it is boiled, may

necessitate some variation in time. In wet season, fruits of all kinds

absorb more moisture and a little longer boiling may be necessary. The

same is true of the juice of fruits gathered after a heavy rain. Jellies

prepared with sugar are generally made of equal measures of juice,

measured before boiling, and sugar; but a very scant measure of sugar is

sufficient, and a less amount will suffice for many fruits. White

granulated sugar is best for all jellies. While the juice is heating,

spread the sugar evenly on shallow tins, and heat in the oven, stirring

occasionally to keep it from scorching. If portions melt, no great harm

will be done, as the melted portions will form in lumps when turned into

the juice, and can be removed with a spoon. When the juice has boiled

twenty minutes, turn in the sugar, which should be so hot that the hand

cannot be borne in it with comfort, stirring rapidly until it is all

dissolved. Let the syrup boil again for three or four minutes, then take

immediately from the fire. Heat the jelly glasses (those with glass

covers are best), by rolling in hot water, and place them in a shallow

pan partially filled with hot water, or stand them on a wet, folded

towel while filling. If it is desired to have the jelly exceptionally

clear and nice, it may be turned through a bag of cheese cloth,

previously wrung out of hot water, into the jelly glasses. If the covers

of the glasses are not tight fitting, a piece of firm paper should be

fitted over the top before putting on the cover, to make it air tight.

Pint self-sealing fruit cans are excellent for storing jelly, and if it

is sealed in them in the same manner as canned fruit, will keep

perfectly, and obviate any supposed necessity for the use of brandied

paper as a preservative measure. Label each variety, and keep in some

cool, dry place. If the jelly is not sufficiently firm when first made,

set the glasses in the sunshine for several days, until the jelly

becomes more firm. This is better than reheating and boiling again, as

it destroys less of the flavor of the fruit.

_RECIPES._

APPLE JELLY.--Cut nice tart apples in quarters, but unless wormy,

do not peel or core. Put into a porcelain kettle with a cup of water for

each six pounds of fruit, and simmer very slowly until the apples are

thoroughly cooked. Turn into a jelly-bag, and drain off the juice. If

very tart, allow three fourths of a pound of sugar to each pint of

juice. If sub-acid, one half pound will be sufficient. Put the sugar

into the oven to heat. Clean the kettle, and boil the juice therein

twenty minutes after it begins to boil thoroughly. Add the sugar,

stirring until well dissolved, let it boil up once again, and remove

from the fire. The juice of one lemon may be used with the apples, and a

few bits of lemon rind, the yellow portion only, cooked with them to

give them a flavor, if liked. One third cranberry juice makes a pleasing

combination.

APPLE JELLY WITHOUT SUGAR.--Select juicy, white fleshed, sub-acid

fruit, perfectly sound and mature but not mellow. The snow apple is one

of the best varieties for this purpose. Wash well, slice, and core

without removing the skins, and cook as directed in the preceding

recipe. Drain off the juice, and if a very clear jelly is desired,

filter it through a piece of cheese cloth previously wrung out of hot

water. Boil the juice,--rapidly at first, but more gently as it becomes

thickened,--until of the desired consistency. The time required will

vary with the quantity of juice, the shallowness of the dish in which it

is boiled, and the heat employed. One hour at least, will be required

for one or two quarts of juice. When the juice has become considerably

evaporated, test it frequently by dipping a few drops on a plate to

cool; and when it jellies sufficiently, remove at once from the fire. A

much larger quantity of juice will be needed for jelly prepared in this

manner than when sugar is used, about two quarts of juice being required

for one half pint of jelly. Such jelly, however, has a most delicious

flavor, and is excellent served with grains. Diluted with water, it

forms a most pleasing beverage.

BERRY AND CURRANT JELLIES.--Express the juice according to the

directions already given. For strawberries, red raspberries, and

currants, allow three fourths of a pound of sugar to a pint of juice.

Black raspberries, if used alone, need less sugar. Strawberry and black

raspberry juice make better jelly if a little lemon juice is used. The

juice of one lemon to each pint of fruit juice will be needed for black

raspberries. Two parts red or black raspberries with one part currants,

make a better jelly than either alone. Boil the juice of strawberries,

red raspberries, and currants twenty minutes, add the sugar, and finish,

as previously directed. Black raspberry juice is much thicker, and

requires less boiling.

CHERRY JELLY.--Jelly may be prepared from cherries by using with

the juice of cherries an equal amount of apple juice, which gives an

additional amount of pectose to the juice and does not perceptibly

change the flavor.

CRAB APPLE JELLY.--Choose the best Siberian crab apples; cut into

pieces, but do not pare or remove seeds. Place in a porcelain-lined or

granite-ware double boiler, with a cup of water for each six pounds of

fruit, and let them remain on the back of the range, with the water

slowly boiling, seven or eight hours. Leave in the boiler or turn into a

large china bowl, and keep well covered, all night. In the morning drain

off the juice and proceed as for apple jelly, using from one half to

three fourths of a pound of sugar to one of juice.

CRANBERRY JELLY.--Scald the berries and express the juice for other

jellies. Measure the juice, and allow three fourths of a pound of sugar

to one of juice. Boil twenty minutes, add the sugar hot, and finish as

directed for other jellies.

GRAPE JELLY.--Jelly from ripe grapes may be prepared in the same

manner as that made from the juice of berries. Jelly from green grapes

needs one half measure more of sugar.

ORANGE JELLY.--Express the juice of rather tart oranges, and use

with it an equal quantity of the juice of sub-acid apples, prepared in

the manner directed for apple jelly. For each pint of the mixed juice,

use one half pound of sugar and proceed as for other jellies.

PEACH JELLY.--Stone, pare, and slice the peaches, and steam them in

a double boiler. Express the juice, and add for each pint of peach juice

the juice of one lemon. Measure the juice and sugar, using three fourths

of a pound of sugar for each pint of juice, and proceed as already

directed. Jelly prepared from peaches will not be so firm as many fruit

jellies, owing to the small amount of pectose contained in their

composition.

A mixture of apples and peaches, in the proportion of one third of the

former to two thirds of the latter, makes a firmer jelly than peaches

alone. The apples should be pared and cored, so that their flavor will

not interfere with that of the peaches.

QUINCE JELLY.--Clean thoroughly good sound fruit, and slice thin.

Put into a double boiler with one cup of water for each five pounds of

fruit, and cook until softened. Express the juice, and proceed as with

other jellies, allowing three fourths of a pound of sugar to each pint

of juice. Tart or sweet apples may be used with quinces, in equal

proportions, and make a jelly of more pleasant flavor than quinces used

alone. The seeds of quinces contain considerable gelatinous substance,

and should be cooked with the quince for jelly making.

PLUM JELLY.--Use Damsons or Green Gages. Stone, and make in the

same way as for berry and other small fruit jellies.

FRUIT IN JELLY.--Prepare some apple jelly without sugar. When

boiled sufficiently to form, add to it, as it begins to cool, some nice,

stoned dates or seeded raisins. Orange jelly may be used instead of the

apple jelly, if preferred.

FRUIT JUICES.

As sauces for desserts and for summer beverages for sick or well, the

pure juices of fruits are most wholesome and delicious. So useful are

they and so little trouble to prepare, that no housewife should allow

the fruit season to pass by without putting up a full stock.

Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, grapes, and cherries

are especially desirable. In preparing them, select only the best fruit,

ripe, but not over-ripe. Extract the juice by mashing the fruit and

slowly heating in the inner cup of a double boiler, till the fruit is

well scalded; too long heating will injure its color. Strain through a

jelly bag and let it drain slowly for a long time, but do not squeeze,

else some of the pulp will be forced through. Reheat slowly to boiling

and can the same as fruit. It may be put up with or without sugar. If

sugar is to be used, add it hot as for jelly, after the juice is

strained and reheated to boiling. For strawberries and currants,

raspberries and cherries, use one cup of sugar to a quart of juice.

Black raspberries and grapes require less sugar, while blueberries and

blackberries require none at all, or not more than a tablespoonful to

the quart. A mixed juice, of one part currants and two parts red or

black raspberries, has a very superior flavor.

_RECIPES._

GRAPE JUICE, OR UNFERMENTED WINE.--Take twenty-five pounds of some

well ripened very juicy variety of grapes, like the Concord. Pick them

from the stems, wash thoroughly, and scald without the addition of

water, in double boilers until the grapes burst open; cool, turn into

stout jelly bags, and drain off the juice without squeezing. Let the

juice stand and settle; turn off the top, leaving any sediment there may

be. Add to the juice about four pounds of best granulated sugar, reheat

to boiling, skim carefully, and can the same as fruit. Keep in a cool,

dark place. The wine, if to be sealed in bottles, will require a corker,

and the corks should first be boiled in hot water and the bottles well

sterilized.

GRAPE JUICE NO. 2.--Take grapes of the best quality, picked fresh

from the vines. Wash well after stripping from the stems, rejecting any

imperfect fruit. Put them in a porcelain or granite fruit kettle with

one pint of water to every three quarts of grapes, heat to boiling, and

cook slowly for fifteen minutes or longer, skimming as needed. Turn off

the juice and carefully filter it through a jelly bag, putting the seeds

and skins into a separate bag to drain, as the juice from them will be

less clear. Heat again to boiling, add one cupful of hot sugar to each

quart of juice, and seal in sterilized cans or bottles. The juice from

the skins and seeds should be canned separately.

ANOTHER METHOD.--Wash the grapes, and express the juice without

scalding the fruit. Strain the juice three or four times through muslin

or cheese cloth, allowing it to stand and settle for some time between

each filtering. To every three pints of juice add one of water and two

cupfuls of sugar. Heat to boiling, and keep at that temperature for

fifteen minutes, skim carefully, and bottle while at boiling heat. Set

away in a cool, dark place.

FRUIT SYRUP.--Prepare the juice expressed from strawberries,

raspberries, currants, or grapes, as directed above for fruit juices.

After it has come to a boil, add one pound of sugar to every quart of

juice. Seal in pint cans. It may be diluted with water to form a

pleasing beverage, and is especially useful in flavoring puddings and

sauces.

CURRANT SYRUP.--Boil together a pint of pure currant juice and one

half pound of best white sugar for ten minutes, and can or bottle while

at boiling temperature. One or two spoonfuls of the syrup in a glass of

water makes a most refreshing drink. Two parts currants and one of red

raspberries may be used in place of all currants, if preferred.

ORANGE SYRUP.--Select ripe and thin-skinned fruit. To every pint of

the juice add one pound of sugar, the juice of one lemon, and a little

of the grated rind. Boil for fifteen minutes, removing all scum as it

rises. If the syrup is not clear, strain through a piece of cheese

cloth, and reheat. Can and seal while boiling hot.

LEMON SYRUP.--Grate the yellow portion of the rind of six lemons,

and mix with three pounds of best granulated white sugar. Add one quart

of water and boil until it thickens. Strain, add the juice of the six

lemons, carefully leaving out the pulp and seeds; boil ten minutes, and

bottle. Diluted with two thirds cold water, it forms a delicious and

quickly prepared lemonade.

LEMON SYRUP NO. 2.--To every pint of lemon juice add one pound of

sugar; boil, skim, and seal in cans like fruit.

BLACKBERRY SYRUP.--Crush fresh, well-ripened blackberries, and add

to them one fourth as much boiling water as berries; let them stand for

twenty-four hours, stirring frequently. Strain, add a cup of sugar to

each quart of juice, boil slowly for fifteen minutes, and can.

FRUIT ICES.--Express the juice from a pint of stoned red cherries,

add the juice of two lemons, one cup of sugar and a quart of cold water.

Stir well for five minutes, an freeze in an ice cream freezer. Equal

parts currant and red raspberry juice may be used instead of cherry, if

preferred.

DRYING FRUIT.

This method of preserving fruit, except in large establishments where it

is dried by steam, is but little used, since canning is quicker and

superior in every way. Success in drying fruits is dependent upon the

quickness with which, they can be dried, without subjecting them to so

violent a heat as to burn them or injure their flavor.

Pulpy fruits, such as berries, cherries, plums, etc., should be spread

on some convenient flat surface without contact with each other, and

dried in the sun under glass, or in a moderate oven. They should be

turned daily. They will dry more quickly if first scalded in a hot oven.

Cherries should be first stoned and cooked until well heated through and

tender, then spread on plates, and the juice (boiled down to a syrup)

poured over them. When dried, they will be moist. Pack in jars. Large

fruit, such as apples, pears, and peaches, should be pared, divided, and

the seeds or stones removed. If one has but a small quantity, the best

plan is to dry by mean of artificial heat; setting it first in a hot

oven until heated through, which process starts the juice and forms a

film or crust over the cut surfaces, thus holding the remaining:

quantity of juice inside until it becomes absorbed in the tissues. The

drying process may be finished in a warming oven or some place about the

range where the fruit will get only moderate heat. If a larger quantity

of fruit is to be dried, after being heated in the oven, it may be

placed in the hot sun out of doors, under fine wire screens, to keep off

the flies; or may be suspended for the ceiling in some way, or placed

upon a frame made to stand directly over the stove. As the drying

proceeds, the fruit should be turned occasionally, and when dry enough,

it should be thoroughly heated before it is packed away, to prevent it

from getting wormy.

NUTS.

The nuts, or shell fruits, as they are sometimes termed, form a class of

food differing greatly from the succulent fruits. They are more properly

seeds, containing, in general, no starch, but are rich in fat and

nitrogenous elements in the form of vegetable albumen and casein. In

composition, the nuts rank high in nutritive value, but owing to the

oily matter which they contain, are difficult of digestion, unless

reduced to a very minutely divided state before or during mastication.

The fat of nuts is similar in character to cream, and needs to be

reduced to the consistency of cream to be easily digested. Those nuts,

such as almonds, filberts, and pecans, which do not contain an excess of

fat, are the most wholesome. Nuts should be eaten, in moderation, at the

regular mealtime, and not partaken of as a tidbit between meals. It is

likewise well to eat them in connection with some hard food, to insure

their thorough mastication. Almonds and cream crisps thus used make a

pleasing combination.

Most of the edible nuts have long been known and used as food. The

_Almond_ was highly esteemed by the ancient nations of the East, its

native habitat, and is frequently referred to in sacred history. It is

grown extensively in the warm, temperate regions of the Old World. There

are two varieties, known as the bitter and the sweet almond. The kernel

of the almond yields a fixed oil; that produced from the bitter almond

is much esteemed for flavoring purposes, but it is by no means a safe

article to use, at it possesses marked poisonous qualities. Fresh, sweet

almonds are a nutritive, and, when properly eaten, wholesome food. The

outer brown skin of the kernel is somewhat bitter, rough, and irritating

to the stomach but it can be easily removed by blanching.

Blanched almonds, if baked for a short time, become quite brittle, and

may be easily pulverized, and are then more easily digested. Bread made

from almonds thus baked and pulverized, is considered an excellent food

for persons suffering with diabetes.

_Brazil Nuts_ are the seeds of a gigantic tree which grows wild in the

valleys of the Amazon, and throughout tropical America. The case

containing these seeds is a hard, woody shell, globular in form, and

about the size of a man's head. It is divided into four cells, in each

of which are closely packed the seeds which constitute the so-called

nuts, of commerce. These seeds are exceedingly rich in oil, one pound of

them producing about nine ounces of oil.

The _Cocoanut_ is perhaps the most important of all the shell fruits, if

we may judge by the variety of uses to which the nut and the tree which

bears it can be put. It has been said that nature seldom produces a tree

so variously useful to man as the cocoanut palm. In tropical countries,

where it grows abundantly, its leaves are employed for thatching, its

fibers for manufacturing many useful articles, while its ashes produce

potash in abundance. The fruit is eaten raw, and in many ways is

prepared for food; it also yields an oil which forms an important

article of commerce. The milk of the fruit is a cooling beverage, and

the woody shell of the nut answers very well for a cup from which to

drink it. The saccharine juice of the tree also affords an excellent

drink; and from the fresh young stems is prepared a farinaceous

substance similar to sago.

The cocoanuts grow in clusters drooping from the tuft of long, fringed

leaves which crown the branchless trunk of the stately palm. The

cocoanut as found in commerce is the nut divested of its outer sheath,

and is much smaller in size than when seen upon the tree. Picked fresh

from the tree, the cocoanut consists first of a green outer covering;

next of a fibrous coat, which, if the nut is mature, is hairy-like in

appearance; and then of the woody shell, inside of which is the meat and

milk. For household purposes the nuts are gathered while green, and

before the inner shell has become solidified; the flesh is then soft

like custard, and can be easily eaten with a teaspoon, while a large

quantity of delicious, milk-like fluid is obtainable from each nut.

As found in our Northern markets, the cocoanut is difficult of

digestion, as is likewise the prepared or desiccated cocoanut. The

cocoanut contains about seventy per cent of oil.

The _Chestnut_ is an exception to most nuts in its composition. It

contains starch, and about fifteen per cent of sugar. No oil can be

extracted from the chestnut. In Italy, and other parts of Southern

Europe, the chestnut forms an important article of food. It is sometimes

dried and ground into flour, from which bread is prepared. The chestnut

is a nutritious food, but owing to the starch it contains, is more

digestible when cooked. The same is true of the _Acorn_, which is

similar in character to the chestnut. In the early ages, acorns were

largely used for food, and are still used as a substitute for bread in

some countries.

The _Hazelnut_, with the _Filbert_ and _Cobnut_, varieties of the same

nut obtained by cultivation, are among the most desirable nuts for

general consumption.

The _Walnut_, probably a native of Persia, where in ancient times it was

so highly valued as to be considered suited only for the table of the

king, is now found very commonly with other species of the same family,

the _Butternut_ and _Hickory nut_, in most temperate climates.

The _Pecan_, a nut allied to the hickory nut, and grown extensively in

the Mississippi Valley and Texas, is one of the most easily digested

nuts.

The _Peanut_ or _Groundnut_ is the seed of an annual, cultivated

extensively in most tropical and sub-tropical countries. After the plant

has blossomed, the stalk which produced the flower has the peculiarity

of bending down and forcing itself under ground so that the seeds mature

some depth beneath the surface. When ripened, the pods containing the

seeds are dug up and dried. In tropical countries the fresh nuts are

largely consumed, and are thought greatly to resemble almonds in flavor.

In this country they are more commonly roasted. They are less easily

digested than many other nuts because of the large amount of oily matter

which they contain.

_RECIPES._

TO BLANCH ALMONDS.--Shell fresh, sweet almonds, and pour boiling

water over them; let them stand for two or three minutes, skim out, and

drop into cold water. Press between the thumb and finger, and the

kernels will readily slip out of the brown covering. Dry between clean

towels. Blanched almonds served with raisins make an excellent dessert.

BOILED CHESTNUTS.--The large variety, knows as the Italian

chestnut, is best for this purpose. Remove the shells, drop into boiling

water, and boil for ten minutes, take out, drop into cold water, and rub

off the brown skin. Have some clean water boiling, turn the blanched

nuts into it, and cook until they can be pierced with a fork. Drain

thoroughly, put into a hot dish, dry in the oven for a few minutes, and

serve. A cream sauce or tomato sauce may be served with them if liked.

MASHED CHESTNUTS.--Prepare and boil the chestnuts as in the

preceding recipe. When tender, mash through a colander with a potato

masher. Season with cream and salt if desired. Serve hot.

TO KEEP NUTS FRESH.--Chestnuts and other thin-shelled nuts may be

kept from becoming too dry by mixing with an equal bulk of dry sand and

storing in a box or barrel in some cool place.

TABLE TOPICS.

Who lives to eat, will die by eating.--_Sel._

Fruit bears the closest relation to light. The sun pours a

continuous flood of light into the fruits, and they furnish the best

portion of food a human being requires for the sustenance of mind

and body.--_Alcott._

The famous Dr. John Hunter, one of the most eminent physicians of

his time, and himself a sufferer from gout, found in apples a remedy

for this very obstinate and distressing malady. He insisted that all

of his patients should discard wine and roast beef, and make a free

use of apples.

Do not too much for your stomach, or it will abandon you.--_Sel._

The purest food is fruit, next the cereals, then the vegetables. All

pure poets have abstained almost entirely from animal food.

Especially should a minister take less meat when he has to write a

sermon. The less meat the better sermon.--_A. Bronson Alcott._

There is much false economy: those who are too poor to have

seasonable fruits and vegetables, will yet have pie and pickles all

the year. They cannot afford oranges, yet can afford tea and coffee

daily.--_Health Calendar._

What plant we in the apple tree?

Fruits that shall dwell in sunny June,

And redden in the August moon,

And drop, when gentle airs come by,

That fan the blue September sky,

While children come, with cries of glee,

And seek there when the fragrant grass

Betrays their bed to those who pass

At the foot of the apple tree.

--_Bryant._

LEGUMES

The legumes, to which belong peas, beans, and lentils, are usually

classed among vegetables; but in composition they differ greatly from

all other vegetable foods, being characterized by a very large

percentage of the nitrogenous elements, by virtue of which they possess

the highest nutritive value. Indeed, when mature, they contain a larger

proportion of nitrogenous matter than any other food, either animal or

vegetable. In their immature state, they more nearly resemble the

vegetables. On account of the excess of nitrogenous elements in their

composition, the mature legumes are well adapted to serve as a

substitute for animal foods, and for use in association with articles in

which starch or other non-nitrogenous elements are predominant; as, for

example, beans or lentils with rice, which combinations constitute the

staple food of large populations in India.

The nitrogenous matter of legumes is termed _legumin_, or vegetable

casein, and its resemblance to the animal casein of milk is very marked.

The Chinese make use of this fact, and manufacture cheese from peas and

beans. The legumes were largely used as food by the ancient nations of

the East. They were the "pulse" upon which the Hebrew children grew so

fair and strong. According to Josephus, legumes also formed the chief

diet of the builders of the pyramids. They are particularly valuable as

strength producers, and frequently form a considerable portion of the

diet of persons in training as athletes, at the present day. Being foods

possessed of such high nutritive value, the legumes are deserving of a

more extended use than is generally accorded them in this country. In

their mature state they are, with the exception of beans, seldom found

upon the ordinary bill of fare, and beans are too generally served in a

form quite difficult of digestion, being combined with large quantities

of fat, or otherwise improperly prepared. Peas and lentils are in some

respects superior to beans, being less liable to disagree with persons

of weak digestion, and for this reason better suited to form a staple

article of diet.

All the legumes are covered with a tough skin, which is in itself

indigestible, and which if not broken by the cooking process or by

thorough mastication afterward, renders the entire seed liable to pass

through the digestive tract undigested, since the digestive fluids

cannot act upon the hard skin. Even when the skins are broken, if served

with the pulp, much of the nutritive material of the legume is wasted,

because it is impossible for the digestive processes to free it from the

cellulose material of which the skins are composed. If, then, it be

desirable to obtain from the legumes the largest amount of nutriment and

in the most digestible form, they must be prepared in some manner so as

to reject the skins. Persons unable to use the legumes when cooked in

the ordinary way, usually experience no difficulty whatever in digesting

them when divested of their skins. The hindrance which even the

partially broken skins are to the complete digestion of the legume, is

well illustrated by the personal experiments of Prof. Struempell, a

German scientist, who found that of beans boiled with the skins on he

was able to digest only 60 per cent of the nitrogenous material they

contained. When, however, he reduced the same quantity of beans to a

fine powder previous to cooking, he was enabled to digest 91.8 per cent

of it.

The fact that the mature legumes are more digestible when prepared in

some manner in which the skins are rejected, was doubtless understood in

early times, for we find in a recipe of the fourteenth century,

directions given "to dry legumes in an oven and remove the skins away

before using them."

The green legumes which are more like a succulent vegetable are easily

digested with the skins on, if the hulls are broken before being

swallowed. There are also some kinds of beans which, in their mature

state, from having thinner skins, are more readily digested, as the

Haricot variety.

SUGGESTIONS FOR COOKING.--The legumes are best cooked by stewing or

boiling, and when mature, require prolonged cooking to render them

tender and digestible. Slow cooking, when practicable, is preferable.

Dry beans and peas are more readily softened by cooking if first soaked

for a time in cold water. The soaking also has a tendency to loosen the

skins, so that when boiled or stewed, a considerable portion of them

slip off whole, and being lighter, rise to the top during the cooking,

and can be removed with a spoon; it likewise aids in removing the strong

flavor characteristic of these foods, which is considered objectionable

by some persons. The length of time required for soaking will depend

upon the age of the seed, those from the last harvest needing only a few

hours, while such as have been kept for two or more years require to be

soaked twelve or twenty-four hours. For cooking, soft water is best. The

mineral elements in hard water have a tendency to harden the casein, of

which the legumes a largely composed, thus rendering it often very

difficult to soften them.

The dry, unsoaked legumes are generally best put to cook in cold water,

and after the boiling point is reached, allowed to simmer gently until

done. Boiling water may be used for legumes which have been previously

soaked. The amount of water required will vary somewhat with the heat

employed and the age and condition of the legume, as will also the time

required for cooking, but as a general rule two quarts of soft water

for one pint of seeds will be quite sufficient. Salt should not be added

until the seeds are nearly done, as it hinders the cooking process.

PEAS.

DESCRIPTION.--The common garden pea is probably a native of

countries bordering on the Black Sea. A variety known as the gray pea

(_pois chiche_) has been used since a very remote period. The common

people of Greece and Rome, in ancient times made it an ordinary article

of diet. It is said that peas were considered such a delicacy by the

Romans that those who coveted public favor distributed them gratuitously

to the people in order to buy votes.

Peas were introduced into England from Holland in the time of Elizabeth,

and were then considered a great delicacy. History tells us that when

the queen was released from her confinement in the tower, May 19, 1554,

she went to Staining to perform her devotions in the church of

Allhallows, after which she dined at a neighboring inn upon a meal of

which the principal dish was boiled peas. A dinner of the same kind,

commemorative of the event, was for a long time given annually at the

same tavern.

Peas, when young, are tender and sweet, containing a considerable

quantity of sugar. The nitrogenous matter entering into their

composition, although less in quantity when unripe, is much more easily

digested than when the seeds are mature.

When quite ripe, like other leguminous seeds, they require long cooking.

When very old, no amount of boiling will soften them. When green, peas

are usually cooked and served as a vegetable; in their dried state, they

are put to almost every variety of use in the different countries where

they are cultivated.

In the southeast of Scotland, a favorite food is made of ground peas

prepared in thick cakes and called peas-bainocks.

In India and southern Europe, a variety of the pea is eaten parched or

lightly roasted, or made into cakes, puddings, and sweetmeats. In

Germany, in combination with other ingredients, peas are compounded into

sausages, which, during the Franco-Prussian war, served as rations for

the soldiers.

Dried peas for culinary use are obtainable in two forms; the split peas,

which have had the tough envelope of the seed removed, and the green or

Scotch peas.

The time required for cooking will vary from five to eight hours,

depending upon the age of the seed and the length of time it has been

soaked previous to cooking.

_RECIPES._

STEWED SPLIT PEAS.--Carefully examine and wash the peas, rejecting

any imperfect or worm-eaten ones. Put into cold water and let them come

to a boil; then place the stewpan back on the range and simmer gently

until tender, but not mushy. Season with salt and a little cream if

desired.

PEAS PUREE.--Soak a quart of Scotch peas in cold water over night.

In the morning, drain and put them to cook in boiling water. Cook slowly

until perfectly tender, allowing them to simmer very gently toward the

last until they become as dry as possible. Put through a colander to

render them homogeneous and remove the skins. Many of the skins will be

loosened and rise to the top during the cooking, and it is well to

remove these with a spoon so as to make the process of rubbing through

the colander less laborious. Season with salt if desired, and a cup of

thin cream. Serve hot.

MASHED PEAS.--Soak and cook a quart of peas as for Peas _Puree_

When well done, if the Scotch peas, rub through a colander to remove the

skins. If the split peas are used, mash perfectly smooth with a potato

masher. Season with a teaspoonful of salt and a half cup of sweet cream,

if desired. Beat well together, turn into an earthen or granite-ware

pudding dish, smooth the top, and bake in a moderate oven until dry and

mealy throughout, and nicely browned on top. Serve hot like mashed

potato, or with a tomato sauce prepared as follows: Heat a pint of

strained, stewed tomato, season lightly with salt, and when boiling,

thicken with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold

water.

PEAS CAKES.--Cut cold mashed peas in slices half an inch in

thickness, brush lightly with cream, place on perforated tins, and brown

in the oven. If the peas crumble too much to slice, form them into small

cakes with a spoon or knife, and brown as directed. Serve hot with or

without a tomato sauce. A celery sauce prepared as directed in the

chapter on Sauces, is also excellent.

DRIED GREEN PEAS.--Gather peas while young and tender and carefully

dry them. When needed for use, rinse well, and put to cook in cold

water. Let them simmer until tender. Season with cream the same as fresh

green peas.

BEANS.

DESCRIPTION.--Some variety of the bean family has been cultivated

and used for culinary purposes from time immemorial. It is frequently

mentioned in Scripture; King David considered it worthy of a place in

his dietary, and the prophet Ezekiel was instructed to mix it with the

various grains and seeds of which he made his bread.

Among some ancient nations the bean was regarded as a type of death, and

the priests of Jupiter were forbidden to eat it, touch it, or even

pronounce its name. The believer in the doctrine of transmigration of

souls carefully avoided this article of food, in the fear of submitting

beloved friends to the ordeal of mastication.

At the present day there is scarcely a country in hot or temperate

climates where the bean is not cultivated and universally appreciated,

both as a green vegetable and when mature and dried.

The time required to digest boiled beans is two and one half hours, and

upwards.

In their immature state, beans are prepared and cooked like other green

vegetables. Dry beans may be either boiled, stewed, or baked, but

whatever the method employed, it must be very slow and prolonged. Beans

to be baked should first be parboiled until tender. We mention this as a

precautionary measure lest some amateur cook, misled by the term "bake,"

should repeat the experiment of the little English maid whom we employed

as cook while living in London, a few years ago. In ordering our dinner,

we had quite overlooked the fact that baked beans are almost wholly an

American dish, and failed to give any suggestions as to the best manner

of preparing it. Left to her own resources, the poor girl did the best

she knew how, but her face was full of perplexity as she placed the

beans upon the table at dinner, with, "Well, ma'am, here are the beans,

but I don't see how you are going to eat them." Nor did we, for she had

actually baked the dry beans, and they lay there in the dish, as brown

as roasted coffee berries, and as hard as bullets.

Beans to be boiled or stewed do not need parboiling, although many cooks

prefer to parboil them, to lessen the strong flavor which to some

persons is quite objectionable.

From one to eight hours are required to cook beans, varying with the age

and variety of the seed, whether it has been soaked, and the rapidity of

the cooking process.

_RECIPES._

BAKED BEANS.--Pick over a quart of best white beans and soak in

cold water over night. Put them to cook in fresh water, and simmer

gently till they are tender, but not broken. Let them be quite juicy

when taken from the kettle. Season with salt and a teaspoonful of

molasses. Put them in a deep crock in a slow oven. Let them bake two or

three hours, or until they assume a reddish brown tinge, adding boiling

water occasionally to prevent their becoming dry. Turn, into a shallow

dish, and brown nicely before sending to the table.

BOILED BEANS.--Pick over some fresh, dry beans carefully, and wash

thoroughly. Put into boiling water and cook gently and slowly until

tender, but not broken. They should be moderately juicy when done. Serve

with lemon juice, or season with salt and a little cream as preferred.

The colored varieties, which are usually quite strong in flavor, are

made less so by parboiling for fifteen or twenty minutes and then

pouring the water off, adding more of boiling temperature, and cooking

slowly until tender.

BEANS BOILED IN A BAG.--Soak a pint of white beans over night. When

ready to cook, put them into a clean bag, tie up tightly, as the beans

have already swelled, and if given space to move about with the boiling

of the water will become broken and mushy. Boil three or four hours.

Serve hot.

SCALLOPED BEANS.--Soak a pint of white beans over night in cold

water. When ready to cook, put into an earthen baking dish, cover well

with new milk, and bake in a slow oven for eight or nine hours;

refilling the dish with milk as it boils away, and taking care that the

beans do not at any time get dry enough to brown over the top till they

are tender. When nearly done, add salt to taste, and a half cup of

cream. They may be allowed to bake till the milk is quite absorbed, and

the beans dry, or may be served when rich with juice, according to

taste. The beans may be parboiled in water for a half hour before

beginning to bake, and the length of time thereby lessened. They should

be well drained before adding the milk, however.

STEWED BEANS.--Soak a quart of white beans in water over night. In

the morning drain, turn hot water over them an inch deep or more, cover,

and place on the range where they will only just simmer, adding boiling

water if needed. When nearly tender, add salt to taste, a tablespoonful

of sugar if desired, and half a cup of good sweet cream. Cook slowly an

hour or more longer, but let them be full of juice when taken up, never

cooked down dry and mealy.

MASHED BEANS.--Soak over night in cold water, a quart of nice white

beans. When ready to cook, drain, put into boiling water, and boil till

perfectly tender, and the water nearly evaporated. Take up, rub through

a colander to remove the skins, season with salt and a half cup of

cream, put in a shallow pudding dish, smooth the top with a spoon, and

brown in the oven.

STEWED LIMA BEANS.--Put the beans into boiling water, and cook till

tender, but not till they fall to pieces. Fresh beans should cook an

hour or more, and dry ones require from two to three hours unless

previously soaked. They are much better to simmer slowly than to boil

hard. They should be cooked nearly dry. Season with salt, and a cup of

thin cream, to each pint of beans. Simmer for a few minutes after the

cream is turned in. Should it happen that the beans become tender before

the water is sufficiently evaporated, do not drain off the water, but

add a little thicker cream, and thicken the whole with a little flour. A

little flour stirred in with the cream, even when the water is nearly

evaporated may be preferred by some.

SUCCOTASH.--Boil one part Lima beans and two parts sweet corn

separately until both are nearly tender. Put them together, and simmer

gently till done. Season with salt and sweet cream. Fresh corn and beans

may be combined in the same proportions, but as the beans will be likely

to require the most time for cooking, they should be put to boil first,

and the corn added when the beans are about half done, unless it is

exceptionally hard, in which case it must be added sooner.

PULP SUCCOTASH.--Score the kernels of some fresh green corn with a

sharp knife blade, then with the back of a knife scrape out all the

pulp, leaving the hulls on the cob. Boil the pulp in milk ten or fifteen

minutes, or until well done. Cook some fresh shelled beans until tender,

and rub them through a colander. Put together an equal quantity of the

beans thus prepared and the cooked corn pulp, season with salt and

sweet cream, boil together for a few minutes, and serve. Kornlet and

dried Lima beans may be made into succotash in a similar manner.

_LENTILS._

DESCRIPTION.--Several varieties of the lentil are cultivated for

food, but all are nearly alike in composition and nutritive value. They

have long been esteemed as an article of diet. That they were in

ordinary use among the Hebrews is shown by the frequent mention of them

in Scripture. It is thought that the red pottage of Esau was made from

the red variety of this legume.

The ancient Egyptians believed that a diet of lentils would tend to make

their children good tempered, cheerful, and wise, and for this reason

constituted it their principal food. A gravy made of lentils is largely

used with their rice by the natives of India, at the present day.

The meal which lentils yield is of great richness, and generally

contains more casein than either beans or peas. The skin, however, is

tough and indigestible, and being much smaller than peas, when served

without rejecting the skins, they appear to be almost wholly of tough,

fibrous material; hence they are of little value except for soups,

_purees_, toasts, and other such dishes as require the rejection of the

skin. Lentils have a stronger flavor than any of the other legumes, and

their taste is not so generally liked until one has become accustomed to

it.

Lentils are prepared and cooked in the same manner as dried peas, though

they require somewhat less time for cooking.

The large dark variety is better soaked for a time previous to cooking,

or parboiled for a half hour and then put into new water, to make them

less strong in flavor and less dark in color.

_RECIPES._

LENTIL PUREE.--Cook the lentils and rub through a colander as for

peas _puree_. Season, and serve in the same manner.

LENTILS MASHED WITH BEANS.--Lentils may be cooked and prepared in

the same manner as directed for mashed peas, but they are less strong in

flavor if about one third to one half cooked white beans are used with

them.

LENTIL GRAVY WITH RICE.--Rub a cupful of cooked lentils through a

colander to remove the skins, add one cup of rich milk, part cream if it

can be afforded, and salt if desired. Heat to boiling, and thicken with

a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Serve hot on

nicely steamed or boiled rice, or with well cooked macaroni.

TABLE TOPICS.

The men who kept alive the flame of learning and piety in the Middle

Ages were mainly vegetarians.--_Sir William Axon._

According to Xenophon, Cyrus, king of Persia, was brought up on a

diet of water, bread, and cresses, till his fifteenth year, when

honey and raisins were added; and the family names of Fabii and

Lentuli were derived from their customary diet.

Thomson, in his poem, "The Seasons," written one hundred and sixty

years ago, pays the following tribute to a diet composed of seeds

and vegetable

products:--#/

"With such a liberal hand has Nature flung

These seeds abroad, blown them about in winds-- ...

But who their virtues can declare? who pierce,

With vision pure, into those secret stores

Of health and life and joy--the food of man,

While yet he lived in innocence and told

A length of golden years, unfleshed in blood?

A stranger to the savage arts of life--

Death, rapine, carnage, surfeit, and disease--

The _lord_, and not the _tyrant_ of the world."

Most assuredly I do believe that body and mind are much influenced

by the kind of food habitually depended upon. I can never stray

among the village people of our windy capes without now and then

coming upon a human being who looks as if he had been split, salted,

and dried, like the salt fish which has built up his arid organism.

If the body is modified by the food which nourishes it, the mind and

character very certainly will be modified by it also. We know enough

of their close connection with each other to be sure of what without

any statistical observation to prove it.--_Oliver Wendell Holmes._

The thoughts and feelings which the food we partake of provokes, are

not remarked in common life, but they, nevertheless, have their

significance. A man who daily sees cows and calves slaughtered, or

who kills them himself, hogs "stuck," hens "plucked," etc., cannot

possibly retain any true feeling for the sufferings of his own

species....Doubtless, the majority of flesh-eaters do not reflect

upon the manner in which this food comes to them, but this

thoughtlessness, far from being a virtue, is the parent of many

vices....How very different are the thoughts and sentiments produced

by the non-flesh diet!--_Gustav Von Struve._

That the popular idea that beef is necessary for strength is not a

correct one, is well illustrated by Xenophon's description of the

outfit of a Spartan soldier, whose dietary consisted of the very

plainest and simplest vegetable fare. The complete accoutrements of

the Spartan soldier, in what we would call heavy marching order,

weighed seventy-five pounds, exclusive of the camp, mining, and

bridge-building tools and the rations of bread and dried fruit which

were issued in weekly installments, and increased the burden of the

infantry soldier to ninety, ninety-five, or even to a full hundred

pounds. This load was often carried at the rate of four miles an

hour for twelve hours _per diem_, day after day, and only when in

the burning deserts of southern Syria did the commander of the

Grecian auxiliaries think prudent to shorten the usual length of the

day's march.

DIET OF TRAINERS.--The following are a few of the restrictions and

rules laid down by experienced trainers:--

Little salt. No course vegetables. No pork or veal. Two meals a day;

breakfast at eight and dinner at two. No fat meat is allowed, no

butter or cheese, pies or pastry.

VEGETABLES

Vegetables used for culinary purposes comprise roots and tubers, as

potatoes, turnips, etc.; shoots and stems, as asparagus and sea-kale;

leaves and inflorescence, as spinach and cabbage; immature seeds,

grains, and seed receptacles, as green peas, corn, and string-beans; and

a few of the fruity products, as the tomato and the squash. Of these the

tubers rank the highest in nutritive value.

Vegetables are by no means the most nutritious diet, as water enters

largely into their composition; but food to supply perfectly the needs

of the vital economy, must contain water and indigestible as well as

nutritive elements. Thus they are dietetically of great value, since

they furnish a large quantity of organic fluids. Vegetables are rich in

mineral elements, and are also of service in giving bulk to food. An

exclusive diet of vegetables, however, would give too great bulk, and at

the same time fail to supply the proper amount of food elements. To

furnish the requisite amount of nitrogenous material for one day, if

potatoes alone were depended upon as food, a person would need to

consume about nine pounds; of turnips, sixteen pounds; of parsnips,

eighteen pounds; of cabbage, twenty-two pounds. Hence it is wise to use

them in combination with other articles of diet--grains, whole-wheat

bread, etc.--that supplement the qualities lacking in the vegetables.

TO SELECT VEGETABLES.--All roots and tubers should be plump, free

from decay, bruises, and disease, and with fresh, unshriveled skins.

They are good from the time of maturing until they begin to germinate.

Sprouted vegetables are unfit for food. Potato sprouts contain a poison

allied to belladonna. All vegetables beginning to decay are unfit for

food.

Green vegetables to be wholesome should be freshly gathered, crisp, and

juicy; those which have lain long in the market are very questionable

food. In Paris, a law forbids a market-man to offer for sale any green

vegetable kept more than one day. The use of stale vegetables is known

to have been the cause of serious illness.

KEEPING VEGETABLES.--If necessary to keep green vegetables for any

length of time, do not put them in water, as that will dissolve and

destroy some of their juices; but lay them in a cool, dark place,--on a

stone floor is best,--and do not remove their outer leaves until needed.

They should be cooked the day they are gathered, if possible. The best

way to freshen those with the stems when withered is to cut off a bit of

the stem or stem-end, and set only the cut part in water. The vegetables

will then absorb enough water to replace what has been lost by

evaporation.

Peas and beans should not be shelled until wanted. If, however, they are

not used as soon as shelled, cover them with pods and put in a cool

place.

Winter vegetables can be best kept wholesome by storing in a cool, dry

place of even temperature, and where neither warmth, moisture, nor light

is present to induce decay or germination. They should be well sorted,

the bruised or decayed, rejected, and the rest put into clean bins or

boxes; and should be dry and clean when stored. Vegetables soon absorb

bad flavors if left near anything odorous or decomposing, and are thus

rendered unwholesome. They should be looked over often, and decayed ones

removed. Vegetables, to be kept fit for food, should on no account be

stored in a cellar with barrels of fermenting pickle brine, soft soap,

heaps of decomposing rubbish, and other similar things frequently found

in the dark, damp vegetable cellars of modern houses.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Most vegetables need thorough washing

before cooking. Roots and tubers should be well cleaned before paring. A

vegetable brush or a small whisk broom is especially serviceable for

this purpose. If necessary to wash shelled beans and peas, it can best

be accomplished by putting them in a colander and dipping in and out of

large pans of water until clean. Spinach, lettuce, and other leaves may

be cleaned the same way.

Vegetables admit of much variety in preparation for the table, and are

commonly held to require the least culinary skill of any article of

diet. This is a mistake. Though the usual processes employed to make

vegetables palatable are simple, yet many cooks, from carelessness or

lack of knowledge of their nature and composition, convert some of the

most nutritious vegetables into dishes almost worthless as food or

almost impossible of digestion. It requires no little care and skill to

cook vegetables so that they will neither be underdone nor overdone, and

so that they will retain their natural flavors.

A general rule, applicable to all vegetables to be boiled or stewed, is

to cook them in as little water as may be without burning. The salts and

nutrient juices are largely lost in the water; and if this needs to be

drained off, much of the nutriment is apt to be wasted. Many cooks throw

away the true richness, while they serve the "husks" only. Condiments

and seasonings may cover insipid taste, but they cannot restore lost

elements. Vegetables contain so much water in their composition that it

is not necessary to add large quantities for cooking, as in the case of

the grains and legumes, which have lost nearly all their moisture in the

ripening process. Some vegetables are much better cooked without the

addition of water.

Vegetables to be cooked by boiling should be put into boiling water; and

since water loses its goodness by boiling, vegetables should be put in

as soon as the boiling begins. The process of cooking should be

continuous, and in general gentle heat is best. Remember that when water

is boiling, the temperature is not increased by violent bubbling. Keep

the cooking utensil closely covered. If water is added, let it also be

boiling hot.

Vegetables not of uniform size should be so assorted that those of the

same size may be cooked together, or large ones may be divided. Green

vegetables retain their color best if cook rapidly. Soda is sometimes

added to the water in which the vegetables are cooked, for the purpose

of preserving their colors, but this practice is very harmful.

Vegetables should be cooked until they are perfectly tender but not

overdone. Many cooks spoil their vegetables by cooking them too long,

while quite as many more serve them in an underdone state to preserve

their form. Either plan makes them less palatable, and likely to be

indigestible.

Steaming or baking is preferable for most vegetables, because their

finer flavors are more easily retained, and their food value suffers

less diminution. Particularly is this true of tubers.

The time required for cooking depends much upon the age and freshness of

the vegetables, as well as the method of cooking employed. Wilted

vegetables require a longer time for cooking than fresh ones.

TIME REQUIRED FOR COOKING.--The following is the approximate length

of time required for cooking some of the more commonly used

vegetables:--

Potatoes, baked, 30 to 45 minutes.

Potatoes, steamed, 20 to 40 minutes.

Potatoes, boiled (in jackets), 20 to 25 minutes after the water is

fairly boiling.

Potatoes, pared, about 20 minutes if of medium size; if very large, they

will require from 25 to 45 minutes.

Green corn, young, from 15 to 20 minutes.

Peas, 25 to 30 minutes.

Asparagus, 15 to 20 minutes, young; 30 to 50 if old.

Tomatoes, 1 to 2 hours.

String beans and shelled beans, 45 to 60 minutes or longer.

Beets, boiled, 1 hour if young; old, 3 to 5 hours.

Beets, baked, 3 to 6 hours. Carrots, 1 to 2 hours.

Parsnips, 45 minutes, young; old, 1 to 2 hours.

Turnips, young, 45 minutes; old, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Winter squash, 1 hour. Cabbage, young, 1 hour; old, 2 to 3 hours.

Vegetable oysters, 1 to 2 hours.

Celery, 20 to 30 minutes.

Spinach, 20 to 60 minutes or more.

Cauliflower, 20 to 40 minutes.

Summer squash, 20 to 60 minutes.

If vegetables after being cooked cannot be served at once, dish them up

as soon as done, and place the dishes in a _bain marie_ or in pans of

hot water, where they will keep of even temperature, but not boil.

Vegetables are never so good after standing, but they spoil less kept in

this way than any other. The water in the pans should be of equal depth

with the food in the dishes. Stewed vegetables and others prepared with

a sauce, may, when cold, be reheated in a similar manner.

[Illustration: Bain Marie.]

If salt is to be used to season, one third of a teaspoonful for each

pint of cooked vegetables is an ample quantity.

THE IRISH POTATO.

DESCRIPTION.--The potato, a plant of the order _Solanaceae_, is

supposed to be indigenous to South America. Probably it was introduced

into Europe by the Spaniards early in the sixteenth century, but

cultivated only as a curiosity. To Sir Walter Raleigh, however, is

usually given the credit of its introduction as a food, he having

imported it from Virginia to Ireland in 1586, where its valuable

nutritive qualities were first appreciated. The potato has so long

constituted the staple article of diet in Ireland, that it has come to

be commonly, though incorrectly, known as the Irish potato.

The edible portion of the plant is the tuber, a thick, fleshy mass or

enlarged portion of an underground stem, having upon its surface a

number of little buds, or "eyes," each capable of independent growth.

The tuber is made up of little cells filled with starch granules,

surrounded and permeated with a watery fluid containing a small

percentage of the albuminous or nitrogenous elements. In cooking, heat

coagulates the albumen within and between the cells, while the starch

granules absorb the watery portion, swell, and distend the cells. The

cohesion between these is also destroyed, and they easily separate. When

these changes are complete, the potato becomes a loose, farinaceous

mass, or "mealy." When, however, the liquid portion is not wholly

absorbed, and the cells are but imperfectly separated, the potato

appears waxen, watery, or soggy. In a mealy state the potato is easily

digested; but when waxy or water-soaked, it is exceedingly trying to the

digestive powers.

It is obvious, then, that the great _desideratum_ in cooking the potato,

is to promote the expansion and separation of its cells; in other words,

to render it mealy. Young potatoes are always waxy, and consequently

less wholesome than ripe ones. Potatoes which have been frozen and

allowed to thaw quickly are much sweeter and more watery, because in

thawing the starch changes into sugar. Frozen potatoes should be thawed

in cold water and cooked at once, or kept frozen until ready for use.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Always pare potatoes very thin. Much of

the most nutritious part of the tuber lies next its outer covering; so

care should be taken to waste as little as possible. Potatoes cooked

with the skins on are undoubtedly better than those pared. The chief

mineral element contained in the potato is potash, an important

constituent of the blood. Potash salts are freely soluble in water, and

when the skin is removed, there is nothing to prevent these salts from

escaping into the water in which the potato is boiled. If the potato is

cooked in its "jacket," the skin, which does not in general burst open

until the potato is nearly done, serves to keep this valuable element

largely inside the potato while cooking. For the same reason it is

better not to pare potatoes and put them in water to soak over night, as

many cooks are in the habit of doing, to have them in readiness for

cooking for breakfast.

Potatoes to be pared should be first washed and dried. It is a good plan

to wash quite a quantity at one time, to be used as needed. After

paring, drop at once into cold water and rinse them thoroughly. It is a

careless habit to allow pared potatoes to fall among the skins, as in

this way they become stained, and appear black and discolored after

cooking. Scrubbing with a vegetable brush is by far the best means for

cleaning potatoes to be cooked with the skins on.

When boiled in their skins, the waste, according to Letheby, is about

three per cent, while without them it is not less than fourteen per

cent, or more than two ounces in every pound. Potatoes boiled without

skins should be cooked very gently.

Steaming, roasting, and baking are much better methods for cooking

potatoes than boiling, for reasons already given. Very old potatoes are

best stewed or mashed. When withered or wilted, they are freshened by

standing in cold water for an hour or so before cooking. If diseased or

badly sprouted, potatoes are wholly unfit for food.

_RECIPES._

BOILED POTATOES (IN JACKETS).--Choose potatoes of uniform size,

free from specks. Wash and scrub them well with a coarse cloth or brush;

dig out all eyes and rinse in cold water; cook in just enough water to

prevent burning, till easily pierced with a fork, not till they have

burst the skin and fallen in pieces. Drain thoroughly, take out the

potatoes, and place them in the oven for five minutes, or place the

kettle back on the range; remove the skins, and cover with a cloth to

absorb all moisture, and let them steam three or four minutes. By either

method they will be dry and mealy. In removing the skins, draw them off

without cutting the potatoes.

BOILED POTATOES (WITHOUT SKINS).--Pare very thin, and wash clean.

If not of an equal size, cut the larger potatoes in two. Cook in only

sufficient water to prevent burning until a fork will easily pierce

their center; drain thoroughly, place the kettle back on the range,

cover with a cloth to absorb the moisture, and let them dry four or five

minutes. Shake the kettle several times while they are drying, to make

them floury.

STEAMED POTATOES.--Potatoes may be steamed either with or without

the skin. Only mature potatoes can be steamed. Prepare as for boiling;

place in a steamer, over boiling water, and steam until tender. If water

is needed to replenish, let it always be boiling hot, and not allow the

potatoes to stop steaming, or they will be watery. When done, uncover,

remove the potatoes to the oven, and let them dry a few minutes. If

peeled before steaming, shake the steamer occasionally, to make them

floury.

ROASTED POTATOES.--Potatoes are much more rich and mealy roasted

than cooked in any other way. Wash them very carefully, dry with a

cloth, and wrap in tissue paper; bury in ashes not too hot, then cover

with coals and roast until tender. The coals will need renewing

occasionally, unless the roasting is done very close to the main fire.

BAKED POTATOES.--Choose large, smooth potatoes as near the same

size as possible; wash and scrub with a brush until perfectly clean; dry

with a cloth, and bake in a moderately hot oven until a fork will easily

pierce them, or until they yield to pressure between the fingers. They

are better turned about occasionally. In a slow oven the skins become

hardened and thickened, and much of the most nutritious portion is

wasted. When done, press each one till it bursts slightly, as that will

allow the steam to escape, and prevent the potatoes from becoming soggy.

They should be served at once, in a folded napkin placed in a hot dish.

Cold baked potatoes may be warmed over by rebaking, if of good quality

and not overdone the first time.

STUFFED POTATO.--Prepare and bake large potatoes of equal size, as

directed in the preceding recipe. When done, cut them evenly three

fourths of an inch from the end, and scrape out the inside, taking care

not to break the skins. Season the potato with salt and a little thick

sweet cream, being careful not to have it too moist, and beat thoroughly

with a fork until light; refill the skins with the seasoned potato, fit

the broken portions together, and reheat in the oven. When hot

throughout, wrap the potatoes in squares of white tissue paper fringed

at both ends. Twist the ends of the paper lightly together above the

fringe, and stand the potatoes in a vegetable dish with the cut end

uppermost. When served, the potatoes are held in the hand, one end of

the paper untwisted, the top of the potato removed, and the contents

eaten with a fork or spoon.

STUFFED POTATOES NO. 2.--Prepare large, smooth potatoes, bake until

tender, and cut them in halves; scrape out the inside carefully, so as

not to break the skins; mash smoothly, mix thoroughly with one third

freshly prepared cottage cheese; season with nice sweet cream, and salt

if desired. Fill the shells with the mixture, place cut side uppermost,

in a pudding dish, and brown in the oven.

MASHED POTATOES.--Peel and slice potatoes enough to make two

quarts; put into boiling water and cook until perfectly tender, but not

much broken; drain, add salt to taste; turn into a hot earthen dish, and

set in the oven for a few moments to dry. Break up the potatoes with a

silver fork; add nearly a cup of cream, and beat hard at least five

minutes till light and creamy; serve at once, or they will become heavy.

If preferred, the potatoes may be rubbed through a hot sieve into a hot

plate, or mashed with a potato beetle, but they are less light and flaky

when mashed with a beetle. If cream for seasoning is not obtainable, a

well-beaten egg makes a very good substitute. Use in the proportion of

one egg to about five potatoes. For mashed potatoes, if all utensils and

ingredients are first heated, the result will be much better.

NEW POTATOES.--When potatoes are young and freshly gathered, the

skins are easiest removed by taking each one in a coarse cloth and

rubbing it; a little coarse salt used in the cloth will be found

serviceable for this purpose. If almost ripe, scrape with a blunt knife,

wash very clean, and rinse in cold water. Boiling is the best method of

cooking; new potatoes are not good steamed. Use only sufficient water to

cover, and boil till tender. Drain thoroughly, cover closely with a

clean cloth, and dry before serving.

CRACKED POTATOES.--Prepare and boil new potatoes as in the

preceding recipe, and when ready to serve, crack each by pressing

lightly upon it with the back of a spoon, lay them in a hot dish, salt

to taste, and pour over them a cup of hot thin cream or rich milk.

CREAMED POTATOES.--Take rather small, new potatoes and wash well;

rub off all the skins; cut in halves, or if quite large, quarter them.

Put a pint of divided potatoes into a broad-bottomed, shallow saucepan;

pour over them a cup of thin sweet cream, add salt if desired; heat just

to the boiling point, then allow them to simmer gently till perfectly

tender, tossing them occasionally in the stewpan to prevent their

burning on the bottom. Serve hot.

SCALLOPED POTATOES.--Pare the potatoes and slice thin; put them in

layers in an earthen pudding dish, dredge each layer lightly with flour,

and salt, and pour over all enough good, rich milk to cover well. Cover,

and bake rather slowly till tender, removing the cover just long enough

before the potatoes are done, to brown nicely. If preferred, a little

less milk may be used, and a cup of thin cream added when the potatoes

are nearly done.

STEWED POTATO.--Pare the potatoes and slice rather thin. Put into

boiling water, and cook until nearly tender, but not broken. Have some

rich milk boiling in the inner dish of a double boiler, add to it a

little salt, then stir in for each pint of milk a heaping teaspoonful of

corn starch or rice flour, rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Stir

until it thickens. Drain the potatoes, turn them into the hot sauce, put

the dish in the outer boiler, and cook for a half hour or longer. Cold

boiled potatoes may be sliced and used in the same way. Cold baked

potatoes sliced and stewed thus for an hour or more, make a particularly

appetizing dish.

POTATOES STEWED WITH CELERY.--Pare and slice the potatoes, and put

them into a stewpan with two or three tablespoonfuls of minced celery.

Use only the white part of the celery and mince it finely. Cover the

whole with milk sufficient to cook and prevent burning, and stew until

tender. Season with cream and salt.

POTATO SNOWBALLS.--Cut largo potatoes into quarters; if small,

leave them undivided; boil in just enough water to cover. When tender,

drain and dry in the usual way. Take up two or three pieces at a time in

a strong, clean cloth, and press them compactly together in the shape of

balls. Serve in a folded napkin on a hot dish.

POTATO CAKES.--Make nicely seasoned, cold mashed potato into small

round cakes about one half an inch thick. Put them on a baking tin,

brush them over with sweet cream, and bake in a hot oven till golden

brown.

POTATO CAKES WITH EGG.--Bake nice potatoes till perfectly tender;

peel, mash thoroughly, and to each pint allow the yolks of two eggs

which have been boiled until mealy, then rubbed perfectly smooth through

a fine wire sieve, and one half cup of rich milk. Add salt to taste, mix

all well together, form the potato into small cakes, place them on oiled

tins, and brown ten or fifteen minutes in the oven.

POTATO PUFF.--Mix a pint of mashed potato (cold is just as good if

free from lumps) with a half cup of cream and the well-beaten yolk of an

egg; salt to taste and beat till smooth; lastly, stir in the white of

the egg beaten to a stiff froth. Pile up in a rocky form on a bright tin

dish, and bake in a quick oven until heated throughout and lightly

browned. Serve at once.

BROWNED POTATOES.--Slice cold potatoes evenly, place them on an

oiled tin, and brown in a very quick oven; or slice lengthwise and lay

on a wire broiler or bread-toaster, and brown over hot coals. Sprinkle

with a little salt if desired, and serve hot with sweet cream as

dressing.

ORNAMENTAL POTATOES.--No vegetable can be made palatable in so many

ways as the potato, and few can be arranged in such pretty shapes.

Mashed potatoes made moist with cream, can easily be made into cones,

pyramids, or mounds. Cold mashed potatoes may be cut into many fancy

shapes with a cookie-cutter, wet with a little cold water, and browned

in the oven.

Mounds of potatoes are very pretty smoothed and strewn with well-cooked

vermicelli broken into small bits, and then lightly browned in the oven.

Scoring the top of a dish of mashed potato deeply in triangles, stars,

and crosses, with the back of a carving knife, and then browning

lightly, gives a very pretty effect.

BROILED POTATO.--Mashed potatoes, if packed firmly while warm into

a sheet-iron bread tin which has been dipped in cold water, may be cut

into slices when cold, brushed with cream, and browned on a broiler over

hot coals.

WARMED-OVER POTATOES.--Cut cold boiled potatoes into very thin

slices; heat a little cream to boiling in a saucepan; add the potato,

season lightly with salt if desired, and cook until the cream is

absorbed, stirring occasionally so as to prevent scorching or breaking

the slices.

VEGETABLE HASH.--With one quart finely sliced potato, chop one

carrot, one red beet, one white turnip, all boiled, also one or two

stalks of celery. Put all together in a stewpan, cover closely, and set

in the oven; when hot, pour over them a cup of boiling cream, stir well

together, and serve hot.

THE SWEET POTATO.

DESCRIPTION.--The sweet potato is a native of the Malayan

Archipelago, where it formerly grew wild; thence it was taken to Spain,

and from Spain to England and other parts of the globe. It was largely

used in Europe as a delicacy on the tables of the rich before the

introduction of the common potato, which has now taken its place and

likewise its name. The sweet potato is the article referred as potato by

Shakespeare and other English writers, previous to the middle of the

seventeenth century.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--What has been said in reference to the

common potato, is generally applicable to the sweet potato; it may be

prepared and cooked in nearly all the ways of the Irish potato.

In selecting sweet potatoes, choose firm, plump roots, free from any

sprouts; if sprouted they will have a poor flavor, and are likely to be

watery.

The sweet potato is best cooked with the skin on; but all discolored

portions and the dry portion at each end, together with all branchlets,

should be carefully removed, and the potato well washed, and if to be

baked or roasted, well dried with a cloth before placing in the oven.

The average time required for boiling is about fifty minutes; baking,

one hour; steaming, about one hour; roasting, one and one half hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED SWEET POTATOES.--Select those of uniform size, wash clean,

cutting out any imperfect spots, wipe dry, put into moderately hot oven,

and bake about one hour, or until the largest will yield to gentle

pressure between the fingers. Serve at once without peeling. Small

potatoes are best steamed, since if baked, the skins will take up nearly

the whole potato.

BAKED SWEET POTATO NO. 2.--Select potatoes of medium size, wash and

trim but do not pare, and put on the upper grate of the oven. For a peek

of potatoes, put in the lower part of the oven in a large shallow pan a

half pint of hot water. The water may be turned directly upon the oven

bottom if preferred. Bake slowly, turning once when half done. Serve in

their skins, or peel, slice, and return to the oven until nicely

browned.

BOILED SWEET POTATOES.--Choose potatoes of equal size; do not pare,

but after cleaning them well and removing any imperfect spots, put into

cold water and boll until they can be easily pierced with a fork; drain

thoroughly, and lay them on the top grate in the oven to dry for five or

ten minutes. Peel as soon as dry, and send at once to the table, in a

hot dish covered with a folded napkin. Sweet potatoes are much better

baked than boiled.

STEAMED SWEET POTATOES.--Wash the potatoes well, cut out any

discolored portions, and steam over a kettle of boiling water until they

can be easily pierced with a fork, not allowing the water in the pot to

cease boiling for a moment. Steam only sufficient to cook them, else

they will be watery.

BROWNED SWEET POTATOES.--Slice cold, cooked sweet potatoes evenly,

place on slightly oiled tins in a hot oven, and brown.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES.--Either bake or steam nice sweet potatoes,

and when tender, peel, mash them well, and season with cream and salt to

taste. They may be served at once, or made into patties and browned in

the oven.

POTATO HASH.--Take equal parts of cold Irish and sweet potatoes;

chop fine and mix thoroughly; season with salt if desired, and add

sufficient thin cream to moisten well. Turn into a stewpan, and heat

gently until boiling, tossing continually, that all parts become heated

alike, and serve at once.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES.--Wash clean and wipe dry, potatoes of

uniform size, wrap with tissue paper, cover with hot ashes, and then

with coals from a hardwood fire; unless near the main fire, the coals

will need renewing a few times. This will require a longer time than by

any other method, but they are much nicer. The slow, continuous heat

promotes their mealiness. When tender, brush the ashes off with a broom,

and wipe with a dry cloth. Send to the table in their jackets.

TO DRY SWEET POTATOES.--Carefully clean and drop them into boiling

water. Let them remain until the skins can be easily slipped off; then

cut into slices and spread on racks to dry. To prepare for cooking, soak

over night, and boil the next day.

TURNIPS.

DESCRIPTION.--The turnip belongs to the order _Cruciferae_,

signifying "cross flowers," so called because their four petals are

arranged in the form of a cross. It is a native of Europe and the

temperate portions of Asia, growing wild in borders of fields and waste

places. The ancient Roman gastronomists considered the turnip, when

prepared in the following manner, a dish fit for epicures: "After

boiling, extract the water from them, and season with cummin, rue or

benzoin, pounded in a mortar; afterward add honey, vinegar, gravy, and

boiled grapes. Allow the whole to simmer, and serve."

Under cultivation, the turnip forms an agreeable culinary esculent; but

on account of the large proportion of water entering into its

composition, its nutritive value is exceedingly low. The Swedish, or

Rutabaga, variety is rather more nutritive than the white, but its

stronger flavor renders it less palatable. Unlike the potato, the turnip

contains no starch, but instead, a gelatinous substance called pectose,

which during the boiling process is changed into a vegetable jelly

called pectine. The white lining just inside the skin is usually bitter;

hence the tuber should be peeled sufficiently deep to remove it. When

well cooked, turnips are quite easily digested.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Turnips are good for culinary purposes

only from the time of their ripening till they begin to sprout. The

process of germination changes their proximate elements, and renders

them less fit for food. Select turnips which are plump and free from

disease. A turnip that is wilted, or that appears spongy, pithy, or

cork-like when cut, is not fit for food.

Prepare turnips for cooking by thoroughly washing and scraping, if young

and tender, or by paring if more mature. If small, they may be cooked

whole; if large, they should be cut across the grain into slices a half

inch in thickness. If cooked whole, care must be taken to select those

of uniform size; and if sliced, the slices must be of equal thickness.

_RECIPES._

BOILED TURNIPS.--Turnips, like other vegetables, should be boiled

in as small an amount of water as possible. Great care must be taken,

however, that the kettle does not get dry, as scorched turnip is

spoiled. An excellent precaution, in order to keep them from scorching

in case the water becomes low, is to place an inverted saucer or

sauce-dish in the bottom of the kettle before putting in the turnips.

Put into boiling water, cook rapidly until sufficiently tender to pierce

easily with a fork; too much cooking discolors and renders them strong

in flavor. Boiled turnips should be drained very thoroughly, and all

water pressed out before preparing for the table. The age, size, and

variety of the turnip will greatly vary the time necessary for its

cooking. The safest rule is to allow plenty of time, and test with a

fork. Young turnips will cook in about forty-five minutes; old turnips,

sliced, require from one and a quarter to two hours. If whole or cut in

halves, they require a proportionate length of time. White turnips

require much, less cooking than yellow ones.

BAKED TURNIPS.--Select turnips of uniform size; wash and wipe, but

do not pare; place on the top grate of a moderately hot oven; bake two

or more hours or until perfectly tender; peel and serve at once, either

mashed or with cream sauce. Turnips are much sweeter baked than when

cooked in any other way.

CREAMED TURNIPS.--Pare, but do not cut, young sweet white turnips;

boil till tender in a small quantity of water; drain and dry well. Cook

a tablespoonful of flour in a pint of rich milk or part cream; arrange

the turnips in a baking dish, pour the sauce over them, add salt if

desired, sprinkle the top with grated bread crumbs, and brown in a quick

oven.

CHOPPED TURNIPS.--Chop well-boiled white turnips very fine, add

salt to taste and sufficient lemon juice to moisten. Turn into a

saucepan and heat till hot, gently lifting and stirring constantly. Cold

boiled turnip may be used advantageously in this way.

MASHED TURNIPS.--Wash the turnips, pare, and drop into boiling

water. Cook until perfectly tender; turn into a colander and press out

the water with a plate or large spoon; mash until free from lumps,

season with a little sweet cream, and salt if desired. If the turnips

are especially watery, one or two hot, mealy potatoes mashed with them

will be an improvement.

SCALLOPED TURNIPS.--Prepare and boil whole white turnips until

nearly tender; cut into thin slices, lay in an earthen pudding dish,

pour over them a white sauce sufficient to cover, made by cooking a

tablespoonful of flour in a pint of milk, part cream if preferred, until

thickened. Season with salt, sprinkle the top lightly with grated bread

crumbs, and bake in a quick oven until a rich brown. Place the baking

dish on a clean plate, and serve. Rich milk or cream may be used instead

of white sauce, if preferred.

STEAMED TURNIPS.--Select turnips of uniform size, wash, pare, and

steam rapidly till they can be easily pierced with a fork; mash, or

serve with lemon juice or cream sauce, as desired.

STEWED TURNIPS.--Prepare and slice some young, fresh white turnips,

boil or steam about twenty minutes, drain thoroughly, turn into a

saucepan with a cup of new milk for each quart of turnips; simmer gently

until tender, season with salt if desired, and serve.

TURNIPS IN JUICE.--Wash young white turnips, peel, and boil whole

in sufficient water to keep them from burning. Cover closely and cook

gently until tender, by which time the water in the kettle should be

reduced to the consistency of syrup. Serve at once.

TURNIPS WITH CREAM SAUCE.--Wash and pare the turnips, cut them

into half-inch dice, and cook in boiling water until tender. Meanwhile

prepare a cream sauce as directed for Scalloped Turnips, using thin

cream in place of milk. Drain the turnips, pour the cream sauce over

them, let them boil up once, and serve.

PARSNIPS.

DESCRIPTION.--The common garden parsnip is derived by cultivation

from the wild parsnip, indigenous to many parts of Europe and the north

of Asia, and cultivated since Roman times. It is not only used for

culinary purposes, but a wine is made from it. In the north of Ireland a

table beer is brewed from its fermented product and hops.

The percentage of nutritive elements contained in the parsnip is very

small; so small, indeed, that one pound of parsnips affords hardly one

fifth of an ounce of nitrogenous or muscle-forming material. The time

required for its digestion, varies from two and one half to three and

one half hours.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Wash and trim off any rough portions:

scrape well with a knife to remove the skins, and drop at once into cold

water to prevent discoloration. If the parsnips are smooth-skinned,

fresh, and too small to need dividing, they need only be washed

thoroughly before cooking, as the skins can be easily removed by rubbing

with a clean towel. Reject those that are wilted, pithy, coarse, or

stringy. Large parsnips should be divided, for if cooked whole, the

outside is likely to become soft before the center is tender. They may

be either split lengthwise or sliced. Parsnips may be boiled, baked, or

steamed; but like all other vegetables containing a large percentage of

water, are preferable steamed or baked.

The time required for cooking young parsnips, is about forty-five

minutes; when old, they require from one to two hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED PARSNIPS.--Wash, thoroughly, but do not scrape the roots;

bake the same as potatoes. When tender, remove the skins, slice, and

serve with cream or an egg sauce prepared as directed for Parsnips with

Egg Sauce. They are also very nice mashed and seasoned with cream. Baked

and steamed parsnips are far sweeter than boiled ones.

BAKED PARSNIPS NO. 2.--Wash, scrape, and divide; drop into boiling

water, a little more than sufficient to cook them, and boil gently till

thoroughly tender. There should remain about one half pint of the liquor

when the parsnips are done. Arrange on an earthen plate or shallow

pudding dish, not more than one layer deep; cover with the juice, and

bake, basting frequently until the juice is all absorbed, and the

parsnips delicately browned. Serve at once.

BOILED PARSNIPS.--Clean, scrape, drop into a small quantity of

boiling water, and cook until they can be easily pierced, with a fork.

Drain thoroughly, cut the parsnips in slices, and mash or serve with a

white sauce, to which a little lemon juice may be added if desired.

BROWNED PARSNIPS.--Slice cold parsnips into rather thick pieces,

and brown as directed for browned potatoes.

CREAMED PARSNIPS.--Bake or steam the parsnips until tender; slice,

add salt if desired, and a cup of thin sweet cream. Let them stew slowly

until nearly dry, or if preferred, just boil up once and serve.

MASHED PARSNIPS.--Wash and scrape, dropping at once into cold water

to prevent discoloration. Slice thinly and steam, or bake whole until

perfectly tender. When done, mash until free from lumps, removing all

hard or stringy portions; add salt to taste and a few spoonfuls of thick

sweet cream, and serve.

PARSNIPS WITH CREAM SAUCE.--Bake as previously directed. When

tender, slice, cut into cubes, and pour over them a cream sauce prepared

as for Turnips with Cream Sauce. Boil up together once, and serve.

PARSNIPS WITH EGG SAUCE.--Scrape, wash, and slice thinly, enough

parsnips to make three pints; steam, bake, or boil them until very

tender. If boiled, turn into a colander and drain well. Have ready an

egg sauce, for preparing which heat a pint of rich milk or very thin

cream to boiling, stir into it a level tablespoonful of flour rubbed

smooth with a little milk. Let this boil a few minutes, stirring

constantly until the flour is well cooked and the sauce thickened; then

add slowly the well-beaten yolk of one egg, stirring rapidly so that it

shall be well mingled with the whole; add salt to taste; let it boil up

once, pour over the parsnips, and serve. The sauce should be of the

consistency of thick cream.

PARSNIPS WITH POTATOES.--Wash, scrape, and slice enough parsnips

to make two and a half quarts. Pare and slice enough potatoes to make

one pint. Cook together in a small quantity of water. When tender, mash

smoothly, add salt, the yolks of two eggs well beaten, and a cup of rich

milk. Beat well together, put into an earthen or china dish, and brown

lightly in the oven.

STEWED PARSNIPS.--Prepare and boil for a half hour; drain, cover

with rich milk, add salt if desired, and stew gently till tender.

STEWED PARSNIPS WITH CELERY.--Prepare and steam or boil some nice

ones until about half done. If boiled, drain thoroughly; add salt if

desired, and a tablespoonful of minced celery. Turn rich boiling milk

over them, cover, and stew fifteen or twenty minutes, or till perfectly

tender.

CARROTS.

DESCRIPTION.--The garden carrot is a cultivated variety of a plant

belonging to the _Umbettiferae_, and grows wild in many portions of

Europe. The root has long been used for food. By the ancient Greeks and

Romans it was much esteemed as a salad. The carrot is said to have been

introduced into England by Flemish refugees during the reigns of

Elizabeth and James I. Its feathery leaves were used by the ladies as an

adornment for their headdresses, in place of plumes. Carrots contain

sugar enough for making a syrup from them; they also yield by

fermentation and distillation a spirituous liquor. In Germany they are

sometimes cut into small pieces, and roasted as a substitute for coffee.

Starch does not enter into the composition of carrots, but a small

portion of pectose is found instead. Carrots contain more water than

parsnips, and both much cellulose and little nutritive material. Carrots

when well cooked form a wholesome food, but one not adapted to weak

stomachs, as they are rather hard to digest and tend to flatulence.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--The suggestions given for the preparation

of parsnips are also applicable to carrots; and they may be boiled,

steamed, or browned in the same manner. From one to two hours time will

be required, according to age, size, variety, and method of cooking.

_RECIPES._

BOILED CARROTS.--Clean, scrape, drop into boiling water, and cook

till tender; drain thoroughly, slice, and serve with a cream sauce.

Varieties with strong flavor are better parboiled for fifteen or twenty

minutes, and put into fresh boiling water to finish.

CARROTS WITH EGG SAUCE.--Wash and scrape well; slice and throw into

boiling water, or else steam. When tender, drain thoroughly, and pour

over them a sauce prepared the same as for parsnips (page 244), with the

addition of a tablespoonful of sugar. Let them boil up once, and serve.

STEWED CARROTS.--Prepare young and tender carrots, drop into

boiling water, and cook for fifteen or twenty minutes. Drain, slice, and

put into a stewpan with rich milk or cream nearly to cover; simmer

gently until tender; season with salt and a little chopped parsley.

BEETS.

DESCRIPTION.--The beet is a native of the coasts of the

Mediterranean, and is said to owe its botanical name, _beta_, to a

fancied resemblance to the Greek letter B. Two varieties are in common

use as food, the white and the red beet; while a sub-variety, the sugar

beet, is largely cultivated in France, in connection with the beet-sugar

industry in that country. The same industry has recently been introduced

into this country. It is grown extensively in Germany and Russia, for

the same pose, and is also used there in the manufacture of alcohol.

The beet root is characterized by its unusual amount of sugar. It is

considered more nutritive than any other esculent tuber except the

potato, but the time required for its digestion exceeds that of most

vegetables, being three and three fourths hours.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Beets, like other tubers, should be

fresh, unshriveled, and healthy. Wash carefully, scrubbing with a soft

brush to remove all particles of dirt; but avoid scraping, cutting, or

breaking, lest the sweet juices escape. In handling for storage, be

careful not to bruise or break the skins; and in purchasing from the

market, select only such as are perfect.

Beets may be boiled, baked, or steamed. In boiling, if the skin is cut

or broken, the juice will escape in the water, and the flavor will be

injured; for this reason, beets should not be punctured with a fork to

find if done. When tender, the thickest part will yield readily to

pressure of the fingers. Beets should be boiled in just as little water

as possible, and they will be much better if it has all evaporated by

the time they are cooked.

Young beets will boil in one hour, while old beets require from three to

five hours; if tough, wilted, and stringy, they cannot be boiled tender.

Baked beets require from three to six hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED BEETS.--Beets are far better baked than boiled, though it

takes a longer time to cook properly. French cooks bake them slowly six

hours in a covered dish, the bottom of which is lined with

well-moistened rye straw; however, they may be baked on the oven grate,

like potatoes. Wipe dry after washing, and bake slowly. They are very

nice served with a sauce made of equal quantities of lemon juice and

whipped cream, with a little salt.

BAKED BEETS NO. 2.--Wash young and tender beets, and place in an

earthen baking dish with a very little water; as it evaporates, add

more, which must be of boiling temperature. Set into a moderate oven,

and according to size of the beets, bake slowly from two to three hours.

When tender, remove the skins and dress with lemon juice or cream sauce.

BEETS AND POTATOES.--Boil newly matured potatoes and young beets

separately till tender; then peel and slice. Put thorn in alternate

layers in a vegetable dish, with salt to taste, and enough sweet cream

nearly to cover. Brown in the oven, and serve at once.

BEET HASH.--Chop quite finely an equal quantity of cold boiled or

baked beets and boiled or baked potatoes. Put into a shallow saucepan,

add salt and sufficient hot cream to moisten. Toss frequently, and cook

until well heated throughout. Serve hot.

BEET GREENS.--Take young, tender beets, clean thoroughly without

separating the tops and roots. Examine the leaves carefully, and pick

off inferior ones. Put into boiling water, and cook for nearly an hour.

Drain, press out all water, and chop quite fine. Serve with a dressing

of lemon juice or cream, as preferred.

BEET SALAD, OR CHOPPED BEETS.--Cold boiled or baked beets, chopped

quite fine, but not minced, make a nice salad when served with a

dressing of lemon juice and whipped cream in the proportion of three

tablespoonfuls of lemon juice to one half cup of whipped cream, and salt

if desired.

BEET SALAD NO. 2.--Chop equal parts of boiled beets and fresh young

cabbage. Mix thoroughly, add salt to taste, a few tablespoonfuls of

sugar, and cover with diluted lemon juice. Equal quantities of cold

boiled beets and cold boiled potatoes, chopped fine, thoroughly mixed,

and served with a dressing of lemon juice and whipped cream, make a

palatable salad. Care should be taken in the preparation of these and

the preceding salad, not to chop the vegetables so fine as to admit of

their being eaten without mastication.

BOILED BEETS.--Wash carefully, drop into boiling water, and cook

until tender. When done, drop into cold water for a minute, when the

skins can be easily rubbed off with the hand. Slice, and serve hot with

lemon juice or with a cream sauce.

STEWED BEETS.--Bake beets according to recipe No. 2. Peel, cut in

slices, turn into a saucepan, nearly cover with thin cream, simmer for

ten or fifteen minutes, add salt if desired, and thicken the gravy with

a little corn starch or flour.

CABBAGE.

DESCRIPTION.--The common white garden cabbage is one of the oldest

of cultivated vegetables. A variety of the plant known as red cabbage

was the delight of ancient gourmands more than eighteen centuries ago.

The Egyptians adored it, erected altars to it, and made it the first

dish at their repasts. In this they were imitated by the Greeks and

Romans.

Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, considered the cabbage one of the

most valuable of remedies, and often prescribed a dish of boiled cabbage

to be eaten with salt for patients suffering with violent colic.

Erasistratus looked upon it as a sovereign remedy against paralysis,

while Cato in his writings affirmed it to be a panacea for all diseases,

and believed the use the Romans made of it to have been the means

whereby they were able, during six hundred years, to do without the

assistance of physicians, whom they had expelled from their territory.

The learned philosopher, Pythagoras, composed books in which he lauded

its wonderful virtues.

The Germans are so fond of cabbage that it enters into the composition

of a majority of their culinary products. The cabbage was first raised

in England about 1640, by Sir Anthony Ashley. That this epoch, important

to the English horticultural and culinary world, may never be forgotten,

a cabbage is represented upon Sir Anthony's monument.

The nutritive value of the cabbage is not high, nearly ninety per cent

being water; but it forms an agreeable variety in the list of vegetable

foods, and is said to possess marked antiscorbutic virtue. It is,

however, difficult of digestion, and therefore not suited to weak

stomachs. It would be impossible to sustain life for a lengthened period

upon cabbage, since to supply the body with sufficient food elements,

the quantity would exceed the rate of digestion and the capacity of the

stomach.

M. Chevreul, a French scientist, has ascertained that the peculiar odor

given off during the boiling of cabbage is due to the disengagement of

sulphureted hydrogen. Cabbage is said to be more easily digested raw

than cooked.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--A good cabbage should have a

well-developed, firm head, with fresh, crisp leaves, free from

worm-holes and decayed portions. To prepare for cooking, stalk, shake

well to free from dirt, and if there are any signs of insects, lay in

cold salted water for an hour or so to drive them out. Rinse away the

salt water, and if to be boiled, drop into a small quantity of boiling

water. Cover closely and boil vigorously until tender. If cooked slowly,

it will be watery and stringy, while overdone cabbage is especially

insipid and flavorless. If too much water has been used, remove the

cover, that evaporation may go on more rapidly; if too little, replenish

with boiling water. Cabbage should be cooked in a porcelain-lined or

granite-ware sauce pan or a very clean iron kettle. Cabbage may also be

steamed, but care must be taken to have the process as rapid as

possible. Fresh young cabbage will cook in about one hour; old cabbage

requires from two to three hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED CABBAGE.--Prepare and chop a firm head of young white

cabbage, boil until tender, drain, and set aside until nearly cold. Then

add two well-beaten eggs, salt to taste, and a half cup of thin cream or

rich milk. Mix and bake in a pudding dish until lightly browned.

BOILED CABBAGE.--Carefully clean a nice head of cabbage, divide

into halves, and with a sharp knife slice very thin, cutting from the

center of the head outward. Put into boiling water, cover closely, and

cook rapidly until tender; then turn into a colander and drain, pressing

gently with the back of a plate. Return to the kettle, add salt to

taste, and sufficient sweet cream to moisten well, heat through if at

all cooled, dish, and serve at once. If preferred, the cream may be

omitted, and the cabbage served with tomato sauce or lemon juice as a

dressing.

CABBAGE AND TOMATOES.--Boil finely chopped cabbage in as little

water as possible. When tender, add half the quantity of hot stewed

tomatoes, boil together for a few minutes, being careful to avoid

burning, season with salt if desired, and serve. If preferred, a little

sweet cream may be added just before serving.

CABBAGE CELERY.--A firm, crisp head of cabbage cut in slices half

an inch or an inch thick, and then again into pieces four or five inches

long and two or three inches wide, makes a quite appetizing substitute

for celery.

CABBAGE HASH.--Chop fine, equal parts of cold boiled potatoes and

boiled cabbage, and season with salt. To each quart of the mixture add

one half or three fourths of a cup of thin cream; mix well and boil till

well heated.

CHOPPED CABBAGE OR CABBAGE SALAD.--Take one pint of finely chopped

cabbage; pour over it a dressing made of three tablespoonfuls of lemon

juice, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a half cup of whipped cream,

thoroughly beaten together in the order named; or serve with sugar and

diluted lemon juice.

MASHED CABBAGE.--Cut a fine head of cabbage into quarters, and cook

until tender. A half hour before it is done, drop in three good-sized

potatoes. When done, take all up in a colander together, press out the

water, and mash very fine. Season with cream, and salt if desired.

STEWED CABBAGE. Chop nice cabbage quite fine, and put it into

boiling water, letting it boil twenty minutes. Turn into a colander and

drain thoroughly; return to the kettle, cover with milk, and let it boil

till perfectly tender; season with salt and cream to taste. The beaten

yolk of an egg, stirred in with the cream, is considered an improvement

by some.

CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI.

DESCRIPTION.--These vegetables are botanically allied to the

cabbage, and are similar in composition. They are entirely the product

of cultivation, and constitute the inflorescence of the plant, which

horticultural art has made to grow into a compact head of white color in

the cauliflower, and of varying shades of buff, green, and purple in the

broccoli. There is very little difference between the two aside from the

color, and they are treated alike for culinary purposes. They were known

to the Greeks and Romans, and highly appreciated by connoisseurs. They

are not as nutritious as the cabbage, but have a more delicate and

agreeable flavor.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--The leaves should be green and fresh, and

the heads of cauliflower creamy white; when there are dark spots, it is

wilted. The color of broccoli will depend upon the variety, but the head

should be firm, with no discolorations. To prepare, pick off the outside

leaves, cut the stalk squarely across, about two inches below the

flower, and if very thick, split and wash thoroughly in several waters;

or better still, hold it under the faucet, flower downward, and allow a

constant stream of water to fall over it for several minutes; then place

top downward in a pan of lukewarm salted water, to drive out any insects

which may be hidden in it; examine carefully for worms just the color of

the stalk; tie in a net (mosquito netting, say) to prevent breaking, or

place the cauliflower on a plate in a steamer, and boil, or steam, as is

most convenient. The time required for cooking will vary from twenty to

forty minutes.

_RECIPES._

(The recipes given are applicable to both broccoli and cauliflower.)

BOILED CAULIFLOWER.--Prepare, divide into neat branches, and tie

securely in a net. Put into boiling milk and water, equal quantities,

and cook until the main stalks are tender. Boil rapidly the first five

minutes, afterward more moderately, to prevent the flower from becoming

done before the stalks. Serve on a hot dish with cream sauce or diluted

lemon juice.

BROWNED CAULIFLOWER.--Beat together two eggs, a little salt, four

tablespoonfuls of sweet cream, and a small quantity of grated bread

crumbs well moistened with a little milk, till of the consistency of

batter. Steam the cauliflower until tender, separate it into small

bunches, dip each top in the mixture, and place in nice order in a

pudding dish; put in the oven and brown.

CAULIFLOWER WITH EGG SAUCE.--Steam the cauliflower until tender,

separate into small portions, dish, and serve with an egg sauce prepared

as directed for parsnips on page 244.

CAULIFLOWER WITH TOMATO SAUCE.--Boil or steam the cauliflower until

tender. In another dish prepare a sauce with a pint of strained stewed

smooth in a little water, and salted to taste. When the cauliflower is

tender, dish, and pour over it the hot tomato sauce. If preferred, a

tablespoonful of thick sweet cream may be added to the sauce before

using.

STEWED CAULIFLOWER.--Boil in as little water as possible, or steam

until tender; separate into small portions, add milk, cream and salt to

taste; stew together for a few minutes, and serve.

SCOLLOPED CAULIFLOWER.--Prepare the cauliflower, and steam or boil

until tender. If boiled, use equal quantities of milk and water.

Separate into bunches of equal size, place in a pudding dish, cover with

a white or cream sauce, sprinkle with grated bread crumbs, and brown in

the oven.

SPINACH.

DESCRIPTION.--This plant is supposed to be a native of western

Arabia. There are several varieties which are prepared and served as

"greens." Spinach is largely composed of water. It is considered a

wholesome vegetable, with slightly laxative properties.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Use only tender plants or the tender

leaves of the older stalks, and be sure to have enough, as spinach

shrinks greatly. A peck is not too much for a family of four or five.

Pick it over very carefully, trim off the roots and decayed leaves, and

all tough, stringy stalks, and the coarse fibers of the leaves, as those

will not cook tender until the leaves are overdone. Wash in several

waters, lifting grit. Shake each bunch well. Spinach is best cooked in

its own juices; this may be best accomplished by cooking it in a double

boiler, or if placed in a pot and slowly heated, it will however, be

stirred frequently at first, to prevent burning; cover closely and cook

until tender. The time required will vary from twenty minutes to half an

hour or more. If water is used in the cooking, have a half kettleful

boiling when the spinach is put in, and continue to boil rapidly until

the leaves are perfectly tender; then drain in a colander, press with

the back of a plate to extract all water, chop very fine, and either

serve with lemon juice as a dressing, or add a half cup of sweet cream

with or without a teaspoonful of sugar. Boil up once, stirring

constantly, and serve very hot. A garnish of sliced boiled eggs is often

employed with this vegetable.

CELERY.

DESCRIPTION.--The common celery is a native of Great Britain. In

its wild state it has a strong, disagreeable taste and smell, and is

known as _smallage_. By cultivation it becomes more mild and sweet. It

is usually eaten uncooked as a salad herb, or introduced into soups as a

flavouring. In its raw state, it is difficult of digestion.

Celery from the market may be kept fresh for some time by wrapping the

bunches in brown paper, sprinkling them with water, then wrapping in a

damp cloth and putting in some cool, dark place.

_RECIPES_

CELERY SALAD.--Break the stems apart, cut off all green portions,

and after washing well put in cold water for an hour or so before

serving.

STEWED CELERY.--Cut the tender inner parts of celery heads into

pieces about a finger long. The outer and more fibrous stalks may be

saved to season soups. Put in a stewpan, and add sufficient water to

cover; then cover the pan closely, and set it where it will just simmer

for an hour, or until the celery is perfectly tender. When cooked, add a

pint of rich milk, part cream if you have it, salt to taste, and when

boiling, stir in a tablespoon of flour rubbed smooth in a little milk.

Boil up once and serve.

STEWED CELERY NO. 2.--Cut the white part of fine heads of celery

into small pieces, blanch in boiling water, turn into a colander, and

drain. Heat a cup and a half of milk to boiling in a stewpan; add the

celery, and stew gently until tender. Remove the celery with a skimmer,

and stir into the milk the beaten yolks of two eggs and one half cup of

cream. Cook until thickened; pour over the celery, and serve.

CELERY WITH TOMATO SAUCE.--Prepare the celery as in the preceding

recipe, and cook until tender in a small quantity of boiling water.

Drain in a colander, and for three cups of stewed celery prepare a sauce

with a pint of strained stewed tomato, heated to boiling and thickened

with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. If

desired, add a half cup of thin cream. Turn over the celery, and serve

hot.

CELERY AND POTATO HASH.--To three cups of cold boiled or baked

potato, chopped rather fine, add one cup of cooked celery, minced. Put

season. Heat to boiling, tossing and stirring so that the whole will be

heated throughout, and serve hot.

ASPARAGUS.

DESCRIPTION.--The asparagus is a native of Europe, and in its wild

state is a sea-coast plant. The young shoots form the edible portion.

The plant was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who not only used

it as a table delicacy but considered it very useful in the treatment of

internal diseases. Roman cooks provided themselves with a supply of the

vegetable for winter use by cutting fine heads and drying them. When

wanted, they were put into hot water and gently cooked.

The asparagus is remarkable as containing a crystalline alkaloid called

_asparagin_, which is thought to possess diuretic properties.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Select fresh and tender asparagus. Those

versed in its cultivation, assert that it should be cut at least three

times a week, and barely to the ground. If it is necessary to keep the

bunches for some time before cooking, stand them, tops uppermost, in

water about one half inch deep, in the cellar or other cool place. Clean

each stalk separately by swashing back and forth in a pan of cold water

till perfectly free from sand, then break off all the tough portions,

cut in equal lengths, tie in bunches of half a dozen or more with soft

tape, drop into boiling water barely sufficient to cover, and simmer

gently until perfectly tender.

If the asparagus is to be stewed, break: (not cut) into small pieces;

when it will not snap off quickly, the stalk is too tough for use.

Asparagus must be taken from the water just as soon as tender, while yet

firm in appearance. If boiled soft, it loses its flavor and is

uninviting. It is a good plan when it is to be divided before cooking,

if the stalks are not perfectly tender, to boil the hardest portions

first. Asparagus cooked in bunches is well done, if, when held by the

thick end in a horizontal position between the fingers, it only bends

lightly and does not fall heavily down.

The time required for boiling asparagus depends upon its freshness and

age. Fresh, tender asparagus cooks in a very few minutes, so quickly,

indeed, that the Roman emperor Augustus, intimating that any affair must

be concluded without delay, was accustomed to say, "Let that be done

quicker than you can cook asparagus." Fifteen or twenty minutes will

suffice if young and fresh; if old, from thirty to fifty minutes will be

required.

_RECIPES._

ASPARAGUS AND PEAS.--Asparagus and green peas make a nice dish

served together, and if of proportionate age, require the same length of

time to cook. Wash the asparagus, shell and look over the peas, put

together into boiling water, cook, and serve as directed for stewed

asparagus.

ASPARAGUS POINTS.--Cut of enough heads in two-inch lengths to make

three pints. Put into boiling water just sufficient to cover. When

tender, drain off the water, add a half cup of cream, and salt if

desired. Serve at once.

ASPARAGUS ON TOAST.--Cook the asparagus in bunches, and when

tender, drain and place on slices of nicely browned toast moistened in

the asparagus liquor. Pour over all a cream sauce prepared as directed

below.

ASPARAGUS WITH CREAM SAUCE.--Thoroughly wash, tie in small bunches,

and put into boiling water; boil till perfectly tender. Drain

thoroughly, untie the bunches, place the stalks all the same way upon a

hot plate, with a dressing prepared as follows: Let a pint of sweet

cream (about six hours old is best) come to the boiling point, and stir

into it salt to taste and a level tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth

with a little cold cream.

ASPARAGUS WITH EGG SAUCE.--Prepare and cook asparagus as directed

above. When tender, drain thoroughly, and serve on a hot dish or on

slices of nicely browned toast, with an egg sauce prepared in the

following manner: Heat a half cup of rich milk to boiling, add salt, and

turn into it very slowly the well-beaten yolk of an egg, stirring

constantly at the same time. Let the whole just thicken, and remove from

the fire at once.

STEWED ASPARAGUS.--Wash, break into inch pieces, simmer till tender

in water just to cover, add sufficient rich milk, part cream if

convenient, to make a gravy, thicken slightly with flour, a teaspoonful

to a pint of milk; add salt if desired, boil up together once, and

serve.

SEA-KALE.

DESCRIPTION.--This plant, a native of Britain, and much esteemed as

a vegetable in England and on the Continent, is also in its wild state a

sea-coast plant. When properly cooked, it is nutritious and easy of

digestion. In appearance and flavor it greatly resembles asparagus, and

the suggestions for cooking and recipes given for that vegetable are

applicable to sea-kale.

LETTUCE AND RADISH.

DESCRIPTION.--These two vegetables, although wholly different, the

one being the leaf of a plant, the other the root, are both so commonly

served as relishes that we will speak of them together. Both have long

been known and used. Wild lettuce is said to be the bitter herb which

the Hebrews ate with the Paschal lamb. The ancient Greek and Roman

epicures valued lettuce highly, and bestowed great care upon its

cultivation, in some instances watering the plants with sweet wine

instead of water, in order to communicate to them a delicate perfume and

flavor. The common garden lettuce of the present day is a hardy plant,

which supplies an agreeable, digestible, and, when served with a

wholesome dressing, unobjectionable salad.

The common radish is supposed to be indigenous to China. Ancient writers

on foods mention the radish as used by the early Greeks and Romans, who

fancied that at the end of three years its seed would produce cabbages.

They had also the singular custom of making the radish the ignominious

projectile with which in times of tumult the mob pursued persons whose

political opinions had made them obnoxious. When quiet was restored, the

disgraced vegetable was boiled and eaten with oil and vinegar. Common

garden radishes are of different shapes and of various colors on the

outside, there being black, violet, red, and white radishes. The inside

portion of all, however, is white. They are sometimes cooked, but more

commonly served raw. A dish of crisp, coral radishes adds beauty to the

appearance of the table, but they are not possessed of a high nutritive

value, being very similar to the turnip in composition, and unless very

young, tender, and when eaten thoroughly masticated, are quite difficult

of digestion.

_RECIPES._

LETTUCE.--Wash well, put into cold water, and set on ice or on the

cellar bottom for an hour or more before using. Dry the leaves with a

soft towel and use whole or tear into convenient pieces with a silver

fork; never cut with a knife. Serve with a dressing prepared of equal

quantities of lemon juice and sugar, diluted with a little ice water;

or, with a dressing of cream and sugar, in the proportion of three or

four tablespoonfuls of thin cream to a teaspoonful of sugar. The

dressing may be prepared, and after the sugar is dissolved, a very

little lemon juice (just enough to thicken the cream slightly, but not

sufficient to curdle it) may be added if desired.

RADISHES.--Wash thoroughly young and tender radishes, and arrange

in a glass dish with the taper ends meeting. Scatter bits of cracked ice

among them. An inch of the stem, if left on, serve as a convenience in

handling.

CYMLING, SUMMER SQUASH, OR VEGETABLE MARROW.

DESCRIPTION.--The vegetable marrow (sometimes called cymling) is

thought to be a variety of the common gourd, from which also the pumpkin

and winter squash appear to have been derived. It is easily digested,

but on account of the abundance of water in its composition, its

nutritive value is very low.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--When very young, most varieties need no

preparation for cooking, aside from washing thoroughly. After cooking,

the skin can be easily rubbed off and the seeds removed. If more mature,

pare thinly, and if large, divide into halves or quarters and scoop out

the seeds. Summer squashes are better steamed than boiled. If boiled,

they should be cooked in so little water that it will be quite

evaporated when they are tender. From twenty to sixty minutes will be

required for cooking.

_RECIPES._

MASHED SQUASH.--Wash, peel, remove seeds, and steam until tender.

Place the squash in a clean cloth, mash thoroughly, squeeze until the

squash is quite dry, or rub through a fine colander and afterward simmer

until neatly dry; season with cream, and a little salt if desired, and

heat again before serving. A teaspoonful of sugar may be added with the

cream, if desired.

SQUASH WITH EGG SAUCE.--Prepare, steam till tender, cut into

pieces, and serve with an egg sauce made the same as directed for

asparagus, page 256.

STEWED SQUASH.--Prepare, cut into pieces, and stew until tender in

a small quantity of boiling water; drain, pressing out all the water;

serve on toast with cream or white sauce. Or, divide in quarters, remove

the seeds, cook in a double boiler, in its own juices, which when done

may be thickened with a little flour. Season with salt if desired, and

serve hot.

WINTER SQUASHES.

The winter squash and pumpkin are allied in nature to the summer squash.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Select squashes of a firm texture, wash,

break in pieces with a hatchet if hard-shell, or if the shell is soft,

divide with a knife; remove all seeds, and boil, stew, steam, or bake,

as preferred.

To boil or steam, from thirty minutes to one hour's time will be needed;

to bake, one to two hours.

_RECIPES._

BAKED SQUASH..--The hard-shell varieties are best for baking. Wash,

divide, and lay, shells downward, on the top grate of the oven, or place

in a shallow baking dish with a little boiling water. Boil until tender,

serve in the shell, or scrape out the soft part, mash and serve with two

largo tablespoonful of cream to a pint of squash. If preferred, the

skins may be removed before baking, and the squash served the same as

sweet potato, for which it makes a good substitute.

STEAMED SQUASH.--Prepare the squash, and steam until tender. Mash

and season as for baked squash.

THE PUMPKIN.

DESCRIPTION.--When our forefathers came to this country, they found

the pumpkin growing in the Indian cornfields, and at once made use of

it. Although as food it did not supply what its handsome exterior

promised, yet in the absence of other fruits and relishes, of which the

exigencies of a new country deprived them, they soon found the pumpkin

quite palatable; and the taste, cultivated through necessity, has been

handed down through generations, until the pumpkin stewed and baked in

pies, has become an established favorite.

_RECIPES._

BAKED PUMPKIN.--Wash the pumpkin well on the outside, divide into

quarters if small, into sixths or eighths if large; remove the seeds but

not the rind. Bake as directed for squash. Serve in the rind, dishing it

out by spoonfuls.

STEWED PUMPKIN.--Select a good, ripe pumpkin, and cut in halves;

remove the seeds, slice halfway around, pare, cut into inch pieces, put

over the fire in a kettle containing a small quantity of boiling water,

and stew gently, stirring frequently until it breaks to pieces. Cool,

rub through a colander, and place where it will just simmer, but not

burn, until the water is all evaporated and the pumpkin dry. Pumpkin for

pies is much richer baked like squash, and rubbed through a colander

after the skin has been removed.

DRIED PUMPKIN.--Pumpkin may be dried and kept for future use. The

best way is first to cut and stew the pumpkin, then spread on plates,

and dry quickly in the oven. Dried in this manner, it is easily

softened, when needed, by soaking in a small quantity of water, and is

considered nearly as good as that freshly stewed.

TOMATO.

DESCRIPTION.--The tomato, or "love apple," as it was called in the

early part of the century, is a native of South America and Mexico. It

was formerly regarded as poisonous, and though often planted and prized

as a curiosity in the flower garden, it has only within the last half

century come to be considered as a wholesome article of diet.

Botanically, it is allied to the potato. It is an acid fruit, largely

composed of water, and hence of low nutritive value; but it is justly

esteemed as a relish, and is very serviceable to the cook in the

preparation of soups and various mixed dishes.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Tomatoes to be served in an uncooked

state should be perfectly ripe and fresh. The medium-sized, smooth ones

are the best. To peel, pour scalding water over them; let them remain

for half a minute, plunge into cold water, allow them to cool, when the

skins can be easily rubbed off. Tomatoes should always be cooked in

porcelain or granite ware; iron makes them look dark, and being

slightly acid in character, they are not wholesome cooked in tin

vessels.

Tomatoes require cooking a long time; one hour is needed, and two are

better.

_RECIPES._

BAKED TOMATOES.--Fill a pudding dish two thirds full of stewed

tomatoes; season with salt, and sprinkle grated crumbs of good

whole-wheat or Graham bread over it until the top looks dry. Brown in

the oven, and serve with a cream dressing.

BAKED TOMATOES NO. 2. Wash and wipe a quantity of smooth,

even-sized tomatoes; remove the stems with a sharp-pointed knife.

Arrange on an earthen pudding or pie dish, and bake whole in a moderate

oven. Serve with cream.

SCALLOPED TOMATOES.--Take a pint of stewed tomatoes, which have

been rubbed through a colander, thicken with one and one fourth cups of

lightly picked crumbs of Graham or whole-wheat bread, or a sufficient

quantity to make it quite thick, add salt if desired, and a half cup of

sweet cream, mix well, and bake for twenty minutes. Or, fill a pudding

dish with alternate layers of peeled and sliced tomatoes and bread

crumbs, letting the topmost layer be of tomatoes. Cover, and bake in a

moderate oven for an hour or longer, according to depth. Uncover, and

brown for ten or fifteen minutes.

STEWED CORN AND TOMATOES.--Boil dried or fresh corn until perfectly

tender, add to each cup of corn two cups of stewed, strained tomatoes,

either canned or freshly cooked. Salt to taste, boil together for five

or ten minutes, and serve plain or with a little cream added.

TOMATO GRAVY.--Heat to boiling one pint of strained stewed

tomatoes, either canned or fresh, and thicken with a tablespoonful of

flour rubbed smooth in a little water; add salt and when thickened, if

desired, a half cup of hot cream. Boil together for a minute or two and

serve at once.

TOMATO SALAD.--Select perfectly ripe tomatoes, and peel at least an

hour before using. Slice, and place on ice or in a cool place. Serve

plain or with lemon juice or sugar as preferred.

TOMATO SALAD NO. 2.--Use one half small yellow tomatoes and one

half red. Slice evenly and lay in the dish in alternate layers. Powder

lightly with sugar, and turn over them a cupful of orange juice to a

pint of tomato, or if preferred, the juice of lemons may be used

instead. Set on ice and cool before serving.

BROILED TOMATOES.--Choose perfectly ripened but firm tomatoes of

equal size. Place them on a wire broiler, and broil over glowing coals,

from three to eight minutes, according to size, then turn and cook on

the other side. Broil the stem end first. Serve hot with salt to season,

and a little cream.

TOMATO PUDDING.--Fill an earthen pudding dish with alternate layers

of stale bread and fresh tomatoes, peeled, sliced, and sprinkled lightly

with sugar. Cover the dish and bake.

STEWED TOMATOES.--Peel and slice the tomatoes. Put them into a

double boiler, without the addition of water, and stew for an hour or

longer. When done, serve plain with a little sugar added, or season with

salt and a tablespoonful of rather thick sweet cream to each pint of

tomatoes. If the tomatoes are thin and very juicy, they may be thickened

with a little flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. They are much

better, however, to stew a longer time until the water they contain is

sufficiently evaporated to make them of the desired consistency. The

stew may also be thickened, if desired, by the addition of bread crumbs,

rice, or macaroni.

TOMATO WITH OKRA.--Wash the okra, cut off the stem and nibs, and

slice thin. For a quart of sliced okra, peel and slice three large

tomatoes. Stew the tomatoes for half an hour, then add the okra, and

simmer together for half an hour longer. Season with salt and a little

cream.

EGG PLANT.

DESCRIPTION.--The egg plant, a vegetable indigenous to the East

Indies, is somewhat allied in character to the tomato. In shape, it

resembles an egg, from which fact it doubtless derives its name. It

ranks low in nutritive value. When fresh, the plant is firm and has a

smooth skin.

_RECIPES._

SCALLOPED EGG PLANT.--Pare a fresh egg plant. If large, divide in

quarters, if small, in halves, and put to cook in boiling water. Cook

until it can be easily pierced with a straw, and drain in a colander.

Turn into a hot dish, and beat with a silver fork until finely broken.

Measure the egg plant, and add to it an equal quantity of graded bread

crumbs, a little salt, and a tablespoonful of thick sweet cream. Lastly,

add one well beaten egg. Put in an earthen pudding dish, and brown in

the oven until the egg is set, and the whole is heated throughout but

not dry.

BAKED EGG PLANT.--Wash and cook whole in boiling water until

tender. Divide in halves, remove the inside with a spoon, taking care

not to break the skin. Beat the egg plant smooth with a fork. Season

with salt and cream, and if desired, a stalk of celery or a small slice

of onion very finely minced, for flavor. Put back in the skin, sprinkle

the top with bread crumbs, and brown the outside uppermost in the oven.

CUCUMBER.

DESCRIPTION.--The cucumber is a native of Southern Asia, although

it is quite commonly cultivated in most civilized countries. It formed a

part of the dietary of the Israelites when in Egypt, where it grew very

plentifully. The ancient Greeks held the cucumber in high esteem, and

attributed to it wonderful properties.

The cucumber is not a nutritious vegetable, and when served in its raw

state, as it so generally is, dressed with salt, vinegar, pepper, and

similar condiments, it is an exceedingly indigestible article. If it is

to be eaten at all, it should first be cooked. It may be pared, divided

in quarters, the seeds removed, and cooked in a small quantity of water

until perfectly tender, and served on toast with an egg sauce or a cream

sauce; or it may be prepared the same as directed for Escalloped Egg

Plant.

SALSIFY, OR VEGETABLE OYSTER.

DESCRIPTION.--The vegetable oyster plant, sometimes called purple

goat's-beard, or salsify, is indigenous to some portions of Great

Britain. The long, slender root becomes fleshy and tender under

cultivation, with a flavor, when cooked, somewhat resembling that of the

mollusk for which it is named. On this account, it is much esteemed for

soups. A variety of the plant grows near the line of perpetual snow, and

forms the principal article of fresh vegetable food in the dietary of

Kurdistan.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Select fresh and unshriveled roots, wash

and scrape well, dropping into cold water as soon as cleaned, to prevent

discoloration. If the roots are covered with cold water for a half hour

or more before scraping, they can be cleaned much easier. Use a

porcelain-lined kettle, for cooking, as an iron one will discolor it

and injure its flavor. From twenty minutes to one hour, according to

age, is required to cook it tender.

_RECIPES._

SCALLOPED VEGETABLE OYSTERS.--Boil two quarts of sliced vegetable

oysters in about two quarts of water until very tender. Skim them out,

and fill a pudding dish with alternate layers of crumbs and oysters,

having a layer of crumbs for the top. To the water in which they were

boiled, add a pint and a half of thin cream, salt to taste, boil up, and

thicken with a heaping tablespoonful or two of flour rubbed smooth in a

little cold cream. Pour this over the oysters and crumbs, and bake a

half hour. If this is not enough to cover well, add more cream or milk.

Stewed tomatoes are a nice accompaniment for escalloped vegetable

oysters.

STEWED VEGETABLE OYSTERS.--Wash, scrape, and cut into slices not

more than one half inch in thickness. Put into a small quantity of

boiling water and cook until tender. If a large quantity of water is

used, the savory juices escape, and leave the roots very insipid. When

tender, pour in a cup of rich milk and simmer for five or ten minutes;

add a little flour rubbed smooth in milk, and salt if desired; boil up

once, and serve as a vegetable or on slices of nicely browned toast. If

preferred, a well-beaten egg may be used in the place of flour.

GREEN CORN, PEAS, AND BEANS.

DESCRIPTION.--Corn, peas, and beans in their immature state are so

nearly allied to vegetables, that we give in this connection recipes for

cooking green corn, green beans, and green peas. A general rule

applicable to all is that they should, when possible, be cooked and

eaten the day they are gathered, as otherwise they lose much of their

sweetness and flavor. For corn, select young, tender, well-filled ears,

from which the milk will spurt when the grain is broken with the finger

nail. Beans and peas are fresh only when the pods are green, plump, snap

crisply when broken, and have unshriveled stems. If the pods bend and

appear wilted, they are stale. Corn, peas, and beans are wholesome and

nutritious foods when thoroughly cooked and sufficiently masticated, but

they are almost indigestible unless the hull, or skin, of each pea,

bean, or grain of corn, be broken before being swallowed.

_RECIPES FOR CORN._

BAKED CORN.--Select nice fresh ears of tender corn of as nearly

equal size as possible. Open the husks and remove all the silk from the

corn; replace and tie the husks around the ears with a thread. Put the

corn in a hot oven, and bake thirty minutes or until tender. Remove the

husks before serving.

BAKED CORN NO. 2.--Scrape enough corn from the cob (as directed

below for Corn Pulp) to make one and a half quarts. Put into a baking

dish, season with salt if desired, add enough milk, part cream if

convenient, barely to cover the corn, and bake in a hot oven twenty-five

or thirty minutes.

BOILED GREEN CORN.--Remove the husks and every thread of the silk

fiber. Place in a kettle, the larger ears at the bottom, with sufficient

boiling water nearly to cover. Cover with the clean inner husks, and

cook from twenty to thirty minutes, according to the age of the corn;

too much cooking hardens it and detracts from its flavor. Try a kernel,

and when the milk has thickened, and a raw taste is no longer apparent,

it is sufficiently cooked. Green corn is said to be sweeter, boiled with

the inner husks on. For cooking in this way, strip off all outer husks,

and remove the silk, tying the inner husk around the ear with a bit of

thread, and boil. Remove from the kettle, place in a heated dish, cover

with a napkin and serve at once on the cob. Some recommend scoring or

splitting the corn by drawing a sharp knife through each row lengthwise.

This is a wise precaution against insufficient mastication.

STEWED CORN PULP.--Take six ears of green corn or enough to make a

pint of raw pulp; with a sharp knife cut a thin shaving from each row of

kernels or score each kernel, and with the back of the knife scrape out

the pulp, taking care to leave the hulls on the cob. Heat a cup and a

half of rich milk--part cream if it can be afforded--to boiling, add the

corn, cook twenty or thirty minutes; season with salt and a teaspoonful

of sugar if desired.

CORN CAKES.--To a pint of corn pulp add two well-beaten eggs and

two tablespoonfuls of flour; season with salt if desired, and brown on a

griddle. Canned corn finely chopped can be used, but two tablespoonfuls

of milk should be added, as the corn is less moist.

CORN PUDDING.--One quart of corn pulp prepared as for stewing, one

quart of milk, three eggs, and a little salt. Mix the corn with a pint

of the milk, and heat it to boiling. Break the eggs into the remainder

of the milk, and add it to the corn, turn all into an oiled pudding

dish, and bake slowly until the custard is well set.

ROASTED GREEN CORN.--Remove the husks and silk, and place the corn

before an open grate or in a wire broiler over hot coals until the

kernels burst open, or bury in hot ashes without removing the husks.

Score the grains, and serve from the cob.

STEWED GREEN CORN.--Cut the corn from the cob and with the back of

the knife scrape off all the pulp, being careful to leave the hull on

the cob. Put into a stewpan with half as much water as corn, cover

closely and stew gently until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently to

prevent the corn from sticking to the pan; add cream or milk to make the

requisite amount of juice, and season with salt if desired. A

teaspoonful of white sugar may be added if desired.

Cold boiled corn cut from the cob and stewed a few minutes in a little

milk, makes a very palatable dish.

SUMMER SUCCOTASH.--This maybe made by cooking equal quantities of

shelled beans and corn cut from the cob, separately until tender, and

then mixing them; or the beans may be cooked until nearly soft, an equal

quantity of shaved corn added, and the whole cooked fifteen or twenty

minutes or longer. Season with cream, and salt if desired.

DRIED CORN.--The sweet varieties of corn taken when young and

tender and properly dried, furnish an excellent material for nearly all

purposes to which green corn is put. Take green corn, just right for

eating, have it free from silk; cut the fleshy portion from the cob with

a sharp knife, then with the back of the knife gently press the

remaining pulp from the cob. Spread thinly on plates and put into an

oven hot enough to scald, not scorch it. Watch closely for a half hour

or more, turning and stirring frequently with a fork. When thus

thoroughly scalded, the corn may be left without further attention if

placed in a moderate oven, save an occasional stirring to prevent its

sticking to the plate, until the drying is complete, which ought to be

in about forty-eight hours; however, if one can spend the time to watch

closely and stir very frequently, the drying may be completed in a

single afternoon in a rather hot oven. Be careful that it does not

scorch.

When needed for use, soak over night and cook in accordance with recipes

for Stewed Corn, Succotash, etc., pages 265, 234, only remembering to

allow a longer time.

_RECIPES FOR PEAS._

STEWED PEAS.--If from the garden, pick and shell the peas with

clean hands; if from the market, wash the pods before shelling, so that

the peas will not require washing, as they are much better without. When

shelled, put into a colander and sift out the fine particles and

undeveloped blossoms. If not of equal growth, sort the peas and put the

older ones to cook ten minutes before the others. Use a porcelain

kettle, with one half pint of boiling water for each quart of peas, if

young and tender; older ones, which require longer stewing, need more.

Cover closely, and simmer gently till tender. The time required for

young peas is from twenty-five to thirty minutes; older ones require

forty to fifty minutes. Serve without draining, season with salt and

enough sweet cream to make them as juicy as desired. If preferred, the

juice may be thickened with a little flour.

The peas may be purposely stewed in a larger quantity of water, and

served in their own juices thickened with a little flour and seasoned

with salt.

_RECIPES FOR BEANS._

LIMA BEANS.--Lima beans are not good until they are full grown and

have turned white. Shell, wash, cover with boiling water, and cook about

one hour or until tender. Let the water nearly evaporate, and add milk

or cream thickened with a little flour. Season with salt to taste, boil

up once, and serve.

SHELLED BEANS.--Shell, wash, drop into boiling water sufficient to

cover, and cook until tender. Let the water boil nearly away, and serve

without draining. Season with thin cream, and salt if desired.

STRING BEANS.--Wash well in cold water. Remove the strong fiber, or

strings, as they are called, by paring both edges with a sharp knife;

few cooks do this thoroughly. Break off stems and points, carefully

rejecting any imperfect or diseased pods. Lay a handful evenly on a

board and cut them all at once into inch lengths. Put in a porcelain

kettle, cover with boiling water, and cook from one to three hours,

according to age and variety, testing frequently, as they should be

removed from the kettle just as soon as done. When very young and

tender, only water sufficient to keep them from burning will be needed.

When done, add a half cup of thin cream, and salt to taste. If the

quantity of juice is considerable, thicken with a little flour.

THE ONION.

The onion belongs to a class of foods containing an acrid oil of a

strongly irritating character, on which account it cannot be considered

a wholesome food when eaten raw, as it so generally is. The essential

oil is, however, quite volatile, so that when cooked, after being first

parboiled in two or three waters, its irritating properties are largely

removed. The varieties grown in warm climates are much milder and

sweeter than those grown in colder countries. The onion is valuable for

flavoring purposes. It may also be boiled and served whole with a cream

sauce, or cut in quarters and prepared as directed for Scalloped

Turnips, page 242.

CANNING VEGETABLES.

Most housekeepers experience more difficulty in canning and keeping

vegetables than fruit. This is frequently owing to lack of care to

secure perfect cans, covers, and rubbers, and to cook the vegetables

thoroughly. Whatever is to be canned must be cooked sufficiently to be

eaten, and must be boiling at the time it is put into the cans. Care as

to the cleanliness of the cans and their sterilization is also

important, and after the canning process is completed, all vegetables

put up in glass should be kept in a cool, dark place. The general

directions given for canning fruits should be followed in canning

vegetables.

_RECIPES._

CANNED CORN.--Select corn just ripe enough for table use, and

prepare as directed for stewed corn. It will require from twelve to

fifteen ears to fill sufficiently each quart can. To insure success, the

cans should be so full that when the corn is shrunken by the cooking,

the can will still be well filled. Pack the corn in the cans, working it

down closely by means of the small end of a potato masher, so the milk

will cover the corn and completely fill the can; heap a little more corn

loosely on the top, and screw the covers on sufficiently tight to

prevent water from getting into the can. Place the cans in a boiler, on

the bottom of which has been placed some straw or a rack; also take care

not to let the cans come in contact with each other, by wrapping each in

a cloth or by placing a chip between them. A double layer of cans may be

placed in the boiler, one on top of the other, if desirable, provided

there is some intervening substance. Fill the boiler with cold water so

as completely to cover the cans; place over the fire, bring gradually to

a boil, and keep boiling steadily for four hours. Remove the boiler from

the fire, and allow the cans to cool gradually, tightening the covers

frequently as they cool.

If the corn in the can shrinks, do not open to refill. If cooked

thoroughly, and due care is taken in other particulars, there need be no

failure. Wrap closely in brown paper, and put away in a dark, cool, dry

place.

CANNED CORN AND TOMATOES.--Use about one third corn and two thirds

tomatoes, or in equal portions if preferred. Cook the tomatoes in a

double boiler for an hour and a half or longer; and in another double

boiler, when the tomatoes are nearly done, cook the corn in its own

juices until thoroughly done. Turn them together, heat to boiling, and

can at once.

CANNED PEAS.--Select peas which are fresh, young, and tender.

Shell, pack into perfect cans, shaking and filling as full as possible,

add sufficient cold water to fill them to overflowing, screw on the

covers, and cook and seal the same as directed for canning corn.

CANNED TOMATOES.--Tomatoes for canning should be freshly gathered,

ripe, but not at all softened.

As they are best cooked in their own juices, peel, slice, put into a

double boiler or a porcelain fruit-kettle set inside a dish filled with

boiling water, and cook from one to two hours. Cooked in the ordinary

way, great care will be required to keep the fruit from burning. When

thoroughly cooked--simple scalding will not do--put into cans, and be

sure that all air bubbles are expelled before sealing. Wrap in dark

brown paper, and put in a cool, dry, dark place.

CANNED TOMATOES NO. 2.--Cut the fruit into thick slices, let it

stand and drain until a large portion of the juice has drained off; then

pack solid in new or perfect cans. Allow them to stand a little time,

then again drain off the juice; fill up a second time with sliced

tomatoes, and screw on the top of the cans without the rubbers. Pack

into a wash boiler as directed for canning corn, and boil for two hours,

then put on the rubbers and seal. When cold, tighten the covers and put

away.

STRING BEANS.--Select young and tender beans, string them, and cut

into pieces about one half inch in length. Pack the cans as full as

possible, and fill with water until every crevice between the beans is

full. Screw on the covers and can in the same manner as corn.

Shelled beans may be canned in the same way.

CANNED PUMPKIN AND SQUASH.--These fruits when canned are quite as

desirable for pies as the fresh material. The same general rules should

be followed as in canning other vegetables and fruits.

TABLE TOPICS.

The word "vegetarian" is not derived from "vegetable," but from the

Latin, _homo vegetus_, meaning among the Romans a strong, robust,

thoroughly healthy man.

AN INTELLECTUAL FEAST.--Professor Louis Agassiz in his early manhood

visited Germany to consult Oken, the transcendentalist in zooelogical

classification. "After I had delivered to him my letter of

introduction," he once said to a friend, "Oken asked me to dine with

him, and you may suppose with what joy I accepted the invitation.

The dinner consisted only of potatoes, boiled and roasted; but it

was the best dinner I ever ate; for there was Oken. Never before

were such potatoes grown on this planet; for the mind of the man

seemed to enter into what we ate sociably together, and I devoured

his intellect while munching his potatoes."

Dr. Abernethy's recipe for using cucumbers: "Peel the cucumber,

slice it, pepper it, put vinegar to it, then throw it out the

window."

A green son of the Emerald Isle was eating sweet corn from the cob

for the first time. He handed the cob to the waiter, and asked,

"Will you plaze put some more beans on my shtick?"

A French physician styles spinach, _le balai de l'estomac_ (broom of

the stomach).

An ox is satisfied with the pasture of an acre or two; one wood

suffices for several elephants. Man alone supports himself by the

pillage of the whole earth and sea. What? Has Nature indeed given us

so insatiable a stomach, while she has given us so insignificant

bodies? No; it is not the hunger of our stomachs, but insatiable

covetousness which costs so much.--_Seneca._

The oftener we go to the vegetable world for our food, the oftener

we go to the first and therefore the cheapest source of supply. The

tendencies of all advanced scholars in thrift should be to find out

plans for feeding all the community, as far as possible, direct from

the lap of earth; to impress science into our service so that she

may prepare the choicest viands minus the necessity of making a

lower animal the living laboratory for the sake of what is just a

little higher than cannibal propensities.

_--Dr. B.W. Richardson._

A VOICE FROM THE CORN.

I was made to be eaten, not to be drank,

To be husked in a barn, not soaked in a tank;

I come as a blessing when put in a mill,

As a blight and a curse when run through a still.

Make me up into loaves, and your children are fed;

But made into drink, I will starve them instead.

In bread I'm a servant the eater shall rule,

In drink I'm a master, the drinker a fool.

Then remember my warning; my strength I'll employ,

If eaten, to strengthen, if drunk, to destroy.

--_Sel._

SOUPS

Soup is an easily made, economical, and when properly prepared from

healthful and nutritious material, very wholesome article of diet,

deserving of much more general use than is commonly accorded it.

In general, when soup is mentioned, some preparation of meat and bones

is supposed to be meant; but we shall treat in this chapter of a quite

different class of soups, viz., those prepared from the grains, legumes,

and vegetables, without the previous preparation of a "stock." Soups of

this character are in every way equal, and in many points superior to

those made from meat and bones. If we compare the two, we shall find

that soups made from the grains and legumes rank much higher in

nutritive value than do meat soups. For the preparation of the latter,

one pound of meat and bones, in about equal proportion, is required for

each quart of soup. In the bone, there is little or no nourishment, it

being valuable simply for the gelatine it contains, which gives

consistency to the soup; so in reality there is only one half pound of

material containing nutriment, for the quart of soup. Suppose, in

comparison we take a pea soup. One half pound of peas will be amply

enough for a quart. As we take an equal amount of material as basis for

each soup, we can easily determine their relative value by comparing the

amount of nutritive material contained in peas with that of beef, the

most commonly used material for meat soups. As will be seen by reference

to the table of food analyses on page 486, peas contain 87.3 parts

nutritive material, while lean beef contains only 28 parts in one

hundred. Thus the pea soup contains more than three times as much

nourishment as does the beef soup.

Soups prepared from grains and legumes are no more expensive than meat

soups, and many kinds cost much less, while they have the added

advantage of requiring less time and no more labor to prepare.

The greater bulk of all meat soups is water, holding in solution the

essence of meat, the nutritive value of which is of very doubtful

character.

When properly prepared, the solid matter which enters into the

composition of vegetable soups, is so broken up in the process of

cooking, that it is more easily digested than in any other form.

Taken hot at the beginning of a meal, soup stimulates the flow of the

digestive juices, and on account of the bulk, brings a sense of satiety

before an excessive quantity of food has been taken.

In preparing soups from grains, legumes, and vegetables, the material

should be first cooked in the ordinary manner, using as small an amount

of water as practicable, so as the more thoroughly to disintegrate or

break it up. If the material be legumes or grains, the cooking should be

slow and prolonged. The purpose to be attained in the cooking of all

foods is the partial digestion of the food elements; and in general,

with these foods, the more slowly (if continuous) the cooking is done,

the more completely will this be brought about.

When the material is cooked, the next step is to make it homogeneous

throughout, and to remove any skins or cellulose material it may

contain. To do this, it should be put through a colander. The kind of

colander depends upon the material. Peas and beans require a fine

colander, since the skins, of which we are seeking to rid them, would

easily go through a coarse one. To aid in this sifting process, if the

material be at all dry, a small quantity of liquid may be added from

time to time. When the colander process is complete, a sufficient amount

of milk or other liquid may be added to make the whole of the

consistency of rather thick cream.

[Illustration: Chinese Soup Strainer.]

If the material is now cold, it must be reheated, and the salt, if any

is to be used, added. The quantity of salt will depend somewhat upon the

taste of the consumer; but in general, one half teaspoonful to the pint

of soup will be an ample supply. If any particular flavor, as of onion

or celery, is desired, it may be imparted to the soup by adding to it a

slice of onion or a few stalks of celery, allowing them to remain during

the reheating. By the time the soup is well heated, it will be

delicately flavored, and the pieces of onion or celery may be removed

with a fork or a skimmer. It is better, in general, to cook the soup all

that is needed before flavoring, since if allowed to boil, all delicate

flavors are apt to be lost by evaporation. When reheated, add to the

soup a quantity of cream as seasoning, in the proportion of one cup of

thin cream for every quart or three pints of soup.

To avoid the possibility of any lumps or fragments in the soup, pour it

again through a colander or a Chinese soup strainer into the soup

tureen, and serve. It is well to take the precaution first to heat the

strainer and tureen, that the soup be not cooled during the process.

If it is desired to have the soup especially light and nice, beat or

whip the cream before adding, or beat the hot soup with an egg beater

for a few minutes after adding the cream. The well-beaten yolk of an egg

for every quart or three pints of soup, will answer as a very fair

substitute for cream in potato, rice, and similar soups. It should not

be added to the body of the soup, but a cupful of the hot soup may be

turned slowly onto the egg, stirring all the time, in order to mix it

well without curdling, and then the cupful stirred into the whole. Soups

made from legumes are excellent without cream.

The consistency of the soup when done should be about that of single

cream, and equal throughout, containing no lumps or fragments of

material. If it is too thick, it may be easily diluted with hot milk or

water; if too thin, it will require the addition of more material, or

may be thickened with a little flour or cornstarch rubbed to a cream

with a small quantity of milk, used in the proportion of one

tablespoonful for a quart of soup,--heaping, if flour; scant, if

cornstarch,--and remembering always to boil the soup five or ten minutes

after the flour is added, that there may be no raw taste.

The addition of the flour or cornstarch gives a smoothness to their

consistency which is especially desirable for some soups. A few

spoonfuls of cooked oatmeal or cracked wheat, added and rubbed through

the colander with the other material, is valuable for the same purpose.

Browned flour prepared by spreading a cupful thinly on shallow tins, and

placing in a moderately hot oven, stirring frequently until lightly and

evenly browned, is excellent to use both for thickening and flavoring

certain soups.

If whole grains, macaroni, vermicelli, or shredded vegetables are to be

used in the soup, cook them separately, and add to the soup just before

serving.

The nutritive value of soup depends of course upon its ingredients, and

these should be so chosen and combined as to produce the best possible

food from the material employed. Milk is a valuable factor in the

preparation of soups. With such vegetables as potatoes, parsnips, and

others of the class composed largely of starch, and containing but a

small proportion of the nitrogenous food elements, its use is especially

important as an addition to their food value, as also to their

palatableness. Very good soups may, however, be made from legumes, if

carefully cooked with water only.

Soups offer a most economical way of making use of the "left-over"

fragments which might otherwise be consigned to the refuse bucket. A

pint of cold mashed potatoes, a cupful of stewed beans, a spoonful or

two of boiled rice, stewed tomatoes, or other bits of vegetables and

grains, are quite as good for soup purposes as fresh material, provided

they have been preserved fresh and sweet. To insure this it is always

best to put them away in clean dishes; if retained in the dish from

which they were served, the thin smears and small crumbs on the sides

which spoil much sooner than the larger portion, will help to spoil the

rest. One may find some difficulty in rubbing them through the colander

unless they are first moistened. Measure the cold food, and then

determine how much liquid will be needed, and add a part of this before

attempting to put through the colander.

It is difficult to give specific directions for making soups of

fragments, as the remnants to be utilized will vary so much in character

as to make such inapplicable, but the recipes given for combination

soups will perhaps serve as an aid in this direction. Where a sufficient

amount of one kind of food is left over to form the basis of a soup or

to serve as a seasoning, it can be used in every way the same as fresh

material. When, however, there is but a little of various odds and ends,

the general rule to be observed is to combine only such materials as

harmonize in taste.

Soups prepared from the grains, legumes, and vegetables, are so largely

composed of food material that it is important that they be retained in

the mouth long enough for proper insalivation; and in order to insure

this, it is well to serve with the soup _croutons_, prepared by cutting

stale bread into small squares or cubes, and browning thoroughly in a

moderate oven. Put a spoonful or two of the _croutons_ in each plate,

and turn the hot soup over them. This plan also serves another

purpose,--that of providing a means whereby the left-over bits of stale

bread may be utilized to advantage.

_RECIPES._

ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Wash two bunches of fresh asparagus carefully, and

cut into small pieces. Put to cook in a quart of boiling water, and

simmer gently till perfectly tender, when there should remain about a

pint of the liquor. Turn into a colander, and rub all through except the

hard portion. To a pint of asparagus mixture add salt and one cup of

thin cream and a pint of milk; boil up for a few minutes, and serve.

BAKED BEAN SOUP.--Soak a half pint of white beans over night. In

the morning turn off the water, and place them in an earthen dish with

two or two and one half quarts of boiling water; cover and let them

simmer in a moderate oven four or five hours. Also soak over night a

tablespoonful of pearl tapioca in sufficient water to cover. When the

beans are soft, rub through a colander, after which add the soaked

tapioca, and salt if desired; also as much powdered thyme as can be

taken on the point of a penknife and sufficient water to make the soup

of proper consistency if the water has mostly evaporated. Return to the

oven, and cook one half hour longer. A little cream may be added just

before serving.

BEAN AND CORN SOUP.--Cold boiled or stewed corn and cold baked

beans form the basis of this soup. Take one pint of each, rub through a

colander, add a slice of onion, three cups of boiling water or milk, and

boil for ten minutes. Turn through the colander a second time to remove

the onion and any lumps or skins which may remain. Season with salt and

a half cup of cream. If preferred, the onion may be omitted.

BEAN AND HOMINY SOUP.--Soak separately in cold water over night a

cupful each of dry beans and hominy. In the morning, boil them together

till both are perfectly tender and broken to pieces. Rub through a

colander, and add sufficient milk to make three pints. Season with salt,

and stir in a cup of whipped cream just before serving. Cold beans and

hominy may be utilized for this soup.

BEAN AND POTATO SOUP.--Soak a half pint of dry white beans over

night; in the morning drain and put to cook in boiling water. When

tender, rub through a colander. Prepare sliced potato sufficient to make

one quart, cook in as small a quantity of water as possible, rub

through a colander, and add to the beans. Add milk or water sufficient

to make two quarts, and as much prepared thyme as can be taken on the

point of a penknife, with salt to season. Boil for a few minutes, add a

teacup of thin cream, and serve.

BEAN AND TOMATO SOUP.--Take one pint of boiled or a little less of

mashed beans, one pint of stewed tomatoes, and rub together through a

colander. Add salt, a cup of thin cream, one half a cup of nicely

steamed rice, and sufficient boiling water to make a soup of the proper

consistency. Reheat and serve.

BLACK BEAN SOUP.--Soak a pint of black beans over night in cold

water. When ready to cook, put into two and one half quarts of fresh

water, which should be boiling, and simmer until completely dissolved,

adding more boiling water from time to time if needed. There should be

about two quarts of all when done. Rub through a colander, add salt, a

half cup of cream, and reheat. When hot, turn through a soup strainer,

add two or more teaspoonfuls of lemon juice, and serve.

BLACK BEAN SOUP NO. 2.--Soak a pint of black beans in water over

night. Cook in boiling water until tender, then rub through a colander.

Add sufficient boiling water to make about two quarts in all. Add salt,

and one half a small onion cut in slices to flavor. Turn into a double

boiler and reheat. When sufficiently flavored, remove the onion with a

skimmer, thicken the soup with two teaspoonfuls of browned flour, turn

through the soup strainer and serve. If desired, a half cup of cream may

be added, and the onion flavor omitted.

BRAN STOCK.--For every quart of stock desired, boil a cup of good

wheat bran in three pints of water for two or three hours or until

reduced one third. This stock may be made the base of a variety of

palatable and nutritious soups by flavoring with different vegetables

and seasoning with salt and cream. An excellent soup may be prepared by

flavoring the stock with celery, or by the addition of a quantity of

strained stewed tomato sufficient to disguise the taste of the stock. It

is also valuable in giving consistence to soups, in the preparation of

some of which it may be advantageously used in place of other liquid.

BROWN SOUP.--Simmer together two pints of sliced potatoes and one

third as much of the thin brown shavings (not thicker than a silver

dime) from the top of a loaf of whole-wheat bread, in one quart of

water. The crust must not be burned or blackened, and must not include

any of the soft portion of the loaf. When the potatoes are tender, mash

all through a colander. Flavor with a cup of strained, stewed tomatoes,

a little salt, and return to the fire; when hot, add a half cup of

cream, and boiling water to make the soup of proper consistency, and

serve at once. If care has been taken to prepare the crust as directed,

this soup will have a brown color and a fine, pungent flavor exceedingly

pleasant to the taste.

CANNED GREEN PEA SOUP.--Rub a can of green peas through a colander

to remove the skins. Add a pint of milk and heat to boiling. If too

thin, thicken with a little flour rubbed smooth in a very little cold

milk. Season with salt and a half cup of cream. A small teaspoonful of

white sugar may be added if desired.

Green peas, instead of canned, may be used when procurable. When they

have become a little too hard to serve alone, they can be used for soup,

if thoroughly cooked.

CANNED CORN SOUP.--Open a can of green corn, turn it into a

granite-ware dish, and thoroughly mash with a potato-masher until each

kernel is broken, then rub through a colander to remove the skins. Add

sufficient rich milk to make the soup of the desired consistency, about

one half pint for each pint can of corn will be needed. Season with

salt, reheat, and serve. If preferred, a larger quantity of milk and

some cream may be used, and the soup, when reheated, thickened with a

little corn starch or flour. It may be turned through the colander a

second time or not, as preferred.

CARROT SOUP.--For a quart of soup, slice one large carrot and boil

in a small quantity of water for two hours or longer, then rub it

through a colander, add a quart of rich milk, and salt to season.

Reheat, and when boiling, thicken with two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed

smooth in a little cold milk.

CELERY SOUP.--Chop quite fine enough fresh, crisp celery to make a

pint, and cook it until tender in a very little boiling water. When

done, heat three cupfuls of rich milk, part cream if it can be afforded,

to boiling, add the celery, salt to season, and thicken the whole with a

tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk; or add to

the milk before heating a cupful of mashed potato, turn through a

colander to remove lumps, reheat, add salt and the celery, and serve.

CELERY SOUP NO. 2.--Cook in a double boiler a cupful of cracked

wheat in three pints of water for three or four hours. Rub the wheat

through a colander, add a cup of rich milk, and if needed, a little

boiling water, and a small head of celery cut in finger lengths. Boil

all together for fifteen or twenty minutes, until well flavored, remove

the celery with a fork, add salt, and serve with or without the

hard-boiled yolk of an egg in each soup plate.

CHESTNUT SOUP.--Shell and blanch a pint of Italian chestnuts, as

directed on page 215, and cook in boiling milk until tender. Rub the

nuts through a colander, add salt and sufficient milk and cream to make

a soup of the proper consistency, reheat and serve.

COMBINATION SOUP.--This soup is prepared from material already

cooked, and requires two cups of cracked wheat, one and one half cups of

Lima beans, one half cup of black beans, and one cup of stewed tomato.

Rub the material together through a colander, adding, if needed, a

little hot water to facilitate the sifting. Add boiling water to thin to

the proper consistency, season with salt and if it can be afforded a

little sweet cream,--the soup is, however, very palatable without the

cream.

COMBINATION SOUP NO. 2.--Take three and one half cups of mashed

(Scotch) peas, one cup each of cooked rice, oatmeal, and hominy, and two

cups of stewed tomato. Rub the material through a colander, add boiling

water to thin to the proper consistency, season with salt, reheat, and

add, just before serving, two cups of cooked macaroni. If preferred, a

cup of cream may be used in place of the tomato, or both may be omitted.

ANOTHER.--One half cup of cold mashed potato, one cup each of

cooked pearl wheat, barley and dried peas. Rub all through a colander,

add boiling milk to thin to the proper consistency, season with salt and

a half cup of cream.

ANOTHER.--Take three cups of cooked oatmeal, two of mashed white

beans, and one of stewed tomato. Rub the ingredients through a colander,

add boiling milk to thin to the proper consistency, season with salt and

a little cream.

CREAM PEA SOUP.--Soak three fourths of a pint of dried Scotch peas

over night in a quart of water. In the morning put to cook in boiling

water, cover closely and let them simmer gently four or five hours, or

until the peas are very tender and well disintegrated; then rub through

a colander to remove the skins. If the peas are very dry, add a little

water or milk occasionally, to moisten them and facilitate the sifting.

Just before the peas are done, prepare potatoes enough to make a pint

and a half, after being cut in thin slices. Cook the potatoes until

tender in a small amount of water, and rub them through a colander. Add

the potatoes thus prepared to the sifted peas, and milk enough to make

three and one half pints in all. Return to the fire, and add a small

head of celery cut finger lengths, and let the whole simmer together ten

or fifteen minutes, until flavored. Remove the celery with a fork, add

salt and a cup of thin cream. This should make about two quarts of soup.

If preferred, the peas may be cooked without soaking. It will, however,

require a little longer time.

CREAM BARLEY SOUP.--Wash a cup of pearl barley, drain and simmer

slowly in two quarts of water for four or five hours, adding boiling

water from time to time as needed. When the barley is tender, strain off

the liquor, of which there should be about three pints; add to it a

portion of the cooked barley grains, salt, and a cup of whipped cream,

and serve. If preferred, the beaten yolk of an egg may be used instead

of cream.

GREEN CORN SOUP.--Take six well-filled ears of tender green corn.

Run a sharp knife down the rows and split each grain; then with the back

of a knife, scraping from the large to the small end of the ear, press

out the pulp, leaving the hulls on the cob. Break the cobs if long, put

them in cold water sufficient to cover, and boil half an hour. Strain

off the water, of which there should be at least one pint. Put the corn

water on again, and when boiling add the corn pulp, and cook fifteen

minutes, or until the raw taste is destroyed. Rub through a rather

coarse colander, add salt and a pint of hot unskimmed milk; if too thin,

thicken with a little cornstarch or flour, boil up, and serve. If

preferred, a teaspoonful of sugar may be added to the soup. A small

quantity of cooked macaroni, cut in rings, makes a very pretty and

palatable addition to the soup. The soup is also excellent flavored with

celery.

GREEN PEA SOUP.--Gently simmer two quarts of shelled peas in

sufficient water to cook, leaving almost no juice when tender. Rub

through a colander, moistening if necessary with a little cold milk. Add

to the sifted peas an equal quantity of rich milk and a small onion cut

in halves. Boil all together five or ten minutes until the soup is

delicately flavored, then remove the onion with a skimmer; add salt if

desired, and serve. If preferred, a half cup of thin cream may be added

just before serving. Celery may be used in place of the onion, or both

may be omitted.

GREEN BEAN SOUP.--Prepare a quart of fresh string beans by pulling

off ends and strings and breaking into small pieces. Boil in a small

quantity of water. If the beans are fresh and young, three pints will be

sufficient; if wilted or quite old, more will be needed, as they will

require longer cooking. There should be about a teacupful and a half of

liquid left when the beans are perfectly tender and boiled in pieces.

Rub through a colander, return to the kettle, and for each cup of the

bean pulp add salt, a cup and a half of unskimmed milk; boil together

for a few minutes, thicken with a little flour, and serve. The quart of

beans should be sufficient for three pints of soup.

KORNLET SOUP.--Kornlet or canned green corn pulp, may be made into

a most appetizing soup in a few minutes by adding to a pint of kornlet

an equal quantity of rich milk, heating to boiling, and thickening it

with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.

KORNLET AND TOMATO SOUP.--Put together equal quantities of kornlet

and strained stewed tomato, season with salt and heat to boiling; add

for each quart one fourth to one half cup of hot thin cream, thicken

with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little water, and

serve. Cooked corn rubbed through a colander may also be used for this

soup.

LENTIL SOUP.--Simmer a pint of lentils in water until tender. If

desired to have the soup less dark in color and less strong in flavor,

the lentils may be first parboiled for a half hour, and then drained and

put into fresh boiling water. Much valuable nutriment is thus lost,

however. When perfectly tender, mash through a colander to remove all

skins; add salt and a cup of thin cream, and it too thick, sufficient

boiling milk or water to thin to the proper consistency, heat again to

boiling, and serve. If preferred, an additional quantity of liquid may

be added and the soup slightly thickened with browned flour.

LENTIL AND PARSNIP SOUP.--Cook together one pint of lentils and one

half a small parsnip, sliced, until tender in a small quantity of

boiling water. When done, rub through a colander, and add boiling water

to make a soup of the proper consistency. Season with salt and if

desired a little cream.

LIMA BEAN SOUP.--Simmer a pint of Lima beans gently in just

sufficient water to cook and not burn, until they have fallen to pieces.

Add more boiling water as needed. When done, rub the beans through a

colander. Add rich milk or water to make of the proper consistency, and

salt to season; reheat and serve. White beans may be used in place of

Lima beans, but they require more prolonged cooking. A heaping

tablespoonful of pearl tapioca or sago previously soaked in cold water,

may be added to the soup when it is reheated, if liked, and the whole

cooked until the sago is transparent.

MACARONI SOUP.--Heat a quart of milk, to which has been added a

tablespoonful of finely grated bread crust (the brown part only, from

the top of the loaf) and a slice of onion to flavor, in a double boiler.

When the milk is well flavored, remove the onion, turn through a

colander, add salt, and thicken with two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed

smooth in a little cold milk. Lastly add one cupful of cooked macaroni,

and serve.

OATMEAL SOUP.--Put two heaping tablespoonfuls of oatmeal into a

quart of boiling water, and cook in a double boiler for two hours or

longer. Strain as for gruel, add salt if desired, and two or three

stalks of celery broken into finger lengths, and cook again until the

whole is well flavored with the celery, which may then be removed with a

fork; add a half cup of cream, and the soup is ready to serve. Cold

oatmeal mush may be thinned with milk, reheated, strained, flavored, and

made into soup the same as fresh material. A slice or two of onion may

be used with the celery for flavoring the soup if desired, or a cup of

strained stewed tomato may be added.

PARSNIP SOUP.--Take a quart of well scraped, thinly sliced

parsnips, one cup of bread crust shavings (prepared as for Brown Soup),

one head of celery, one small onion, and one pint of sliced potatoes.

The parsnips used should be young and tender, so that they will cook in

about the same length of time as the other vegetables. Use only

sufficient water to cook them. When done, rub through a colander and add

salt and sufficient rich milk, part cream if desired, to make of the

proper consistency. Reheat and serve.

PARSNIP SOUP NO. 2.--Wash, pare, and slice equal quantities of

parsnips and potatoes. Cook, closely covered, in a small quantity of

water until soft. If the parsnips are not young and tender, they must be

put to cook first, and the potatoes added when they are half done. Mash

through a colander. Add salt, and milk to make of the proper

consistency, season with cream, reheat and serve.

PEA AND TOMATO SOUP.--Soak one pint of Scotch peas over night. When

ready to cook, put into a quart of boiling water and simmer slowly until

quite dry and well disintegrated. Rub through a colander to remove the

skins. Add a pint of hot water, one cup of mashed potato, two cups of

strained stewed tomato, and one cup of twelve-hour cream. Turn into a

double-boiler and cook together for a half hour or longer; turn a second

time through a colander or soup strainer and serve. The proportions

given are quite sufficient for two quarts of soup. There may need to be

some variation in the quantity of tomato to be used, depending upon its

thickness. If very thin, a larger quantity and less water will be

needed. The soup should be a rich reddish brown in color when done. The

peas may be cooked without being first soaked, if preferred.

PLAIN RICE SOUP.--Wash and pick over four tablespoonfuls of rice,

put it in an earthen dish with a quart of water, and place in a moderate

oven. When the water is all absorbed, add a quart of rich milk, and salt

if desired; turn into a granite kettle and boil ten minutes, or till the

rice is done. Add a half cup of sweet cream and serve. A slice of onion

or stalk of celery can be boiled with the soup after putting in the

kettle, and removed before serving, if desired to flavor.

POTATO AND RICE SOUP.--Cook a quart of sliced potatoes in as little

water as possible. When done, rub through a colander. Add salt, a quart

of rich milk, and reheat. If desired, season with a slice of onion, a

stalk of celery, or a little parsley. Just before serving, add a half

cup of cream and a cup and a half of well-cooked rice with unbroken

grains. Stir gently and serve at once.

POTATO SOUP.--For each quart of soup required, cook a pint of

sliced potatoes in sufficient water to cover them. When tender, rub

through a colander. Return to the fire, and add enough rich, sweet milk,

part cream if it can be afforded to make a quart in all, and a little

salt. Let the soup come to a boil, and add a teaspoonful of flour or

corn starch, rubbed to a paste with a little water; boil a few minutes

and serve. A cup and a half of cold mashed potato or a pint of sliced

baked potato can be used instead of fresh material; in which case add

the milk and heat before rubbing through the colander. A slice of onion

or a stalk of celery may be simmered in the soup for a few minutes to

flavor, and then removed with a skimmer or a spoon. A good mixed potato

soup is made by using one third sweet and two thirds Irish potatoes, in

the same manner as above.

POTATO AND VERMICELLI SOUP.--Breakup a cupful of vermicelli and

drop into boiling water. Let it cook for ten or fifteen minutes, and

then turn into a colander to drain. Have ready a potato soup prepared

the same as in the proceeding; stir the vermicelli lightly into it just

before serving.

SAGO AND POTATO SOUP.--Prepare the soup as directed for Potato

Soup, from fresh or cold mashed potato, using a little larger quantity

of milk or cream, as the sago adds thickness to the soap. When seasoned

and ready to reheat, turn a second time through the colander, and add

for each quart of soup, one heaping tablespoonful of sago which has been

soaked for twenty minutes in just enough water to cover. Boil together

five or ten minutes, or until the sago is transparent, and serve.

SCOTCH BROTH.--Soak over night two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley

and one of coarse oatmeal, in water sufficient to cover them. In the

morning, put the grains, together with the water in which they were

soaked, into two quarts of water and simmer for several hours, adding

boiling water as needed. About an hour before the soup is required, add

a turnip cut into small dice, a grated carrot, and one half cup of fine

pieces of the brown portion of the crust of a loaf of whole-wheat bread.

Rub all through a colander, and add salt, a cup of milk, and a half cup

of thin cream. This should make about three pints of soup.

SPLIT PEA SOUP.--For each quart of soup desired, simmer a cupful of

split peas very slowly in three pints of boiling water for six hours, or

until thoroughly dissolved. When done, rub through a colander, add salt

and season with one half cup of thin cream. Reheat, and when boiling,

stir into it two teaspoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold

water. Boil up until thickened, and serve. If preferred, the cream may

be omitted and the soup flavored with a little celery or onion.

SWEET POTATO SOUP.--To a pint of cold mashed sweet potato add a

pint and a half of strained stewed tomato, rub together through a

colander, add salt to season, and half a cup of cream. Reheat and serve.

SWISS POTATO SOUP.--Pare and cut up into small pieces, enough white

turnips to fill a pint cup, and cook in a small quantity of water. When

tender, add three pints of sliced potatoes, and let them boil together

until of the consistency of mush. Add hot water if it has boiled away so

that there is not sufficient to cook the potatoes. When done, drain,

rub through a colander, add a pint and a half of milk and a cup of thin

cream, salt if desired, and if too thick, a little more milk or a

sufficient quantity of hot water to make it of the proper consistency.

This should be sufficient for two and a half quarts of soup.

SWISS LENTIL SOUP.--Cook a pint of brown lentils in a small

quantity of boiling water. Add to the lentils when about half done, one

medium sized onion cut in halves or quarters. When the lentils are

tender, remove the onion with a fork, and rub the lentils through a

colander. Add sufficient boiling water to make three pints in all.

Season with salt, reheat to boiling, and thicken the whole with four

table spoonfuls of browned flour, rubbed to a cream in a little cold

water.

TOMATO AND MACARONI SOUP.--Break a half dozen sticks of macaroni

into small pieces, and drop into boiling water. Cook for an hour, or

until perfectly tender. Rub two quarts of stewed or canned tomatoes

through a colander, to remove all seeds and fragments. When the macaroni

is done, drain thoroughly, cut each piece into tiny rings, and add it to

the strained tomatoes. Season with salt, and boil for a few minutes. If

desired, just before serving add a cup of thin cream, boil up once, and

serve immediately. If the tomato is quite thin, the soup should be

slightly thickened with a little flour before adding the macaroni.

TOMATO CREAM SOUP.--Heat two quarts of strained, stewed tomatoes to

boiling; add four tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold

water. Let the tomatoes boil until thickened, stirring constantly that

no lumps form; add salt to season. Have ready two cups of hot rich milk

or thin cream. Add the cream or milk hot, and let all boil together for

a minute or two, then serve.

TOMATO AND OKRA SOUP.--Take one quart of okra thinly sliced, and

two quarts of sliced tomatoes. Simmer gently from one to two hours. Rub

through a colander, heat again to boiling, season with salt and cream if

desired, and serve.

Canned okra and tomatoes need only to be rubbed through a colander,

scalded and seasoned, to make a most excellent soup. If preferred, one

or two potatoes may be sliced and cooked, rubbed through a colander, and

added.

TOMATO SOUP WITH VERMICELLI.--Cook a cupful of broken vermicelli in

a pint of boiling water for ten minutes. Turn into a colander to drain.

Have boiling two quarts of strained, stewed tomatoes, to which add the

vermicelli. If preferred, the tomato may be thickened slightly with a

little cornstarch rubbed smooth in cold water before adding the

vermicelli. Salt to taste, and just before serving turn in a cup of hot,

thin cream. Let all boil up for a moment, then serve at once.

VEGETABLE OYSTER SOUP.--Scrape all the outer covering and small

rootlets from vegetable oysters, and lay them in a pan of cold water to

prevent discoloration. The scraping can be done much easier if the roots

are allowed first to stand in cold water for an hour or so. Slice rather

thin, enough to make one quart, and put to cook in a quart of water. Let

them boil slowly until very tender. Add a pint of milk, a cup of thin

cream, salt, and when boiling, a tablespoonful or two of flour, rubbed

to a cream with a little milk. Let the soup boil a few minutes until

thickened, and serve.

VEGETABLE SOUP.--Simmer together slowly for three or four hours, in

five quarts of water, a quart of split peas, a slice of carrot, a slice

of white turnip, one cup of canned tomatoes, and two stalks of celery

cut into small bits. When done, rub through a colander, add milk to make

of proper consistency, reheat, season with salt and cream, and serve.

VEGETABLE SOUP NO. 2.--Prepare and slice a pint of vegetable

oysters and a pint and a half of potatoes. Put the oysters to cook

first, in sufficient water to cook both. When nearly done, add the

potatoes and cook all till tender. Rub through a colander, or if

preferred, remove the pieces of oysters, and rub the potato only through

the colander, together with the water in which the oysters were cooked,

as that will contain all the flavor. Return to the fire, and add salt, a

pint of strained, stewed tomatoes, and when boiling, the sliced oysters

if desired, a cup of thin cream and a cup of milk, both previously

heated; serve at once.

VEGETABLE SOUP NO. 3.--Soak a cupful of white beans over night in

cold water. When ready to cook, put into fresh boiling water and simmer

until tender. When nearly done, add three large potatoes sliced, two or

three slices of white turnip, and one large parsnip cut in slices. When

done, rub through a colander, add milk or water to make of proper

consistency, season with salt and cream, reheat and serve. This quantity

of material is sufficient for two quarts of soup.

VEGETABLE SOUP NO. 4.--Prepare a quart of bran stock as previously

directed. Heat to boiling, and add to it one teaspoonful of grated

carrot, a slice of onion, and a half cup of tomato. Cook together in a

double boiler for half an hour. Remove the slice of onion, and add salt

and a half cup of turnip previously cooked and cut in small dice.

VELVET SOUP.--Pour three pints of hot potato soup, seasoned to

taste, slowly over the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, stirring briskly

to mix the egg perfectly with the soup. It must not be reheated after

adding the egg. Plain rice or barley soup may be used in place of potato

soup, if preferred.

VERMICELLI SOUP.--Lightly fill a cup with broken vermicelli. Turn

it into a pint of boiling water, and cook for ten or fifteen minutes.

Drain off all the hot water and put into cold water for a few minutes.

Turn into a colander and drain again; add three pints of milk, salt to

taste, and heat to boiling. Have the yolks of three eggs well beaten,

and when the soup is boiling, turn it gradually onto the eggs, stirring

briskly that they may not curdle. Return to the kettle, reheat nearly to

boiling, and serve at once.

VERMICELLI SOUP NO. 2.--Cook a cupful of sliced vegetable oysters,

a stalk or two of celery, two slices of onion, a parsnip, and half a

carrot in water just sufficient to cover well. Meanwhile put a cupful of

vermicelli in a quart of milk and cook in a double boiler until tender.

When the vegetables are done, strain off the broth and add it to the

vermicelli when cooked. Season with salt and a cup of cream. Beat two

eggs light and turn the boiling soup on the eggs, stirring briskly that

they may not curdle. Reheat if not thickened, and serve.

WHITE CELERY SOUP.--Cut two heads of celery into finger lengths,

and simmer in a quart of milk for half an hour. Remove the pieces of

celery with a skimmer. Thicken the soup with a tablespoonful of

cornstarch braided with a little milk, add salt if desired, and a teacup

of whipped cream.

TABLE TOPICS.

Soup rejoices the stomach, and disposes it to receive and digest

other food.--_Brillat Savarin._

To work the head, temperance must be carried into the

diet.--_Beecher._

To fare well implies the partaking of such food as does not disagree

with body or mind. Hence only those fare well who live

temperately.--_Socrates._

The aliments to which the cook's art gives a liquid or semi-liquid

form, are in general more digestible.--_Dictionaire de Medicine._

In the most heroic days of the Grecian army, their food was the

plain and simple produce of the soil. When the public games of

ancient Greece were first instituted, the _athleta_, in accordance

with the common dietetic habits of the people, were trained entirely

on vegetable food.

The eating of much flesh fills us with a multitude of evil diseases

and multitudes of evil desires.--_Perphyrises, 233 A.D._

No flocks that range the valley free

To slaughter I condemn;

Taught by the Power that pities me,

I learn to pity them.

But from the mountain's grassy side

A guiltless feast I bring;

A scrip with herbs and fruits supplied

And water from the spring.

--_Goldsmith._

BREAKFAST DISHES

A good breakfast is the best capital upon which people who have real

work to do in the world can begin the day. If the food is well selected

and well cooked, it furnishes both cheer and strength for their daily

tasks. Poor food, or good food poorly prepared, taxes the digestive

powers more than is due, and consequently robs brain and nerves of

vigor. Good food is not rich food, in the common acceptation of the

term; it is such food as furnishes the requisite nutriment with the

least fatigue to the digestive powers. It is of the best material,

prepared in the best manner, and with pleasant variety, though it may be

very simple.

"What to get for breakfast" is one of the most puzzling problems which

the majority of housewives have to solve. The usually limited time for

its preparation requires that it be something easily and quickly

prepared; and health demands that the bill of fare be of such articles

as require but minimum time for digestion, that the stomach may have

chance for rest after the process of digestion is complete, before the

dinner hour. The custom of using fried potatoes or mushes, salted fish

or meats, and other foods almost impossible of digestion, for breakfast

dishes, is most pernicious. These foods set completely at variance all

laws of breakfast hygiene. They are very difficult of digestion, and the

thirst-provoking quality of salted foods makes them an important

auxiliary to the acquirement of a love of intoxicating drinks. We feel

very sure that, as a prominent temperance writer says, "It very often

happens that women who send out their loved ones with an agony of prayer

that they may be kept from drink for the day, also send them with a

breakfast that will make them almost frantic with thirst before they get

to the first saloon."

The foods composing the breakfast _menu_ should be simple in character,

well and delicately cooked, and neatly served. Fruits and grains and

articles made from them offer the requisites for the ideal breakfast.

These afford ample provision for variety, are easily made ready, and

easily digested, while at the same time furnishing excellent nutriment

in ample quantity and of the very best quality. Meats, most vegetables,

and compound dishes, more difficult of digestion, are better reserved

for the dinner bill of fare. No vegetable except the potato is

especially serviceable as a breakfast food, and it is much more readily

digested when baked than when prepared in any other manner. Stewing

requires less time for preparation, but about one hour longer for

digestion.

As an introduction to the morning meal, fresh fruits are most desirable,

particularly the juicy varieties, as oranges, grape fruit, melons,

grapes, and peaches, some one of which are obtainable nearly the entire

year. Other fruits; such as apples, bananas, pears, etc., though less

suitable, may be used for the same purpose. They are, however, best

accompanied with wafers or some hard food, to insure their thorough

mastication.

For the second course, some of the various cereals, oatmeal, rye, corn,

barley, rice, or one of the numerous preparations of wheat, well cooked

and served with cream, together with one or more unfermented breads

(recipes for which have been given in a previous chapter), cooked

fruits, and some simple relishes, are quite sufficient for a healthful

and palatable breakfast.

If, however, a more extensive bill of fare is desired, numerous

delicious and appetizing toasts may be prepared according to the recipes

given in this chapter, and which, because of their simple character and

the facility with which they can be prepared, are particularly suitable

as breakfast dishes. The foundation of all these toasts is _zwieback_,

or twice-baked bread, prepared from good whole-wheat or Graham fermented

bread cut in uniform slices not more than a half inch thick, each slice

being divided in halves, placed on tins, or what is better, the

perforated sheets recommended for baking rolls, and baked or toasted in

a slow oven for a half hour or longer, until it is browned evenly

throughout the entire slice. The zwieback may be prepared in

considerable quantity and kept on hand in readiness for use. It will

keep for any length of time if stored in a dry place.

Stale bread is the best for making zwieback, but it should be good,

light bread; that which is sour, heavy, and not fit to eat untoasted,

should never be used. Care must be taken also not to scorch the slices,

as once scorched, it is spoiled. Properly made, it is equally crisp

throughout, and possesses a delicious, nutty flavor.

Its preparation affords an excellent opportunity for using the left-over

slices of bread, and it may be made when the oven has been heated for

other purposes, as after the baking of bread, or even during the

ordinary cooking, with little or no additional heat. If one possesses an

Aladdin oven, it can be prepared to perfection.

Zwieback may also be purchased in bulk, all ready for use, at ten cents

a pound, from the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., and it is

serviceable in so many ways that it should form a staple article of food

in every household.

For the preparation of toasts, the zwieback must be first softened with

some hot liquid, preferably thin cream. Heat the cream (two thirds of a

pint of cream will be sufficient for six half slices) nearly to boiling

in some rather shallow dish. Put the slices, two or three at a time, in

it, dipping the cream over them and turning so that both sides will

become equally softened. Keep the cream hot, and let the slices remain

until softened just enough so that the center can be pierced with a

fork, but not until at all mushy or broken. With two forks or a fork and

a spoon, remove each slice from the hot cream, draining as thoroughly as

possible, and pack in a heated dish, and repeat the process until as

much zwieback has been softened as desired. Cover the dish, and keep hot

until ready to serve. Special care should be taken to drain the slices

as thoroughly as possible, that none of them be wet and mushy. It is

better to remove them from the cream when a little hard than to allow

them to become too soft, as they will soften somewhat by standing after

being packed in the dish. Prepare the sauce for the toast at the same

time or before softening the slices, and pour into a pitcher for

serving. Serve the slices in individual dishes, turning a small quantity

of the hot sauce over each as served.

_RECIPES._

APPLE TOAST.--Fresh, nicely flavored apples stewed in a small

quantity of water, rubbed through, a colander, sweetened, then cooked in

a granite-ware dish in a slow oven until quite dry, make a nice dressing

for toast. Baked sweet or sour apples rubbed through a colander to

remove cores and skins, are also excellent. Soften slices of zwieback in

hot cream, and serve with a spoonful or two on each slice. If desired,

the apple may be flavored with a little pineapple or lemon, or mixed

with grape, cranberry, or apricot, thus making a number of different

toasts.

APRICOT TOAST.--Stew some nice dried apricots as directed on page

191. When done, rub through a fine colander to remove all skins and to

render them homogeneous. Add sugar to sweeten, and serve as a dressing

on slices of zwieback which have been previously softened in hot cream.

One half or two thirds fresh or dried apples may be used with the

apricots, if preferred.

ASPARAGUS TOAST.--Prepare asparagus as directed on page 255. When

tender, drain off the liquor and season it with a little cream, and salt

if desired. Moisten nicely browned zwieback in the liquor and lay in a

hot dish; unbind the asparagus, heap it upon the toast, and serve.

BANANA TOAST.--Peel and press some nice bananas through a colander.

This may be very easily done with a potato masher, or if preferred a

vegetable press may be used for the purpose. Moisten slices of zwieback

with hot cream and serve with a large spoonful of the banana pulp on

each slice. Fresh peaches may be prepared and used on the toast in the

same way.

BERRY TOAST.--Canned strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries

may be made into an excellent dressing for toast.

Turn a can of well-kept berries into a colander over an earthen dish, to

separate the juice from the berries. Place the juice in a porcelain

kettle and heat to boiling. Thicken to the consistency of cream with

flour rubbed smooth in a little water; a tablespoonful of flour to the

pint of juice will be about the right proportion. Add the berries and

boil up just sufficiently to cook the flour and heat the berries; serve

hot. If cream for moistening the zwieback is not obtainable, a little

juice may be reserved without thickening, and heated in another dish to

moisten the toast; of if preferred, the fruit may be heated and poured

over the dry zwieback without being thickened, or it may be rubbed

through a colander as for Apricot Toast.

BERRY TOAST NO. 2.--Take fresh red or black raspberries,

blueberries, or strawberries, and mash well with a spoon. Add sugar to

sweeten, and serve as a dressing on slices of zwieback previously

moistened with hot cream.

CELERY TOAST.--Cut the crisp white portion of celery into inch

pieces, simmer twenty minutes or half an hour, or until tender, in a

very little water; add salt and a cup of rich milk. Heat to boiling, and

thicken with a little flour rubbed smooth in a small quantity of milk--a

teaspoonful of flour to the pint of liquid. Serve hot, poured over

slices of zwieback previously moistened with cream or hot water.

CREAM TOAST.--For this use good Graham or whole-wheat zwieback. Have

a pint of thin sweet cream scalding hot, salt it a little if desired,

and moisten the zwieback in it as previously directed packing it

immediately into a hot dish; cover tightly so that the toast may steam,

and serve. The slices should be thoroughly moistened, but not soft and

mushy nor swimming in cream; indeed, it is better if a little of the

crispness still remains.

CREAM TOAST WITH POACHED EGG.--Prepare the cream toast as

previously directed, and serve hot with a well-poached egg on each

slice.

CHERRY TOAST.--Take a quart of ripe cherries; stem, wash and stew

(if preferred the stones may be removed) until tender but not broken;

add sugar to sweeten, and pour over slices of well-browned dry toast or

zwieback. Serve cold.

GRAVY TOAST.--Heat a quart and a cupful of rich milk to boiling,

add salt, and stir into it three scant tablespoonfuls of flour which has

been rubbed to a smooth paste in a little cold milk. This quantity will

be sufficient for about a dozen slices of toast. Moisten slices of

zwieback with hot water and pack in a heated dish. When serving, pour a

quantity of the cream cause over each slice.

DRY TOAST WITH HOT CREAM.--Nicely prepared zwieback served in hot

saucers with hot cream poured over each slice at the table, makes a most

delicious breakfast dish.

GRAPE TOAST.--Stem well-ripened grapes, wash well, and scald

without water in a double boiler until broken; rub through a colander to

remove sends and skins, and when cool, sweeten to taste. If the toast is

desired for breakfast, the grapes should be prepared the day previous.

Soften the toast in hot cream, as previously directed, and pack in a

tureen. Heat the prepared grapes and serve, pouring a small quantity

over each slice of toast. Canned grapes may be used instead of fresh

ones, if desired.

LENTIL TOAST.--Lentils stewed as directed for Lentil Gravy on page

226 served as a dressing on slices of zwieback moistened with hot cream

or water, makes a very palatable toast. Browned flour may be used to

thicken the dressing if preferred.

PRUNE TOAST.--Cook prunes as directed on page 191, allowing them to

simmer very slowly for a long time. When done, rub through a colander,

and if quite thin, they should be stewed again for a time, until they

are about the consistency of marmalade. Moisten slices of zwieback with

hot cream, and serve with a spoonful or two of the prune dressing on

each. One third dried apple may be used with the prune, if preferred.

PEACH TOAST.--Stew nice fresh peaches in a small quantity of water;

when tender, rub through a colander, and if quite juicy, place on the

back of the range where they will cook very slowly until nearly all the

water has evaporated, and the peach is of the consistency of marmalade.

Add sugar to sweeten, and serve the same as prunes, on slices of

zwieback previously moistened with hot cream. Canned peaches may be

drained from their juice and prepared in the same manner. Dried or

evaporated peaches may also be used. Toast with dried-peach dressing

will be more delicate in flavor if one third dried apples be used with

the peaches.

SNOWFLAKE TOAST.--Heat to boiling a quart of milk to which a half

cup of cream, and a little salt have been added. Thicken with a

tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Have ready

the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth; and when the sauce is

well cooked, turn a cupful of it on the beaten egg, stirring well

meanwhile so that it will form a light, frothy mixture, to which add the

remainder of the sauce. If the sauce is not sufficiently hot to

coagulate the albumen, it may be heated again almost to the boiling

point, but should not be allowed to boil. The sauce should be of a

light, frothy consistency throughout. Serve as dressing on nicely

moistened slices of zwieback.

TOMATO TOAST.--Moisten slices of zwieback in hot cream, and serve

with a dressing prepared by heating a pint of strained stewed tomato to

boiling, and thickening with a tablespoonful of corn starch or flour

rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Season with salt and a half cupful

of hot cream. The cream may be omitted, if preferred.

VEGETABLE OYSTER TOAST.--Cook a quart of cleaned, sliced vegetable

oysters in a quart of water until very tender; add a pint and a half of

rich milk, salt to taste, and thicken the whole with two tablespoonfuls

of flour rubbed to a smooth paste with a little milk. Let it boil for a

few minutes, and serve as a dressing on slices of well-browned toast

previously moistened with hot water or cream.

_MISCELLANEOUS BREAKFAST DISHES._

BREWIS.--Heat a pint of rich milk to boiling, remove from fire, and

beat into it thoroughly and quickly a cup of very fine stale rye or

Graham bread crumbs. Serve at once with cream.

BLACKBERRY MUSH.--Rub a pint of canned or fresh stewed and

sweetened blackberries, having considerable juice, through a fine

colander or sieve to remove the seeds. Add water to make a pint and a

half cupful in all, heat to boiling, and sprinkle into it a cupful of

sifted Graham flour, or sufficient to make a mush of desired thickness.

Cook as directed for Graham Mush, page 90. Serve hot with cream.

DRY GRANOLA.--This prepared food, made from wheat, corn, and oats,

and obtainable from the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., forms

an excellent breakfast dish eaten with cold or hot milk and cream.

Wheatena, prepared wholly from wheat; Avenola, made from oats and wheat;

and Gofio, made from parched grains, all obtainable from the same firm,

are each delicious and suitable foods for the morning meal.

FRUMENTY.--Wash well a pint of best wheat, and soak for twenty-four

hours in water just sufficient to cover. Put the soaked wheat in a

covered earthen baking pot or jar, cover well with water, and let it

cook in a very slow oven for twelve hours. This may be done the day

before it is wanted, or if one has a coal range in which a fire may be

kept all night, or an Aladdin oven, the grain may be started in the

evening and cooked at night. When desired for use, put in a saucepan

with three pints of milk, a cupful of well-washed Zante currants, and

one cup of seeded raisins. Boil together for a few minutes, thicken with

four tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk, and

serve.

MACARONI WITH RAISINS.--Break macaroni into inch lengths sufficient

to fill a half-pint cup. Heat four cups of milk, and when actively

boiling, put in the macaroni and cook until tender. Pour boiling water

over a half cup of raisins, and let them stand until swelled. Ten or

fifteen minutes before the macaroni is done, add the raisins. Serve hot

with or without the addition of cream. Macaroni cooked in the various

ways as directed in the chapter on Grains, is also suitable for

breakfast dishes.

MACARONI WITH KORNLET.--Break macaroni into inch lengths and cook

in boiling milk and water. Prepare the kornlet by adding to it an equal

quantity of rich milk or thin cream, and thickening with a little flour,

a tablespoonful to the pint. When done, drain the macaroni, and add the

kornlet in the proportion of a pint of kornlet mixture to one and one

half cups of macaroni. Mix well, turn into an earthen dish, and brown in

a moderate oven. Left-over kornlet soup, if kept on ice, may be utilized

for this breakfast dish, and the macaroni may be cooked the day before.

Green corn pulp may be used in place of the kornlet.

PEACH MUSH.--Prepare the same as Blackberry Mush using very thin

peach sauce made smooth by rubbing through a colander. Freshly stewed or

canned peaches or nicely cooked dried peaches are suitable for this

purpose. Apples and grapes may be likewise used for a breakfast mush.

RICE WITH LEMON.--Wash a cup of rice and turn it into three pints

of boiling water, let it boil vigorously until tender, and turn into a

colander to drain. While still in the colander and before the rice has

become at all cold, dip quickly in and out of a pan of cold water

several times to separate the grains, draining well afterward. All

should be done so quickly that the rice will not become too cold for

serving; if necessary to reheat, place for a few moments in a dish in a

steamer over a kettle of boiling water. Serve with a dressing of lemon

previously prepared by cutting two fresh lemons in thin, wafer-like

slices, sprinkling each thickly with sugar, and allowing them to stand

for an hour or more until a syrup is formed. When the rice is ready to

serve, lay the slices of lemon on top of it, pouring the syrup over it,

and serve with a slice or two of the lemon for each dish.

TABLE TOPICS.

The lightest breakfast is the best.--_Oswald._

A NEW NAME FOR BREAKFAST.--"Tum, mamma, leth's go down to tupper,"

said a little toddler to her mother, one morning, recently.

"Why, we don't have supper in the morning," replied the mother.

"Den leth's do down to dinner," urged the little one.

"But we don't have dinner in the morning," corrected the mother.

"Well, den, leth's do down any way," pleaded the child.

"But try and think what meal we have in the morning," urged mamma.

"I know," said the toddler, brightening up.

"What meal do we have in the morning?"

"Oatmeal. Tum on; leth's do."--_Sel._

Seneca, writing to a friend of his frugal fare which he declares

does not cost a sixpence a day, says:--

"Do you ask if that can supply due nourishment? Yes; and pleasure

too. Not indeed, that fleeting and superficial pleasure which needs

to be perpetually recruited, but a solid and substantial one. Bread

and polenta certainly is not a luxurious feeding, but it is no

little advantage to be able to receive pleasure from a simple diet

of which no change of fortune can deprive one."

Breakfast: Come to breakfast!

Little ones and all,--

How their merry footsteps

Patter at the call!

Break the bread; pour freely

Milk that cream-like flows;

A blessing on their appetites

And on their lips of rose.

Dinner may be pleasant

So may the social tea,

But yet, methinks the breakfast

Is best of all the three.

With its greeting smile of welcome,

Its holy voice of prayer,

It forgeth heavenly armor

To foil the hosts of care.

--_Mrs. Sigourney._

Health is not quoted in the markets because it is without

price.--_Sel._

It is a mistake to think that the more a man eats, the fatter and

stronger he will become.--_Sel._

DESSERTS

Custom has so long established the usage of finishing the dinner with a

dessert of some kind, that a _menu_ is considered quite incomplete

without it; and we shall devote the next few pages to articles which may

be deemed appropriate and healthful desserts, not because we consider

the dessert itself of paramount importance, for indeed we do not think

it essential to life or even to good living, but because we hope the

hints and suggestions which our space permits, may aid the housewife in

preparing more wholesome, inexpensive dishes in lieu of the indigestible

articles almost universally used for this purpose.

We see no objection to the use of a dessert, if the articles offered are

wholesome, and are presented before an abundance has already been taken.

As usually served, the dessert is but a "snare and delusion" to the

digestive organs. Compounded of substances "rich," not in food elements,

but in fats, sweets, and spices, and served after enough has already

been eaten, it offers a great temptation to overeat; while the elements

of which it is largely composed, serve to hamper the digestive organs,

to clog the liver, and to work mischief generally. At the same time it

may be remarked that the preparation of even wholesome desserts requires

an outlay of time and strength better by far expended in some other

manner. Desserts are quite unnecessary to a good, healthful, nutritious

dietary. The simplest of all desserts are the various nuts and delicious

fruits with which nature has so abundantly supplied us, at no greater

cost than their harmful substitutes, and which require no expenditure of

time or strength in their preparation. If, however, other forms of

dessert are desired, a large variety may be prepared in a simple manner,

so as to be both pleasing and appetizing.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.

In the preparation of desserts, as in that of all other foods it is

essential that all material used shall be thoroughly good of its kind.

If bread is to be used, the crumbs should be dry and rather stale, but

on no account use that which is sour or moldy. Some housekeepers imagine

that if their bread happens to spoil and become sour, although it is

hardly palatable enough for the table, it may be advantageously used to

make puddings. It is indeed quite possible to combine sour bread with

other ingredients so as to make a pudding agreeable to the palate; but

disguising sour bread makes sweets and flavors by no means changes it

into a wholesome food. It is better economy to throw sour bread away at

once than to impose it upon the digestive organs at the risk of health

and strength.

Bread which has begun to show appearance of mold should never be used;

for mold is a poison, and very serious illness has resulted from the

eating of puddings made from moldy bread.

Eggs, to be used for desserts, should always be fresh and good. Cooks

often imagine that an egg too stale to be eaten in any other way will do

very well for use in cakes and puddings, because it can be disguised so

as not to be apparent to the taste; but stale eggs are unfit for food,

either alone or in combination with other ingredients. Their use is

often the occasion of serious disturbances of the digestive organs. Most

desserts in which eggs are used will be much lighter if the yolks and

whites are beaten separately. If in winter, and eggs are scarce, fewer

may be used, and two tablespoonfuls of dry snow for each omitted egg

stirred in the last thing before baking.

Milk, likewise, should always be sweet and fresh. If it is to be heated,

use a double boiler, so that there will be no danger of scorching. If

fresh milk is not available, the condensed milk found at the grocer's is

an excellent substitute. Dissolve according to directions, and follow

the recipe the same as with fresh milk, omitting one half or two thirds

the given amount of sugar.

If dried sweet fruits, raisins, or currants are to be used, look them

over carefully, put them in a colander, and placing it in a pan of warm

water, allow the currants to remain until plump. This will loosen the

dirt which, while they are shriveled, sticks in the creases, and they

may then be washed by dipping the colander in and out of clean water

until they are free from sediment; rinse in two waters, then spread upon

a cloth, and let them get perfectly dry before using.

It is a good plan, after purchasing raisins and currants, to wash and

dry a quantity, and store in glass cans ready for use. To facilitate the

stoning of raisins, put them into a colander placed in a dish of warm

water until plump; then drain, when the seeds can be easily removed.

For desserts which are to be molded, always wet the molds in cold water

before pouring in the desserts.

_SUGGESTIONS FOR FLAVORING, ETC._

TO PREPARE ALMOND PASTE.--Blanch the nuts according to directions

given on page 215. Allow them to dry thoroughly, and pound in a mortar

to a smooth paste. They can be reduced much easier if dried for a day or

two after blanching. During the pounding, sprinkle with a few drops of

cold water, white of egg, rose water, or lemon juice, to prevent them

from oiling.

COCOANUT FLAVOR.--Cocoanut, freshly grated or desiccated, unless in

extremely fine particles, is a very indigestible substance, and when its

flavor is desired for custards, puddings, etc., it is always better to

steep a few tablespoonfuls in a pint of milk for twenty minutes or a

half hour, and strain out the particles. The milk should not be allowed

to boil, as it will be likely to curdle. One tablespoonful of freshly

grated cocoanut or two of the desiccated will give a very pleasant and

delicate flavor; and if a more intense flavor is desired, use a larger

quantity.

ORANGE AND LEMON FLAVOR.--Orange or lemon flavor may be obtained by

steeping a few strips of the yellow part of the rind of lemon or orange

in milk for twenty minutes. Skim out the rind before using for desserts.

Care should be taken to use only the yellow part, as the white will

impart a bitter flavor. The grated rind may also be used for flavoring,

but in grating the peel, one must be careful to grate very lightly, and

thus use only the outer yellow portion, which contains the essential oil

of the fruit. Grate evenly, turning and working around the lemon, using

as small a surface of the grater as possible, in order to prevent waste.

Generally, twice across the grater and back will be sufficient for

removing all the yellow skin from one portion of a lemon. A well-grated

lemon should be of exactly the same shape as before, with no yellow skin

remaining, and no deep scores into the white. Remove the yellow pulp

from the grater with a fork.

TO COLOR SUGAR.--For ornamenting the meringues of puddings and

other desserts, take a little of the fresh juice of cranberries, red

raspberries, currants, black raspberries, grapes, or other colored

juices of fruits, thicken it stiff with the sugar, spread on a plate to

dry, or use at one. It may be colored yellow with orange peel strained

through a cloth, or green with the juice of spinach. Sugar prepared in

this manner is quite as pretty and much more wholesome than the colored

sugars found in market, which are often prepared with poisonous

chemicals.

FRUIT DESSERTS.

_RECIPES._

APPLE DESSERT.--Pare some large tart apples, remove the cores, put

into the cavities a little quince jelly, lemon flavored sugar, or grated

pineapple and sugar, according to the flavor desired. Have as many

squares of bread with the crust taken off as there are apples, and place

a filled apple on each piece of bread, on earthen pie plates; moisten

well with a little quince jelly dissolved in water, lemon juice, or

pineapple juice, according to the filling used. Cover closely, and bake

in a rather quick oven till the apples are tender. Serve with whipped

cream and sugar.

APPLE MERINGUE DESSERT.--Pare and core enough tart, easy-cooking

apples to make a quart when stewed. Cover closely and cook slowly till

perfectly tender, when they should be quite dry. Mash through a

colander, add a little sugar and a little grated pineapple or lemon

peel. Beat light with a silver fork, turn into a pudding dish, and brown

in a moderate oven ten or fifteen minutes. Then cover with a meringue

made with two tablespoonfuls of sugar and the beaten whites of two eggs,

and return to the oven for a moment to brown. Serve cold.

APPLE ROSE CREAM.--Wash, core, slice, and cook without paring, a

dozen fresh snow apples until very dry. When done, rub through a

colander to remove the skins, add sugar to sweeten, and the whites of

two eggs; beat vigorously with an egg beater until stiff, add a

teaspoonful of rose water for flavoring, and serve at once, or keep on

ice. It is especially important that the apples be very dry, otherwise

the cream will not be light. If after rubbing through the colander,

there is still much juice, they should be cooked again until it has

evaporated; or they may be turned into a jelly bag and drained. Other

varieties of apple may be used, and flavored with pineapple or vanilla.

Made as directed of snow apples or others with white flesh and red

skins, the cream should be of a delicate pink color, making a very

dainty as well as delicious dessert.

APPLE SNOW.--Pare and quarter some nice tart apples. Those that

when cooked will be whitest in color are best. Put them into a china

dish, and steam until tender over a kettle of boiling water. When done,

rub through a colander or beat with a fork until smooth, add sugar to

sweeten and a little grated lemon rind, and beat again. For every cup

and a half of the prepared apple allow the white of one egg, which beat

to a stiff froth, adding the apple to it a little at a time, beating all

together until, when taken up in a spoon, it stands quite stiff. Serve

cold, with or without a simple custard prepared with a pint of hot milk,

a tablespoonful of sugar, and the yolks of two eggs.

BAKED APPLES WITH CREAM.--Pare some nice juicy sweet apples, and

remove the cores without dividing. Bake until tender in a covered dish

with a spoonful or two of water on the bottom. Serve with whipped cream.

Or, bake the apples without paring and when done, remove the skins, and

serve in the same manner. The cream may be flavored with a little lemon

or rose if desired. Lemon apples and Citron apples, prepared as directed

on pages 186 and 187, make a most delicious dessert served with whipped

cream and sugar, or with mock cream flavored with cocoanut.

BAKED SWEET APPLE DESSERT.--Wash and remove the cores from a dozen

medium-sized sweet apples, and one third as many sour ones, and bake

until well done. Mash through a colander to make smooth and remove the

skins. Put into a granite-ware dish, smooth the top with a knife, return

to the oven and bake very slowly until dry enough to keep its shape when

cut. Add if desired a meringue made by heating the white of one egg with

a tablespoonful of sugar. Cut into squares, and serve in individual

dishes. The meringue may be flavored with lemon or dotted with bits of

colored sugar.

BANANAS IN SYRUP.--Heat in a porcelain kettle a pint of currant and

red raspberry juice, equal parts, sweetened to taste. When boiling, drop

into it a dozen peeled bananas, and simmer very gently for twenty

minutes. Remove the bananas, boil the juice until thickened to the

consistency of syrup, and pour over the fruit. Serve cold.

BAKED BANANAS.--Bake fresh, firm, yelow bananas with the skins on

fifteen minutes in a moderate oven. Serve hot.

FRESH FRUIT COMPOTE.--Flavor three tablespoonfuls of sugar by

mixing with it a little of the grated yellow rind of an orange, or by

rubbing it over the orange to extract the oil. If the latter method is

used, the square lump sugar will be preferable. Pare, quarter, and slice

three medium-sized tart apples. Peel, remove the seeds, and cut in quite

fine pieces three oranges. Put the fruit in alternate layers in a glass

dish. Sweeten a cupful of fresh or canned raspberry juice with the

flavored sugar, and turn it over the fruit. Put the dish on ice to cool

for a half hour before serving.

GRAPE APPLES.--Sweeten a pint of fresh grape juice with a pint of

sugar, and simmer gently until reduced one third. Pare and core without

dividing, six or eight nice tart apples, and stew very slowly in the

grape juice until tender, but not broken. Remove the apples and boil the

juice (if any remain) until thickened to the consistency of syrup. Serve

cold with a dressing of whipped cream. Canned grape pulp or juice may be

utilized for this purpose. Sweet apples may be used instead of tart

ones, and the sugar omitted.

PEACH CREAM.--Pare and stone some nice yellow peaches, and mash

with a spoon or press through a colander with a potato masher. Allow

equal quantities of the peach pulp and cream, add a little sugar to

sweeten, and beat all together until the cream is light. Serve in

saucers or glasses with currant buns. A banana cream may be prepared in

the same manner.

PRUNE DESSERT.--Prepare some prune marmalade as directed on page

191. Put in a square granite-ware dish, which place inside another dish

containing hot water, and cook it in a slow oven until the marmalade is

dry enough to retain its shape when cut with a knife. If desired add a

meringue as for baked sweet apple dessert, dotting the top with pink

sugar. Serve in squares in individual dishes.

DESSERTS MADE OF FRUIT WITH GRAINS, BREAD, ETC.

_RECIPES._

APPLE SANDWICH.--Mix half a cup of sugar with the grated yellow

rind of half a lemon. Stir half a cup of cream into a quart of soft

bread crumbs; prepare three pints of sliced apples, sprinkled with the

sugar; fill a pudding dish with alternate layers of moistened crumbs and

sliced apples, finishing with a thick layer of crumbs. Unless the apples

are very juicy, add half a cup of cold water, and unless quite tart,

have mixed with the water the juice of half a lemon. Cover and bake

about one hour. Remove the cover toward the last, that the top may brown

lightly. Serve with cream. Berries or other acid fruits may be used in

place of apples, and rice or cracked wheat mush substituted for bread

crumbs.

APPLE SANDWICH NO. 2.--Prepare and stew some apples as for sauce,

allowing them to become quite dry; flavor with lemon, pineapples,

quince, or any desired flavor. Moisten slices of zwieback in hot cream

as for toast. Spread a slice with the apple mixture, cover with a second

slice of the moistened zwieback, then cut in squares and serve, with or

without a dressing of mock cream. If desired to have the sandwiches

particularly dainty, cut the bread from which the zwieback is prepared

in rounds, triangles, or stars before toasting.

BAKED APPLE PUDDING.--Pour boiling water over bread crumbs; when

soft, squeeze out all the water, and line the bottom and sides of an

oiled earthen pudding dish with the crumbs. Fill the interior with

sliced apples, and cover with a layer of bread crumbs. Bake in a covered

dish set in a pan of hot water, until the apples are tender; then remove

the cover and brown. Loosen the pudding with a knife, invert on a plate,

and it will turn out whole. Serve with sugar and cream.

BARLEY FRUIT PUDDING.--Mix together a pint of cold, well steamed

pearl barley, a cup of finely minced tart apples, three fourths of a cup

of chopped and seeded raisins, a third of a cup of sugar, and a cup of

boiling water and turn into a pudding dish; cover, and place the dish in

the oven in a pan of hot water, and bake slowly an hour and a half, or

until the water has become quite absorbed and the fruit tender. Serve

warm with a water, adding sugar to taste, and thickening with a half

teaspoonful of cornstarch. Any tart fruit jelly may be used, or the

pudding may be served with cream and sugar flavored with a little grated

lemon rind.

BARLEY FIG PUDDING.--One pint of well-steamed pearl barley, two

cups of finely chopped best figs, one half cup of sugar, one half cup of

thin sweet cream, and one and one half cups of fresh milk. Mix all

thoroughly, turn into an earthen pudding dish; place it in the oven in

a pan half full of hot water, and bake slowly till the milk is nearly

absorbed. The pudding should be stirred once or twice during the baking,

so that the figs will be distributed evenly, instead of rising to the

top.

BLACKBERRY CORNSTARCH PUDDING.--Take two quarts of well-ripened

blackberries which have been carefully looked over, put them into a

granite-ware boiler with half a cup of water, and stew for twenty

minutes. Add sugar to sweeten, and three heaping tablespoonfuls of

cornstarch rubbed to a cream with a little cold water. Cook until

thickened, pour into molds, and cool. Serve cold with milk or cream.

Other fresh or canned berries may be used in the same way.

COCOANUT AND CORNSTARCH BLANCMANGE.--Simmer two tablespoonfuls of

desiccated cocoanut in a pint of milk for twenty minutes, and strain

through a fine sieve. If necessary, add more cold milk to make a full

pint. Add a tablespoonful of sugar, heat to boiling, and stir in

gradually two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a very

little cold milk. Cook five minutes, turn into cups, and serve cold with

fruit sauce or cream.

CORNSTARCH BLANCMANGE.--Stir together two tablespoonfuls of

cornstarch, half a cup of sugar, the juice and a little of the grated

rind of one lemon; braid the whole with cold water enough to dissolve

well. Then pour boiling water over the mixture, stirring meanwhile,

until it becomes transparent. Allow it to bubble a few minutes longer,

pour into molds, and serve cold with cream and sugar.

CORNSTARCH WITH RAISINS.--Measure out one pint of rich milk. Rub

two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch perfectly smooth with a little of the

milk, and heat the remainder to boiling, adding to it a tablespoonful of

sugar. Add the braided cornstarch, and let it cook until it thickens,

stirring constantly. Then add a half cup of raisins which have been

previously steamed. This may be served hot with sugar and cream, or

turned into cups and molded, and served cold with lemon, orange, or

other fruit sauce for dressing.

CORNSTARCH WITH APPLES.--Prepare the cornstarch as in the preceding

recipe, omitting the raisins. Place in a pudding dish some lemon apple

sauce, without juice, about two inches deep. Pour the cornstarch over

it, and serve hot or cold with cream.

CORNSTARCH FRUIT MOLD.--Heat a quart of strawberry, raspberry, or

currant juice, sweetened to taste, to boiling. If the pure juice of

berries is used, it may be diluted with one cup of water to each pint

and a half of juice. Stir in four tablespoonfuls of cornstarch well

braided with a little of the juice reserved for this purpose. Boil until

the starch is well cooked, stirring constantly. Pour into molds

previously wet with cold water, and cool. Serve with cream and sugar. A

circle of fresh berries around the mold when served adds to its

appearance.

CORNSTARCH FRUIT MOLD NO. 2.--Wash, stone, and stew some nice

French prunes, add sugar to sweeten, and if there is not an abundance of

juice, a little boiling water. For every one fourth pound of prunes

there should be enough juice to make a pint in all, for which add two

tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, rubbed smooth in a little cold water, and

boil three or four minutes. Pour into cups previously wet in cold water,

and mold. Serve cold with whipped cream. Other dried or canned fruits,

as apricots, peaches, cherries, etc., may be used in place of prunes, if

preferred.

CRACKED-WHEAT PUDDING.--A very simple pudding may be made with two

cups of cold, well-cooked cracked wheat, two and a half cups of milk,

and one half cup of sugar. Let the wheat soak in the milk till

thoroughly mixed and free from lumps, then add the sugar and a little

grated lemon peel, and bake about three fourths of an hour in a moderate

oven. It should be of a creamy consistency when cold, but will appear

quite thin when taken from the oven. By flavoring the milk with

cocoanut, a different pudding may be produced. Rolled or pearl wheat may

be used for this pudding. A cupful of raisins may be added if desired.

CRACKED-WHEAT PUDDING NO. 2.--Four and one half cups of milk, a

very scant half cup of cracked wheat, one half cup of sugar; put

together in a pudding dish, and bake slowly with the dish covered and

set in a pan of hot water for three or four hours, or until the wheat is

perfectly tender, as may be ascertained by dipping a few grains with a

spoon out from the side of the dish.

FARINA BLANCMANGE.--Heat a quart of milk, reserving one half cup,

to boiling. Then add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and four heaping

tablespoonfuls of farina, previously moistened with the reserved half

cup of milk. Let all boil rapidly for a few minutes till the farina has

well set, then place in a double boiler, or a dish set in a pan of

boiling water, to cook an hour longer. Mold in cups previously wet with

cold water. Serve with sugar and cream flavored with vanilla or a little

grated lemon rind, mock cream, or cocoanut sauce.

Much variety may be given this simple dessert by serving it with a

dressing of fruit juices; red raspberry, strawberry, grape, current,

cranberry, cherry, and plum are all very good. If desired, the milk with

which the blancmange is prepared may be first flavored with cocoanut,

thus making a different blancmange. Fresh fruit, as sliced banana,

blueberries, or strawberries, lightly stirred in just before molding,

make other excellent varieties.

FARINA FRUIT MOLD.--Put a quart of well-sweetened red raspberry

juice into the inner cup of a double boiler. Heat to boiling, and stir

in four heaping tablespoonfuls of farina first moistened with a little

of the juice. Boil up until thickened, then set into the outer boiler,

the water in which should be boiling, and cook for one hour. Pour into

molds previously wet in cold water, and cool. Serve with whipped cream

or mock cream. Currant, strawberry, cherry, or blackberry juice may be

used instead of raspberry. If water be added to dilute the juice, a

little more farina will be needed.

FRUIT PUDDING.--Measure out one quart of rich new milk, reserving

half a pint to wet five large rounded tablespoonfuls of sifted flour.

Add to the milk one even cup of sugar, turn in the flour mixture and

heat to boiling in a farina kettle, stirring all the while to prevent

lumps, and cook till it thickens, which will be about ten minutes after

it begins to boil. Remove from the stove, and beat while it is cooling.

When cool, add sliced bananas or whole strawberries, whortleberries,

raspberries, blackberries, sliced apricots, or peaches. Serve cold.

JAM PUDDING.--Make a jam by mashing well some fresh raspberries or

blueberries and sweetening to taste. Spread over slices of fresh, light

bread or buns, and pile in layers one above another in a pudding dish.

Pour over the layers enough rich milk or thin cream heated to scalding,

to moisten the whole. Turn a plate over the pudding, place a weight upon

it, and press lightly till cold. Cut in slices, and serve with or

without a cream dressing.

PLAIN FRUIT PUDDING OR BROWN BETTY.--Chop together one part seeded

raisins and two parts good tart apples. Fill a pudding dish with

alternate layers of the fruit and bread crumbs, finishing with the bread

crumbs on top. Unless the apples are very juicy, moisten the whole with

a tablespoonful of lemon juice in a cup of cold water, for a pudding

filling a three-pint dish. Cover the dish and place it in a moderate

oven in a pan of hot water, and bake nearly an hour; then remove from

the pan, uncover, and brown nicely. Serve warm with cream and sugar, or

with an orange or lemon sauce. Seeded cherries may be used in place of

the apples and raisins. In that case, each layer of fruit should be

sprinkled lightly with sugar, and the water omitted.

PRUNE PUDDING.--Moisten rather thin slices of stale bread in hot

milk and place in a pudding dish with alternate layers of stewed prunes

from which the stones have been removed, finishing with bread on top.

Pour over the whole a little more hot milk or pure juice or both, and

bake in a moderate over three fourths of an hour. Serve hot or cold with

orange or lemon sauce.

RICE MERINGUE.--Steam a cupful of rice as directed on page 99 until

tender and dry. Heap it loosely on a glass dish, and dot with squares of

cranberry or currant jelly. Beat with the whites of two eggs to a stiff

froth with one third cup of sugar, and pile it roughly over the rice.

Serve with cream.

RICE SNOWBALL.--Wash a cupful of good rice and steam until half

done. Have pared and cored without dividing, six large, easy cooking

tart apples. Put a clean square of cheese cloth over a plate, place the

apples on it, and fill them and all the interstices between with rice.

Put the remainder of the rice over and around the apples; tie up the

cloth, and cook in a kettle of boiling water until the apples are

tender. When done, lift from the water and drain well, untie the cloth,

invert the pudding upon a plate and remove the cloth. Serve hot with

cream and sugar or cocoanut sauce.

RICE FRUIT DESSERT.--Cold boiled rice, molded so that it can be

sliced, may be utilized in making a variety of delicious desserts. A

nice pudding may be prepared by filling a dish with alternate layers of

half-inch slices of molded rice and grated tart raw apples the same

thickness. Grate a little lemon rind over each layer. Cover, and place

in the oven in a pan of boiling water, and bake for an hour. Serve with

sugar and cream. Stoned cherries or peaches may be used instead of the

apple.

RICE DUMPLING.--Steam a teacup of rice until tender, and line an

oiled earthen pudding dish, pressing it up around the sides and over the

bottom. Fill the crust thus made with rather tart apples cut in small

slices; cover with rice, and steam until the apples are tender, which

may be determined by running a broom-straw through them. Let stand until

cold, then turn from the dish, and serve with sugar and cream. Any easy

cooking tart fruit, as stoned cherries, gooseberries, etc., may be used

in place of the apples when preferred.

RICE CREAM PUDDING.--Take one cup of good well-washed rice, one

scant cup of sugar, and eight cups of new milk, with a little grated

lemon rind for flavoring. Put all into an earthen pudding dish, and

place on the top of the range. Heat very slowly until the milk is

boiling, stirring frequently, so that the rice shall not adhere to the

bottom of the dish. Then put into a moderately hot oven, and bake

without stirring, till the rice is perfectly tender, which can be

ascertained by dipping a spoon in one side and taking out a few grains.

It should be, when cold, of a rich, creamy consistency, with each grain

of rice whole. Serve cold. It is best if made the day before it is

needed. If preferred, the milk may be first flavored with cocoanut,

according to the directions given on page 298.

RICE PUDDING WITH RAISINS.--Wash thoroughly one half cup of rice,

and soak for two hours in warm water. Drain off the water, add two

tablespoonfuls of sugar, one half cup of raisins, and four cups of milk.

Put in an earthen pudding dish and cook for two hours in a moderate

oven, stirring once or twice before the rice begins to swell, then add a

cup of hot milk, and cook for an hour longer.

RED RICE MOLD.--Take one and one half pints of red currants and

one half pint of red raspberries, and follow directions on page 209 for

extracting their juice. The juice may be diluted with one part water to

two of juice if desired. Sweeten to taste, and for each pint when

boiling stir in two tablespoonfuls of ground rice or rice flour rubbed

smooth in a little of the juice which may be retained for the purpose.

Pour into molds, cool, and serve with whipped cream.

RICE AND FRUIT DESSERT.--Steam a cup of good well-washed rice in

milk till tender. Prepare some tart apples by paring, dividing midway

between the stem and blow ends, and removing the cores. Fill the

cavities with quince or pineapple jelly; put the apples in a shallow

stewpan with a half cup of water, cover, and steam till nearly tender.

Put the rice, which should be very moist, around the bottom and sides of

a pudding dish; place the apples inside, cover, and bake ten minutes.

Serve with cream flavored with quince or lemon.

RICE AND TAPIOCA PUDDING.--Soak one half cup of tapioca over night

in a cup of water; in the morning drain off the water if any remains.

Add to the tapioca half a cup of rice, one cup of sugar, one cup of

raisins, and eight cups of new milk, with a little grated lemon rind for

flavoring. Put all in an earthen pudding dish on the top of the range,

where it will heat very gradually to the boiling point, stirring

frequently. When the milk boils, put the pudding in the oven, and bake

till the rice grains are perfectly tender but not broken and mushy. From

twenty minutes to half an hour is usually sufficient. When taken from

the oven, it will appear quite thin, but after cooling will be of a

delicious, creamy consistency. Serve cold.

RICE-FLOUR MOLD.--Braid two tablespoonfuls of rice flour with a

little milk and stir the mixture into a pint of boiling milk to which

has been added three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a little salt if

desired. Let this boil until it thickens, then mold, and serve with

cream and sugar or with lemon, orange, or other fruit sauce.

RICE AND STEWED APPLE DESSERT.--Steam or bake some rice in milk

until tender, sweeten slightly and spread a layer of the rice half an

inch thick on the bottom of a pudding dish, then a layer of

lemon-flavored apple sauce, which has been rubbed through a colander and

afterward simmered on the range until stiff. If preferred, the sauce may

be prepared by first baking the apples, and then rubbing the pulp

through a colander. Add another layer of rice, then one of sauce, and so

on until the dish is full. Bake in a moderate oven and serve hot. If the

apples are not very tart, part stewed and sifted cranberries may be used

with them.

RICE AND STRAWBERRY DESSERT.--Soak a cup of rice in one and a half

cups of new milk; place all in an earthen dish, and steam an hour, or

until dry and tender, stirring occasionally for the first fifteen

minutes. When the rice is done, place in the bottom of cups previously

moistened with cold water, five nice hulled strawberries in the shape of

a star. Carefully fill the interstices between the berries with the

cooked rice, and put in a layer of rice. Add next a layer of

strawberries, then another of rice. Press firmly into the cups, and set

away to cool. When well molded, turn into saucers, and pile whipped

cream around each mold; sprinkle with sugar and serve.

A little care in forming the stars and filling the molds makes this a

delicious and pretty dessert. If preferred, the dessert may be prepared

in one large mold, and a larger number of berries arranged in the form

of a cross in the bottom of the dish, covering with rice, and adding as

many alternate layers of berries and rice as desired.

STEWED FRUIT PUDDING.--Take a deep, square or oblong granite-ware

or earthen dish; cut strips of stale bread uniformly an inch in width

and three fourths of an inch in thickness, and place them in the mold

with spaces between them equal to their width. Or, fit the strips around

the bottom of a round, earthen pudding dish, like the spokes of a wheel,

with stewed or canned fruit, sweetened to taste; whortleberries are

best, but apricots, cherries, currants, strawberries, and gooseberries

may all be used. Separate the juice from the berries by turning them

into a colander. Fill the interstices between the bread with hot fruit,

using just as little juice as possible. Cover with another layer, this

time placing the strips of bread over the fruit in the first layer, and

leaving the spaces for fruit over the bread in the first layer. Fill the

dish with these layers of fruit and bread, and when full, pour over all

the hot fruit juice. Put a plate with a weight on it on the top to press

it firmly. Dip off any juice that may be pressed out, and set the

pudding in the refrigerator to cool and press. When cold, it will turn

out whole, and can be cut in slices and served with whipped cream or

cocoanut sauce.

STRAWBERRY MINUTE PUDDING.--Cook a quart of ripe strawberries in a

pint of water till well scalded. Add sugar to taste. Skim out the fruit,

and into the boiling juice stir a scant cup of granulated wheat flour

previously rubbed to a paste with a little cold water; cook fifteen or

twenty minutes, pour over the fruit, and serve cold with cream sauce.

SWEET APPLE PUDDING.--Pare, core, and slice enough ripe, juicy

sweet apples to fill a pint bowl. Heat a quart of new milk to scalding

in a double boiler. Pour it hot over one cup of good granulated

cornmeal, and beat very thoroughly to remove all lumps. Return to the

double boiler, and cook until the meal is set. The batter then should

be about the consistency of corn mush. Remove from the fire, add a pint

of cold milk, stir in the sliced apples, one third of a cup of sugar or

molasses, and a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a very little

milk. Turn all into a deep earthen crock or pudding dish, and bake

slowly from three to four hours, stirring frequently the first hour. It

should be moderately browned on top when done. Serve warm or cold.

WHORTLEBERRY PUDDING.--One quart of new milk, one quart of fine

bread crumbs, two quarts of fresh whortleberries, one or two

tablespoonfuls of sugar. Heat the milk to boiling; fill a pudding dish

with alternate layers of bread crumbs and berries, beginning and ending

with crumbs. Add the sugar to the milk, let it dissolve, and pour the

whole over the pudding. Cover closely, and bake in a slow oven within a

pan of hot water nearly an hour. Serve warm with cream or cocoanut

sauce.

DESSERTS WITH TAPIOCA, SAGO, MONICA, AND SEA MOSS.

Both pearl and flake tapioca are suitable for these desserts. They

should be soaked for some hours before using, and it is always best to

soak over night if convenient. The flake tapioca requires longer soaking

and cooking than the pearl tapioca. For soaking, use one and a half cups

of water for each cup of flake tapioca, and one pint of water for a cup

of pearl tapioca. For cooking, three or four additional cups of water

will be required for each cup of tapioca, depending upon, the articles

used with it. A double boiler should be used for the cooking.

_RECIPES._

APPLE TAPIOCA.--Soak a cupful of pearl tapioca over night. In the

morning simmer in a quart of boiling water until transparent and

thickened. Arrange in the bottom of a pudding dish four or five

good-sized tart apples, which have been pared, cored, and the cavities

filled with sugar. Squeeze the juice of a lemon and grate a very little

of the rind over the apples. Pour the tapioca over the fruit. Set the

dish inside a pan filled with hot water, cover, and bake one hour, or

until the apples are done. Serve with sugar and cream. It is best nearly

cold. Fresh peaches, pared and stewed, may be used in place of apples,

if preferred.

APPLE TAPIOCA NO. 2.--Soak a half cup of tapioca in a cap of tepid

water, for at least three hours. Pare, core, and quarter nice tart

apples to fill a two-quart pudding dish nearly half full. Add four cups

of water and one of sugar to the soaked tapioca, pour it over the

apples, and bake two or three hours in a slow oven. Serve with whipped

cream.

BANANA DESSERT.--Soak a cup of tapioca over night. In the morning

cook in a double boiler in a quart of water until transparent. When

done, add a cup of sugar and three or four sliced bananas. Serve cold

with cream.

BLACKBERRY TAPIOCA.--Soak a cup of tapioca over night. When ready

to cook, add three cups of boiling water and cook in a double boiler

until transparent and smooth. Sprinkle a quart of fresh blackberries

with sugar, and stir lightly into the tapioca. Pour into molds and serve

cold with cream and sugar. Other fresh berries may be used in the same

way.

CHERRY PUDDING.--Soak and cook a half cup of tapioca in a pint of

water until transparent. Have a pint of fresh pitted cherries in an

earthen pudding dish. Sprinkle them well with sugar, pour over them the

cooked tapioca, and bake for an hour in a moderate oven. Serve hot with

or without cream.

FRUIT TAPIOCA.--Cook three fourths of a cup of tapioca in four cups

of water until smooth and transparent Stir into it lightly a pint of

fresh strawberries, raspberries, currants, or any small fruit, adding

sugar as required. For variety a cup of canned quinces or apricots may

be substituted for fresh fruit. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream or

mock cream.

MOLDED TAPIOCA WITH FRUIT.--Simmer one half cup of desiccated

cocoanut in a pint of milk for twenty minutes. Strain out the cocoanut,

and add milk to make a full pint. Add one half cup of sugar and one half

cup of tapioca previously soaked over night. Let the whole simmer until

the tapioca is transparent. Dip some cups in cold water, drain, and lay

fresh strawberries, currants, or cherries in the bottom of each in the

form of a star or cross. Pour the tapioca into the molds gently, so as

not to displace the fruit. When cold, turn out and serve with whipped

cream or fruit sauce. Raisins may be substituted for fresh fruit, or

bits of jelly may be placed around the mold after it has cooled, if

preferred.

PINEAPPLE TAPIOCA.--Soak one cup of tapioca over night in one and

one half cups of water. Add two and one half cups of water and cook in a

double boiler until transparent, then add one cup of sugar and one juicy

pineapple minced fine with a sharp knife. Mold, and serve cold with or

without cream.

PRUNE AND TAPIOCA PUDDING.--Soak one half cup of tapioca over

night. In the morning cook until transparent in two cups of water. Stew

two cups of well-washed and stoned prunes in a quart of water till

perfectly tender; then add the juice of a good lemon and two

tablespoonfuls of sugar, and boil till the syrup becomes thick and

rich. Turn the prunes into a pudding dish, cover with the cooked

tapioca, and add a little grated lemon rind. Bake lightly. Serve without

dressing or with sugar and cream or almond sauce. If preferred, the

prunes and tapioca may be placed in the dish in alternate layers, having

the top one of tapioca.

TAPIOCA AND FIG PUDDING.--Cook three fourths of a cup of tapioca as

for Apple Tapioca. Have ready two cups of finely sliced or chopped tart

apples, and one cup of chopped figs, which have first been lightly

steamed. If preferred, raisins may be used in place of half the figs.

Put the fruit in the bottom of the pudding dish, turn the tapioca over

it, and bake till the fruit is very soft. If the apples are not very

tart, sprinkle the juice of a lemon over them before adding the figs and

tapioca.

A nice fruit pudding can also be made by using half canned pears and

half apples, or canned quinces may be substituted for figs.

PEACH TAPIOCA.--For this will be needed a quart of nicely canned

peaches, a cup of tapioca, and from one half to three fourths of a cup

of sugar, according to the sweetness of the peaches. Soak the tapioca

over night in just enough water to cover. When ready to cook, put in a

double boiler with three cups of water, and cook for an hour. Remove

from the fire and add to it the juice from the peaches, of which there

should be a cup and a half, which has been secured by draining the

peaches in a colander, and stir it well into the tapioca. Place a layer

of this mixture in an oiled pudding dish, add the peaches, cover with

the remainder of the tapioca, and bake for an hour in a moderate oven.

TAPIOCA JELLY.--Soak a cup of tapioca in a pint of water over

night. Add another pint and cook until transparent and smooth. Add three

tablespoonfuls of lemon juice and four tablespoonfuls of sugar; beat

well together and tun into molds. Serve cold. No dressing is required.

This may be varied by using unsweetened currant, grape, or other acid

fruit juice in place of lemon. Fruit jelly may be used if the juice is

not easily obtained. Add when the tapioca is well cooked, and stir until

dissolved.

APPLE SAGO PUDDING.--Soak one cup of sago in six cups of water;

stew ten small apples, mix with the sago, and bake three quarters of an

hour. Serve with cream and sugar. It is better warm than cold, but

acceptable either way.

RED SAGO MOLD.--Take a quart of red raspberry juice, pure or

diluted with one third water, and sweeten to taste. Have ready one half

cup of best sago which has soaked for twenty minutes in just enough

water to cover. Drain off any water that may remain. Add the sago to the

juice, and cook until the sago is transparent, then turn into molds.

Serve cold with cream. Cranberry or strawberry juice may be used in

place of the raspberry, if preferred.

SAGO FRUIT PUDDING.--Soak a small cup of sago an hour in just

enough water to cover. Drain off any water that may not be absorbed. Mix

two thirds of a cup of sugar with this sago, and stir all into a quart

of boiling water. Let it boil until the sago is perfectly transparent

and pour in a pint of nicely hulled strawberries. Turn into molds to

cool, or serve warm with cream, as preferred. Tapioca can be used

instead of sago, but needs longer soaking. Raspberries, stoned cherries,

or currants can be used in place of strawberries.

SAGO PUDDING.--Soak a cupful of sago for twenty minutes in a cup of

cold water; then pour over it a quart and a cup of boiling water, add a

cup of sugar and one half cup of raisins. Cook till the sago is

perfectly transparent, flavor with vanilla, and set away to cool. Serve

with whipped cream.

MANIOCA WITH FRUIT.--Pare, core, and quarter six medium-sized tart

apples, and put them to cook in a quart of boiling water. Add a cup of

sugar, and cook without stirring until softened, then sprinkle into the

water in which they are cooking five tablespoonfuls of manioca, and cook

until it is transparent, which will be in about ten minutes. Flavor with

a little grated lemon rind, and serve hot with sugar and cream, or mold,

as preferred. Canned peaches, apricots, or cherries may be used in a

similar manner, adding boiling water if there is not sufficient juice to

properly cook the manioca. Or the manioca may be first cooked in boiling

water, using four scant tablespoonfuls for a pint of water, and when

transparent, turning it over sliced bananas, pineapples, or oranges,

molding and serving with cream and sugar.

RASPBERRY MANIOCA MOLD.--Heat a pint of water, and when boiling,

sprinkle into it four scant tablespoonfuls of manioca and cook for ten

minutes or until transparent, stirring continually. When transparent and

thickened, remove from the fire and add a tablespoonful of lemon juice

and one cup of sugar. Place a layer of the cooked manioca in the bottom

of a pudding dish, add a layer of freshly picked red raspberries, then

another of the manioca, filling the dish in alternate layers with one of

manioca for the top. Set away in some cool place until well molded.

Serve in slices with cream flavored with rose. Other fresh berries may

be used instead of raspberries.

SEA MOSS BLANCMANGE.--Wash the moss well in several waters, and

soak in a very little cold water for an hour before using. It is hardly

possible to give exact directions for making this blancmange, owing to

the difficulty of accurately measuring the moss, but in general, a small

handful will be ample for a quart of milk. Add the moss, when washed, to

the milk, and cook in a double boiler until the milk has become

thickened and glutinous. Add sugar to sweeten, flavor with vanilla or

rose water, and strain through a fine sieve into cups previously wet in

cold water, and mold. This may be varied by using boiling water instead

of milk for cooking, adding the juice of one or two lemons and a little

grated rind to flavor.

DESSERTS MADE WITH GELATINE.

Gelatine is an article largely employed in making delicate and dainty

dishes. It is economical and convenient, because the dessert can be

prepared several hours before needed; but it must be stated that it has

in itself little or no food value, and there is great liability of its

being unwholesome. A writer in the _Anti-Adulteration Journal_, a short

time since, speaking of the use of gelatine, says:--

"The nutritive value of pure gelatine has been shown to be very low in

the scale of foods. The beef gelatine of the markets that is used by

bakers, is far from being pure gelatine. It frequently has a very

disagreeable, fetid odor, and has evidently begun to decompose during

the process of manufacture. After a thorough drying, putrefaction does

not take place as long as it remains dry. But suppose that gelatine

which has thus begun to decompose during the drying process, containing,

perhaps, putrefactive germs in the dried state, be dissolved in water,

and in hot weather, kept in this condition for a few hours previous to

being used; the result would be rapid putrefaction. The putrefaction

would be checked by freezing; but the bacteria causing it are not killed

by the low temperature. As soon as the dessert is melted or eaten, they

resume their activity in the body, and may cause sickness. It is a

well-known fact that gelatine is an excellent medium in which to

cultivate various kinds of micro-organisms; and if the conclusions here

mentioned be correct, it seems that gelatine should be used with great

care in connection with food preparations. When used carelessly, it may

do a great deal of harm. I wish to impress those who use it with the

importance of guarding against its dangers. Gelatine should not be

allowed to remain in solution for many hours before using, especially in

hot weather.

"When used at all, the best varieties should be employed, and such as

are free from putrefactive odor."

A "box" of gelatine is used to signify a two-ounce package. If half a

box is called for, divide it by cutting the box and its contents in

halves rather than by emptying the box and then attempting to make a

division.

To prepare gelatine for desserts, first soak it till soft in a small

quantity of cold water (a cupful to one box of gelatine is sufficient);

fifteen minutes will suffice if it is stirred frequently; then dissolve

in boiling liquid. Do not cook the gelatine, and after it is dissolved,

always strain through a cloth strainer before using.

In winter, a two-ounce package will solidify two quarts of liquid,

including the water in which the gelatine is soaked. In summer, a little

less liquid should be used. Gelatine desserts must be left on ice or in

a cool place until hardened, but they should not be served at the table

so cold as to interfere with the digestion of other foods.

_RECIPES._

APPLES IN JELLY.--Pare and core without cutting open, a half dozen

medium-sized tart apples of the same degree of hardness. Fill the

centers with a little grated lemon rind and sugar. Steam until tender

but not broken. Have ready half a package of gelatine which has been

soaked for an hour in just enough water to cover. Prepare a syrup with

one cup of sugar and a pint of water. When boiling, turn the syrup over

the gelatine, stirring well to dissolve it, and add the juice of half a

lemon. Strain, place the apples in a deep dish with a little space

between each; turn the mixture over them, and set in the ice box to

cool. Serve with or without a little whipped cream.

APPLE SHAPE.--Steam some nice tart apples. When tender, rub through

a colander. Have two thirds of a box of gelatine soaked in just enough

water to cover; pour over it a cup and a half of boiling water; when

well dissolved, strain and add a pint of the sifted apples sweetened to

taste, and one half cup of grated fresh or canned pineapple, or if

preferred, one half cup of the juice of canned pineapple. Turn into cups

previously wet in cold water, and mold. Serve with a little cream.

Canned peaches, apricots, and other fruit may be used the same as

apples, if preferred. Rub the fruit with but little juice through a

colander, and proceed as above.

BANANA DESSERT.--Dissolve half a box of gelatine in a half cup of

warm water. Heat three cups of rich milk to boiling, and add to it one

cup of sugar and turn over the well-dissolved gelatine and strain. Let

it partly cool, and mix in three or four bananas, sliced thin or chopped

fine. Turn all into a mold previously wet with cold water, and leave

till hardened, which may require several hours unless the mold be placed

on ice. When well molded, turn into a glass dish, serve with whipped

cream flavored with vanilla or lemon.

CLEAR DESSERT.--Soak a box of gelatine in a large bowl with half a

cup of cold water. When soft, pour over it three pints of boiling water,

add the juice of three large lemons and two cups of sugar. Stir well,

strain, and pour into molds previously wet with cold water. Put into the

refrigerator until hardened. Serve with whipped cream. Quince, apricot,

orange, or pineapple juice may be substituted for lemon, and thus a

variety of desserts may be made.

FRUIT FOAM DESSERT.--Soak half a package of gelatine in half a cup

of cold water until soft. Heat to boiling two and one half cups of red

raspberry, currant, strawberry, or grape juice, sweetened to taste, and

pour over the soaked gelatine. Stir until perfectly dissolved, then

strain, and set the dish in ice water to cool. When it is cold and

beginning to thicken, beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth and

stir into the thickening gelatine. Beat thoroughly for fifteen minutes

with an egg beater, or whip till the whole is of a solid foam stiff

enough to retain its shape. Turn into molds previously wet with cold

water, or pile roughly in large spoonfuls in a glass dish. Set away in

the refrigerator until needed. Serve with a little whipped cream piled

lightly around it.

FRUIT SHAPE.--Take a quart of nicely canned red raspberries,

sweetened to taste; turn into a colander and drain off the juice, taking

care to keep the fruit as perfect as possible. Put two thirds of a box

of gelatine to soak in just enough of the juice to cover. When the

gelatine is ready, heat the remainder of the juice to boiling and pour

over it. When well dissolved, add the fruit, turn into cups, and mold.

Serve with cream. Peaches, strawberries, apricots, and other canned

fruit may be used in place of the raspberries, if preferred.

GELATINE CUSTARD.--Soak a quarter of a box of gelatine in one

fourth of a cup of cold water till soft; then pour over it three fourths

of a cup of boiling water, and stir until dissolved. Beat the yolks of

two eggs and three tablespoonfuls of sugar to a cream; pour over it

slowly, stirring continuously, a pint of boiling milk, and cook in a

double boiler until it thickens. Then add the gelatine mixture, which

should first be strained, the whites of the two eggs beaten stiff, and a

little vanilla for flavoring. Beat all well together, turn into molds

previously wet in cold water, and place on ice to harden. Serve with

fruit sauce.

LAYER PUDDING.--Divide a package of gelatine into three portions,

and put each to soak in one third of a cup of cold water. Heat one and

one fourths cups of water to boiling, add the juice of one lemon and two

thirds of a cup of sugar. Turn this slowly, stirring well meanwhile,

over the well-beaten yolks of two eggs. Cook in a double boiler five

minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Pour the hot custard over one

portion of the soaked gelatine, and stir it until dissolved. Strain, add

a little grated lemon rind for flavoring, and turn into a broad, shallow

dish to mold. A square granite-ware baking tin is admirable for this

purpose.

Take one and one half cups of raspberry, strawberry, grape, or currant

juice, sweetened to taste; heat to boiling and pour over the second

portion of the soaked gelatine. Stir till well dissolved, strain, and

turn into a shallow mold like that containing the first portion.

Heat one and one half cups of rich milk to boiling, add one half cup of

sugar, and pour over the third portion of soaked gelatine. Strain and

cool a little, flavor with vanilla or a few chopped bananas; or, if

preferred, flavor the milk with cocoanut before using, as directed on

page 298. Pour into a third mold like the others to cool. When all are

cold, arrange in layers, the yellow at the bottom and the white at the

top. The whites of the eggs may be used for meringue, or for making a

whipped cream sauce to serve with the pudding.

LEMON JELLY.--Soak one half box of gelatine in a scant cup of cold

water until soft. Then pour over it one pint of boiling water and stir

until well dissolved. Add one cup of sugar, the yellow rind of one

lemon, and one half cup of lemon juice. Strain, put into molds

previously wet in cold water, and place in the ice chest to harden. If

preferred, the above may be cooled in a shallow dish and cut into

irregular shapes to be served with a custard sauce. Use only the yolks

of eggs in making the custard, that it may have a rich color, using two

yolks in place of one whole egg.

JELLY WITH FRUIT.--Soak a package of gelatine in a cup of cold

water until soft; then pour over it one quart and a cup of boiling

water. Strain, add the juice of four lemons and twelve tablespoonfuls of

sugar. Cool a little of the gelatine in a mold, and as soon as set,

scatter in some nice currants or seedless raisins; add another layer of

gelatine, and when set, scatter in more fruit; continue until the mold

is full, having gelatine at the top. Fresh fruit, currants, grapes,

cherries, plums, peaches, etc., may be used in place of raisins, if

preferred.

ORANGE DESSERT.--Soak one third of a cup of gelatine in one third

of a cup of cold water until soft; then pour over it one third of a cup

of boiling water. Add a scant cup of sugar, the juice of one lemon, and

a cupful of orange juice and pulp. Set the dish containing the mixture

in a pan of ice water until it begins to harden. Have ready the whites

of three eggs well whipped, add to the jelly, and beat all together

until light and stiff enough to drop. Pour into molds wet in cold water,

and lined with sections of oranges, from which seeds and white fiber

have been removed.

ORANGES IN JELLY.--Pare divide, and take out the seeds from four or

five sweet oranges, being careful to remove all the white rind and

shreds. Place in a deep dish and pour over them a syrup prepared as for

Apples in Jelly, using the juice of a whole lemon. Set in the ice box

over night. A very little orange peel may be grated into the syrup if

liked; and if the oranges are very sweet, less sugar will be required.

If one can afford to use orange juice in place of the water in making

the syrup, the dessert will be greatly improved.

ORANGE JELLY.--Soak one quarter of a box of gelatine until soft in

just enough cold water to cover. Then pour over it one half cup of

boiling water. Stir until well dissolved, add the juice of one small

lemon, one cupful of orange juice, and one half cup of sugar. Strain,

turn into molds previously wet in cold water, and set on ice to harden.

Strawberry, raspberry, and other fruit juices may be used in a similar

manner.

SNOW PUDDING.--Soak one fourth of a box of gelatine until soft in

an equal measure of cold water. Then pour over it one cup of boiling

water, and add one fourth of a cup of strained lemon juice and one cup

of sugar; stir till the sugar is all dissolved. Strain into a large

china dish, and set in ice water to cool. Let it stand until cold and

beginning to thicken. Have ready the whites of three eggs beaten to a

stiff froth, and add to the gelatine as it begins to thicken; beat all

together for fifteen or twenty minutes, until it is of a solid foam and

stiff enough to hold its shape. Turn into molds and keep in a cool place

till needed. A half dozen finely sliced or chopped bananas stirred in

toward the last, makes a nice variation. Serve with custard sauce made

with the yolks of the eggs and flavored with rose or vanilla. Orange,

quince, or pineapple juice may be substituted for lemon, for a change.

This dessert is best if made several hours before it is needed and set

in the refrigerator to keep cold.

DESSERTS WITH CRUSTS.

_RECIPES._

APPLE TART.--Pare and slice some quick-cooking, tart apples, and

place them in the bottom of a pudding dish, with a tablespoonful of

water. Cover with a crust prepared in the following manner: Into a cup

of thin cream stir a gill of yeast and two cups of flour; let this

become very light, then add sufficient flour to mix soft. Knead for

fifteen or twenty minutes very thoroughly, roll evenly, and cover the

apples; put all in a warm place until the crust has become very light,

then bake. If the apples do not bake easily, they may be partially

cooked before putting on the crust. Dish so that the fruit will be

uppermost, and serve cold with cream and sugar, cocoanut sauce, or mock

cream.

GOOSEBERRY TART.--Fill a pudding dish with well prepared green

gooseberries, adding a tablespoonful or two of water. Cover with a crust

as for Apple Tart, and when light, bake in a moderately quick oven. Cut

the crust into the required number of pieces, and dish with gooseberries

heaped on top. Serve cold with sugar and cream.

CHERRY TART.--Prepare the same as for Apple Tart, with stoned

cherries, only omitting the water, as the cherries will be sufficiently

juicy of themselves. If the fruit is very juicy, sprinkle a

tablespoonful of flour over it before putting on the crust. Plum and

peach tart may be made in the same manner, and are both very nice.

STRAWBERRY AND OTHER FRUIT SHORTCAKES.--Beat together one cup of

thin cream, slightly warmed, a tablespoonful of yeast, and two small

cups of flour. Set in a warm place till very light. Add sufficient warm

flour to mix soft, and knead thoroughly for fifteen or twenty minutes.

Divide into two equal portions, and roll into sheets about one half inch

in thickness, making the center a very little thinner than the edges, so

that when risen, the center will not be highest. Place in tins, and set

in a warm place until perfectly risen, or until they have doubled their

first thickness. Bake quickly. When cold, spread one cake with fruit,

and cover with the other. If the fruit is large, it may be chopped fine

with a knife, or mashed with a spoon. A little lemon juice added to

peaches is an addition for shortcake.

BANANA SHORTCAKE.--Prepare the crust as previously directed. Fill

with sliced bananas, for every three of which add the juice of one

orange, a little of the grated rind, and a half cup of sugar.

LEMON SHORTCAKE.--Prepare the crust as for Fruit Shortcake. For the

filling, grate the yellow portion only of the lemon, and squeeze the

juice into a bowl; add a cupful of sugar. Braid a tablespoonful of flour

smooth with two tablespoonfuls of water, add enough boiling water,

stirring well meanwhile, to make a teacupful. Add this to the other

ingredients, beat well together, and place the bowl in a basin of

boiling water or over the teakettle. Cook until about as thick as boiled

custard. Fill this between the shortcakes and serve.

BERRY SHORTCAKE WITH PREPARED CREAM.--Prepare the shortcake as

previously directed. Sweeten the berries and spread on the lower crust,

then pour over them a "cream" prepared as follows, and add top crust:--

CREAM.--Heat one half cup of milk and the same of thin cream to

boiling, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and thicken with one

teaspoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Turn the

hot sauce over the beaten white of two eggs, stirring rapidly meanwhile,

until the egg is thoroughly mingled with the whole. Allow it to become

cold before using.

RAISED PIE.--Prepare the dough as for shortcake. Divide in two

portions, spread one on the tin, and cover with a layer of easy-cooking

tart apples sliced in eighths. Put two or three spoonfuls of rather

thick sweet cream over the apples, and cover with the top crust. Let the

crusts rise until very light, and bake. Peaches may be used in the same

manner.

BAKED APPLE LOAF.--Prepare some dough as for buns on page 347,

leaving out the sugar, and when ready for the last melding, cut it into

three portions. Put some flour on the bread board, mold the dough well,

and roll as thin as pie crust in such shape as will fit a shallow baking

tin. Spread over the tin, and cover the dough with a layer of

easy-cooking, sour apples sliced very thin, or with very stiff apple

marmalade. Cover this with a second layer of dough, then add another

layer of apples, and cover with the third portion of the dough. Pinch

the edges of the dough well together, let the loaf rise till very light,

then bake. Eat cold with sugar and cream. If the apples will not cook

quickly, they may be first steamed until nearly tender. If the crust

appears too hard when taken from the oven, cover with a wet napkin and

allow it to steam for a little time until softened.

CUSTARD PUDDINGS.

Very much depends upon the baking in all puddings made with milk and

eggs.

A custard pudding made with one egg, and slowly baked, will be much

thicker and nicer than one made with more eggs, baked in too hot an

oven.

A custard pudding baked too quickly or too long will have the eggs mixed

with the farinaceous substance and the milk turned to whey, while one

more carefully baked will have eggs and milk formed into a thick custard

on the top.

Custard puddings and all other baked puddings which require to be cooked

slowly, are best cooked in an earthen dish set in the oven in a pan of

hot water, and baked only till the pudding is set. If it is desirable

to use with eggs any ingredient which requires a lengthy cooking, it is

much better to cook it partially before adding the eggs. Many custard

desserts are much more dainty and more easily served when cooked in cups

than when baked in a large dish. The blue willow pattern stoneware cups

and the blue and white Japanese ware are very suitable for this purpose.

When cooking, set the cups, allowing one for each person, in the oven in

a dripping pan containing hot water, and bake. Serve without removing

from the cups.

If desired to stir beaten eggs into heated milk, add a few spoonfuls of

cold milk to the eggs, and pour the mixture, a little at a time, into

the hot milk, taking care to stir it constantly.

A nice way to flavour custards and meringues for custard puddings is to

beat fruit jelly with the whites of the eggs; red raspberry, quince, and

pineapple jellies give especially nice flavours.

_RECIPES._

APPLE CUSTARD.--Bake good tart apples; when done, remove the pulp,

and rub through a sieve; sweeten, and flavour with grated pineapple or

grated orange or lemon rind. Put in a glass dish, and cover with a plain

custard prepared as directed on page 328. Bits of jelly may be scattered

over the top of the custard.

APPLE CUSTARD NO. 2.--Peel, halve, and core eight or ten

medium-sized sour apples. Have prepared a syrup made with a cup of

water, the juice of one lemon, a little grated rind, and a half cup of

sugar. When the sugar is dissolved, add the fruit, and simmer till

tender but not fallen to pieces. Skim out the apples, draining

thoroughly, and lay them in a glass dish. Boil up the syrup until thick,

and poor it over the apples. Make a soft boiled custard with a pint of

milk, yolks of three eggs, and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. When cold,

spread over the apples; whip the whites to a stiff froth, flavor with

lemon, and pile irregularly upon the top. Brown lightly in the oven.

APPLE CUSTARD NO. 3.--Pare and remove the cores from a dozen tart

apples, and fill the cavities with black raspberry, quince, or grape

jelly. Put them in a covered baking dish with a tablespoonful of water,

and steam in the oven till tender but not fallen to pieces. Then cover

the apples with a raw custard made by cooking two tablespoonfuls of

flour rubbed smooth with a little milk, in a quart of milk, till just

thickened, and adding, when cold, the yolks of two eggs well beaten

with two heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar, and lastly the whites of the

eggs whipped to a stiff froth. Bake in a dish set in a pan of hot water,

until the custard has set, but not till it separates.

APPLE CORNSTARCH CUSTARD.--Cover the bottom of a small earthen-ware

pudding dish an inch or more in depth with apples stewed until very dry,

sweetened and flavored with a teaspoonful of rose water. Heat a cup of

milk to boiling, and stir into it a tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed

smooth in a little cold milk, and one fourth cup of sugar; cook until

thickened, then add the yolk of one egg, and pour the whole over the

apple. Meringue the top with the white of the egg beaten stiff with a

tablespoonful of sugar, and flavored with a little rose water.

APPLE AND BREAD CUSTARD.--For this is required one cup of finely

rolled bread crumbs, two eggs, one half cup of sugar, one cup minced

sour apples, and one quart of milk. Beat the sugar and yolks together,

add the milk, bread, and fruit, and lastly the well-beaten whites of the

eggs. Bake in a dish set in a pan of hot water till firm but not dry.

ALMOND CORNSTARCH PUDDING.--Blanch one and one half ounces of sweet

almonds, and reduce them to a paste as directed on page 298; or if

obtainable, almondine may be used instead of the prepared almonds. Heat

a quart of milk, and while boiling, stir into it four tablespoonfuls of

cornstarch which has been braided smooth with a little cold milk; let it

thicken over the fire, stirring all the time. Then add two

tablespoonfuls of thick, sweet cream. Lastly, stir in two or three

well-beaten eggs and a tablespoonful of rose water. Let it come just to

the boiling point, and remove from the stove. Keep in a cold place till

needed. Serve with hot mock cream or with grape pulp as dressing.

ALMOND CREAM.--Heat a pint of milk, and when boiling stir into it

two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk,

also one fourth cup of sugar and three tablespoonfuls of almondine. Cook

until thickened, and pour it, stirring constantly meanwhile, over the

beaten whites of two eggs. Set on ice to cool, and serve with grape pulp

as dressing. A cupful of blanched and chopped almonds may be used

instead of almondine if that is not obtainable. The pudding will then

require an additional one fourth cup of sugar.

APPLE CHARLOTTE.--Take three cups of nicely stewed tart apples

which have been beaten smooth or rubbed through a colander and sweetened

to taste. If the sauce is thin and very juicy, place it upon the range,

and simmer slowly till it is of the consistency of thick marmalade or

jelly. Add to the apples four tablespoonfuls of grated fresh or canned

pineapple for flavoring. Remove the hard crusts from slices of light

whole-wheat bread, spread them quite thickly with the prepared apple,

and pack in layers in a pudding mold. Cover with a simple custard made

of a quart of milk, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two eggs. Let it

stand half an hour, then bake. Do not press the bread or beat it after

the custard is turned on, as that will be likely to make the pudding

heavy. Other fruit marmalade may be used in place of the apple

preparation if preferred.

BANANA CUSTARD.--Prepare a custard as directed for Plain Custard

with a quart of milk, two well-beaten eggs, four tablespoonfuls of

sugar, and one of cornstarch. When the custard is cool, pour it over

four thinly sliced yellow bananas, over which a tablespoonful of sugar

and a teaspoonful of water have been sprinkled. Serve cold.

BOILED CUSTARD.--Beat thoroughly together one pint of milk, two

eggs, and a tablespoonful or two of sugar, until thoroughly mingled.

Turn the mixture into a double boiler, and cook until the custard is

set.

BOILED CUSTARD BREAD PUDDING.--Crumble enough of the soft portion

of stale whole-wheat bread to lightly fill a pint bowl. Heat a pint of

milk to boiling. Stir into it, as soon as it boils, two eggs, yolks and

whites well beaten separately, two heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar, a

little grated lemon rind, and the light bread crumbs; stir rapidly till

the whole thickens, pour into a deep dish, and when cold, dot the top

with bits of currant or cranberry jelly.

BREAD AND FRUIT CUSTARD.--Take for this, two cups of grated bread

crumbs, two cups of finely chopped tart apples, one cup of English

currants or stoned raisins, mixed with a very little chopped citron for

flavor, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, three cups of milk, and two eggs.

Beat the yolks of the eggs and the sugar together, then add the milk,

bread, fruit, and lastly the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in a

dish set within a pan of hot water, until the custard is set.

BREAD CUSTARD PUDDING.--Take one cup of finely powdered bread

crumbs, one half cup of sugar, one quart of milk, and the beaten yolks

of three eggs and whites of two. Mix the bread and milk, and when well

softened, add the beaten yolks, sugar, and lastly the well-beaten

whites; beat all together thoroughly, season with a little grated lemon

rind; place the pudding dish in the oven in a pan of hot water, and bake

till firm and lightly brown. Take from the oven, cover the top with a

layer of apple marmalade made without sugar, or with some tart fruit

jelly; add to this a meringue made of the white of the remaining egg and

a tablespoonful of sugar, beaten to a stiff froth, and place in the oven

a moment to brown lightly.

Fresh fruit, strawberries, raspberries, chopped peaches, currants,

cherries, or shredded oranges are equally as good as the marmalade or

jelly for the top dressing, and may be used to vary this pudding in a

number of different ways. Canned fruits, if well drained from juice,

especially apricots and peaches, are excellent for this purpose. A

cocoanut custard pudding may be made of the above by flavoring the milk

before using, with two tablespoonfuls of desiccated cocoanut Another

variety still may be made by adding to the first recipe half a cup of

Zante currants and the same of seedless raisins, or a half cup of finely

shredded, tender citron.

BREAD AND FIG PUDDING.--Put together two cups of finely grated

bread crumbs, two cups of milk, one cup of finely chopped figs

previously steamed or cooked, one fourth cup of sugar, and lastly, two

well-beaten eggs. Bake in a moderate oven till the custard is set.

BREAD AND APRICOT PUDDING.--Fill a pudding dish with alternate

layers of bread crumbs and canned apricots well drained from juice. Pour

over it a custard made with two eggs, one half cup of sugar, and a pint

of milk. Bake one half hour, or only until the custard is set. Canned

peaches, to which a teaspoonful of lemon juice has been added after

draining, may be used in place of apricots.

CARAMEL CUSTARD.--Turn one fourth of a cup of sugar into a stewpan,

and stir it over the fire until it becomes liquid and brown. Scald a cup

and a half of milk, and add the browned sugar. Beat two eggs thoroughly,

add to them one half cup cold milk, and turn the mixture slowly,

stirring constantly that no lumps form, into the scalding milk; continue

to stir until the custard thickens. Set away to cool, and serve in

glasses.

CARROT PUDDING.--Take two cups of carrots, boiled tender and rubbed

through a colander, one pint of milk, two thirds of a cup of sugar, and

two well beaten eggs. Flavor with vanilla, and having beaten all well

together, turn into an earthen pudding dish, set the dish in a pan of

hot water, and place in the oven. Bake only till the custard sets.

COCOANUT CORNSTARCH PUDDING.--Simmer a cupful of grated cocoanut in

a quart of milk for twenty minutes. Strain the milk to remove the

cocoanut, adding enough more milk to make a full quart. With a small

portion of it braid smoothly one and one half tablespoonfuls of

cornstarch or rice flour, and put the remainder in a saucepan over the

fire. When the milk is boiling, add the cornstarch, stirring constantly

until it thickens; then remove from the fire and cool. Next add two

tablespoonfuls of sugar and two well-beaten eggs. Bake in a moderate

oven, in a dish set in a pan of hot water, until the custard is well

set.

COCOANUT CUSTARD.--Flavor a pint of milk with cocoanut, add a

tablespoonful of sugar and two well-beaten eggs, and boil till set in a

double boiler or a bowl set in a dish of boiling water. Richer custards

may be made by using three or four eggs, but the richer the custard the

more likely it is to curdle and become watery, as well as being less

wholesome.

COCONUT RICE CUSTARD.--Flavor one quart of milk quite strongly

with coconut, as previously directed. Add to it one and one half cups of

boiled rice, one cup of raisins, one half cup of sugar, and lastly three

well-beaten eggs. Set the pudding dish in a pan of hot water, and bake

till the custard is well set.

CORN MEAL PUDDING.--Heat a quart of milk lacking two thirds of a

cupful, to boiling. Moisten three tablespoonfuls of nice granulated corn

meal with the two thirds of a cup of milk, and stir gradually into the

boiling milk. Let it boil up until set, turn into a double boiler, and

cook for an hour. Then add a tablespoonful of thick sweet cream, one

half a cup of molasses or sugar, a quart of cold milk, a little salt if

desired, and lastly, two well-beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly. Pour into a

pudding dish and bake one hour. A cup of currants or seeded raisins may

be used to give variety.

CORN MEAL PUDDING NO. 2.--Crumble cold corn puffs or corn cake to

make a cupful; add a pint of sweet milk, three teaspoonfuls of sugar,

the yolks of two eggs and the white of one, and bake slowly in a dish

set inside a pan of hot water for an hour.

CORN MEAL AND FIG PUDDING.--Beat together a scant cup of best

sifted corn meal with a cupful of molasses, and stir the mixture

gradually into a quart of boiling milk. Cook ten or twelve minutes, or

until well thickened, then set aside to cool. Add a cupful of finely

chopped figs, one and two thirds cups of cold milk, part cream if it can

be afforded, and when the mixture is cool, add two well-beaten eggs.

Pour into a pudding dish and bake in a moderate, steady oven for three

or more hours; the longer the better. When the pudding has baked an

hour, pour over it a cupful of cold milk. Do not stir the pudding, but

allow the milk to soak in gradually, a pint of finely sliced or chopped

sweet apples may be used in place of figs for variety, or if preferred,

both may be omitted.

CORNSTARCH MERINGUE.--Heat one and one half pints of milk to

boiling, and then stir in gradually two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch

which has been previously rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. When the

starch has thickened, allow it partially to cool, and then add, stirring

continuously meanwhile, the yolks of two eggs which have been previously

well beaten with three table spoonfuls of sugar. Let the whole simmer

for a minute or two longer, turn into a dish, meringue with the whites

of the eggs, and when cold, dot with lumps of strawberry jelly.

CRACKED WHEAT PUDDING.--Beat two cups of cold steamed cracked wheat

in two cups of rich milk until so thoroughly mingled that no lumps

remain. Add one cup of canned sweet cherries well drained from juice,

one half cup of sugar, and two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately.

Bake in a slow oven till the custard is set.

CUP CUSTARD.--Into four cups of milk stir the yolks of three eggs

and one whole one well beaten. Add four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and

strain the mixture into cups; place these in a dripping pan full of hot

water, grate a little lemon rind over the top of each, and bake in a

moderate oven. If preferred, the milk may be first flavoured with

cocoanut. It is also better to have the milk nearly hot when stirring in

the egg. Half a cupful of the milk should be reserved to add to the egg

before turning into the heated portion.

FARINA CUSTARD.--Flavor a quart of milk with cocoanut as directed

on page 298. Cook two tablespoonfuls of farina in the flavored milk for

twenty minutes, in a double boiler; then set aside to cool. When nearly

cold, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and the well-beaten yolks of two

eggs. Beat all together very thoroughly, and lastly stir in the whites

of the eggs which have been previously beaten to a stiff froth. Bake in

one dish set inside another filled with hot water, just long enough to

set the custard. Serve cold.

FARINA PUDDING.--Take a cup of cold cooked farina and soak it in

four cups of milk until there are no lumps, or rub through a colander;

add two well-beaten eggs, one scant cup of sugar and one cup of raisins;

bake in a moderate oven until the custard is well set.

FLOATING ISLAND.--Make a custard of a pint of milk flavored with

cocoanut, and the yolks of three eggs; sweeten to taste, and steam in a

double boiler. When done, turn into a glass dish. Have the whites of the

eggs whipped to a stiff froth, and drop for a few seconds on the top of

a pan of scalding hot water, turning so that both sides may be alike

coagulated but not hardened; skim off, and put in islands on the top of

the custard. When quite cold, drop bits of different colored jellies on

the islands, and keep in a cool place till needed. Or put a spoonful of

fruit jelly in the bottom of small glasses, and fill with the custard

with a spoonful of the white on top.

FRUIT CUSTARD.--Heat a pint of red raspberry, strawberry, or

currant juice to boiling, and stir into it two tablespoonfuls or

cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Stir constantly until

thickened, then add half a cup of sugar, or less if the fruit juice has

been sweetened; take from the fire and stir in the stiffly beaten whites

of three eggs, stirring all the time so that the hot mixture will

coagulate the egg. Make a custard of a pint of milk, the yolks of the

three eggs, and three tablespoonfuls of sugar. When done, set on the ice

to cool. Dish in a glass dish when cold, placing the fruit mixture by

spoonfuls on top, and serve.

GRAHAM GRITS PUDDING.--Heat two cups of milk in a double boiler.

When boiling, stir in one cup of Graham grits moistened with one cup of

cold milk. Cook for an hour and a half in a double boiler, then remove

from the fire and cool. Add three tablespoonfuls of sugar, three fourths

of a cup of finely chopped apples, and one fourth of a cup of chopped

raisins, and two well-beaten eggs. Bake three fourths of an hour in a

moderate oven.

GROUND RICE PUDDING.--Simmer a few pieces of thinly cut lemon rind

or half a cup of cocoanut, very slowly in a quart of milk for twenty

minutes, or until the milk is well flavored. Strain the milk through a

fine strainer to remove the lemon rind or cocoanut, and put into a

saucepan to boil. Mix four large tablespoonfuls of ground rice smooth

with a little cold milk, and add to the boiling milk. Cook until the

whole has thickened, then set aside to cool. When nearly cold, add two

tablespoonfuls of sugar and two well-beaten eggs. Bake in a gentle oven

in a dish placed in a pan of hot water, until the whole is lightly

browned.

LEMON PUDDING.--Grate the rind of one lemon; soften one pint of

bread crumbs in one quart of sweet milk, add the yolks of two eggs, and

half a cup of sugar mixed with grated lemon rind. Bake twenty minutes.

Beat to a froth the whites of the eggs, the juice of the lemon, and half

a cup of sugar. Spread over the top, and return to the oven for five

minutes. This may be baked in cups if preferred.

LEMON CORNSTARCH PUDDING.--Beat the yolks of two eggs in a pudding

dish; add a cupful of sugar; dissolve four tablespoonfuls of cornstarch

in a little cold water, stir it into two teacupfuls of actively boiling

water; when thickened, add the juice of two lemons with a little grated

peel; turn over the eggs and sugar, beating well to mix all together,

and bake about fifteen minutes. If desired, the beaten whites of the

eggs may be used to meringue the top. Serve either cold or hot.

LEMON CORNSTARCH PUDDING NO. 2.--Mix together one half cup of

cornstarch, one half cup of sugar, the juice and a portion of the grated

rind of one medium-sized lemon. Add to these ingredients just enough

cold water to dissolve thoroughly, then pour boiling water over the

mixture until it becomes thickened and looks transparent. Stir

continuously and boil for a few minutes until the starch is cooked. Take

from the fire, and add gradually, with continuous stirring, the

well-beaten yolks of three eggs. Whip the whites of the eggs with a

teaspoonful of quince jelly to a stiff froth, and pour over the pudding;

then brown in the oven. Orange juice with a very little of the grated

rind, or pineapple juice may be substituted for the lemon, if preferred.

MACARONI PUDDING.--Break sufficient macaroni to make a pint in inch

lengths, put into a double boiler, turn over it three pints of milk, and

cook until tender. Turn into a pudding dish, add a pint of cold milk,

two thirds of a cup of sugar, one egg, and the yolks of two others well

beaten. Bake from twenty minutes to one half hour. When done, cool a

little, spread the top with some mashed fresh berries or grape

marmalade, and meringue with the whites of the eggs and a tablespoonful

of sugar.

MOLDED RICE OR SNOW BALLS.--Steam a pint of well-cleaned rice until

tender, as directed on page 99, and tarn Into cups previously wet in

cold water, to mold. When perfectly cold, place in a glass dish, and

pour over them a cold custard made of a pint of milk, half a cup of

sugar, a teaspoonful of cornstarch, and one egg. Or, if preferred, the

rice balls may be served in individual dishes with the custard sauce, or

with a dressing of fruit juice.

ORANGE FLOAT.--Heat one quart of water, the juice of two lemons,

and one and one half cupfuls of sugar. When boiling, stir into it four

tablespoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a very little water. Cook

until the whole is thickened and clear. When cool, stir into the mixture

five nice oranges which have been sliced, and freed from seeds and all

the white portions. Meringue, and serve cold.

ORANGE CUSTARD.--Turn a pint of hot milk over two cups of stale

bread crumbs and let them soak until well softened: add the yolks of two

eggs, and beat all together until perfectly smooth; add a little of the

grated rind and the juice of three sweet oranges, and sugar to taste.

Lastly add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, turn into

cups, which place into a moderate oven in a pan of hot water, and bake

twenty minutes, or until the custard is well set but not watery.

ORANGE PUDDING.--Pare and slice six sweet Florida oranges, removing

the seeds and all the white skin and fibers. Place in the bottom of a

glass dish. Make a custard by stirring two table spoonfuls of cornstarch

braided with a little milk into a pint of boiling milk, and when

thickened, adding gradually, stirring constantly meanwhile, one egg and

the yolk of a second egg well beaten with one fourth cup of sugar. When

partially cool, pour over the oranges. Whip the white of the second egg

to a stiff froth with one fourth cup of sugar which has been flavored by

rubbing over some orange peel, and meringue the top of the pudding.

Fresh strawberries, raspberries, or peaches may be substituted for

oranges in making this dessert, if preferred.

PEACH MERINGUE.--To every pint of stewed or canned peaches,

sweetened to taste, stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs. Bake in a deep

pudding dish fifteen minutes, then cover with the whites of the two eggs

beaten till very light with two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Brown in the

oven, and serve cold with whipped cream. For peaches, substitute any

other stewed fruit desired.

PICNIC PUDDING.--Thicken a pint of strawberry or raspberry juice,

sweetened to taste, with two tablespoonfuls of corn starch, as for Fruit

Custard. Turn into the bottom of cups previously wet with cold water,

or a large mold, as preferred. In a second dish heat to boiling a pint

of milk, flavored with cocoanut, to which a tablespoonful of sugar has

been, added. Stir into it two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth

in a little cold milk, and cook thoroughly. When done, cool slightly and

turn into the molds on the top of the pink portion, which should be

sufficiently cool so that it will not mix. A third layer may be added by

cooking two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch and one of sugar, rubbed smooth

in a little milk, in a pint of boiling milk, and stirring in, just as it

is taken from the stove, the well-beaten yolks of two eggs.

PLAIN CORNSTARCH PUDDING.--Heat to boiling a pint and a half of

milk, with a few bits of the yellow rind of a lemon to flavor it. While

the milk is heating, rub four large spoonfuls of cornstarch to a cream

with half a cup of cold milk; beat well together the yolks of three

eggs, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and half a cup of cold milk, and

whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth. When the milk is actively

boiling, remove the bits of lemon rind with a skimmer, and stir in the

starch mixture; stir constantly and boil three or four minutes--until

the starch is well cooked; then add gradually, stirring well meanwhile,

the yolks and sugar. Remove from the fire, and stir the beaten whites

lightly through the whole. Serve with a dressing of fruit juice or fruit

syrup; if in the season of fresh berries, the pudding may be dressed

with a few spoonfuls of mashed strawberries, raspberries, or currants.

PLAIN CUSTARD.--Heat a pint of milk to boiling, and stir in a

tablespoonful of cornstarch nabbed smooth in a little milk; let the milk

and starch boil together till they thicken; then cool and add one

well-beaten egg and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Cook in the oven in a

dish set inside another filled with hot water, or in a double boiler.

The milk may be previously flavored with orange, lemon, or cocoanut.

PRUNE PUDDING.--Heat two and one half cups of milk to boiling, then

stir in gradually a heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch which has been

rubbed smooth in a little cold milk; let this boil and thicken for a

minute, then remove from the fire. When cool, add three well-beaten

eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a cupful of prunes which have

been stewed, then drained of all juice, the stones removed, and the

prunes chopped fine. Pour into a pudding dish and bake twenty minutes.

Serve with or without cream.

PRIME WHIP.--Sift through a colander some stewed sweet California

prunes which have been thoroughly drained from juice, and from which the

stones have been removed. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff

froth, and add two cups of the sifted prunes; beat all together

thoroughly; turn into a pudding dish, and brown in the oven fifteen

minutes. Serve cold, with a little cream or custard for dressing. Almond

sauce also makes an excellent dressing.

RICE APPLE CUSTARD PUDDING.--Pare, and remove the cores without

dividing from a sufficient number of apples to cover the bottom of a

two-quart pudding dish. Fill the cavities of the apples with a little

grated lemon rind and sugar, and put them into the oven with a

tablespoon of water on the bottom of the dish. Cover, and steam till the

apples are tender, but not fallen to pieces. Then pour over them a

custard made with two cups of boiled rice, a quart of milk, half a cup

of sugar, and two eggs.

RICE CUSTARD PUDDING.--Take one and one half cups of nicely steamed

rice, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a pint of milk; heat to boiling

in a saucepan. Then stir in very carefully the yolk of one egg and one

whole egg, previously well beaten together with a few spoonfuls of milk

reserved for the purpose. Let the whole boil up till thickened, but not

longer, as the custard will whey and separate. When partly cool, flavor

with a little vanilla or lemon, turn into a glass dish, and meringue

with the white of the second egg beaten to a stiff froth. Cold steamed

rice may be used by soaking it in hot milk until every grain is

separate.

RICE SNOW.--Into a quart of milk heated to boiling, stir five

tablespoonfuls of rice flour previously braided with a very little cold

milk; add one half cup of sugar. Let the whole boil up together till

well cooked and thickened; then remove from the stove, and stir in

lightly the beaten whites of four eggs. Mold, and serve cold with foam

sauce.

RICE SNOW WITH JELLY.--Steam or bake a teacupful of best rice in

milk until the grains are tender. Pile it up on a dish roughly. When

cool, lay over it squares of jelly. Beat the whites of two eggs and one

third of a cup of sugar to a stiff froth, and pile like snow over the

rice. Serve with cream sauce.

RICE WITH EGGS.--Steam rice as previously directed, and when

sufficiently cooked, stir into half of it while hot, the yolks of one or

two eggs well beaten with a little sugar. Into the other half, the

whites of the eggs, sweetened and beaten to a stiff froth, may be

lightly stirred while the rice is still hot enough to set the eggs.

Serve with the yellow half in the bottom of the dish, and the white part

piled on top covered with whipped cream flavored with lemon or vanilla.

SNOW PUDDING.--Heat one half pint each of water and milk together,

to boiling, stir into this a tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth

in a little cold milk, and cook for five minutes. Cool partially and add

the whites of two well-beaten eggs. Turn into molds and set in the ice

box to cool. Serve with a cream made by stirring into a half pint of

boiling milk the yolks of two eggs, a teaspoonful of cornstarch rubbed

smooth in a little cold milk, and half a cup of sugar. Cook until well

thickened. Cool and flavor with a little lemon or vanilla. Or, if

preferred, serve with a dressing of fruit juice.

STEAMED CUSTARD.--Heat a pint of milk, with which has been well

beaten two eggs and one third of a cup of sugar, in a double boiler

until well thickened. When done, turn into a glass dish, and grate a

little of the yellow rind of lemon over the top to flavor. If desired to

have the custard in cups, remove from the fire when it begins to

thicken, turn into cups, and finish in a steamer over a kettle of

boiling water.

STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE.--Fit slices of nice plain buns (those made

according to recipe on page 347 are nice for this) in the bottom of a

pudding dish, and cover with a layer of hulled strawberries; add another

layer of the buns cut in slices, a second layer of strawberries, and

then more slices of buns. Make a custard in the following manner: Heat a

scant pint of milk to boiling in the inner cup of a double boiler, and

stir into it gradually, beating thoroughly at the same time, an egg

which has been previously well beaten with half a cup of sugar, a

teaspoonful of cornstarch, and a spoonful or two of milk until perfectly

smooth. Cook together in the double boiler until well set. Cool

partially, and pour over the buns and strawberries. Place a plate with a

weight upon it on the top of the charlotte, and set away to cool.

POP CORN PUDDING.--Take a scant pint of the pop corn which is

ground and put up in boxes, or if not available, freshly popped corn,

rolled fine, is just as good. Add to it three cups of new milk, one half

cup of sugar, two whole eggs and the yolk of another, well beaten. Bake

in a pudding dish placed inside another filled with hot water, till the

custard is set. Cover with a meringue made of the remaining white of

egg, a teaspoonful of sugar, and a sprinkling of the pop corn.

SAGO CUSTARD PUDDING.--Put one half cup of sago and a quart of rich

milk into the inner cup of a double boiler, or a basin set inside a pan

of boiling water, and let it simmer until the sago has thickened the

milk and become perfectly transparent. Allow it to cool, then add a cup

of sugar, two well-beaten eggs, and a little of the grated rind of a

lemon. Turn into a pudding dish, and bake only till the custard has set.

SAGO AND FRUIT CUSTARD PUDDING.--Soak six table spoonfuls of sago

in just enough water to cover it, for twenty minutes. Meanwhile pare and

remove the cores from half a dozen or more tart apples, and fill the

cavities with a mixture of grated lemon rind and sugar. Place the apples

in the bottom of a pudding dish, with a tablespoonful of water; cover,

and set in the oven to bake. Put the soaked sago with a quart of milk

into a double boiler. Let it cook until the sago is clear and thick;

then add three fourths of a cup of sugar and two well-beaten eggs. Pour

the sago custard over the apples, which should be baked tender but not

mushy. Put the pudding dish in the oven in a pan of hot water, and bake

till the custard is well set. Serve cold.

SNOWBALL CUSTARD.--Flavor a pint of milk by sleeping in it three

or four slices of the yellow rind of a lemon for twenty minutes or more.

Skim out the rind; let the milk come to the boiling point, and drop into

it the well-beaten whites of two eggs, in tablespoonfuls, turning each

one over carefully, allowing them to remain only long enough to become

coagulated but not hardened, and then place the balls upon a wire sieve

to drain. Afterward stir into the scalding milk the yolks of the eggs

and one whole one well beaten, together with two tablespoonfuls of

sugar. Stir until it thickens. Pour this custard into a glass dish, and

lay the white balls on top.

TAPIOCA CUSTARD.--Soak a cup of pearl tapioca over night in

sufficient water to cover. When ready to prepare the custard, drain off

the water if any remain, and add one quart of milk to the tapioca; place

in a double boiler and cook until transparent; then add the well-beaten

yolks of three eggs or the yolks of two and one whole one, mixed with

three fourths of a cup of sugar. Let it cook a few minutes, just long

enough for the custard to thicken and no more, or it will whey and be

spoiled; flavor with a little vanilla and turn into a glass dish. Cover

the top with the whites beaten stiffly with a tablespoonful of sugar,

and dot with bits of jelly, or colored sugar prepared by mixing sugar

with cranberry or raspberry juice and allowing it to dry. For variety,

the custard may be flavored with grated lemon rind and a tablespoonful

of lemon juice whipped up with the whites of the eggs, or other flavor

may be dispensed with, and the meringue flavored by beating with a

tablespoonful of quince jelly with the whites of the eggs.

TAPIOCA PUDDING.--Soak a cupful of tapioca over night in just

enough water to cover. In the morning, add to it one quart of milk, and

cook in a double boiler until transparent. Add three eggs well beaten,

one half cup of sugar, one half cup of chopped raisins, and a very

little chopped citron. Bake till the custard is set. Serve warm or cold

as preferred.

VERMICELLI PUDDING.--Flavor two and one half cups of milk with

lemon as directed on page 229. Drop into it, when boiling, four ounces

of vermicelli, crushing it lightly with one hand while sprinkling it in,

and stir to keep it from gathering in lumps. Let it cook gently in a

double boiler, stirring often until it is tender and very thick. Then

pour it into a pudding dish, let it cool, and add a tablespoonful of

rather thick sweet cream if you have it (it does very well without),

half a cup of sugar, and lastly, two well-beaten eggs. Bake in a

moderately hot oven till browned over the top.

WHITE CUSTARD.--Beat together thoroughly one cup of milk, the

whites of two eggs, one tablespoonful of sugar, and one and one half

tablespoonfuls of almondine. Turn into cups and steam or bake until the

custard is set.

WHITE CUSTARD NO. 2.--Cook a half cup of farina in a quart of milk

in a double boiler, for an hour. Remove from the stove, and allow it to

become partially cool, then add one half cup of sugar, the whites of two

eggs, and one half the yolk of one egg. Turn into a pudding dish, and

bake twenty minutes or until the custard is well set.

STEAMED PUDDING.

The following precautions are necessary to be observed in steaming

puddings or desserts of any sort:--

1. Have the water boiling rapidly when the pudding is placed in the

steamer, and keep it constantly boiling.

2. Replenish, if needed, with boiling water, never with cold.

3. Do not open the steamer and let in the air upon the pudding, until it

is done.

_RECIPES._

BATTER PUDDING.--Beat four eggs thoroughly; add to them a pint of

milk, and if desired, a little salt. Sift a teacupful of flour and add

it gradually to the milk and eggs, beating lightly the while. Then pour

the whole mixture through, a fine wire strainer into a small pail with

cover, in which it can be steamed. This straining is imperative. The

cover of the pail should be tight fitting, as the steam getting into the

pudding spoils it. Place the pail in a kettle of boiling water, and do

not touch or move it until the pudding is done. It takes exactly an hour

to cook. If moved or jarred during the cooking, it will be likely to

fall. Slip it out of the pail on a hot dish, and serve with cream sauce.

A double boiler with tightly fitting cover is excellent for cooking this

pudding.

BREAD AND FRUIT CUSTARD.--Soak a cupful of finely grated bread

crumbs in a pint of rich milk heated to scalding. Add two thirds of a

cup of sugar, and the grated yellow rind of half a lemon. When cool, add

two eggs well beaten. Also two cups of canned apricots or peaches

drained of juice, or, if preferred, a mixture of one and one half cups

of chopped apples, one half cup of raisins, and a little citron. Turn

into a pudding dish, and steam in a steamer over a kettle of boiling

water for two hours. The amount of sugar necessary will vary somewhat

according to the fruit used.

DATE PUDDING.--Turn a cup of hot milk over two cups of stale bread

crumbs, and soak until softened; add one half cup of cream and one cup

of chopped and stoned dates. Mix all thoroughly together. Put in a china

dish and steam for three hours. Serve hot with lemon sauce.

RICE BALLS.--Steam one cup of rice till tender. Wring pudding

cloths about ten inches square out of hot water, and spread the rice one

third of an inch over the cloth. Put a stoned peach or apricot from

which the skin has been removed, in the center, filling the cavity in

each half of the fruit with rice. Draw up the cloth until the rice

smoothly envelops the fruit, tie, and steam ten or fifteen minutes.

Remove the cloth carefully, turn out into saucers, and serve with sauce

made from peach of apricot juice. Easy-cooking tart apples may also be

used. Steam them thirty minutes, and serve with sugar and cream.

STEAMED BREAD CUSTARD.--Cut stale bread in slices, removing hard

crusts. Oil a deep pudding mold, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with

Zante currants; over these place a layer of the slices of bread,

sprinkled with currants; add several layers, sprinkling each with the

currants in the same manner. Cover with a custard made by beating

together three or four eggs, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and one

quart of milk. Put the pudding in a cool place for three hours; at the

end of that time, steam one and a quarter hours. Serve with mock cream

flavored with vanilla. Apple marmalade may be used to spread between the

slices in place of currants, if preferred.

STEAMED FIG PUDDING.--Moisten two cupfuls of finely grated Graham

bread crumbs with half a cup of thin sweet cream. Mix into it a heaping

cupful of finely chopped fresh figs, and a quarter of a cup of sugar.

Add lastly a cup of sweet milk. Turn all into a pudding dish, and steam

about two and one half hours. Serve as soon as done, with a little cream

for dressing, or with orange or lemon sauce.

PASTRY AND CAKE.

So much has been said and written about the dietetic evils of these

articles that their very names have been almost synonymous with

indigestion and dyspepsia. That they are prolific causes of this dire

malady cannot be denied, and it is doubtless due to two reasons; first,

because they are generally compounded of ingredients which are in

themselves unwholesome, and rendered doubly so by their combination; and

secondly, because tastes have become so perverted that an excess of

these articles is consumed in preference to more simple and nutritious

food.

As has been elsewhere remarked, foods containing an excess of fat, as do

most pastries and many varieties of cake, are exceedingly difficult of

digestion, the fat undergoing in the stomach no changes which answer to

the digestion of other elements of food, and its presence interferes

with the action of the gastric juice upon other elements. In

consequence, digestion proceeds very slowly, if at all, and the delay

often occasions fermentative and putrefactive changes in the entire

contents of the stomach.

It is the indigestibility of fat, and this property of delaying the

digestion of other foods, chiefly that render pastry and cakes so

deleterious to health.

We do not wish to be understood as in sympathy with that class of people

who maintain that dyspepsia is a disciplinary means of grace, when,

after having made the previous statement, we proceed to present recipes

for preparing the very articles we have condemned. Pie and cake are not

necessarily utterly unwholesome; and if prepared in a simple manner, may

be partaken of in moderation by persons with good digestion.

Nevertheless, they lack the wholesomeness of more simple foods, and we

most fully believe that would women supply their tables with perfectly

light, sweet, nutritious bread would cease. However, if pies and cakes

must needs be, make them as simple as possible.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR MAKING PIES.--Always prepare the filling

for pies before making the crust, if the filling is to be cooked in the

crust. Have all the material for the crust on the table, measured and in

readiness, before beginning to put together. Follow some of the simple

recipes given in these pages. Have all the material cold, handle the

least possible to make it into a mass, and do not knead at all.

When the crust is ready, roll it out quickly to about one half inch in

thickness, then fold up like a jelly roll, and cut from the end only

sufficient for one crust at a time. Lay this, the flat side upon the

board, and roll evenly in every direction, until scarcely more than an

eighth of an inch in thickness, and somewhat larger than the baking

plate, as it will shrink when lifted from the board.

Turn one edge over the rolling pin, and carefully lift it onto the

plate. If there is to be an upper crust, roll that in the same manner,

make a cut in the center to allow the steam to escape, fill the pie,

slightly rounding it in the center, and lift on the upper crust; press

both edges lightly together; then, lifting the pie in the left hand,

deftly trim away all overhanging portions of crust with a sharp knife;

ornament the edge if desired, and put at once into the oven, which

should be in readiness at just the right temperature, a rather moderate

oven being best for pies.

The under crust of lemon, pumpkin, custard, and very juicy fruit pies,

filled before baking, is apt to become saturated and softened with the

liquid mixture, if kept for any length of time after baking. This may be

prevented in a measure by glazing the crust, after it is rolled and

fitted on the plate, with the beaten white of an egg, and placing in the

oven just a moment to harden the egg before filling; or if the pie is

one of fruit, sprinkle the crust with a little flour and sugar, brushing

the two together with the hand before; adding the filling. During the

baking, the flour and melted sugar will adhere together, tending to keep

the juice from contact with the crust.

Pies are more wholesome if the crusts are baked separately and filled

for use as needed. This is an especially satisfactory way to make pies

of juicy fruit, as it does away largely with the saturated under crusts,

and the flavor of the fruit can be retained much more perfectly. Pies

with one crust can be made by simply fitting the crust to the plate,

pricking it lightly with a fork to prevent its blistering while baking,

and afterward filling when needed for the table. For pies with two

crusts, fit the under crust to the plate, and fill with clean pieces of

old white linen laid in lightly to support the upper crust. When baked,

slip the pie on a plate, lift off the upper crust, take out the pieces

of cloth, and just before serving, fill with fruit, which should be

previously prepared.

Canned peaches filled into such a crust make a delicious pie.

Strawberries, cherries, gooseberries, and other juicy fruits, that lose

so much of their flavor in baking, may be lightly scalded, the juice

thickened a little with flour if desired, sweetened to taste, and filled

into such a crust. An excellent pie may be made in this manner from

apples, stewed carefully so as to keep the slices whole, sweetened to

taste, and flavored with lemon, orange, or grated pineapple. One

pineapple will be sufficient for four pies. Fresh fruit for filling may

be used without cooking, if desired. If desired, several crusts may be

baked and put away unfilled. When needed, the crusts may be placed for a

few minutes in a hot oven until heated through, then filled with freshly

prepared fruit.

In preparing material for custard or pumpkin pies, if the milk used be

hot, the pies will be improved and the time of baking be considerably

shortened.

Tin or granite-ware plates are preferable to earthen ones for pies, as

they bake better on the bottom. The perforated pans are superior in some

respects. No greasing is needed; simply rub them well with flour. The

time required for baking pies varies from one half to three fourths of

an hour. The dampers should be so adjusted as to bake the bottom crust

first.

After baking, remove at once to heated earthen plates, or set the tins

upon small supports, so that the air can circulate underneath them.

_RECIPES._

PASTE FOR PIES.--Sift together equal parts of Graham grits and

white flour (Graham flour will do if the grits are not obtainable, but

the grits will produce a more crisp and tender crust), and wet with very

cold, thin sweet cream. Have the flour also as cold as possible, since

the colder the material, the more crisp the paste; mix together very

quickly into a rather stiff dough. Do not knead at all, but gather the

fragments lightly together, roll out at once, fill and bake quickly,

since much of the lightness of the crust depends upon the dispatch with

which the pie is gotten into the oven after the materials are thrown

together. If for any reason it is necessary to defer the baking, place

the crust in the ice-chest till needed.

CORN MEAL CRUST.--Equal parts of sifted white corn meal and flour,

mixed together lightly with rather thin sweet cream which has been set

in the ice-chest until very cold, makes a very good crust.

GRANOLA CRUST.--For certain pies requiring an under crust only, the

prepared granola manufactured by the Sanitarium Food Co. makes a

superior crust. To prepare, moisten with thin sweet cream--one half cup

of cream for every two thirds cup of granola is about the right

proportion, and will make sufficient crust for one pie. Flour the board,

and lift the moistened granola onto it, spreading it as much as possible

with the hands. Dredge lightly with flour over the top, and roll out

gently to the required size without turning. The material, being coarse

and granular, will break apart easily, but may be as easily pressed

together with the fingers. Change the position of the rolling pin often,

in order to shape the crust without moving it. When well roiled,

carefully slip a stiff paper under it, first loosening from the board

with a knife if necessary, and lift it gently onto the pan. Press

together any cracks, trim the edges, fill, and bake at once. Use the

least flour possible in preparing this crust, and bake as soon as made,

before the moisture has become absorbed. Such a crust is not suited for

custard or juicy fruit pies, but filled with prune, peach, or apple

marmalade, it makes a most delicious and wholesome pie. A cooked custard

may be used in such a crust.

PASTE FOR TART SHELLS.--Take one half cup of rather thin sweet

cream, which has been placed on ice until very cold; add to it the

stiffly beaten whites of two eggs, and whip all together briskly for ten

minutes. Add sufficient white flour to roll. Cut into the required

shape, bake quickly, but do not brown. Fill after baking. This paste,

rolled thin and cut into shapes with a cookie-cutter, one half of them

baked plain for under crusts, the other half ornamented for tops by

cutting small holes with a thimble or some fancy mold, put together with

a layer of some simple fruit jelly between them, makes a most attractive

looking dessert. It is likewise very nice baked in little patty pans,

and afterward filled with apple or peach marmalade, or any of the

following fillings:--

CREAM FILLING.--One cup of rich milk (part cream if it can be

afforded) heated to boiling. Into this stir one scant tablespoonful of

flour previously braided smooth with a little cold milk. Add to this the

well-beaten yolk of one egg and one tablespoonful of sugar. Turn this

mixture into the hot milk and stir until it thickens. Flavor with a

little grated lemon rind, vanilla, or, if preferred, flavor the milk

with cocoanut before using. Fill the tart shells, and meringue with the

white of the egg beaten stiff with a tablespoonful of sugar.

GRAPE TART.--Into one pint of canned or fresh grape juice, when

boiling, stir two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch braided with a little

water, and cook for five minutes. Sweeten to taste, and fill a baked

crust.

LEMON FILLING.--Into one cup of boiling water stir one

tablespoonful of cornstarch previously braided smooth with the juice of

a large lemon. Cook until it thickens, then add one half cup of sugar

and a little grated yellow rind of the lemon.

TAPIOCA FILLING.--Soak one tablespoonful of tapioca over night in

one cup of water; mash and stir the tapioca, simmer gently until clear

and thick, adding enough water to cook it well; add half a cup of white

sugar and a tablespoonful each of lemon and orange juice. If desired, a

little raspberry or currant juice may be added to make the jelly of a

pink color.

APPLE CUSTARD PIE.--Stew good dried apples till perfectly tender

and there remains but very little juice. Rub through a colander. For

each pie use one cup of the sifted apples, one and a half cups of rich

milk, two eggs, five tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a little grated lemon

rind for flavoring. Bake with under crust only. Stewed fresh apples,

beaten smooth or rubbed through a colander, can be used if preferred.

The eggs may be omitted, and one half cup more of the sifted apples,

with more sugar, may be used instead.

BANANA PIE.--For each pie required prepare a custard with one and

one half cups of milk, the yolks of two eggs, and two heaping

tablespoonfuls of sugar. Mash two large bananas through a colander,

strain the custard over them, and beat well together. Bake in an under

crust only, and meringue the top with the whites of the eggs beaten to a

stiff froth with two tablespoonfuls of sugar.

BREAD PIE.--Soak a slice of very light bread in a pint of rich

milk. When it is quite soft, rub through a colander and afterward beat

well through the milk. Add one well-beaten egg, four tablespoonfuls of

sugar, and a little grated lemon rind for flavor. Bake with under crust

only, till the custard is set. This is sufficient for one pie.

CARROT PIE.--Boil, drain, and rub the carrots through a colander.

For each pie required, use two large tablespoonfuls of carrot thus

prepared, two eggs, two cups of milk, a little salt if desired, four

tablespoonfuls of sugar, and lemon or vanilla for flavoring. Bake with

under crust only.

COCOANUT PIE.--Flavor a pint of milk with two tablespoonfuls of

desiccated, or finely grated fresh cocoanut according to directions on

page 298; strain, and add enough fresh milk to make a pint in all. Add

three tablespoonfuls of sugar, heat, and as the milk comes to a boil,

add a tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.

Boil for a minute or two till the cornstarch thickens the milk; then

remove from the stove. Allow it to get cold, and then stir in one

well-beaten egg; bake in an under crust. Tie a tablespoonful of

desiccated cocoanut in a clean cloth, and pound it as fine as flour; mix

it with a tablespoonful of sugar and the white of an egg beaten to a

stiff froth. When the pie is done, spread this over the top, and brown

in the oven for a moment only.

COCOANUT PIE NO. 2.--Steep one half cup of cocoanut in a pint of

milk for one half hour. Strain out the cocoanut and add sufficient fresh

milk to make a pint. Allow it to become cold, then add a quarter of a

cup of sugar and two well-beaten eggs. Bake with an under crust only.

When done, the top may be covered with a meringue the same as in the

preceding recipe.

CREAM PIE.--For one pie beat together one egg, one half cup of

sugar, one tablespoonful of flour, and two cups of rich milk. Bake in

one crust.

CRANBERRY PIE.--Stew a quart of cranberries until broken in a pint

of boiling water. Rub through a colander to remove the skins, add two

cups of sugar and one half cup of sifted flour. Bake with under crust

only.

DRIED APPLE PIE.--Stew good dried apples till perfectly tender in

as small a quantity of water as possible. When done, rub through a

colander; they should be about the consistency of fruit jam; if not, a

little flour may be added. Sweeten to taste, fill under crusts with the

mixture, and bake. If lemon flavor is liked, a few pieces of the yellow

rind may be added to the apples a little while before they are tender.

If the apples are especially tasteless, lemon juice or some sour apple

jelly should be added after rubbing through the colander. The crusts may

first be baked, and filled with the mixture when needed; in which case

the sauce should be simmered lightly till of the desired consistency.

The top may be ornamented with strips or rings of crust, if desired.

DRIED APPLE PIE WITH RAISINS.--Rub a quart of well-stewed dried

apples through a colander, add a cupful of steamed raisins, sugar to

sweeten, and bake with two crusts. This is sufficient for two pies.

DRIED APRICOT PIE.--Stew together one third dried apricots and two

thirds dried apples or peaches. When soft, rub through a colander, add

sugar to sweeten, and if very juicy, stew again until the juice is

mostly evaporated; then beat until light and bake in a granola crust.

FARINA PIE.--Cook one fourth cup of farina in a double boiler for

an hour in three cups of rich milk. Allow it to become cool, then add

one half cup of sugar, the yolks of two eggs, and a little grated lemon

rind. Bake with under crust only. Meringue the top with the white of the

egg beaten to a stiff froth with one tablespoonful of sugar and a little

grated lemon rind for flavoring. The quantity given is sufficient for

two small pies.

FRUIT PIES.--Apples, peaches, and all small fruits and berries may

be made into palatable pies without rich crusts or an excess of sugar,

or the addition of unwholesome spices and flavorings. Bake the crust

separately, and fill when needed with prepared fruit; or, fill with the

fruit, using only sufficient sugar to sweeten; add no spices, and bake

quickly. Prepare apples for pies by paring, coring, and dividing in

eighths. Peaches are best prepared in a similar manner. Fill crusts in

which the fruit is to be baked quite full and slightly heaping in the

center. If flavoring is desired, let it be that of some other fruit. For

apple pies, a teaspoonful or two of pineapple juice, a little grated

lemon or orange peel, or a little strawberry or quince syrup, may be

used for flavoring. For pies made of apples, peaches, and fruits which

are not very juicy, add a tablespoonful or so of water or fruit juice;

but for very juicy fruits and berries, dredge the under crust with a

tablespoonful of sugar and a little flour mixed together before filling,

or stir a spoonful of flour into the fruit so that each berry or piece

may be separately floured.

GRAPE JELLY PIE.--Cook perfectly ripe, purple grapes; rub them

through a colander to remove the seeds and skins. Return the pulp to the

fire and thicken with rice flour or cornstarch, to the consistency of

thick cream or jelly, and sweeten to taste. Fill an under crust with the

mixture, and bake. The top may be ornamented with pastry cut in fancy

shapes if desired.

JELLY CUSTARD PIE.--Dissolve three tablespoonfuls of nice, pure

fruit jelly in very little warm water, add one and one half cups of milk

and two well-beaten eggs, stirring the whites in last. Bake with under

crust only. Jellies are usually so sweet that no sugar is needed. Apple,

raspberry, currant, strawberry, and quince jellies all make nice pies,

prepared in this way.

LEMON PIE.--Take four tablespoonfuls of lemon juice (one large

lemon or two small ones will yield about this quantity), the grated

yellow portion only of the rind of half a lemon, and two thirds of a cup

of sugar. Beat the lemon juice and sugar together. Braid a slightly

heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch with as little water as possible,

and pour over it, stirring constantly, one half pint of boiling water,

to thicken the starch. Add the lemon and sugar to the starch, and let it

cool; then stir in the yolks of two eggs and half the white of one, well

beaten together. Beat thoroughly, pour into a deep crust, and bake. When

done, cover with the remaining whites of the eggs, beaten with one and a

half tablespoonfuls of sugar, and brown lightly in the oven.

LEMON MERINGUE CUSTARD.--Heat two cups of milk to boiling, add a

tablespoonful of cornstarch well braided with a little cold milk; let

the whole simmer till thickened, stirring constantly. Allow it to cool,

add one third of a cup of sugar and the beaten yolks of two eggs. Bake

in an under crust, and cover with a meringue made of the whites of the

eggs beaten to a stiff froth with two tablespoonfuls of sugar mixed

with grated lemon peel. If liked, a spoonful of lemon juice may be

added, a few drops at a time, during the beating of the meringue.

ONE-CRUST PEACH PIE.--Pare and remove the stones from ripe, nice

flavored peaches; stew till soft in the smallest quantity of water

possible without burning. Rub through a colander, or beat smooth with a

large spoon. Add sugar as required. Bake with one crust. If the peach

sauce is evaporated until quite dry, it is very nice baked in a granola

crust. When done, meringue with the whites of two eggs whipped stiff

with two tablespoonfuls of sugar. The flavor is improved by adding by

degrees to the egg while whipping, a tablespoonful of lemon juice.

Return to the oven and brown lightly. Serve cold.

Canned peaches or stewed dried peaches may be used in place of the fresh

ones. In using the dried peaches, carefully examine and wash; soak them

over night in cold water, and stew them in the same water until soft

enough to rub through the colander. For each pie, add two tablespoonfuls

of sweet cream, and sufficient sugar to sweeten; too much, sugar

destroys the flavor of the fruit. Evaporated peaches, soaked over night

and stewed carefully until tender, then removed from the syrup, which

may be sweetened and boiled until thick and rich and afterward turned

over the peaches, makes a delicious pie. Bake in one crust, with or

without a meringue.

ORANGE PIE.--Rub smooth a heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch in

three tablespoonfuls of water; pour over it a cup of boiling water, and

cook until clear, stirring frequently that no lumps form. Add one cupful

of sour orange juice, a little grated rind, and the juice of one lemon,

with two eggs. Bake with under crust only. Meringue the top when baked,

with the whites of the eggs well beaten with a tablespoonful of sugar,

and a very little grated orange peel sprinkled over it.

PEACH CUSTARD PIE.--Cover a pie plate with an under crust. Take

fresh peaches, pare, halve, and stone them, and place a layer, hollow

side up, in the pie. Prepare a custard with one egg, one cup of milk,

and three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Pour the custard over the peaches,

and bake. If the quantity given will not entirely cover the peaches, a

little more must be prepared. Canned peaches which are not broken can be

used instead of fresh ones. The pieces should be drained free from

juice, and less sugar used.

PRUNE PIE.--Prepare and cook sweet California prunes as directed

for Prune Marmalade. Fill an under crust and bake. The top may be

ornamented with strips of crust or pastry leaves; or if desired, may be

meringued with the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth with two

tablespoonfuls of sugar and a little grated lemon peel. This pie is

excellent baked in a granola crust.

PUMPKIN PIE.--To prepare the pumpkin, cut into halves, remove the

seeds, divide into moderately small pieces, and bake in the oven until

thoroughly done. Then scrape from the shell, rub through a colander, and

proceed as follows: For one and one third pints of the cooked pumpkin

use one quart of hot, rich, sweet milk. Add one half cup of sugar and

the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, beat well together, add the whites

of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, and beat thoroughly. Line the tins

with a stiff cream paste, fill, and bake in a moderate oven till the

pies are barely firm in the center, or till the custard is well set.

PUMPKIN PIE NO. 2.--For each pie desired, take one half pint of

baked pumpkin, a pint of rich milk, one third of a cup of sugar, and two

eggs. Mix the sugar and eggs, add the pumpkin, and lastly the milk,

which should be hot, and beat all together with an egg beater until very

light. Fill the crust, and bake slowly.

PUMPKIN PIE WITHOUT EGGS.--Prepare the pumpkin as previously

directed. For two medium-sized pies, heat a pint and a half of milk in a

farina kettle, and when scalding, stir into it two scant tablespoonfuls

of white flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Cook, stirring

often, until it thickens. Add half a cup of sugar, or a little less of

syrup, to a pint and a half of the sifted pumpkin, and after beating

well together, stir this into the hot milk. Bake in an under crust; or,

for three pies, take one quart and a cupful of pumpkin, three fourths of

a cup of sugar, two thirds of a cup of best New Orleans molasses, and

three pints of hot milk. Beat all together thoroughly. Line deep plates

with a cream crust, and bake an hour and a half in a moderate oven.

SIMPLE CUSTARD PIE.--For one pie, take one pint of milk, two

well-beaten eggs, one third of a cup of sugar, and a little grated lemon

rind for flavor. Bake in an under crust. If eggs are scarce, a very good

pie can be made by using only one egg, and a tablespoonful of

cornstarch, with the above proportions of milk and sugar; in which case,

heat the milk to scalding, stir in the cornstarch, and cook till

thickened; cool, and then add the well-beaten egg. If preferred, the

crust may be baked before filling, and the custard steamed, meanwhile.

SQUASH PIE.--Squash prepared as directed for pumpkin, and flavored

with rose water, makes an excellent pie. Or, for each pie desired, take

one pint of rich milk (part cream if it can be afforded), add one cup of

nicely baked mealy squash which has been rubbed through a colander, one

third of a cup of sugar, and two well-beaten eggs. Beat all together

thoroughly. Bake in a deep pan slowly and carefully until firm.

SQUASH PIE WITHOUT EGGS.--Bake the squash in the shell; when done,

remove with a spoon and mash through a colander. For one pie, take eight

tablespoonfuls of the squash, half a cup of sugar, and one and one third

cups of boiling milk. Pour the milk slowly over the squash, beating

rapidly meanwhile to make the mixture light. Bake in one crust.

SWEET-APPLE CUSTARD PIE.--Into one pint of new milk, grate three

ripe sweet apples (Golden Sweets are excellent); add two well-beaten

eggs, and sugar to taste. Bake with under crust only.

SWEET POTATO PIE.--Bake sufficient sweet potatoes to make a pint of

pulp when rubbed through a colander; add a pint of rich milk, a scant

cup of sugar, salt if desired, the yolks of two eggs, and a little

grated lemon rind for flavor. Bake with under crust. When done, meringue

with the whites of the eggs beaten up with a tablespoonful of sugar.

CAKE.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.--Always sift the flour for cake before

measuring out the amount required. Use the best granulated white sugar.

Eggs for use in cake are better to have the yolks and whites beaten

separately. Beat the former until they cease to froth and begin to

thicken as if mixed with flour. Beat the whites until stiff enough to

remain in the bowl if inverted. Have the eggs and dishes cool, and if

practicable, beat in a cool room. Use earthen or china bowls to beat

eggs in.

If fruit is to be used, it should be washed and dried according to

directions given on page 298, and then dusted with flour, a

dessertspoonful to the pound of fruit. For use in cup cake or any other

cake which requires a quick baking, raisins should be first steamed. If

you have no patent steamer, place them in a close covered dish within an

ordinary steamer, and cook for an hour over a kettle of boiling water.

This should be done the day before they are to be used.

Use an earthen or granite-ware basin for mixing cake. Be very accurate

in measuring the materials, and have them all at hand and all utensils

ready before beginning to put the cake together. If it is to be baked at

once, see that the oven also is at just the right temperature. It should

be less hot for cake than for bread. Thin cakes require a hotter oven

than those baked in loaves. They require from fifteen to twenty minutes

to bake; thicker loaves, from thirty to sixty minutes. For loaf cakes

the oven should be at such a temperature that during the first half of

the time the cake will have risen to its full height and just begun to

brown.

The recipes given require neither baking powder, soda, nor saleratus.

Yeast and air can be made to supply the necessary lightness, and their

use admits of as great a variety in cakes as will be needed on a

hygienic bill of fare.

In making cake with yeast, do not use very thick cream, as a rich, oily

batter retards fermentation and makes the cake slow in rising. If the

cake browns too quickly, protect it by a covering of paper. If necessary

to move a cake in the oven, do it very gently. Do not slam the oven door

or in any way jar a cake while baking, lest it fall. Line cake tins with

paper to prevent burning the bottom and edges. Oil the paper, not the

tins, very lightly. Cake is done when it shrinks from the pan and stops

hissing, or when a clean straw run into the thickest part comes up

clean.

As soon as possible after baking, remove from the pan, as, if allowed to

remain in the pan, it is apt to become too moist.

_RECIPES._

APPLE CAKE.--Scald a cup of thin cream and cool to blood heat, add

one and a half cups of sifted white flour, one fourth of a cup of sugar,

and a gill of liquid yeast or one half cake of compressed yeast

dissolved in a gill of thin cream. Beat well together, set in a warm

place, and let it rise till perfectly light. When well risen, add one

half cup of sugar mixed with one half cup of warm flour. Beat well and

set in a warm place to rise again. When risen a second time, add two

eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, and about one tablespoonful of

flour. Turn the whole into three round shallow baking tins, which have

been previously oiled and warmed, and place where it will rise again for

an hour, or until it is all of a foam. Bake quickly in a moderately hot

oven. Make this the day before it is needed, and when ready to use

prepare a filling as follows: Beat together the whites of two eggs, one

half cup of sugar, the juice of one lemon, and two large tart apples

well grated. Heat in a farina kettle until all are hot; cool, and

spread between the layers of cake. This should be eaten the day the

filling is prepared.

COCOANUT CUSTARD CAKE.--Make the cake as directed in the preceding

recipe. For the filling, prepare a soft custard by heating just to the

boiling point one pint of rich milk previously flavored with cocoanut;

into which stir A tablespoonful of cornstarch braided with a little

milk, and let it boil until thickened. Beat together an egg and one

third of a cup of sugar, and turn the hot mixture slowly over it,

stirring constantly till the custard thickens. When cold, spread between

the layers of raised cake.

CREAM CAKE.--Prepare the cake as above. Spread between the layers

when cold a cream made as follows: Stir into one half pint of boiling

milk two teaspoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.

Take with two tablespoonfuls of sugar; return to the rest of the custard

and cook, stirring constantly until quite thick. Cool and flavor with a

teaspoonful of vanilla or rose water.

DELICATE CUP CAKE.--This cake contains no soda or baking powder,

and to make it light requires the incorporation of as much air as

possible. In order to accomplish this, it should be put together in the

same manner as directed for Batter Breads (page 154). Have all material

measured and everything in readiness before beginning to put the cake

together, then beat together the yolk of one egg, one cup of sugar, and

one cup of very cold sweet cream, until all of a foam; add a little

grated lemon rind for flavoring; stir in slowly, beating briskly all the

time, two cups of granular white flour (sometimes termed gluten flour)

or Graham meal. When all the flour is added, add lastly the beaten

whites of two eggs, stirring just enough to mix them well throughout the

whole; turn at once into slightly heated gem irons which have been

previously oiled, and bake in a moderately quick oven. If made according

to directions, this cake will be very light and delicate. It will not

puff up much above its first proportions, but will be light throughout.

A nice cake may be prepared in the same manner with Graham meal or even

white flour, by the addition of a heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch

sifted into the flour, in the way in which baking powder is ordinarily

mixed with flour before using.

FIG LAYER CAKE.--Prepare the cake as directed for Apple Cake. Chop

one half pound of figs very fine, add one half cup of sugar, one cup of

water and boil in a farina kettle until soft and homogeneous. Cool, and

spread between the cakes. Or chop steamed figs very fine, mix with an

equal quantity of almondine, and use.

FRUIT JELLY CAKE.--Prepare the cake as in the foregoing, using

fruit jelly between the layers.

GOLD AND SILVER CAKE.--Prepare the cake as for Apple Cake. When it

has risen the second time, measure out one third of it, and add the

yolks of the eggs to that portion with a little grated lemon rind for

flavoring; add the whites with some very finely pulverized desiccated

cocoanut to the other two thirds. Make two sheets of the white and one

of the yellow. Allow them to become perfectly light before baking. When

baked, place the yellow portion between the two white sheets, binding

them together with a little frosting or white currant jelly.

ICING FOR CAKES.--Since icing adds to the excess of sugar contained

in cakes, it is preferable to use them without it except when especially

desired for ornament. An icing without eggs may be prepared by boiling a

cup of granulated sugar in five tablespoonfuls of sweet milk for five

minutes, then beating until cool enough to spread. One with egg may be

easily made of six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, the white of one

egg, and one teaspoonful of boiling water mixed without beating. A

colored icing may be made by using a teaspoonful of boiling cranberry

juice or other red fruit juice instead of water. The top of the icing

may be ornamented with roasted almonds, bits of colored sugar or frosted

fruits, directions for the preparation of all of which have already been

given.

ORANGE CAKE.--Prepare the cake as for Apple Cake, and bake in two

layers. For the filling, take two good-sized, juicy oranges. Flavor two

tablespoonfuls of sugar by rubbing it over the skin of the oranges, then

peel, remove the white rind, and cut into small pieces, discarding the

seeds and the central pith. Put the orange pulp in a china bowl, and set

in a dish of boiling water. When it is hot, stir in a heaping

teaspoonful of cornstarch which has been braided smooth in two spoonfuls

of water. Stir constantly until the starch has cooked, and the whole

becomes thickened. Beat the yolk of one egg to a cream with two

tablespoonfuls of sugar. Stir this very gradually, so as not to lump,

into the orange mixture, and cook two or three minutes longer. Remove

from the fire, and when cool, spread between the cakes. If the oranges

are not very tart, a little lemon juice is an improvement. Meringue the

top of the cake with the white of the egg beaten up with the two

tablespoonfuls of sugar flavored with orange.

FRUIT CAKE.--Make a sponge of one pint of thin cream which has been

scalded and cooled to lukewarm, one gill of liquid yeast or one half

cake of compressed yeast dissolved in a gill of cream, one half cup of

sugar, and two and one half cups of flour. Beat all together very

thoroughly and let rise until light. When light, add another half cup of

sugar, one half cup of rather thick cream which has been scalded and

cooled, one cup of warm flour, and after beating well together, set away

to rise again. When well risen, add one cup of seeded raisins, one

fourth cup of citron chopped fine, one half cup of Zante currants, two

well-beaten eggs, and about one and one third cups of flour. Turn into a

brick loaf bread pan, let it rise until very light, and bake. When done,

remove from the pan and set away until at least twenty-four hours old

before using.

LOAF CAKE.--Scald a cup of rather thin cream, and cool to blood

heat. Add one and one half cups of warm flour, one half a cup of sugar,

and one fourth cake of compressed yeast dissolved in two tablespoonfuls

of thin cream or as much of liquid yeast. Beat well, and let rise until

perfectly light; then add one half cup more of sugar mixed with one half

cup of warm flour. Beat well, and set away to rise a second time. When

again well risen, add the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth,

one half cup of warm flour, and a little grated lemon rind, or two

teaspoonfuls of rose water to flavor. Turn into a brick loaf bread pan

lined with oiled paper, allow it to become perfectly light again, and

bake. This cake, like other articles made with yeast, should not be

eaten within at least twenty-four hours after baking.

PINEAPPLE CAKE.--Prepare as for orange cake, using grated pineapple

in place of oranges.

PLAIN BUNS.--These are the simplest of all cakes. Dissolve half a

small cake of compressed yeast in a cup of thin cream which has been

previously warmed to blood heat, add two cups of warm flour, and beat

thoroughly together. Put in a warm place, and let it rise till very

light. Add three tablespoonfuls of sugar mixed well with a half cup of

warm flour, one half cup of Zante currants, and sufficient flour to make

of the consistency of dough. Buns should be kneaded just as soft as

possible, and from fifteen to twenty minutes. Shape into biscuits a

little larger than an English walnut, place them on tins far enough

apart so they will not touch each other when risen. Put in a warm place

till they have risen to twice their first size, then bake in a

moderately quick oven. If desired, the currants may be omitted and a

little grated lemon rind for flavoring added with the sugar, or a bit of

citron may be placed in the top of each bun when shaping. When taken

from the oven, sprinkle the top of each with moist sugar if desired, or

glace by brushing with milk while baking.

SPONGE CAKE.--For this will be required four eggs, one cup of

sugar, one tablespoonful of lemon juice with a little of the grated

rind, and one cup of white flour. Success in the making of sponge cake

depends almost wholly upon the manner in which it is put together. Beat

the yolks of the eggs until very light and thick, then add the sugar

little by little, beating it in thoroughly; add the lemon juice and the

grated rind. Beat the whites of the eggs until perfectly stiff and firm,

and fold or chop them very lightly into the yolk mixture. Sift the flour

with a sifter little by little over the mixture and fold it carefully

in. On no account stir either the white of the eggs or the flour in,

since stirring will drive out the air which has been beaten into the

eggs. Do not beat after the flour is added. The cake, when the flour is

all in, should be stiff and spongy. If it is liquid in character, it

will be apt to be tough and may be considered a failure. Bake in a

shallow pan in a rather hot oven fifteen or twenty minutes.

SUGAR CRISPS.--Make a soft dough of two and one fourth cups of

Graham flour, one half cup of granulated white sugar, and one cup of

rather thick sweet cream. Knead as little as possible, roll out very

thinly, cut in rounds or squares, and bake in a quick oven.

VARIETY CAKE.--Make the same as Gold and Silver Cake, and mix a

half cup of Zante currants and chopped raisins with the yellow portion.

The white portion may be flavored by adding a very little chopped citron

instead of the cocoanut, if preferred.

TABLE TOPICS.

If families could be induced to substitute the apple--sound, ripe,

and luscious--for the pies, cakes, candies, and other sweetmeats

with which children are too often stuffed, there would be a

diminution of doctors' bills, sufficient in a single year to lay up

a stock of this delicious fruit for a season's use.--_Prof.

Faraday._

Food for repentance--mince pie eaten late at night.

_Young Student_--"This cook book says that pie crust needs plenty of

shortening. Do you know what that means, pa?"

_Father_--"It means lard."

"But why is lard called shortening, pa?"

"Because it shortens life."

The health journals and the doctors all agree that the best and most

wholesome part of the New England country doughnut is the hole. The

larger the hole, they say, the better the doughnut.

An old gentleman who was in the habit of eating a liberal slice of

pie or cake just before retiring, came home late one evening after

his wife had gone to bed. After an unsuccessful search in the

pantry, he called to his wife, "Mary, where is the pie?" His good

wife timidly acknowledged that there was no pie in the house. Said

her husband, "Then where is the cake?" The poor woman meekly

confessed that the supply of cake was also exhausted; at which the

disappointed husband cried out in a sharp, censorious tone, "Why,

what would you do if somebody should be sick in the night?"

_Woman_ (to tramp)--"I can give you some cold buckwheat cakes and a

piece of mince pie." _Tramp_--(frightened) "What ye say?"

_Woman_--"Cold buckwheat cakes and mince pie." _Tramp_--(heroically)

"Throw in a small bottle of pepsin, Madam, and I'll take the

chances."

GRAVIES AND SAUCES

Gravies for vegetables, sauces for desserts, and similar foods thickened

with flour or cornstarch, are among the most common of the poorly

prepared articles of the _cuisine_, although their proper preparation is

a matter of considerable importance, since neither a thin, watery sauce

nor a stiff, paste-like mixture is at all palatable. The preparation of

gravies and sauces is a very simple matter when governed by that

accuracy of measurement and carefulness of detail which should be

exercised in the preparation of all foods. In consistency, a properly

made sauce should mask the back of the spoon; that is to say, when

dipped into the mixture and lifted out, the metal of the spoon should

not be visible through it as it runs off. The proportion of material

necessary to secure this requisite is one tablespoonful of flour,

slightly rounded, for each half pint of water or stock. If the sauce be

made of milk or fruit juice, a little less flour will be needed. If

cornstarch be used, a scant instead of a full tablespoonful will be

required. The flour, or cornstarch should be first braided or rubbed

perfectly smooth in a very small amount of the liquid reserved for the

purpose (salt or sugar, if any is to be used, being added to the flour

before braiding with the liquid), and then carefully added to the

remaining liquid, which should be actively boiling. It should then be

continuously stirred until it has thickened, when it should be allowed

to cook slowly for five or ten minutes until the starch or flour is well

done. If through any negligence to observe carefully these simple

details, there should be lumps in the sauce, they must be removed before

serving by turning the whole through a fine colander or wire strainer.

The double boiler is the best utensil for the preparation of sauces and

gravies, since it facilitates even cooking and renders them less liable

to become scorched. The inner cup should be placed on the top of the

range until the sauce has become thickened, as in the cooking of grains,

and afterwards placed in the outer boiler to continue the cooking as

long as needed.

Cream gravies for vegetables may be delicately flavored with celery, by

steeping a few bits of celery in the milk for a few minutes, and

removing with a fork before adding the thickening. Sauces for puddings

may be similarly flavored, by steeping cocoanut or bits of orange or

lemon rind in the milk.

GRAVIES AND SAUCES FOR VEGETABLES.

_RECIPES._

BROWN SAUCE.--Heat a pint of thin cream, and when boiling, add half

a teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of flour browned in the oven

as directed on page 274, and rubbed to a smooth paste with a little cold

milk. Allow it to boil rapidly, stirring constantly until thickened;

then cook more slowly, in a double boiler, for five or ten minutes. If

desired, the milk may be flavored with onion before adding the flour.

This makes a good dressing for potatoes.

CREAM OR WHITE SAUCE.--Heat a pint of rich milk, part cream if it

can be afforded, to boiling, and stir into it one tablespoonful of flour

previously rubbed smooth in a little milk. Season with salt, and cook in

a double boiler five or ten minutes, stirring frequently that no lumps

be formed. If lumps are found in the sauce, turn it quickly through a

fine, hot colander into the dish in which it is to be served.

CELERY SAUCE.--Cut half a dozen stalks of celery into

finger-lengths, and simmer in milk for ten or fifteen minutes. Skim out

the celery, add a little cream to the milk, salt to taste, and thicken

with flour as for white sauce. This is very nice for potatoes and for

toast.

EGG SAUCE.--Heat a pint of milk to boiling, and stir in a

dessertspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little milk. Stir constantly

until the sauce is well thickened; add the well-beaten yolk of an egg,

turning it in very slowly and stirring rapidly so that it shall be well

mingled. Boil up once only, add a very little salt, and serve. The egg

makes an excellent substitute for cream.

PEASE GRAVY.--A gravy prepared either of dried or green peas as

directed for Lentil Gravy on page 226, makes a suitable dressing for

baked potatoes. Lentil gravy is also good for the same purpose. The

addition of a little lemon juice to the lentil gravy makes another

variety.

TOMATO GRAVY.--A gravy made of tomatoes as directed on page 261, is

excellent to use on baked or boiled sweet potatoes.

TOMATO CREAM GRAVY.--Prepare a gravy as for Cream Sauce, using a

slightly heaping measure of flour. When done, add, just before serving,

for each quart of the cream sauce, one cup of hot, stewed tomato which

has been put through a fine colander to remove all seeds. Beat it

thoroughly into the sauce and serve on boiled or baked potato.

SAUCES FOR DESSERTS AND PUDDINGS.

_RECIPES._

ALMOND SAUCE.--Heat a pint of rich milk in the inner cup of a

double boiler, placed directly upon the stove. When the milk is boiling,

stir into it a heaping tablespoonful of flour which has been rubbed to a

cream in a little cold milk. Boil rapidly until thickened, stirring

constantly; then add three tablespoonfuls of almondine; place in the

outer boiler, and cook for five or ten minutes longer.

CARAMEL SAUCE.--Stir a cup of sugar in a saucepan over the fire

until melted and lightly browned. Add one cup of boiling water, and

simmer ten minutes.

COCOANUT SAUCE.--Flavor a pint of new milk with cocoanut, as

directed on page 298. Skim out the cocoanut, and add enough fresh milk

to make one pint. Heat the milk to boiling, add two tablespoonfuls of

sugar, thicken with two even spoonfuls of cornstarch, and proceed in the

same manner as for Mock Cream.

CREAM SAUCE.--Beat together two thirds of a cup of sugar, one

tablespoonful of thick, sweet cream, and one egg. Wet half a teaspoonful

of cornstarch with a little milk, and stir in with the mixture; then

add five tablespoonfuls of boiling milk, stirring rapidly all the time.

Pour into the inner cup of a double boiler; have the water in the outer

cup boiling, and cook five minutes. Flavor to taste.

CRANBERRY PUDDING SAUCE.--To a quart of boiling water add two cups

of sugar, and when well dissolved, one quart of carefully sorted

cranberries. Mash the berries as much as possible with a silver spoon,

and boil just seven minutes. Turn through a colander to remove skins,

cool and serve.

CUSTARD SAUCE.--Rub two teaspoonfuls of flour to a smooth paste

with half a cup of new milk. Heat two and a half cups of fresh milk in a

double boiler to scalding, then stir in the braided flour; heat again,

stirring constantly till just to the boiling point, but no longer;

remove from the stove and cool a little. Beat together one egg, three

tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a little lemon rind for flavoring. Turn the

hot milk over this, a little at a time, stirring briskly meanwhile.

Return the whole to the double boiler, and cook, stirring frequently,

until when a spoon is dipped into the custard a coating remains upon it.

Then remove at once from the fire. If the spoon comes out clean, the

custard is not sufficiently cooked.

EGG SAUCE.--Separate the yolks and whites of three eggs. Beat the

whites to a stiff froth, and stir in very gently, so as not to let the

air out of the beaten whites, one cup of powdered sugar and a

teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon flavoring powder. Lastly, stir in

carefully the beaten yolks of the eggs, and serve at once.

EGG SAUCE NO. 2.--Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth

with one half cup of sugar. Add three tablespoonfuls of lemon juice and

one of water. Serve at once.

FOAMY SAUCE.--Beat one egg or the whites of two very thoroughly

with one half cup of sugar and a little grated lemon rind. Pour on this

very slowly, stirring constantly to make it smooth, one cup of boiling

milk, part cream if it can be afforded. If the whites alone are used,

they should not be beaten stiff. If preferred, the lemon may be omitted

and a tablespoonful or two of currant juice or quince jelly added last

as flavoring.

FRUIT CREAM.--Take the juice pressed from a cupful of fresh

strawberries, red raspberries, or black caps, add to it one third of a

cup of sugar, and place in the ice chest till chilled. Set a cup of

sweet cream also on ice till very cold. When thoroughly cold, whip with

an egg beater till the froth begins to rise, then add to it the cold

fruit juice and beat again. Have ready the white of one egg beaten to a

stiff froth, which add to the fruit cream, and whip till no more froth

will rise. This makes a delicious dressing for simple grain molds and

blancmanges, but is so rich it should be used rather sparingly. Serve as

soon as possible after being prepared. Fruit syrup, in the proportion of

two or three tablespoonfuls to the pint of cream, may be used in the

same manner when the fresh juice is not available. The juice of orange,

quince, and pineapple may also be used in the same manner as that of

berries.

FRUIT SAUCE.--Heat a pint of red raspberry, currant, grape,

strawberry, apricot, or any other fruit juice to scalding, and stir in a

tablespoonful of cornstarch previously rubbed to a cream with a little

cold water. Cook till it thickens; then add sugar according to the

acidity of the fruit. Strain and cool before using. If fruit juice is

not available, two or three tablespoonfuls of pure fruit jelly may be

dissolved in a pint of hot water and used instead of the juice. A

mixture of red and black raspberry juice, or currant and raspberry, will

be found acceptable for variety.

FRUIT SAUCE NO. 2.--Mash a quart of fresh berries, add one cup of

sugar, beat very thoroughly together, and set away until needed. Just

before it is wanted for serving, turn into a granite fruit kettle and

heat nearly to boiling, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Serve hot

with hot or cold puddings, or molded desserts.

LEMON PUDDING SAUCE.--Heat to boiling, in a double boiler, a pint

of water in which are two slices of lemon, and stir into it a

dessertspoonful of cornstarch; cook four to five minutes, or until it

thickens. Squeeze the juice from one large lemon, and mix it with two

thirds of a cup of sugar. Add this to the cornstarch mixture, and allow

the whole to boil up once, stirring constantly; then take from the fire.

Leave in the double boiler, surrounded by the hot water, for ten

minutes. Cool to blood heat before serving.

MOCK CREAM.--Heat a pint of fresh, unskimmed milk in a double

boiler. When the milk is boiling, stir in two tablespoonfuls of sugar,

and two even tablespoonfuls of cornstarch which has first been rubbed

smooth in a very little cold milk. Bring just to a boil, stirring

constantly; then pour the hot mixture, a little at a time, beating

thoroughly all the while, over the well-beaten white of one egg. Put

again into the double boiler, return to the fire, and stir till it

thickens to the consistency of cream.

MOLASSES SAUCE.--To one half cup of molasses, add one half cup of

water, and heat to boiling. Thicken with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed

to a cream with a little cold water. Serve hot.

ORANGE SAUCE.--Squeeze a cupful of juice from well-flavored, sour

oranges. Heat a pint of water, and when boiling, thicken with a

tablespoonful of cornstarch. Add the orange juice, strain, and sweeten

to taste with sugar that has been flavored by rubbing over the yellow

rind of an orange until mixed with the oil in the rind. If a richer

sauce is desired, the yolk of an egg may be added lastly, and the sauce

allowed to cook until thickened.

PEACH SAUCE.--Strain the juice from a well-kept can of peaches.

Dilute with one half as much water, heat to boiling, and thicken with

cornstarch, a scant tablespoonful to the pint of liquid.

PLAIN PUDDING SAUCE.--Thicken one and one half cups of water with

one tablespoonful of cornstarch; boil a few minutes, then stir in two

thirds of a cup of sugar, and one half cup of sweet cream. Take off the

stove, and flavor with a little rose, vanilla, or lemon.

RED SAUCE.--Pare and slice a large red beet, and simmer gently in

three cups of water for twenty minutes, or until the water is rose

colored, then add two cups of sugar, the thin yellow rind and juice of

one lemon, and boil until the whole is thick syrup. Strain, add a

teaspoonful of rose water or vanilla, and serve.

ROSE CREAM.--Remove the thick cream from the top of a pan of cold

milk, taking care not to take up any of the milk. Add sugar to sweeten

and a teaspoonful or two of rose water. Beat with an egg beater until

the whole mass is thick. Good thick cream, beaten in this manner, makes

nearly double its original quantity.

SAGO SAUCE.--Wash one tablespoonful of sago in two or three waters,

then put it into a saucepan with three fourths of a cup of hot water,

and some bits of lemon peel. Simmer gently for ten minutes, take out the

lemon peel, add half a cup of quince or apricot juice; and if the

latter, the strained juice of half a lemon, and sugar to taste. Beat

together thoroughly.

WHIPPED CREAM SAUCE.--Beat together with an egg beater until of a

stiff froth one cup of sweet cream which has been cooled to a

temperature of 64 deg. or less, one teaspoonful of vanilla or a little

grated lemon rind, and one half cup of powdered white sugar, and the

whites of one or two eggs. The sauce may be variously flavored with a

little fruit jelly beaten with the egg, before adding to the cream.

TABLE TOPICS.

Whether or not life is worth living, all depends upon the

liver.--_Sel._

Diet cures mair than doctors.--_Scotch Proverb._

According to the ancient Hindu Scriptures, the proper amount of food

is half of what can be conveniently eaten.

Every hour you steal from digestion will be reclaimed by

indigestion.--_Oswald._

"Very few nations in the world," says a sagacious historian,

"produce better soldiers than the Russians. They will endure the

greatest fatigues and sufferings with patience and calmness. And it

is well know that the Russian soldiers are from childhood nourished

by simple and coarse vegetable food. The Russian Grenadiers are the

finest body of men I ever saw,--not a man is under six feet high.

Their allowance consists of eight pounds of black bread, and four

pounds of oil per man for eight days."

Colonel Fitzgibbon was, many years ago, colonial agent at London for

the Canadian Government, and wholly dependent upon remittances from

Canada for his support. On one occasion these remittances failed to

arrive, and it being before the day of cables, he was obliged to

write to his friends to ascertain the reason of the delay. Meanwhile

he had just one sovereign to live upon. He found he could live upon

a sixpence a day,--four pennyworth of bread, one pennyworth of milk,

and one pennyworth of sugar. When his remittances arrived a month

afterward, he had five shillings remaining of his sovereign, and he

liked his frugal diet so well that he kept it up for several years.

An hour of exercise to every pound of food.--_Oswald._

Some eat to live, they loudly cry;

But from the pace they swallow pie

And other food promiscuously,

One would infer they eat to die.

--_Sel._

BEVERAGES

The use of beverages in quantities with food at mealtime is prejudicial

to digestion, because they delay the action of the gastric juice upon

solid foods. The practice of washing down food by copious draughts of

water, tea, or coffee is detrimental, not only because it introduces

large quantities of fluid into the stomach, which must be absorbed

before digestion can begin, but also because it offers temptation to

careless and imperfect mastication, while tea and coffee also serve as a

vehicle for an excessive use of sugar, thus becoming a potent cause of

indigestion and dyspepsia. It is best to drink but sparingly, if at all,

at mealtimes. Consideration should also be given to the nature of the

beverage, since many in common use are far from wholesome. Very cold

fluids, like iced water, iced tea, and iced milk, are harmful, because

they cool the contents of the stomach to a degree at which digestion is

checked. If drunk at all, they should be taken only in small sips and

retained in the mouth until partly warmed.

Tea is often spoken of as the "cup that cheers but not inebriates."

"The cup that may cheer yet does injury" would be nearer the truth, for

there is every evidence to prove that this common beverage is

exceedingly harmful, and that the evils of its excessive use are second

only to those of tobacco and alcohol. Tea contains two harmful

substances, theine and tannin,--from three to six per cent of the former

and more than one fourth its weight of the latter. Theine is a poison

belonging to the same class of poisonous alkaloids, and is closely

allied to cocaine. It is a much more powerful poison than alcohol,

producing death in less than one hundredth part the deadly dose of

alcohol; and when taken in any but the smallest doses, it produces all

the symptoms of intoxication. Tannin is an astringent exercising a

powerful effect in delaying salivary and stomach digestion, thus

becoming one of the most common causes of digestive disorders. It is

also a matter of frequent observation that sleeplessness, palpitation of

the heart, and various disorders of the nervous system frequently follow

the prolonged use of tea. Both theine and tannin are more abundant in

green than in black tea.

The dependence of the habitual tea-drinker upon the beverage, and the

sense of loss experienced when deprived of it, are among the strongest

proofs of its evil effects, and should be warnings against its use. No

such physical discomfort is experienced when deprived of any article of

ordinary food. The use of tea makes one feel bright and fresh when

really exhausted; but, like all other stimulants, it is by exciting

vital action above the normal without supplying extra force to support

the extra expenditure. The fact that a person feels tired is evidence

that the system demands rest, that his body is worn and needs repair;

but the relief experienced after a cup of tea is not recuperation.

Instead, it indicates that his nerves are paralyzed so that they are

insensible to fatigue.

Some people suppose the manner of preparing tea has much to do with its

deleterious effects, and that by infusion for two or three minutes only,

the evils resulting from the tannin will be greatly lessened. This,

however, is a delusion, if the same amount of tea be used proportionate

to the water; for tannin in its free state, the condition in which it is

found in tea is one of the most readily soluble of substances; and tea

infused for two minutes is likely to hold nearly as much tannin in

solution as that infused for a longer period.

Tea is not a food, and it can in no wise take the place of food, as so

many people attempt to make it, without detriment to health in every

respect.

Coffee, cocoa, and chocolate rank in the same category with tea, as

beverages which are more or less harmful. Coffee contains caffein, a

principle identical with theine and a modified form of tannin, though in

less quantity than tea. Cocoa and chocolate contain substances similar

to theine and equally harmful, though usually present in much less

proportion than in tea.

Custom has made the use of these beverages so common that most people

seldom stop to inquire into their nature. Doubtless the question arises

in many minds; If these beverages contain such poisons, why do they not

more commonly produce fatal results?--Because a tolerance of the poison

is established in the system by use, as in the case of tobacco and other

narcotics and stimulants; but that the poisons surely though insidiously

are doing their work is attested by the prevalence of numerous disorders

of the digestive and nervous systems, directly attributable to the use

of these beverages.

Both tea and coffee are largely adulterated with other harmful

substances, thus adding another reason why their use should be

discarded. It is stated on good authority that it is almost impossible

to obtain unadulterated ground coffee.

In view of all these facts, it certainly seems wisest if a beverage is

considered essential, to make use of one less harmful. Hot milk, hot

water, hot lemonade, caramel coffee, or some of the various grain

coffees, recipes for which are give in the following pages, are all

excellent substitutes for tea and coffee, if a hot drink is desired.

_RECIPES_

BEET COFFEE.--Wash best beets thoroughly, but do not scrape; slice,

and brown in a moderate oven, taking care not to burn. When brown, break

in small pieces and steep the same as ordinary coffee.

CARAMEL COFFEE.--Take three quarts best bran, one quart corn meal,

three tablespoonfuls of molasses; mix and brown in the oven like

ordinary coffee. For every cup of coffee required, use one heaping

tablespoonful of the caramel. Pour boiling water over it, and steep, not

boil, for fifteen or twenty minutes.

CARAMEL COFFEE NO. 2.--Take one cup each of white flour, corn meal,

unsifted Graham flour, and molasses. Mix well, and form into cakes half

an inch thick and a little larger around than a silver dollar. If the

molasses is not thin enough to take up all the dry material, one fourth

or one half a cup of cold water may be added for that purpose. Bake the

cakes in the oven until very dark brown, allowing them to become

slightly scorched. When desired for use, take one cake for each cup of

coffee required, pour sufficient water over them, and steep, not boil,

twenty minutes.

CARAMEL COFFEE NO. 3.--To three and one half quarts of bran and one

and one half quarts of corn meal, take one pint of New Orleans molasses

and one half pint of boiling water. Put the water and molasses together

and pour them over the bran and corn meal which have been previously

mixed. Rub all well together, and brown slowly in the oven, stirring

often, until a rich dark brown. Use one heaping tablespoonful of coffee

to each small cup of boiling water, let it just boil up, then steep on

the back of the stove for five or ten minutes.

CARAMEL COFFEE NO. 4.--Beat together four eggs and one pint of

molasses, and mix thoroughly with four quarts of good wheat bran. Brown

in the oven, stirring frequently. Prepare for use the same as the

preceding.

MRS. T'S CARAMEL COFFEE.--Make a rather thick batter of Graham

grits or Graham meal and milk, spread it in shallow pans and bake in a

moderate oven until evenly done throughout. Cut the cake thus prepared

into thin strips, which break into small uniform pieces and spread on

perforated tins or sheets and brown in the oven. Each piece should be

very darkly and evenly browned, but not burned. For each cup of coffee

required, steep a small handful in boiling water for ten or fifteen

minutes, strain and serve.

PARCHED GRAIN COFFEE.--Brown in the oven some perfectly sound

wheat, sweet corn, barley, or rice, as you would the coffee berry. If

desired, a mixture of grains may be used. Pound or grind fine. Mix the

white of an egg with three tablespoonfuls of the ground grain, and pour

over it a quart of boiling water. Allow it to come just to the boiling

point, steep slowly for twelve or fifteen minutes, and serve.

WHEAT, OATS AND BARLEY COFFEE.--Mix together equal quantities of

these grains, brown in the oven like ordinary coffee, and grind. To one

quart of boiling water take three tablespoonfuls of the prepared coffee

mixed with the white of an egg, and steep in boiling water ten or

fifteen minutes.

_RECIPES FOR COLD BEVERAGES._

BLACKBERRY BEVERAGE.--Crush a quart of fresh blackberries, and pour

over them a quart of cold water; add a slice of lemon and a teaspoonful

of orange water, and let it stand three or four hours. Strain through a

jelly bag. Sweeten to taste with a syrup prepared by dissolving white

sugar in hot water, allowing it to become cold before using. Serve at

once with bits of broken ice in the glasses, or place the pitcher on ice

until ready to serve.

FRUIT BEVERAGE.--A great variety of pleasant, healthful drinks may

be made by taking equal quantities of water and the juice of currants,

strawberries, raspberries, cherries, or a mixture of two kinds, as

raspberries and currants, sweetening to taste, and putting into each

glass a small lump of ice. Directions for the preparation of fruit

juices will be found on page 209.

FRUIT BEVERAGE NO. 2.--Mash a pint of red raspberries, add one cup

of canned pineapple or half a fresh one chopped fine; pour over all

three pints of water. Stir frequently, and let the mixture stand for two

hours. Strain, add the juice of six lemons, and sugar or syrup to

sweeten.

ANOTHER.--Extract the juice from three lemons and as many sour

oranges, add a quart of cold water, sugar or syrup to sweeten, half a

teaspoonful of rose water, and a cup of pure grape juice; or the rose

water and grape juice may be omitted and two tablespoonfuls of

strawberry, raspberry, or cherry juice used instead, and the whole

poured over half a dozen slices of pineapple, and allowed to stand until

well flavored before using.

FRUIT CORDIAL.--Crush a pint of blackberries, raspberries, grapes,

currants, or cherries, adding the juice of two sour oranges, and a

sliced lemon; pour over all a quart of cold water. Stir the mixture

frequently and let it stand for two hours, then strain and add a syrup

made by dissolving white sugar in boiling water, sufficient to sweeten.

Cool on ice and serve.

GRAPE BEVERAGE.--Crush two pounds of perfectly ripened purple

grapes and strain the juice through a jelly bag. Add to the juice three

tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar or syrup, and dilute with cold water

to suit the taste.

LEMONADE.--Use three large or four medium-sized lemons for each

quart of water, and from six to eight tablespoonfuls of sugar. Rub or

squeeze the lemons till soft. Cut a slice or two from each, and extract

the juice with a lemon drill; strain the juice through a fine wire

strainer to remove the seeds and bits of pulp, and pour it over the

sugar. Add the slices of lemon, and pour over all a very little boiling

water to thoroughly dissolve the sugar; let it stand ten or fifteen

minutes, then add the necessary quantity of cold water, and serve. Or

rub the sugar over the outside of the lemons to flavor it, and make it

into a syrup by adding sufficient boiling water to dissolve it. Extract

and strain the lemon juice, add the prepared syrup and the requisite

quantity of cold water, and serve.

MIXED LEMONADE.--A very pleasant, cooling summer drink is made from

the juice of six oranges and six lemons, with sugar to taste; add to

this some pounded ice and the juice of a small can of pineapple, and

lastly pour over the whole two quarts of water.

OATMEAL DRINK.--Boil one fourth of a pound of oatmeal in three

quarts of water for half an hour, then add one and one half

tablespoonfuls of sugar, strain and cool. It may be flavored with a

little lemon or raspberry syrup if desired; or the sugar may be omitted

and a quart of milk added. Cool on ice and serve.

ORANGEADE.--Pare very thin from one orange a few bits of the yellow

rind. Slice three well-peeled sour oranges, taking care to remove all

the white portion and all seeds. Add the yellow rind and a tablespoonful

of sugar; pour over all a quart of boiling water. Cover the dish, and

let it remain until the drink is cold. Or, if preferred, the juice of

the oranges may be extracted with a lemon drill and strained as for

lemonade.

PINEAPPLE BEVERAGE.--Pare and chop quite fine one fresh pineapple;

add a slice or two of lemon, and cover with three pints of boiling

water. Let it stand for two hours or more, stirring frequently; then

strain and add the juice of five lemons, and sugar or syrup to sweeten.

PINEAPPLE LEMONADE.--Lemonade made in the usual manner and flavored

with a few spoonfuls of canned pineapple juice, is excellent for

variety.

PINK LEMONADE.--Add to a pint of lemonade prepared in the usual

manner half a cup of fresh or canned strawberry, red raspberry, currant,

or cranberry juice. It gives a pretty color besides adding a pleasing

flavor.

SHERBET.--Mash a quart of red raspberries, currants, or

strawberries, add the juice of a lemon, and pour over all three pints of

cold water. Stir frequently, and let it stand for two or three hours.

Strain through a jelly bag, sweeten to taste, and serve.

TISANE.--This is a favorite French beverage, and is prepared by

chopping fine a cupful of dried fruits, such as prunes, figs, or

prunelles, and steeping for an hour in a quart of water, afterward

straining, sweetening to taste, and cooling on ice before using.

TABLE TOPICS.

The nervousness and peevishness of our times are chiefly

attributable to tea and coffee. The digestive organs of confirmed

coffee drinkers are in a state of chronic derangement which reacts

on the brain, producing fretful and lachrymose moods. The snappish,

petulant humor of the Chinese can certainly be ascribed to their

immoderate fondness for tea.--_Dr. Bock._

Dr. Ferguson, an eminent physician who has carefully investigated

the influence of tea and coffee upon the health and development of

children, says he found that children who were allowed these

beverages gained but four pounds a year between the ages of thirteen

and sixteen, while those who had been allowed milk instead, gained

fifteen pounds in weight during the same period.

Dr. Richardson, the eminent English physician and scientist, asserts

that the misery of the women of the poorer classes of the population

in England is more than doubled by the use of tea, which only

soothes or stimulates to intensify the after-coming depression and

languor.

A physician recommended a lady to abandon the use of tea and coffee.

"O, but I shall miss it so," said she.

"Very likely," replied her medical adviser, "but you are missing

health now, and will soon lose it altogether if you do not."

Dr. Stenhouse, of Liverpool, once made a careful analysis of a

sample package of black tea, which was found to contain "some pure

Congo tea leaves, also siftings of Pekoe and inferior kinds,

weighing together twenty-seven per cent of the whole. The remaining

seventy-three per cent was composed of the following substances;

Iron, plumbago, chalk, China-clay, sand, Prussian-blue, tumeric,

indigo, starch, gypsum, catechu, gum, the leaves of the camelia,

sarangna, _Chlorantes officinalis_, elm, oak, willow, poplar, elder,

beach, hawthorn, and sloe."

MILK CREAM BUTTER

MILK.

Chemically considered, the constituents of milk are nitrogenous matter

(consisting of casein and a small proportion of albumen), fat, sugar of

milk, mineral matter, and water, the last constituting from sixty-five

to ninety per cent of the whole.

The proportion of these elements varies greatly in the milk of different

animals of the same species and of the same animals at different times,

so that it is not possible to give an exact analysis.

The analysis of an average specimen of cow's milk, according to Letheby,

is:--

Nitrogenous matter.......................................4.1

Fat......................................................3.9

Sugar of milk............................................5.2

Mineral matter...........................................0.8

Water...................................................86.0

If a drop of milk be examined with a microscope, it will be seen as a

clear liquid, holding in suspension a large number of minute globules,

which give the milk its opacity or white color. These microscopic

globules are composed of fatty matter, each surrounded by an envelope of

casein, the principal nitrogenous element found in milk. They are

lighter than the surrounding liquid, and when the milk remains at rest,

they gradually rise to the top and form cream. Casein, unlike albumen,

is not coagulated by heat; hence when milk is cooked, it undergoes no

noticeable change, save the coagulation of the very small amount of

albumen it contains, which, as it solidifies, rises to the top, carrying

with it a small portion of the sugar and saline matter and some of the

fat globules, forming a skin-like scum upon the surface. Casein,

although not coagulable by heat, is coagulated by the introduction into

the milk of acids or extract of rennet. The curd of cheese is coagulated

casein. When milk is allowed to stand for some time exposed to warmth

and air, a spontaneous coagulation occurs, caused by fermentative

changes in the sugar of milk, by which it is converted into lactic acid

through the action of germs.

Milk is sometimes adulterated by water, the removal of more or less of

the cream, or the addition of some foreign substance to increase its

density.

The quality of milk is more or less influenced by the food upon which

the animal is fed. Watery milk may be produced by feeding a cow upon

sloppy food.

The milk of diseased animals should never be used for food. There is no

way by which such milk can invariably be detected, but Prof. Vaughan, of

Michigan University, notes the following kinds of milk to be avoided:

1. Milk which becomes sour and curdles within a few hours after it has

been drawn, and before any cream forms on its surface. This is known in

some sections as 'curdly' milk, and it comes from cows with certain

inflammatory affections of the udder, or digestive diseases, or those

which have been overdriven or worried.

2. "Bitter-sweet milk" has cream of a bitter taste, is covered with

'blisters,' and frequently with a fine mold. Butter and cheese made from

such milk cannot be eaten on account of the disagreeable taste.

3. 'Slimy milk' can be drawn out into fine, ropy fibers. It has an

unpleasant taste, which is most marked in the cream. The causes which

lead to the secretion of this milk are not known.

4. 'Blue milk' is characterized by the appearance on its surface,

eighteen or twenty-four hours after it is drawn, of small, indigo-blue

spots, which rapidly enlarge until the whole surface is covered with a

blue film. If the milk be allowed to stand a few days, the blue is

converted into a greenish or reddish color. This coloration of the milk

is due to the growth of microscopic organisms. The butter made from

'blue milk' is dirty-white, gelatinous, and bitter.

5. 'Barnyard milk' is a term used to designate milk taken from unclean

animals, or those which have been kept in filthy, unventilated stables.

The milk absorbs and carries the odors, which are often plainly

perceptible. Such milk may not be poisonous, but it is repulsive.

There is no doubt that milk often serves as the vehicle for the

distribution of the germs of various contagious diseases, like scarlet

fever, diphtheria, and typhoid fever, from becoming contaminated in some

way, either from the hands of milkers or from water used as an

adulterant or in cleansing the milk vessels. Recent investigations have

also shown that cows are to some extent subject to scarlet fever, the

same as human beings, and that milk from infected cows will produce the

same disease in the consumer.

Milk should not be kept in brass or copper vessels or in earthen-ware

lined with lead glazing; for if the milk becomes acid, it is likely to

unite with the metal and form a poisonous compound. Glass and granite

ware are better materials in which to keep milk.

Milk should never be allowed to stand uncovered in an occupied room,

especially a sitting-room or bedroom, as its dust is likely to contain

disease-germs, which falling into the milk, may become a source of

serious illness to the consumer. Indeed it is safest to keep milk

covered whenever set away, to exclude the germs which are at all times

present in the air. A good way is to protect the dishes containing milk

with several layers of cheese-cloth, which will permit the air but not

the germs to circulate in and out of the pans. Neither should it be

allowed to stand where there are strong odors, as it readily takes up by

absorption any odors to which it is exposed.

A few years ago Dr. Dougall, of Glasgow, made some very interesting

experiments on the absorbent properties of milk. He inclosed in jars a

portion of substances giving off emanations, with a uniform quantity of

milk, in separate vessels, for a period of eight hours, at the end of

which time samples of the milk were drawn off and tested. The result was

that milk exposed to the following substances retained odors as

described:--

Coal gas, distinct; paraffine oil, strong; turpentine, very strong;

onions, very strong; tobacco smoke, very strong; ammonia, moderate;

musk, faint; asafetida, distinct; creosote, strong; cheese (stale),

distinct; chloroform, moderate; putrid fish, very bad; camphor,

moderate; decayed cabbage, distinct.

These facts clearly indicate that if the emanations to which milk is

exposed are of a diseased and dangerous quality, it is all but

impossible that the milk can remain free from dangerous properties.

Too much pains cannot be taken in the care of milk and vessels

containing it. Contact with the smallest quantity of milk which has

undergone fermentation will sour the whole; hence the necessity for

scrupulous cleanliness of all vessels which have contained milk before

they are used again for that purpose.

In washing milk dishes, many persons put them first into scalding water,

by which means the albumen in the milk is coagulated; and if there are

any crevices or seams in the pans or pails, this coagulated portion is

likely to adhere to them like glue, and becoming sour, will form the

nucleus for spoiling the next milk put into them. A better way is first

to rinse each separately in cold water, not pouring the water from one

pan to another, until there is not the slightest milky appearance in the

water, then wash in warm suds, or water containing sal-soda, and

afterward scald thoroughly; wipe perfectly dry, and place if possible

where the sun will have free access to them until they are needed for

further use. If sunshine is out of the question, invert the pans or cans

over the stove, or place for a few moments in a hot oven.

The treatment of milk varies with its intended use, whether whole or

separated from the cream.

Cream rises best when the milk is quite warm or when near the

freezing-point. In fact, cream separates more easily from milk at the

freezing-point than any other, but it is not thick and never becomes so.

An intermediate state seems to be unfavorable to a full rising of the

cream.

A temperature of 56 deg. to 60 deg.F. is a good one. Milk to be used whole

should be kept at about 45 deg. and stirred frequently.

All milk obtained from city milkmen or any source not certainly known to

be free from disease-germs, should be sterilized before using. Indeed,

it is safest always to sterilize milk before using, since during the

milking or in subsequent handling and transportation it is liable to

become infected with germs.

TO STERILIZE MILK FOR IMMEDIATE USE.--Put the milk as soon as

received into the inner dish of a double boiler, the outer vessel of

which should be filled with boiling water. Cover and heat the milk

rapidly to as near the boiling point as possible. Allow it to remain

with the water in the outer boiler actively boiling for half an hour,

then remove from the stove and cool very quickly. This may be

accomplished by pouring into shallow dishes, and placing these in cold

water, changing the water as frequently as it becomes warm, or by using

pieces of ice in the water. It is especially important to remember that

the temperature of the milk should be raised as rapidly as possible, and

when the milk is sufficiently cooked, cooled very quickly. Either very

slow heating or slow cooling may prove disastrous, even when every other

precaution is taken.

Or, well-cleaned glass fruit cans may be nearly filled with milk, the

covers screwed on loosely, then placed in a kettle of cold water,

gradually heated to boiling and kept at that temperature for a half hour

or longer, then gradually cooled. Or, perfectly clean bottles may be

filled with milk to within two inches of the top, the neck tightly

closed with a wad of cotton, and the bottles placed in a steam cooker,

the water in which should be cold at the start, and steamed for half an

hour.

This cooking of milk, while it destroys many of the germs contained in

milk, particularly the active disease-germs which are liable to be found

in it, thus rendering it more wholesome, and improving its keeping

qualities somewhat, does not so completely sterilize the milk that it

will not undergo fermentative changes. Under varying conditions some

thirty or forty different species of germs are to be found in milk, some

of which require to be subjected to a temperature above that of boiling

water, in order to destroy them. The keeping quality of the milk may be

increased by reboiling it on three successive days for a half hour or

longer, and carefully sealing after each boiling.

TO STERILIZE MILK TO KEEP.--This is a somewhat more difficult

operation, but it may be done by boiling milk sealed in very strong

bottles in a saturated solution of salt. The milk used should be

perfectly fresh. It is best, when possible, to draw the milk from the

cow directly into the bottles. Fill the bottles to within two inches of

the top, cork them immediately and wire the corks down firmly and place

them in the cold salt solution. Boil fifteen minutes or half an hour.

Allow the solution to cool before removing them. If the bottles are

removed from the solution while hot, they will almost instantly break.

When cold, remove the bottles, and cover the tops with sealing wax.

Store in a cool place, shake thoroughly once or twice a week. Milk

sterilized in this manner will keep indefinitely.

CONDENSED MILK.--Condensed milk is made by evaporating milk in a

vacuum to one fifth its original volume; it is then canned like any

other food by sealing at boiling temperature in air-tight cans. When

used, it should be diluted with five times its bulk of warm water.

Condensed milk, when not thoroughly boiled in the process of

condensation, is liable to harbor disease-germs the same as any other

milk.

CREAM.

Cream varies in composition according to the circumstances under which

it rises.

The composition of an average specimen as given by Letherby is:--

Nitrogenous matter............................................ 2.7

Fat.......................................................... 26.7

Sugar of milk................................................. 2.8

Mineral matter................................................ 1.8

Water........................................................ 66.0

In the process of churning; the membranes of casein which surround each

of the little globules constituting the cream are broken, and the fat of

which they are composed becomes a compact mass known as butter. The

watery looking residue containing casein, sugar of milk, mineral matter,

and a small proportion of fat, comprises the buttermilk.

Skim-milk, or milk from which the cream has been removed, and buttermilk

are analogous in chemical composition.

The composition of each, according to Dr. Edward Smith, is:--

SKIM-MILK

Nitrogenous matter......................................... 4.0

Sugar...................................................... 3.8

Fat........................................................ 1.8

Mineral matter............................................. 0.8

Water......................................................88.0

BUTTERMILK

Nitrogenous matter..........................................4.1

Sugar.......................................................3.6

Fat.........................................................0.7

Mineral matter..............................................0.8

Water......................................................88.0

Skim-milk and buttermilk, when the butter is made from sweet cream and

taken fresh, are both excellent foods, although lacking the fat of new

milk.

Cream is more easily digested than butter, and since it contains other

elements besides fat, is likewise more nutritious. In cream the fat is

held in the form of an emulsion which allows it to mingle freely with

water. As previously stated, each atom of fat is surrounded with a film

of casein. The gastric juice has no more power to digest casein than it

has free fat, and the little particles of fat thus protected are carried

to the small intestines, where the pancreatic juice digests them, and on

their way they do not interfere with the stomach digestion of other

foods, as the presence of butter and other free fats may do.

It is because of its greater wholesomeness that in the directions for

the preparation of foods given in this work we have given preference to

the use of cream over that of butter and other free fats. The usual

objection to its use is its expense, and the difficulty of obtaining it

from city dealers. The law of supply and cost generally corresponds with

that of demand, and doubtless cream would prove no exception if its use

were more general.

[Illustration: Creamery.]

Cream may be sterilized and preserved in a pure state for some time, the

same as milk.

Milk requires especial care to secure a good quality and quantity of

cream. Scrupulous cleanliness, good ventilation, and an unvarying

temperature are absolute essentials. The common custom of setting milk

in pans is objectionable, not only because of the dust and germs always

liable to fall into the milk, but also from the difficulty of keeping

milk thus set at the proper temperature for cream-rising. Every family

using milk in any quantity ought to have a set of creameries of large or

small capacity according to circumstances, in which the milk supply can

be kept in a pure, wholesome condition, and so arranged as to facilitate

the full rising of the cream if desired. A very simple and satisfactory

creamery, with space for ice around the milk, similar to that

represented in the accompanying cut, may be constructed by any tinman.

The plan of scalding milk to facilitate the rising of the cream is

excellent, as it not only secures a more speedy rising, but serves to

destroy the germs found in the milk, thus lessening its tendency to

sour. The best way to do this is to heat the milk in a double boiler, or

a dish set inside another containing hot water, to a temperature of 150

deg. to 165 deg.F. as indicated by wrinkles upon its surface. The milk

must not, however, be allowed to come to a boil. When scalded, it should

be cooled at once to a temperature of about 60 deg. F. and kept thus

during the rising of the cream.

BUTTER.

Of all foods wholly composed of fat, good fresh butter is the most

wholesome. It should, however, be used unmelted and taken in a finely

divided state, and only in very moderate quantities. If exposed to great

heat, as on hot buttered toast, meats, rich pastry, etc., it is quite

indigestible. We do not recommend its use either for the table or for

cooking purposes when cream can be obtained, since butter is rarely

found in so pure a state that it is not undergoing more or less

decomposition, depending upon its age and the amount of casein retained

in the butter through the carelessness of the manufacturer.

Casein, on exposure to air in a moist state, rapidly changes into a

ferment, which, acting upon the fatty matter of the butter, produces

rancidity, rendering the butter more or less unwholesome. Poor, tainted,

or rancid butter should not be used as food in any form.

Good butter is pale yellow, uniform throughout the whole mass, and free

from rancid taste or odor. White lumps in it are due to the

incorporation of sour milk with the cream from which it was produced. A

watery, milk-like fluid exuding from the freshly cut surface of butter,

is evidence that insufficient care was taken to wash out all the

buttermilk, thus increasing its liability to spoil.

The flavor and color of butter vary considerably, according to the breed

and food of the animal from which the milk was obtained. An artificial

color is often given to butter by the use of a preparation of annatto.

Both salt and saltpeter are employed as preservatives for butter; a

large quantity of the former is often used to increase the weight of the

butter.

ARTIFICIAL BUTTER.--Various fraudulent preparations are sold as

butter. Oleomargarine, one of the commonest, is made from tallow or

beef-fat, cleaned and ground like sausage, and heated, to separate the

oil from the membranes. It is then known as "butter-oil," is salted,

cooled, pressed, and churned in milk, colored with annatto, and treated

the same as butter. Butterine, another artificial product, is prepared

by mixing butter-oil and a similar oil obtained from lard, then churning

them with milk.

An eminent analyst gives the following excellent way of distinguishing

genuine butter from oleomargarine:--"When true butter is heated over a

clear flame, it 'browns' and gives out a pleasant odor,--that of browned

butter. In heating there is more or less sputtering, caused by minute

particles of water retained in washing the butter. On the bottom of the

pan or vessel in which true butter is heated, a yellowish-brown crust is

formed, consisting of roasted or toasted casein. When oleomargarine is

heated under similar circumstances, it does not 'brown,' but becomes

darker by overheating, and when heated to dryness, gives off a grayish

steam, smelling of tallow. There is no 'sputtering' when it is being

heated, but it boils easily. If a pledget of cotton or a wick saturated

with oleomargarine be set on fire and allowed to burn a few moments

before being extinguished, it will give out fumes which are very

characteristic, smelling strongly of tallow, while true butter behaves

very differently."

BUTTER IN ANCIENT TIMES.--Two kinds of butter seem to have been

known to the ancient Jews, one quite like that of the present day,

except that it was boiled after churning, so that it became in that warm

climate practically an oil; the other, a sort of curdled milk. The juice

of the Jerusalem artichoke was mixed with the milk, when it was churned

until a sort of curd was separated. The Oriental method of churning was

by putting the milk into a goat-skin and swinging and shaking the bag

until the butter came, as illustrated in the accompanying cut.

[Illustration: Oriental Butter-Making.]

An article still sold as butter in Athens is made by boiling the milk of

goats, allowing it to sour, and then churning in a goat-skin. The result

is a thick, white, foamy substance appearing more like cream than

butter.

BUTTER-MAKING.--The manufacture of good butter is dependent upon

good cows and the care given them, as well as most careful treatment of

the milk and cream. The milk to be used for butter making, as indeed for

all purposes, should be most carefully strained through a wire strainer

covered with three or four thicknesses of perfectly clean cheese cloth.

The following points given by an experienced dairyman will be found

worthy of consideration by all who have to do with the manufacture of

this article:--

"Milk is almost as sensitive to atmospheric changes as mercury itself.

It is a question among many as to what depth milk should be set to get

the most cream. It does not make so much difference as to the depth as

it does the protection of the milk from acid or souring. As soon as the

milk begins to sour, the cream ceases to rise.

"With a clear, dry atmosphere the cream will rise clean in the milk; but

in that condition of the atmosphere which readily sours the milk, the

cream will not rise clean, but seems to hang in the milk, and this even

when the milk is protected by being set in water.

"The benefit of setting milk in cold water is that the water protects

the milk from becoming acid until the cream has time to rise. For cream

to rise readily on milk set in cold water, the atmosphere in the room

should be warmer than the water. As much cream will rise on milk set in

cold water in one hour as on milk not set in water in twenty-four hours.

The milk should be skimmed while sweet, and the cream thoroughly stirred

at each skimming.

"Cream skimmed from different milkings, if churned at the same time in

one churn, should be mixed eight to ten hours before churning; then the

cream will all come alike.

"The keeping qualities of butter depend principally upon two things:

First, the buttermilk must be all gotten out; and secondly, the grain of

the butter should be kept as perfect as possible. Butter should not be

allowed to be churned after it has fairly come, and should not be

gathered compactly in the churn in taking out, but the buttermilk should

be drained from the butter in the churn, through a hair sieve, letting

the butter remain in the churn. Then take water and turn it upon the

butter with sufficient force to pass through the butter, and in

sufficient quantity to rinse the buttermilk all out of the butter. With

this process of washing the butter the grain is not injured or mashed,

and is thus far kept perfect. And in working in the salt the ladle or

roll or worker, whatever it is, should never be allowed to slip on the

butter,--if it does, it will destroy the grain,--but it should go upon

the butter in a pressing or rolling motion."

Test the temperature of the cream with a thermometer, and churn it at

60 deg. in summer and 62 deg. in winter. If the butter is soft, it may be

hardened by pouring onto it while working a brine made by dissolving a

pint of salt in ten quarts of water. The salt used in the butter should

be carefully measured, three fourths of an ounce of salt to the pound

being the usual allowance.

Butter, like milk, absorbs odors readily, and should never be allowed to

remain in occupied rooms or any place exposed to strong or foul odors,

but be kept covered in a cold place.

CHEESE.

Cheese is a product of milk prepared by separating the casein, with more

or less of the cream, according to the manner in which it has been

prepared, from the other ingredients of the milk. It is an article,

which, although possessing a large proportion, of nutritive material, is

very difficult of digestion, and the use of which is very questionable,

not only for this reason, but because it is very liable to contain a

poison called tyrotoxicon, capable of producing most violent and indeed

fatal results, according to the remarkable researches of Prof. Vaughan

of Michigan University. This poison is sometimes found in ice cream and

custards, cream-puffs, etc., made from stale milk or cream.

It is much better to use milk in its fresh, natural state than in any of

its products. Made into either butter or cheese, we lose some of its

essential elements, so that what is left is not a perfect food.

_RECIPES_

HOT MILK.--Milk is more easily digested when used hot. This is not

due to any marked chemical change in the milk, but to the stimulating

effect of heat upon the palate and stomach.

To prepare hot milk, heat it in a double boiler until a wrinkled skin

appears upon the surface. In the double boiler it may be kept at the

proper temperature for a long time without difficulty, and thus

prepared, it forms one of the most healthful of foods.

Milk, either cold or hot, should be taken a few sips only at a time, and

not be drank in copious draughts when used in connection with other

foods at mealtime. It will then coagulate in the stomach in small flakes

much more easily digested than the large mass resulting when a large

quantity is swallowed at a time.

DEVONSHIRE OR CLOTTED CREAM.--This is prepared as follows: Strain

the milk as it comes fresh from the cow into a deep pan which will fit

tightly over a kettle in which water can be boiled, and set away in a

cool well-ventilated place, where it should be allowed to remain

undisturbed from eight to twelve hours or longer. Then take the pan up

very carefully so as not to disturb the cream, place over a kettle of

water, heat to near the boiling point, or until a rim of bubbles half an

inch wide forms all around the dish of milk. It must not, however, be

allowed to boil, or the cream will be injured. Now lift the pan again

with equal care back to a cool place and allow it to stand from twelve

to twenty-four hours longer. The cream should be a compact mass of

considerable thickness, and may be divided with a knife into squares of

convenient size before skimming. It is delicious for use on fruit and

grains.

COTTAGE CHEESE.--This dish is usually prepared from milk which has

curdled from lack of proper care, or from long standing exposed to the

air, and which is thus in some degree decomposing. But the fact that the

casein of the milk is coagulated by the use of acids makes it possible

to prepare this dish in a more wholesome manner without waiting for

decomposition of the milk. Add to each four quarts of milk one cupful of

lemon juice; let it stand until coagulated, then heat slowly, but do not

boil, until the curd has entirely separated from the whey. Turn the

whole into a colander lined with a square of clean cheese cloth, and

drain off the whey. Add to the curd a little salt and cream, mix all

together with a spoon or the hands, and form into cakes or balls for the

table. The use of lemon gives a delicious flavor, which may be

intensified, if desired, by using a trifle of the grated yellow rind.

COTTAGE CHEESE FROM BUTTERMILK.--Place a pail of fresh buttermilk

in a kettle of boiling water, taking care to have sufficient water to

come up even with the milk in the pail. Let the buttermilk remain until

it is heated throughout to about 140 deg., which can be determined by

keeping a thermometer in the milk and stirring it frequently. When it is

sufficiently heated, empty the curd into strong muslin bags and hang up

to drain for several hours. If properly scalded and drained, the curd

will be quite dry and may be seasoned and served the same as other

cottage cheese. If scalded too much, it will be watery.

COTTAGE CHEESE WITH SOUR MILK.--Take a pan of newly-loppered thick

sour milk, and place it over a kettle of boiling water until the whey

separates from the curd, breaking and cutting the curd as the milk

becomes warmed, so as to allow the whey to settle. The milk should be

well scalded, but not allowed to boil, as that will render the curd

tough and leathery. Have ready a clean piece of cheese cloth spread

inside a colander, dip the curd into it, and leave it to drain. If

preferred, the corners of the cloth may be tied with a string, thus

forming a bag in which the cheese may be hung up to drain. When well

drained, remove the dry curd to a dish, rub it fine with the hands, add

salt, and season with sweet cream, beating it well through the curd with

a silver fork. It may be shaped into balls with the hands or pressed in

large cups or bowls.

FRENCH BUTTER.--Fill a large, wide-mouthed glass bottle or jar

about half full of thick sweet cream. Cork tightly, and with one end of

the bottle in each hand shake it vigorously back and forth until the

butter has separated from the milk, which it will generally do in a few

minutes. Work out the buttermilk, make into small pats, and place on ice

until ready to serve. As a rule this butter is not washed or salted, as

it is intended for immediate use.

SHAKEN MILK.--Fit a conical tin cup closely over a glass of milk

and shake it vigorously until all of a foam, after which it should be

slowly sipped at once; or a glass of milk may be put into a quart fruit

can, the cover tightly screwed on, and then shaken back and forth until

the milk is foamy.

EMULSIFIED BUTTER.--Boil the butter with water for half an hour to

destroy any germs it may contain; use plenty of water and add the butter

to it while cold. When boiled, remove from the fire and allow it to

become nearly cold, when the butter will have risen to the top and may

be removed with a skimmer, or it may be separated from the water by

turning the whole after cooling into a clean strainer cloth placed

inside a colander. The butter may be pressed in the cloth if any water

still remains. If hardened, reheat just sufficient to soften, and add to

it, while still liquid, but cooled to about blood heat, the yolk of one

egg for each tablespoonful of butter, and stir until very thoroughly

mingled.

Or, add to each tablespoonful of the liquid butter two level

tablespoonfuls of flour, rub together thoroughly, and cook until

thickened in a half cupful of boiling water. If cream is not obtainable

and butter must be used for seasoning, it is preferable to prepare it in

one of the above ways for the purpose, using the quantity given as an

equivalent of one cupful of thin cream. It will be evident, however,

that these preparations will not only season but thicken whatever they

are used in, and that additional liquid should be used on that account.

TABLE TOPICS.

A little six-year-old boy went into the country visiting. About the

first thing he got was a bowl of bread and milk. He tasted it, and

then hesitated a moment, when his mother asked if he didn't like it;

to which he replied, smacking his lips, "Yes, ma'am. I was only

wishing that our milkman in town would keep a cow!"

When Horace Greeley was candidate for the presidency, he at one time

visited New Orleans, whose old creole residents gave him a dinner;

and to make it as fine an affair as possible, each of the many

guests was laid under contribution for some of the rarest wines in

his cellar. When dinner was announced, and the first course was

completed, the waiter appeared at Mr. Greeley's seat with a plate of

shrimp. "You can take them away," he said to the waiter, and then

added to the horrified French creole gentleman who presided, "I

never eat insects of any kind." Later on, soup was served, and at

the same time a glass of white wine was placed at Mr. Greeley's

right hand. He pushed it quietly away, but not unobserved by the

chief host. "Do you not drink wine?" he asked.

"No," answered Mr. Greeley; "I never drink any liquors."

"Is there anything you would like to drink with your soup?" the host

then asked, a little disappointed.

"If you've got it," answered Mr. Greeley, "and it isn't any trouble,

I'd like a glass of fresh buttermilk."

Said the host afterward in his broken English, "Ze idea of electing

to ze presidency a man vot drink buttermilk vis his soup!"

Old friendships are often destroyed by toasted cheese, and hard

salted meat has often led to suicide.--_Sydney Smith._

A German sitting beside a Spanish officer on board a Havana steamer,

was munching Limberger cheese with evident satisfaction when it

occurred to him that he ought to offer some to his neighbor, who

very coolly declined. "You think it unhealthful to eat that?"

inquired the German in polite astonishment. "_Unhealthful?_"

exclaimed the Hidalgo, with a withering look and a gasp for a more

adequate word; "No, sir: I think it an unnatural crime!"--_Oswald._

Good for Dyspepsia.--"Really, don't you think cheese is good for

dyspepsia?" said an advocate of the use of this common article of

food. "Why, my uncle had dyspepsia all his life, and he took a bit

of cheese at the close of every meal!"

Mattieu Williams tells us, "When common sense and true sentiment

supplant mere unreasoning prejudice, vegetables oils and vegetable

fats will largely supplant those of animal origin in every element

of our dietary."

EGGS

As will be seen from the analysis given below, an egg is particularly

rich in nitrogenous elements. It is indeed one of the most highly

concentrated forms of nitrogenous food, about one third of its weight

being solid nutriment, and for this reason is often found serviceable in

cases of sickness where it is desirable to secure a large amount of

nourishment in small bulk.

Composition of the white of an ordinary hen's egg.

Nitrogenous matter..................... 20.4

Fatty matter........................... 10.0

Mineral matter......................... 1.6

Water.................................. 68.0

Composition of the yolk.

Nitrogenous matter..................... 1.0

Fatty matter........................... 30.7

Mineral matter......................... 1.3

Water.................................. 52.0

The white of egg is composed mainly of albumen in a dissolved state,

inclosed in layers of thin membrane. When beaten, the membranes are

broken, and the liberated albumen, owing to its viscous or glutinous

nature, entangles and retains a large amount of air, thus increasing to

several times its original bulk.

The yolk contains all the fatty matter, and this, with a modified form

of albumen called vitellin, forms a kind of yellow emulsion. It is

inclosed in a thin membrane, which separates it from the surrounding

white.

The yolk, being lighter than the white, floats to that portion of the

egg which is uppermost, but is held in position by two membranous cords,

one from each end of the egg. The average weight of an egg is about two

ounces, of which ten per cent consists of shell, sixty of white, and

thirty of yolk.

HOW TO CHOOSE EGGS.--The quality of eggs varies considerably,

according to the food upon which the fowls are fed. Certain foods

communicate distinct flavors, and it is quite probable that eggs may be

rendered unwholesome through the use of filthy or improper food; hence

it is always best, when practicable, to ascertain respecting the diet

and care of the fowls before purchasing eggs.

On no account select eggs about the freshness of which there is any

reason to doubt. The use of stale eggs may result in serious

disturbances of the digestive organs.

An English gentleman who has investigated the subject quite thoroughly,

finds upon careful microscopical examination that stale eggs often

contain cells of a peculiar fungoid growth, which seems to have

developed from that portion of the egg which would have furnished

material for the flesh and bones of the chick had the process of

development been continued. Experiments with such eggs upon dogs produce

poisonous effects.

There are several ways of determining with tolerable accuracy respecting

the freshness of an egg. A common test is to place it between the eye

and a strong light. If fresh, the white will appear translucent, and the

outline of the yolk can be distinctly traced. By keeping, eggs become

cloudy, and when decidedly stale, a distinct, dark, cloud-like

appearance may be discerned opposite some portion of the shell. Another

test is to shake the egg gently at the ear; if a gurgle or thud is

heard, the egg is bad. Again, eggs may be tested by dropping into a

vessel containing a solution of salt and water, in the proportion of a

tablespoonful to a quart. Newly laid eggs will sink; if more than six

days old, they will float in the liquid; if bad, they will be so light

as to ride on the surface of the brine. The shell of a freshly laid egg

is almost full; but owing to the porous character of the shell, with age

and exposure to air a portion of the liquid substance of which the egg

is composed evaporates, and air accumulates in its place at one of the

extremities of the shell. Hence an egg loses in density from day to day,

and the longer the egg has been kept, the lighter it becomes, and the

higher it will rise in the liquid.

An egg that will float on the surface of the liquid is of too

questionable a character to be used without breaking, and is apt to be

unfit for use at all.

HOW TO KEEP EGGS.--To preserve the interior of an egg in its

natural state, it is necessary to seal the pores of the shell air-tight,

as the air which finds its way into the egg through the pores of the

shell causes gradual decomposition. Various methods are devised to

exclude the air and thus preserve the egg. A good way is to dip

perfectly fresh eggs into a thick solution of gum-arabic,--equal parts

of gum and water,--let the eggs dry and dip them again, taking care that

the shells are entirely covered with the solution each time. When dry,

wrap separately in paper and pack in a box of sawdust, bran, salt, or

powdered charcoal, and cover tightly to keep out the air.

There is a difference of opinion as to which end should be placed down

in packing; most authorities recommend the smaller end. However, an

experienced poultryman offers the following reasons for packing with the

larger end down: "The air-chamber is in the larger end, and if that is

placed down, the yolk will not break through and touch the shell and

thereby spoil. Another thing: if the air-chamber is down, the egg is not

so liable to shrink away."

It would be well for housekeepers to make the test by packing eggs from

the same lot each way and noting the result.

Melted wax or suet may be used to coat the shells. Eggs are sometimes

immersed and kept in a solution of lime water, a pound of lime to a

gallon of cold water, or simply packed in bran or salt, without a

previous coating of fat or gum. By any of these methods they will keep

for several weeks. Eggs, however, readily absorb flavors from

surrounding substances, and for that reason lime water or salt solution

are somewhat objectionable. Nothing of a disagreeable odor should be

placed near eggs.

Eggs for boiling may be preserved by placing in a deep pan, and pouring

scalding water over them. Let them stand half a minute, drain off the

water, and repeat the process two or three times. Wipe dry, and when

cool, pack in bran.

Eggs should be kept in a cool, not cold, place and handled carefully, as

rough treatment may cause the mingling of the yolk and white by

rupturing the membrane which separates them; then the egg will spoil

quickly.

The time required for the digestion of a perfectly cooked egg varies

from three to four hours.

It is generally conceded that eggs lightly cooked are most readily

digested. What is generally termed a hard-boiled egg is not easily acted

upon by the digestive juices, and any other manner of cooking by which

the albumen becomes hardened and solid offers great resistance to

digestion.

TO BEAT EGGS.--This may seem trivial, but no dish requiring eggs

can be prepared in perfection, unless they are properly beaten, even if

every other ingredient is the best. An egg-beater or an egg-whip is the

most convenient utensil for the purpose; but if either of these is not

to be had, a silver fork will do very well, and with this the beating

should be done in sharp, quick strokes, dipping the fork in and out in

rapid succession, while the egg should grow firmer and stiffer with

every stroke. When carelessly beaten, the result will be a coarse and

frothy instead of a thick and cream-like mass. Use a bowl in beating

eggs with an egg-beater, and a plate when a fork or egg-whip is

employed.

If the white and yolk are used separately, break the shells gently about

the middle, opening slowly so as to let the white fall into the dish,

while retaining the yolk in one half of the shell. If part of the white

remains, turn the yolk from the one half to the other till the white has

fallen. Beat the yolks until they change from their natural orange color

to a much lighter yellow. The whites should be beaten until firm and dry

enough not to fall from the bowl if turned upside down. The yolk should

always be beaten first, since, if the white is left to stand after being

beaten, a portion of the air, which its viscous nature allows it to

catch up, escapes and no amount of beating will render it so firm a

second time. Eggs which need to be washed before breaking should always

be wiped perfectly dry, that no water may become mingled with the egg,

as the water may dilute the albumen sufficiently to prevent the white

from becoming firm and stiff when beaten.

In cold weather, it is sometimes difficult to beat the whites as stiff

as desirable. Albumen is quite susceptible to temperature, and this

difficulty may be overcome by setting the dish in which the eggs are

beaten into warm water--not hot by any means--during the process of

beating. In very hot weather it is often advantageous to leave the eggs

in cold or ice water for a short time before beating. When a number of

eggs are to be used, always break each by itself into a saucer, so that

any chance stale egg may not spoil the whole. If the white or yolk of an

egg--is left over, it may be kept for a day or two if put in a cool

place, the yolk thoroughly beaten, the white unbeaten.

_RECIPES._

EGGS IN SHELL.--The usual method of preparing eggs for serving in

this way is to put them into boiling water, and boil or simmer until

they are considered sufficiently cooked. Albumen, of which the white of

the egg is composed, is easiest digested when simply coagulated. The

yolk, if cooked at all, is easiest digested when dry and mealy. Albumen

coagulates at 160 deg., and when the boiling point is reached, it becomes

hardened, tough, and leathery, and very difficult of digestion. If the

egg were all albumen, it might be easily and properly cooked by dropping

into boiling water, allowing it to remain for a few seconds, and

removing it, since the shell of the egg would prevent its becoming

sufficiently heated in so short a time as to become hardened; but the

time necessary to cook properly the white of the egg would be

insufficient for the heat to penetrate to and cook the yolk; and if it

is desirable to cook the yolk hard, the cooking process should be

carried on at a temperature below the boiling point, subjecting the egg

to a less degree of heat, but for a longer time. The most accurate

method is to put the eggs into water of a temperature of 160 deg., allowing

them to remain for twenty minutes and not permitting the temperature of

the water to go above 165 deg. Cooked in this way, the white will be of a

soft, jelly-like consistency throughout, while the yolks will be hard.

If it is desired to have the yolks dry and mealy, the temperature of the

water must be less, and the time of cooking lengthened. We have secured

the most perfect results with water at a temperature of 150 deg., and seven

hours' cooking. The temperature of the water can be easily tested by

keeping in it an ordinary thermometer, and if one possesses a kerosene

or gas stove, the heat can be easily regulated to maintain the required

temperature.

Another method, although less sure, is to pour boiling water into a

saucepan, draw it to one side of the range where it will keep hot, but

not boil, put in the eggs, cover, and let stand for twenty minutes. If

by either method it is desired to have the yolk soft-cooked, lessen the

time to ten minutes or so, according to the hardness desired. Eggs are

best served as soon as done, as the white becomes more solid by being

kept in a hot shell.

It should be remarked that the time necessary to cook eggs in the shell

will vary somewhat with the firmness of the shell, the size of the eggs,

and the number cooked together.

EGGS IN SUNSHINE.--Take an earthen-ware dish which will stand heat

and also do to use in serving the eggs. Oil it and break therein as many

eggs as desired; sprinkle lightly with salt, and put into the oven for

two or more minutes till the eggs are set. Have ready some hot tomato

sauce prepared as for Tomato Toast; pour the sauce over them, and serve.

EGGS POACHED IN TOMATOES.--Take a pint of stewed tomatoes, cooked

until they are homogeneous or which have been rubbed through a colander;

season with salt if desired, and heat. When just beginning to boil, slip

in gently a half dozen eggs, the shells of which have been so carefully

broken that the yolks are intact. Keep the tomato just below the boiling

point until the eggs are cooked. Lift the whites carefully with a fork

as they cook, until they are firm, then prick them and let the yellow

mix with the tomato and the whites. The whole should be quite soft when

done, but showing the red of the tomatoes and the white and yellow of

the eggs quite distinctly. Serve on toast. If the flavor is agreeable, a

little onion.

EGGS IN CREAM.--Put a half cupful or more of cream into a shallow

earthen dish, and place the dish in a kettle or pan of boiling water.

When the cream is hot, break in as many eggs as the bottom of the dish

will hold, and cook until well set, basting them occasionally over the

top with the hot cream. Or, put a spoonful or two of cream into

individual egg or vegetable dishes, break a fresh egg in each, and cook

in the oven or in a steamer over a kettle of boiling water until the

white of the egg is well set.

POACHED OR DROPPED EGGS.--Break each egg into a saucer by itself.

Have a shallow pan half filled with scalding, not boiling, water on the

stove. If desired, a little salt and a tablespoonful of lemon juice may

be added. Slip the eggs gently from the saucer upon the top of the

water, holding the edge of the saucer under water to prevent the eggs

from scattering; dip the water over them with a spoon and let them stand

five minutes, or until the yolk is covered with a film, and the white is

firm but not hardened; keep the water just below the boiling point. Take

out the eggs one by one on a skimmer, and serve in egg-saucers, or on

slices of nicely browned toast moistened with a little sweet cream, as

preferred. If one is especially particular to keep the shape of the

eggs, an egg poacher should be used, or a set of muffin-rings may be

laid in the bottom of the pan, and the eggs turned into the rings.

POACHED EGGS WITH CREAM SAUCE.--Poach eggs as in the foregoing, and

pour over them a sauce made according to direction on page 351.

QUICKLY PREPARED EGGS.--A good way to cook quickly a large number

of eggs, is to use a large-bottomed earthen dish, which will stand the

heat and in which the eggs may be served. Oil it well; break the

requisite number of eggs separately, and turn each carefully into the

dish; sprinkle lightly with salt; set the dish in the oven or in a

steamer over a kettle of boiling water for a few minutes until the eggs

are set, then serve.

SCRAMBLED EGGS.--Beat four eggs lightly, add a little salt if

desired, and half a cup of milk or cream. Have ready a hot, oiled

saucepan; turn the eggs in and cook quickly, stirring constantly until

firm, but soft.

STEAMED EGGS.--Break eggs into egg or vegetable dishes or

patty-pans, salt very lightly, and set in a steamer over a kettle of

boiling water until the whites are set and a film has formed over the

yolk. Serve the same as poached eggs, with or without toast.

WHIRLED EGGS.--Have a small kettle of water heated almost to

boiling, and with a wooden spoon, stir it rapidly round and round in the

same direction until a miniature whirlpool is produced. Have ready some

eggs broken in separate cups, and drop them carefully one at a time into

the whirling water, the stirring of which must be kept up until the egg

is a soft round ball. Remove with a skimmer, and serve on cream toast.

OMELETS.

_RECIPES._

PLAIN OMELET.--Beat the yolks of three eggs to a cream and beat the

whites to a stiff froth. Add to the yolks three tablespoonfuls of milk

or cream, one tablespoonful of finely grated bread crumbs, and season

lightly with salt; lastly, fold, not stir, the whites lightly in. An

omelet pan is the best utensil for cooking, but if that is not to be

had, an earthen-ware pudding dish which will stand the heat is good; an

iron spider will do, but a larger omelet would need to be prepared. A

tin saucepan is apt to cook the omelet so rapidly as to burn it in

spots. Whatever the utensil used, it should be hot, the fire clear and

steady, and all in readiness by the time the eggs are beaten.

Oil the dish well and gently pour in the omelet mixture; cover, and

place the pan on the range where the heat will be continuous. Do not

stir, but carefully, as the egg sets, lift the omelet occasionally by

slipping a broad-bladed knife under it, or with a fork by dipping in

here and there. It should cook quickly, but not so quickly as to burn.

From three to five minutes will generally be ample time. When the middle

of the omelet is set, it may be put into a hot oven to dry the top. As

soon as the center is dry, it should be removed immediately, as it will

be hard and indigestible if overdone. To dish, loosen from the pan by

running a knife under it, lay a hot platter, bottom upward, over the

pan, and invert the latter so as to shake out the omelet gently, browned

side uppermost; or if preferred, double one part over the other before

dishing. Serve at once, or it will fall.

An omelet of three eggs is sufficient for two or three persons; if more

is desired, a second omelet of three eggs may be made. Larger ones are

not so light nor so easily prepared. The dish used should be reserved

for that purpose alone, and should be kept as smooth and dry as

possible. It is better to keep it clean by wiping with a coarse towel

than by washing; if the omelet comes from the pan perfectly whole and

leaving no fragments behind.

FOAM OMELET.--Prepare as above, leaving out the white of one egg,

which must be beaten to a stiff froth and spread over the top of the

omelet after it is well set. Let this white just heat through by the

time the omelet is done. Fold the omelet together, and dish. The whites

will burst out around the edges like a border of foam.

FANCY OMELETS.--Various fancy omelets may be made by adding other

ingredients and preparing the same as for plain omelets. Two or three

tablespoonfuls of orange juice instead of milk, with a little grated

rind for flavor and three tablespoonfuls of sugar, may be combined with

the eggs and called an orange omelet.

A little cold cauliflower or cooked asparagus chopped very fine and

mixed in when the omelet is ready for the pan, may be denominated a

vegetable omelet.

SOFT OMELET.--Beat together thoroughly one quart of milk and six

eggs. Season with salt. Pour into a shallow earthen pudding dish, and

bake in the oven until well set.

TABLE TOPICS.

The candidates for ancient athletic games were dieted on boiled

grain, with warm water, cheese, dried figs, but no meat.

An unpleasant reminder.--(Scene, Thanksgiving dinner, everybody

commenting on the immense size of the turkey.) An appalling silence

fell upon the crowd when Tommy cried out, "Mamma, is that the old

sore-headed turkey?"

The eminent Prof. Wilder was reared a vegetarian, having passed his

earlier years without even knowing that flesh food was ever eaten by

human beings. When six years old, he saw on the table for the first

time, a roasted chicken, at which he gazed for some moments in great

bewilderment, when he seemed to make a discovery, and in his

astonishment burst out with the remark, "I'll bet that's a dead

hen!"

A story is told of a minister who was spending the day in the

country, and was invited to dine. There was chicken for dinner, much

to the grief of a little boy of the household, who had lost his

favorite hen to provide for the feast. After dinner, prayer was

proposed, and while the preacher was praying, a poor little lonesome

chicken came running under the house, crying for its absent mother.

The little boy shouted, "Peepy! Peepy! I didn't kill your mother!

They killed her for that big preacher's dinner!" The "Amen" was said

very suddenly.

MEATS

This is the term usually applied to the flesh and various organs of such

animals, poultry, and game as are used for food. This class of foods

contains representatives of all nutritive elements, but is especially

characterized by as excess of albuminous matter. But in actual nutritive

value flesh foods do not exceed various other food materials. A

comparison of the food grains with beefsteak and other flesh foods,

shows, in fact, that a pound of grain is equivalent in food value to two

or three pounds of flesh.

At present time there is much question in the minds of many intelligent,

thinking people as to the propriety of using foods of this class, and

especially of their frequent use. Besides being in no way superior to

vegetable substances, they contain elements of an excrementitious

character, which cannot be utilized, and which serve only to clog and

impede the vital processes, rendering the blood gross, filling the body

with second-hand waste material which was working its way out of the

vital domain of the animal when slaughtered. To this waste matter,

consisting of unexpelled excretions, are added those produced by the

putrefactive processes which so quickly begin in flesh foods exposed to

air and warmth.

That flesh foods are stimulating has been shown by many observations and

experiments.

Flesh foods are also specially liable to be diseased and to communicate

to the consumer the same disease. The prevalence of disease among

animals used for food is known to be very great, and their transmission

to man is no longer a matter of dispute. It has been abundantly proved

that such diseases as the parasitic, tuberculous, erysipelatous, and

foot and mouth diseases are most certainly communicable to man by

infected flesh. All stall and sty fed animals are more or less diseased.

Shut up in the dark, cut off from exercise, the whole fattening process

is one of progressive disease. No living creature could long retain good

health under such unnatural and unwholesome conditions. Add to this the

exhaustion and abuse of animals before slaughtering; the suffering

incident to long journeys in close cars, often without sufficient food

and water; and long drives over dusty roads under a burning sun to the

slaughter house, and it will be apparent to all thoughtful persons that

such influences are extremely liable to produce conditions of the system

that render the flesh unfit for food.

Thousands of animals are consumed each year which were slaughtered just

in time to save them from dying a natural death. It is a common thing

for cattle owners, as soon as an animal shows symptoms of decline, to

send it to the butcher at once; and when epidemics of cattle diseases

are prevalent, there can be no doubt that the meat markets are flooded

with diseased flesh.

There are few ways in which we can more effectually imperil our health

than in partaking freely of diseased animal food. This is no new theory.

The Jews have for ages recognized this danger, and their laws require

the most careful examination of all animals to be used as food, both

before and after slaughtering. Their sanitary regulations demand that

beast or fowl for food must be killed by bleeding through the jugular

vein, and not, according to custom, by striking on the head, or in some

violent way. Prior to the killing, the animal must be well rested and

its respiration normal; after death the most careful dissection and

examination of the various parts are made by a competent person, and no

flesh is allowed to be used for food which has not been inspected and

found to be perfectly sound and healthy. As a result, it is found in

many of our large cities that only about one in twenty of the animals

slaughtered is accepted as food for a Jew. The rejected animals are sold

to the general public, who are less scrupulous about the character of

their food, and who are in consequence more subject to disease and

shorter-lived than are Jews.

Trichinae, tapeworms, and various other parasites which infest the flesh

of animals, are so common that there is always more or less liability to

disease from these sources among consumers of flesh foods.

Meat is by no means necessary for the proper maintenance of life or

vigorous health, as is proved by the fact that at least "four tenths of

the human race," according to Virey, "subsist exclusively upon a

vegetable diet, and as many as seven tenths are practically

vegetarians." Some of the finest specimens of physical development and

mental vigor are to be found among those who use very little or no

animal food. Says St. Pierre, a noted French author, "The people living

upon vegetable foods are of all men the handsomest, the most vigorous,

the lease exposed to disease and passion; and they are those whose lives

last longest."

The use of large quantities of animal food, however free from disease

germs, has a tendency to develop the animal propensities to a greater or

less degree, especially in the young, whose characters are unformed.

Among animals we find the carnivorous the most vicious and destructive,

while those which subsist upon vegetable foods are by nature gentle and

tractable. There is little doubt that this law holds good among men as

well as animals. If we study the character and lives of those who

subsist largely upon animal food, we are apt to find them impatient,

passionate, fiery in temper, and in other respects greatly under the

dominion of their lower natures.

There are many other objections to the use of this class of foods--so

many in fact that we believe the human race would be far healthier,

better, and happier if flesh foods were wholly discarded. If, however,

they are to be used at all, let them be used sparingly and prepared in

the simplest and least harmful manner. Let them be cooked and served in

their own juices, not soaked in butter or other oils, or disguised by

the free use of pepper, mustard, catsup, and other pungent sauces. Salt

also should be used only in the smallest possible quantities, as it

hardens the fiber, rendering it more difficult of digestion.

We can conceive of no possible stretch of hygienic laws which admits the

use of pork; so we shall give it and its products no consideration in

our pages.

Such offal as calves' brains, sheep's kidneys, beef livers, and other

viscera, is not fit food for any one but a scavenger. The liver and

kidneys are depurating organs, and their use as food is not only

unwholesome but often exceedingly poisonous.

Meat pies, scallops, sauces, fricassees, _pates_, and other fancy dishes

composed of a mixture of animal foods, rich pastry, fats, strong

condiments, etc., are by no means to be recommended as hygienic, and

will receive no notice in these pages.

In comparative nutritive value, beef ranks first among the flesh foods.

Mutton, though less nutritive, is more easily digested than beef. This

is not appreciable to a healthy person, but one whose digestive powers

are weak will often find that mutton taxes the stomach less than beef.

Veal or lamb is neither so nutritious nor so easily digested as beef or

mutton. Flesh from different animals, and that from various parts of the

same animal, varies in flavor, composition, and digestibility. The mode

of life and the food of animals influence in a marked manner the quality

of the meat. Turnips give a distinctly recognizable flavor to mutton.

The same is true of many fragrant herbs found by cattle feeding in

pastures.

THE SELECTION OF MEAT.--Good beef is of a reddish-brown color and

contains no clots of blood. A pale-pink color indicates that the animal

was diseased; a dark-purple color that the animal has suffered from some

acute febrile affection or was not slaughtered, but died with the blood

in its body.

Good beef is firm and elastic to the touch; when pressed with the

finger, no impression is left. It should be so dry upon the surface as

scarcely to moisten the fingers. Meat that is wet, sodden, and flabby

should not be eaten. Good beef is marbled with spots of white fat. The

suet should be dry and crumble easily. If the fat has the appearance of

wet parchment or is jelly-like, the beef is not good. Yellow fat is an

indication of old, lean animals.

Good beef has little or no odor. If any odor is perceptible, it is not

disagreeable. Diseased meat has a sickly odor, resembling the breath of

feverish persons. When such meat is roasted, it emits a strong,

offensive smell. The condition of a piece of beef may be ascertained by

dipping a knife in hot water, drying it, and passing it through the

meat. Apply to the nose on withdrawal, and if the meat is not good, a

disagreeable odor will be quite perceptible.

Good beef will not shrink greatly in cooking. In boiling or stewing, the

shrinkage is computed to be about one pound in four; in baking, one and

one fourth pounds in four. Beef of a close, firm fiber shrinks less than

meat of coarse fiber.

Good veal is slightly reddish or pink, and the fat should be white and

clear. Avoid veal without fat, as such is apt to be too young to be

wholesome.

Good mutton should be firm and compact, the flesh, fine-grained and

bright-red, with an accumulation of very hard and clear white fat along

the borders of the muscles.

Meat should not be kept until decomposition sets in, as by the

putrefaction of the albuminous elements certain organic poisons are

generated, and flesh partaken of in this condition is liable to result

in serious illness. Meat containing white specks is probably infested by

parasites and should not be used as food.

PRESERVATION OF MEAT.--The tendency of flesh foods to rapid

decomposition has led to the use of various antiseptic agents and other

methods for its preservation.

One of the most common methods is that of immersion in a brine made of a

solution of common salt to which a small portion of saltpeter has been

added. This abstracts the juice from the meat and also lessens the

tendency to putrefaction. Salt is used in various other ways for

preserving meat. It should be remarked, however, that cured and dried

meats are much more difficult to digest than fresh meat, and the nature

of the meat itself is so changed by the process as to render its

nutritive value much less.

Meat is sometimes packed in salt and afterward dried, either in the sun

or in a current of dry air. Both salting and smoking are sometimes

employed. By these means the juices are abstracted by the salt, and at

the same time the flesh is contracted and hardened by the action of

creosote and pyroligneous acid from the smoke.

What is termed "jerked" beef is prepared by drying in a current of warm

air at about 140 deg. This dried meat, when reduced to a powder and packed

in air-tight cans, may be preserved for a long time. When mixed with

fat, it forms the pemmican used by explorers in Arctic voyages.

Meat is also preserved by cooking and inclosing in air-tight cans after

the manner of canning fruit. This process is varied in a number of ways.

The application of cold has great influence in retarding decomposition,

and refrigeration and freezing are often employed for the preservation

of flesh foods.

All of these methods except the last are open to the objection that

while they preserve the meat, they greatly lessen its nutritive value.

It should also be understood that the decomposition of its flesh begins

almost the moment an animal dies, and continues at a slow rate even when

the flesh is kept at a low temperature. The poisons resulting from this

decomposition are often deadly, and are always detrimental to health.

THE PREPARATION AND COOKING OF MEAT.--Meat, when brought from the

market, should be at once removed from the paper in which it is wrapped,

as the paper will absorb the juices of the meat; and if the wrapping is

brown paper, the meat is liable to taste of it. Joints of meat should

not be hung with the cut surface down, as the juices will be wasted.

Meat kept in a refrigerator should not be placed directly on the ice,

but always upon plates or shelves, as the ice will freeze it or else

draw out its juices.

If meat is accidentally frozen, it should be thoroughly thawed in cold

water before cutting. Meat should not be cleaned by washing with water,

as that extracts the nutritive juices, but by thoroughly wiping the

outside with a damp cloth. The inside needs no cleaning.

Meat may be cooked by any of the different methods of cookery,--boiling,

steaming, stewing, roasting, broiling, baking, etc.,--according as the

object is to retain the nutriment wholly within the meat; to draw it all

out into the water, as in soups or broths; or to have it partly in the

water and partly in the meat, as in stews. Broiling is, however,

generally conceded to be the most wholesome method, but something will

necessarily depend upon the quality of the meat to be cooked.

Meat which has a tough, hard fiber will be made tenderest by slow,

continuous cooking, as stewing. Such pieces as contain a large amount of

gelatine--a peculiar substance found in the joints and gristly parts of

meat, and which hardens in a dry heat--are better stewed than roasted.

BOILING.--The same principles apply to the boiling of all kinds of

meats. The purpose to be attained by this method is to keep the

nutritive juices so far as possible intact within the meat;

consequently, the piece to be cooked should be left whole, so that only

a small amount of surface will be exposed to the action of the water.

Since cold water extracts albumen, of which the juices of the meat are

largely composed, while hot water coagulates it, meat to be boiled

should be plunged into boiling water sufficient to cover it and kept

there for five or ten minutes, by which time the albumen over the entire

surface will have become hardened, thus forming a coat through which

the juices cannot escape. Afterward the kettle, closely covered, may be

set aside where the water will retain a temperature of about 180 deg. A

small portion of albumen from the outer surface will escape into the

water in the form of scum, and should be removed.

Meat cooked in this way will require a longer time than when the water

is kept boiling furiously, but it is superior in every respect and more

digestible. Something depends upon the shape of the piece cooked, thin

pieces requiring less time than a thick, cubical cut; but approximately,

first allowing fifteen or twenty minutes for the heat to penetrate the

center of the meat, at which time the real process of cooking begins, it

will require from twelve to fifteen minutes for every pound cooked.

STEWING.--While the object in boiling is to preserve the juices

within the meat as much as possible, in stewing, the process is largely

reversed; the juices are to be partly extracted. Some of the juices

exist between the fibers, and some are found within the fibers. The

greater the surface exposed, the more easily these juices will be

extracted; hence meat for stewing should be cut into small pieces and

cooked in a small quantity of water. Since cold water extracts the

albuminous juices, while boiling water hardens them into a leathery

consistency, water used for stewing should be neither cold nor boiling,

but of a temperature which will barely coagulate the albumen and retain

it in the meat in as tender a condition as possible; _i.e.,_ about 134

deg. to 160 deg. To supply this temperature for the prolonged process of

cooking necessary in stewing, a double boiler of some form is quite

necessary. Put the pieces of meat to be stewed in the inner dish, add

hot water enough to cover, fill the outer boiler with hot water, and let

this outer water simmer very gently until the meat is perfectly tender.

The length of time required will be greater than when meat is stewed

directly in simmering water, but the result will be much more

satisfactory. The juices should be served with the meat.

STEAMING.--Meat is sometimes steamed over boiling water until it

is made very tender and afterward browned in the oven.

Another method of steaming, sometimes called smothering, is that of

cooking meat in a tightly covered jar in a moderate oven for an hour

(the moderate heat serves to draw out the juice of the meat), after

which the heat is increased, and the meat cooked in its own juices one

half hour for each pound.

ROASTING.--This method, which consists in placing meat upon a

revolving spit and cooking it before an open fire, is much less employed

now than formerly, when fireplaces were in general use. What is

ordinarily termed roasting is in reality cooking meat it in own juices

in a hot oven. In cooking meat by this method it is always desirable to

retain the juices entirely within the meat, which can be best

accomplished by first placing the clean-cut sides of the meat upon a

smoking-hot pan over a quick fire; press the meat close to the pan until

well scared and slightly browned, then turn over and sear the opposite

side in the same manner. This will form a coating of hardened albumen,

through which the interior juices cannot escape. Put at once into the

oven, arrange the fire so that the heat will be firm and steady but not

too intense, and cook undisturbed until tender.

Basting is not necessary if the roast is carefully seared and the oven

kept at proper temperature. When the heat of the oven is just right, the

meat will keep up a continuous gentle sputtering in the pan. If no

sputtering can be heard, the heat is insufficient. The heat is too great

when the drippings burn and smoke.

BROILING.--This is the method employed for cooking thin cuts of

meat in their own juices over glowing coals. When properly done, broiled

meat contains a larger amount of uncoagulated albumen than can be

secured by cooking in any other manner; hence it is the most wholesome.

For broiling, a bed of clear, glowing coals without flame is the first

essential. Coke, charcoal, or anthracite coal serves best for securing

this requisite.

In an ordinary stove, the coals should be nearly to the top of the

fire-box, that the meat may be held so as almost to touch the fire. No

utensil is better for ordinary purposes than a double wire broiler.

First, rub it well with a bit of suet, then put in the meat with the

thickest part in the center. Wrap a coarse towel around the hand to

protect it from the heat, hold the meat as near the fire as possible, so

as to sear one side instantly, slowly count ten, then turn and sear the

other side. Continue the process, alternating first one side and then

the other, slowly counting ten before each turning, until the meat is

sufficiently done. Successful broiling is largely dependent upon

frequent turning. The heat, while it at once sears the surface, starts

the flow of the juices, and although they cannot escape through the

hardened surface, if the meat were entirely cooked on one side before

turning, they would soon come to the top, and when it was turned over,

would drip into the fire. If the meat is seared on both sides, the

juices will be retained within, unless the broiling is too prolonged,

when they will ooze out and evaporate, leaving the meat dry and

leathery. Salt draws out the juices, and should not be added until the

meat is done. As long as meat retains its juices, it will spring up

instantly when pressed with a knife; when the juices have begun to

evaporate, it will cease to do this. Broiled meats should be served on

hot dishes.

BEEF.

ECONOMY AND ADAPTABILITY IN SELECTION.--While the greatest care

should be exercised in the selection of beef as regards its soundness

and wholesomeness, it must likewise be selected with reference to

economy and adaptability for cooking purposes, pieces from different

portions of the animal being suitable for cooking only in certain ways.

Ox beef is said to be best. That beef is most juicy and tender which has

fine streaks of fat intermingled with the lean. Beef which is

coarse-grained and hard to cut is apt to be tough. An economical piece

of beef to purchase is the back of the rump. It is a long piece with

only a small portion of bone, and weighs about ten pounds. The thickest

portion may be cut into steaks, the thin, end with bone may be utilized

for soups and stews, while the remainder will furnish a good roast. Only

a small portion of choice tender lean meat is to be found in one animal,

and these are also the most expensive; but the tougher, cheaper parts,

if properly cooked, are nearly as nutritious.

_RECIPES._

BROILED BEEF.--Beef for broiling should be juicy and have a tender

fiber. Steaks cut from three parts of the beef are in request for this

purpose,--tenderloin, porterhouse, and round steak. The last-named is

the more common and economical, yet it is inferior in juice and

tenderness to the other two. Steak should be cut three fourths of an

inch or more in thickness. If it is of the right quality, do not pound

it; if very tough, beat with a steak-mallet or cut across it several

times on both sides with a sharp knife. Wipe, and remove any bone and

superfluous fat. Have the fire in readiness, the plates heating, then

proceed as directed on page 398.

COLD-MEAT STEW.--Cut pieces of cold roast beef into thick slices

and put into a stewpan with six or eight potatoes, a good-sized bunch of

celery cut into small pieces; and a small carrot cut in dice may be

added if the flavor is liked. Cover with hot water, and simmer for three

fourths of an hour. Thicken with a little browned flour.

PAN-BROILED STEAK.--In the absence of the necessary appliances for

broiling over coals, the following method may be employed. Heat a clean

skillet to blue heat, rub it with a bit of suet, just enough to keep the

meat from sticking, but leave no fat in the pan. Lay in the steak,

pressing it down to the pan, and sear quickly on one side; turn, and

without cutting into the meat, sear upon the other. Keep the skillet hot

but do not scorch; cook from five to ten minutes, turning frequently, so

as not to allow the juices to escape. Add no salt until done. Serve on

hot plates. This method is not frying, and requires the addition of no

water, butter, or stock.

PAN-BROILED STEAK NO.2.--Take a smooth pancake-griddle, or in lieu

of anything better, a clean stove-griddle may be used; heat very hot and

sear each side of the steak upon it. When well seared, lift the steak

into a hot granite-ware or sheet-iron pan, cover, and put into a hot

oven for two or three minutes, or until sufficiently cooked.

ROAST BEEF.--The sirloin and rib and rump pieces are the best cuts

for roasting. Wipe, trim, and skewer into shape. Sear the cut surfaces

and proceed as directed on page 397, cooking twenty minutes to the

pound if it is to be rare, less half an hour deducted on account of

soaring. The application of salt and water has a tendency to toughen the

meat and draw out its juices; so if it is desired to have the meat juicy

and tender, it is better to cook without basting. Unless the heat of the

oven is allowed to become too great, when meat is cooked after this

manner there will be a quantity of rich, jelly-like material in the pan,

which with the addition of a little water and flour may be made into a

gravy.

SMOTHERED BEEF.--Portions from the round, middle, or face of the

rump are generally considered best for preparing this dish. Wipe with a

clean wet cloth, put into a smoking-hot skillet, and carefully sear all

cut surfaces. Put into a kettle, adding for a piece of beef weighing

about six pounds, one cup of hot water. Cover closely and cook at a

temperature just below boiling, until the meat is tender but not broken.

As the water boils away, enough more boiling water may be added to keep

the meat from burning. Another method of securing the same results is to

cut the beef into small pieces and put into a moderate oven inside a

tightly covered jar for an hour. Afterward increase the heat and cook

closely covered until the meat is tender. Thicken and season the juice,

and serve as a gravy.

VEGETABLES WITH STEWED BEEF.--Prepare the beef as directed for

Stewed Beef, and when nearly tender, add six or eight potatoes. Just

before serving, thicken the gravy with a little browned flour braided in

cold water, and add a cup of strained, stewed tomato and a teaspoonful

of chopped parsley.

STEWED BEEF.--The aitch-bone and pieces from the shin, the upper

part of the chuck-rib and neck of beef, are the parts most commonly used

for stewing. All meat for stews should be carefully dressed and free

from blood. Those portions which have bone and fat, as well as lean

beef, make much better-flavored stews than pieces which are wholly lean.

The bones, however, should not be crushed or splintered, but carefully

sawed or broken, and any small pieces removed before cooking. It is

generally considered that beef which has been previously browned makes a

much more savory stew, and it is quite customary first to brown the meat

by frying in hot fat. A much more wholesome method, and one which will

have the same effect as to flavor, is to add to the stew the remnants of

roasts or steak. It is well when selecting meat for a stew to procure a

portion, which, like the aitch-bone, has enough juicy meat upon it to

serve the first day as a roast for a small family. Cut the meat for a

stew into small pieces suitable for serving, add boiling water, and cook

as directed on page 396. Remove all pieces of bone and the fat before

serving. If the stew is made of part cooked and part uncooked meat, the

cooked meat should not be added until the stew is nearly done. The

liquor, if not of the proper consistency when the meat is tender, may be

thickened by adding a little flour braided in cold water, cooking these

after four or five minutes.

MUTTON.

The strong flavor of mutton is said to be due to the oil from the wool,

which penetrates the skin, or is the result, through heedlessness or

ignorance of the butcher, in allowing the wool to come in contact with

the flesh. There is a quite perceptible difference in the flavor of

mutton from a sheep which had been for some time sheared of its woolly

coat and that from one having a heavy fleece.

The smallest proportion of both fat and bone to muscle is found in the

leg; consequently this is the most valuable portion for food, and is

likewise the most economical, being available for many savory dishes. On

account of the disagreeable adhesive qualities of its fat when cold,

mutton should always be served hot.

_RECIPES._

BOILED LEG OF MUTTON.--Wipe carefully, remove the fat, and put into

boiling water. Skim, and cook as directed on page 395, twelve minutes

for each pound.

BROILED CHOPS.--The best-flavored and most tender chops are those

from the loins. Remove carefully all the pink skin above the fat,

scraping it off if possible without cutting into the lean. Wipe with a

wet cloth, and broil in the same manner as beefsteak over hot coals or

in a hot skillet, turning frequently until done; five or eight minutes

will suffice to cook. Sprinkle salt on each side, drain on paper, and

serve hot.

POT-ROAST LAMB.--For this purpose a stone jar or pot is best,

although iron or granite-ware will do; wipe the meat well and gash with

a sharp knife. If crowded closely in the pot, all the better; cover with

a lid pressed down firmly with a weight to hold it if it does not fit

tightly. No water is needed, and no steam should be allowed to escape

during the cooking. Roast four or five hours in a moderate oven.

ROAST MUTTON.--The best pieces for this purpose are those obtained

from the shoulder, and saddle, loin, and haunches. Wipe carefully, sear

the cut surfaces, and proceed as directed for roasting beef. Cook slowly

without basting, and unless desired rare, allow twenty-five or thirty

minutes to the pound. A leg of mutton requires a longer time to roast

than a shoulder. When sufficiently roasted, remove from the pan and

drain off all the grease.

STEWED MUTTON.--Pieces from the neck and shoulder are most suitable

for this purpose. Prepare the meat, and stew as directed for beef,

although less time is usually required.

STEWED MUTTON CHOP.--Wipe, trim off the fat, and remove the bone

from two or three pounds of chops. Put into the inner dish of a double

boiler with just enough hot water to cover; add a minced stalk of

celery, a carrot, and a white turnip cut in dice; cover, and cook until

the chops are tender. Sliced potato may be added if liked, when the meat

is nearly done. Remove the grease and thicken the liquor with a little

browned flour braided with thin cream.

STEWED MUTTON CHOP NO. 2.--Prepare the chops as in the preceding.

Place a layer of meat in a deep baking dish, and then a layer of sliced

potato, sprinkled with a little minced celery. Add two or more layers of

meat, alternating with layers of potatoes. Cover with boiling water and

bake closely covered in a very moderate oven two and a half hours.

VEAL AND LAMB.--Both veal and lamb should be thoroughly cooked;

otherwise they are not wholesome. They may be prepared for the tale in

the same way as beef or mutton, but will require longer time for

cooking.

POULTRY AND GAME.

Poultry and game differ from other animal foods in the relative quantity

of fat and the quality of their juices. The fat of birds is laid up

underneath the skin and in various internal parts of the body, while but

a small proportion is mingled with the fibers or the juices of the

flesh. The flesh of the chicken, turkey, and guinea-fowl is more

delicately flavored, more tender and easy to digest, than that of geese

and ducks. Chickens broiled require three hours for digestion; when

boiled or roasted, four hours are needed.

The flesh of poultry is less stimulating than beef, and is thus

considered better adapted for invalids. The flesh of wild fowl contains

less fat than that of poultry; it is also tender and easy of digestion.

Different birds and different parts of the same bird, vary considerably

in color and taste. The breed, food, and method of fattening, influence

the quality of this class of foods. Fowls poorly fed and allowed wide

range are far from cleanly in their habits of eating; in fact, they are

largely scavengers, and through the food they pick up, often become

infested with internal parasites, and affected with tuberculosis and

other diseases which are liable to be communicated to those who eat

their flesh.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SELECTION OF POULTRY AND GAME.--The first care

in the selection of poultry should be its freedom from disease. Birds

deprived of exercise, shut up in close cages, and regularly stuffed with

as much corn or soft food as they can swallow, may possess the requisite

fatness, but it is of a most unwholesome character. When any living

creature ceases to exercise, its excretory organs cease to perform their

functions thoroughly, and its body becomes saturated with retained

excretions.

A stall-fed fowl may be recognized by the color of its fat, which is

pale white, and lies in thick folds beneath the skin along the lower

half of the backbone. The entire surface of the body presents a more

greasy, uninviting appearance than that of fowls permitted to live under

natural conditions.

Never purchase fowls which have been sent to the market undrawn. All

animals intended for use as food should be dressed as quickly as

possible after killing. Putrefactive changes begin very soon after

death, and the liver and other viscera, owing to their soft texture and

to the quantity of venous blood they retain, advance rapidly in

decomposition. When a fowl or animal is killed, even if the large

arteries at the throat are cut, a large quantity of blood remains in and

around the intestines, owing to the fact that only through the

capillaries of the liver can the blood in the portal system find its way

into the large vessels which convey it to the heart, and which at death

are cut off from the general circulation at both ends by a capillary

system. This leaves the blood-vessels belonging to the portal

circulation distended with venous blood, which putrefies very quickly,

forming a virulent poison. The contents of the intestines of all

creatures are always in a more or less advanced state of putrescence,

ready to undergo rapid decomposition as soon as the preservative action

of the intestinal fluids ceases. It will readily be seen, then, that

the flesh of an undrawn fowl must be to a greater or less degree

permeated with the poisonous gases and other products of putrefaction,

and is certainly quite unfit for food.

Young fowls have soft, yellow feet, a smooth, moist skin, easily torn

with a pin, wings which will spring easily, and a breastbone which will

yield to pressure. Pinfeathers are an indication of a young bird; older

fowls are apt to have sharp scales, long hairs, long, thin necks, and

flesh with a purplish tinge.

Poultry should be entirely free from disagreeable odors. Methods are

employed for sweetening fowls which have been kept too long in market,

but if they need such attention, bury them decently rather than cook

them for the table.

Turkeys should have clear, full eyes, and soft, loose spurs. The legs of

young birds are smooth and black; those of older ones, rough and

reddish.

Geese and ducks, when freshly killed, have supple feet. If young, the

windpipe and beak can be easily broken by pressure of the thumb and

forefinger. Young birds also have soft, white fat, tender skin, yellow

feet, and legs free from hairs.

The legs of young pigeons are flesh-colored. When in good condition, the

breast should be full and plump, and if young, it is of a light reddish

color. Old pigeons have dark flesh; squabs always have pinfeathers.

Partridges, when young, have dark bills and yellow legs.

The breast of all birds should be full and plump. Birds which are

diseased always fall away on the breast, and the bone feels sharp and

protrudes.

TO DRESS POULTRY AND BIRDS.--First strip off the feathers a few at

a time, with a quick, jerking motion toward the tail. Remove pinfeathers

with a knife.

Fowls should be picked, if possible, while the body retains some warmth,

as scalding is apt to spoil the skin and parboil the flesh. When all the

feathers but the soft down have been removed, a little hot water may be

poured on, when the down can be easily rubbed off with the palm of the

hand. Wipe dry, and singe the hairs off by holding the bird by the legs

over the flame of a candle, a gas-jet, or a few drops of alcohol poured

on a plate and lighted. To dress a bird successfully, one should have

some knowledge of its anatomy, and it is well for the amateur first to

dress one for some dish in which it is not to be cooked whole, when the

bird may be opened, and the position of its internal organs studied.

Remove the head, slip the skin back from the neck, and cut it off close

to the body, take out the windpipe and pull out the crop from the end of

the neck. Make an incision through the skin a little below the

leg-joint, bend the leg at this point and break off the bone. If care

has been taken to cut only through the skin, the tendons of the leg may

now be easily removed with the fingers.

If the bird is to be cut up, remove the legs and wings at the joints.

Then beginning near the vent, cut the membrane down between the

breastbone and tail to the backbone on each side, and separate just

below the ribs. The internal organs can now been seen and easily

removed, and the body of the bird divided at its joints.

If desired to keep the fowl whole, after removing the windpipe and crop,

loosen the heart, liver, and lungs by introducing the forefinger at the

neck; cut off the oil-sack, make a slit horizontally under the tail,

insert the first and middle fingers, and after separating the membranes

which lie close to the body, press them along within the body until the

heart and liver can be felt. The gall bladder lies directly under the

left lobe of the liver, and if the fingers are kept up, and all

adhesions loosened before an effort is made to draw the organs out,

there will be little danger of breaking it. Remove everything which can

be taken out, then hold the, fowl under the faucet and cleanse

thoroughly.

TO TRUSS A FOWL OR BIRD.--Twist the tips of the wings back under

the shoulder and bend the legs as far up toward the breast as possible,

securing them in that position by putting a skewer through one thigh

into the body and out through the opposite thigh. Then bring the legs

down and fasten close to the vent.

TO STUFF A FOWL.--Begin at the neck, stuff the breast full, draw

the neck skin together, double it over on the back and fasten with a

darning needle threaded with fine twine. Put the remainder of the

stuffing into the body at the other opening.

_RECIPES._

BIRDS BAKED IN SWEET POTATOES.--Small birds, of which the breast is

the only suitable portion for eating, may be baked in the following

manner: Cut a sweet potato lengthwise; make a cavity in each half. Place

the breast of the bird therein; fit, and tie together carefully; bake

until the potato is soft. Serve in the potato.

BOILED FOWL.--After cleaning and dividing the fowl, put into

boiling water, and proceed as directed on page 395.

BROILED BIRDS.--Pluck and wipe clean with a damp cloth. Split down

the middle of the back, and carefully draw the bird. Proceed as directed

below.

BROILED FOWL.--A young bird well dressed and singed is best for

this purpose. Split down the middle of the back, wipe clean with a damp

cloth, twist the top of the wings from the second joint; spread out

flat, and with a rolling pin break the projecting breastbone so that the

bird will lie flat upon the broiler. When ready to cook, place it skin

uppermost and sear the under side by pressing it on a hot pan; then

broil the same as beefsteak over glowing coals.

CORN AND CHICKEN.--Clean and divide a chicken in joints. Stew in

milk or part milk and water until nearly tender; then add the grains and

juice from a dozen ears of corn. Cook slowly until the corn is done;

season lightly with salt, and serve with dry toast.

PIGEONS, QUAILS, AND PARTRIDGES may be half baked, then cooked as

directed for Smothered Chicken until tender.

ROAST CHICKEN.--Dress carefully, singe, wash, and wipe dry. Put

into a pan of the proper size, add a cup of boiling water, and cook very

slowly for the first half hour, then increase the heat, baste

frequently, turn occasionally so that no portion will brown too fast.

Cook from one to two hours according to size and age of the bird. It is

usually considered essential to stuff a fowl for roasting, but a

dressing compounded of melted fat and crumbs seasoned with herbs and

strong condiments is not to be recommended.

If a dressing is considered necessary, it may be made of a quart of

crumbs of rather stale whole-wheat bread, moistened with cream, to which

add a small handful of powdered and sifted sage leaves which have been

dried in the oven until crisp. Add salt as desired, a well-beaten egg,

and a little chopped celery.

ROAST TURKEY.--Pluck, singe, and dress the turkey; wash thoroughly

and wipe with a dry cloth. If dressing is to be used, stuff the body

full, sew up, and truss. Place in a dripping-pan, add a pint of boiling

water, and put in an oven so moderate that the turkey will not brown for

the first hour; afterward the heat may be somewhat increased, but at no

time should the oven be very hot. After the bird becomes brown, baste it

occasionally with the water in the pan, dredging lightly with flour.

Cook until the legs will separate from the body; three or four hours

will be necessary for a small turkey. One half hour to the pound is the

usual rule. When tender, remove the stuffing and serve it hot, placing

the turkey on a large hot platter to be carved. It may be garnished with

parsley or celery leaves and served with cranberry sauce.

Ducks and geese may be prepared and roasted in the same manner, but less

time will suffice for cooking, about one and one third hours for ducks

of ordinary size, and about three hours for a young goose.

A stuffing of mashed potato seasoned with onion, sage, and salt is

considered preferable for a goose. Equal parts of bread crumbs and

chopped apples moistened in a little cream are also used for this

purpose.

SMOTHERED CHICKEN.--Cut two chickens into joints and put in a

closely covered kettle with a pint of boiling water. Heat very slowly to

boiling, skim, keep covered, and simmer until tender and the water

evaporated; add salt, turn the pieces, and brown them in their own

juices.

STEAMED CHICKEN.--Prepare the chicken as for roasting, steam until

nearly tender, dredge with flour and a little salt; put into a

dripping-pan and brown in the oven. Other birds and fowls may be

prepared in the same way.

STEWED CHICKEN.--Divide a chicken into pieces suitable for serving,

and stew as directed for beef on page 400. Old fowls left whole and

stewed in this manner for a long time and afterward roasted, are much

better than when prepared in any other way. If a gravy is desired,

prepare as for stewed beef. Other poultry may be stewed likewise.

FISH.

Fish is a less stimulating article of food than other meats. Edible fish

are generally divided into two classes, those of white flesh and those

more or less red. The red-fleshed fish, of which the salmon is a

representative, have their fat distributed throughout the muscular

tissues, while in white fish the fat is stored up in the liver; hence

the latter class is much easier of digestion, and being less

stimulating, is to be recommended as more wholesome. Different kinds of

fish have different nutritive values. Their flavor and wholesomeness are

greatly influenced by the nature of their food and the condition of the

water in which they are caught; those obtained in deep water with strong

currents are considered superior to those found in shallow water. Fish

are sometimes poisonous, owing no doubt to the food they eat.

Like all animal foods, fish are subject to parasites, some of which take

up their abode in the human body when fish infected with them are eaten.

An eminent scientist connected with the Smithsonian Institution,

contributed an article to _Forest and Stream_ a few years ago, in which

he stated that in the salmon no less than sixteen kinds of parasitic

worms have been discovered, and undoubtedly many others remain unknown;

four species were tapeworms, and four, roundworms. The yellow perch is

known to be infested with twenty-three species of parasitic worms.

The pike carries with him at least twenty kinds, while many other

varieties of fish are equally infested.

Fish have been highly lauded as a food particularly suited to the

development of the brain and nervous system. This no doubt has arisen

from the fact that fish contain a considerable amount of phosphorus.

Phosphorus is also present in the human brain, and for this reason it

has been supposed that fish must be excellent nutriment for the brain;

but the truth is, there is no such thing as any special brain or nerve

food. What is good to build up one part of the body is good for the

whole of it; a really good food contains the elements to nourish every

organ of the body.

Salted fish, like salted meat, is deprived of most of its nutriment

during the curing process, and being rendered much more difficult of

digestion, possesses very little value as a food.

SHELL-FISH (OYSTERS, CLAMS, SCALLOPS, LOBSTERS, CRABS,

ETC.)--Although considered a luxury by epicures, shellfish are not

possessed of a high nutritive value. The whole class are scavengers by

nature and according to recent researches it appears that they are not

altogether safe articles of diet. Many cases of severe and extensive

sickness have been traced to the use of clams and oysters.

Investigations made to ascertain the cause show the poisonous part of

the mussel to be the liver. Rabbits and other small animals inoculated

with the poison died in one or two minutes. Not all mussels are thus

poisonous, but inasmuch as there is an abundance of wholesome food, it

would certainly seem the part of wisdom to discard shellfish altogether.

HOW TO SELECT AND PREPARE FISH.--The flesh of good, fresh fish is

firm and hard, and will respond at once to pressure with the fingers. If

the flesh feels soft and flabby, the fish is not fresh. The eyes should

be full and bright and the gills of a clear red color.

Fish should be cleaned as soon as possible after being caught. To do

this, lay the fish upon a board, and holding it by the tail, scrape off

the scales with a dull knife held nearly flat, working from the tail

toward the head. Scrape slowly, and rinse the knife frequently in cold

water. Cut off the head and fins, make an opening from the gills halfway

down the lower part of the body, scrape out the entrails and every

particle of blood. Remove the white part that lies along the backbone,

then thoroughly rinse and wipe dry.

Keep in a cool place until ready to cook, but do not place directly on

ice, as that will have a tendency to soften the flesh. Fresh fish should

never be allowed to soak in water. If salt fish is to be used, it should

be freshened by placing it skin-side up in cold water, and soaking for

several hours, changing the water frequently.

Frozen fish should be placed in cold water to thaw, and when thawed,

should be cooked immediately.

Fish is cooked by nearly all methods, but retains more nourishment when

broiled or baked. It should be thoroughly cooked, being both

indigestible and unpalatable when underdone.

Boiled fish is usually dependent for flavor upon some kind of rich sauce

so incompatible with healthy digestion that we do not recommend this

method.

_RECIPES._

BAKED FISH.--Select a perfectly fresh, properly dressed fish. Rinse

thoroughly and wipe dry. Fold it together and place in a dripping pan

with a cup of boiling water. Cook slowly and steadily until tender. A

fish weighing three or four pounds will require at least two hours. If

desired, the fish may be lightly dredged with flour, toward the last, as

it begins to brown.

BROILED FISH.--Thoroughly clean the fish, and if small, split down

the back. Fish of larger size should be cut into inch slices. Use a

double wire broiler well oiled with a bit of suet. Lay the fish, with

its thickest part next the center of the broiler, skin uppermost, and

broil over a bed of clear coals until the flesh-side is of an even

brown. The time required will vary, according to the size of the fish,

from five to twenty minutes; then turn and brown on the other side. If

the fish be very thick, when both sides are browned, put the broiler in

the oven over a dripping pan and cook until done.

MEAT SOUP.

Soups made from meat require first the preparation of a special material

called _stock_, a liquid foundation upon which to begin the soup.

Beef, veal, mutton, and poultry are all made into stock in the same

manner, so that general rules for its preparation will be sufficient for

all meat soups.

The principal constituents of meat and bones, the material from which

stock is compounded, are fiber, albuminous elements, gelatinous

substances, and flavoring matters. The albuminous elements are found

only in the flesh. The gelatinous substance found in bones, skin, and

tendons, is almost devoid of nutriment. In selecting material for stock,

therefore, it is well to remember that the larger the proportion of lean

meat used, the more nutritious will be the soup.

But little else than gelatine is obtained from the bones, and although

serviceable in giving consistency, a soup made principally from bones is

not valuable as a food. The amount of bone used for soup should never

exceed the flesh material in weight. The bones, trimmings, and remnants

of steaks, chops, and roasts may be advantageously utilized for soups.

Bits of roast meat and roast gravies are especially serviceable

material, since they are rich in the flavoring elements of meat. It

should be remembered, however, that these flavoring matters are chiefly

excrementitious or waste substances, derived from the venous blood of

the animal.

The greatest care must be observed to keep the scraps perfectly sweet

and fresh until needed, as stale meat is exceedingly unwholesome. If the

scraps are mostly cooked meats and bones, a small portion of raw, lean

meat should be used with them; it need not be of the choicest quality;

tough, coarse meat, when fresh and good, can be advantageously used for

soup stock.

If fresh material is to be procured, select for beef soups a piece from

the shin or lower round; the same choice of pieces may be made of veal;

of mutton, pieces from the forequarter and neck are best.

In preparing meat for soup, if it is soiled, scrub the outside

thoroughly with a clean cloth wet in cold water, or cut away the soiled

portion. Break the bones into as small pieces as convenient; cut the

meat into inch dice, remove the marrow from the bones, and put it aside.

If added to the stock, it will make it greasy.

Having selected proper material and prepared it for use, the next step

is to extract the juices. To do this put it into cold water, bring very

gradually to the boiling point,--an hour is not too long for

this,--then cook slowly but continuously. In the observation of these

simple measures lies the secret of success in stock-making.

The albuminous elements of the meat, which are similar in character to

the white of an egg, are readily dissolved in cold or tepid water, but

boiling water coagulates them. If the meat is put into boiling water,

the albumen coagulates, or hardens, forming a sort of crust on the

outside of the meat, which prevents the inner juices from escaping; on

the contrary, if the meat is put to cook in cold water, and is gradually

raised to the boiling point, the soaking and simmering will easily

extract and dissolve the juices.

Salt likewise hinders the extraction of the meat juices, and should not

be added to stock during its preparation.

The best utensil for use in the preparation of stock is a soup digester.

This is a porcelain-lined kettle, resting on standards, with a cover

fitting closely into a groove, so that no steam can escape except

through a valve in the top of the cover. In this the meat can be placed

and allowed to cook for hours without burning. An ordinary granite-ware

kettle with tightly fitting cover set on a stove ring or brick, answers

quite well. It should, however, be kept entirely for this purpose. A

double boiler is also suitable.

The correct proportion of water is to be used is about one quart to each

pound of meat and bones, though this will vary somewhat with the

material and the length of time required for cooking. The scum which is

thrown to the surface of the water during the cooking process is

composed of blood and other impurities, and should be removed as rapidly

as it rises. If allowed to remain after the water reaches the boiling

point, it will become incorporated into the stock and injure it in

flavor and wholesomeness.

If the meat and bones are well cut and broken, the juices ought to be

all extracted, with proper cooking, in three or four hours. Longer

cooking will render the stock thicker and more gelatinous but not more

nutritious, and too long cooking will detract from its flavor. As soon

as the meat will fall from the bones, the stock should be removed from

the pot and strained at once.

A good way to strain stock is to place a colander over an earthen crock

or jar (the colander should fit inside the jar), with a cloth strainer

within the colander. Then dip the contents of the stock kettle into the

colander, and leave it there to drain for fifteen or twenty minutes. Do

not squeeze the cloth, and when well drained, throw the scraps away.

[Illustration: Arrangement for Straining Stock.]

French cooks, with their propensity for economy, sometimes select a good

quality of beef, cook it so as to retain a portion of the juices in the

meat, and make it serve both for preparing the soup and for boiled beef

on the bill of fare. The meat is not cut up, but is heated quickly and

removed as soon as tender, so that only part of the juices are

extracted.

Set the stock where it will become cold. The more rapidly it cools, the

more delicate will be its flavor, and the better it will keep. The fat

will rise to the surface, and can be easily removed when desired. If the

quantity of fat in the material used was considerable, a solid cake will

cover the top. This fat, by excluding the air, helps keep the stock

sweet, and should not be removed until the stock is needed.

If only a portion is to be used at one time, the remainder with the fat

should be reheated and cooled, that a new crust may be formed. In

winter, stock may be kept several days, if care is thus taken to reheat

it. In summer, unless kept in a very cold place, it will spoil in a few

hours.

Soup should never be greasy, and hence, before using the stock, every

particle of the fat should be removed. To accomplish this, loosen the

cake of fat from the dish with a knife, and if solid, it will sometimes

come off whole; if soft, remove all that is possible without cutting

into the stock, and afterwards wipe the top of the jellied stock with a

cloth wrung out of very hot water, which will readily absorb any

lingering portion of fat. If the stock is not jellied, skim off all the

fat possible, and then turn the stock through a napkin wrung out of ice

water. This will harden the grease, which will adhere to the napkin. It

is always better to prepare stock long enough before it is needed to

allow it to become perfectly cold; if, however, it is necessary to use

the stock very soon after it is prepared, the fat may be quickly

hardened by turning the stock into a dripping pan or some other shallow

dish, and placing it on ice in a cool place; if there is no time for

this, strain several times through a napkin wrung out of ice-cold water,

removing the particles of fat each time and wringing the cloth anew

before straining again. A little cold water poured into hot stock will

also cause the grease to rise so that it can be easily skimmed off; but

this method weakens the stock.

Stock may be prepared from one kind of meat only, or from two or more

different kinds mixed together. Chicken stock is generally conceded to

be better if a small portion of beef is combined with the fowl. Beef and

veal are largely used together; but mutton on account of its strong

flavor is better used alone.

Stock, when prepared from a single kind of meat, is termed simple stock

or broth. When prepared from two or more kinds of flesh cooked together,

or when stock prepared separately from different kinds of meat are mixed

together, the result is termed compound stock or double broth. With

either of these stocks as a foundation, an innumerable variety of soups

may be prepared, either by serving them as plain broth or by the

addition of some of the various grains and vegetables, the distinctive

name of each soup being given it according to its principal solid

ingredient.

TO CLARIFY SOUP STOCK.--Having removed all the fat from the stock,

add to it before reheating, the shell of an egg, and the whole of one

egg well beaten, with a little cold water, for every three pints of

soup. Place the soup over the fire and stir it constantly to keep the

egg from setting until it is hot. Simmer for fifteen minutes, removing

the scum as it rises, and strain through a flannel cloth or napkin laid

in a colander. It is also a good plan to place a fine wire strainer on

the napkin to catch the shells and scum. Do not squeeze the cloth or

stir the liquid with a spoon to hasten the straining process. If the

cloth is clogged so that the stock does not run through well, carefully

change it in the colander so that the liquid will run down upon a clean

portion. When strained, it may be reheated, seasoned, and served as

clear soup.

_RECIPES._

ASPARAGUS SOUP.--This soup is prepared in every way like the one on

page 276, except that while stock made from veal is used instead of

milk. Green pea soup, celery soup, green corn soup, and green bean soup

may be prepared according to the recipes already given for these soups

by substituting for milk the same quantity of the stock of veal or

chicken.

BARLEY, RICE, SAGO, OR TAPIOCA SOUP.--Any kind of stock may be used

in making these soups, though chicken and mutton stock are generally

considered preferable. Prepare the grains, the sago, or the tapioca, by

steaming or boiling till well cooked, and add to the stock, which should

be at boiling temperature. Season and serve.

CARAMEL FOR COLORING SOUP BROWN.--Melt a half pint of sugar and one

tablespoonful of water in a saucepan over the fire; stir constantly

until it is of a dark brown color; then add a half pint of boiling

water, simmer ten minutes, strain, and put into an air-tight can or

bottle. When needed, mix such a quantity with the soup as will give the

desired degree of color.

JULIENNE SOUP.--Take an equal proportion of carrot, parsnip,

turnip, celery, and string beans, cut into thin pieces of inch lengths,

sufficient to make one pint. Simmer the vegetables gently in a small

quantity of water until tender, but not long enough to destroy their

shape. Heat a quart of clear stock to boiling, add vegetables, salt to

taste, and serve.

Other vegetables, as peas, asparagus, etc. may be used in the season.

Sometimes the vegetables are cut into dice or fancy shapes with a

vegetable cutter. It makes little difference about the shape, so that

the pieces are small and uniform in size. Such vegetables as potatoes,

carrots, or turnips, when used for soups, are easiest cut, after paring

in the usual manner, by taking the vegetable in the left hand, holding

it on the table or board between thumb and finger, and with the right

hand cutting downward in even slices not over one third of an inch wide,

to within a quarter of an inch of the bottom. Turn the vegetable and

repeat the process, cutting across the first slices. Again lay the

vegetable on its side, and make a third series of cuts, which will

divide it into cubes. If several kinds of vegetables are used, those

which require a longer time for cooking should be cut into smaller

pieces.

TOMATO SOUP.--Into two quarts of boiling beef stock stir a

teaspoonful of cornstarch well braided with a little cold water, and a

pint of strained, stewed tomatoes. Boil a few minutes, and serve. A

teaspoonful of sugar may also be added, if desired.

WHITE SOUP.--White soups are made from veal or chicken stock,

seasoned with cream, flavored with onion or celery, and thickened with

cornstarch or flour.

VERMICELLI OR MACARONI SOUPS.--Drop into boiling water and cook the

macaroni about one hour, the vermicelli ten minutes. Drain well, dash

cold water through them to separate the pieces, which are apt to stick

together, and add to boiling stock (beef and veal are preferable) in the

proportion of a pint of cooked macaroni or vermicelli to a quart of

soup. Salt to taste and serve.

PUREE WITH CHICKEN.--Take a quart of chicken stock from which the

fat has been removed. Add a stalk or two of celery cut into

finger-lengths, and a slice of onion, and put to boil. Beat together the

mashed yolk of two hard boiled eggs, and a half cup of sweet cream. Chop

the white meat of the chicken until fine as meal and beat with the egg

mixture. Add slowly a cup and a half of hot milk. Remove the celery and

onion from the hot stock, and stir all together. Boil up, salt to taste,

and serve. If too thick, a little more stock or milk can be added.

TAPIOCA CREAM SOUP.--Soak two tablespoonfuls of tapioca over night.

Heat a quart of stock prepared from the white meat of chicken, to

boiling, in a saucepan. Then stir the tapioca in gradually. Move the

saucepan to the side of the range where it will simmer till the tapioca

is transparent. Have ready in a large dish a mixture prepared by beating

together very thoroughly the yolks of three eggs and four tablespoonfuls

of sweet cream. When the tapioca is clear, remove the stock from the

range and pour it very gradually onto the egg mixture, stirring briskly

all the time, so that the egg will not curdle. Season with salt if

desired. The soup may be returned to the stove and warmed before serving

if necessary, but it must not be boiled or allowed to stand a long time.

TABLE TOPICS.

Animal food is one of the greatest means by which the pure sentiment

of the race is depressed.--_Alcott._

An English medical author says, "It is no doubt true that the

constant use of animal food disqualifies the mind for literary

application. We can scarcely imagine a philosopher living on horse

flesh like a Tartar, or on buffalo meat like an Indian; and it is a

fact that these tribes appear incapable of civilization until they

acquire the habit of using a less stimulating diet, and begin to

cultivate the fruits of the earth for their own use. The difference,

in the success of Christian missions, between such people and those

whose chief sustenance is farinaceous food, is very striking and

worthy of especial notice. In the East, and in Polynesia, literature

and Christian doctrines are seized upon with avidity. But in vain

were the most earnest labors of the best men to introduce reading

and writing among the American Indians until they had first been

taught to grow corn and to eat bread."

An American gentleman traveling in the East met a Brahmin priest,

who refused to shake hands with him for fear of pollution. The

reason he assigned was that Americans eat hogs. Said the priest,

"Why, I have heard that in America they put hogs' flesh in barrels

and eat it after it has been dead six months! Horrible!"

Pork is by no means a favorite food in Scotland. King James is said

to have abhorred pork almost as much as he did tobacco. He said, "If

I were to give a banquet to the devil, I would provide a loin of

pork and a poll of ling, with a pipe of tobacco for digestion!"

--_Scott._

The Hindu would as soon think of becoming a cannibal as of eating

swine's flesh. It is stated that the Indian mutiny so frightful in

its results originated in a fear among the Sepoys that they would be

forced to eat pork. A lady in India had an amusing experience which

illustrates the Hindu sentiment on the subject of pig. Arriving late

at a grand dinner, she and her husband saw the first course being

carried in as they went down the hall. A row of khitmutgars was

drawn up, waiting to follow the dish into the dining-room, and serve

their respective employers; as a dish of ham was carried by, each

man gravely and deliberately spat upon it! Needless to say, Mrs. B.

and her lord waited for the second course.

Both the ancient Syrians and Egyptians abstained from flesh-eating

out of dread and abhorrence, and when the latter would represent any

thing as odious or disagreeable by hieroglyphics, they painted a

fish.

Yes, Agassiz does recommend authors to eat fish because the

phosphorus in it makes brains. So far you are correct. But I cannot

help you to a decision about the amount you need to eat--at least

with certainty. If the specimen composition you send is about your

fair usual average, I should judge that perhaps a couple of whales

would be all you want for the present; not the largest kind, but

simply good, middling-sized whales!--_Mark Twain's Letter to a Young

Author._

FOOD FOR THE SICK

[Illustration: Food for the Sick]

There is no branch of the culinary art which requires more skill than

that of preparing food for the sick and feeble. The purpose of food at

all times is to supply material for repairing--the waste which is

constantly be chosen with reference to its nutritive value. But during

illness and convalescence, when the waste is often much greater and the

vital powers less active, it is of the utmost importance that the food

should be of such a character as will supply the proper nutrition. Nor

is this all; an article of food may contain all the elements of

nutrition in such proportions as to render it a wholesome food for those

in health, and not be a proper food for the sick, for the reason that

its conversion into blood and tissue lays too great a tax upon the

digestive organs. Food for the sick should be palatable, nutritious and

easily assimilated. To discriminate as to what food will supply these

requisites, one must possess some knowledge of dietetics and physiology,

as well as of the nature of the illness with which the patient is

suffering; and such a knowledge ought to be part of the education of

every woman, no matter to what class of society she belongs.

There are no special dishes suitable alike for all cases. Hot buttered

toast, tea, rich jellies, and other dainties so commonly served to the

sick, are usually the very worst articles of diet of which they could

partake. As a general rule, elaborate dishes are not suitable.

Well-cooked gruel, a nicely broiled steak, a glass of milk, or some

refreshing drink often serve far better than foods which combine a

greater variety of ingredients, and require more extensive preparation.

The simplest foods are always the best, because the most readily

assimilated.

Scrupulous neatness and care in all the minute particulars of the

cooking and serving of food for invalids, will add much to its

palatableness. The clean napkin on the tray, the bright silver, and

dainty china plate, with perhaps a sprig of leaves and flowers beside

it, thinly sliced bread, toast or cracker, and the light cup partly

filled with hot gruel, are far more appetizing to the invalid than

coarse ware, thickly cut bread, and an overflowing cup of gruel, though

the cooking may be just as perfect. Anything that suggests excess or

weight fatigues the sick. The appearance of milk served in a bowl, water

in a mug, beef-tea in a saucer, though seemingly a trivial thing, is

often sufficient to remove all desire for food.

So far as practicable, the wants of the patient should be anticipated,

and the meal served, a surprise. The capricious appetite of an invalid

may sometimes be coaxed by arranging his simple food upon a tray so

planned that in the napery and service-ware used, some one particular

color predominates, and if this color be selected to accord or harmonize

as far as possible with the food allowed, the _tout ensemble_ presents a

pleasing fancy, which will tempt the eye, and through its influence, the

appetite of the patient. For example: an invalid whose dietary must

consist of fruit and grains, might be served to a "purple" dinner, with

bill of fare including a fresh, cool bunch of purple grapes, a glass of

unfermented grape juice, a saucer of blackberry mush, a plate of nicely

toasted wafers, Graham puffs or zwieback, with stewed prunes, or a

slice of prune toast served on dishes decorated with purple. Tie the

napkin with a bow of purple ribbon, and place a bunch of purple pansies

just within its folds. The monotonous regimen of a poor dyspeptic which

poached eggs, beaten biscuit, wheat gluten, eggnog, with, perhaps,

stewed peaches or an orange, are served on gilt-band china with a spray

of goldenrod, a bunch of marigolds, or a water-lily to give an

additional charm.

Foods which are ordered to be served hot, should be _hot,_ not merely

warm, when they reach the patient. To facilitate this, let the dish in

which the food is to be served, stand in hot water for a few moments;

take out, wipe dry, turn in the hot food, place on the tray, and serve.

An oil stove, alcohol lamp, or a pocket stove is very convenient for

warming gruels, broths and other similar foods, as either can be made

ready for use in a moment, and will heat the small quantity of food

necessary for an invalid in one fourth the time in which it could be

accomplished over the range, if necessary to reduce the fire.

In the preparation of food for the sick, a scrupulously clean dish for

cooking is of the first importance. It is a good plan in every household

to reserve one or two cooking utensils for this purpose, and not be

obliged to depend upon those in daily use. Utensils used for the cooking

of fruits, vegetables, meat, etc., unless cleaned with the utmost call

will sometimes impart a sufficiently unpleasant flavor to the food to

render it wholly unpalatable to an invalid whose senses are

preternaturally acute.

GRUELS

These simple foods, the base of which is usually some one of the grains,

play an important part in the dietary for the sick, if properly

prepared; but the sloppy messes sometimes termed gruel, the chief merit

of which appears to be that they "are prepared in ten minutes," are

scarcely better than nothing at all. Like other dishes prepared from the

grains, gruel needs a long, continuous cooking. When done, it should be

the very essence of the grain, possessing all its nutritive qualities,

but in such form as to be readily assimilated. For the making of gruels,

as for the cooking of grains for any other purpose, the double boiler is

the best utensil.

[Illustration: Gruel Strainer.]

If it is desirable to strain the gruel before serving, have a fine wire

strainer of a size to stand conveniently within a large bowl or basin,

turn the gruel into this, and rub it through with a wooden or silver

spoon, using a second spoon, if necessary, to remove that which hangs

beneath the sieve. On no account use the first spoon for the latter

operation, as by so doing one is apt to get some of the hulls into the

gruel and destroy its smoothness. When as much of the gruel as possible

has been rubbed through the sieve, pour the strained liquid into a clean

dish, reheat to boiling, and season as desired before serving. An

extension strainer which can be fitted over any sized dish is also

serviceable for straining gruels.

[Illustration: Extension Strainer.]

Gruels, like all other foods, should be retained in the mouth for proper

insalivation, and it is well to eat them with wafers or some hard food,

when solid food is allowed.

_RECIPES._

ARROWROOT GRUEL.--Rub a dessertspoonful of _pure_ arrowroot to a

thin paste in two tablespoonfuls of cold water, and stir it into a half

pint of boiling water, or, if preferred, a cup and a third of boiling

milk, and stir rapidly until thickened and clear. If desired, a little

lemon peel for flavoring may be infused in the water or milk, before

adding the arrowroot. Sweeten, if allowed, and serve.

BARLEY GRUEL.--Wash three heaping tablespoonfuls of pearl barley,

drop it into a pint of boiling water, and parboil five minutes. Pour

this water off and add a quart of fresh boiling water. Let it simmer

gently for three hours. Strain, season, and serve. A small piece of

lemon rind added to the gruel a half hour before it is done, gives it a

very agreeable flavor. Equal quantities of milk and barley gruel make a

very nourishing drink; the milk, however, should not be added to the

gruel until needed, as in a warm atmosphere it undergoes quite rapid

change, and is likely to ferment. A little lemon juice, with sugar to

sweeten to taste, is sometimes preferred as seasoning for barley gruel.

EGG GRUEL.--Heat a cup of milk to boiling, and stir into it one

well-beaten egg mixed with one fourth cup of cold milk. Stir constantly

for a few minutes till thickened, but do not allow it to boil again.

Season with a little salt, or if preferred and allowed, a little loaf

sugar.

EGG GRUEL NO. 2.--Boil the yolks of three eggs until dry and mealy,

mash perfectly smooth, then add a cup of boiling milk. Season with salt,

and serve.

FARINA GRUEL.--Moisten two table spoonfuls of farina with a very

little cold milk, and stir it into a cupful of boiling water. Boil until

it thickens, add a cupful of new milk, turn into a double boiler, and

cook again for twenty or thirty minutes. Strain if necessary, season

with salt or sugar, and serve.

FLOUR GRUEL.--Rub one heaping tablespoonful of whole-wheat flour to

a thin paste with three tablespoonfuls of cold milk, and stir it into a

pint of boiling milk. Cook for ten or twelve minutes. Season with salt,

strain if necessary, and while hot, stir in the beaten white of one egg.

The egg may be omitted if preferred; or the yolk of the egg and a little

sugar may be used instead, if the patient's condition will allow it.

GLUTEN GRUEL.--Stir two and one half tablespoonfuls of the wheat

gluten prepared by the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., into a

pint of boiling milk; boil until thickened, when it is ready to serve.

GLUTEN GRUEL NO. 2.--Into a pint of boiling water stir three

heaping tablespoonfuls of the prepared gluten. Boil until thickened, and

add a half cup of thin cream.

GLUTEN CREAM.--Heat a pint of thin cream to boiling, and stir into

it three tablespoonfuls of wheat gluten. When thickened, it is ready to

serve.

GLUTEN MEAL GRUEL.--Into a cup and a half of boiling water stir

four tablespoonfuls of gluten meal (prepared by the Sanitarium Food

Co.), let it boil for a moment, add six tablespoonfuls of rather thin,

sweet cream, and serve.

GRAHAM GRUEL.--Heat three cups of water in the inner dish of a

double boiler, and when vigorously boiling stir into it carefully, a

little at a time, so as not to check the boiling, one scant cup of

Graham flour which has been rubbed perfectly smooth in a cup of warm,

not hot, water. Stir until thickened, then place in the outer boiler and

cook for an hour or longer. When done, strain if necessary, season with

salt if desired, and a half cup of sweet cream.

GRAHAM GRITS GRUEL.--Cook three heaping tablespoonfuls of Graham

grits in a quart of boiling water, as directed in the chapter on Grains,

for three hours. Turn through a soup strainer to remove any lumps,

season with half a cup of cream, and salt if desired. Well cooked Graham

grits may be made into gruel by thinning with water or milk, straining

and seasoning as above.

GRUEL OF PREPARED FLOUR.--Knead a pint of flour with water into a

ball, and tie firmly in a linen cloth; put it into a granite-ware basin

or kettle, cover with boiling water, and boil slowly, replenishing with

boiling water as needed, for twelve hours. Put it before the fire to

dry. Afterward remove the cloth, and also a thick skin which will have

formed over the ball. Dry the interior again. When needed for use, rub a

tablespoonful of the prepared flour smooth with three spoonfuls of cold

milk, and stir it into a pint of boiling milk. Cook from three to five

minutes. Season with salt if desired.

INDIAN MEAL GRUEL.--Make a thin paste of one teaspoonful of flour,

two tablespoonfuls of best cornmeal, and a little water. Stir this into

a quart of boiling water, or milk and water in equal proportions, as

preferred. Boil until the meal has set, stirring constantly; then turn

into a double boiler and cook for an hour and half or two hours. Season

with salt, and strain. If too thick, thin with milk or cream.

LEMON OATMEAL GRUEL.--The United States Dispensary recommends the

following method of preparing oatmeal gruel for fever patients; "Rub one

heaping tablespoonful of fine oatmeal smooth in a little cold water;

stir this into three pints of boiling water. Cook until the quantity is

reduced to two pints; then strain, and let it cool and settle. When it

is quite cold, pour the clear gruel from the sediment, add the juice of

a lemon, and sugar to sweeten slightly. If desirable to serve it warm,

reheat before adding the lemon juice." Freshly cooked oatmeal may be

thinned with boiling water, strained and seasoned in the same manner.

MILK OATMEAL GRUEL.--Take a pint of milk and one of water, and heat

to boiling. Stir in three heaping table spoonfuls of oatmeal, and cook

in a double boiler for two or three hours.

MILK PORRIDGE.--Take one pint of milk and the same quantity of

water, and heat to boiling. Stir in two heaping tablespoonfuls of

cornmeal or Graham grits, boil, stirring continuously, until the meal

has set, then turn into a double boiler and cook for two hours or

longer. Season with salt, and a tablespoonful of sweet cream if allowed.

OATMEAL GRUEL.--Into one quart of boiling water stir two heaping

tablespoonfuls of fine oatmeal; let it boil until it thickens, stirring

all the time; then turn into a double boiler and cook for three and a

half or four hours. Strain before serving. A little cream may also be

added, unless contra-indicated by the patient's condition.

OATMEAL GRUEL NO. 2.--Pound one half cup of coarse oatmeal until it

is mealy. The easiest way to do this is to tie the oatmeal in a coarse

cloth and pound it with a wooden mallet. Put it in a pint bowl, and fill

the bowl with cold water. Stir briskly for a few moments until the water

is white, then allow the meal to settle. Pour off the water, being

careful to get none of the sediment. Fill the bowl a second time with

cold water, stir thoroughly, let settle, and pour off the water as

before. Do this the third time. Boil the liquid one half hour, strain,

and serve hot. If very thick, a little cream or milk may be added.

OATMEAL GRUEL NO, 3.--Add to one cup of well-cooked oatmeal while

hot two cups of hot milk, or one cup of hot milk and one of hot water.

Beat all thoroughly together, add a little salt if desired, strain, and

serve.

PEPTONIZED GLUTEN GRUEL.--Prepare the gruel as directed for Gluten

Gruel No. 1. Strain if needed, cook to lukewarm, and turn it into a

pitcher, which place in a dish containing hot water even in depth with

the gruel in the pitcher; add the peptonizing fluid or powder, stir

well, and let it stand in the hot water bath for ten minutes. The

temperature must not be allowed to rise over 130 deg. Put into a clean

dish and serve at once, or place on ice till needed. Other well-cooked

gruels maybe peptonized in the same way.

RAISIN GRUEL.--Stone and quarter two dozen raisins and boil them

twenty minutes in a small quantity of water. When the water has nearly

boiled away, add two cups of new milk. When the milk is boiling, add one

heaping tablespoonful of Graham or whole-wheat flour which has been

rubbed to a thin paste with a little cold milk. Boil until thickened,

stirring all the time; then turn into a double boiler and cook for

twenty minutes or half an hour. Season with salt and serve.

RICE WATER.--Wash half a cup of rice very thoroughly in several

waters. Put it into a saucepan with three cups of cold water and boil

for half an hour. Strain off the rice water, season with salt if

desired, and serve.

PREPARATIONS OF MILK.

MILK DIET.--An almost exclusive milk diet is sometimes a great

advantage in cases of sickness. It is usually necessary to begin the use

of the milk in moderate quantities, gradually withdrawing the more solid

food and increasing the quantity of milk. In the course of a week, all

other food should be withdrawn, and the quantity of milk increased to

three or four quarts a day. Milk is easily digested, and hence may be

taken at more frequent intervals than other food.

_RECIPES._

ALBUMINIZED MILK.--Shake together in a well-corked bottle or glass

fruit can, a pint of fresh milk and the well-beaten whites of two eggs,

until thoroughly mixed. Serve at once.

HOT MILK.--Hot milk is an excellent food for many classes of

invalids. The milk should be fresh, and should be heated in a double

boiler until the top is wrinkled over the entire surface.

JUNKET, OR MILK CURD.--Heat a cup of fresh milk to 85 deg., add one

teaspoonful of the essence of pepsin, and stir just enough to mix

thoroughly. Let it stand until firmly curded, and serve.

KOUMISS.--Dissolve one fourth of a two-cent cake of compressed

yeast, and two teaspoonfuls of white sugar, in three tablespoonfuls of

lukewarm water. Pour this into a quart bottle and add sufficient fresh,

sweet milk to nearly fill. Shake well, and place in a room of the

temperature of 70 deg. to 80 deg. F., and allow it to ferment about six

hours. Cork tightly and tie the cork in. Put in a cool place, act above

60 deg. and let it remain a week, when it will be ready for use. In

making koumiss be sure that the milk is pure, the bottle sound, and the

yeast fresh. Open the bottle with a champagne tap. If there is any curd

or thickening resembling cheese, the fermentation has been prolonged

beyond the proper point, and the koumiss should not be used.

MILK AND LIME WATER.--In cases where milk forms large curds, or

sours in the stomach, lime water prepared in the following manner may be

added to the milk before using:--

Into a gallon jar of water, put a piece of lime the size of one's fist.

Cover the jar and let the lime settle over night. In the morning, draw

the water off the top with a syphon, being careful not to move the jar

so as to mix again the particles of lime with the water.

Two tablespoonfuls of the lime water is usually sufficient for a pint

of milk.

PEPTONIZED MILK FOR INFANTS.--One gill of cows' milk, fresh and

unskimmed; one gill of pure water; two tablespoonfuls of rich, sweet

cream; two hundred grains of milk sugar, one and one fourth grains of

_extractum pancreatis_; four grains of sodium bicarbonate. Put the above

in a clean nursing bottle, and place the bottle in water so warm that

the whole hand cannot be held in it longer for one minute without pain.

Keep the milk at this temperature for exactly twenty minutes. Prepare

fresh just before using.

BEEF-TEA, BROTHS, ETC.

Beef tea and meat broths are by no means so useful as foods for the sick

as is generally supposed. The late Dr. Austin Flint used to say of these

foods, that "the valuation by most persons outside of the medical

profession, and by many within it, of beef tea or its analogues, the

various solutions, most of the extracts, and the expressed juice of

meat, is a delusion and a snare which has led to the loss of many lives

by starvation.

"The quantity of nutritive material in these preparations is

insignificant or nil, and it is vastly important that they should be

reckoned as of little or no value, except as indirectly conducive to

nutrition by acting as stimulants for the secretion of the digestive

fluids, or as vehicles for the introduction of the nutritive substances.

Furthermore, it is to be considered that water and pressure not only

fail to extract the alimentary principles of meat, but that the

excrementitious principles, or the products of destructive assimilation,

_are_ thereby extracted."

Vegetable broths prepared from grains and legumes possess a much higher

nutritive value, while they lack the objectionable features of meat

broths.

_RECIPES._

BEEF EXTRACT.--Take a pound of lean beef, cut it up into small

dice, and put into a glass fruit jar. Screw on the cover tightly, put

the jar into a vessel filled with cold water to a depth sufficient to

come to the top of contents of the jar, and set over a slow fire. As

soon as the water boils, set where it will keep just boiling, but no

more; and cook for an hour or an hour and a quarter. Then strain,

season, and serve. If preferred, a double boiler may be used for the

preparation of the extract.

BEEF JUICE.--Cut a thick slice of round steak, trim off every

particle of fat, and broil it over a clear fire just long enough to heat

it throughout. Next gash it in many places with a sharp knife, and with

the aid of a beef-juice press or lemon squeezer, press out all the juice

into a bowl set in hot water, salt but very slightly, remove all

globules of fat, and serve. This may also be frozen and given the

patient in small lumps, if so ordered.

BEEF TEA.--Take a pound of fresh, lean, juicy beef of good

flavor,--the top of the round and the back and middle of the rump are

the best portions for the purpose,--from which all fat, bones, and

sinews have been carefully removed; cut into pieces a quarter of an inch

square, or grind in a sausage-cutter. Add a quart of cold water, and put

into a clean double boiler. Place over the fire, and heat very slowly,

carefully removing all scum as it rises. Allow it to cook gently for two

or three hours, or until the water has been reduced one half. Strain,

and put away to cool. Before using, remove all fat from the surface, and

season. In reheating, a good way is to place a quantity in a cup, and

set the cup into hot water until the tea is sufficiently hot. This

prevents waste, and if the patient is not ready for the tea, it can be

easily kept hot.

BEEF TEA AND EGGS.--Beat the yolk of an egg thoroughly in a teacup

and fill the cup with boiling beef tea, stirring all the while. Season

with a little salt if desired.

BEEF BROTH AND OATMEAL.--Rub two tablespoonfuls of oatmeal smooth

in an equal quantity of cold water, and stir into a quart of boiling

beef broth. Cook in a double broiler for two hours, strain, and season

with salt and a little cream if allowed. Or, thin well-cooked oatmeal

mush with beef-tea; strain, reheat, season, and serve.

BOTTLED BEEF TEA.--Cut two pounds of round steak into small dice,

rejecting all skin and fat. Put it into a glass fruit jar with one cup

of cold water. Cover the can sufficiently tight to prevent any water

from boiling in, and place it on a wisp of straw or a muffin ring in a

kettle of cold water. Heat very gradually, and keep it just below the

boiling point for two or more hours; or, place the can in a deep dish of

hot water, and cook in a moderate oven for three hours. Allow the meat

to cook thus four or five hours, or until it appears white, by which

time it will have discharged all its juice. Turn the liquor off, strain

through a piece of muslin or cheese cloth laid in a colander, and cool;

then if any fat has been left, it will harden on the top, and can be

removed. When needed for use, reheat, season, and serve.

CHICKEN BROTH.--Take a well dressed, plump spring chicken, cut it

into half-inch pieces, cracking well all the bones; add cold water,--a

quart to the pound of meat and bones,--and cook the same as beef-tea.

Allow the broth to cool before using, and carefully skim off all

particles of fat before reheating. If allowed, a tablespoonful of

steamed rice may be added to the broth, or a well-beaten egg may be

stirred in while hot just before serving. Heat until the whole becomes

thickened, but do not boil.

If preferred, the broth may be prepared by using only the white portion

of the chicken in connection with lean beef. This is liked better by

some to whom the strong flavor of the chicken is not pleasant. Or,

prepare equal quantity of rich milk, season with salt, reheat, and

serve. The broth may be flavored with celery if allowed.

MUTTON BROTH.--Cut a pound of perfectly fresh, lean mutton or

lamb--the scrags of neck are best--into small dice. Add a quart of cold

water, and simmer gently for two or three hours. Strain, and when cold

skim off all fat. Reheat when needed for use.

If preferred, a tablespoonful of rice which has been soaked for an hour

in a little warm water, or a tablespoonful of cooked barley, may be

simmered in the broth for a half hour before serving. Season with salt

as desired.

VEGETABLE BROTH.--Put a cupful of well washed white beans into a

quart of cold water in a double boiler, and cook slowly until but a

cupful of the liquor remains. Strain off the broth, add salt, and serve

hot. If preferred, a few grains of powdered thyme may be added as

flavoring.

VEGETABLE BROTH NO. 2.--Pick over and wash a cup of dried Scotch

peas, and put to cook in a quart of cold water, cook slowly in a double

boiler or in a kettle placed on the range where they will just simmer,

until but a cupful of liquid remains. Strain off the broth, add salt and

one third of a cupful of the liquor, without pulp, from well-stewed

tomatoes. Serve hot.

MIXED VEGETABLE BROTHS.--Broths may be prepared as directed from

both black and white beaus, and combined in the proportion of one third

of the former to two thirds of the latter; or a broth of lentils may be

used instead of the black bean.

_RECIPES FOR PANADA._

BROTH PANADA.--Use beef or chicken broth in place of water, and

proceed the same as in Egg Panada, omitting the egg.

CHICKEN PANADA.--Take a cupful of the white meat of chicken,

pounded to a paste in a mortar, and half a cup of whole-wheat crust or

zwieback crumbs. Add sufficient chicken broth to make a thick gruel.

Season with salt, boil up for a few minutes, and serve hot.

EGG PANADA.--Put two ounces of light, whole-wheat crusts into a

pint of cold water in a granite-ware stewpan; simmer gently for three

quarters of an hour, stirring occasionally. Season with a spoonful of

sweet cream and a little salt, then stir in the well-beaten yolk of an

egg, and serve.

MILK PANADA.--Heat a pint of milk to boiling, then allow it to

cool. Add two ounces of nice, light, whole-wheat crusts, and simmer for

half an hour, stirring frequently. Season with a little sugar, if

allowed. Granola may be used in place of the crusts, if preferred.

RAISIN PANADA.--Boil a half cup of raisins in a half pint of water.

Break a slice of zwieback into fragments in a bowl. Add a well-beaten

egg and a teaspoonful of sugar. Pour in the raisins, water and all, and

beat very thoroughly.

GRAINS FOR THE SICK.

For invalids able to digest solid food, rice, cracked wheat, Graham

grits, oatmeal, barley, farina and other grains may be prepared and

cooked as previously directed in the chapter on Grains.

The various cooked preparations of grains--granola, wheatena, avenola,

wheat gluten and gluten meal--manufactured by the Sanitarium Food Co.,

Battle Creek, Mich., form excellent articles of diet for many invalids,

when served with hot milk or cream, or prepared in the form of mush.

Several recipes for their use have already been given in preceding

chapters; the following are a few additional ones:--

_RECIPES._

GLUTEN MUSH.--Heat together a cup of thin cream and three cups of

water; when boiling, sift in lightly with the fingers, stirring

continuously meanwhile, enough wheat gluten to make a mush of the

desired consistency. Boil up once and serve. A few blanched or roasted

almonds may be stirred in just before serving, if desired.

TOMATO GLUTEN.--Heat a pint of stewed tomato, which has been rubbed

through a fine colander to remove the seeds, to boiling, add salt to

season, and three tablespoonfuls of gluten meal. Boil together for a

moment until thickened, and serve hot.

TOMATO GLUTEN NO. 2.--Prepare the same as the preceding, using five

tablespoonfuls of the gluten meal, and seasoning with two tablespoonfuls

of rather thick, sweet cream.

MEATS FOR THE SICK.

All meats for the sick should be prepared in the very simplest way,

served with the plainest possible dressing, and without the use of

condiments other than salt.

_RECIPES._

BROILED STEAK.--Take a half pound of round steak and a slice of

tenderloin; wipe well with a clean, wet cloth. Have a clear fire; place

the meat in an open wire broiler or on a gridiron over the coals, and

cook, turning as often as you can count ten, for four or five minutes,

if the slices are about one inch thick; then with a lemon squeezer

squeeze the juice from the round steak over the tenderloin, season with

a little salt, and serve at once on a hot plate.

CHICKEN.--For an invalid, the breast of a tender chicken broiled

quickly over hot coals is best. For directions for broiling chicken see

page 406.

CHICKEN JELLY.--Dress a small chicken. Disjoint, break or pound the

bones, and cut the meat into half-inch pieces. Remove every particle of

fat possible. Cover with cold water, heat very slowly, and simmer gently

until the meat is in rags, and the liquid reduced about one half. Strain

off the liquor, cool, and remove all the fat. To make the broth more

clear, add the shell and white of an egg, then reheat slowly, stirring

all the time until hot. Strain through a fine cloth laid inside of a

colander. Salt and a little lemon may be added as seasoning. Pour into

small cups, and cool.

MINCED CHICKEN.--Stew the breast of a young chicken until tender;

mince fine with a sharp knife. Thicken the liquor in which it was stewed

with a little flour, add salt and a little cream if allowed, then the

minced chicken, and serve hot on zwieback, softened with cream as

directed in the chapter on Breakfast Dishes.

MUTTON CHOP.--Select a chop containing a large tenderloin: cut

thick, and broil for eight or ten minutes as directed for beef steak.

Season lightly with salt, and serve hot.

MINCED STEAK.--Mince some nice, juicy steak with a chopping knife,

or in a sausage-cutter, rejecting as much of the fiber as possible; make

into small cakes and broil the same as steak. Salt lightly when done,

and for dressing use a little beef juice prepared as directed on page

427. It may be thickened with a little flour as for gravy, if preferred.

SCRAPED STEAK.--Take a small piece of nice, juicy steak, and with a

blunt case-knife or tablespoon, scrape off all the pulp, being careful

to get none of the fibers. Press the pulp together in the form of

patties, and broil quickly over glowing coals. Salt lightly, and serve

hot. It is better to be as rare as the patient can take it. Instead of

butter, turn a spoonful or two of thick, hot beef juice over the steak,

if any dressing other than salt is required.

EGGS FOR THE SICK.

_RECIPES._

FLOATED EGG.--Separate the white from the yolk, and drop the yolk,

taking great care not to break it, into boiling, salted water. Cook

until hard and mealy. In the meantime, beat the white of the egg until

stiff and firm. When the yolk is cooked, remove it from the water with a

skimmer. Let the water cease to boil, then dip the beaten white in

spoonfuls on the top of the scalding water, allowing it to remain for a

second or two until coagulated, but not hardened. Arrange the white in a

hot egg saucer, and place the cooked yolk in the center, or serve on

toast. This makes a very pretty, as well as appetising dish, if care is

taken to keep the yolk intact.

GLUTEN MEAL CUSTARD.--Beat together thoroughly, one pint of rich

milk, one egg, and four tablespoonfuls of gluten meal. Add a little salt

if desired, and cook with the dish set in another containing boiling

water, until the custard has set. Or, turn the custard into cups, which

place in a dripping pan partly filled with hot water, and cook in a

moderate oven until the custard is set.

GLUTEN CUSTARD.--Into a quart of boiling milk stir four

tablespoonfuls of wheat gluten moistened with a little of the milk,

which may be reserved for the purpose. Allow it to cook until thickened.

Cool to lukewarm temperature, and add three well-beaten eggs, and a

trifle of salt, if desired. Turn into cups, and steam over a kettle of

boiling water until the custard is set.

STEAMED EGGS.--Break an egg into an egg saucer, sauce-dish, or

patty pan, salt very slightly, and steam until the white has just set.

In this way, it will retain its shape perfectly, and not be mixed with

the few drops of water so annoying to invalids, and so hard to avoid in

dishing a poached egg from water.

SOFT CUSTARD.--Boil some milk, then cool it to 180 deg., add three

whipped eggs to each quart of milk, and keep at the temperature of 180 deg.

for fifteen or twenty minutes. The object is to coagulate the eggs

without producing the bad effect of exposure to a high temperature.

RAW EGGS.--Break a fresh egg into a glass, add a tablespoonful of

sugar, and heat to a stiff froth; a little cold water may be added if

liked.

WHITE OF EGG.--Stir the white of an egg into a glass of cold

water, or water as warm as it can be without coagulating the egg, and

serve.

WHITE OF EGG AND MILK.--The white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth

and stirred into a glass of milk, forms a nourishing food for persons of

weak digestion.

REFRESHING DRINKS AND DELICACIES FOR THE SICK.

In many fevers and acute diseases, but little food is required, and that

of a character which merely appeases hunger and quenches thirst, without

stimulation and without affording much nourishment.

Preparations from sago, tapioca, and other farinaceous substances are

sometimes serviceable for this purpose. Oranges, grapes, and other

perfectly ripened and juicy fruits are also most excellent. They are

nature's own delicacies, and serve both for food and drink. They should

not, however, be kept in the sick room, but preserved in some cool

place, and served when needed, as fresh and in as dainty a manner as

possible. Like all food provided for the sick, they should be arranged

to please the eye as well as the palate. The capricious appetite of an

invalid will often refuse luscious fruit from the hand of a nurse, which

would have been gladly accepted had it been served on dainty china, with

a clean napkin and silver.

The juice of the various small fruits and berries forms a basis from

which may be made many refreshing drinks especially acceptable to the

dry, parched mouth of a sick person.

Fruit juices can be prepared with but little trouble. For directions see

page 209.

Beverages from fruit juices are prepared by using a small quantity of

the juice, and sufficient cold water to dilute it to the taste. If it is

desirable to use such a drink for a sick person in some household where

fruit juices have not been put up for the purpose, the juice may be

obtained from a can of strawberries, raspberries, or other small fruit,

by turning the whole into a coarse cloth and straining off the juice; or

a tablespoonful of currant or other jelly may be dissolved in a tumbler

of warm water, and allowed to cool. Either will make a good substitute

for the prepared fruit juice, though the flavor will be less delicate.

The hot beverages and many of the cold ones given in the chapter on

Beverages will be found serviceable for the sick, as will also the

following additional ones:--

_RECIPES._

ACORN COFFEE.--Select plump, round, sweet acorns. Shell, and brown

in an oven; then grind in a coffee-mill, and use as ordinary coffee.

ALMOND MILK.--Blanch a quarter of a pound of shelled almonds by

pouring over them a quart of boiling water, and when the skins soften,

rubbing them off with a coarse towel. Pound the almonds in a mortar, a

few at a time, adding four or five drops of milk occasionally, to

prevent their oiling. About one tablespoonful of milk in all will be

sufficient. When finely pounded, mix the almonds with a pint of milk,

two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a little piece of lemon rind. Place the

whole over the fire to simmer for a little time. Strain, if preferred,

and serve cold.

APPLE BEVERAGE.--Pare and slice very thin a juicy tart apple into a

china bowl. Cover with boiling water, put a saucer over the bowl, and

allow the water to get cold. Strain and drink. Crab apples may be used

in the same way.

APPLE BEVERAGE NO. 2.--Bake two large, sour apples, and when

tender, sprinkle a tablespoonful of sugar over them, and return to the

oven until the sugar is slightly browned. Break and mash the apples with

a silver spoon, pour over them a pint of boiling water; cover and let

stand until cold; then strain and serve.

APPLE TOAST WATER.--Break a slice of zwieback into small pieces,

and mix with them two or three well-baked tart apples. Pour over all a

quart of boiling water, cover, and let stand until cold, stirring

occasionally. When cold, strain, add sugar to sweeten if desired, and

serve.

BAKED MILK.--Put a quart of new milk in a stone jar, tie a white

paper over it, and let it stand in a moderately heated oven eight or ten

hours. It becomes of a creamy consistency.

BARLEY LEMONADE.--Put a half cup of pearl barley into a quart of

cold water, and simmer gently until the water has become mucilaginous

and quite thick. This will take from an hour to an hour and a half. The

barley will absorb most of the water, but the quantity given should make

a teacupful of good, thick barley water. Add to this two teaspoonfuls of

lemon juice and a tablespoonful of sugar. Let it get cold before

serving. By returning the barley to the stewpan with another quart of

cold water, and simmering for an hour or an hour and a half longer, a

second cap of barley water may be obtained, almost as good as the first.

BARLEY AND FRUIT DRINK.--Prepare a barley water as above, and add

to each cupful a tablespoonful or two of cranberry, grape, raspberry, or

any tart fruit syrup. The pure juice sweetened will answer just as well;

or a little fruit jelly may be dissolved and added.

BARLEY MILK.--Wash two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley in cold water

until the water is clear. Put it to cook in a double boiler, with a

quart of milk, and boil till the milk is reduced to a pint. Strain off

the milk, and sweeten if desired.

CRANBERRY DRINK.--Mash carefully selected, ripe cranberries

thoroughly in an earthen dish, and pour boiling water over them. Let the

mixture stand until cold, strain off the water, and sweeten to taste.

Barberries prepared in the same manner make a nice drink.

CURRANTADE.--Mash thoroughly a pint of ripe, red currants, and one

half the quantity of red raspberries; add sugar to sweeten and two

quarts of cold water. Stir, strain, cool on ice, and serve.

CRUST COFFEE.--Brown slices of Graham bread in a slow oven until

very ark in color. Break in pieces and roll fine with a rolling pin. A

quantity of this material may be prepared at one time and stored in

glass fruit cans for use. When needed, pour a cupful of actively boiling

water over a dessertspoonful of the prepared crumbs, let it steep for a

few moments, then strain and serve.

EGG CREAM.--Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth, add one

tablespoonful of white sugar, then beat again. Next add the yolk, and

beat; then a tablespoonful of milk, one of cold water, and one of any

fruit juice desired.

EGG CREAM NO. 2.--Prepare as above, using two tablespoonfuls of

water instead of one of water and one of milk, and a teaspoonful of

lemon juice in place of other fruit juice.

EGG CREAM NO. 3.--Beat the yolk of a freshly laid egg with a

tablespoonful of sugar until it is light and creamy; add to this, one

half cup of hot milk and stir in lightly the stiffly beaten white of the

egg. Serve at once.

EGG LEMONADE.--Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth, then mix

with it the juice of a small lemon, and one tablespoonful of sugar. Add

a half pint of cold water. Or, beat together with an egg beater a

tablespoonful of lemon juice, a teaspoonful of sugar, the white of an

egg and a cup of cold water, until thoroughly mingled, then serve at

once.

FLAXSEED TEA.--Take an ounce of whole flaxseed, half an ounce of

crushed licorice root, an ounce of refined sugar, and four

tablespoonfuls of lemon juice. Pour a quart of boiling water over them;

keep near the fire for four hours, and then strain off the liquid. The

flaxseed should not be crushed, as the mucilage is in the outer part of

the kernel, and if braised, the boiling water will extract the oil of

the seed, and render the decoction nauseous. Make fresh daily.

GUM ARABIC WATER.--Pour a pint of boiling water over an ounce of

clean gum arabic. When dissolved, add the juice of one lemon and a

teaspoonful of sugar, and strain.

HOT WATER.--Put good, fresh water into a perfectly clean

granite-ware kettle, already warmed; let it come to a boil very quickly,

and use at once. Do not leave it to simmer until it has become insipid

through the loss of the air which it contains.

HOT LEMONADE.--Put in a glass a thin slice of lemon and the juice

of half a small lemon, being careful to remove all seeds; mix with it

one dessertspoonful of white sugar, and fill the glass with boiling

water. Or, remove the peel of a lemon in very thin parings, turn one

pint of boiling water over them, letting it stand for a few moments

covered. Remove the peel, add the juice of a lemon and one tablespoonful

of sugar, and serve.

IRISH MOSS LEMONADE.--Soak one fourth of a cup of Irish moss in

cold water until it begins to soften; then work it free from sand and

tiny shells likely to be on it, and thoroughly wash. Put it in a

granite-ware basin, and pour over it two cups of boiling water. Leave on

the back of the range where it will keep hot, but not boil, for half an

hour; strain, add the juice of one lemon, and sugar to taste. Drink hot

or cold, as preferred.

ORANGEADE.--Rub lightly two ounces of lump sugar on the rind of two

nice, fresh oranges, to extract the flavor; put this sugar into a

pitcher, to which add the juice expressed from the oranges, and that

from one lemon. Pour over all one pint of cold water, stir thoroughly,

and serve.

PLAIN LEMONADE.--For one glass of lemonade squeeze the juice of

half a small lemon into the glass; carefully remove all seeds and

particles. Add a dessertspoonful of sugar, and fill the glass with cold

water.

SLIPPERY ELM TEA.--Pour boiling water over bits of slippery elm

bark or slippery elm powder, cool, and strain, if desired, a little

lemon juice and sugar may be added to flavor.

TOAST WATER.--Toast a pint of whole-wheat or Graham bread crusts

very brown, but do not burn. Cover with a pint of cold water. Let it

stand an hour, strain, and use. Sugar and a little cream may be added if

allowed.

TAMARIND WATER.--Boil four ounces of tamarinds and the same of

raisins slowly, in three quarts of water, for fifteen or twenty minutes,

or until the water is reduced nearly one fourth; strain while hot into a

bowl with a small slice of lemon peel in it. Set away until cold before

using.

BREAD.

For invalids who are able to partake of solid foods, the Breakfast

Rolls, Whole-wheat Puffs, Beaten Biscuit, Crisps, and other unfermented

breads, directions for the preparation of which are given in the chapter

on Bread, will be found excellent.

The various crackers, wafers, and invalid foods manufactured by the

Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., are also to be recommended.

Zwieback, prepared as directed on page 289, will be found serviceable

and wholesome to be used with broths and gruels. It may be prepared so

as to look especially tempting by cutting off the crust of the bread,

and cutting the slice into fancy shapes with a cookie-cutter before

toasting. In cases where their use is allowable, many of the various

toasts given under the head of Breakfast Dishes will be relished.

_RECIPES._

DIABETIC BISCUIT.--Make a stiff dough of Graham or entire-wheat

flour and water. Knead thoroughly, and let it stand three hours; then

place on a sieve under a faucet, turn a stream of water over the dough,

and wash out the starch, kneading and working with the hands so that all

portions of the dough will be equally washed. When the starch has been

all washed out, as will be indicated by the water running off clear, the

dough will be a rubber-like, glutinous mass. It may then be cut into

long strips, and these divided into equal-sized pieces or cubes. Place

the pieces on shallow baking pans in a rather hot oven, which, after a

short time, should be allowed to cool to moderate heat, and bake for two

hours, when they should be of a dark, rich brown color and light and

crisp throughout. If tough, they need rebaking. If the oven is too hot,

the pieces will puff up, becoming mere hollow shells; if not

sufficiently hot, they will not rise properly.

DIABETIC BISCUIT NO. 2.--Prepare a dough and wash out the starch as

in the preceding. Add coarse middlings so that the dough can be rolled

into thin cakes, and bake.

GLUTEN MEAL GEMS.--Beat together one half cup of ice water, one

half cup of thick, sweet cream, and one egg; then add one cup and a

tablespoonful of the gluten meal prepared by the Sanitarium Food Co.

Turn into slightly heated gem irons, and bake in a moderately hot oven

from one half to three fourths of an hour.

JELLIES AND OTHER SIMPLE DESSERTS FOR THE SICK.

Invalids whose digestion will allow of other than the plainest foods

will find most of the desserts made with fruits and those with fruits

and grains given in the chapter on Desserts, excellent for their use.

The following are a few additional recipes of a similar character:--

_RECIPES._

ARROWROOT JELLY.--Rub two heaping teaspoonfuls of arrowroot smooth

in a very little cold water, and stir it into a cupful of boiling water,

in which should be dissolved two teaspoonfuls of sugar. Stir until

clear, allowing it to boil all the time; lastly, add a teaspoonful of

lemon juice. Serve cold, with cream and sugar if allowed.

ARROWROOT BLANCMANGE.--Rub two and a half tablespoonfuls of best

arrowroot smooth in half a cup of cold milk, and stir slowly into two

and one half cups of boiling new milk. When it begins to thicken, add

three fourths of a cup of sugar, and cook, stirring constantly for

several minutes. Turn into molds and cool. Serve with fruit juice or

fruit sauces.

CURRANT JELLY.--Soak an ounce of Cox's gelatine in half a pint of

cold water for fifteen minutes, then pour over it a teacupful of boiling

water; strain, and add one pint at currant juice, one tablespoonful of

sugar, and set on ice to cool.

ICELAND MOSS JELLY.--Wash about four ounces of moss very clean in

lukewarm water. Boil slowly in a quart of cold water. When quite

dissolved, strain it onto a tablespoonful of currant or raspberry jelly,

stirring so as to blend the jelly perfectly with the moss. Turn into a

mold, and cool.

ICELAND MOSS BLANCMANGE.--Substitute milk for the water, and

proceed as in the foregoing. Flavor with lemon or vanilla. Strain

through a muslin cloth, turn into a mold, and let stand till firm and

cold.

ORANGE WHEY.--Add the juice of one sour orange to a pint of sweet

milk. Heat very slowly until the milk is curded, then strain and cool.

WHITE CUSTARD.--Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, add

a little salt if desired, and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. A bit of

grated lemon rind may also be used for flavoring. Add lastly a pint of

new milk, little by little, beating thoroughly all the while. Bake in

cups set in a pan of hot water. When firm in the center, take out and

set in a cool place.

TABLE TOPICS.

Regimen is better than physic.--_Voltaire._

Many dishes have induced many diseases.--_Seneca._

Dr. Lyman Beecher tells the following story of his aunt, which well

illustrates a popular notion that sick people should be fed with all

sorts of dainties, no matter what the nature of the disease. When a

boy eight or nine years of age, he was one day suffering in the

throes of indigestion, as the result of having swallowed a large

amount of indigestible mince pie. His kind-hearted aunt noticed the

pale and distressed look on his face, and said to him, with genuine

sympathy in her voice, "Lyman, you look sick. You may go into the

pantry and help yourself to a nice piece of fruit cake just warm

from the oven."

Fix on that course of life which is the most excellent, and custom

will render it the most delightful.--_Pythagoras._

A MERE indigestion can temporarily metamorphose the character. The

eel stews of Mohammed II. kept the whole empire in a state of

nervous excitement, and one of the meat-pies which King Philip

failed to digest caused the revolt of the Netherlands.--_Oswald._

Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.

Man's habitual words and acts imply that they are at liberty to

treat their bodies as they please. The fact is, that all breaches of

the laws of health are physical sins.--_Herbert Spencer._

Practical right and good conduct are much more dependent on health

of body than on health of mind.--_Prof. Schneider._

Dr. Abernathy's reply to the Duke of York when consulted about his

health was, "Cut off the supplies and the enemy will soon leave the

citadel."

FOOD FOR THE AGED AND THE VERY YOUNG.

FOOD FOR THE AGED

One of the first requisites of food for the aged is that it shall be

easy of digestion, since with advancing age and decreasing physical

energy, digestion and assimilation may be taken with impunity at an

earlier period of life, overtax the enfeebled organs and prove highly

injurious. The fact that the vital machinery is worn and weakened with

age has led to the popular notion that old people require a stimulating

diet as a "support" for their declining forces. That this is an error is

apparent from the fact that stimulation either by drink or food lessens

instead of reinforces vital strength, thus defeating the very purpose

desired. Flesh food in quantities is a peculiarly unsuitable diet for

the aged, not alone because it is stimulating, but because it produces a

tendency to plethora, a condition which is especially inimical to the

health of old persons. Eminent authorities on diet also reason that the

loss of the teeth at this period, whereby thorough mastication of flesh

food is done with difficulty, even with the best artificial aids, should

be considered a sign that nature intends such foods to be discarded by

the old.

A milk, grain, and fruit diet is undoubtedly the one best suited to the

average person in old age. Vegetables and legumes in well-prepared soups

may also be used to advantage. Directions for such soups, as also for

cooking grains and grain products, will be found in the preceding pages.

The following bills of fare, one for each season of the year, will

perhaps serve to illustrate how a varied and appetizing regimen may be

provided without the use of flesh foods:--

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits

Graham Grits and Cream

Prune Toast

Graham Puffs

Cream Crisps

Strawberries

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Vegetable Broth with Toasted Rolls

Baked Potato with Pease Gravy

Stewed Asparagus

Cracked Wheat and Cream

Whole-Wheat Bread

Canned Berries

Manioca with Fruit

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits

Rolled Oats and Cream

Baked Sweet Apples

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Peaches

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Escalloped Tomato

Green Corn Pulp

Browned Rice and Cream

Fruit Bread

Lemon Apple Sauce

Prune Pie

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits

Blackberry Mush and Cream

Cream Toast

Graham Crusts

Blueberries

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Mashed Potato

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Pearl Barley and Cream

Cream Rolls

Blackberries

Stewed Fruit Pudding

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits

Rolled Wheat and Cream

Tomato Toast

Corn Bread

Graham Gems

Stewed Prunes

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Mashed Peas

Steamed Rice with Fig Sauce

Graham Bread

Stewed Dried Fruit

Apples

Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

In the selection of a dietary for elderly persons, much must depend

upon their physical condition, the daily amount of exercise to which

they are accustomed, their habits in earlier life, and a variety of

other circumstances.

The quantity as well as quality of food for the aged should receive

consideration. Diminished bodily activity and the fact that growth has

ceased, render a smaller amount of food necessary to supply needs; and a

decrease in the amount taken, in proportion to the age and the activity

of the subject, must be made or health will suffer. The system will

become clogged, the blood filled with imperfectly elaborated material,

and gout, rheumatism, apoplexy, or other diseased conditions will be the

inevitable result. The digestion of heavy meals is a tax upon vital

powers at any time of life, but particularly so as age advances; and for

him who has passed his first half-century, over-feeding is fraught with

great danger. Cornaro, an Italian of noble family, contemporary with

Titian in the sixteenth century, after reaching his eighty-third year

wrote several essays upon diet and regimen for the aged, in one of which

he says: "There are old lovers of feeding who say that it is necessary

that they should eat and drink a great deal to keep up their natural

heat, which is constantly diminishing as they advance in years; and that

it is therefore their duty to eat heartily and of such things as please

their palate, be they hot, cold, or temperate, and that if they were to

lead a sober life, it would be a short one. To this I answer; Our kind

Mother Nature, in order that old men may live to still greater age, has

contrived matters so that they may be able to subsist on little, as I

do; for large quantities of food cannot be digested by old and feeble

stomachs."

Cornaro lived to be one hundred years old, doubtless owing largely to

his simple, frugal habits.

DIET FOR THE YOUNG.

A very large share of the mortality among young children results from

dietetic errors which proper knowledge and care on the part of those who

have them in charge might commonly avoid. From infancy to the age of

twelve or eighteen months, milk is the natural and proper food. Milk

contains all the food elements except starch, which cannot be digested

by very young children, owing to the insufficient formation of digestive

elements of the salivary secretion during the first few months. If the

child is deprived of the milk provided by nature, the best artificial

food is cow's milk; it, however, requires very careful selection and

intelligent preparation. The animal from which the milk comes, should be

perfectly healthy and well cared for. The quality of her food should

also receive attention, as there is little doubt that disease is often

communicated to infants by milk from cows improperly fed and cared for.

An eminent medical authority offers the following important points on

this subject:--

"The cow selected for providing the food for an infant should be between

the ages of four and ten years, of mild disposition, and one which has

been giving milk from four to eight weeks. She should be fed on good,

clean grain, and hay free from must. Roots, if any are fed, should be of

good quality, and she should have plenty of good clean water from a

living spring or well. Her pasture should be timothy grass or native

grass free from weeds; clover alone is bad. She should be cleaned and

cared for like a carriage horse, and milked twice a day by the same

person and at the same time. Some cows are unfit by nature for feeding

infants."

Milk from the same animal should be used if possible. Changing from one

cow's milk to another, or the use of such milk as is usually supplied by

city milkmen, often occasions serious results. The extraction of the

heat from the milk immediately after milking and before it is used or

carried far, especially in hot weather, is essential. While the milk

itself should be clean and pure, it should also be perfectly fresh and

without any trace of decomposition. To insure all these requisites,

besides great care in its selection, it must be sterilized, and if not

intended for immediate use, bottled and kept in a cool place until

needed. It is not safe to feed young children upon unsterilized milk

that has stood a few hours. Even fresh milk from the cleanest cows,

unless drawn into bottles and sealed at once, contains many germs. These

little organisms, the cause of fermentation and decomposition, multiply

very rapidly in milk, and as they increase, dangers from the use of the

milk increase.

There is no doubt that cholera infantum and other digestive disturbances

common among young children would be greatly lessened by the use of

properly sterilized milk. Directions for sterilizing milk, and

additional suggestions respecting points to be considered in its

selection, are to be found in the chapter on Milk, etc.

Cow's milk differs from human milk in that it contains nearly three

times as much casein, but only two thirds as much fat and three fourths

as much sugar. Cow's milk is usually slightly acid, while human milk is

alkaline. The casein of cow's milk forms large, hard curds, while that

of breast milk forms fine, soft curds. These facts make it important

that some modification be made in cow's milk to render it acceptable to

the feeble stomach of an infant. Cases are rare where it is safe to feed

a child under nine months of age on pure, undiluted cow's milk. A common

method of preparing cow's milk so as to make it suitable for infant

feeding, is to dilute it with pure water, using at first only one third

or one fourth milk, the proportion of milk being gradually increased as

the child's stomach becomes accustomed to the food and able to bear it,

until at the age of four months the child should be taking equal parts

of milk and water. When sterilized milk is to be thus diluted, the water

should be first boiled or added before sterilizing. A small amount of

fine white sugar, or what is better, milk sugar, should be added to the

diluted milk. Barley water, and thin, well-boiled, and carefully

strained oatmeal gruel thoroughly blended with the milk are also used

for this purpose. A food which approximates more nearly the constituents

of mother's milk may be prepared as follows:--

ARTIFICIAL HUMAN MILK NO. 1.--Blend one fourth pint of fresh, sweet

cream and three fourths of a pint of warm water. Add one half ounce of

milk sugar and from two to ten ounces of milk, according to the age of

the infant and its digestive capacity.

ARTIFICIAL HUMAN MILK NO. 2.--Meigs's formula: Take two

tablespoonfuls of cream of medium quality, one tablespoonful of milk,

two of lime water, and three of water to which sugar of milk has been

added in the proportion of seventeen and three fourths drams to the

pint. This saccharine solution must be prepared fresh every day or two

and kept in a cool place. A child may be allowed from half a pint to

three pints of this mixture, according to age.

ARTIFICIAL HUMAN MILK NO. 3.--Prepare a barley water by adding one

pint boiling water to a pint of best pearl barley. Allow it to cool, and

strain. Mix together one third of a pint of this barley water, two

thirds of a pint of fresh, pure milk, and a teaspoonful of milk

sugar.--_Medical News._

Peptonized milk, a formula for the preparation of which may be found on

page 426, is also valuable as food for infants, especially for those of

weak digestion.

MUCILAGINOUS FOOD EXCELLENT IN GASTRO-ENTERITIS.--Wheat, one

tablespoonful; oatmeal, one half tablespoonful; barley, one half

tablespoonful; water, one quart. Boil to one pint, strain, and

sweeten.--_Dietetic Gazette._

PREPARED FOODS FOR INFANTS.--Of prepared infant foods we can

recommend that manufactured by the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek,

Mich., as thoroughly reliable. There are hundreds of prepared infant

foods in the market, but most of them are practically worthless in point

of food value, being often largely composed of starch, a substance which

the immature digestive organs of a young child are incapable of

digesting. Hundreds of infants are yearly starved to death upon such

foods.

All artificial foods require longer time for digestion than the food

supplied by nature; and when making use of such, great care should be

taken to avoid too frequent feeding. It is absolutely essential for the

perfect health of an infant as well as of grown people, that the

digestive organs shall enjoy a due interval of rest between the

digestion of one meal and the taking of another. As a rule, a new-born

infant may be safely fed, when using human milk, not oftener than once

in every three or four hours. When fed upon artificial food, once in

five or six hours is often enough for feeding. The intervals between

meals in either case should be gradually prolonged as the child grows

older.

QUANTITY OF FOOD FOR INFANTS.--Dr. J.H. Kellogg gives the following

rules and suggestions for the feeding of infants:--

"During the first week of a child's life, the weight of the food given

should be 1/100 of the weight of the infant at birth. The daily

additional amount of food required for a child amounts to about one

fourth of a dram, or about one ounce at the end of each month. A child

gains in weight from two thirds of an ounce to one ounce per day during

the first five months of its life, and an average of one half as much

daily during the balance of the first year.

"From a series of tables which have been prepared, as the result of

experiments carefully conducted in large lying-in establishments, we

have devised this rule:--

"To find the amount of food required by a child at each feeding during

the first year of life, divide the weight of the child at birth by 100

and add to this amount 3/100 of the gain which the child has made since

birth. Take, for example, a child which weighs 7-1/2 lbs--at birth, or

120 ounces. Dividing by 100 we have 1.2 oz. Estimating the weight

according to the rule above given, the child at the end of nine months

will have gained 210 oz. Dividing this by 100 and multiplying by 3, we

have 6.3 oz. Adding to this our previous result, 1.3, we have 7.5 oz, as

the amount of food required at each feeding at the end of nine months by

a child which weighed 7-1/2 lbs. at birth. To save mothers the trouble

of making these calculations, we have prepared the following table,

which will be found to hold good for the average child weighing 7-1/2

lbs. at birth. This is rather more than the ordinary child weighs, but

we have purposely chosen a large child for illustration, as it is better

that the child should have a slight excess of food than too little.

AGE OF CHILD.

|1w.| 1m. |2m.|3m.|4m.|6m.|9m.|12m

Amount of each feeding in ounces...| 1| 11/2-2| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |71/2 | 9

Number of feedings.................| 10| 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5

Amount of food daily, in ounces....| 10|12-16|18 |24 |30 |36 |371/2|45

Interval between feedings, in hours| 2| 21/2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |31/2 |31/2

"In the above table the first column represents quantities for the first

week, the second for the end of the second month, the third for the end

of the third month, etc. It need not be mentioned that the change in

quantity should be even more gradual than represented in the table.

"Attention should also be called to the fact that the time mentioned as

the interval for feeding at different ages, does not apply to the whole

twenty-four hours. Even during the first week, the child is expected to

skip two feedings during the night, making the interval four hours

instead of two. By the end of the second month, the interval between the

feedings at night becomes six hours, and at the end of the ninth month,

six and one half hours.

"From personal observation we judge that in many cases children will do

equally well if allowed a longer interval between feedings at night. The

plan of feeding five times daily instead of six, may be begun at as

early an age as six months in many instances."

MANNER OF FEEDING ARTIFICIAL FOODS.--All artificial foods are best

fed with a teaspoon, as by this method liability to over-feeding and

danger from unclean utensils are likely to be avoided. If a

nursing-bottle is used, it should be of clear flint glass so that the

slightest foulness may be easily detected, and one simple in

construction, which can be completely taken apart for cleaning. Those

furnished with conical black rubber caps are the best. Each time after

using, such a bottle should have the cap removed, and both bottle and

cap should be thoroughly cleansed, first with cold water, and then with

warm water in which soda has been dissolved in the proportion of a

teaspoonful to a pint of water. They should then be kept immersed in

weak soda solution until again needed, when both bottle and cap should

be thoroughly rinsed in clean boiled water before they are used. Neglect

to observe these precautions is one of the frequent causes of stomach

disturbances in young children. It is well to keep two bottles for

feeding, using them alternately.

DIET FOR OLDER CHILDREN.--No solid food or table-feeding of any

kind should be given to a child until it has the larger share of its

first, or milk teeth. Even then it must not be supposed that because a

child has acquired its teeth, it may partake of all kinds of food with

impunity. It is quite customary for mothers to permit their little ones

to sit at the family table and be treated to bits of everything upon the

bill of fare, apparently looking upon them as miniature grown people,

with digestive ability equal to persons of mature growth, but simply

lacking in, stomach capacity to dispose of as much as older members of

the family. The digestive apparatus of a child differs so greatly from

that of an adult in its anatomical structure and in the character and

amount of the digestive fluids, that it is by no means proper to allow a

child to eat all kinds of wholesome foods which a healthy adult stomach

can consume with impunity, to say nothing of the rich, highly seasoned

viands, sweetmeats, and epicurean dishes which seldom fail to form some

part of the bill of fare. It is true that many children are endowed with

so much constitutional vigor that they do live and seemingly thrive,

notwithstanding dietetic errors; but the integrity of the digestive

organs is liable to be so greatly impaired by continued ill-treatment

that sooner or later in life disease results. Till the age of three

years, sterilized milk, whole-wheat bread in its various forms, such of

the grains as contain a large share of gluten, prepared in a variety of

palatable ways, milk and fruit toasts, and the easily digested fruits,

both raw and cooked, form the best dietary. Strained vegetable soups may

be occasionally added for variety. For from three to six years the same

simple regimen, with easily digested and simply prepared vegetables,

macaroni, and legumes prepared without skins, will be all-sufficient. If

desserts are desirable, let them be simple in character and easily

digestible. Tea, coffee, hot bread and biscuit, fried foods of all

kinds, salted meats, preserves, rich puddings, cake, and pastries should

be wholly discarded from the children's bill of fare.

It is especially important that a dietary for children should contain an

abundance of nitrogenous material. It is needed not only for repairs,

but must be on deposit for the purpose of food. Milk, whole-wheat bread,

oatmeal, barley, and preparations of wheat, contain this element in

abundance, and should for this reason be given great prominence in the

children's dietary.

Flesh foods are in no way necessary for children, since the food

elements of which they are composed can be supplied from other and

better sources, and many prominent medical authorities unite in the

opinion that such foods are decidedly deleterious, and should not be

used at all by children under eight or ten years of age. Experiments

made by Dr. Camman, of New York, upon the dietary of nearly two hundred

young children in an orphan's home, offer conclusive evidence that the

death rate among children from gastro-intestinal troubles is greatly

lessened by the exclusion of meat from their dietary. Dr. Clouston, of

Edinburgh, an eminent medical authority, states that in his experience,

those children who show the greatest tendencies to instability of the

brain, insanity, and immoral habits are, as a rule, those who use animal

food in excess; and that he has seen a change of diet to milk and

farinaceous food produce a marked change in their nervous irritability.

Scores of other authorities corroborate. Dr. Clouston's observation, and

assert that children fed largely on flesh foods have capricious

appetites, suffer more commonly from indigestion in its various forms,

possess an unstable nervous system, and have less resisting power in

general.

Candy and similar sweets generally given to children as a matter of

course, may be excluded from their dietary with positive benefit in

every way. It is true, as is often stated in favor of the use of these

articles, that sugar is a food element needed by children; but the

amount required for the purpose of growth and repair is comparatively

small, and is supplied in great abundance in bread, grains, fruits, and

other common articles of food. If an additional quantity is taken, it is

not utilized by the system, and serves only to derange digestion, impair

appetite, and indirectly undermine the health.

Children are not likely to crave candy and other sweets unless a taste

for such articles has been developed by indulgence in them; and their

use, since they are seldom taken at mealtime, helps greatly to foster

that most pernicious habit of childhood--eating between meals. No food,

except at their regular mealtimes, should be the universal rule for

children from babyhood up; and although during their earliest years they

require food at somewhat shorter intervals than adults, their meal hours

should be arranged for the same time each day, and no piecing permitted.

Parents who follow the too common practice of giving their little ones a

cracker or fruit between meals are simply placing them under training

for dyspepsia, sooner or later. Uninterrupted digestion proceeds

smoothly and harmoniously in a healthy stomach; but interruptions in the

shape of food sent down at all times and when the stomach is already at

work, are justly resented, and such disturbances, if long continued, are

punished by suffering.

The appetite of a child is quite as susceptible of education, in both a

right and wrong direction, as are its mental or moral faculties; and

parents in whose hands this education mainly rests should give the

subject careful consideration, since upon it the future health and

usefulness of their children not a little devolve. We should all be

rulers of our appetites instead of subject to them; but whether this be

so or not, depends greatly upon early dietetic training. Many a loving

mother, by thoughtless indulgence of her child, in season and out of

season, in dainties and tidbits that simply serve to gratify the palate,

is fostering a "love of appetite" which may ruin her child in years to

come. There are inherited appetites and tendencies, it is true; but even

these may be largely overcome by careful early training in right ways of

eating and drinking. It is possible to teach very young children to use

such food as is best for them, and to refrain from the eating of things

harmful; and it should be one of the first concerns of every mother to

start her children on the road to manhood and womanhood, well trained in

correct dietetic habits.

TABLE TOPICS.

"The wanton taste no flesh nor fowl can choose,

For which the grape or melon it would lose,

Though all th' inhabitants of earth and air

Be listed in the glutton's bill of fare."

--_Cowley._

Jean Jacques Rousseau holds that intemperate habits are mostly

acquired in early boyhood, when blind deference to social precedents

is apt to overcome our natural antipathies, and that those who have

passed that period in safety, have generally escaped the danger of

temptation. The same holds good of other dietetic abuses. If a

child's natural aversion to vice has never been wilfully perverted,

the time will come when his welfare may be intrusted to the

safe-keeping of his protective instincts. You need not fear that he

will swerve from the path of health when his simple habits,

sanctioned by nature and inclination, have acquired the additional

strength of long practice. When the age of blind deference is past,

vice is generally too unattractive to be very dangerous.--_Oswald._

That a child inherits certain likes and dislikes in the matter of

food cannot be questioned, and does not in the least forbid the

training of the child's taste toward that which is healthful and

upbuilding; it merely adds an element to be considered in the

training.--_Sel._

Prevention is better than cure. It is worth a life effort to lift a

man from degradation. To prevent his fall is better.--_Gough._

A cynical French writer of the last century intending a satire upon

the principles of vegetarianism adopted by Phillippe Hecquet, puts

into the mouth of one of the characters in his book what, in the

grossly voluptuous life of that country and time, the author no

doubt imagined to be the greatest absurdities conceivable in

reference to diet, but which, in the light of present civilization

are but the merest hygienic truths. A doctor had been called to a

gouty and fever-stricken patient. "Pray what is your ordinary diet?"

asked the physician.

"My usual food," replied the patient, "is broth and juicy meat."

"Broth and juicy meat!" cried the doctor, alarmed. "I do not wonder

to find you sick; such dishes are poisoned pleasures and snares that

luxury spreads for mankind, so as to ruin them the more

effectually.... How old are you, pray?"

"I am in my sixty-ninth year," replied the patient.

"Exactly," ... said the physician; "if you had drunk nothing else

than pure water all your life, and had been satisfied with simple

nourishment,--such as boiled apples for example,--you would not now

be tormented with the gout, and all your limbs would perform their

functions with ease."

Dr. Horace Bushnell says: "The child is taken when his training

begins in a state of naturalness as respects all the bodily tastes

and tempers, and the endeavour should be to keep him in that key, to

let no stimulation of excess or delicacy disturb the simplicity of

nature, and no sensual pleasure in the name of food become a want or

expectation of his appetite. Any artificial appetite begun is the

beginning of distemper, disease, and a general disturbance of

natural proportion. Nine tenths of the intemperate drinking begins,

not in grief and destitution, as we so often hear, but in vicious

feeding."

Always let the food be simply for nourishment--never more, never

less. Never should food be taken for its own sake, but for the sake

of promoting bodily and mental activity. Still less should the

peculiarities of food, its taste or delicacy ever become an object

in themselves, but only a means to make it good, pure, wholesome

nourishment; else in both cases the food destroys

health.--_Froebel._

Since what need mortals, save twain things alone,

Crushed grain (heaven's gift), and steaming water-draught?

Food nigh at hand, and Nature's aliment--

Of which no glut contents us.

Pampered taste hunts out device of other eatables.

--_Euripides._

FRAGMENTS & LEFT-OVER FOODS

Economy, one of the cardinal principles of success in the details of

housekeeping, as in all other occupations in life, consists not alone in

making advantageous use of fresh material, but in carefully preserving

and utilizing the "left-over" fragments and bits of food which accrue in

every household. Few cooks can make such perfect calculation respecting

the desires and needs of their families as to provide just enough and no

more, and the improvident waste of the surplus thus prepared, is in many

homes fully equal to one half the first cost of the meal. Scarcely

anything need ever be wasted--certainly nothing which was at first well

cooked. There are ways of utilizing almost every kind of cooked food so

that it will be quite as appetizing and nutritious as when first

prepared.

All left-over foods, as grains, vegetables, or others of a moist

character, should be removed to clean dishes before putting away. Unless

this precaution is observed, the thin smears and tiny bits about the

edges of the dish, which become sour or moldy much sooner than the

larger mass, are apt to spoil the whole. They should also be set on ice

or be kept in a cool, dry place until needed. Left-over foods of any

kind, to be suitable again for use, must be well preserved. Sour or

moldy fragments are not fit for food.

USES OF STALE BREAD.--If properly made from wholesome and

nutritious material and well preserved, there are few other foods that

can be combined into more varied and palatable dishes than left-over

bread. To insure the perfect preservation of the fragments, the loaf

itself should receive good care. Perfectly sweet, light, well-baked

bread has not the same propensity to mold as a poorer loaf; but the best

of bread is likely to become musty if its surroundings are not entirely

wholesome. The receptacle used for keeping the loaves should be

frequently washed, scalded, and well dried. Crumbs and fragments should

be kept in a separate receptacle and as thoroughly cared for. It is well

in cutting bread not to slice more than will be needed, and to use one

loaf before beginning on another. Bread grows stale much faster after

being cut.

Whole or half slices of bread which have become too dry to be palatable

may be utilized for making zwieback, directions for the use and

preparation of which are given on page 289.

Broken pieces of bread not suitable for zwieback, crusts, and trimmings

of the loaf make excellent _croutons_, a most palatable accompaniment

for soups, gruels, hot milk, etc. To prepare the _croutons_ cut the

fragments as nearly uniform in size as possible,--half-inch cubes are

convenient,--and place them on tins in a warming oven to dry. Let them

become crisply dry, and lightly browned, but not scorched. They are

preferable to crackers for use in soups, and require so little work to

prepare, and are so economical withal, that one who has once tried them

will be likely to keep a supply on hand. The crumbs and still smaller

fragments may be utilized for thickening soups and for various dressings

and puddings, recipes for many of which are given in preceding chapters.

If crumbs and small bits of bread accumulate more rapidly than they can

be used, they may be carefully dried, not browned, in a warming oven,

after which put them in a mortar and pound them, or spread them upon an

old bread board, fold in a clean cloth and roll them with a rolling pin

until fine. Prepared thus, stored in glass fruit cans and put away in a

dry place, they will keep almost indefinitely, and can be used when

needed. For preparing escalloped vegetables of all kinds, these prepared

crumbs are excellent; they give a fine, nutty flavor to the dish, which

fresh crumbs do not possess.

LEFT-OVER GRAINS.--Left-over grains, if well kept, may be reheated

in a double boiler without the addition of water, so as to be quite as

palatable as when freshly cooked. Small quantities of left-over grains

can be utilized for preparing various kinds of desserts, where the

ingredients require previous cooking. Rice, barley, pearl wheat, and

other whole grains can be satisfactorily used in soups in which a whole

grain is required; oatmeal, rolled oats, corn meal, grits, etc., with

the addition of a little milk and cream, may be made into delicious

gruels; they may also be used advantageously in the preparation of

vegetable soups, many of which are even improved by the addition of a

few spoonfuls of well-kept cooked oatmeal or rolled oats. The left-over

grains may also be utilized in a variety of breads, directions for the

preparation of which are given in the chapter on Bread.

LEFT-OVER VEGETABLES.--Left-over portions of most varieties of

vegetables can be best utilized for soups as stated on page 275. Cold

mashed potato may be made into potato cakes as directed on page 237 of

the chapter on Vegetables, where will also be found many other recipes,

suited to the use of these left-over foods.

LEFT-OVER MEATS.--Most cook books offer numerous recipes for

croquettes, hashes, and fried dishes prepared from remnants of meat and

fish, which, although they serve the purpose of using up the fragments,

are not truly economical, because they are generally far from wholesome.

Most fragments of this character are more digestible served cold as a

relish, or utilized for soups and stews, than compounded into fancy

dishes requiring to be fried and highly seasoned or served with rich

sauces.

LEFT-OVER MILK.--Small quantities of unsterilized milk or cream

left over should always be carefully scalded, then cooled at once to a

temperature of 60, deg. and put in a cool place, in order to keep it sweet

and fresh until the next meal.

TABLE TOPICS.

"Care preserves what Industry gains. He who attends to his business

diligently, but _not_ carefully, throws away with one hand what he

gathers with the other."--_Colton._

"What does cookery mean?"

It means the knowledge of all fruits and herbs and balms and

spices--it means carefulness, and inventiveness, and watchfulness,

and willingness, and readiness of appliance. It means the economy of

your great grandmothers and the science of modern chemists,--it

means much tasting and no wasting.--_Ruskin._

A penny saved is two pence clear

A pin a day's a groat a year.

--_Franklin._

Bad cooking is waste--waste of money and loss of comfort. Whom God

has joined in matrimony, ill-cooked joints and ill-boiled potatoes

have very often put asunder.--_Smiles._

Never sacrifice the more precious things--time, health, temper,

strength--in attempting to save the less precious--money.

--_Sel._

Learn by how little life may be sustained and how much nature

requires. The gifts of Cerea and water are sufficient nourishment

for all peoples.--_Pharsalia._

THE ART OF DINING

Human nature is so susceptible to externals, while good digestion is so

dependent upon interior conditions, that all the accessories of pleasant

surroundings--neatness, cheeriness, and good breeding--should be brought

into requisition for the daily gathering of the family at mealtime. The

dining room should be one of the airiest, choicest rooms in the house,

with a pleasant outlook, and, if possible, with east windows, that the

morning sun may gladden the breakfast hour with its cheering rays. Let

plants, flowers, birds, and pictures have a place in its appointments,

that the association with things bright and beautiful may help to set

the keynote of our own lives in cheerful accord. A dark, gloomy,

ill-ventilated room brings depression of spirits, and will make the most

elaborate meal unsatisfactory; while the plainest meal may seem almost a

feast when served amid attractive surroundings. Neatness is an important

essential; any home, however humble, may possess cleanliness and order,

and without these, all charms of wealth and art are of little account.

A thorough airing each morning and opening of the windows a few minutes

after each meal to remove the odor of food, are important items in the

care of the dining room. The furnishing may be simple and

inexpensive,--beauty in a home is not dependent upon expense,--but let

it be substantial, tasteful, harmonious in color and soft in tone,

nothing gaudy or showy. Use no heavy draperies, and have no excess of

ornament and bric-a-brac to catch dust and germs. A hard-finished wood

floor is far superior to a carpet in point of healthfulness, and quite

as economical and easy to keep clean. The general furnishing of the

room, besides the dining table and chairs, should include a sideboard,

upon which may be arranged the plate and glassware, with drawers for

cutlery and table linen; also a side-table for extra dishes needed

during the service of a meal.

An open fireplace, when it can be afforded, aids in ventilation as well

as increases the cheerful aspect of the room.

A moveable china closet with glass encasements for keeping the daintier

china, glass, or silver ware not in common use is often a desirable

article of furniture in small homes; or a shallow closet may be built in

the wall of the dining-room for this purpose. A good size for such a

closet is twelve inches deep and three feet wide. Four shelves, with one

or more drawers below, in which may be kept the best table napery,

afford ample space in general. The appearance of the whole may be made

very pleasing by using doors of glass, and filling in the back and sides

of the shelves with velvet paper in dark-brown, dull-red, or any shade

suitable for background, harmonizing with the general furnishing of the

room. The shelves should be of the same material and have the same

finish as the woodwork of the room. The upper side may be covered with

felt if desired; and such artistic taste may be displayed in the

arrangement of the china as to make the closet ornamental as well as

convenient.

TABLE-TALK.--A sullen, silent meal is a direct promoter of

dyspepsia. "Laugh and grow fat" is an ancient adage embodying good

hygienic doctrine. It has long been well understood that food digests

better when seasoned with agreeable conversation, and it is important

that unpleasant topics should be avoided. Mealtime should not be made

the occasion to discuss troubles, trials, and misfortunes, which rouse

only gloomy thoughts, impair digestion, and leave one at the close of

the meal worried and wearied rather than refreshed and strengthened. Let

vexatious questions be banished from the family board. Fill the time

with bright, sparkling conversation, but do not talk business or discuss

neighborhood gossip. Do not let the food upon the table furnish the

theme of conversation; neither praise nor apology are in good taste.

Parents who make their food thus an especial topic of conversation are

instilling into their children's minds a notion that eating is the best

part of life, whereas it is only a means to a higher end, and should be

so considered. Of all family gatherings the meals should be the most

genial and pleasant, and with a little effort they may be made most

profitable to all. It is said of Dr. Franklin that he derived his

peculiarly practical turn of mind from his father's table talk.

Let themes of conversation be of general interest, in which all may take

a part. If there are children, a pleasant custom for the breakfast hour

is to have each in turn relate something new and instructive, that he or

she has read or learned in the interval since the breakfast hour of the

previous day. This stimulates thought and conversational power, while

music, history, adventure, politics, and all the arts and sciences offer

ample scope for securing interesting items.

Another excellent plan is the selection of a special topic for

conversation for each meal or for the meals of a day or a week, a

previous announcement of the topic being made, that all, even the

youngest, may have time to prepare something to say of it. The benefits

from such social intercourse around the board can hardly be

over-estimated; and if thus the mealtime is prolonged, and too much

appears to be taken out of the busy day, be sure it will add to their

years in the end, by increasing health and happiness.

TABLE MANNERS.--Good breeding and true refinement are nowhere more

apparent than in manners at table. These do not relate alone to the

proper use of knife and fork, napkin and spoon, but to habits of

punctuality, neatness, quietness, order, and that kind thoughtfulness

and courteous attention which spring from the heart--"in honor

preferring one another." The purpose of eating should not be merely the

appeasement of hunger or the gratification of the palate, but the

acquiring of strength for labor or study, that we may be better fitted

for usefulness in the world. Consequently, we should eat like

responsible beings, and not like the lower orders of animals.

Good table manners cannot be put on for special occasions and laid aside

like a garment. Persons not wont to observe the rules of politeness in

the every-day life of their own households can never deceive others into

thinking them well bred on "company" occasions. Ease and refinement of

manners are only acquired by habitual practice, and parents should early

accustom their children by both precept and example to observe the

requirements of good behavior and politeness at table. Elaborate details

are not necessary. We subjoin a few of the more simple rules governing

table etiquette:--

1. Eat slowly, never filling the mouth very full and avoiding all

appearance of greediness.

2. Masticate thoroughly, keeping the lips closed. Eating and drinking

should be noiseless.

3. Never speak with the mouth full, nor interrupt another when talking.

Any remark worthy of utterance will keep.

4. Do not express a choice for any particular portion or dish, unless

requested to do so; and do not find fault with the food. If by chance

anything unpleasant is found in it, do not call the attention of others

to the fact by either remark or manner.

5. Sit conveniently near the table, but not crowded up close against it;

and keep the hands, when not in use to convey food to the mouth, in the

lap, beneath the table, never resting upon the table, toying with knife,

fork, or spoon.

6. Do not tilt back your chair, or lean upon the table with the elbow,

or drum with the fingers.

7. It is contrary to good breeding to shovel one's food into the mouth

with a knife. Everything which can be eaten with a fork should be taken

with that utensil alone. If necessary, use the knife for dividing the

food, and afterward the fork to convey it to the mouth. Use a spoon for

soups and juicy foods.

8. Bread should be broken, not cut. In eating large fruits, like apples

or pears, divide with a knife, and take in small portions, holding the

knife by the handle rather than the blade.

9. Soup is eaten from the side of the spoon, which is filled without

noisily touching the plate.

10. Seeds or stones to be rejected should be taken from the lips with a

spoon, never with the fingers. The mouth should not go to the food, but

the food to the mouth.

11. Do not crumble food about your plate, nor in any avoidable way soil

the table linen.

12. Do not hang the napkin about the neck like a bib, but unfold and lay

across the lap in such a manner that it will not slide to the floor.

Carefully wipe the mouth before speaking, and as often at other times as

may keep the lips perfectly clean of food and drink. At the close of a

meal, if at home, fold the napkin neatly and place it in the ring. If at

a hotel or away from home, leave the napkin unfolded by your plate.

13. Do not appear impatient to be served, and ordinarily at the home

meals wait until all are served before commencing to eat. At a public

table where waiters are provided, it is proper to begin eating as soon

as the food is served. This is admissible because the wants of other

guests are supposed to be similarly looked after.

14. Never reach across a neighbor's plate for anything. If something

beyond him is needed, ask to have it passed to you.

15. Do not tilt your plate or scrape it for the last atom of food.

16. Drink very sparingly, if at all, while eating, and then do not pour

the liquid down the throat like water turned from a pitcher.

17. Children should not be allowed to use their fingers to aid

themselves in eating. If their hands are too small or too awkward to

use a fork, a piece of bread or cracker may be held in the left hand to

aid in pushing the food upon the fork or spoon.

18. To help one's self to butter or any other food from a common dish

with one's own knife or spoon is a gross breach of table etiquette.

19. Never use the handkerchief unnecessarily at the table, and do not

cough or sneeze if avoidable.

20. It is not considered proper to pick the teeth at table. If this

becomes absolutely necessary, a napkin should be held before the mouth.

21. When a meal or course is finished, lay the knife and fork side by

side upon the plate.

22. Except at a hotel or boarding house, it is not proper to leave the

table before the rest of the family or guests, without asking the

hostess to excuse you.

23. If a guest declines a dish, he need give no reason. "No, I thank

you," is quite sufficient. The host or hostess should not insist upon

guests' partaking of particular dishes, nor put anything upon their

plates which they have declined.

THE TABLE.--None will deny that the appearance of the table affects

one's enjoyment of the food upon it. A well-appointed table with its

cloth, though coarse in texture, perfectly clean and neatly laid, its

glass and china bright and shining, and the silver showing by its

glistening surface evidence of frequent polishings, gives far more

comfort and enjoyment than one where little attention is given to

neatness, order, or taste. In many families, effort is made to secure

all these important accessories when guests have been invited; but for

common use, anything is considered "good enough for just one's own

folks." This ought not to be, and mothers who permit such a course, need

not be surprised if their children exhibit a lack of self-respect and

genuineness as well as awkwardness and neglect of manners.

The table around which the family meals are taken, ought to be at all

times the model of what it should be when surrounded by guests. As a

writer has well said, "There is no silent educator in the household

that has higher rank than the table. Surrounded each day by the family

who are eager for refreshment of body and spirit, its impressions sink

deep; and its influences for good or ill form no mean part of the warp

and woof of our lives. Its fresh damask, bright silver, glass, and

china, give beautiful lessons in neatness, order, and taste; its damask

soiled, rumpled, and torn, its silver dingy, its glass cloudy, and china

nicked, annoy and vex us at first, and then instill their lessons of

carelessness and disorder. An attractive, well-ordered table is an

incentive to good manners, and being a place where one is incited to

linger, it tends to control the bad habits of fast eating; while, on the

contrary, an uninviting, disorderly table gives license to bad manners,

and encourages the haste which is proverbial among Americans. The woman,

then, who looks after her table in these particulars, is not doing

trivial work, for it rests with her to give silently these good or bad

lessons in manners and morals to her household as they surround the

daily board."

A well-appointed table requires very little time and labor. No pretense

or ostentation is necessary; neatness and simplicity are far more

pleasing.

SETTING THE TABLE.--Lay a piece of double-faced canton flannel

underneath the tablecloth. Even coarse napery will present a much better

appearance with a sub-cover than if spread directly upon the table. It

will likewise lessen noise in changing courses and the likelihood of

injury to the table from hot dishes. Spread the tablecloth evenly,

without wrinkles, and so that the center fold shall be exactly in the

middle, parallel with the sides of the table. Mats, if used, should be

placed exactly straight and with regularity. If meat is served, spread a

large napkin with points toward the center of the table at the carver's

place, to protect the tablecloth. Place the plates upon the table, right

side up, at even distances from each other and straight with the cloth

and the edge of the table. Lay the napkins directly in front or at the

right of each plate. Place the fork at the left, the knife on the right

with the edge toward the plate, beyond this the soup spoon and two

teaspoons, and at the front of these set the glass, cream glass, and

individual butter plate if these are used.

A center piece consisting of a vase of freshly cut flowers, a pot of

ferns, a jar of small plants in bloom, a dish of well-polished red

apples, peaches, or other seasonable fruit, will add a touch of beauty

and attractiveness. If the serving is to be done from the table by

members of the family, place large spoons near dishes to be served, also

the proper number and kind of separate dishes for the purpose. If fruit

is to be served, a finger bowl should be placed for each person. If the

service is by course, the extra dishes, knives, forks, and spoons

needed, also the finger bowls, water service, and cold foods in reserve

for a renewed supply or for other courses, should be made ready and

arranged upon the sideboard.

The soup ladle should be placed in front of the lady of the house, who

always serves the soup; and if meat is served, the carving knife and

fork must, of course, be placed before the carver's place. The necessary

dishes for each course should be brought on with the food, those for the

first course being placed upon the table just a moment before dinner is

announced.

The arrangement of all dishes and foods upon the table should be

uniform, regular, and tasteful, so as to give an orderly appearance to

the whole. The "dishing up" and arranging of the food are matters of no

small importance, as a dull appetite will often be sharpened at the

sight of a daintily arranged dish, while the keenest one may have its

edge dulled by the appearance of a shapeless mass piled up with no

regard to looks. Even the simplest food is capable of looking its best,

and the greatest care should be taken to have all dishes served neatly

and tastefully.

The table should not be set for breakfast the night before nor kept so

from one meal to another, unless carefully covered with a cloth thick

enough to prevent the dust from accumulating upon the dishes. The plates

and glasses should then be placed bottom-side up and turned just before

mealtime. No food of any kind should ever be allowed to remain uncovered

upon the table from one meal to another. The cloth for covering the

table should be carefully shaken each time before using, and always used

the same side up until washed.

Plates and individual meat dishes should be warmed, especially in

winter; but the greatest care should be taken that no dish becomes hot,

as that not only makes it troublesome to handle, but is ruinous to the

dishes.

THE SERVICE OF MEALS.--There are few invariable rules for either

table-setting or service. We will offer a few suggestions upon this

point, though doubtless other ways are equally good. A capital idea for

the ordinary home meal, when no servant is kept, especially if in the

family there are older children, is to make different members of the

family responsible for the proper service of some dish or course. The

fruit, which should be the first course at breakfast, may be prepared

and placed upon fruit plates with the proper utensils for

eating--napkins and finger bowls at each place before the meal is

announced. If apples or bananas are served, a cracker should be placed

upon each plate to be eaten in connection with the fruit. Oranges and

grapes are, however, to be preferred when obtainable; the former may be

prepared as directed on page 180. The hot foods may be dished, and the

dishes placed on a side table in a _bain marie_, the hot water in which

should be as deep as the food within the dishes. The foods will thus be

in readiness, and will keep much better than if placed upon the table at

the beginning of the meal. When the fruit is eaten, some member of the

family may remove the fruit plates, and bring the hot grains, toasts,

and other foods, placing them, together with the necessary individual

dishes, before those who have their serving in charge. One member may be

selected to pass the bread, another to dish the sauce, etc.; and thus

each child, whether boy or girl--even those quite young--may contribute

to the service, and none be overburdened, while at the same time it will

be a means of teaching a due regard for the comfort and enjoyment of

others.

If the meal is dinner, usually consisting of three courses, after the

soup has been eaten, it may be the duty of some member of the family to

remove the soup plates and place the vegetables, grains, and meats if

any are to served, before those chosen to serve them. At the close of

this course, another may remove the dishes and food, crumb the cloth,

and place the dessert, with the proper dishes for serving, before the

lady of the house or her oldest daughter, one of whom usually serves it.

If a servant is employed, the following is an excellent plan of service:

The soup plates or bowls should be placed hot upon the table, with the

tureen of soup before the lady of the house, and the glasses filled

before the dinner is announced.

Grace having been said, the servant removes the cover of the soup

tureen, and standing at the left of the lady, takes up with her left

hand a soup plate, which she changes to the palm of her right hand and

holds at the edge of the soup tureen until the lady has filled it, then

carries it, still holding it upon the palm of the hand, and places it

before the head of the table. In the same manner all are served to soup.

If bowls instead of plates are used, a small silver or lacquered tray

may be used on which to carry the bowl. While the soup is being eaten,

the servant goes to the kitchen and brings in the hot dishes and foods

for the next course, and places them upon the side table. When the soup

has been finished, beginning with the one who sits at the head of the

table, the servant places before each person in turn a hot dinner plate,

at the same time removing his soup plate to the sideboard or pantry.

After changing all the plates, she removes the soup tureen, and if meat

is to be served, places that before the carver with the individual

plates, which, when he has placed a portion thereon, she serves to each

in turn; then she takes the potato and other vegetables upon her tray,

and serves them, going to the left of each person when passing them a

dish, but placing individual dishes at the right; next she passes the

bread, refills the glasses, taking each one separately to the sideboard,

and then serves the grains.

When every one has finished the course, she begins the clearing of the

table by first removing all large dishes of food; after that the plates

and all soiled dishes, mats, and all table furniture except the glasses,

napkin rings, and center-pieces. Lastly she removes all crumbs with a

brush or napkin. When done, she places in front of each person a plate

with a doily and finger bowl upon it, and then brings the dessert and

dessert dishes, placing them before the lady of the house, and passes

these for her as in the other courses. If the dessert is pudding, a

spoon or fork should be placed on the plate at one side of the finger

bowl. If the dessert is fruit, a fruit napkin may be used in place of

the doily, the real purpose of which is to prevent the bowl from sliding

about the plate in moving it. A fork and silver knife, or knife and

spoon as the fruit may require, should be served with it.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR WAITERS.--In serving a dish from which

people are expected to help themselves, always go to the left side.

Soup, food in individual dishes, clean plates, and finger bowls should

be set down before people at their right hand.

When removing soiled dishes after a course, always exchange them for

clean ones, remembering that the only time when it is allowable to leave

the table without plates is when it is being cleared for the dessert.

In serving grains either dish them in small dishes before serving or

pass clean saucers at the same time for each to help himself, and in all

cases see that each person is served to cream, sugar, and a teaspoon,

with grains.

Pass the bread two or three times during each meal, and keep careful

watch that all are well supplied.

Pour hot milk and all beverages on the side table; fill only three

fourths full, and serve the same as anything else in individual dishes,

placing the glass at each person's right hand.

Waiters should be noiseless and prompt, and neatly attired in dress

suitable to their occupation.

SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING DINNER PARTIES.--Much of the success of a

dinner party depends upon the guests selected; and the first point for

consideration by the lady who decides upon entertaining her friends

thus, should be the congeniality of those whom she desires to invite,

remembering that after the first greetings the guests see very little of

their hostess, and consequently their enjoyment must largely depend upon

each other. It is customary to issue invitations in the name of the host

and hostess, from five to ten days in advance of the occasion. Printed

or written invitations may be used. The following is a proper form:--

_Mr. and Mrs. George Brown_

_request the pleasure_

_of_

_Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clark's company_

_at dinner_

_December 5th, at four o'clock._

_24 Maple Avenue._

If the dinner is given in especial honor to some stranger, a second card

is inclosed on which is written:--

_To meet_

_Mrs. Harold Brooks of Philadelphia._

Invitations to a dinner should be promptly accepted or declined, and if

accepted, the engagement should on no account be lightly broken.

Unless one has a large establishment, and is very sure of good service,

the bill of fare selected should not be an elaborate one, and the choice

of dishes should be confined to those which one is used to preparing,

and which in cost will not exceed one's means. It is the quality of the

dinner which pleases, and not the multiplicity of dishes. Small dinners

for not less than six or more than ten guests are always the most

pleasant, and for those of moderate means or those unaccustomed to

dinner-giving are by far the most suitable.

The arrangement and adornment of the table afford an opportunity for the

display of much artistic taste and skill. An expensive outlay is by no

means necessary, as highly pleasing effects may be produced by the

addition of a few choice, well-arranged flowers or blossoming plants to

a table already well laid with spotless linen, bright silver, and clean

glass and china ware. A profusion of ornament should be avoided, large

pieces of plate, and high, elaborate designs of flowers or fruit should

not be used, as they obstruct the intercourse of the guests.

A center piece of flowers, with a small bouquet tied with ribbon for

each guest, is quite sufficient. Low dishes filled with violets or

pansies; a basket filled with oranges, mingled with orange leaves and

blossoms; bowls of ferns and roses; a block of ice wreathed in ferns,

with an outer circle of water lilies; dishes of vari-colored grapes

resting amid the bright leaves of the foliage plant, are some of many

pleasing designs which may be employed for the adornment of the dinner

table. The amount of space occupied with decorations must depend upon

the style of service employed. If no calculation need be made for

placing the different dishes composing the dinner, a strip of colored

plush or satin bordered with ivy, smilax, or some trailing vine, is

quite frequently used for the decoration of a long table.

A very pleasing custom consists in selecting some especial color for the

decorations with which the table napery, dishes, and even the food to be

served shall accord; as, for example, a "pink" dinner, with roses as the

chief flower, strawberries, pink lemonade, and other pink attractions;

or a "yellow" luncheon, served on napery etched with yellow, with vases

of goldenrod for center pieces, and dainty bouquets of the same tied

with yellow ribbon at each plate, while yellow tapers in golden

candlesticks cast a mellow light over all, during the serving of a bill

of fare which might include peaches and cream, oranges, pumpkin pie, and

other yellow comestibles.

The menu cards afford much opportunity for adding attractiveness to a

company dinner. If one possesses artistic skill, a floral decoration or

a tiny sketch, with an appropriate quotation, the guest's name, and date

of the dinner, make of the cards very pleasing souvenirs. A proper

quotation put after each dish is much in vogue as a means of promoting

conversation. The quotations are best selected from one author.

There are no absolute rules for the service of company dinners, much

depending upon social conditions and established customs. Two modes are

in general use,--placing the dishes upon the table to be dished by the

host and hostess, and placing all food upon the side table to be dished

and served by a waiter. When the latter method is used, it is quite

customary to place the plates of soup upon the table before dinner is

announced. As many knives, forks, and spoons as will be needed for the

courses may be placed beside each plate, or they may be brought in with

the course, as preferred. Clean plates are necessary for every course.

The manner of serving is essentially like that already described.

Care should be taken to have the dining room at an agreeable

temperature, neither too warm nor too cold.

At large dinner parties, each gentleman, as he enters, receives a card

upon which is written the name of the lady he is to take in to dinner,

to whom the hostess at once presents him. When dinner is announced, the

host leads the way with the oldest or most distinguished lady or the one

to whom the dinner is given, while the hostess follows last, with the

most honored gentleman. The host places the lady whom he escorts on his

right. If the number is small, the host indicates the places the guests

should occupy as they enter the room; if the party is large, the menu

card at each plate bears the name of the guest for whom it is designed.

The lady escorted by the host should be the first one served.

Soup is always taken and tasted, whether liked or not; after the first

course, it is proper to accept or refuse a dish, as preferred.

No well-bred hostess ever apologizes for the food upon her table or

urges anything upon her guests when once declined. No orders should be

given to servants during the meal; everything that will contribute to

the proper serving of the dinner should be arranged beforehand, and all

necessary instructions given.

At the close of the dinner, the hostess gives the sign for retiring.

TABLE TOPICS.

A meal--what is it? Just enough of food

To renovate and well refresh the frame,

So that with spirits lightened, and with strength renewed,

We turn with willingness to work again.

--_Sel._

Do not bring disagreeable things to the table in your conversation

any more than you would in your dishes.--_Sel._

Courtesy in the mistress of the house consists in feeding

conversation; never in usurping it.--_Mme. Swetchine_

Good humor and good health follow a good meal; and by a good meal we

mean anything, however simple, well dressed in its way.--_Smiles._

Unquiet meals make ill digestion.--_Shakespeare._

Eat slowly and do not season your food with care.--_Sel._

To rise from the table _able_ to eat a little more is a proverbially

good rule for every one. There is nothing more idiotic than forcing

down a few mouthfuls, because they happen to remain on one's plate

after hunger is satisfied, and because they may be "wasted" if left.

It is the most serious waste to overtax the stomach with even half

an ounce more than it can take care of.--_Sel._

I pray you, O excellent wife! cumber not yourself and me to get a

curiously rich dinner for this man and woman who have just alighted

at our gate.... These things, if they are desirous of them, they can

get for a few shillings at any village inn; but rather let that

stranger see, if he will, in your looks, accents, and behavior, your

heart and earnestness, your thought and will, that which he cannot

buy at any price in any city, and which he may travel miles and dine

sparely and sleep hardly to behold.--_Emerson._

AFTER MEAL TIME

To no other department of domestic work perhaps is so little thought

given or so little science applied as to the routine work of clearing

the table and washing the dishes after mealtime. Any way to accomplish

the object, seems to be the motto in very many households. But even for

these prosaic tasks there is a best way, which, if employed, may make of

an otherwise irksome service a really pleasurable one.

CLEARING THE TABLE.--First of all, put back the chairs, and brush

up the crumbs from the floor, then collect all untouched foods and store

them away in clean dishes; next gather the silver, place it handles

upward in pitchers or other deep dishes, and pour hot water over it. For

gathering the silver a compartment tray in which knives, forks, and

spoons may be placed separately is important. Many of the scratches and

marks on their silver ware, which housekeepers deplore, come from the

careless handling together of forks, knives, and spoons. Now in a deep

basin upon a tray, collect all the refuse and partly eaten foods,

carefully emptying cups, glasses, finger bowls, etc., and scraping all

dishes which contained food as clean as possible; for no crumbs or

particles of food should be introduced into the dishwater. Pile the

dishes as fast as cleaned upon a second tray in readiness for washing.

It saves much liability of breakage in transferring from the dining room

to the kitchen, if each kind of soiled dishes is packed by itself.

Wipe carefully, if not needing to be washed, and replenish all salts,

granola cups, and sugar bowls before putting away. Gather the soiled

napkins for the laundry, and put those clean enough to be used again in

their proper places. Especial care must be taken, however, so to

designate those reserved for future use that each shall receive the same

again, as nothing is more disgusting to a sensitive person than to be

tendered a napkin which has been used by some one else. Some form of

napkin holder should be considered an essential part of the table

furnishing. If rings cannot be afforded, ordinary clothes pins, gilded

and decorated with a bit of ribbon, make very pretty substitutes.

Brush the tablecloth, fold in its creases, also the sub-cover of canton

flannel, and lay both away until again needed.

_Washing the Dishes._--Plenty of hot water and clean towels are the

essential requisites for expeditious and thorough dish-washing. A few

drops of crude ammonia added to the water will soften it and add to the

luster of the silver and china. Soap may be used or not according to

circumstances; all greasy dishes require a good strong suds. There

should also be provided two dish drainers or trays, unless there is a

stationary sink with tray on which to drain the dishes. For washing

glassware and fine china, _papier-mache_ tubs are preferable to anything

else, as they are less liable to occasion breakage of the ware. If many

dishes are to be washed, frequent changes of water will be necessary as

the first becomes either cold or dirty. Perfectly sweet, clean dishes

are not evolved from dirty dishwater. The usual order given for the

washing of dishes is, glasses, silver, fine china, cups, saucers,

pitchers, plates and other dishes. This is, however, based upon the

supposition that cups and saucers are used for beverages, and plates are

soiled by the use of various greasy foods; but in families where tea

and coffee and animal foods are dispensed with, and saucers are used for

grains with cream dressing, the plates are often cleaner than the

saucers and should be washed first.

The general rule to be followed is always to wash the dishes least

soiled first, and all of one kind together. The latter item is specially

important, since much of the nicking of dishes and breaking of handles

from cups, covers, and pitchers is the result of piling dishes

promiscuously together while washing.

It is quite as easy to finish washing one kind before beginning on

another as to do it in any less safe and systematic way, and if wiped in

the same order, it does away with the need of sorting when putting the

dishes away.

If for any reason the dishes must wait for a time before being washed,

the best plan is to pack them carefully into large pans, cover with warm

water, and let them soak. When ready to wash them, prepare hot suds and

clear water for rinsing in additional pans. Do not use too hot water, as

a high temperature will break glass and "check" the enamel of ordinary

ware. The law of expansion holds good with both china and glassware, and

all glass and glazed wares should be dipped into hot water in such a

manner that all its surfaces may receive the heat and expand together.

All dishes used for milk should be first thoroughly rinsed in cold water

before being washed in hot water or suds.

Be sure that the inside of all cups and pitchers is thoroughly clean. It

is a good plan to have a mop made by fastening finger-lengths of coarse

cotton twin to a suitable handle, for washing the inside of pitchers.

In cleaning forks, spoons, or cups, which have been employed in beating

or eating eggs, rinse them in cold water before putting them into hot

suds, as hot water cooks the egg and causes it to adhere. Common table

salt is said to be excellent for removing the egg tarnish from silver.

Clean Dover egg beaters by beating a dish of cold water, or by holding

under a stream of cold water from the faucet, then carefully rinse and

wipe perfectly dry. Do not put the upper part of the beater into hot

water, as it will remove the oil from the wheels so that they will not

work easily.

Grain-boilers and mush-kettles should be allowed to cool, then filled

with cold water and allowed to soak during the meal hour, when they can

be easily cleaned.

Tin dishes should be washed with hot suds as soon as possible after

using.

[Illustration: Wire Dishcloth]

For cleaning; iron pots, use soft water and soap or washing-soda with a

wire dishcloth or kettle scraper. If the food adheres to the sides, fill

with cold water and soak. Kettles and all dishes placed over a fire

should be cleaned on the outside as well as the inside. To remove the

soot, rub first with pieces of dry paper and afterward with damp paper;

then wash with hot suds and a cloth. Kettles and saucepans burned on the

inside may he cleaned by putting a little cold water and ashes in them

and allowing them to soak on the range until the water is warm.

Porcelain-lined and granite-ware utensils stained from food burning on,

may be cleaned after soaking for a time in a solution of sal-soda, which

may be prepared by pouring boiling water over the soda in the proportion

of two pints of water to one pound of sal-soda, and stirring until

dissolved. It may be prepared in quantity and stored in a stone jar

until needed.

Wash wooden ware and bread boards with cold water and sand soap. In

scraping dough from the bread board, always scrape with the grain of the

wood and be careful not to roughen the surface.

Steel knives and forks with ivory or wooden handles should not be put

into dishwater. Hot water will expand the steel and cause the handles to

crack. Wash them thoroughly with the dishcloth, scour with bath brick,

and wipe dry.

All tin and iron dishes should be thoroughly dried before putting away,

to prevent rusting.

If draining is considered preferable to wiping dishes, a good plan, if

one has not a patent dish drainer, is to fold an old tablecloth in

several thicknesses and spread upon the table. Wash the dishes carefully

and rinse in hot water. Place a cup or bowl bottom upward, lay a plate

on each side, then one between and above them, with two more on the

outside, and so on, not permitting them to touch more than necessary.

DISHCLOTHS AND TOWELS.--No dishes or utensils can be well cared for

without good, clean dishcloths and towels, and plenty of them. An

excellent dishcloth may be either knit or crocheted in some solid stitch

of coarse cotton yarn. Ten or twelve inches square is a good size.

Several thicknesses of cheese-cloth basted together make good

dishcloths, as do also pieces of old knitted garments and Turkish

toweling. If a dish mop is preferred, it may be made as follows: Cut a

groove an inch from the end of a stick about a foot in length and of

suitable shape for a handle; cut a ball of coarse twine, into nine-inch

lengths, and lay around the stick with the middle of the strands against

the groove; wind a fine wire or cord around the twine to fasten it in

the groove; then shake down the twine, so it will lie all one way like a

mop, and fasten it to the handle by tying a second cord around it on the

outside.

Towels for drying dishes should be of three different grades,--fine ones

without lint for glass, silver, and fine china; coarser ones for the

ordinary table ware, and still another quality for pans, kettles, and

other kitchen ware. The right size is a yard in length and half as wide,

with the ends hemmed. As to material, fine checked linen is usually

employed for glass and silver towels, and crash for ordinary dishes, for

iron and tinware towels which have become somewhat worn, or a coarse bag

opened and hemmed, may be used. Old, half-worn tablecloths may be cut

into excellent dish towels.

It is of the greatest importance that all dishcloths, mops, and towels

be kept perfectly sweet and clean. Greasy dishcloths and sour towels are

neither neat nor wholesome and are a most fertile source of germs, often

breeding disease and death. After each dish washing, the dishcloth,

towels, and mops should be thoroughly washed in hot water with plenty of

soap, well rinsed and hung up to dry either upon a line out of doors or

a rack made for the purpose near the kitchen range. If care is always

taken to clean the dishes as much as possible before washing and to

change the suds as often as they become dirty, the towels will not be

hard to keep clean and sweet-smelling. Those used during the week should

go into the wash as regularly as other household articles. Dish towels

are also much better for being ironed. It gives them a "surface" which

facilitates the drying operation.

THE CARE OF SILVER, GLASS, ETC.--If silver is well washed in hot

water containing a few drops of ammonia, and carefully dried with a

fine, soft towel, it will keep bright for a long time without other

cleaning. If special cleaning is necessary, try the following: Place the

silver in a pan of hot water, then with a soft cloth, soaped and

sprinkled with powdered borax, scour the silver well; afterward rinse in

clear cold water, and dry with a clean cloth. If a more thorough

cleaning is needed, apply moistened Spanish whiting with a silver brush

and soft flannel, afterward polishing with dry whiting and chamois skin.

Frequent scouring should be avoided by careful washing, as too much

rubbing wears out plated ware and dulls the best of silver. Silver ware

and plate which is not in ordinary use can be kept from tarnishing by

varnishing with collodion, a solution of gun-cotton in ether. The

articles should be carefully brushed in this colorless varnish with an

elastic brush, taking care that the entire surface is covered. The film

of collodion will protect the underlying metal from the action of the

sulphurous vapors to which is due the blackening of silver.

Tinware which has become blackened may be made to look bright and

shining again by rubbing with a damp cloth dipped in sal-soda. Afterward

wipe dry. Sand soap or sapolio may be used for the same purpose.

Cut-glass ware which has become in any way blurred or tarnished can be

restored by polishing it with a soft piece of newspaper. First rub well

with a piece slightly moistened and afterward repeat the process with

dry paper. Rubbing with a soft brush dipped in fine, soft whiting is

another method often employed for the same purpose. Cut-glass

water-bottles dim or stained on the inside are best cleaned by rinsing

with dilute muriatic acid, then carefully rinsing several times in clear

cold water to remove all trace of the acid, which is a poison.

All fine china should be handled carefully in washing and drying. There

will be less danger of breakage if the china is gradually heated by

allowing it to stand in a pan of warm water before being put into hot

water. The same is true of all table ware, and is of especial importance

in cold weather.

Brass faucets and other brass or copper articles may be cleaned by

rubbing with whiting wet with aqua ammonia.

Yellowed ivory handles may be restored to their original whiteness by

rubbing with sandpaper and emery; mineral soap or pumice stone may be

used for the same purpose. Nice table cutlery packed away for a season

may be kept from rusting by covering the metal portion with a thin

coating of paraffine. Rust may be removed from steel by scouring with

emery and oil; but if there is much corrosion, some weak muriatic acid

will be needed. This, however, will take some of the metal with the

rust, and must be washed off quickly.

Trays and japanned goods should never have boiling water poured over

them, as it will make the varnish crack and peel. If a tray is badly

soiled, wet with a sponge moistened in warm water and soap, and rub with

a dry cloth; if it looks smeary, dust on a little flour and rub again.

Marks and scratches may sometimes be removed by rubbing with a flannel

cloth dipped in sweet oil.

CARE OF THE TABLE LINEN.--Much of the attractiveness of the table

depends upon the linen used; if this is not well cared for, the finest

table ware cannot make up for the defect.

Stains upon table linen made by acids and vinegar may be removed by

simply washing in clear water; berry stains are easily taken out by

pouring boiling water over them; peach stains are best removed by

soaking for some time in cold water and then washing with soap before

allowing warm water to touch them. Chlorine water or a solution of

chloride of lime will remove fruit stains, and vegetable colors. Coffee

stains rubbed with a mixture of warm water and the yolk of egg, are said

to disappear when the mixture is washed off with clean warm water. Sour

buttermilk well rubbed into the material, dried in, and afterward washed

out in several waters, is said to be effectual in removing tea stains.

All stains should be removed as soon as possible after being made, and

always before putting the linen into the wash.

In washing table linen, housekeepers should remember that hard rubbing

is the worst wear which it can receive. If soaked over night, a gentle

squeezing will usually be quite sufficient to remove all soil, or if a

little borax (a handful to ten gallons of water) or household ammonia in

the proportion of two tablespoonfuls to a pail of water be added, two or

three hours' soaking will suffice. Care should also be taken in hanging

and fastening properly upon the line. Fold the cloth over the line six

or eight inches at least, and in such a manner as to keep the thread

straight, and fasten with three or more clothes pins. Table linen is

often sadly frayed at the corners by being pinned so that all strain

comes upon the corners, and if left to whip in the wind, is soon ruined.

Napkins in summer are much nicer if dried upon the grass. Only the

merest trifle of starch, if any, should be used for table linen.

Table linen should be taken from the line while still damp, folded

evenly lengthwise with the selvage together, then folded lengthwise

again, rolled tight, and wrapped in damp towels so that the outside will

not become dry, and ironed the same day. The irons should be heavy and

as hot as possible without danger of scorching, and the board should be

well padded with several thicknesses of flannel. Iron the linen in

single folds, keeping a damp cloth over portions which will not be

immediately reached. When the entire surface has been ironed, fold

evenly lengthwise and with the selvage edges toward the ironer, again go

over the entire upper side; then fold with the just completed portion

inside, iron again, and so continue until the whole is ironed and

folded. Both napkins and tablecloths are ironed in this way. They

should be thoroughly dried with the iron and well aired before being

laid away, in order to bring out the patterns well and to give them the

desirable glossy finish.

Colored table linen should be washed in tepid water containing a little

powdered borax, which serves to set the color. Very little, if any, soap

should be used. Rinse in tepid water containing a small quantity of

boiled starch; dry in the shade, and iron while yet damp.

Table linen should be carefully darned at once when it begins to wear

and become thin, and may thus be preserved for a long time. When new, it

should be washed before being made up, and the threads raveled or drawn,

so as to make the ends exactly straight. Napkins should be washed before

being cut apart. When not required for regular use, the linen should be

folded loosely, and laid away without ironing in some place where it

will not be subjected to pressure. When needed, it can be quickly

dampened and ironed.

THE GARBAGE.--What to do with the waste accumulating from

preparation of foods is a question of no small importance. The too

frequent disposition of such material is to dump it into a waste-barrel

or garbage box near the back door, to await the rounds of the scavenger.

Unless more than ordinary precautions in regard to cleanliness are

observed, such a proceeding is fraught with great danger. The bits of

moist food, scraps of meat, vegetables, and other refuse, very quickly

set up a fermentative process, which, under the sun's rays, soon breeds

miasm and germs; especially is this true if the receptacle into which

the garbage is thrown is not carefully cleaned after each emptying.

A foul-smelling waste-barrel ought never to be permitted under any

circumstances. The best plan is to burn all leavings and table refuse as

fast as made, which may be done without smell or smoke by opening all

the back drafts of the kitchen range, and placing them on the hot coals

to dry and burn. Some housekeepers keep in one end of the sink a wire

dish drainer into which all fruit and vegetable parings are put. If

wet, the water quickly drains from them, and they are ready to be put

into the stove, where a very little fire soon reduces them to ashes. All

waste products which cannot well be burned, may be buried at a distance

from the house, but not too much in one spot, and the earth should be

carefully covered over afterward. Under no circumstances should it be

scattered about on the surface of the ground near the back door, as

heedless people are apt to do.

If the table refuse must be saved and fed to animals, it should be

carefully sorted, kept free from all dishwater, sour milk, etc., and

used as promptly as possible. It is a good plan to have two tightly

covered waste pails of heavy tin to be used on alternate days. When one

is emptied, it may be thoroughly cleansed and left to purify in the air

and sunshine while the other is in use. Any receptacle for waste should

be entirely emptied and thoroughly disinfected each day with boiling

suds and an old broom. This is especially imperative if the refuse is to

be used as food for cows, since the quality of the milk is more or less

affected by that of the food.

TABLE TOPICS.

A woman cannot work at dressmaking, tailoring, or any other

sedentary employment, ten hours a day, year in and out, without

enfeebling her constitution, impairing her eyesight, and bringing on

a complication of complaints; but she can sweep, cook, wash, and do

the duties of a well-ordered house, with modern arrangements, and

grow healthier every year. The times in New England when all women

did housework a part of every day, were the times when all women

were healthy.--_Harriet Beecher Stowe._

The best ways are commonly the easiest ways and those that give most

comfort to the household. _Know how_ is a great labor-saving

invention, on which there is no patent.--_Sel._

Who sweeps a room as for God's law

Makes that and th' action fine.

--_George Herbert._

A YEAR'S BREAKFASTS & DINNERS

What to get for the family meals is frequently a most perplexing

problem, especially when one remembers the many important points that

should enter into the arrangement of the daily bill of fare. A

well-arranged menu should be composed of articles which supply the

requisite amount of food elements for proper nutrition, palatably

prepared. These should be adapted to the season and also to the family

purse. There should be an agreeable and pleasing change from day to day,

with never too great variety at one meal, and no incongruous association

of foods that do not harmonize, upon the same bill of fare. The amount

of time and strength available for the preparation of the meal must also

receive consideration. The problem would be easier of solution could one

select her menu wholly from fresh material each time; but in most

households the odds and ends and "left-over" foods must be utilized, and

if possible compounded into dishes that will not have the savor of

yesterday's breakfast or dinner.

The making of a bill of fare offers opportunity for thought and study

under all circumstances; but it is often particularly difficult for the

housewife long accustomed to the use of foods of a different character,

to make up a menu of hygienic dishes properly adapted to all

requirements. For such of our readers as need aid in this direction, we

give in this chapter bills of fare for fifty-two weeks' breakfasts and

dinners. Not that we presume to have arranged a model dietary which

every one can adopt,--individual preferences, resources, and various

other conditions would preclude that,--but we have endeavored to prepare

a list of menus suitable for use should circumstances admit, and which

we trust may be found helpfully suggestive of good, hygienic living.

We have given meats no place upon these bills of fare, as we wished

particularly to illustrate how good, substantial menus of appetizing

variety can be provided without their use; but such of our readers as

desire this class of foods will have no difficulty in supplementing the

bills we have arranged by adding such meats as accord with their tastes

and purses, while our chapter on Meats will give them all needed

information as to their preparation.

In arranging the bills of fare it has been presupposed that the

housewife has provided herself with at least a moderate allowance of

canned or dried vegetables and fruits during their season, for use

throughout the year. Effort has also been made to suggest an ample

variety of seasonable and wholesome articles and to make provision for

any probable left-over foods; and to illustrate how by planning and

thinking beforehand the same material may be used to form the base of

two different dishes for successive days, enough of which for both may

often be cooked at the same time, thus economizing in time and fuel.

No particular year has been taken, as we desired the menus to be adapted

to all years, and as no dates could be given, we have taken even weeks,

ending each with a Sabbath menu, beginning with the first month of the

year.

A third meal, if desired, whether it be luncheon or supper, should, for

health's sake, be so simple in character that we have not deemed it

necessary to give bills of fare. Breads, fruits, and grains, with milk,

cream, and some simple relish, tastefully served, offer ample provision

for a healthful and nourishing repast.

No mention has been made of beverages upon the bills of fare. If any are

used, hot milk or caramel coffee are to be preferred. Cooked fruit,

either fresh, dried, or canned, is desirable for every meal, but the

kind--as also of the fresh fruit upon the breakfast bill--may be

arranged according to individual preferences and resources. The use of

cream, sugar, and other accessories should be suited to circumstances.

It is intended that croutons be served with the soups, and in arranging

the variety of breads, an effort has been made to provide one of harder

texture for use with grains and other soft foods. The wafers mentioned

are the whole-wheat and gluten wafers manufactured by the Sanitarium

Food Co., which by many families are considered more convenient for

general use as a hard bread than the crisps, sticks, etc., which upon

some of the menus are designed for the same purpose.

Less variety may be used, and changes made to suit the taste and

circumstances of those providing and partaking of the meals; but

whatever is subtracted should still leave upon the bill of fare the more

nutritious articles, like grains, whole-wheat bread, and other foods

rich in nerve and muscle forming elements.

Whether the housewife follows the bills of fare given with such

modifications as are best suited to the needs of her household, or

provides some of her own choosing, she will find it a great saving of

vexation and trouble to make them out for several days or a week ahead,

at one time, rather than from day to day or from meal to meal. She can

then plan her work and her resources so as the more nearly to make "both

ends meet," and can provide a more varied fare, while if changes are

needed, they can be easily made by substituting one article for another,

as circumstances demand.

In the arrangement of her menus she will find it well to select first

the grain and breads to be used, since being among the most nutritious

of all foods, they may well form the chief and staple food, around

which all other articles upon the bill of fare are grouped. If the grain

chosen be rice, farina, or one largely composed of starch, the remainder

of the menu should include some foods rich in nitrogenous elements, such

as macaroni, whole-wheat or Graham breads, the legumes, eggs, etc. If

the choice of grain be one containing a high percentage of nitrogenous

material, less of this element will be required in the accompanying

foods. As an aid in determining the nutritive value of any given food

substance, the following table, presenting the results of the chemical

analysis of the more common articles used as food, which we have

compiled from the most recent scientific authorities, will be found

helpful:--

TABLE SHOWING THE NUTRITIVE VALUES OF COMMON FOOD SUBSTANCES.

(1)Water.

(2)Albuminous elements.

(3)Starch.

(4)Grape Sugar.

(5)Cane Sugar.

(6)Free Fat.

(7)Free Acid.

GRAINS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Wheat, Poland 13.2 21.5 61.9 X 1.5 X

Mich. White 12.8 11.6 71. X 1.3 X

" Diehle 12.2 13.8 72.2 X X X

Japanese 12.4 16.5 65.1 X 1.6 X

Rye, Winter 8.7 11. 74.6 X 1.9 X

German 8. 14. 78. X X X

Barley 24. 10.5 66.7 X 2. X

So. Russian 4. 12.7 70.9 X X X

Oats 12. 10.7 58.3 X 7.8 X

Corn, Flint 13.1 10.2 68.5 X 4.8 X

Dent 13.4 9.4 68.5 X 5. X

Sweet 13.4 11.4 62.7 X 7.8 X

Rice 12.6 6.7 78.5 X .9 X

Millet 11.8 10.5 68.2 X 4.2 X

Buckwheat 12.7 10. 71.8 X 1.4 X

Iceland Moss 16. 22. 36.3 X 1.4 X

FLOUR.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Graham 13. 11.7 69.9 X 1.7 X

Wheat 11.6 11.1 75.4 X 1.1 X

Rye 13.7 11.6 69.7 X 2. X

Barley 14.8 11.4 71.2 X 1.5 X

Oat 7.7 15.1 67.2 X 7.1 X

Corn 14.2 9.7 69.5 X 3.8 X

Buckwheat 13.5 8.9 74.3 X 1.6 X

Bean 10.3 23.2 59.4 X 2.1 X

Pea 11.4 25.2 57.2 X 2. X

Banana 14.9 2.9 77.9 X .5 X

Arrowroot 18. X 82. X X X

BREADS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Barley 12.4 9.4 64.4 4.7 1. X

Whole Wheat 13. 8.7 60. 4. 6. X

White 45.1 5.3 46. 2.3 .8 X

Rye 42.3 6.1 46.9 2.3 .4 X

Swedish Speise 12. 10. 72.3 3.1 1.6 X

Brod

Zwieback, White 13.3 8.5 73.3 1.8 1. X

Rye 11.6 9.3 67.2 3.6 1. X

Macaroni 13.1 9. 76.8 X .3 X

Manna 15.3 1.9 18.1 49.[2] X X

FRESH FRUITS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Apple 84.8 .4 X 7.2 X .8

Apricot 81.2 .5 X 4.6 X 1.2

Blackberry 86.4 .5 X 4.1 X .2

Banana 73. 1.9 X X .6 X

Cherry 79.8 .7 X 10.2 X .9

Cranberry 89.6 .1 X 1.5 X 3.3

Currant 84.7 .5 X 6.4 X 2.3

Grape 78.2 .6 X 14.3 X .8

Gooseberry 85.7 .5 X 7.1 X 1.4

Pear 83.2 .4 X 8.2 X .2

Prune 81.2 .8 X 6.2 X .8

Plum 84.9 .4 X 3.6 X 2.5

Peach 80. .7 X 4.5 X .9

Raspberry 85.7 .4 X 3.9 X 1.4

Strawberry 87.6 1.1 X 6.3 .5 .9

Whortleberry 78.4 .8 X 5. X 1.6

DRIED FRUITS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Prune 29.3 2.3 .2 44.5 .5 X 2.7

Pear 29.4 2. 10.8 29.1 .4 X .8

Apple 27.9 1.3 5.6 42.8 .8 X 3.6

Cherry 49.8 2. X 31.2 X .3 X

Raisin 32. 3.4 X 54.6 X .6 X

Fig 31.2 4. X 49.8 X X X

Date 33. 9. X X 58. X X

NUTS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Chestnut 7.3 14.6 69. X X 2.4 X

Walnut 7.2 15.8 13. X X 57.4 X

Hazelnut 7.1 17.4 7.2 X X 62.6 X

Sweet Almond 6.2 23.5 7.8 X X 53. X

Peanut 6.5 26.3 1.8 X X 46.2 X

Cocoanut 46.5 5.6 8. X X 35.9 X

Syrup 24.6 X X 26.2 44.9 X X

Honey 20.6 .8 X 72.8 1.8 X X

VEGETABLES.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Carrot 85.8 1.2 X X .3 X

Winter Cabbage 80. 4. X 1.2 .9 X

Red Cabbage 90. 1.8 X 1.7 .2 X

White Cabbage 90. 1.9 X 2.3 .2 X

Spinach 38.5 3.5 X .1 .6 X

Celery 84.1 1.5 X .8 .4 X

Head Lettuce 94.3 1.4 X X .3 X

Potato 75. 2.2 X X .2 X

White Turnip 92.5 1.5 X X .2 X

Beet 87.5 1.3 X X .1 X

Sugar Beet 71.6 2. X 12.6 .5 X

Parsnip 82. 1.2 X X .6 X

Sweet Potato 71.8 1. X X .2 X

Cucumber 95.2 1.2 X 1. X X

Asparagas 93.7 1.8 X .4 .3 X

Cauliflower 90.9 2.3 X 1.2 .3 X

Melon 90.4 1. X 2.2 .3 X

Squash 90.3 1.1 X 1.4 .1 X

Onion 86. 1.7 X 2.8 .1 X

Pumpkin 90.3 1.1 5.1 1.5 .1 X

Tomato 92.4 1.6 X 2.5 .3 1.8

Peas,

green, garden 78.4 6.4 12. X X .5 X

small 10.3 24.6 52.6 X 3.5 X

African 6.5 23.4 57.8 X 6. X

green shelled 12.7 21.7 57.7 X 1.9 X

Beans, field 13.5 25. 48.3 X 1.7 X

French or

Kidney 11. 23.7 55.6 X 2.2 X

white 15. 26.9 48.8 X 3. X

Lima 9. 21.9 60.6 X 1.6 X

String beans 88.7 2.7 5.5 1.2 .1 X

Lentils 12.3 25.9 53. X 1.9 X

German 11.7 33. 30.3 X 8.7 X

MILK AND BUTTER. Milk

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) Sug. (6) (7)

Mother's milk 89.2 .9 X X 5.4 3.2 X

Cows' " 86. 4.1 X X 5.2 3.9 X

Cream 66. 2.7 X X 2.8 26.7 X

Swedish Butter 13.8 .6 X X .6 84.4 X

French " 12.6 X X X .2 86.4 X

Cheese, Stilton 32. 26.2 X X 34.5 3.3 X

Skimmed milk 88. .4 X X 3.8 1.8 X

Buttermilk 88. 4.1 X X 3.6 .7 X

Milk of Cow 58. 1.7 X 2.8 X 35.2 X

Tree

MEATS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Lean Beef 72. 19.3 X X X 3.6 X

Lean Mutton 72. 18.3 X X X 4.9 X

Veal 63. 16.3 X X X 15.8 X

Pork 39. 9.8 X X X 49.9 X

Poultry 74. 21. X X X 3.8 X

White Fish 78. 18.1 X X X 2.9 X

Salmon 77. 16.1 X X X 5.5 X

Entire Egg 74. 14. X X X 10.5 X

White of Egg 78. 20.4 X X X X X

Yolk of Egg 52. 16. X X X 30.7 X

(8)Pectose.

(9)Non-Nitrog. Substances.

(10)Salts.

(11)Cellulose.

(12)Propor. Carbon to Nitrogenous.

(13)Total Nutritive Value.

GRAINS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Wheat, Poland X X 1.9 X 2.9 86.8

Mich. White X X 1.6 1.7 6.2 85.5

" Diehle X X 1.8 X 5.2 87.8

Japanese X X 1.5 2.9 4. 84.7

Rye, Winter X X 2.3 1.5 6.9 89.8

German X X X X 5.5 92.

Barley X X 2.6 3.8 6.5 82.2

So. Russian X X 2.4 X 5.5 86.

Oats X X 3.3 17.9 5.2 86.7

Corn, Flint X X 1.4 1.7 7.1 84.9

Dent X X 1.5 2.2 7.8 84.4

Sweet X X 1.8 2.9 6.1 83.7

Rice X X .8 .5 11.8 86.9

Millet X X 2.8 2.5 6.9 85.7

Buckwheat X X 1.9 1.7 7.3 85.6

Iceland Moss X X 1.4 2.9 2.6 81.1

FLOUR.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Graham X X 1.8 1.9 6.1 85.1

Wheat X X .6 .2 6.8 88.2

Rye X X 1.4 1.6 6.1 84.7

Barley X X .6 .5 6.3 84.7

Oat X X 2. .9 4.9 91.4

Corn X X 1.3 1.5 7.5 84.3

Buckwheat X X 1. .7 8.5 83.8

Bean X X 3.3 1.7 2.6 88.

Pea X X 2.9 1.3 2.3 87.3

Banana X X 2.2 1.6 27. 83.5

Arrowroot X X X X 82. 82.

BREADS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Barley X X 3.8 4.3 7.4 83.3

Whole Wheat X X 3. 5.3 8. 81.7

White X X .5 X 9.2 54.9

Rye X X 1.5 .5 8.1 57.2

Swedish Speise X X X 1. 7. 87.

Brod

Zwieback, White X X .6 1.5 9. 83.2

Rye X X 2.1 4.7 7.7 83.7

Macaroni X X .8 X 8.5 86.9

Manna X 5.6 X 10.1 67. 72.7

FRESH FRUITS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Apple 4.8 X .5 1.5 18. 13.7

Apricot 5.4 X .8 5.3 9.2 13.5

Blackberry 1.4 X .4 7. 6.2 8.1

Banana X 23.9 1. .3 .3 26.7

Cherry 1.8 X .7 5.9 14.5 14.8

Cranberry X X .2 6.3 15. 4.1

Currant .9 X .7 4.6 12.8 10.7

Grape 2. X .5 3.6 13.8 18.2

Gooseberry 1.4 X .4 3.5 14.2 10.8

Pear 3.3 X .3 4.4 20.5 12.4

Prune 4.9 X .7 5.5 7.7 13.4

Plum 4.6 X .7 4.3 9. 10.8

Peach 7.1 X .7 6.1 6.4 13.9

Raspberry .7 X .5 7.4 9.7 6.9

Strawberry .5 X .8 2.3 6.1 10.1

Whortleberry .9 X 1. 12.3 6.2 9.3

DRIED FRUITS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Prune 4.3 13.4 1.4 1.5 19.6 69.2

Pear 4.5 14.9 1.7 6.9 19.9 63.7

Apple 4.8 6.5 1.6 5.1 37.8 67.

Cherry X 14.3 1.6 2.4 15.7 47.8

Raisin X 7.5 1.2 1.7 23. 66.3

Fig X X 2.9 12.1 12.4 36.7

Date X X X X 6.4 67.

NUTS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Chestnut X X 3.3 3.4 4.8 89.3

Walnut X X 2. 4.6 4.4 88.2

Hazelnut X X 2.5 3.2 4. 89.7

Sweet Almond X X 3. 6.5 2.6 87.3

Peanut X X 3.3 13.9 1.7 79.6

Cocoanut X X 1. 2.9 7.8 50.5

Syrup X 2. 2.3 X 71. 75.4

Honey X 3.8 .2 X 91. 78.1

VEGETABLES.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Carrot X 9.2 1. 1.5 .2 11.7

Winter Cabbage X 10.4 1.6 1.9 .5 18.1

Red Cabbage X 4.2 .8 1.3 1. 8.7

White Cabbage X 2.6 1.2 1.8 1.3 8.2

Spinach X 4.3 2. 1. .2 10.5

Celery X 11. .8 1.4 .8 14.5

Head Lettuce X 2.2 1. .8 1.8 4.9

Potato X 21. 1. .6 .1 24.4

White Turnip X 3. .7 2.1 .1 5.4

Beet X 9. 1.1 1. .1 11.5

Sugar Beet X .7 1. 11.6 21.5 23.3

Parsnip X 7.2 1. 8. .5 10.

Sweet Potato X 25.3 .7 1. .2 27.2

Cucumber X 1.4 .4 .8 .8 4.

Asparagas X 2.3 .5 1. .4 5.3

Cauliflower X 3.4 .8 .9 .6 8.2

Melon X 4. .7 1.4 2.1 3.8

Squash X 5.2 .7 1.2 1.3 8.5

Onion X 8. .7 .7 1.7 13.3

Pumpkin X X .7 1.2 6. 8.5

Tomato X X .6 .8 1.8 6.8

Peas,

green, garden X X .8 1.9 2. 19.7

small X X 2.6 6.4 2.2 83.3

African X X 3. 3.3 2.7 90.2

green shelled X X 2.8 3.2 2.7 84.1

Beans, field X X 3.5 8. 2. 78.5

French or

Kidney X X 3.7 3.8 2.4 85.2

white X X 3.5 2.8 1.9 82.2

Lima X X 2.9 4. 3.1 93.

String beans X X .6 1.2 2.5 10.1

Lentils X X 3. 3.9 2.1 83.8

German X X 2.7 13.6 1.2 74.7

MILK AND BUTTER.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Mother's milk X X .4 X X X

Cows' " X X .8 X 2.2 14.

Cream X X 1.8 X 11. 34.

Swedish Butter X X .6 X 141. 86.2

French " X X .8 X 86.6 87.4

Cheese, Stilton X X 4. X 1.4 68.

Skimmed milk X X .8 X 1.4 10.4

Buttermilk X X .8 X 1. 9.2

Milk of Cow X X .5 X 2.2 40.2

Tree

MEATS.

FOOD SUBSTANCES (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Lean Beef X X 5.1 X .18 28.

Lean Mutton X X 4.8 X .26 28.

Veal X X 4.7 X .93 37.

Pork X X 2.3 X .49 61.

Poultry X X 1.2 X .18 26.

White Fish X X 1. X .16 22.

Salmon X X 1.4 X .34 23.

Entire Egg X X 1.5 X .75 26.

White of Egg X X 1.6 X X 22.

Yolk of Egg X X 1.3 X 1.9 48.

[Footnote 1: Chiefly sugar and starch.]

[Footnote 2: Mannite]

BILLS OF FARE FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR.

In the following pages will be found a breakfast and dinner bill of fare

for every day in the year, beginning with January 1. We would

particularly recommend a trial of their use by the young and

inexperienced matron just entering upon housekeeping, whose desire

should be to begin right--provide simple and healthful as well as

palatable food for her family. To many such we trust that our "year's

breakfasts and dinners" may come like the grateful suggestions of a

helpful friend. An explanation of the bills of fare has been given in

the preceding pages, and need not be repeated here.

FIRST WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Gravy Toast

Corn Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Baked Potato with Tomato Cream Sauce

Mashed Peas

Baked Squash

Rolled Rye

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Pop Corn Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Baked Potato and Pease Gravy

Macaroni with Kornlet

Stewed Lima Beans

Pearl Barley

Corn Cake

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Cream Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Hominy

Graham Puffs

Oatmeal Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Simple Custard Pie

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Hominy Gems

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Tomato Gravy

Celery

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Cream Soup

Boiled Potatoes with Cream Sauce

Mashed Peas

Baked Chestnuts

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Rice

Stewed Fruit

Stewed Fruit Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Mixed Mush

Browned Sweet Potato

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Baked Sweet Apples

Graham Bread

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Baked Cabbage

Stewed Corn

Pearl Wheat

Zwieback

Current Puffs

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Toasted Wafers

Celery Toast

Raised Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn Soup

Baked Squash

Mashed Beans

Rolled Rye

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Apple Meringue Desert

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Oranges

Oatmeal

Prune Toast

Baked Sour Apples

Breakfast Rolls

Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Canned Green Peas

Scalloped Potato

Steamed Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Plain Buns

Zwieback

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit and Nuts

SECOND WEEK.

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Cream Toast

Toasted Rolls

Fruit Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Combination Soup

Boiled Potato with Cream Sauce

Pease Cakes

Stewed Celery

Cracked Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Zwieback

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tapioca

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Strawberry Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Crisps

Pop Overs

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Celery Soup No. 2.

Mashed Squash

Mashed Potato

Chopped Turnip

Rolled Wheat

Graham Crisps

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Cream Rice Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Corn Cake

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Boiled Macaroni

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Boiled Beets, Sliced

Succotash

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Toasted Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch Meringue

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Snowflake Toast

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Graham Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

Scalloped Tomatoes

Farina

Graham Fruit Bread

Crusts

Zwieback

Stewed Fruit

Apple Pie

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Apple Mush

Gravy Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Graham Fruit Bread

Macaroni with Kornlet

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Soup

Mashed Potato

Cabbage Salad

Mashed Peas with Tomato Sauce

Pearl Barley

Toasted Wafers

Vienna Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Rice Mold with Fruit Sauce

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Orange Rice

Blackberry Toast

Currant Puffs

Graham Crisps

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Potato Puffs

Baked Beets

Stewed Corn and Tomatoes

Pearl Wheat

Parker House Rolls

Zwieback

Corn Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Prune Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Grape Toast

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Stewed Potato

Canned Okra and Tomato

Browned Rice

Beaten Biscuits

Graham Crackers

Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

Prune Pie with Granola Crust

THIRD WEEK.

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Raisins

Gravy Toast

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Baked Potato with Celery Sauce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Steamed Potatoes with Pease Gravy

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Mashed Parsnip

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Bread Custard Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Peach Toast

Cottage Cheese

Hoe Cake

Graham Wafers

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil and Parsnip Soup

Mashed Potato

Celery

Hulled Corn

Scalloped Tomato

Macaroni with Raisins

Raised Corn Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Celery Toast

Potato Cakes

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Zwieback

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Rice Soup

Boiled Potato with Brown Sauce

Stewed Cabbage

Mashed Split Peas

Boiled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Corn Meal Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Apricot Toast

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Corn Puffs

Granola

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Mashed Potato

Cabbage Hash

Stewed Vegetable Oysters

Graham Mush

Graham Puffs

Buns

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch with Raisins

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Graham Gruel

Lentil Toast

Beaten Biscuits

Graham Gems

Zwieback

Baked Potato with Cream Gravy

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Mixed Potato Soup

Macaroni with Kornlet

Baked Beans

Graham Grits

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Stewed Fruit

Fig Pudding with Orange Sauce

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Brewis

Blackberry Toast

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Green Pea Soup

Boiled Potato

Corn and Tomato

Mashed Lentils and Beans

Farina

Graham Crusts

Zwieback

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Tapioca Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Grape Toast

Graham Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Baked Sour Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Corn Soup

Creamed Potatoes

Mashed Peas

Cold Boiled Beets, sliced

Steamed Rice

Graham Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Raised Jelly Cake

Fresh Fruit

FOURTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Snowflake Toast

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Bread

Corn Puffs

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Baked Potatoes with Brown Sauce

Cabbage Salad

Parsnips with Egg Sauce

Cracked Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Rye Gems

Sticks

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Stewed Apple Dessert

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Prune Toast

Pop Overs

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Boiled Potato with Lentil Gravy

Turnips in Juice

Celery with Tomato

Cracked Wheat

Toasted Rolls

Raised Biscuit

Oatmeal Gems

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca and Fig Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Gravy Toast

Hoe Cake

Graham Sticks

Whole-Wheat Bread

Boiled Macaroni

Baked Chestnuts

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Celery Soup No. 2

Mashed Sweet Potato

Chopped Beets

Succotash

Graham Grits

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Banana Dessert

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Apple Toast

Graham Puffs

Zwieback

Graham Bread

Baked Bananas

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Parsnip Soup No. 2

Scalloped Potatoes

Stewed Lima Beans

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Farina

Graham Crisps

Crescents

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Prune Dessert

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Cakes

Gravy Toast

Bean Gems

Graham Crisps

Fruit Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Soup

Baked Potato with Tomato Cream Sauce

Stewed Parsnip with Celery

Mashed Peas

Pearl Wheat

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Bread

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Lemon Pie

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Cream Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Corn Puffs

Macaroni with Raisins

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Stewed Potato

Hulled Corn

Chopped Turnip

Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Molded Cracked Wheat with Fruit Sauce

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Prune Toast

Pulled Bread

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Citron Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Stewed Corn

Steamed Rice

Cream Crisps

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Caramel Custards

Fruit and Nuts

FIFTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Okra and Tomato Soup

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Mashed Cabbage

Pease Cakes

Boiled Wheat

Oatmeal Crisps

Graham Gems

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Carrot Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Banana Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Zwieback

Rye Bread

Browned Sweet Potato

Baked Sour Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Potato Soup

Potatoes Stewed with Celery

Egg Macaroni

Stewed Carrots

Hominy

Rye Bread

Sticks

Currant Buns

Stewed Fruit

Prune Whip

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Snowflake Toast

Hominy Gems

Sticks

Whole-Wheat Bread

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Scalloped Turnip

Mashed Chestnuts

Lentil Puree with Lemon

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Cream Rice Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Apple Mush

Blackberry Toast

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Tomatoes

Stewed Vegetable Oysters

Pearl Wheat

Sally Lemon Gems

Graham Bread

Zwieback

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Vegetable Oyster Toast

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Corn Cake

Baked Sweet Potato

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Soup

Baked Potato

Stewed Beans

Kornlet

Chopped Beets

Browned Rice

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Orange Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Boiled Oats

Strawberry Toast

Graham Gems

Hoe Cakes

Toasted Wafers

Macaroni with Kornlet

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Browned Potato

Cabbage Salad

Baked Squash

Mashed Peas

Rice

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Baked Corn Meal Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Lemon Rice

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Crackers

Baked Sour Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Pea Soup

Chopped Sweet Potatoes

Stewed Lima Beans

Celery

Boiled Wheat

Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Squash Pie

SIXTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Poached Eggs on Toast

Corn Cakes

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Hominy Soup

Potato Rice

Turnips with Cream Sauce

Mashed Parsnips

Baked Barley

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Graham Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Plain Fruit Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Gravy Toast

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Crescents

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Lentil Soup

Baked Potato

Boiled Beets

Stewed Cabbage

Mashed Squash

Cracked Wheat

Graham Raised Biscuit

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange with Mock Cream

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Graham Puffs

Lemon Apples

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Velvet Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Peas

Vegetable Hash

Graham Grits

Graham Bread Sticks

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Gravy Toast

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Baked Sour Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Boiled Potato with Cream Sauce

Browned Parsnips

Baked Turnip

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Almond Cornstarch Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Porridge

Cream Toast

Zwieback

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Potato Snowballs

Carrots with Egg Sauce

Mashed Beans

Rolled Wheat

Fruit Loaf

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Prune Toast

Graham Rolls

Fruit Bread

Bean Gems

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Broth

Baked Potato

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Hulled Corn

Pearl Barley

Toasted Wafers

Zwieback

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Floating Islands

Oranges

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat with Raisins

Blackberry Toast

Graham Raised Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Baked Sour Apples

DINNER

Canned Green Corn Soup

Stewed Potato

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Rice

Buns

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Bread Custard

Almonds

SEVENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Steamed Potatoes with Cream Sauce

Baked Parsnips

Scalloped Beans

Browned Rice

Toasted Wafers

Whole Wheat Puffs

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit.

Cocoanut Blancmange or Fresh Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Lentil Gravy

Snowflake Toast

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Corn Puffs

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Combination Soup

Baked Potato

Mashed Squash

Turnips in Juice

Graham Grits

Graham Crisps

Whole-Wheat Bread

Zwieback

Stewed Fruit

Orange Float

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Lentil Toast

Granola

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Creamed Potatoes

Celery

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Cracked Wheat

Corn Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Apples or Bananas

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Apple Toast

Rye Bread

Pop Overs

Toasted Wafers

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Baked Potatoes

Carrots with Egg Sauce

Mashed Peas

Corn Meal Cubes with Hot Cream

Rye Bread

Graham Sticks

Stewed Fruit

Farina Fruit Mold

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Rye Bread

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Boiled Potato with Brown Sauce

Baked Cabbage

Stewed Corn

Rolled Rye

Currant Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Date Pudding with Lemon Sauce

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Snowflake Toast

Zwieback

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Crescents

Boiled Macaroni

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn Soup

Steamed Potatoes with Cream Sauce

Stewed Lima Beans

Baked Beets

Pearl Wheat

Vienna Bread

Graham Crisps

Oatmeal Gems

Stewed Fruit

Apple Manioca or Fresh Fruit

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Tomato Toast

Currant Buns

Toasted Wafers

Citron Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Pea Soup

Stewed Potato

Succotash

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Rolls with Fruit Jelly

Stewed Fruit

Bananas

EIGHTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Peach Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Whole-Wheat Bread

Granola

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Soup

Potato Rice

Scalloped Tomatoes

Mashed Parsnips

Boiled Wheat

Zwieback

Whole-Wheat Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Stewed Fruit

Oranges and Nuts

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Gravy Toast

Hoe Cake

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Boiled Potatoes

Mashed Turnips

Canned Green Peas

Pearl Barley

Fruit Loaf

Beaten Biscuit

Farina Blancmange with Fruit Sauce

Stewed Fruit

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Banana Toast

Corn Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil and Parsnip Soup

Scalloped Potato

Chopped Cabbage

Hulled Corn

Graham Apple Mash

Graham Puffs

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Grape Apples

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Brewis

Cream Toast

Macaroni with Cream sauce

Corn Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Dates

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Potato Puffs

Stewed Split Peas

Sliced Beets

Crusts

Graham Bread

Fruit Rolls

Molded Cracked Wheat with Fruit Juice

Stewed Fruit

Bananas

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Prune Toast

Peas Puree

Fruit Rolls

Rye Gems

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup with Vermicelli

Boiled Potato with Brown Sauce

Mashed Squash

Baked Beans

Pearl Wheat

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Granola Gems

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Wheat Porridge

Gravy Toast

Graham Puffs

Hoe Cake

Toasted Wafers

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Steamed Potato

Stewed Corn

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Bean Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Orange Custard

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Orange Rice

Strawberry Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Fruit Bread

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Creamed Corn Soup

Creamed Potatoes

Macaroni with Tomato

Baked Wheat

Beaten Biscuit

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cocoanut Layer Cake

California Grapes

NINTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Gravy Toast

Graham Gems

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Lima Beans

Baked Beets

Graham Grits

Graham Gems

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Snowball Custard or Fresh Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits Gruel, with Croutons

Apple and Prune Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean and Tapioca Soup

Beet Hash

Stewed Vegetable Oysters

Mashed Peas with Tomato Sauce

Rice with Raisins

Raised Biscuit

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Apple Rose Cream

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Tomato Toast

Raised Biscuits

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Scalloped Potatoes

Cabbage Celery

Stewed Tomato

Baked Squash

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Crackers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Rice Fruit Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Apple Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Potato

Baked Parsnips

Rolled Rye

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apple Loaf

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Date Bread

Toasted Wafers

Granola

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Parsnip Soup

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Mashed Lentils with Beans

Boiled Macaroni

Farina

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Apple and Fig Tapioca

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Lentil Toast

Cream Crisps

Date Bread

Graham Puffs

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Macaroni Soup

Stewed Split Peas

Scalloped Turnip

Browned Rice

Corn Meal Mush Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Farina Custard or Fresh Fruit

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Prune Toast

Graham Fruit Bread

Toasted Rolls

Baked Sour Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Cream Soup

Potato Cakes

Stewed Corn

Steamed Rice

Beaten Biscuits

Buns

Stewed Fruit

Apple Pie or Fresh Fruit

TENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Toasted Beaten Biscuits

Corn Cakes

Granola

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Scalloped Beans

Macaroni baked with Granola

Graham Grits

Graham Crisps

Pop Overs

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Stewed Fruit Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Strawberry Toast

French Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Combination Soup

Scalloped Potato

Browned Parsnips

Hulled Corn

Graham Apple Mush

Rye Bread

Zwieback

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Cocoanut Cornstarch Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Gravy Toast

Graham Gems

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Parsnip Soup No. 2.

Boiled Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Mashed Peas

Chopped Cabbage

Pearl Barley

Crusts

Corn Dodgers

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Cream Rice Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Blackberry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Potato Rice

Succotash

Stewed Tomato

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Rye Bread

Sticks

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Bread Pudding or Fresh Fruit

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Cream Toast

Graham Gems

Hoe Cake

Toasted Wafers

Baked Potato with Cream Gravy

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Steamed Potato with Brown Sauce

Cabbage Celery

Carrots with Egg Sauce

Macaroni with Kornlet

Farina

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apples with Whipped Cream

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat with Dates

Boiled Macaroni

Graham Biscuits

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Carrot Soup

Baked Potatoes

Mashed Turnips

Baked Squash

Hominy

Graham Bread

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Banana Shortcake

Nuts

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Boiled Wheat

Grape Toast

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuits

Citron Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Browned Potatoes

Canned Green Peas

Steamed Rice

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Almond Cream

ELEVENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Browned Rice

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuits

Macaroni with Raisins

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Mashed Parsnips

Hulled Corn

Mixed Mush

Rye Gems

Corn Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Custard or Fresh Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Apricot Toast

Graham Gems

Corn Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Turnip

Stewed Split Peas

Farina Fruit Mush

Whole-Wheat Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Zwieback

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Tapioca Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Parched Farinose

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Pop Overs

Browned Corn Meal Mush

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Stewed Potatoes

Chopped Beets

Mashed Lima Beans

Pearl Wheat

Pulled Bread

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Bread and Fruit Custard

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Boiled Potato

Cabbage and Tomato

Mashed Peas

Rice

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca Lemon Jelly

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Gruel with Croutons

Boiled Macaroni

Graham Gems

Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Baked Potato with Gravy

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Carrots with Egg Sauce

Scalloped Tomato

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Buns

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Dried Apple Pie or Fresh Fruit

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Graham Bread

Breakfast Rolls

Potato Cakes

Peas Puree

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Boiled Potato with Cream Sauce

Succotash

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Rolled Wheat with Raisins

Graham Puffs

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Graham Grits Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Prune Toast

Fruit Rolls

Graham Biscuit

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Stewed Potato

Cold Sliced Beets

Kornlet

Steamed Rice

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit and Nuts

TWELFTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Steamed Eggs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Scalloped Tomatoes

Stewed Cabbage

Pearl Barley

Cream Crisps

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange with Cocoanut Sauce

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Apple and Apricot Toast

Cream Rolls

Graham Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Potato Rice

Creamed Parsnips

Chopped Turnip

Graham Mush

Crusts

Graham Bread

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Prune and Tapioca Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush with Fruit

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Parker House Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Broth

Baked Potato and Brown Sauce

Boiled Beets

Corn and Tomato

Graham Grits

Mush Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Stewed Fruit

Cream Rice Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Prune Toast

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Citron Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Beet Hash

Mashed Peas

Macaroni with Kornlet

Orange Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Apple Sago Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Browned Rice

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Potatoes

Pease Cakes with Tomato Sauce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup No. 2.

Mashed Potato

Mashed Parsnips

Stewed Corn

Rolled Rye

Corn Bread

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Banana Dessert

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Blackberry Toast

Macaroni with Raisins

Pop Overs

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Potato Puff

Scalloped Tomato

Baked Beans

Cracked Wheat

Graham Bread

Sticks

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Malaga Grapes

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Tomato Toast

Buns

Beaten Biscuit

Baked Apples

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Stewed Potato

Canned String Beans

Boiled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Buns

Lemon Shortcake

Nuts

THIRTEENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Cream Toast

Breakfast Rolls with Fruit Jelly

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Potato Soup

Mashed Potato

Beets with Cream Sauce

Macaroni baked with Granola

Pearl Barley with Raisins

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Lemon Apples with Whipped Cream

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Poached Eggs on Toast

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Potato Cakes

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Lentil Soup

Mashed Potato

Cabbage Salad

Mashed Turnip

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apple Dessert

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Snowflake Toast

Oatmeal Gems

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Baked Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Mashed or Stewed Peas

Canned Corn

Graham Mush

Pulled Bread

Fruit Bread

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Corn Puffs

Creamed Potatoes

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Potato Rice

Tomato and Macaroni

Hulled Corn

Rice

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Raised Pie or Fresh Fruit

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Apple Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Bananas

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Creamed Potatoes

Chopped Turnips

Parsnips with Cream Sauce

Cracked Wheat

Toasted Rolls

Date Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Prune Toast

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Date Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tomato Soup

Boiled Potatoes

Macaroni and Lentil Gravy

Stewed Carrots

Graham Grits

Cream Crisps

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Gravy Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Bread

Cup Custard

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Soup with Vermicelli

Warmed-over Potato

Canned Green Peas

Cold Sliced Beets

Rolled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Prune Pie

Fruit

FOURTEENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Steamed Figs

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Fruit Bread

Granola

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Corn Soup

Baked Potatoes with Cream Sauce

Scalloped Tomatoes

Mashed Peas

Browned Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Stewed Fruit Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Peach Toast

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Gems

Dates

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Creamed Potatoes

Baked Cabbage

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Hominy

Toasted Rolls

Corn Puffs

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Fruit Cornstarch Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Parker House Rolls

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Hominy Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Lentils

Turnips with Cream Sauce

Farina

Vienna Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Banana Dessert or Fresh Fruit

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Lentil Toast

Currant Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Graham Bread

Potato Cakes

Granola

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Cream Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Baked or Stewed Beans

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Rice

Vienna Bread

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Prune Dessert

Nuts

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Gravy Toast

Graham Bread

Breakfast Rolls

Rice and Corn Cakes

Baked Apples

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Parsnips

Succotash

Graham Grits

Raised Corn Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Tapioca Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits Gruel with Croutons

Strawberry Toast

Macaroni with Raisins

Cream Rolls

Corn Bread

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Lentil Soup

Potato Cakes

Chopped Cabbage

Stewed Corn and Tomatoes

Pearl Barley

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Pop Overs

Stewed Fruit

Bread Pudding or Fresh Fruit

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Prune Toast

Currant Buns

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

White Custard in Cups

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Baked Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Stewed Lima Beans

Rice

Graham Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Pie

Oranges

FIFTEENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Fruit Mush

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Graham Bread

Baked Bananas

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Potato Soup

Mashed Potato

Cabbage Celery

Scalloped Tomato

Lentil Puree

Cerealine

Graham Bread

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Tapioca Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Granola

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Corn Soup

Broiled Potato

Stewed Parsnips

Mashed Peas

Farina with Maple Syrup

Graham Puffs

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Lemon Apples with Almond Sauce

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Lentil Gravy

Poached Egg on Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Granola

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Rice Soup

Boiled Potato

Mashed Turnip

Pease Cakes with Tomato Sauce

Graham Grits

Rye Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Oatmeal Blancmange

Nuts

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Apple and Apricot Toast

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Breakfast Rolls

Rye Bread

Graham Puffs

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Baked Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Hulled Corn

Boiled Beets

Boiled Wheat with Lemon Sauce

Toasted Rolls

Currant Puffs

Rye Bread

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca Custard

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Carrot Soup

Scalloped Potato

Mashed Beans

Cold Boiled Beets, sliced

Rolled Rye

Graham Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch with Raisins

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Frumenty

Blueberry Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Combination Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Stewed Split Peas

Cabbage Salad

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Toasted Rolls

Currant Puffs

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Rice Snowball

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Blackberry Toast

Raised Corn Bread

Crescents

Fruit Rolls

Citron Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Canned String Beans or Kornlet

Macaroni, Tomato Sauce

Rice with Oranges

Fruit Rolls

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

SIXTEENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Potato Rice

Chopped Beets

Egg and Macaroni

Pearl Wheat

Graham Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cottage Cheese

Nuts

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Grape Toast

Graham Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Baked Potatoes

Stewed Cabbage

Stewed Dried Corn

Rolled Wheat

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Rice Meringue

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn Soup

Cabbage Hash

Stewed Split Peas

Scalloped Tomato

Steamed Rice

Graham Bread

Cream Crisps

Oatmeal Gems

Stewed Fruit

Prune Dessert

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Cottage Cheese

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Baked Potatoes

Succotash

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Farina with Maple Syrup

Graham Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Lemon Apples with Cocoanut Sauce

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Prune Toast

Corn Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Plain Omelet

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Potato Snowballs

Baked Turnips

Lentil Puree with Lemon

Browned Rice

Graham Crisps

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Corn Meal Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Gravy Toast

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil and Parsnip Soup

Boiled Potatoes with Brown Sauce

Chopped Beets

Mashed Peas

Graham Grits

Toasted Rolls

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Farina Custard

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Peach Toast

Sticks

Fruit Crackers

Graham Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Pea Soup

Stewed Potato

Canned Okra and Tomatoes

Boiled Wheat

Toasted Wafers

Graham Raised Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Pineapple Tapioca

Nuts

SEVENTEENTH WEEK.

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Browned Rice

Strawberry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Beans

Macaroni with Tomato

Rolled Rye

Graham Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Bread Custard

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Apple Mush

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Boiled Potatoes with Cream Sauce

Chopped Cabbage

Mashed Lentils

Pearl Wheat with Raisins

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Granola Gems

Stewed Fruit

Apple Custard

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Lentil Toast

Toasted Rolls

Graham Crackers

Currant Puffs

Stewed Potatoes

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Canned Green Peas

Boiled Macaroni

Pearl Wheat

Oatmeal Crisps

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch Meringue or Fresh Fruit

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Wheat Porridge with Croutons

Banana Toast

Molded Rice with Custard Sauce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Sticks

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Baked Potatoes with Brown Sauce

Mashed Turnips

Stewed Split Peas

Pearl Barley with Raisins

Whole-Wheat Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Prune and Tapioca Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Granola

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Split Pea Soup

Creamed Potatoes

Scalloped Tomatoes

Chopped Beets

Graham Grits

Pop Overs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Mixed Mush

Snowflake Toast

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Toasted Rolls

Fruit Bread

Corn Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Macaroni with Kornlet

Stewed Carrots

Rolled Rye

Whole-Wheat Bread

Mush Rolls

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch Blancmange with Fruit Sauce

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Prune Toast

Graham Raised Biscuits

Toasted Rolls

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Soup with Vermicelli

Broiled Potato

Canned Corn

Whole-Wheat Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Rolled Wheat

Stewed Fruit

Custard Pie

EIGHTEENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Banana Mush

Gravy Toast

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuits

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Spinach

Stewed Lima Beans

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Apricot Toast

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Rolls

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean Soup

Steamed Potatoes

Stewed Asparagus

Scalloped Tomato

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Sticks

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Graham Grits Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge with Croutons

Blueberry Toast

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Macaroni Soup

Potato Rice

Stewed Cabbage

Pearl Barley

Whole-Wheat Bread

Oatmeal Crisps

Currant Puffs

Egg Sandwich

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

Molded Tapioca

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Granola

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Cabbage Hash

Asparagus Points

Boiled Macaroni

Browned Rice

Graham Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Mush Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Fig Pudding with Orange Sauce

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Macaroni with Kornlet

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Boiled Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Mashed Peas

Spinach

Graham Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Rolled Rye

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Snowflake Toast

Rye Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Lettuce

Egg and Macaroni

Farina

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Oatmeal Bread

Stewed Fruit

Prune Whip

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Prune Toast

Plain Buns

Oatmeal Bread

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Green Pea Soup

Creamed Potato

Mashed Lima Beans

Steamed Rice

Oatmeal Bread

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Banana Dessert

NINETEENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mash with Dates

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Stewed Asparagus

Egg Sandwich

Granola Fruit Mush

Rice and Corn Cakes

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Almond Cornstarch Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Asparagus Toast

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Boiled Potato

Mashed Peas

Scalloped Tomato

Pearl Wheat

Sally Lunn Gems

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Custard Pie

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Steamed Rice

Lentil Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Radishes

Asparagus with Cream Sauce

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Cracked Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Zwieback

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Asparagus Soup

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Mashed Beans

Lettuce

Farina

Whole-Wheat Bread

Oatmeal Crisps

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Molded Wheat with Fruit Sauce

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Peach Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Baked Potatoes

Spinach

Succotash

Rolled Rye

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Farina Fruit Mold

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Gravy Toast

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Cream Rolls

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn and Bean Soup

Boiled Potatoes

Fresh or Canned Green Peas

Scalloped Tomatoes

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Plain Custard

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Prune Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Asparagus Soup

Stewed Potato

Macaroni with Tomato

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Rice

Stewed Fruit

Pineapple

TWENTIETH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Baked Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Stewed Split Peas

Spinach

Boiled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

Cocoanut Cornstarch Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Asparagus Toast

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Hulled Corn

Asparagus with Egg Sauce

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Puffs

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Banana Custard

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Snowflake Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Rice Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Lettuce

Stewed Lima Beans

Hominy

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Snowball Custard

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Berry Toast

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Graham Crisps

Hominy Gems

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Asparagus Soup

Baked Potatoes

Scalloped Tomatoes

Stewed Corn

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Bean Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Prune Dessert

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Raisins

Tomato Toast

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn and Tomato Soup

Creamed Potatoes

Mashed Peas

Spinach

Cracked Wheat

Toasted Wafers

Sally Lunn Gems

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Tapioca Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Asparagus Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Toasted Rolls

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Stewed Asparagus

Lettuce

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Baked Barley

Whole-Wheat Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Molded Rice with Fruit Sauce

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Prune Toast

Cream Rolls

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Kornlet Soup

Canned Okra and Tomato

Mashed Peas

Rice

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Pineapple Tapioca

TWENTY-FIRST WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Farina with Fig Sauce

Snowflake Toast

Corn Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Kornlet and Tomato Soup

Stuffed Potato

Stewed Beans

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Graham Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch Blancmange

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Frumenty

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Pease Paree

Breakfast Rolls

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tapioca Soup

Baked Potato with Pease Gravy

Stewed Dried Corn

Scalloped Tomato

Browned Rice

Graham Bread

Rolls

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Mush

Dried Apple and Apricot Toast

Raised Biscuit

Breakfast Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Macaroni Soup

Mashed Potato

Succotash

Canned Green Peas

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Roll

Stewed Fruit

Lemon Cornstarch Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Jellied Oatmeal

Lentil Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Boiled Potato with Tomato Cream Sauce

Mashed Lentils with Beans

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Hominy

Fruit Rolls

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Rice Snowball

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Orange Rice

Gravy Toast

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Graham Crisps

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Hominy Soup

Potato Puff

Stewed Split Peas

Stewed Asparagus

Pearl Barley with Lemon Sauce

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Orange Float

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rye Mush

Prune Toast

Graham Bread

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Stewed Potato

Spinach

Stewed Corn and Tomato

Graham Grits

Raised Corn Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Farina Fruit Mold

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Grape Toast

Currant Buns

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Green Pea Soup

Stewed Potato

Macaroni with Kornlet

Rice

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Loaf Cake

Bananas

TWENTY-SECOND WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Spinach

Stewed Dried Corn

Rolled Wheat

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Sticks

Bread Custard

Stewed Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Macaroni with Raisins

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Boiled Potatoes

Scalloped Tomato

Mashed Lima Beans

Boiled Wheat

Graham Bread

Rye Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Macaroni Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Prune Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crackers

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Stewed Split Peas

Radishes

Asparagus with Cream Sauce

Rolled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Currant Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Gravy Toast

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Broiled Potato

Lettuce

Hominy

Egg and Macaroni

Oatmeal Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Molded Wheat with Fruit Sauce

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Poached Egg on Toast

Hominy Gems

Graham Crisps

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Macaroni Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Asparagus

Scalloped Beans

Cracked Wheat

Oatmeal Bread

Cream Rolls

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Stewed Fruit Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Gruel with Croutons

Asparagus Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Potato Cakes

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Baked Potatoes

Spinach

Succotash

Granola Fruit Mush

Currant Puffs

Sticks

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca Jelly

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Prune Toast

Fruit Bread

Cream Rolls

Graham Crisps

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato with Vermicelli Soup

Mashed Peas

Creamed Potato

Lettuce

Browned Rice

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Custard Pie

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Banana Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Puffs

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Baked Potato with Brown Sauce

Scalloped Tomato

Asparagus with Egg Sauce

Graham Grits

Fruit Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Banana Shortcake

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Jellied Oatmeal

Asparagus Toast

Graham Gems

Cream Mush Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Rice Soup

Baked Beans

Stewed Dried Corn

Lettuce

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Raised Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Almond Cream

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tapioca Soup

Mashed Potato

Green Peas

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Floating Islands

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Mixed Mush

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Split Pea Soup

Potato Cakes

Spinach

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Rolled Rye

Sally Lunn Gems

Cream Mush Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cocoanut Rice Custard

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Prune Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Baked Potato

Stewed Asparagus

Mashed Lentils with Beans

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Farina Pie

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Porridge with Croutons

Asparagus Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Crisps

Crescents

Stewed Fruit

White Custard in Cups

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Steamed Potato

Green Peas

Stewed Corn and Tomato

Granola Fruit Mush

Graham Gems

Cream Crisps

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Banana Dessert

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Grape Toast

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Crescents

Fruit Rolls

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Soup with Vermicelli

Stewed Asparagus

Mashed Peas

Rice with Raisins

Graham Biscuit

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Figs

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Broth with Croutons

Baked Potato

Asparagus Points

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Rolled Rye

Whole-Wheat Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Rice Meringue

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Crackers

Fresh Strawberries

DINNER

Asparagus Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Spinach with Cream

Stewed Corn

Cottage Cheese

Pearl Barley

Sticks

Graham Gems

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Farina Custard

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Gruel with Croutons

Snowflake Toast

Graham Puff

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Strawberries

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Stewed Potatoes

Asparagus with Green Peas

Scalloped Tomato

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Oatmeal Blancmange with Fruit Sauce

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Browned Rice

Tomato Toast

Boiled Macaroni

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Green Peas

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crisps

Fresh or Stewed Berries

Bread Custard

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Strawberries

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Potato Cakes

Mashed Split Peas

Stewed Corn and Tomato

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Strawberry Shortcake

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Fresh Berry Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Lettuce

Fresh or Stewed Berries

DINNER

Corn and Bean Soup

Baked Potato

Boiled Macaroni

Asparagus with Egg Sauce

Rolled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Rye Gems

Strawberries

Lemon Cornstarch Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Prune Toast

Graham Raised Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Cup Custard

Strawberries

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Canned Okra and Tomato

Stewed Asparagus

Rice

Fruit Rolls

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Strawberries

Sliced Pineapple

TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Fresh Berry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Peas

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Rolled Wheat

Graham Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Sticks

Stewed Fruit

Gooseberry Tart

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Lettuce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Sticks

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Potato Cakes

Spinach

Scalloped Tomato

Boiled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Rye Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Strawberries

Molded Rice with Strawberry Sauce

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Prune Toast

Cream Rolls

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Lettuce

Strawberries

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Boiled Potato with Tomato Cream Sauce

Green Peas

Macaroni with Kornlet

Molded Wheat with Fruit Sauce

Fruit Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Cherries on Stems

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits Gruel with Croutons

Gravy Toast

Rice with Lentil Gravy

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Baked Potato

String Beans

Asparagus with Egg Sauce

Baked Barley

Currant Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Strawberries

Slice Pineapple

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Browned Rice

Grape Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Lettuce

Fresh or Stewed Berries

DINNER

Swiss Lentil Soup

Baked Potato

Green Peas

Summer Squash

Farina with Bananas

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Graham Gems

Strawberry Shortcake

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Cream Toast

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Cauliflower

Stewed Lima Beans

Graham Grits

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Oatmeal Bread

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange with Cocoanut Sauce

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Snowflake Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Date Bread

Toasted Wafers

Strawberries

DINNER

Canned Corn Soup

Potato Cakes

String Beans

Rice

Date Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Strawberry Pie

TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Strawberry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

String Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Peas

Chopped Cabbage

Boiled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca Dessert with Strawberries

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Lettuce

Breakfast Rolls and Currant Jelly

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Baked Potato

Summer Squash

Browned Cauliflower

Pearl Wheat

Crusts

White Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Strawberry Sandwich

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Cherry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

White Bread

Graham Crackers

Strawberries

DINNER

Potato Soup

Green Peas

Mashed Lentils

Lettuce

Browned Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Rye Gems

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Cherry Tart

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Fresh Berry Toast

Graham Crisps

Graham Bread

French Rolls

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Potato Soup

Mashed Potato

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Graham Bread

Cream Mush Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Broiled Potato

Succotash

Summer Squash

Pearl Barley

Cream Rolls

Crusts

Zwieback

Graham Bread

Rice Cream Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Prune Toast

Cottage Cheese

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Boiled Potato

Mashed Split Peas

Scalloped Tomato

Farina with Banana

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Strawberry Minute Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Banana Toast

Currant Buns

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Strawberries

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Stewed Potato

String Beans

Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Cherries

Banana Dessert

TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Cream Toast

Boiled Macaroni

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Fresh or Stewed Berries

DINNER

Potato Soup with Vermicelli

Mashed Potato

Beet Greens

Pease Cakes with Tomato Sauce

Pearl Wheat

White Bread

Graham Crisps

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Prune Whip

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Boiled Wheat

Fresh Berry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Broiled Potatoes

Summer Squash

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Crusts

Fruit Crackers

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Fruit Shape

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice

Snowflake Toast

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Rolls

Fresh Berries

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Mashed Potato

Green Peas

Scalloped Tomatoes

Browned Rice

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Cherries

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Tomato Toast

Toasted Fruit Rolls

Graham Puffs

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Beets and Potato

String Beans

Pearl Barley

Pop Overs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Fresh or Stewed Fruit

Gooseberry Tart

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cracked Wheat Porridge with Croutons

Macaroni with Raisins

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Graham Crackers

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Baked Potato

Spinach

Green Peas

Cracked Wheat

Rye Puffs

Oatmeal Bread

Graham Crisps

Fruit Foam

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine

Fresh Berry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Graham Crisps

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Lima Beans

Stewed Dried or Fresh Corn

Rice

Oatmeal Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Strawberry Shortcake

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Gravy Toast

Fruit Rolls

Raised Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Baked Bananas

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Broiled Potato

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Browned Rice

Beaten Biscuit

Fruit Rolls

Strawberries

Nuts

TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Raisins

Cherry Toast

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Graham Puffs

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Baked Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Summer Squash

Green Peas

Cracked Wheat

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Strawberry Dessert

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Macaroni Baked with Granola

String Beans

Lettuce

Boiled Wheat

Cream Rolls

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Berry Sandwich (prepared like Apple Sandwich)

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Fresh Berry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Creamed Potato

Mashed Peas

Cottage Cheese

Pearly Wheat

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Farina Fruit Mold

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Molded Rice with Fresh Berries

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Graham Raised Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Beet Greens

Stewed Dried Corn

Graham Grits

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Vienna Bread

Stewed Fruit

Fruit Tapioca

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Snowflake Toast

Vienna Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Lettuce

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Potato and Sago Soup

Stewed Lima Beans

Radishes

Boiled Macaroni

Hominy

Cream Rolls

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Berry Shortcake with Prepared Cream

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Tomato Toast

French Rolls

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Mashed Potato

String Beans

Canned Kornlet

Cream Rolls

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Red Sago Mold

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine

Prune Toast

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Steamed Figs

Cottage Cheese

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

String Bean Soup

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

New Beets with Lemon Dressing

Rice

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Plain Buns

Stewed Fruit

Fruit and Nuts

TWENTY-NINTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Brewis

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Mashed Peas

Beet Greens

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Buns

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Banana Dessert

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Fresh Tomato Salad

Graham Crisps

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Steamed Potato

String Beans

Baked Cabbage

Graham Grits

Graham Crisps

Whole-Wheat Bread

Pop Overs

Stewed Fruit

Cream Rice Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Strawberry Toast

Graham Crisps

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Molded Rice with Currant Sauce

DINNER

Lentil Soup

New Beets and Potato

Summer Squash

Green Peas

Farina

Crusts

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Fresh Berries

Stewed Fruit Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Snowflake Toast

Rice with Lentil Gravy

Graham Raised Biscuits

Breakfast Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Fresh or Stewed Berries

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Egg Plant

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Molded Wheat with Fruit Sauce

Cream Rolls

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Raspberry Manioca Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Gravy Toast

Cream Rolls

Currant Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Radishes

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

String Bean Soup

Scalloped Potato

Baked Beets

Spinach

Boiled Wheat with Lemon Sauce

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Graham Gems

Fresh Berries

Prune Dessert

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Gruel with Croutons

Fresh Berry Toast

Fruit Crackers

Breakfast Rolls

Graham Bread

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Creamed Potato

Cabbage Salad

Macaroni baked with Granola

Rolled Rye

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Berry Pie

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Fresh Black Raspberry Toast

Graham Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cup Custard

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Stewed Potato

String Beans

Boiled Wheat with Raisins

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Fresh Berries

Bananas

THIRTIETH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Farina with Bananas

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Stewed Potato

Green Peas

Lettuce

Graham Grits

Graham Puffs

Cream Crisps

Black Raspberries

Rice Custard Shape

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Banana Toast

Graham Gems

Sticks

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Velvet Soup

Baked Potato

Mashed Peas

Macaroni with Tomato

Pearl Wheat

Currant Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Vienna Bread

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange with Raspberry Juice

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cracked Wheat

Fresh Raspberry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Parker House Rolls

Lettuce

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Browned Potatoes

Chopped Cabbage

Green Corn

Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Black Raspberry Shortcake

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crisps

Cup Custard

Fresh Berries

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Turnip

String Beans

Graham Mush

Graham Bread

Cream Rolls

Pop Overs

Stewed Fruit

Raspberry Tapioca

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Cream Toast

Fresh Tomatoes

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Celery Soup No. 2

Broiled Potato

Beet Greens

Scalloped Cauliflower

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Fruit Bread

Fresh Berries

Snow Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Prune Toast

Cottage Cheese

Cream Rolls

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Steamed Potato

Boiled Beets

Scalloped Egg Plant

Cracked What

Fruit Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Fresh Berry Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Puffs

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Corn Soup

Mashed Peas

Cold Boiled Beets, Sliced

Rice with Raisins

Buns

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Nuts

Fresh or Stewed Fruit

THIRTY-FIRST WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Browned Rice

Snowflake Toast

Macaroni with Raisins

Graham Crackers

Graham Puffs

Buns

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Potato Rice

Baked Corn

Celery

Graham Grits

Currant Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Fruit

Red Rice Mold

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Gravy Toast

Boiled Macaroni with Cottage Cheese

Graham Bread

Rye Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Baked Potatoes

Green Peas

Beet Greens

Boiled Wheat

Graham Biscuit

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Rice Custard Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Cream Toast

Graham Puffs

Sticks

Pulled Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Mashed Potato

String Beans

Summer Squash

Cracked Wheat with Whortleberries

Pulled Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Watermelon

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed or Fresh Berried

Cream Graham Rolls with Raspberry Jelly

DINNER

String Bean Soup

Stewed Split Peas

Beets and Potato

Pearl Wheat

Graham Bread

Toasted Rolls

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Whortleberry Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Celery Toast

Graham Gems

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Fresh Berries

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Stewed Lima Beans

Lettuce

Boiled Macaroni

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Fruit Crackers

Fresh Berries

Fruit Tapioca

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Lemon

Fresh Berry Toast

Cream Mush Rolls

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Potato Soup

Green Corn Pulp

Stewed Potato

Chopped Turnip

Graham Grits

Pop Overs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Fresh Berries

Cream Rice Pudding

Stewed Fruit

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cracked Wheat with Blueberries

Prune Toast

Graham Crisps

Raised Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green or Canned Pea Soup

Creamed Potato

Kornlet

Celery

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Fruit Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit

THIRTY-SECOND WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Fresh Black Raspberry Toast

Fresh Tomatoes

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Rolls

Stewed or Fresh Berries

DINNER

Cream Rice Soup

Boiled Potato with Brown Sauce

Green Corn Pulp

String Beans

Pearl Wheat with Whortleberries

Graham Gems

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Raspberry Manioca Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Gravy Toast

Lettuce

Breakfast Rolls

Whortleberry Gems

Toasted Wafers

Fresh or Stewed Berries

DINNER

Green Corn Soup

Beets and Potato

Scalloped Egg Plant

Boiled Wheat

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Crusts

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Whortleberry Pie

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Fresh Tomatoes

Graham Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Raspberry Jelly

DINNER

Tomato Cream Soup

Potato Rice

Stewed Lima Beans

Radishes

Green Corn Pudding

Graham Mush with Berries

Graham Gems

Oatmeal Crisps

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Cream Rice Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Tomato Toast

Oatmeal Crisps

Graham Bread

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Cauliflower

Mashed Peas

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Whortleberry Gems

Stewed or Fresh Fruit

Molded Tapioca

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits Gruel with Croutons

Fresh Berry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Breakfast Rolls

Lettuce

Baked Sweet Apples

Fresh Berries

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Cracked Potato

Scalloped Turnip

Beet Greens

Cracked Wheat with Blackberries

Graham Bread

Toasted Rolls

Crusts

Fresh or Stewed Fruit

Banana Dessert

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Blueberries

Gravy Toast

Fresh Tomatoes

French Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Fresh or Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Broth

Baked Potato

Summer Squash

Boiled Beets, sliced, with Cream Sauce

Pearl Barley

Graham Bread

Whortleberry Gems

Toasted Wafers

Fresh Berries

Damsons

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Blackberry Mush

Prune Toast

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Baked Sweet Apples

Fresh Berries

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Stewed Potato

Cold Sliced Beets

Green Corn Pulp

Rice

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Blackberry Pie

THIRTY-THIRD WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Snowflake Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Fresh Berries

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Scalloped Potato

Boiled Corn

Cauliflower with Egg Sauce

Graham Grits

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Sliced Peaches

Nuts

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Cream Toast

Whortleberry Gems

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Fresh Blackberries

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Baked Potato

String Beans

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Farina with Banana

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Plums and Peaches

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Peaches

Blackberry Toast

Fresh Tomatoes

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Sticks

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

String Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Baked Green Corn

Scalloped Egg Plant

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Blackberry Mush

Tomato Toast

Baked Sweet Apples

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Raised Graham Biscuit

Fresh Berries

DINNER

Celery Soup No. 2

Boiled Potato

Macaroni baked with Granola

Succotash

Browned Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Blackberry Cornstarch Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Berry Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Scalloped Potato

Chopped Cabbage

Mashed Peas

Rice

Graham Bread

Sticks

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Bread Custard

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Apple Mush

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Fruit Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Boiled Potatoes

Green Corn

Sliced Tomatoes

Cracked Wheat with Blackberries

Graham Bread

Fruit Rolls

Rye Gems

Sliced Peaches

Pears

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Prune Toast

Sliced Tomatoes

Fruit Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed or Sliced Peaches

DINNER

Green Corn Soup

Boiled Macaroni

Stewed Tomatoes

Rice

Fruit Bread

Cream Crisps

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Fruit

Blackberry or Peach Pie

THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Blackberry Mush

Gravy Toast

Graham Puffs

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Cream Soup

Potato Snowballs

Stewed Corn

Stewed Lima Beans

Rolled Wheat

Rye Puffs

Cream Rolls

Graham Bread

Sliced Peaches

Nuts

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Cream Toast

Sliced Tomato

Graham Crisps

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Summer Squash

Baked Beets with Lemon Dressing

Pearl Barley

Graham Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed or Fresh Berries

Peach Tapioca

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Tomato Toast

Cottage Cheese

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Broiled Potato

Scalloped Tomatoes

Green Corn Pulp

Graham Grits

French Rolls

Cream Crisps

Fresh Fruit

Sliced Sweet Apples and Cream

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Peach Toast

Macaroni with Corn Pulp

Fresh Tomatoes

Cream Rolls

Vienna Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

String Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Egg Plant

Cabbage and Tomato

Pearl Wheat

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Vienna Bread

Stewed Fruit

Fruit Shape

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Peach Mush

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Celery

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Rolls

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

White Celery Soup

Steamed Potato

Chopped Beets

Mashed Peas

Farina with Bananas

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Rolls

Rye Puffs

Sliced Peaches

Baked Apple Dessert

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Berry Toast

Baked Sweet Apples

Fresh Tomatoes

Currant Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Baked Potato

Stewed Celery

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Boiled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crackers

Crescents

Stewed Fruit

Sago Fruit Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Steamed Rice

Tomato Toast

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Creamed Potato

Green Peas

Pearl Wheat

Fruit Bread

Rolls

Graham Crackers

Sliced Peaches

Nuts

Tapioca Custard

THIRTY-FIFTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with dates

Sliced Tomatoes

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Steamed Potato

Stewed Tomato

Mashed Split Peas

Rolled Rye

Graham Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Peach Shortcake

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Peach Mush

Cream Toast

Sliced Tomatoes

Graham Bread

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Celery Soup No. 2.

Boiled Potato

Shelled Beans

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Oatmeal Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Baked Sweet Apples with Whipped Cream

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Tomato Toast

Macaroni Baked with Corn Pulp

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Rice Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Celery

Mashed Lentils and Beans

Rolled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Peach Meringue

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Peach Mush

Snowflake Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Sticks

Date Bread

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Potato Snowballs

Corn and Tomatoes

Scalloped Egg Plant

Cracked Wheat

Date Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Grapes

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Peach Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Breakfast Rolls

Graham Gems

Baked Pears

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Boiled Potato

Baked Corn

Celery

Pearl Barley

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Peach Shortcake

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Strawberry Toast

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Sliced Tomato

Graham Puffs

Parker House Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Mashed Peas

Cauliflower with Egg Sauce

Graham Grits

Granola

Fruit Rolls

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat with Blackberries and Cream

Prune Toast

Fruit Rolls

Raised Graham Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Fresh Tomatoes

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

String Beans

Pearl Wheat with Peaches and Cream

Buns

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Nuts

THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Blackberry Toast

Sliced Tomato

Currant Puffs

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Sweet Potato Soup

Steamed Potato

Boiled Beets

Stewed Lima Beans

Rolled Wheat

Buns

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Peach Sandwich

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Apricot Toast

Zwieback

Graham Puffs

Breakfast Rolls

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Potato Stewed with Celery

Mashed Squash

Scalloped Tomatoes

Farina

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Graham Gems

Sliced Peaches

Bran Jelly with Fruit Sauce

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Apple Mush

Blueberry Toast

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Sliced Tomatoes

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn and Bean Soup

Baked Potato

Stewed Tomato

Scalloped Cauliflower

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Corn Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Farina Custard

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Rice Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Mashed Beans

Green Peas

Graham Grits

Oatmeal Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Sliced Peaches

Red Rice

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cracked Wheat

Banana Toast

Baked Sweet Apples

Oatmeal Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Celery Soup

Mashed Potato

Baked Tomato

Baked Green Corn

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Sticks

Rye Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apple Dessert

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Corn Cakes

Sticks

Sliced Tomatoes

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato and Rice Soup

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Mashed Cabbage

String Beans

Pearl Wheat

Pop Overs

Cream Crisps

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Almonds

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Rolls

Raised Biscuit

Baked Pears

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Corn Soup

Tomato and Macaroni

Stewed Potato

Rolled Wheat

Fruit Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Peach Pie

Grapes

THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Toast with Egg Sauce

Fruit Bread

Breakfast Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Apples

Sliced Peaches

DINNER

Green Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Baked Squash

Corn Pudding

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Currant Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Peach Shortcake

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Peach Mush

Tomato Toast

Macaroni with Kornlet

Graham Bread

Cream Mush Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Baked Potato

Shelled Beans

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Browned Rice

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Whole-wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Jam Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Peach Toast

Sliced Tomato

Graham Crisps

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Scalloped Potato

Beet Salad

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Molded Wheat with Grape Sauce

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Dry Toast with Tomato Gravy

Whole-Wheat Bread Crusts

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Pears

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

White Celery Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Mashed Peas

Scalloped Tomatoes

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Cocoanut Rice Custard

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Macaroni with Apple Sauce

Sliced Tomato

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Mashed Potato

Baked Squash

String Beans

Rolled Rye

Whole-Wheat Bread Crusts

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Peach Pudding or Fresh Fruit

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Fruit

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Crescents

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Split Pea Soup

Baked Potato

Baked Tomato

Green Corn Pulp

Rice

Fruit Loaf

Graham Gems Sticks

Stewed Fruit

Sweet Apple Pie or Fresh Fruit

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Peach Toast

Sliced Tomato

Baked Pears

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Corn Soup

Stewed Lima Beans

Mashed Sweet Potato

Rice with Peaches

Beaten Biscuit

Currant Buns

Stewed Fruit

Pears

THIRTY-EIGHTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Peach Mush

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tapioca Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Celery

Baked Squash

Rolled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Currant Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Peach Tapioca

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Lentil Toast

Sliced Tomato

Cream Rolls

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Potato Snowballs

Stewed Tomato

Egg and Macaroni

Browned Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Rolls

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Plain Fruit Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Sweet Apple Toast

Cottage Cheese

Whole-Wheat Puffs

French Rolls

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Baked Potato with Celery Sauce

Shelled Beans

Baked Corn

Farina with Fresh Fruit

Graham Puffs

Oatmeal Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit, or Sweet Apple Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Peaches

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Oatmeal Crisps

Breakfast Rolls

Sliced Peaches

DINNER

Shelled Bean Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

Scalloped Tomatoes

Celery

Pearl Wheat

Toasted Rolls

Buns

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Apple Manioca

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Strawberry Toast

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Rye Gems

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Squash

Boiled Macaroni

Browned Rice

Graham Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Fruit Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Cup Custard

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine

Macaroni with Raisins

Slice Tomatoes

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Boiled Potato

Stewed Celery

Pease Cakes with Tomato Sauce

Graham Grits

Raised Biscuit

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Grape Tart

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice

Grape Toast

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

Stewed Corn

Boiled Wheat

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuits

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange with Grape Sauce

THIRTY-NINTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Boiled Green Corn

String Beans

Rolled Wheat

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Bread

Corn Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Stewed Fruit Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Peach Mush

Snowflake Toast

Graham Puffs

Cream Rolls

Baked Pears

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Bean Soup

Potato Cakes

Stewed Tomato

Baked Beets

Cracked Wheat

Pop Overs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Bread Custard

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Tomato Toast

Graham Bread

Corn Puffs

Graham Crisps

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Mixed Potato Soup

Baked Potato

Chopped Beets

Succotash

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Cream Toast

Cottage Cheese

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Celery

Corn Pudding

Rolled Wheat

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Buns

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Tapioca Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Raised Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sour Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Corn Soup

Steamed Potato

Mashed Squash

Scalloped Turnip

Rolled Wheat

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Lemon Cornstarch Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Gruel with Croutons

Grape Toast

Macaroni with Kornlet

Cream Rolls

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Creamed Potato

Celery

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Cracked Wheat

Graham Bread

Toasted Rolls

Fruit Crackers

Stewed Fruit

Snowball Custard

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Peaches

Apricot Toast

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Chopped Sweet Potato

Sliced Tomato

Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Grape Pie

FORTIETH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Grape Mush

Cream Toast

Graham Gems

Toasted Rolls

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato and Vermicelli Soup

Boiled Macaroni

Stewed Lima Beans

Boiled Corn

Cracked Wheat

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Corn Cakes

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch Meringue

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Celery Toast

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Tomato Salad

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Tomatoes

Green Corn Cakes

Mixed Mush

Sally Lunn Gems

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Rice Snow

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice

Tomato Toast

Graham Crisps

Raised Biscuit

Grape Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Potato Snowballs

Stewed Split Peas

Scalloped Cauliflower

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Crisps

Corn Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange with Grape Sauce

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Apple Mush

Grape Toast

Cream Rolls

Rye Gems

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Baked Potato

Baked Squash

Boiled Beets with Cream Sauce

Pearl Wheat

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Sticks

Raised Corn Bread

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Gravy Toast

Oatmeal Crisps

Corn Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Egg Plant

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Farina

Stewed Fruit

Almond Cornstarch Pudding with Grape Sauce

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Grape Mush

Cream Toast

Fruit Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Granola

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Potato Rice

Mashed Squash

Boiled Green Corn

Graham Mush

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Apple Sandwich

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Peach Toast

Sliced Tomato

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

Green Corn Pulp

Boiled Wheat

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Grape Tarts

Stewed Fruit

FORTY-FIRST WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Browned Rice

Grape Toast

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Graham Puffs

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn and Tomato Soup

Sweet Potato Cakes

Shelled Beans

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Farina

Graham Puffs

Zwieback

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Apple Mush

Gravy Toast

Sliced Tomato

Toasted Rolls

Corn Dodgers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Shelled Bean Soup

Baked Potato with Brown Sauce

Chopped Cabbage

Baked Tomato

Pearl Barley

Graham Puffs

Sticks

Rye Bread

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Baked Sour Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Rice Soup

Steamed Potato with Cream Sauce

Baked Squash

Mashed Peas

Graham Apple Mush

Rye Bread

Zwieback

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with dates

Gravy Toast

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Corn Puffs

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Scalloped Potato

Chopped Turnip

Macaroni Baked with Kornlet

Steamed Rice

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Rye Bread

Stewed Fruit

Cornmeal Pudding

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Tomato Toast

Graham Bread

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Baked Beans

Boiled Macaroni

Boiled Wheat

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Rice and Tapioca Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Lentil Gravy

Gravy Toast

Sliced Tomato

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn and Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Tomato

Stewed Celery

Cracked Wheat

Graham Bread

Zwieback

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Graham Grits Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Grape Toast

Graham Raised Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Sweet Apples

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Broiled Potato

Stewed Corn

Browned Rice

Graham Biscuit

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Apple Pie

FORTY-SECOND WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Gravy Toast

Caked Peas

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Celery Soup

Boiled Potato with Tomato Cream Sauce

Baked Cauliflower

Shelled Beans

Graham Grits

Currant Puffs

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca Grape Jelly

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Rolls

Bakes Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Mashed Peas

Mashed Cabbage

Cracked Wheat

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Grape Toast

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Steamed Potato

Boiled Beets

Celery

Tomato and Macaroni

Rice

Parker House Rolls

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Steamed Rice with Grape Sauce

Prune Toast

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Crusts

Baked Pears

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Lentil Soup

Baked Potato

Baked Squash

Chopped Cabbage

Boiled Wheat

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Rice Snowballs

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Lentil Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Stewed Celery

Boiled Green Corn

Rolled Rye

Graham Bread

Currant Puffs

Sticks

Stewed Fruit

Molded Wheat with Grape Sauce

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Gruel with Croutons

Tomato Toast

Graham Crisps

Graham Bread

Pop Overs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Corn Soup

Chopped Potato

Baked Beans

Mashed Squash

Farina

Cream Mush Rolls

Vienna Bread

Stewed Fruit

Stewed Fruit Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Prune Toast

Vienna Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Potato Soup

Stewed Corn

Boiled Macaroni

Granola Fruit Mush

Buns

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

Fresh Fruit

FORTY-THIRD WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Stewed Fruit

Granola Apple Mush

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Celery Soup

Mashed Potato

Scalloped Tomato

Mashed Peas

Graham Grits

Corn Puffs

Cream Crisps

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Tomato Toast

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Gems

Grape Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Baked Potatoes with Brown Sauce

Shelled Beans

Corn and Tomato

Graham Grits

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Bake Sweet Apples with Whipped Cream

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge with Croutons

Grape Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Sticks

Fruit Crackers

Bake Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Baked Potatoes with Celery Sauce

Mashed Beans

Parsnip with Cream Sauce

Graham Grits

Corn Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Gravy Toast

Cream Rolls

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Chopped Beets

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Gems

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Blancmange with Grape Sauce

Sweet Apple Toast

Corn Meal Gruel with Croutons

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Crisps

French Rolls

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Cream Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Squash

Baked Turnip

Pearl Wheat with Raisins

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Crisps

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Rice Custard

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Peach Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Pears

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Scalloped Potato

Succotash

Scalloped Tomato

Graham Grits

Graham Puffs

Graham Bread

Sticks

Stewed Fruit

Plain Fruit Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Prune Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Buns

Toasted Wafers

Baked Chestnuts

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Corn Soup

Canned Green Peas

Tomato and Macaroni

Graham Grits

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Squash Pie

FORTY-FOURTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Almonds with Wafers

Cerealine

Steamed Eggs

Baked Potato

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Mashed Beans

Baked Corn

Browned Rice

Graham Bread

Cream Crisps

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Baked Sweet Apple Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cream Crisps

Fruit Rolls

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tomato Soup

Potato Rice

Mashed Squash

Stewed Celery

Cracked Wheat

Graham Puffs

Fruit Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Macaroni Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Peach Mush

Snowflake Toast

Macaroni with Kornlet

Cream Mush Rolls

Fruit Loaf

Graham Crackers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Oatmeal Soup

Potato Cakes

Celery

Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce

Hominy

Fruit Loaf

Toasted Rolls

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Snow Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cracked Wheat

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Hominy Gems

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Cottage Cheese

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Potato Snowballs

Scalloped Tomato

Parsnip with Egg Sauce

Rolled Wheat

Corn Puffs

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Berry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Crescents

Granola

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Mashed Potato

Carrots with Egg Sauce

Scalloped Beans

Rice

Graham Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Prune and Tapioca Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat with Baked Apples

Gravy Toast

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Cream Rolls and Crab Apple Jelly

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Stewed Celery

Shelled Beans

Pearl Barley with Raisins

Graham Bread

Corn Cake

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca Custard

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Blackberry Toast

Beaten Biscuits

Fruit Bread

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Warmed-over Sweet Potato

Stewed Corn

Boiled Wheat

Graham Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

FORTY-FIFTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Loaf

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Soup

Steamed Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Stewed Cabbage

Mashed Squash

Pearl Wheat

Graham Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Sago Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Samp and Milk

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Hoe Cake

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Lentil Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Celery and Tomato

Turnip with Cream Sauce

Oatmeal Crisps

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Grits

Stewed Fruit

Baked Corn Meal Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Banana Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Granola

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Peas

Broccoli with Egg Sauce

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Toasted Rolls

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Berry Toast

Graham Crackers

Hoe Cake

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Boiled Potato with Celery Sauce

Baked Beets

Stewed Lima Beans

Farina

Raised Corn Cake

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Cream Toast

Currant Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Browned Potatoes

Succotash

Steamed Squash

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Farina Custard

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Lentil Toast

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Cream Rolls

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Roasted Almonds

DINNER

Potato Soup

Potato Puff

Browned Parsnips

Celery

Mashed Peas

Rolled Wheat

Rye Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crisps

Apple Rose Cream

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Prune Toast

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

White Custard in Cups

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Stewed Potato

Kornlet and Tomato

Rice

Rye Bread

Buns

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Pie

Fresh Fruit

FORTY-SIXTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Gravy Toast

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Green Pea Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Baked Beans

Macaroni with Egg

Farina

Pop Overs

Toasted Wafers

Rye Bread

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Blackberry Toast

Rice with Lentil Gravy

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Rye Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Hominy Soup

Boiled Potatoes

Stewed Celery

Creamed Parsnips

Pearl Wheat

Raised Corn Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Samp and Milk

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Beet Salad

Mashed Turnips

Boiled Wheat

Hoe Cake

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Rice and Corn Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Succotash

Baked Squash

Pearl Barley

Pulled Bread

Oatmeal Crisps

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Celery Toast

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Corn Cakes

Pulled Bread

Oatmeal Crisps

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Scalloped Tomatoes

Celery

Pearl Wheat

Rye Gems

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Bread Custard

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Mixed Mush

Snowflake Toast

Graham Bread

Cream Rolls

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato Cream Soup

Potatoes Stewed with Celery

Parsnips with Egg Sauce

Mashed Peas

Oatmeal Blancmange with Cranberry Sauce

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Raised Corn Cake

Stewed Fruit

Nuts

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Cream Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Buns

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Corn Soup

Canned Peas

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Cracked Wheat

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

Cranberry Pie

FORTY-SEVENTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush and Milk

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Fruit Bread

Toasted Beaten Biscuit

Baked Chestnuts

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Combination Soup

Baked Potato with Brown Sauce

Scalloped Turnips

Mashed Squash

Graham Grits

Raised Corn Cake

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tapioca

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Gruel with Toasted Wafers

Blueberry Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Corn Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Mashed Beans

Stewed Sweet Corn

Cracked Wheat

Toasted Rolls

Pulled Bread

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat with Raisins

Banana Toast

Hoe Cake

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Boiled Potatoes with Tomato Cream Sauce

Mashed Parsnips

Mashed Lentils

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Bean Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Almonds

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Cream Toast

Potato Cakes

Celery

Corn Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Parsnip Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Mashed Peas

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Steamed Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Cup Custards

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Porridge with Toasted Wafers

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Hoe Cakes

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Baked Potato

Boiled Macaroni

Stewed Cabbage and Tomato

Graham Grits

Zwieback

Graham Bread

Corn Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Apple Rose Cream

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Tomato toast

Macaroni with Kornlet

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Plain Rice Soup

Mashed Potatoes

Baked Squash

Scalloped Beans

Graham Mush

Whole-Wheat Bread

Oatmeal Crisps

Graham Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apple Loaf

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Prune Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Bread

Graham Crackers

Grape Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Scalloped Tomato

Rice

Fruit Bread

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange

FORTY-EIGHTH WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mash with Dates

Blackberry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Green Pea Soup

Boiled Potato with Cream Sauce

Mashed Lima Beans

Stewed Vegetable Oysters

Graham Grits

Corn Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Graham Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Rice Custard Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Baked Chestnuts

Samp and Milk

Vegetable Oyster Toast

Creamed Potatoes

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Bean and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Split Peas

Macaroni with Egg

Cracked Wheat

Parker House Rolls

Sticks

Corn Puffs

Stewed Fruit

Prune Tapioca

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Prune Toast

Graham Sticks

Fruit Loaf

Baked Apples

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Potato Soup

Baked Potato

Boiled Beets with Cream Sauce

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Rolled Wheat

Fruit Loaf

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apples with Whipped Cream

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Steamed Rice

Lentil Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Crisps

Fruit Bread

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Mashed Potato

Parsnips with Egg Sauce

Succotash

Boiled Wheat with Lemon Sauce

Graham Crisps

Beaten Biscuit

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Cocoanut Blancmange

Cranberry Jelly

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal Gruel with Croutons

Tomato Toast

Macaroni with Raisins

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apples

DINNER

Cream Barley Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

Mashed Peas

Stewed Celery

Hominy

Cream Crisps

Corn Cake

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Apple Mush

Tomato Toast

Cream Crisps

Graham Bread

Hominy Gems

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea soup

Boiled Potato

Scalloped Tomatoes

Mashed Squash

Cracked Wheat with Raisins

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Baked Apples with Cream Sauce

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Raisins

Prune toast

Toasted Wafers

Crescents

Graham Bread

Baked Apples

Cup Custards

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Canned Sweet Corn

Cold Boiled Beets, Sliced

Graham Grits

Beaten Biscuit Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Prune Pie

FORTY-NINTH WEEK.

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Chopped Figs

Gravy Toast

Cream Rolls

Corn Gems

Baked Chestnuts

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Corn Soup

Mashed Potato

Chopped Beets

Stewed Parsnips with Celery

Rolled Wheat

Toasted Rolls

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

Fig Pudding with Orange Sauce

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Cracker Toast

Graham Sticks

Currant Puff

Graham Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Potato Rice

Chopped Cabbage

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Browned Rice

Graham Sticks

Raised Corn Cake

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Granola Fruit Mush

Cream Toast

Boiled Macaroni

Hoe Cake

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Steamed Potato with Cream Sauce

Stewed Corn and Tomatoes

Mashed Squash

Mixed Mush

Pop Overs

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Cornstarch Blancmange

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Grits

Strawberry Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Cream Rolls

Baked Chestnuts

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Stewed Pumpkin

Macaroni Baked with Granola

Pearl Barley

Graham Bread

Sally Lunn Gems

Toasted Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Molded Tapioca

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush

Tomato Toast

Potato Cakes

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Potato Snow

Stewed Parsnips

Chopped Turnip

Rolled Rye

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Prune Dessert

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Gravy Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Hoe Cake

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Mixed Potato Soup

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Stewed Beans

Scalloped Tomato

Pearl Wheat

Pulled Bread

Corn Cakes

Stewed Fruit

Farina Custard

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Prune Toast

Fruit Bread

Cream Rolls

Toasted Wafers

Steamed Figs

Cup Custard

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Macaroni with Kornlet

Canned String Beans

Steamed Rice

Graham Fruit Bread

Cream Rolls

Cranberry Jelly

Fresh Fruit

FIFTIETH WEEK.

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Baked Potato with Cream Gravy

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Hoe Cake

Baked Chestnuts

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Velvet Soup

Broiled Potato

Succotash

Baked Squash

Cracked Wheat

Toasted Rolls

Graham Bread

Crusts

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Cream Toast

Cream Rolls

Granola Gems

Graham Bread

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Brown Soup

Baked Potato

Stewed Celery

Mashed Peas with Tomato Sauce

Graham Grits

French Rolls

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Snow

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat

Grape Toast

Graham Crisps

Rye Bread

Graham Puffs

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Parsnips

Macaroni with Egg

Pearl Wheat with Raisins

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Currant Puffs

Stewed Fruit

California Grapes

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Sticks

Corn Cakes

Granola

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Parsnip Soup

Potato Rice

Steamed Squash

Baked Beans

Cracked Wheat

Raised Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Stewed Fruit

Farina Blancmange with Cranberry Dressing

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Apple Mush

Blackberry Toast

Macaroni with Cream Sauce

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Baked Bean Soup

Potato Cakes

Scalloped Tomatoes

Stewed Vegetable Oysters

Rice

Graham Bread

Oatmeal Crisps

Beaten Biscuit

Stewed Fruit

Tapioca Jelly

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Rye

Snowflake Toast

Toasted Wafers

Graham Bread

Corn Puffs

Citron Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Baked Sweet Potato

Mashed Peas

Boiled Beets with Lemon Dressing

Graham Grits

Pulled Bread

Graham Crusts

Stewed Fruit

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rice with Fig Sauce

Gravy Toast

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Cream Rolls

Grape Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Kornlet Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

Pease Cakes

Browned Rice

Buns

Pulled Bread

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Bananas

FIFTY-FIRST WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cerealine Flakes

Cream Toast

Graham Puffs

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Swiss Lentil Soup

Boiled Potatoes with Cream Sauce

Scalloped Tomato

Stewed Vegetable Oysters

Pearl Barley

Graham Bread

Rye Gems

Toasted Wafers

Lemon Apples

Stewed Fruit

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Oatmeal

Vegetable Oyster Toast

Lentil Puree

Toasted Wafers

Corn Puffs

Graham Bread

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Pea and Tomato Soup

Mashed Potato

Mashed Turnip

Parsnip with Egg Sauce

Graham Grits

Raised Corn Cake

Graham Sticks

Stewed Fruit

Ground Rice Pudding

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Raisins

Tomato Toast

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Parsnip Soup

Baked Potato

Mashed Squash

Stewed Lima Beans

Cracked Wheat

Graham Bread

Cream Crisps

Pop Overs

Stewed Fruit

Bread Custard

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cream Crisps

Hoe Cake

Granola

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vermicelli Soup

Baked Potato with Pease Gravy

Boiled Beets

Stewed Tomatoes

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Cranberry Tarts

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Gravy Toast

Baked Sweet Potato

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Graham Puffs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Baked Potatoes with Brown Sauce

Mashed Peas

Stewed Dried Corn

Rice

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Rye Gems

Stewed Fruit

Nuts and Oranges

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Apricot Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Breakfast Rolls

Steamed Figs

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Boiled Potato

Stewed Carrots

Celery

Mashed Chestnuts

Cracked Wheat

Raised Corn Cake

Toasted Wafers

Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Grape Toast

Beaten Biscuit

Roasted Almonds

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Tomato and Vermicelli Soup

Boiled Macaroni

Canned String Beans

Steamed Rice

Beaten Biscuit

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit

FIFTY-SECOND WEEK

FIRST DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Plum Porridge

Strawberry Toast

Toasted Wafers

Hoe Cake

Graham Puffs

Baked Chestnuts

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Baked Potato

Cabbage and Tomato

Hulled Corn or Hominy

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Graham Sticks

Fruit Bread

Stewed Fruit

Snow Pudding

SECOND DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Corn Meal Mush

Tomato Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lentil Soup

Mashed Potato

Boiled Macaroni

Canned Okra and Tomato

Corn Bread

Graham Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Fresh Fruit and Nuts

THIRD DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Dry Toast with Hot Cream

Currant Puffs

Rye Bread

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Scalloped Potato

Mashed Peas

Baked Squash

Celery

Rice with Raisins

Rye Bread

Graham Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Apple Manioca

FOURTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Baked Chestnuts

Rolled Wheat

Gravy Toast

Baked Sweet Potato with Tomato Sauce

Cream Rolls

Graham Puffs

Granola

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Cream Pea Soup

Baked Potato

Stewed Tomatoes

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Graham Grits

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Buns

Stewed Fruit

Apple Tart

FIFTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Cracked Wheat

Vegetable Oyster Toast

Graham Bread

Crusts

Toasted Wafers

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Potato Soup

Baked Beans

Stewed Parsnips

Pearl Wheat

Graham Bread

Currant Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Rice Cream Pudding

SIXTH DAY

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Graham Mush with Dates

Snowflake Toast

Graham Bread

Toasted Wafers

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Baked Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Black Bean Soup

Mashed Potato

Kornlet and Tomato

Macaroni baked with Granola

Farina

Graham Bread

Crescents

Cream Rolls

Stewed Fruit

Cracked Wheat Pudding

SABBATH

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Oats

Blackberry Toast

Pulled Bread

Buns

Beaten Biscuit

Baked Chestnuts

Citron Apples

Stewed Fruit

DINNER

Canned Green Pea Soup

Broiled Potato

Macaroni with Egg Sauce

Steamed Rice with Raisins

Buns

Beaten Biscuit

Toasted Wafers

Stewed Fruit

Farina Pie

COUNTING THE COST.

The expense of the menus given will vary somewhat with the locality and

the existing market prices. The following analysis of several similar

bills of fare used in widely different localities will serve to show

something of the average cost. The first of these were taken at random

from the daily menus, during the month of January, of a Michigan family

of seventeen persons, grown persons and hearty, growing children, none

younger than six years. In the estimates made of the cost of material,

wherever fractions occurred, the next higher whole number was taken. No

butter was used, a small pitcher of cream for each individual supplying

its place. The milk used for cooking was not counted, since in this case

most of the cream had been removed, and its cost reckoned at the entire

cost of the milk itself, or twenty cents a quart, allowing four quarts

of milk at five cents a quart for one quart of cream.

BILLS OF FARE.

BREAKFAST

Fresh Apples

Toasted Whole-Wheat Wafers

Rolled Wheat with Cream

Grape Toast

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Toasted Wafers

Baked Sweet Apples

Stewed Prunes

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

Apples (fresh and baked), one half peck, 10c.;

one lb. rolled wheat, 5c.;

one and one half lbs. zwieback for toast, 15c.;

one pint of canned grape pulp for toast, 12c.;

puffs (for which beside milk, three eggs at 25c. per doz., and one and

one half lbs. whole-wheat flour at 5c. per lb. were used), 14c.;

two and one half lbs. of California prunes, 37c.;

two qts. cream, an amount quite sufficient for moistening

the toast and supplying a small cream cup for each individual, 40c.;

two lbs. of toasted whole-wheat wafers, 20c.

--making the entire cost of breakfast $1.53, or

exactly nine cents per person.

DINNER

Lima Bean Soup

Baked Potato with Cream Sauce

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Graham Grits

Whole-Wheat Bread

Whole-Wheat Wafers, Toasted

Canned Cherries

Citron Apples with Whipped Cream

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

One and one fourth lbs. Lima beans, 9c.;

one half peck of potatoes, 12c.;

one lb. Graham grits, 5c.;

1 loaf whole-wheat bread, 10c.;

2-1/4 lbs. whole-wheat wafers, 23c.;

canned cherries, 25c.;

apples and citron, 10c.;

3 bunches vegetable oysters, 15c.;

cream (1 cup for the soup, one for the cream sauce, and one for whipped

cream, beside three and one fourth pints for individual use), 50c.;

flour and sugar for cooking, 10c.

Total, $1.69--a little less than ten cents each.

BREAKFAST NO. 2

Bananas

Oatmeal

Gravy Toast

Graham Gems

Toasted Wafers

Apple Sauce

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

1 1/2 doz. bananas, 45c.;

toast, 15c.;

cream for gravy, 5c.;

material for gems (Graham flour, milk,

and a small portion of cream), 8c.;

apple sauce, 10c.;

wafers, 20c.;

cream for individual use, 30c.;

sugar, 5c.

Total, $1.46, or a trifle more than 8 cents apiece.

DINNER NO. 2

Tomato and Macaroni Soup

Boiled Potato with Gravy

Mashed Peas

Pearl Barley with Raisins

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Wafers

Canned Berries

Apple Tapioca with Cream

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

For the soup was required two cans of tomatoes at 10c. each,

2 oz. macaroni at 15c. per lb., and one cup of cream, 27c.;

1/2 peck of potatoes, 12c.;

1 1/2 lbs. peas, 6c.;

1 lb. pearl barley, 5c.;

1/3 lb. raisins, 5c.;

1/2 lb. tapioca, 3c.;

apples, 20c.;

cream, 50c.;

canned fruit, 25c.;

flour and sugar, 4c.

Total, $1.70--ten cents apiece for each member of the household.

The following bills of fare were used by an Iowa family of six persons.

The prices given were those current in that locality in the month of

March.

BREAKFAST

Apples

Rolled Oats

Tomato Toast

Toasted Wafers

Graham Gems

Patent Flour Bread

Dried Apple Sauce

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

One sixth peck of apples, 3 1/3c.;

one third lb. rolled oats, 1 2/3c.;

three fourths lb. whole-wheat wafers, 7 1/2c.;

one half can tomatoes, 5c.;

bread for table and for toast, 10c.;

material for gems, 3 1/2c.;

dried apples, 6c.;

sugar, 2c.;

cream and milk, 15c.

Average cost for each person, 9 1/2 cents.

DINNER

Canned Corn Soup with Croutons

Scalloped Tomato

Parsnip with Egg Sauce

Graham Mush

Buns

Whole-Wheat Bread

Cup Custard

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

One can of corn, 10c.;

tomatoes (using the half can left over from breakfast), 5c.;

bread for the table, for the scalloped tomatoes,

and for croutons for the soup, 10c.;

parsnips, 5c.;

buns, 5c.;

four eggs, 6 1/2c.;

milk and cream, 15c.;

sugar, 2c.;

Graham flour, 1c.

Average cost, 10 cents apiece.

The material for the bills of fare given on the next page was reckoned

at prices current in a city in northern West Virginia, in the autumn,

and was for a family of six persons.

BREAKFAST

Browned Rice

Graham Crisps

Whole-Wheat Puffs

Dried Peach Sauce

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

One half doz. bananas, 10c.;

one half lb. rice, 5c.;

puffs, 5c; crisps

2-1/3c.;

one lb. dried peaches, 8c.;

2 qts. milk, 10c.;

sugar, 1-1/2c.

Total, 42 cents, or 7 cents for each individual.

DINNER

Tomato Soup with Croutons

Baked Potatoes

Mashed Peas

Rolled Wheat

Whole-Wheat Bread

Orange Rice

Cream

Hot Milk

_Cost:_

One half peck tomatoes, 7-1/2c.;

one fourth peck potatoes, 5c.;

one half lb. rolled wheat, 2-1/2c.;

one fourth loaf of bread to make croutons, 2-1/2c,;

whole-wheat bread, 5c.;

one half doz. oranges,12-1/2c.;

one half lb. rice, 5c.;

two qts. milk, 10c.

Total, 60 cents, or exactly 10 cents apiece.

The following four days' bills of fare,--the first two served by a

Michigan lady to her family of four persons, the second used by an

Illinois family of eight,--although made up of much less variety, serve

to show how one may live substantially even at a very small cost.

BREAKFAST NO. 1

Apples

Graham Mush with Dates

Toasted Wafers

Bread

Dried Apples Stewed with Cherries

Milk

Cream

_Cost:_

Apples, 4c.;

Graham mush and dates, 3c.;

toasted wafers, 3c.;

bread, 2c.;

sauce, 3c.;

milk and cream, 5c.

Total, 20 cents, or 5 cents apiece.

DINNER NO. 1

Baked Potatoes with Gravy

Mashed Peas

Oatmeal Blancmange

Whole-Wheat Bread

Stewed Fruit

Milk

Cream

_Cost:_

Mashed peas, 3c.;

baked potato and gravy, 3c.;

whole-wheat bread, 2c.;

milk and cream, 5c.;

Oatmeal Blancmange, 2c.;

Sauce, 5c.

Total cost, 20 cents, or 5 cents apiece.

BREAKFAST NO. 2

Apples

Graham Grits

Zwieback

Cream

Milk

_Cost:_

Apples, 4c.;

Graham grits, 2c.;

Graham gems, 5c.;

Zwieback, 2c.;

cream and milk, 5c.

Total, 20 cents, or 5 cents per person.

DINNER NO. 2

Pea and Tomato Soup

Scalloped Potatoes

Graham Rolls

Rice Custard

Milk

Cream

_Cost:_

Soup, 4c.;

potatoes, 1c.;

rolls 4c.;

milk and cream, 5c.;

rice custard, 6c.

Total, 20 cents, or 5 cents each.

BREAKFAST NO. 3

Baked Apples

Graham Grits with Cream

Cream Toast

Graham Gems

Graham and Whole-Wheat Wafers

Stewed Prunes

BREAKFAST NO. 4

Oatmeal with Cream

Blueberry Toast

Breakfast Rolls

Graham and Whole-Wheat Wafers

Stewed Apples

DINNER NO. 3

Bean Soup with Croutons

Mashed Potatoes

Pearl Wheat

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Oatmeal Crackers

Patent Flour Bread

Fresh Apples

DINNER NO. 4

Rice Soup

Baked Potatoes with Cream Gravy

Baked Beans

Graham Crackers

Whole-Wheat Bread

Fresh Apples

Farina with Cream

Material necessary to furnish these four meals for eight persons,--

Six lbs. flour, 18c.;

two lbs. crackers, different varieties, 20c.;

pearl wheat, oatmeal, graham grits, and farina, one half lb. each, 10c.;

one peck apples, 30c.;

prunes, 10c.;

one half lb. rice, 3-1/2c.;

two lbs. beans, 8c.;

one can tomatoes, 10.;

one half peck of potatoes, 13c.;

blueberries, 10c.;

eight qts. milk, 32c.;

macaroni, 5c.;

sugar, 1-1/2c.

Total, $1.71, or cost to each individual, 5-2/3 cents a meal.

TABLE TOPICS.

The food on which the man who would be healthy should live must be

selected so as to ensure variety without excess.--_Dr. Richardson._

Hearty foods are those in which there is an abundance of potential

energy.--_Prof. Atwater._

AN OLD-FASHIONED RECIPE FOR A LITTLE HOME COMFORT.--Take of thought

for self one part, two parts of thought for family; equal parts of

common sense and broad intelligence, a large modicum of the sense of

fitness of things, a heaping measure of living above what your

neighbors think of you, twice the quantity of keeping within your

income, a sprinkling of what tends to refinement and aesthetic

beauty, stirred thick with the true brand of Christian principle,

and set it to rise.--_Sel._

For all things have an equal right to live.

'T is only just prerogative we have;

But nourish life with vegetable food,

and shun the sacrilegious taste of blood.--_Ovid._

A BATCH OF DINNERS

HOLIDAY DINNERS,

A Special dinner for a holiday celebration has so long been a

time-honored custom in most families, that the majority of housewives

consider it indispensable. While we admire the beautiful custom of

gathering one's friends and neighbors around the hospitable board, and

by no means object to a special dinner on holiday occasions, yet we are

no wise in sympathy with the indiscriminate feastings so universally

indulged in at such dinners, whereby stomachs are overloaded with a

decidedly unhealthful quality of food, to be followed by dull brains and

aching heads for days to come.

And this is not the extent of the evil. Holiday feasting undoubtedly has

much to do with the excessive use of intoxicants noticeable at such

times. Tempted to overeat by the rich and highly seasoned viands which

make up the bill of fare, the heaviness resulting from a stomach thus

overburdened creates a thirst not readily satisfied. A person who has

noted how frequently one is called upon to assuage thirst after having

eaten too heartily of food on any occasion, will hardly doubt that

indigestible holiday dinners are detrimental to the cause of total

abstinence.

Then, for the sake of health and the cause of temperance, while an ample

repast is provided, let not the bill of fare be so lavish as to tempt to

gormandizing; and let the viands be of the most simple and wholesome

character practicable, although, of course, inviting. As an aid in this

direction, we offer the following bills of fare;--

THANKSGIVING MENUS.

NO. 1

Tomato Soap with Pasta d'Italia

Stuffed Potatoes

Canned Asparagus

Pulp Succotash

Celery

Graham Grits

Fruit Rolls

Graham Puffs

Buns

Canned Peaches

Pumpkin Pie

Baked Chestnuts

Grape Apples

Fresh Fruits

NO. 2

Vegetable Oyster Soup

Potato Puff

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Parsnip Stewed with Celery

Beet Salad

Boiled Wheat with Raisins

Cream Crisps

Whole-Wheat Bread

Crescents with Peach Jelly

Canned Fruit

Cranberry Tarts

Almonds and Pecans

HOLIDAY MENUS.

NO. 1

Canned Corn Soup

Mashed Sweet Potato

Macaroni with Tomato Sauce

Canned Wax Beans or Cabbage Salad

Steamed Rice

Graham Puffs

Fruit Bread

Toasted Wafers

Canned Strawberries

Malaga Grapes

Loaf Cake with Roasted Almonds

Bananas in Syrup

NO. 2

Pea and Tomato Soup

Ornamental Potatoes

Scalloped Vegetable Oysters

Egg and Macaroni

Farina with Fig Sauce

Sally Lunn Gems

Beaten Biscuit

Graham Bread

Apply Jelly

Canned Gooseberries

Prune Pie with Granola Crust

Citron Apples

Pop Corn

[Illustration: A Picnic Dinner]

PICNIC DINNERS

A picnic, to serve its true end, ought to be a season of healthful

recreation; but seemingly, in the general acceptation of the term, a

picnic means an occasion for a big dinner composed of sweets and

dainties, wines, ices, and other delectable delicacies, which tempt to

surfeiting and excess. The preparation necessary for such a dinner

usually requires a great amount of extra and wearisome labor, while the

eating is very apt to leave results which quite overshadow any benefit

derived from the recreative features of the occasion. It is generally

supposed that a picnic is something greatly conducive to health; but

where everything is thus made subservient to appetite, it is one of the

most unhygienic things imaginable.

The lunch basket should contain ample provision for fresh-air-sharpened

appetites, but let the food be as simple as possible, and of not too

great variety. Good whole-wheat or Graham bread in some form, with well

sterilized milk and cream, or a soup previously prepared from grains or

legumes, which can be readily heated with the aid of a small alcohol or

kerosene stove, and plenty of fruit of seasonable variety, will

constitute a very good bill of fare. If cake is desirable, let it be of

a very simple kind, like the buns or raised cake for which directions

are given in another chapter. Beaten biscuits, rolls, and crisps are

also serviceable for picnic dinners. Fruit sandwiches--made by spreading

slices of light whole-wheat or Graham bread with a little whipped cream

and then with fresh fruit jam lightly sweetened, with fig sauce or

steamed figs chopped, steamed prunes or sliced bananas--are most

relishable. These should be made on the ground, just before serving,

from material previously prepared. An egg sandwich may be prepared in

the same manner by substituting for the fruit the hard-boiled yolks of

eggs chopped with a very little of the whitest and tenderest celery, and

seasoned lightly with salt. Two pleasing and palatable picnic breads may

be made as follows:--

_RECIPES._

PICNIC BISCUIT.--Prepare a dough as for Raised Biscuit, page 145,

and when thoroughly kneaded the last time, divide, and roll both

portions to about one fourth of an inch in thickness. Spread one portion

with stoned dates, or figs that have been chopped or cut fine with

scissors, cover with the second portion, and cut into fancy shapes. Let

the biscuits rise until very light, and bake. Wash the tops with milk to

glace before baking.

FIG WAFERS.--Rub together equal quantities of Graham meal, and figs

that have been chopped very fine. Make into a dough with cold sweet

cream. Roll thin, cut in shape, and bake.

If provision can be made for the reheating of foods, a soup, or grain,

macaroni with tomato sauce, or with egg or cream sauce, or some similar

article which can be cooked at home, transported in sealed fruit cans,

and reheated in a few moments on the grounds, is a desirable addition to

the picnic bill of fare.

Recipes for suitable beverages for such occasions will be found in the

chapter on Beverages.

SCHOOL LUNCHES.

Mothers whose children are obliged to go long distances to school, are

often greatly perplexed to know what to put up for the noonday lunch

which shall be both appetizing and wholesome. The conventional school

lunch of white bread and butter, sandwiches, pickles, mince or other

rich pie, with a variety of cake and cookies, is scarcely better than

none at all; since on the one hand there is a deficiency of food

material which can be used for the upbuilding of brains, muscles, and

nerves; while on the other hand it contains an abundance of material

calculated to induce dyspepsia, headache, dullness of intellect, and

other morbid conditions. Left in an ante-room, during the school

session, until, in cold weather, it becomes nearly frozen, and then

partaken of hurriedly, that there may be more time for play, is it to be

wondered at that the after-dinner session drags so wearily, and that the

pupils feel sleepy, dull, and uninterested? Our brains are nourished by

blood made from the food we eat; and if it be formed of improper or

unwholesome food, the result will be a disordered organ, incapable of

first-class work.

Again, the extra work imposed upon the digestive organs and the liver in

getting rid of the excess of fats and sugar in rich, unwholesome foods,

continually overtaxes these organs.

It can hardly be doubted that a large majority of the cases of so-called

overwork from which school children suffer, are caused by violation of

hygienic laws regarding food and diet rather than by an excess of brain

work; or in other words, had the brain been properly nourished by an

abundance of good, wholesome food, the same amount of work could have

been easily accomplished with no detriment whatever.

Whenever practicable, children should return to their homes for the

midday lunch, since under the oversight of a wise mother there will be

fewer violations of hygienic laws, and the walk back to the school room

will be far more conducive to good digestion than the violent exercise

or the sports so often indulged in directly after eating. When this is

impracticable, let the lunch be as simple as possible, and not so ample

as to tempt the child to overeat. Good whole-wheat or Graham bread of

some kind, rolls, crisps, beaten biscuit, sticks, fruit rolls, and

wafers, with a cup of canned fruit or a bottle of rich milk as an

accompaniment, with plenty of nice, fresh fruits or almonds or a few

stalks of celery, is as tempting a lunch as any child need desire. It

would be a good plan to arrange for the heating of a portion of the milk

to be sipped as a hot drink. In many school rooms the ordinary heating

stove will furnish means for this, or a little alcohol stove or a

heating lamp may be used for the purpose, under the supervision of the

teacher.

Furnish the children with apples, oranges, bananas, pears, grapes,

filberts, and almonds in place of rich pie and cake. They are just as

cheap as the material used for making the less wholesome sweets, and far

easier of digestion. An occasional plain fruit or grain pudding, cup

custard, or molded dessert may be substituted for variety. Fruit

sandwiches, or a slice of Stewed Fruit Pudding prepared as directed on

page 308 are also suitable for this purpose.

Rice prepared as directed below makes a wholesome and appetizing article

for the lunch basket:--

CREAMY RICE.--Put a pint of milk, one quarter of a cup of best

Carolina rice, a tablespoonful of sugar, and a handful of raisins into

an earthen-ware dish, and place on the top of the range where it will

heat very slowly to boiling temperature. Stir frequently, so that the

rice will not adhere to the bottom of the dish. When boiling, place in

the oven, and bake till the rice is tender, which can be ascertained by

dipping a spoon into one side and taking out a few grains. Twenty

minutes will generally be sufficient.

Much care should be used in putting up the lunch to have it as neat and

dainty as possible. A basket of suitable size covered with a clean white

napkin is better for use than the conventional dinner pail, in which

air-tight receptacle each food is apt to savor of all the others, making

the entire contents unappetizing, if not unwholesome.

SABBATH DINNERS.

One of the most needed reforms in domestic life is a change to more

simple meals on the Sabbath. In many households the Sabbath is the only

day in the week when all the members of the family can dine together,

and with an aim to making it the most enjoyable day of all, the good

housewife provides the most elaborate dinner of the week, for the

preparation of which she must either spend an unusual amount of time and

labor the day previous or must encroach upon the sacred rest day to

perform the work.

Real enjoyment ought not to be dependent upon feasting and gustatory

pleasures. Plain living and high thinking should be the rule at all

times, and especially upon the Sabbath day. Nothing could be more

conducive to indigestion and dyspepsia than this general custom of

feasting on the Sabbath. The extra dishes and especial luxuries tempt to

over-indulgence of appetite; while the lack of customary exercise and

the gorged condition of the stomach incident upon such hearty meals,

fosters headaches and indigestion and renders brain and mind so inactive

that the participants feel too dull for meditation and study, too sleepy

to keep awake during service, too languid for anything but dozing and

lounging, and the day that should have fostered spiritual growth is

worse than thrown away. Nor is this all; the evil effects of the

indigestion occasioned are apt to be felt for several succeeding days,

making the children irritable and cross, and the older members of the

family nervous and impatient,--most certainly an opposite result from

that which ought to follow a sacred day of rest.

Physiologically such feasting is wrong. The wear and consequent repair

incident upon hard labor, calls for an equivalent in food; but when no

labor is performed, a very moderate allowance--is all that is necessary,

and it should be of easy digestibility. Let the Sabbath meals be simple,

and served with abundant good cheer and intelligent thought as an

accompaniment.

Let as much as possible of the food be prepared and the necessary work

be done the day previous, so that the cook may have ample opportunity

with the other members of the family to enjoy all Sabbath privileges.

This need by no means necessitate the use of cold food nor entail a

great amount of added work in preparation. To illustrate, take the

following--

SABBATH BILL OF FARE.

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruit

Rolled Wheat with Cream

Prune Toast

Whole-Wheat Bread

Toasted Waters

Buns

Fresh Strawberries

DINNER

Canned Green Corn Soup

Creamed Potato

Green Peas

Tomato and Macaroni

Rice

Toasted Wafers

Beaten Biscuit

Buns

Canned Peaches

Fruit and Nuts

Both the rolled wheat and rice may be prepared the day previous, as may

also the prune sauce for the toast, the buns, bread, and nearly all the

other foods. The potatoes can be boiled and sliced, the corn for the

soup rubbed through the colander and placed in the ice chest, the green

peas boiled but not seasoned, and the macaroni cooked and added to the

tomato but not seasoned. The berries may be hulled, the nuts cracked,

and the canned fruit opened. If the table is laid over night and covered

with a spread to keep off dust, a very short time will suffice for

getting the Sabbath breakfast. Heat the rolled wheat in the inner dish

of a double boiler. Meanwhile moisten the toast; and heat the prune

sauce.

To prepare the dinner, all that is necessary is to add to the material

for soup the requisite amount of milk and seasoning, and heat to

boiling; heat and season the peas and macaroni; make a cream sauce and

add the potatoes; reheat the rice, which should have been cooked by

steaming after the recipe given on page 99.

All may be done in half an hour, while the table is being laid, and with

very little labor.

TABLE TOPICS.

WATER.

To the days of the aged it addeth length;

To the might of the strong it addeth strength;

It freshens the heart, it brightens the sight;

'T is like quaffing a goblet of morning light.

--_Sel._

It is said that Worcester sauce was first introduced as a medicine,

the original formula having been evolved by a noted physician to

disguise the assafetida which it contains, for the benefit of a

noble patient whose high living had impaired his digestion.

The turnpike road to people's hearts I find

Lies through their mouth, or I mistake mankind.--_Dr. Wolcott._

A good dinner sharpens wit, while it softens the heart.--_Daran._

Small cheer and great welcome make a merry feast.--_Shakespeare._

INDEX.

Absorption 38

Acetic acid 119

Acetic fermentation 119

Acorn coffee 433

A fourteenth century recipe 219

After mealtime 471

Aladdin cooker 66

Albumen 26, 53, 78, 365, 384

Albumenized milk 425

Alcoholic fermentation 119

Almond cornstarch pudding 321

cream 321

paste, to prepare 298

sauce 352

Almonds 212

blanched 212, 215

Alum, how to detect in flour 115

Ancient recipe for cooking barley 95

Animal food 391

Anti-fermentatives 192

Appetite, education of 449

Apple, the 169

and bread custard 321

beverage 433

cake 344

charlotte 321

compote 188

custard 320, 321

custard pie 338

dessert 299

jelly 206

jelly without sugar 207

meringue dessert 300

pudding, baked 302

rose cream 300

sago pudding 311

Apple sandwich 303

shape 314

snow 300

tapioca 309

tart 317

toast 290

toast water 433

Apples, directions for serving 179

in jelly 314

sour, raw, digestion of 39

stewed whole 187

sweet, raw, digestion of 39

with apricots 189

with raisins 189

Apricots 171

Apricot toast 290

Arrowroot blancmange 437

gruel 421

jelly 437

Artificial butter 373

feeding 446

foods, digestibility of 445

human milk 444

Art of dining, the 456

Asparagus 254

and peas 255

on toast 255

points 255

preparation and cooking of 254

recipes for cooking 255

soup 276, 415

stewed 256

toast 290

with cream sauce 255

with egg sauce 256

Assama 135

Avena 91

Avenola 429

Baccate fruits or berries 168

Bacteria in gelatine 313

Bad cookery, evils of 46

Bad cooking the ally of intemperance 46

Bain marie 232, 464

Baked apples 186, 189

apple loaf 319

apple pudding 302

apple sauce 187

apples with cream 300

bananas 301

barley 97

bean soup 276

beets 247

cabbage 250

corn 265

egg plant 262

fish 410

milk 433

parsnips 244

peaches 190

pears 189

potatoes 235

quinces 187

sweet apple dessert 300

sweet potatoes 239

turnips 242

vegetables 231

Baking 49

powders 150

Banana custard 322

dessert 310

dessert with gelatine 315

pie 338

shortcake 318

toast 290

Bananas 177

directions for serving 179

in syrup 301

Barley 95

and fruit drink 434

antiquity of 95

bread 110

description of 95

digestibility of 96

digestion of 39

fig pudding 302

fruit pudding 302

general suggestions for cooking 96

grain, structure of 96

gruel 422

lemonade 433

meal in the time of Charles I 96

milk 434

milk for infants 443

nutritive value of 96

patent 96

pearl 96

pot 96

recipes for cooking 97

Scotch milled 96

soup 415

used for bread making 96

Batter for bread, test for lightness of 129

pudding 332

Beans 222

boiled in a bag 223

green, description of 264

green, recipes for cooking 267

Lima 267

pod, digestion of 39

preparation and cooking of 222

recipes for cooking 223

shelled 267

string 267

time required for cooking 223

time required for digestion 222

Bean and corn soup 276

and hominy soup 276

and potato soup 276

and tomato soup 277

Bean gems 160

Beaten biscuit 161

Beating 55

Beaumont's experiments 29

Beef, broiled 399

broth and oatmeal

comparative food value of 392

digestion of 39

economy and adaptability in selection of 398

jerked 394

juice 427

liver of 392

recipes for cooking 399

selection of 393

smothered 400

soups 411

stewed 400

tea 43, 426, 427

tea and egg 427

tea in bottles 427

tea, nutritive value of 426

Beet coffee 360

greens 247

hash 247

salad or chopped beets 248

sugar 26

Beets 246

baked 247

preparation and cooking of 246

recipes for cooking 247

stewed 248

with potatoes 247

Berries 189

Berry shortcake 318

toast 291

Beverages 357

cold, recipes for 361

for the sick, recipes for 433

from fruit juices for the sick 432

recipes for 360

Bile 36

Bills of fare for 52 weeks 487-538

Bills of fare 440

Birds baked in sweet potatoes 406

Black bean soup 277

Blackberry, the 176

beverage 361

cornstarch pudding 303

mush 293

syrup 210

tapioca 310

Blackberries, directions for serving 181

Boiled apples with syrup 188

Boiled beans 223

beets 248

cabbage 250

carrots 246

cauliflower 251

custard 322

custard bread pudding 322

leg of mutton 401

macaroni 106

parsnips 244

potatoes in jackets 235

potatoes without skins 235

potato yeast 141

rice 99

rice, digestion of 98

sweet potatoes 239

turnips 241

wheat 87

Boiling 51, 395

of vegetables 231

violent, result of 51

Bottled beef tea 427

Bran stock 277

Brass utensils 58

Bray 109

Brazil nuts 213

Bread and apricot pudding 323

and fig pudding 323

and fruit custard 332

articles from which prepared 110

care after baking 136

corn 146

corn, digestion of 39

custard, steamed 333

custard pudding 332

dryness of 133

early forms of 109

entire wheat 112, 138

for the sick 436

Graham 138

heavy, cause of 155

how to knead 132

keeping of 137

perfectly risen 130

to detect alum in 116

to detect whiting in 116

in desserts 297

fermented 118

flour, amount of required 126

made light with air 152

making, chemistry of 116

materials, how to combine 125

milk 142

moldy 297

necessary qualities of 111

of mulberries 110

overfermentation of 120

pans 134

pie 338

pulled 143

rye 144

sour 130, 297

stale 138

stale, use of 453

steamed 140

test of 140

the rising of 129

unfermented, general directions for making 152

unfermented, time required for baking 155

unleavened 117

Vienna 142

water 142

white, injurious effects of 111

whole-wheat 138, 143

whole-wheat, proportion of phosphates in 112

Breads, fermented 142

Breadstuffs and bread-making 109

Breakfast dishes 287

miscellaneous 293

Breakfast, grains for 84

rolls 160

Breakfasts and dinners, a year's 481

the ideal 288

use of fruits for 288

Breaking bread 110

Brewis 293

Broccoli 251

recipes 251

Broiled beef 399

Broiled birds 406

fish 410

mutton chop 401

potato 238

steak 430

Broiling 49, 397

Brose 93

Broth panada 428

vegetable 428

Brown Betty 305

bread 146

sauce 351

soup 277

Browned cauliflower 252

flour in soups 274

mush 103

parsnips 244

rice 100

sweet potatoes 240

Budrum 93

Buns, plain 343

Butter 364, 370

absorbent properties of 376

artificial 373

digestion of 39

emulsified 378

French 378

good, test for 372

in ancient times 373

in bread 127

keeping qualities of 375

making 374

Butterine 373

Buttermilk, composition of 370

Butternut 214

Butter-oil 373

Cabbage, description of 248

baked 250

boiled 250

digestion of 39

hash 250

preparation and cooking of 249

recipes for cooking 250

salad 250

with celery 250

with tomatoes 250

Cake, general directions for making 343

heat required for baking 344

icing for 346

made light with yeast 344

recipes for making 344

Calves' brains 392

Candies 449

Cane sugar 26

Canned corn soup 278

green pea soup 278

Canning fruit 193

utensils 197

Caramel coffee 360

custard 323

for coloring soup brown 415

sauce 352

Carrots 245

digestibility of 245

pie 338

pudding 323

recipes for cooking 246

soup 278

Carrots boiled 246

preparation and cooking 245

stewed 246

with egg sauce 246

Casein 26, 78, 365, 372

Cauliflower 251

and broccoli, preparation and cooking 251

recipes for cooking 251

with egg sauce 252

with tomato sauce 252

Celery 253

and potato hash 254

recipes for cooking 253

sauce 352

soup 278

to keep fresh 253

with tomato sauce 254

Cellar 70

floor 70

need of frequent whitewashing 70

ventilation of 70

walls 70

Cereals 78

Charcoal 47

Cheese 376

cottage 377

Chinese 218

Cherry, the 171

jelly 207

tart 318

toast 291

Cherries 189

direction for serving 179

to can 202

Chicken 430

broth 427

jelly 430

panada 428

China closet 67, 457

the care of 477

Chinese soup strainer 273

Chestnut, the 214

bread 110

soup 278

Chestnuts, boiled 215

mashed 215

Chocolate 359

Chopped beets 248

cabbage 250

turnips 242

Cinders, use of 49

Citric acid 165

Citron 173

apples 186

Clams 409

Clear dessert 315

Clearing the table 471

Clear jelly, to make 205

Clotted cream 377

Coal 47

Coarse hominy 104

Cobnut 214

Cocoa 359

Cocoanut, the 213

and cornstarch blancmange 303

cornstarch pudding 323

custard 323

custard cake 345

flavor 298

pie 338

sauce 352

rice custard 324

Coffee 359

Coke 47

Colander, use of in the preparation of soups 273

Combination soup 275, 279

Compartment sink 68, 69

Compote of apples 188

Compound stock 414

Compressed yeast 122

Condiments 29

in cookery 46

Condensed milk 369

Cooked fruit 185

Cookery 45

Cooking of grains 81

utensils 56

Copper utensils 58

Cornaro, experiences of 441

Corn 101

and chicken 406

and tomatoes canned 269

bread, digestion of 39

cake 147

cakes 265

canned 268

digestibility of 101

dodgers 158, 159

dried 266

keeping qualities of 102

lob 102

mush rolls 160

pudding 265

puffs 158

roasted green 265

stewed green 266

Corn meal 102

and fig pudding 324

crust 337

cubes 103

mush 103

mush with fruit 103

pudding 324

recipes for cooking 103

suggestions for cooking 102

Cornstarch blancmange 303

fruit mold 303, 304

meringue 324

pudding, plain 328

with raisins 303

with apples 303

Cottage cheese 377

Cows' milk, analysis of 364

milk, prepared for infants 443

Crab apples, to can 203

Crab apple jelly 207

Cracked potatoes 236

wheat 86, 87

wheat pudding 304, 324

Cranberry, the 175

drink 434

jelly 207

pie 339

Cranberries, to keep 184

and sweet apples 190

with raisins 190

Cream 364, 370

barley soup 279

cake 345

composition of 370

corn cakes 159

crisps 161

digestibility of 370

filling 337

for shortcake 319

Graham rolls 160

or white sauce 351

pea soup 279

pie 339

sauce 352

temperature for raising 368

toast 291

toast with poached eggs 291

use of in soups 274

wholesomeness of 371

Creamed parsnips 244

potatoes 237

turnips 242

Creamery 371

Creamy rice 548

Crescents 145

Crust coffee 434

Crusts 157

Croutons 453

Cucumber, description of 263

the serving of 263

Cupboards 62

Cupboard ventilation 62

Cup custard 320, 325

Currantade 434

Currant jelly 437

puffs 157

Custard, boiled 322

in cups 320

plain 328

puddings 319

pudding, importance of slow cooking of 319

puddings, recipes for cooking 320

sauce 353

snowball 331

steamed 330

tapioca 331

Cut-glass ware 476

Cymling 258

description of 258

preparation and cooking of 258

Date, the 172

bread 146

pudding 333

Decaying vegetables in cellar 70

Delicate cup cake 345

Description of Indian corn 101

Desserts 296

fruits, recipes for 299

for the sick 437

general directions for preparation of 297

made of fruit, grains, bread, etc., recipes for 302

made with, gelatine, recipes for 314

molded 293

objections to 296

with crusts, recipes for 317

with manioca 312

with sago 311, 312

with tapioca, recipes for 309

with tapioca 309

Devonshire cream 377

Dextrine 78

Diabetic biscuit 436

Diastase86

Diet of the pyramid builders 218

for older children 447

for the young 442

simplicity in 41

Digestion deferred by the use of fried foods 54

hygiene of 40

in stomach 37

intestinal 38

liver 39

Salivary 37

time required for 39

Digestive apparatus 35

fluids, uses of 38

Dining, the art of 456

Dining room, the 456

furnishing of 456

temperature of 469

ventilation of 457

Dinners, a batch of 543

holiday 543

Dinner parties, invitations for 467

suggestions concerning 466

Diseased animal food 390

Disease germs in meat 391

Dish closet, utensils for 67

Dish drainer 68

Dishing up 463

Dishes, washing the 472

Dish mop 475

towel rack 74

Double boiler 53, 81

in the preparation of gravies 351

in the preparation of gruels 421

substitute for 81

Double broth 414

Dough 117

kneading the 131

Drafts and dampers, management of 49

Draining dishes 475

Drain pipes 64

Dried apple pie 339

apple pie with raisins 339

apples with other dried fruit 191

apples 190

apricot pie 339

apricots and peaches 191

pears 191

Drinks and delicacies for the sick 432

Dropped eggs 386

Drupaceous fruits 168

Dry granola 293

Drying fruit 211

Drying towels 475

Dry toast with hot cream 292

Duck, digestion of 39

Eating between meals 449

hastily 40

too much 42

when tired 42

Effects of cooking fat 53

Egg gruel 422

lemonade 434

panada 429

plant, description of 262

sauce 352, 353

Egg Cream 434

Eggs and macaroni 107

composition of 380

digestion of 39

for the sick, recipes for 431

for use in desserts 297

how to choose 381

how to keep 382

in cream 386

in shell 384

in sunshine 385

micro-organisms in 381

poached 386

poached in tomatoes 385

recipes for cooking 384

stale 297

test for 381

to beat 383

use of in unfermented breads 154

Evaporation 54

Evaporated peach sauce 191

Extension strainer 421

Fancy omelets 387

Farina 88, 89

blancmange 304

custard 325

fruit mold 304

molded 89

nutritive value of 89

pie 339

pudding 325

recipes for cooking of 89

with fig sauce 89

with fresh fruit 89

Fat, decomposition by the action of heat 54

Fats 26

effects of cooking upon 53

Fatty matter 42

Fermentation 118

the different stages of 119

temperature for 121

the process of 118

Fermentative agents 120

Fermented breads 142

recipes for 142

Fibrin 26, 78

Field corn 101

Fig, the 176

layer cake 345

pudding, steamed 333

Filbert, the 214

Filters 69

Fine hominy or grits 104

Fires, care of 48

Fish 408

as a brain-food 408

baked 410

best method for cooking 410

boiled 410

broiled 410

how to select and prepare 409

parasites in 408

recipes for cooking 410

Flavoring suggestions for 298

Flaxseed tea 434

Floated egg 431

Floating island 325

Floors, kitchen 61

Flour, to keep 115

absorbent quality of 126

adulteration of, how to select 116

deleterious adulteration of 115

entire wheat 114

Graham, how to test 114

gruel 422

how to select 113

measuring of 55

Flummery 93

Foam omelets 387

Foamy sauce 353

Food amount required 42

apologies for 469

Food elements 25

changes in by cooking 45

correct proportion of in wheat 79

deficiency of 43

excess of 42

nitrogenous, subject to rapid decomposition 118

proportions of 28

uses of 27

Food for infants 444

for infants, quantity of 445

for the aged and the very young 439

for the aged, requirements for 439

for the sick 418

for the sick, to heat 420

for the sick, utensils for the preparation of 420

mucilaginous, excellent in gastro-enteritis 444

Foods 35

adding to boiling liquids 54

combinations of 28, 43

digestion of 35

effects of hard and soft water upon 52

Fowl, broiled 406

to stuff 406

to truss 405

Fowls, digestion of 39

Fragments and left-over food 452

French butter 378

rolls 145

Fresh fruit compote 301

fruit pie 336

Fried foods for breakfast 287

Frosted fruit 181

Frozen fish 410

Fruit 164

acids 165

beverage 361

cake 346

canned, selection of 193

canned, the storing of 198

canned, to open 199

canned, to sterilize 193

canning, causes of failure in 198

canning of 193

cans, to test 193

cause of decay 192

cellar, the 184

cooking of for jelly 204

crackers 162

custard 325

dessert 299

directions for picking and handling 182

directions for serving 179

dried, for cake 343

foam dessert 315

for the sick 432

for the table 178

general directions for cooking 185

how to keep fresh 182

ices 211

jelly 204

jelly cake 345

jelly, recipes for 206

jelly, storing of 206

jelly, straining the juice for 204

jelly, time required for boiling juice 205

juices for the sick 432

juices, recipes for 209

loaf 142

loaf with Graham or whole-wheat flour 146

or vegetables in tin cans 199

pie 339

pudding 305

rolls 142, 161

sandwich 545

sauce 354

shape 315

shortcake 318

sugar 26

syrup 210

tapioca 310

the storing of 183

the circulation of juice in 178

the preservation of 192

to cook for canning 194

use of spices with 185

Fruits, analysis of 166

at the beginning of a meal 168

dried 298

drying of 211

for breakfast 288

in jelly 208

kinds most easily digested 165

recipes for cooking 186

stale 167

structure of 165

their value as nutrients 165

Frumenty 87, 293

Frying 53

Fuel 47

economical use of 48

waste of 51

Galvanized iron ware 57

Game, suggestions for selection of 403

Garbage 479

Gasoline and gas 47

Gastric juice 36

Geese and ducks, suggestions for selection of 404

Gelatine, a culture medium 313

custard 315

nutritive value of 313

preparation of for deserts 314

Gem irons 152

irons, filling of 156

Germs in stale fruits 167

in the fermentation of bread 120

Glass, care of 476

utensils 477

Glucose 26

Gluten 78

custard 431

cream 422

gruel 422

meal custard 431

meal gems 436

meal gruel 422

mush 429

Gofio 95

Gold and silver cake 346

Gooseberry 174

tart 318

Gooseberries, directions for serving 179

to can 200

Graham apple mush 90

bread 139, 144

crisps 161

flour 88, 113

gems 157

grits 89

grits gruel 423

grits, how manufactured 88

grits, nutritive value of 89

grits pudding 325

gruel 422

mush 90

mush with dates 90

puffs 156, 157

rolls 160

salt-rising bread 147

Grain and fruit diet for the aged 440

Grains 78

an economical food

and liquids employed for cooking 82

composition of 78

digestibility of 78

for the sick 429

for breakfast 84

importance of variety and use of 79

insalivation of 80

in soups 274

insufficiently cooked not easily digested 81

left over 454

nutritive value of 78

suggestions for cooking 81

use of by other nationalities 79

use of condiments with 79

Granite ware 57

utensils, to clean 474

Granola 429

crust 337

fruit mush 91

gems 159

mush 91

peach mush 91

Granular corn meal 102

Grape apples 301

fruit, the 173

beverage 361

jelly 208

jelly pie 340

juice 209

sugar 26

tart 338

toast 292

Grapes, to keep 184

directions for serving 180

Gravy toast 291

Gravies and sauces 350

and sauces for vegetables, recipes for 351

to flavor 351

Green bean soup 280

beans, preparation and cooking of 264

corn 264

corn, boiled 265

corn preparation and cooking of, recipes 264, 265

corn soup

pea soup 280

peas, dried 222

peas, preparation and cooking of 264

Ground air 70

Ground rice pudding 326

Gruel, barley 422

egg 422

flour 422

gluten meal 422

Graham 422

Indian meal 423

lemon oatmeal 403

milk oatmeal 423

oatmeal 424

of prepared flour 423

peptonized gluten 424

raisin 424

strainer 421

Gruels 420

recipes for 421

Gum arabic water 435

Hasty pudding 102

Hazelnut, the 214

Hickory nut, the 214

Hoecake 139

Holiday dinners 543

feasting 543

menus 544

Homemade macaroni 106

Hominy 102, 104

gems 158

Honey 26

Hop yeast 141

Hot butter toast 419

lemonade 435

milk 376, 425

water 435

Household workshop 60

Iced milk 357

tea 357

water 357

Ice in refrigerator 68

Icelandic bread 110

Iceland moss blancmange 437

moss jelly 437

Imperial rolls 145

Indian corn 101

Indian meal gruel 423

Indigestion caused by bad cooking 46

Infants' food 444

Intestinal digestion 38

juice 36

Invalid food 426

Irish moss lemonade 435

potatoes 233

Iron rust 57

utensils 57

Ivory handles 477

Jam pudding 305

Japanned goods 477

Jellied oatmeal 94

Jelly, apple 206

cherry 207

crab apple 207

cranberry 207

custard pie 340

for the sick 419, 437

grape 208

orange 208

pear 208

plum 208

producing principle 165

quince 208

with fruit 316

Julienne soup 415

Junket 425

Keeping fresh fruit 182

Kerosene oil 47

Kitchen brushes 75, 76

clock 62

conveniences 70

drain pipes 64

floor 61

flowers in 62

furnishing 61

furniture 62

good sized one 61

location of 60

plumbing 64

refuse 64

sanitary 61

sink, best material for 64

slate 63

table 63

utensils 66

ventilation 61

woodwork 62

Kneading 55, 131

table 74

Kornlet and tomato soup 280

soup 280

Koumiss 425

Lamb 402

comparative nutritive value of 392

Layer pudding 316

Lead-adulterated tin 57

test of 58

Leaven 121

Left-over foods, care of 453

fragments in soup 275

Legumes 217

composition of 217

digestibility of 218

green 219

suggestions for cooking 319

value as strength producers 218

Legumin 217

Lemon, the 173

Lemonade 362

Lemon apples 187

cornstarch pudding 326

drill 72

filling 338

flavor 299

jelly 316

meringue custard 340

oatmeal gruel 423

pie 340

pudding 326

pudding sauce 354

shortcake 318

syrup 210

Lemons and oranges, to keep 184

Lentil and parsnip soup 281

gravy with rice 226

Lentil meal 225

puree 226

soup 281

toast 292

Lentils, description of 225

mashed with beans 226

recipes for cooking 226

Lettuce 256

to clean 230

to serve 257

Lignite 47

Lima bean soup 281

Lime, the 173

Liquid, quantity required for bread making 126

Liquid yeast 140

Liquids best suited for cooking 51

Liver digestion 39

Loaf cake 347

Loaf, size of 133

Lobsters 409

Love apple 260

Luncheon, cold, provision for 545

Macaroni 105

boiled 106

description of 105

in soups 274

pudding 326

recipes for cooking 106

soup 281, 416

to select 105

to prepare and cook 106

to keep 105

with cream sauce 106

with kornlet 294

with granola 106

with raisins 293

with tomato sauce 106

Maize 101

meal 102

Mallic acid 165

Manioca 309

with fruit 312

Maple sugar 26

Mashed cabbage 250

beans 224

peas 221

parsnips 244

potatoes 236

sweet potatoes 240

Mashed turnips 243

Mastication 37

Materials, mixing of 55

Meals, drinking at 41

eating between 41

service of 464

Measures and weights, comparative table of 55

Measuring 54

dry materials 55

flour 55

liquids 55

salt 55

sugar 55

Meat broth 426

diseased 390

extracts 43

for children 448

importance of simple cooking of 392

nutritive value of 389

pies 392

preparation and cooking of 395

preservation of 394

soup, recipes for 415

soup, preparation and cooking of 412

soup 410

selection of 393

Meats for the sick, recipes for 430

left over 454

Melon, the 176

directions for serving 180

Menu cards 468

Metate 148

Micro-organisms in gelatine 313

Milk, absorbent properties of 367

adulteration of 365

albumenized 425

and contagious diseases 366

and lime water 425

baked 433

bread 127

bread with white flour 142

care of 367

composition of 364

condensed 369

cream and butter 364

diet 425

diet for the young 442

digestion of 39

dishes, washing of 367

diseased 365

for cooking purposes 52

hot 376, 425

left over 455

oatmeal gruel 423

panada 429

porridge 423

preparations of 425

recipes for 376, 425

sugar 26

to sterilize for immediate use 368

to sterilize to keep 369

use of in soups 274

utensils for keeping 366

yeast bread 147

Minced chicken 430

steak 430

Mineral elements 26, 78

soap 477

Miss B's salt-rising bread 143

Mixed lemonade 362

fruits, to can 202

mush 94

vegetable broths 428

Mock cream 354

Molasses sauce 354

Molded farina 89

rice, or snow balls 327

tapioca with fruit 310

wheat 88

Mrs. T's caramel coffee 360

Mulberry, the 176

Mush, rye 101

Mutton broth 428

chop 430

chops, stewed 402

comparative nutritive value of 392

digestion of 39

recipes for cooking 401

rules for selection of 393

stewed 402

New potatoes 236

Nitrogenous elements, importance in dietary for children 448

Nursing bottles 447

Nuts 212

recipes for serving 215

to keep fresh 215

Oatcakes 92

Oatmeal blancmange 94

bread 147

character of 92

crisps 162

drink 362

for children 93

fruit mush 94

gems 159

gruel 424

in soups 274

mush 94

porridge 95

preparation and cooking of 93

proportion of nitrogenous element in 92

recipes for cooking of 94

soup 281

time required for the digestion of 93

with apple 95

Oat, the 91

ancient use of 91

a staple article of diet with the Scotch peasantry 91

description of 91

Dr. Johnson's definition of 92

how prepared for food 92

nutritive value of 91

Oil and gas stoves 95

Oleomargarine 373

Olive, the 171

Omelet, foam 387

plain 387

soft 388

Omelets, fancy 387

recipes for making 387

One-crust peach pie 341

Onions 267

Orangeade 362, 435

Oranges and apples 190

cake 346

custard 327

dessert 316

directions for serving 180

flavor 299

float 327

in jelly 317

pie 208, 317

pudding 341

rice 100

sauce 354

syrup 210

whey 437

Ornamental potatoes 238

Oven, heat of for baking unfermented bread 153

proper temperature of 134

test for heating of 50, 136

thermometer 50

Oysters 409

digestion of 39

Paddy fields 98

Paint for kitchen walls 62

Panada, recipes for 428

Pan broiled steak 399

Pantry, the 67

Parched grain coffee 360

Parker House rolls 145

Parsnip beer 243

boiled 244

boiled, digestion of 39

browned 244

creamed 244

description of 243

mashed 244

preparation and cooking of 243

recipes for cooking of 244

soup 281, 282

stewed 245

stewed with celery 345

with cream sauce 244

with egg sauce 244

with potato 245

Partridges 404, 406

to dress 404

Passover bread 148

Pasta d'Italia 105

Pastry and cake 333

indigestibility of 334

Paste for pies 336

for tart shells 337

Pates 392

Patent barley 96

Pea and tomato soup 282

Peach, the 170

cream 301

custard pie 341

digestion of 39

jelly 208

mush 294

meringue 327

sauce 355

tapioca 311

toast 292

Peaches 189

and cream, directions for serving 180

and pears, directions for serving 180

to can 201

Peanut bread 110

the, or ground nut 214

Pear, the 170

Pearl barley 96

barley with lemon sauce 97

barley with raisins 97

wheat 87

Pearled wheats 86

Pears, to can 201

Peas bainock 220

cake 221

canned 269

description of 220

gravy 352

green, description of 264

green, recipes for cooking of 266

pudding 220

puree 221

recipes for cooking 221

sausage 221

stewed 266

the history 220

Pecan, the 214

Pectic acid 165

Pemmican 394

Peptonized gruel 424

milk for infants 426

Percolater holder 73

Perforated sheet iron pans for rolls 152

Phosphates in wheat 86

Picnic biscuit 546

dinners 545

pudding 327

Pie, fresh fruit 336

crust, raised 319

with one crust 335

Pies, general suggestions for making 334

paste for 336

recipes for making 336

Pigeons 406

to select 404

Pineapple, the 178

beverage 362

cake 347

directions for serving 180

lemonade 362

tapioca 347

Pineapples, to cane 203

Pink dinners 468

lemonade 362

Pippins and quinces 187

Plain cornstarch pudding 328

custard 328

fruit pudding 305

omelets 387

pudding sauce 355

rice soup 282

Plaster of Paris in flour 116

Plum, the 170

jelly 208

porridge 90

Plums 189

to can 202

with sweet apples 202

Poached eggs with cream sauce 386

Poisonous mussels 409

substances produced in fried foods 54

Polenta 102

Pomaceous fruits 168

Pomegranate, the 174

Pop corn 101, 104

pudding 330

Popovers 159

Porcelain-lined utensils, to wash 474

ware 57

Pork, digestion of 39

Porridge, milk 423

Potato and rice soup 282

and vermicelli soup 283

bread 143

bread with whole-wheat flour 144

browned 238

cake with egg 237

cake 237

chemistry of cooking 233

cooked in jackets 234

digestion of 39

frozen 233

hash 240

Irish, description of 233

paring of 234

preparation and cooking of 234

recipes for cooking of 235

snowballs 237

soup 282

sprouts, poisonous 239

stewed with celery 237

structure of 233

sweet, preparation and cooking of 238, 239

yeast in bread making 140

Pot barley 96

roast lamb 401

Poultry and game 402

and game, recipes for cooking 406

less stimulating than game 402

suggestions for selecting 403

Preparation of mushes with meal or flour 83

Prepared food for infants 444

Prune, the 171

marmalade 191

pie 341

pudding 305, 328

toast 292

whip 328

Prunes 191

Pulled bread 143

Pulp succotash 224

Pumice stone 477

Pumpkin 259

baked 260

canned 269

dried 260

pie 342

pie without eggs 342

recipes for cooking of 260

stewed 260

Puree with chicken 416

Putrefactive fermentation 119

Quails 406

Quantity of food for the aged 441

Quince, the 170

jelly 208

Radish 256

description of 257

Radishes, to serve 257

Raised biscuit 145

corn bread 146

pie crust 319

Raisin gruel 424

panada 429

Range ventilator 61

Raspberries, blackberries and other small fruits 200

directions for serving 181

Raspberry, the 176

manioca mold 312

Raw eggs 431

potato yeast 140

Recipes for canning fruit 200

for cooking rye 101

for steamed pudding 332

for unfermented bread 156

for yeast 140

Red rice mold 307

sago mold 311

sauce 355

Refrigerator 68

Rice and fruit dessert 307

and strawberry dessert 308

and stewed apple dessert 307

and tapioca pudding 307

and apple custard pudding 329

balls 333

best methods of cooking 99

cream pudding 306

custard pudding 329

description of 97

digestibility of 97

digestion of 39

division in food elements 98

dumpling 306

fruit dessert 306

flour 98

flour mold 307

history of 97

kernel, structure of 98

meringue 305

preparation and cooking of 99

pudding with raisins 98

recipes for cooking of 329

requisites for cultivation of 306

snow 329

snowball 306

snow with jelly 329

soup 415

time required for digestion of 98

to clean 99

water 424

with eggs 329

with fig sauce 99

with lemon 294

with peaches 100

with raisins 100

Roast beef 399

chicken 406

mutton 401

turkey 407

Roasted potatoes 235

sweet potatoes 240

Roasting 49, 397

Rochelle salts 151

Roll, fruit 142

Rolled oats 95

rye 101

wheat 86, 87

Rolls 145

Rose cream 355

Rough rice 98

Rust, to remove 477

Rye, appearance of 100

bread 144

description of 100

flour 100

meal 100

nutritive value of 100

puffs 157

Sabbath bill of fare 549

dinners 548

Sago and fruit custard pudding 330

and potato soup 283

custard pudding 330

digestion of 39

fruit pudding 312

pudding 312

sauce 355

soup 415

Saleratus 149

Salicylic acid, in fruit 192

Saliva, the 36

Sally Lunn gems 158

Salmon, digestion of 39

Salsify, description of 263

preparation and cooking of 263

recipes for cooking of 264

Salted fish 409

Salted meats 394

Salt, measuring of 55

Samp 103

Sanitary customs among the Jews 390

Sauce for desserts and puddings, recipes for 352

Sauteing 53

Scalloped beans 223

cauliflower 252

egg plant 262

potatoes 237

turnips 242

vegetable oyster 264

Scallops 409

School lunches 546

Scientific cookery, principles of 47

Scotch broth 283

milled barley 96

Scrambled eggs 386

Scraped steak 430

Sea kale 256

Sea moss 309

blancmange 312

Seasonings 31

Semolina 105

Setting the sponge 124

Shaken milk 378

Sheep's kidneys 392

Shell fish 409

Sherbet 362

Shortcake, banana 318

lemon 318

strawberry 318

Silver, care of 476

to remove egg tarnish from 473

Simmering 53

Simple custard pie 342

stock, or broth 414

Sink in kitchen 64

Skim milk, composition of 370

Slippery elm tea 435

Small fruits 191

Smoked meats 394

Smooth apple sauce 188

Smothered beef 400

chicken 407

Snowball custard 331

Snowballs 327

Snowflake toast 292

Snow gems 159

Snow pudding 317, 329

Snow, use of in place of eggs 298

Soda 149

use of in cooking vegetables 231

Soft custard 431

omelet 388

Soup, digestion of 39

digestibility of 272, 412

seasoning of 275

Soups 271

economical value of 272

from grains and legumes, to prepare 272

recipes for making 276

selection for material for 411

to flavor 273

to thicken 274

Sour bread 130

Sowens 93

Spaghetti 105

Spice and flavorings 185

Spinach 252

description of 252

preparation and cooking of 252

Split pea soup 283

Sponge 127

cake 347

how to secure the best temperature 127

when sufficiently light 129

Spoons, kind to be used in measuring 55

Squash, baked 259

canned 269

mashed 258

pie 342

pie without eggs 343

summer 258

winter 259

Stains, removal of 477

Stale bread 138

Starch 26, 78

action of cold water upon 53

action of hot water upon 53

Steak, pan broiled 399

Steam cooker 71, 81

cooker for grains 81

Steamed apples 188

chicken 407

custard 330

eggs 386, 431

potatoes 235

prunes 545

pudding 332

rice 99

rice, digestion of 98

squash 259

sweet potatoes 240

turnips 242

Steaming 53, 397

different methods of 53

vegetables 231

Steel knives, to clean 474

Sterilized milk 369

for infants 443

Stewed apples 188

asparagus 256

beans 224

beef 400

beef with vegetables 400

beets 278

cabbage 250

carrots 246

cauliflower 252

celery 253, 254

chicken 407

corn and tomatoes 261

crab apples 189

fruit pudding 308

Lima beans 224

mutton 402

mutton chop 402

parsnips 245

pears 188

potato 237

squash 258

raisins 190

turnips 242

Stewing 53, 396

proper temperature for 53

Sticks 160

St. Martin, Alexis; experiments on 29

Stock 410

preparation of 413

to clarify 414

to cool 413

to strain 413

Stomach digestion 37

Storeroom 68

Stoves and ranges 65

Strawberry, the 175

charlotte 330

minute pudding 308

shortcake 318

Strawberries, to can 200

String beans, canned 269

Stirabout 102

Stirring 55

of grains 83

Stuffed potatoes 236

Succotash 224

Sugar 78

amount of required, in canning 196

cane 26

crisps 348

excess of in fruit jelly 204

fruit 26

grape 26

in canned fruit 194

measuring of 55

milk 26

to color 299

Summer squash 258

squash, preparation and cooking of 258

squash, recipes for cooking 258

succotash 266

Swedish bread 110

Sweet apple custard pie 343

pudding 308

sauce with condensed apple juice 189

Sweet corn 102

Sweet potato 238

pie 343

soup 383

to dry 240

Swiss lentil soup 284

Swiss potato soup 283

Table, the 461

appointments of 462

arrangement of 463

for estimating the amount of food required for infants 446

in kitchen 63

linen, care of 477

linen, colored 479

linen, washing of 478

manners 458

of nutritive values of foods 484-486

refuse 480

setting the 462

the setting of over night 463

topics 44, 59, 77, 108, 162, 216, 226, 270, 286, 295, 349, 356,

363, 379, 388, 417, 438, 450, 455, 470, 480, 542, 550

Tamarind water 435

Tapeworm 391

Tapioca and fig pudding 311

cream soup 416

custard 331

digestion of 39

filling 338

jelly 311

pudding 331

soup 415

Tartaric acid 165

Tea 358

and coffee, adulteration of 359

and coffee, substitutes for 359

not a food 359

use of, detrimental 358

Temperature 56

for bread-making 128

Test for bad water 69

Testimony of St. Pierre 391

Thanksgiving menus 544

Theine 358

Tin closet, list of utensils for 67

utensils 57

Tinware, action upon by acids 57

adulterated with lead 58

Tisane 363

Toast 139

apple 290

apricot 290

asparagus 290

banana 290

berry 291

celery 291

cherry 291

cream 291

for the sick 419

grape 292

gravy 291

lentil 291

peach 292

prune 292

preparation of 289

recipes for 290

snowflake 290

tomato 293

vegetable oyster 293

water 435

Tomato and macaroni soup 284

and okra soup 284

and rice soup 282

cream gravy 352

cream soup 284

description of 260

gluten 429

gravy 261, 352

preparation and cooking of 260

pudding 262

recipes for 261

salad 261

soup 416

soup with vermicelli 284

toast 293

with okra 262

Tomatoes, baked 261

canned 269

scalloped 261

stewed 262

Tortillas 148

Trays for invalids, suggestions for preparing 419

Trichinae 391

Turkey, roast 407

suggestions for selection of 404

Turnips, baked 242

boiled 241

chopped 242

composition of 241

description of 240

digestion of 39

scalloped 242

in juice 242

mashed 242

preparation and cooking of 241

recipes for cooking 241

steamed 242

stewed 242

with cream sauce 243

Tyrotoxicon 376

Unfermented batter bread 154

bread 148

recipes for 156

wine 209

Unleavened bread 117

Unripe fruits 165

Utensils for bread-making 127

Variety cake 348

Veal 402

comparative nutritive value of 392

rules for selection of 393

Vegetable broth 426, 428

brush 76

casein 217

casein hardened by the use of hard water 156

hash 238

marrow 258

marrow, description of 258

oyster, description of 263

oyster, preparation and cooking of 263

oysters, recipes for cooking 264

oyster soup 285

oyster toast 293

press 71

Vegetable soup 285

Vegetables 228

canning of 268

composition of 228

decayed 229

dietetic value of 228

fresh, value of 229

keeping of 229

left over 454

overdone 231

preparation and cooking of 230

recipes for canning 268

shredded in soups 274

sprouted 229

stale 229

storing of 229

time required for cooking 231

to keep after cooking 232

to select 229

underdone 231

Velvet soup 285

Ventilation of china closet 67

of cupboards 62

of kitchen 61

of pantry 67

Ventilator 61

Vermicelli 105

pudding 331

in soups 274

soup 285, 286, 416

Vienna bread 142

Vitellin 381

Waiters, general suggestions for 466

Waiter, the handy 72

Walnut, the 214

Wall cabinet 73

Warmed-over potatoes 238

Washing the dishes 472

Waste barrel, the 479

Water, action of upon food elements 52

amount of for cooking vegetables 230

boiling point at different altitudes 52

boiling point at sea level 52

boiling, temperature of 51

bread 126, 142

comparative value of use of hot and cold in cookery 52

rice 424

supplies 69

supplies, tests for 69

tamarind 422

to increase the boiling point of 52

Wheat-berry flour 113

cracked 86

description of 85

Wheatena 429

Wheat, finer mill products of 88

flour, nutritive elements of 111

gluten 429

meal 88

molded 88

oats and barley coffee 361

pearled 86

preparation and cooking of 86

recipes for cooking 87

relative proportion of food elements in 85

rolled 86

structure of 85

with fresh fruit 87

with raisins 87

Whipped cream sauce 355

Whirled eggs 386

White celery soup 286

custard 331, 332, 437

of egg 432

of egg and milk 432

soup 416

Whiting in flour, how to detect 115

Whole-wheat bread 138, 143

puffs 156

Whortleberry pudding 309

Whortleberries and blueberries 175

directions for serving 181

Window box 62

Winter squash 259

preparation and cooking of 259

recipes for cooking of 259

Wire dishcloth 474

Wooden ware, to wash 474

Yeast 121

amount required for bread-making 126

bitter 123

boiled potato 141

cells, effect of heat upon 121

compressed 122

effects of freezing upon 123

foam 122

homemade 122

how to keep 122

how to promote the growth of 123

liquid 140

raw potato 140

recipes for 140

test for 124

the most convenient kind 122

the stirring of 123

Yellow luncheon 468

Zwieback 139, 289, 436, 453

preparation of 289

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