LB 3475 H3 THE NOON HOUR AND THE NOON LUNCHEON FLORENCE M. HALE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AUGUSTA, MAINE, 1922 STATE OF MAINE Department of Education AUGUSTA THE NOON HOUR AND THE NOON LUNCH Prepared by Florence M. Hale, State Agent for Rural Education, Assisted by Bernardine Cooney, State Supervisor Home Economics and illustrated by Evelyn M. Wilson, Augusta, Maine "It has been found perfectly feas.ble to teach pupils the fundamental principles of cooking, hygiene, cleanliness and many of the household duties, in schools where little or no equipment for practice work is pos- sible and where teachers have had no special training along these lines." — Mary J. Lincoln. LIBRARY OJF.CpNGKFSS ' RECE'vd? OOCUMCNTo *. INTRODUCTION. Augustus O. Thomas, State Supt. of- Public Schools. Most of us remember our school days long agone; the long walk through chill wind, snow, slush, mud and sometimes over frozen roads. When school was reached our lunch was in cold storage. Sometimes it was placed in unheated hallways where it remained frozen until thawed by eating. Many of us survived, and some think that because of this our children will survive such things also. The writer recalls his early experience as a boy pioneer in a country of magnificent distances and discouraging hardships, where his parents were unable to supply the dainties of any kind for his noon repast. Coarse bread and butter, fried mush, some cold boiled meat, a piece of homemade cheese, occasionally some fruit, seemed very coarse and ungenteel when compared with the pie, cake, doughnuts, preserves and confections of the elite so- ciety of the neighborhood. He always stole away to some se- clusion until the ravenous appetite of the growing boy was allay- ed. It never occurred to him that these coarse foods of which he was ashamed were storing up energy and strength for later life and he was in reality better favored than the rich in this respect. During the war just past we have learned that there are five food groups from which something should be chosen each day. They are as follows : 1. Vegetables or fruit. 2. Milk, cheese or eggs, meat or beans. 3. Cereal ; corn, rice, oats, rye or wheat. 4. Syrup or sugar. 5. Fat; such as drippings, oil and butter. When to a lunch made up of these simple coarse elements, which are within the reach of every family, is added a hot soup or a steaming hot baked potato there seems to be nothing lack- ing. ... * .., , In some communities people who are not well-to-do have timidity about having their children display their coarse foods in such polite society as the school, but if proper care is taken to show that the coarse foods which are within the reach of every family are best for the basis of the noon meal a democratic equality may be established through the school which otherwise might not exist. Teachers should take due consideration of the inability of some families to provide dainties and should dis- courage rich food to the encouragement of the common coarser sort. While a child may battle and overcome many disadvantages he is better prepared when health safeguards are thrown around him. At the present time a large number of our country schools provide some warm noon dish. In order to help out this worthy enterprise and to promote general knowledge among the people, to lay down certain principles for the teacher and to emphasize certain necessities I have asked Miss Hale, supervisor of rural education, to prepare this bulletin, to make it as sensible and as workable as possible and as suggestive as such a bulletin may well be. Because the writer is interested in the welfare of every child and in his physical fitness to cope with the adversities which he must meet in life, he would urge that every teacher make pro- visions for carrying out the suggestions herein recorded and that superintendents everywhere lend not only their sympathy but their active participation as well. NOON SUPERVISION. ' In schools where any considerable number of pupils bring their dinners and remain during the noon recess, no hour of the day is more important than that period designated on school programs as "the noon intermission." Progressive superintend- ents are requiring teachers in such schools at least to remain during the noon hour and to maintain proper supervision of the activities of this period. Children of all ages, associating togeth- er in isolated places, with nothnig to employ their time after a hastily eaten lunch, are likely to fall into bad habits both morally and mentally. It is not enough for the teacher who remains at the schoolhouse at noon, in fulfillment of her requirement, to spend the time in correcting papers or in completing intricate designs of fancy work but she should be both physically and mentally alert and know where every pupil is and in what he is engaged throughout the entire hour. During good weather, as much time as possible — as much, for example, as would be spent were it possible for the children to go a reasonable distance to their homes for dinner — should be spent out of doors in active games and sports. When the weather does not permit of outdoor ac- tivities, then games of a nature as active as practicable should be organized for indoor recreation. Whatever is planned, how- ever, for this period should be such as to afford the child an en- tire change both mentally and physically. Recess periods, whether during the regular school session or at the noon hour, should very rarely, if ever, be used for "make up" work or for any form of punishment. It would seem, at first thought, that this careful supervision of the noon recess might prove a burden to an already hard worked teacher. It has been learned from the testimony of the teachers themselves that in the long run such supervision is not a burden but is rather of such value in the organization and carrying out of the school program and in securing community interest and co-operation that it has paid for the extra time and thought involved. Some of the benefits which will appeal to teachers are as follows : 1. Discipline of the afternoon session is much easier where pupils have not been allowed to get into a state of noisy disorder at noon. 2. At the beginning of the afternoon session, the school- room will be in an orderly condition, free from crumbs, scattered bits of food, a dirty floor and ruined board work. 3. The teacher is freed from the difficult task of determin- ing who is responsible for damages to schoolhouse and fur- niture and for the defacement of outbuildings — things, which are sure to occur during the unsupervised noon hour. In most schools, the worry and hard feelings occasioned by these difficulties entail greater hardship for the teacher than will the amount of time and effort consumed by the proper supervision of the hour. THE NOON LUNCH. Care of Lunch Receptacles. Not only is it necessary that the noon hour activities be su- pervised by the teacher but it is equally desirable that considera- tion be given to the noon lunch itself. First of all, proper attention should be given to the care of the lunch brought from home in "dinner pails" or boxes. These receptacles should not be left in cold halls nor yet placed in too close proximity to the stove, especially where the old "box" stove is still in use. Nor should these dinner pails be left scattered about the room, in vari- ous places, on the floor. If possible, shelves should be arranged at a place in the room where an even temperature can be main- tained. Each child should have a certain place for his lunch box or pail and he should put it there each day as regularly as he hangs his hat on his own individual hook in the coat-room. The habit of eating between meals or lunching intermittently from the dinner pail until little but unsavory fragments remain for the real dinner should be discouraged. In cases where the younger pupils leave home very early in the morning and are perhaps really hungry by recess time, it is well for the teacher to advise with the parents and see if it cannot be arranged that the sand- wich or fruit which may well serve as a lunch at recess for the little child be so placed in the dinner box that it can be taken out without disturbing the rest of the lunch. WHY SERVE A HOT DISH? In the most up-to-date rural schools, the custom already pre- vails of serving at least one hot dish to supplement the food brought from home. Attention is also given to the proper ar- rangement and serving of the entire lunch. Here, again, it might seem that still another burden is added to the teacher's life. However, it has been conclusively proven that, like the gen- eral noon supervision described herein, the benefits to the teacher outweigh the effort involved. Pupils who have had a warm, appetizing lunch are both mentally and physically in a condition to do much better school work in the afternoon than are those who have eaten a cold, soggy dinner hastily, amid unpalatable surroundings. Fewer "make-up" pupils after school, fewer low marks in afternoon subjects and fewer controversies with both children and parents have been reported as benefits derived from the proper noon lunch arrangement. It is usually impracti- cal and undesirable to attempt to supply a whole dinner but con- ditions are met satisfactorily if one hot dish is served each day, provided care be taken to furnish enough variety to tempt the appetites of both teacher and pupils. THE HOME LUNCH BOX. Where parents' meetings are held or where the teacher in some other way can get in touch with the mothers, it may be desirable to confer regarding the putting up of the home lunch and the material which it may well contain. The lunch box it- self should be kept scrupulously clean. If of tin, it should be scalded and aired after using ; if of leather, it should receive fre- quent airings and when a pasteboard box is used, a fresh box should be frequently supplied. Waxed paper is inexpensive. If each sandwich, piece of ginger-bread, or stuffed egg is wrapped in waxed paper, such food will keep in good condition much longer than when not so wrapped. Small screw-top covered jars or covered jelly glasses will keep the salad, preserves and the like in appetizing condition. Paper napkins can be bought at a low price in large quantities and one or two used in the lunch bas- ket will add to its daintiness. Thermos bottles are of great value, especially where the hot dish is not served regularly, as cocoa and soups may be kept as hot as when first made, or milk and spring water as cold as when taken from the refrigerator. The State Course of Study suggests the following as desirable com- binations for well balanced luncheons for the home dinner bas- ket. No. 1 Plain bread and butter sandwiches Stuffed egg Fruit jelly Plain cookies No. 2 Chopped meat sandwiches (Meat mixed with salad dressing) Olives Apples No. 3 Peanut butter sandwiches Lemon jelly Cream hermits No. 4 Cottage cheese and date sandwiches Sponge cake Baked apple No. 5 Brown bread sandwiches (Cottage cheese and olive filling) ^ Ginger snaps or plain cookies Fresh fruit No. 6 Ham or chicken sandwiches Pickles Boiled egg Cake or cookies No. 7 Plain bread and butter sandwiches Cup custard Gingerbread Nuts These are merely suggestive and may be extended and varied to any extent. To the above should be added a hot portion. If each child brings a potato nicely cleaned, at some time during the morning, if the stove is suitable, all the potatoes may be plac- ed in the coals of the grate and baked. At noon they may be brought out piping hot. PREPARATION FOR THE LUNCH The most important part of the whole noon hour proposition is the actual preparation and serving of the hot dish. First, however, it is well to make some simple suggestions regarding the arrangements for eating the din- ner. When the size of the room permits and when a suitable table can be obtained, the ideal plan is to have the children sit at a long table, as they would sit at home during meal time, with the teach- er occupying the James School, Presque Isle place of the mother at the table and with one or two children, according to the size of the group, waiting on the table. These children should be appointed as committees, the older children taking turns so that no child will be called upon to perform this service longer than a week at a time and even a shorter period is desirable where the number of available pupils permits. The table should, of course, be set properly like a well arranged home ta- ble. This gives a chance for one of the most val- uable features of the noon lunch plan — the teaching of simple les- sons in home economics and some of the rudi- ments of orderly house- keeping to these girls whose work in life in most instances will be that of homemakers. When the children thus eat together, the teacher may, both by precept and example, instill ideas of good table manners and desirable dinner conversation. Eating slowly and properly, too, has a marked effect upon the benefit derived from the din- ner. Contrast such conditions as the above with the other type of lunch hour in country schools where, sitting on wood piles, in entrys or on school steps, the children hastily "bolt" their food and consume pie, pickles and candy almost at the same "swallow." West Gorham Model School 10 Where it is not possible to have the long table, the same prin- ciples may be observed in the serving of the lunch at the desks. In this case, a paper napkin may be spread on the desk and then the plate, knife and fork, glass, etc., placed in the right positions upon that, with a second napkin for ordinary use. A better plan, however, is to use a piece of oilcloth, the size of the top of the desk, to- cover the desk. Most mothers in country homes have a discarded kitchen table cloth of this material, too worn around the center for use as a table cover but with some good pieces still left in it. Covers for two or three desks can often be cut from such pieces and the mother usually is glad to contribute the cover for such a purpose. This oil cloth can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth and will la^t for months. James School, Presque Isle 11 EQUIPMENT When the school is equipped with a flat topped stove, this may be used for cooking. Those dishes which require boiling may be prepared on top of the stove, allow- ing sufficient time for water to boil by this slower method of cooking. Pota- toes may be baked in the ashes. Some teachers have re- reported that pota- toes may also be baked by a unique method; i. e., put a potato on the top of the stove and cover with an empty can and the potato will be bake 1 in nearly as appetizing a manner as if it had been cooked in the regular way. West Gorham Model School 12 Where the flat topped stove is not in use, a two or three burner kerosene stove is desirable. If it is possible to obtain an oven, a greater variety of menu may be secured by the occasional pre- paration of baked dishes. Great care should be taken to teach the children to avoid all risk of fire. To this end, two tin boxes should be provided, one for good matches and one for burnt matches, and kept in a reg- ular place. Each child may bring from home his own knife, fork, spoon, cup and saucer and plate. If possible, there should be a cupboard in which to keep these articles and supplies for the luncheons. A very satisfactory cupboard may be made out of a large empty box or packing case which can usually be ob- tained free of charge at the village dry goods store. Almost any large boy in a country school will be able to put shelves into such a box. A curtain of chintz may be made by the girls in their sewing class and, strung on wire, may take the place of a door to the cupboard and help to keep the dishes free from dust. It is still better, however, if a real door can be made. 13 »»»>inn>i»»>iiiiiinln ii win ii i ii) in 1 1 1 >u iiji [( > »( vf\ ] inn 1 \i ■» h\^)y When two good-sized cloak rooms are available, arrangements may be made to divide one between girls and boys, using the other as a kitchen. Some of the new school building- plans provide for an extra room for this purpose. Where no such separate room is available, if the room is large enough, a screen may be used in one corner of the room where food is pre- pared and the dishes and utensils are kept. In al- most every school it will be possible to have at least a a row of curtained shelves where this material may be kept. The children may bring from home empty coffee cans with lids, also a few jelly glasses, with lids, for the general supplies, such as cocoa, sugar, flour, cornstarch and seasonings. GENERAL EQUIPMENT. The following simple list of equipment has been submitted by an experienced teacher as being sufficiently complete to en- able her to carry on her school lunch successfully : 1 Good sized tea-kettle 2 Dish pans 4 Dish towels 2 Salt and pepper shakers 1 Double boiler (large size) 1 Ladle 2 Measuring cups 2 Tea spoons 2 Table spoons 1 Knife and fork 1 Butcher knife 1 Frying pan 2 Bowls 1 Quart dipper 1 Pail 1 Pitcher 1,000 Paper napkins 1 Galvanized garbage can Soap and cleaning powders 14 FOOD SUPPLIES. In rural communities it is usually possible for children to bring certain supplies from home such as milk, vegetables and fruits. As soon as the parents become interested in the noon lunch plan, it will often happen that appetizing dishes will be ''sent in" from time to time or parents will offer to assist in some practical way. For example, in a certain rural community where the children are very fond of baked beans, a neighbor offered to bake the beans once a week in her oven. A sufficient quantity was baked so that two dinners were provided by reheat- Rural School, Fort Fairfield ing the beans left from the first meal. In some schools it has been found that potatoes are the most easily procured source of supply for the noon lunch in that it is almost always possible for each child to bring a clean potato from home. It is sur- prising how many different ways potatoes can be cooked and how very palatable they are when well cooked. In most schools it is best to attempt to serve only one hot dish to supplement the lunch brought from home. The simplest hot dishes to prepare are cocoa, potatoes cooked in various ways and simple soups. 15 It is necessary that the teacher have a small sum of money on hand with which to buy general supplies such as cocoa, sugar, flour, seasoning, etc. In some school systems the school depart- ment appropriates a small sum for this purpose. In other conv- munities it is possible for children to bring pennies from home, though this method of obtaining funds must be used with great care and not overdone. Perhaps the best way of securing such a fund is through school entertainments of various kinds. Such entertainments serve a three-fold purpose — of bringing home and school closer together, of arousing inquiry and interest in the noon lunch propositon and then securing funds for the carrying on of the project. Another excellent method is through the activities of the School Improvement League which might well take for one of its projects the supplying of funds and ar- ranging for committees to be responsible for the carrying on of the noon lunch. GENERAL PLAN OF WORK. The menu for the luncheons for the following week should be planned each Friday. It is well to have a regular note-book for this purpose as it will later prove a valuable reference book to show what has been accomplished during the term. A menu taken at random from such a note-book reads as follows : Monday— Vegetable soup Tuesday — Cocoa Wednesday — Baked potatoes Thursday — Corn chowder Friday — Creamed Potatoes. All of the work possible in the preparation, serving and the cleaning up afterward each day should be done by the pupils with the teacher acting as general advisor in all lines. The least desir- able plan is for the teacher to undertake the whole or a large part of the preparation of the lunch herself for it deprives the children of one of the chief benefits of having the lunch and it then becomes a real extra burden to the teacher. At first, it may seem harder to the teacher to train the pupils in these duties than to do it herself, as it often seems to the mother in the home who thereby neglects the necessary training of her daughters in 16 useful work and gradually assumes more and more all the hard tasks of her home. Where only very young children make up the school membership, it is of course necessary for the tea- cher to do more of the work but even the smallest pupils of school age can be trained to set the table, wash and wipe dishes and help clean up after the meal. Rural School, Fort Fairfield In the usual rural school of mixed grades where there are a number of older boys and girls, the work may be planned so that the older pupils do most of the actual preparation of food and cooking whi'e the younger children attend to duties similar to those indicated above. The boys usually are interested in learning to cook a simple dish as well as the girls, and they should care for the fire, bring the water and remove waste. The quick and complete disposal of waste teaches a lesson of civic respon- sibility. Have each pupil scrape his own plate and other dishes, and pile them properly. The teacher may apportion the tasks, by the week to such groups of boys and girls' as seem best to her according to the conditions of her individual school. One group may arrange the menu, see that the necessary materials are at 17 hand, prepare and serve the hot dish, while another group sets the table, gets the hot water ready for dish washing, washes and wipes the dishes and puts them away. Where the numbers and ages of pupils permit, it is well to alternate these groups so that each may render a variety of service, and learn to work expeditiously. The daily program of recitations should be so planned that the older pupils who do the largest part of the work of the noon lunch may have the last period of the morning free when they may pass quietly from then- seats and begin the preparations for the dinner hour. It may be necessary sometimes to do some of the work of preparation be- fore school or at recess in the case of preparing vege- tables, etc., but the menu should be planned so that no group will be obliged to spend several consecutive recesses in this manner. The work of account keeping may be correlated with the arithmetic classes. An account book should be provided and in this should be kept a record of all sums received or paid out. It may prove helpful also to keep a record of the number of pupils served and the approximate cost of each hot dish. West Gorham Model School 18 LIST OF SUGGESTED HOT DISHES Soups — tomato, potato, vegetable, pea, bean Potatoes — creamed, baked, boiled, scalloped Eggs — boiled, scrambled, omelet, creamed Rice pudding Creamed corn, peas, salmon, creamed salmon and peas Apple sauce, baked apples (cook on top of stove instead of oven.) Creamed carrots Greens — dandelion Corn meal mush Cream of wheat Boiled rice . Oatmeal Buckwheat cakes and maple syrup French toast Baked Beans PRACTICAL RECIPES FOR SCHOOL LUNCH DISHES Creamed salmon with or without peas : Make thick white sauce in double boiler. Break salmon into rather small pieces and put into white sauce. Canned peas added to this is very good, but if used, drain off the liquid. Rice pudding : Cook rice in double boiler allowing one part rice to three parts water. When cooked add sugar to taste. Rais- ins may be added, also a beaten egg about ten minutes before serving. Simple good sauce for pudding : 1 cup of water, 2 or 3 table- spoons of flour, 2 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of sugar. Mix flour and sugar together, mix gradually with the water, cook in double boiler and stir while cooking, add butter and little nut- meg. Cornstarch Pudding: 1 pt. milk, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1-3 c. sugar, pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Heat milk in double boiler, mix cornstarch and sugar together, and mix with a little cold milk. Stir into hot milk. Add salt and flavoring. White sauce for soups : 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon flour, salt and pepper. 19 Simple Method : Heat the milk, mix the flour with a little cold liquid until smooth, then add slowly to the warm milk, stir- ring until thick. White sauce for vegetables : 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup of milk, 1 to 2 tablespoons of fat, pepper and salt. Method same as above. Creamed Eggs : Bring hard boiled eggs from home or boil at school. Make thick white sauce using — 4 tablespoons of flour to 1 cup of liquid, 2 tablespoons of butter. Chop whites of eggs into 1-4 inch pieces, put into white sauce. Serve on slices of bread or toast and put over this the yolk of the egg which has been sliced or put through the strainer. Baked Apple (Cook on top of stove) : Wash and core apples. Put in baking pan. Into the center of the apples put a tablespoon of sugar or tablespoon of corn syrup. Put sufficient cold water around the apples to come up 1-4 inch in the pan. Place on <-op of the stove and cover so the steam will cook the upper part of the apples. French Toast : 1 cup milk, 3 tablespoons of sugar or 4 table- spoons of corn syrup, a little nutmeg if desired, and one egg. Dip slices of bread in this mixture and fry in small amount of fat. Serve with corn syrup. Boiled Beans : Soak beans over night. In the morning drain and add fresh water — about one third more water than you have beans, add salt and pepper, and slices of pork, or pieces of ham or bacon. Should cook about 3 hours, in a double boiler. Bean Soup : Make thin white sauce and add the amount of beans desired. Strain beans through coarse strainer before add- ing to sauce. Cream Tomato Soup : Canned tomato soup or stewed toma- toes may be used. 1 cup tomatoes, 1-4 teaspoon' soda, 1 tea- spoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter. Make thin white sauce. I pint of milk for the above amount of tomatoes. Heat the toma- toes, add the soda and combine slowly with the white sauce. Cream Corn Soup : 1 scant cup of corn to 1 pint white sauce. Strain corn and add to white sauce. Cream Pea Soup: (Made same as above recipe.) Creamed Potatoes: Cut boiled or baked potatoes into small pieces and add to either thin or thick sauce. Creamed Potato Soup: Strain cooked potato and add to white sauce. Season with slice of onion, pepper and salt. 20 POTATO SOUP 3 potatoes 1 1-2 teaspoons salt 1 large slice of onion 1-4 teaspoon celery 2 tablespoons flour salt or a tablespoon dried 2 tablespoons butter celery leaves Pepper 1 quart milk Cook potatoes in boiling, salted water ( 1 tablespoon to 6 po- tatoes) till soft then rub through a sieve quickly. While the potatoes are cooking, put the milk, onion and celery leaves, if used, into a double boiler, and when the milk is scalded, remove the onion and leaves. Melt the butter carefully, add the flour and seasoning and cook till frothy, then mix with a little of the hot milk, and add to the remainder of the milk in the double boiler. Stir constantly till the mixture thickens, then pour slowly onto the hot sifted potato. Return to double boiler for a few minutes till it gets piping hot, season if necessary, strain, and serve at once with crisp crackers. DRIED BEAN SOUP 1 cup dried beans 2 tablespoons flour 1 large slice onion 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup cream Pepper 2 tablespoons butter Soak beans over night (lima beans are especially good) in plenty of cold water, drain, add a quart and a half of cold water, cook slowly till soft, then rub through a sieve. Mix flour and seasonings smoothly with the cream, add to the bean pulp, and let get very hot. Add the butter, a bit at a time, and stir till well mixed with the soup. Serve very hot with crackers. CORN CHOWDER 1 quart sliced potatoes 1 can corn 1 small onion 1 quart milk Small piece fat pork 2 tablespoons butter salt and pepper Cut pork in small pieces, and try out in frying pan, add onion cut in small pieces, and cook till yellow and transparent. Parboil 21 the potatoes, drain, add the fat, and enough boiling water to cover the potatoes. When the potatoes are soft, add the corn, milk and seasonings. Let come to boiling point before serving. VEGETABLE STEW 3-4 cup carrot 1 onion 1-2 cup celery 3-4 cup turnip 2 cups potatoes Wash, pare and dice all the vegetables, except the celery which is cut into small pieces. Cook the carrot, turnip and celery in four tablespoons melted butter for 10 minutes, stirring con- stantly. Add the potatoes, cook for a few minutes, then after add- ing three pints of water, cover and cook for an hour. Add two tablespoons butter, seasonings and serve very hot. COOKED EGGS Have a kettle of boiling water, and carefully put the eggs into it. Cover closely, and move the kettle to the back of the range where the water will keep hot, but not boil. Let the eggs stay in the water, according to the degree of hardness desired — 45 minutes giving a hard cooked egg, 5 minutes a soft cook, while 10 minutes gives a firm white with the yolk a trifle soft. Such cooking makes eggs more easily digestible, than by the usual boil- ing. CREAMED EGGS Hard cooked eggs, combined with a white sauce, and sreved hot, make a good luncheon dish. SCALLOPED EGGS Hard boiled eggs, quartered and arranged in layers in a bak- ing dish, a layer of white sauce and buttered crumbs, and so continuing until the dish is full, make an appetizing dish. Be- fore serving the eggs, bake about one-half hour. OMELET Use 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of water, a speck of salt and pepper for each person to be served. Beat yolks of eggs, seasonings 22 and water till thick and lemon colored. Cut and fold in the stiff- ly beaten egg whites. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a frying- pan, pour in the egg mixture, and when a delicate brown under- neath, dry off in oven, fold and serve at once. The addition of chopped meat, cheese, vegetables, jelly or nuts makes a more nourishing omelet. CREAMED BEEF 11-2 tablespoons flour Salt and pepper 11-2 tablespoons butter 1-4 pound chipped beef 1 cup milk Let the beef stand in hot water for ten minutes. Melt the butter, add flour and seasoning, cook till frothy, then cool. Add the cold milk gradually, and let the mixture come to a boil, stir- ring constantly till thickened. Add the beef cut in fine pieces, and when hot serve with BAKED POTATOES Select potatoes of same size, wash, and bake in a hot oven until the contents become soft when pinched. Break the skin a little to let the steam escape, then serve immediately. CREAMED POTATOES Cut white potatoes into 1-2 inch cubes, and cook in boiling water until soft. Combine with a white sauce, made by using two tablespoons each of butter and flour, 1-4 teaspoon salt, speck of pepper, and 1 cup of milk. Use the same method for com- bining as in the tomato sauce, substituting milk for the tomato. SCALLOPED POTATO Wash and pare raw potatoes, cut into thin slices, then soak- in cold water for about an hour. Drain and arrange in layers in a baking dish, dotting each layer with bits of butter, and sprink- ling of salt and pepper, and dredging wth flour. Fill the baking dish with hot milk, having it come to the top of the potatoes and bake till the potatoes are soft. 23 CARROTS AND PEAS Wash, scrape and cut carrots into one-half inch blocks. Cook in boiling salted water until soft, drain, add 1 drained can of peas, combine with a thin white sauce and when hot, serve. In making the white sauce, use 2 tablespoons of flour to 1 cup of milk. COCOA , 2 cups scalded milk Speck salt 2 cups boiling water 2 tablespoons cocoa 1-4 cup sugar Mix the dry ingredients, add the water gradually and boil for five minutes. Add the milk, beat with an egg beater and serve. CHOCOLATE 3 cups scalded milk Speck salt 1 cup boiling water 11-2 squares chocolate 1-4 cup sugar Melt the chocolate over hot water, add the water gradually,, the salt and sugar, and boil for a few minutes. Combine with the hot milk, mill with the beater till frothy, and serve. LEMONADE 1 cup sugar Juice two lemons 2 cups water Boil the sugar and water till a syrup (10-12 minutes), add the lemon juice, and cool. Bottle, and keep in a cool place, addng some of the syrup, as desired, when making lemonade. This is a more economical way of making lemonade than the usual way. SALADS Any good cook book gives suggestions for salad combinations, which are healthful at all times, but are especially appetizing in the spring months. 24 SUGGESTIONS FOR SECURING HOME CO-OPERA- TION. The interest of the parents can usually be reached through the children. If the teacher explains her plan for the hot lunch in a sufficiently enthusiastic and forceful manner, the children will be likely to become enthusiastic and will explain the pro- position to their parents. In taking up the matter for the first time with her school, it is wise for the teacher to describe her plans in a positive fashion as though she expected the approval of her pupils. This same attitude should be maintained in the discussion of the menus for the different weeks' luncheons as too much indefinite discussion as to what they do or do not like to eat will result with children, as with older people, in a gen- eral disagreement. If one or two children do not "like" the dish planned by the committee on menus, with the teacher's advice, such children should not be compelled or ever urged to eat it. but if the article of food seems to be practical and acceptable to the majority of the school, it is wise to serve it as planned and let the disagreeing child provide his own lunch wholly for that day. It would be a welcome result of the school noon lunch idea in the minds of many busy, hurried country mothers if through its agency children learned, in the language of their grandmo- thers, "to eat what is set before them." However, in addition to depending upon the children to carry home favorable accounts of the noon lunch plan, it is usually advisable to get into closer touch with the parents at the very out- set. The mothers may be invited to come to the schoolhouse on a certain day when the teacher may meet with them in a friend- ly way and explain her plan. In order to do this effectively, she must have her plan definitely in mind herself even to min- ute details and, as in the case of the children the plan should be presented in a positive fashion rather than in a manner which might open the way to the discussion of too many imagin- ary obstacles. If there is a School Improvement League in the school, a public meeting of the League is the ideal place for presenting the noon lunch plan. Letters from teachers who are successfully carrying on the noon lunch may be read aloud at such a meeting and a few such letters from parents in such com- munities will also help to convince the parents of the practicability of the plan. If it is not possible to get the parents together in 25 a meeting, the teacher may call upon them in their homes and explain her plans. She may send to the homes a letter describing her ideas for the noon lunch hour. Neither of these last two suggsetions, however, will bring about as good results as the meeting at the schoolhouse when all can hear about it at the same time. The wise teacher will remember that in the working ovit of any new plan there will always seem to be obstacles in the way of success, but that nearly always one learns how to surmount such obstacles by beginning simply and working on courageously day by day. That the noon lunch is being suc- cessfully carried on in hundreds of Maine rural schools and in the rural schools of every other state in the Union goes to show conclusively that it can be done. CORRELATION WITH OTHER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES. The work in the noon lunch period in rural schools may re- ceive credit as work in simple home economics. It may also be correlated to advantage with the work of other studies, especi- ally mathematics and simple chemistry. Often problems in arithmetic, such as those connected With weights and measures, are dull and uninteresting because the pupil fails to s§e the use of the problems and for lack of concrete illustrations finds it hard to understand the meaning of them. When such problems are based on their own activities such as estimating supplies for the noon lunch, keeping accounts in order that the fund collect- ed may be used to advantage and arranging the weekly bill of fare so that it may be a well balanced menu, then the pupil can ,see the practical application in his own life' of the arithmetic work he is doing. SUPPLEMENT. Laying the Table. The following suggestions are given with the supposition that a regular long table is available. The same general procedure may be followed where no table can be used and the desks must t)e considered as individual "places." 26 The furnishings for each place should be laid about one inch from the edge of the table. Leave as large a space between places as number to be served will admit. In the cen- tre of each place lay the plate inside up, unless it is de- sired that the teach- er or other person at the head of the table act as host and serve individu- al portions from a large receptacle containing food. In this case, the plates may be placed in a pile in front of the person who sits at the head of the table. The eating utensils should then be placed in the following order. At the right of the plate should be placed the knife with sharp edge nearest the plate, then comes the spoon with the inside of bowl up. If more than one spoon is needed, the one to be used first should come at the outside. The ends of the handles should be even with the edge of the plate. The tumbler should be placed, top up, at the tip of the knife. Place the fork at the left of the plate, tines up. Beside the fork comes the napkin folded in a square. At the tip of the fork and opposite the tumbler on the right should be the butter plate or bread and butter plate. When fruit or flowers are used they should be plac- ed in the centre of the table and should not be too high. The salt and pepper shakers may be placed between two places and the relishes such as vinegar, olives or pickles in convenient places, not cluttered between the larger dishes. If possible, cups and saucers and plates should be heated when hot food is to be served upon them. No child should be allowed to come to the table without first washing face and hands and smoothing the hair. Boys should not be allowed to come to the table in their shirt sleeves without