!U>'?Mi£ltiirUliJi'!jnfH :!!!':!' TRUE FOOD VALUES ANDTHEIRLOWCOST or ECONOMY IN LIVING Class,/ " Book_=^ Gopyiiglit}^^- COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT, WHOLE EGG WHITE AND YOLK WATER: 73.7 [PROTE/M: 14.6 WATER 86.2 mER; 4-9.5 ■PfiOTEINh 16.1 ^FAr:33.3 ^ASH:1.I (PR0TE7MJ3.0 EAT: 0.3 FAT: 10.5 ASH:10~.^^ ASN.O.e FUEL VALUE: FUELVALUE: 695 CAL OaiESPER POUND YOLK 1650, WHITE 245 CALORIES PER POUND CREAM CHEESE COTTAGE CHEESE WATER: 34.2 ^PROTEIN: 25.9 ^FAT:33.7 JARBOHT- DRATES:2 4 '-ASH: 3.8 WATER: 72.0 W- PROTEIN: 20.9 '^FAT:10 ACARBOUr- DRATES:4.3 FUEL VALUE: 1885 CALORIES PER LB. ASH:L8 FUEL VALLTE: 495 CALORIES PER LB. TRUE FOOD VALUES AND THEIR LOW COSTS BY ^ WILLIAM S. BIRGE, M.D. Author of ''My Lady's Handbook.'' NEW YORK SULLY AND KLEINTEICH TXs5\ ,365 Copyright, 1916 By sully and KLEINTEICH All Rights Reserved SEP 151916 ©CI.A437691 PREFACE In presenting this little book to the public I have no excuse to offer. "There is no new thing under the sun." My only object is to give, in a clear and practical way, such information as may enable the ordinary individual to simplify the art of living and get his money's worth. It is not a cookbook in any sense of the word, and the few tested recipes that are given are not original with the author, but have been tried in his family and not found wanting. w. s. B. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Tissue-builders. Fuel Pro- ducers. Food Values . . i 11. The Proper Proportion of Food 7 III. The Energy Value of Meat . . 15 IV. Diet and Health 21 V. Nearly Half a Man's Wages Goes for Food 25 VI. "Predigested" and "Malted" Breakfast Foods .... 29 VII. Eggs • • 35 VIII. False Economy 42 IX. Shall We Eat Meat? ... 46 X. Food Experts. What Doctors Do Not Know 50 XL Olive Oil, the Purest Food Known 54 XII. Vagaries 56 XIII. Easy Ways to Prevent Waste 59 XIV. Why Folks Grow Fat ... 63 XV. Useful Hints 66 XVI. Flour. Yeast. Bread ... 73 XVII. Something about Breads . . 81 XVIII. Fish 91 XIX. Salads 98 XX. A Word about Potatoes. About Spinach. About Cabbage . 104 XXI. A Word about Tomatoes . . .115 VI CHAPTER XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. CONTENTS PAGE Sweet Peppers 120 Macaroni, Spaghetti, Vermi- celli 123 The Use of Sour Milk . . . 126 Coffee as a Beverage . . . .129 Tea 132 The One-course Dinner . . . 135 How TO Stew Meat. More One- course Meals : — Getting Your Money's Worth . .142 A Few Satisfying Drinks, Thirst-quenchers . . .155 Hints for Breakfast . . . .161 Prunes 164 A Word about Chocolate . . 169 Diet in Constipation. In Dys- pepsia 174 Skill in the Preparation of Food 178 Tested Recipes for Cake . . . 190 Desserts 199 How Food Frauds may be Frus- trated 205 CHAPTER I Tissue-builders. Fuel-producers. Food Values A man can regulate his health and strength and capacity to work, under ordinary circum- stances, by giving proper attention to his diet. Every person, therefore, should be interested, if not concerned, in the questions, what to eat and how. As to the latter problem, how to eat, Mr. Horace Fletcher and others have done much valuable work in calling the attention of the laity to the necessity of thorough mastication and what it does in preparing food for further diges- tion. To give time to the chewing and grinding up of foods before swallowing them is a good investment for better health. "Fletcherism" also emphasizes the importance of encouraging the sense of taste. If allowed to choose freely with- out restriction, it will tend to be a guide in the selection of those foods which are most needed. We all know how the freshness and attractive appearance of food affect the appetite and the power to digest. What the eye sees, the ear 2 TRUE FOOD VALUES hears, and the nose smells, all have an influence, either direct or indirect, on the digestion. The value of food depends on what it can fur- nish in material that builds up the body, and material that keeps the body going. It is neces- sary, then, to know something of the fundamen- tal elements of food. These are of two kinds, tissue-builders and fuel-producers. The princi- pal chemical elements of food are starch or sugar — which may be classed as carbohydrates — fats, water, proteids, or nitrogenous elements, and ash, or mineral constituents. The nitrogenous and mineral elements and water go into tissue- building. Fats, starches, and sugar furnish the great amount of fuel necessary to keep the body going. Acids and salts can hardly be said to belong to either of these classes, but they flavor food, stimulate the power of digestion, and aid absorption. These elements are found in widely varying proportions in the numberless cells that enter into the structure of the body. Of the solids we should look upon bone as largely mineral, and soft tissues as largely nitrogenous. Water percolates into all the cells and tissues of the body. The body tissues without water might be comparea to a sponge before being soaked. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 3 The young and growing child requires more of the building material than does the adult. In the latter new structure does not have to be formed, only as it is necessary to replace what is used up, or consumed, in the wear and tear of life. Consequently, the demand for nitrogencnis elements and minerals is less, in proportion to the size of the body, in age than in youth. Professor Graham Lusk makes the following statement in his lecture on "The Fundamental Basis of Nutrition:" "Since the efficiency of labor depends upon energy and constant repair of the body, it is certainly of no small moment that the citizen should know how best to maintain the machine at a maximum of efficiency. Not only that, but in time of trouble he should know where to turn to find nourishment in the form which is best and cheapest. "Who will give him this information? Will the manufac- turer of canned tomatoes tell him that tomatoes are valueless in his extremity? No, not unless the manufac- turer is forced to do so. And how can the manufacturer be forced to give this information? By being compelled by law to label his can, "This contains calories, of which per cent are in proteins of Grade C." In the American home there does not exist any rational basis for the family diet. This is owing principally to the meager knowledge of the comparative nutritive value of various kinds of food. The tempting and bewildering variety of food 4 TRUE FOOD VALUES offered to the man of the present day demands an insight and knowledge that will enable him to choose so as to increase and not to lower his physical efficiency. The human body must be considered as a perfect machine, using food as its fuel to generate power. The food is meas- ured in terms of fuel value, the heat unit being called a calorie. The amount required varies from two thousand to three thousand five hun- dred calories, depending upon age, occupation, and sex. The protein element must be supplied to the body, without which it cannot thrive. A family of the average mechanic or workingman, wife, and three children under sixteen years of age, requires twelve thousand calories. Twelve hundred to eighteen hundred calories should be of protein, that is, from ten to fifteen per cent, of the total required. In a total of one hundred calories, a whole tgg contains thirty-six protein calories, a slice of bread weighing one and four-tenths ounces, fourteen protein calories; a lamb chop weighing one and four-tenth ounces, twenty-three protein calories ; and lentils weighing one ounce, twenty- nine protein calories. The necessary number of calories is fortunately contained in our daily supply of food — in the albu- AND THEIR LOW COSTS 5 men of the egg, the casein of milk, the myosin of meat, the gluten of wheat, the legumin of peas, beans, and lentils — so the body is not neglected. Upon the amount of energy our body can give us as a machine depends its usefulness and our efficiency. A question of economic value now arises when we consider the price of the material supplied. The protein is the most valuable as well as the most expensive part of our food supply. It is therefore well to have a list of foods, so that where possible we can substitute the less for the more expensive. The housewife should know the cost of foods, realize what food value she is receiving for her money spent, and appreciate the fact that, strange as it may seem, the millionaire's dinner and the beggar's lunch may contain the same few, sim- ple elements of nutrition. She should also realize that the art of cooking can transform the common but nutritious foods into the most appetizing dishes. To provide for a family of five protein of which five per cent, is animal and ten per cent, vegetable, such as bread. Professor Lusk gives a table with the cost as follows : 6 TRUE FOOD VALUES 10 PER CENT. 5 PER CENT. CENTS Bread and ^ Ih. salt cod 47 Bread and ^/i lb. smoked ham 48 Bread and Ys lb. cheese 51 Bread and 2^ lbs. milk 53 Bread and 1% lbs. loin pork 56 Bread and l^s lbs. leg of mutton 56 Bread and 1^4 lbs. cod steak, fresh 58 Bread and V/s lbs. sirloin beef 66 Bread and VA lbs. turkey 78 In considering the cost, which has become a necessity to the person of limited income, in rela- tion to the nutritive value of food, the question of waste is an important factor. The Depart- ment of Agriculture has estimated the food waste as high as twenty per cent, in most Ameri- can homes. The causes are: The purchase of expensive materiar providing little nutrition, the amount of food thrown away or poorly prepared, the selecting of food out of season, and poorly constructed ovens. By checking this waste, the purchasing power of a person's income would be increased, and a corresponding degree of efficiency obtained. CHAPTER II The Proper Proportion of Food The different kinds of food — water, salts, sugar, starch, fat, and albumen — must be com- bined in our diet to form a nutritious whole, A substance which fulfills but one of the purposes required in our food will not support life. A man cannot live on water or salt, yet he would soon die without them. A diet composed exclu- sively of fats, starch, or sugar is equally incap- able of supporting life. The albuminous foods, although they are considered the most nutritious, must be combined with the others to produce the desired result. The only substance prepared by nature ex- pressly as an article of food is milk. This when analyzed is found to contain water, salt, fat, sugar, and casein — the five elements of food. It has enough of the flesh-producing elements to restore the daily waste, and enough heat-giving elements to feed the oxygen in breathing. Eggs also contain all the necessary elements. A diet of seven eggs a day will furnish all the 8 TRUE FOOD VALUES nutrition a person needs ; but the elements In eggs are too highly condensed, and consequently are not properly proportioned for a continuous diet. It is very important to proportion our food so that one kind will supply what another lacks. A certain bulk is also necessary in our food to produce a thorough action of the digestive fluids. If the quantity of food taken is not sufficient to distend the stomach, the churning motion of the muscular coats cannot affect every part of the food. Indigestion is often caused by lack of sufficient quantity of food, and by weakness of the muscles of the stomach. A certain quantity of innutritions food may be required to furnish the necessary bulk and in this way give all parts of the digestive apparatus their proper work to perform. Many persons argue in favor of a strictly vege- table diet, as we can obtain all the necessary elements in vegetables ; others claim to thrive best on a diet almost wholly of animal food. As a rule we find the highest degree of bodily and mental vigor among those who make use of a mixed diet. Nature seems to have arranged this to her own satisfaction, as shown in the physiological arrangement of the teeth and the alimentary canal. Part of the teeth are of the AND THEIR LOW COSTS 9 carnivorous, or flesh-eating, kind, and part of the herbivorous, or vegetable-eating, kind. The aHmentary canal is likewise equally well adapted to the digestion of both animal and vegetable foods, or of an admixture of both. The proper proportion, by weight, may be estimated as one- third animal and two-thirds vegetable food. Nature has furnished us with an unerring guide in the form of an unperverted appetite, to aid us in the proper selection of our diet, and it may generally be trusted to indicate the proper food necessary to the preservation of health. The call of Nature, however, is often un- heeded, and we find it necessary to exercise intel- ligence in selecting our food and adapting it in such a way as to counteract the effects of a viola- tion of Nature's laws. It costs a lot to live these days, more than in days of yore; But when we come to think of it, it's worth a great deal more. In these days people talk a great deal about the high cost of living. One of the principal reasons for a cost of living higher than in the past is the higher standard of living; that is, we eat better food, wear better clothes, and so on. If we were to select a set of rules for scientific meal-planning, the most important one would be 10 TRUE FOOD VALUES founded upon the fact that we must find in our food the necessary substances for the repairing of our bodies, and for the production of the energy through which work is performed. Food substances, from this standpoint, are divided into: 1. Protein, which builds and repairs tissue. 2. Fat, which yields heat and energy. 3. Carbohydrates, whicfi yield heat and en- ergy, also. 4. Mineral water and ash, which aid diges- tion and build bone. 5. Water, which aids all other food principles in their work to maintain the body. Protein is the most necessary of these sub- stances, and the most complicated. It is called by a different name in almost every food in which it is found. It is called albumen in eggs, casein in milk, and gluten in wheat. Chemical analysis tells us that the ^gg con- tains practically the same constituents as corn or wheat, but has a larger per cent, of protein. The only vital food distinction between a bushel of wheat and a bushel of eggs is that the eggs are more palatable and nutritious. Professor Sherman, of Columbia University, calls attention AND THEIR LOW COSTS ii to the fact that lime starvation is becoming very common among the people of the United States. This is owing to their use of fine flour bread, which contains only one gram of lime to the pound, while whole-wheat bread contains four times as much. Lime is an important nutritive element, and is just as necessary as are carbohy- drates, fats, and proteins. Milk is considered as near a perfect food as we have. That is why infants thrive on it. It is not by itself strong enough food for an adult, as it contains too much water and not enough solid matter. It may be considered the best source of lime we have. The per cent, composi- tion of milk is : PER CENT. Mineral matter 7 Protein 3.Z Fat 4. Carbohydrates 5. Water 87. Total 100 One pint of milk weighs one pound; two glasses contain practically two hundred calories of food value. It is called a perfect food because it contains all the principals. The following is a list of food principals and some common foods under each : 12 TRUE FOOD VALUES PROTEIN CARBOHYDRATES /Lean meat ^ Fish Flour^ Sugar^ Eggs Starch Cheese Macaroni Dried peas Crackers Navy beans Rolled oats ^ Cottage cheese Bread ^ Sardines Cocoa Lobsters Potatoes V Walnuts Almonds \ Dried beef /^Peanuts Peas ^ Beans*>f Fat Cod fish ^ Lard Corned beef > Butter ^90live oil / Cottolene Lean ham y/ Bacon V Currants Bacon Prunes ^ Almonds Chocolate Chops Oat meal ^ ^ Dried beans >0 lives Gelatine Peaches The mistake is often made of serving foods containing the same value at the same meal. In serving fats, do not use too rich desserts. In serving lean meats, blend richer foods. In serving pork, 'use acid fruits, such as apples. Vegetables, such as beets, cabbage, and cauli- flower, may be used with potatoes. In serving pork, one starchy vegetable is suffi- cient. The cheapest and best food is that which fur- nishes the largest amount of nutriment at the l^ast cost. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 13 Milk should enter largely into the diet of chil- dren. It contains casein, or flesh-forming mate- rial ; cream and sugar, which are heat-producers ; mineral salts, for the bony structure; and water, as a solvent for all the other materials necessary in nutrition. It should be used with discretion, however; not drunk immoderately, but taken slowly as food, after the pattern given by Nature. Milk, when taken, is a fluid; but as soon as it meets the acid of the gastric juice it is changed to a soft, curdy, cHeeselike substance, and then must be digested, and the stomach is overtasked if too much is taken at once. A large glass of milk swallowed suddenly will form in the stomach a lump of dense, cheesy curd, which might even prove fatal to a weak stomach. Under the action of the stomach this cheesy mass will turn over and over like a heavy weight ; and as the gastric juice can attack only its surface, it digests very slowly. This same milk, however, taken slowly or with dry toast, light rolls, or soft, dry por- ridge, forms a porous lump, through which the gastric juice can easily pass and which breaks up as the stomach turns it over. Milk should be slightly salted, and eaten with bread-stuffs or sipped by the spoonful. 14 TRUE FOOD VALUES Milk and Eggs Milk, eggs, and whole wheat are perhaps the three most essential foods that we have. It is on milk that the human race makes its greatest growth. The fuel value of one pound of milk (about a pint) is three hundred and fourteen calories, while one pound of eggs (about eight in number) would give six hundred and seventy- two calories. The milk would contain fifteen grams of protein, the eggs sixty-one grams; the milk eighteen grams of fat, and the eggs forty- seven and six-tenths grams ; the milk twenty-two and seven-tenths of carbohydrates, and the eggs none. The eggs are, to speak plainly, a more concentrated food, as milk is about eighty-five per cent, water. On the other hand, much larger quantities of milk can be taken. In comparing food values all things must be considered, for bare figures alone are apt to be misleading. With these facts in mind, it may be said that, weight for weight, the actual food value of the eggs is a little over twice that of milk. The food value of two slices of wheat bread, three eggs (boiled or fried), an ounce of butter, a pint of milk, is sufficient to furnish an ample breakfast for a laboring man. A pint of coffee may be used to supplant the milk if preferred. CHAPTER III The Energy Value of Meat "Meat is the muscle of some part of the ani- mal," says Samuel Schmucker Sadtler, in his book, "Chemistry of Familiar Things." "The muscles consist of bundles of microscopic tubes bound _ together with connective tissue, called collagen, and this includes more or less fat. "When carving at the table meat should be cut across the grain in as thin slices as possible, not to give people slim helpings, but to cut the microscopic tubes into many sec- tions so the gastric juice can attack them with as much exposed surface as possible." If the tubes have not been cut into slices in carving, they will take much longer to digest. Meat is more easily digested when it is lightly cooked, as it is soft and more easily acted upon by the gastric juice. The nourishing power of food is measured in calories, and from three thousand five hundred to three thousand seven hundred calories of energy per day are required by most people. The following table showing the nourishing values of meat was prepared by Professor C. F. Langworthy, United States Government expert: i6 TRUE FOOD VALUES Fresh Beef CALORIES PER VARIETY POUND Beefsteak 1090 Brisket 1495 Chuck, including shoulder 1005 Chuck rib 920 Flank 1255 Loin 1155 Loin, sirloin butt 1115 Loin, porterhouse 1110 Loin, sirloin steak 1 130 Neck 920 Plate 1450 Ribs 1370 Rib, rolls. 1015 Rib, trimmings 1015 Ribs, cross 1305 Round 835 Rump 1325 Shank, fore 1285 Shank, hind 770 Shoulder and clod 1075 Forequarter 1 135 Hindquarter 1130 Si&es 1145 Soup stock 170 Beef Organs Brain 555 Heart 1160 Kidney 520 Beef liver 605 Lungs 440 Marrow 3955 Sweetbreads 825 Suet 3540 Tongue 740 Scraps 2580 Roast 1620 Pressed 1610 AND THEIR LOW COSTS 17 Round steak 840 Sirloin steak 875 Loin steak 1300 Beef, Corned and Pickled Brisket 1385 Flank 1665 Plate , 2025 Rump 1270 Corned beef 1395 Spiced beef 2390 Tongues 1030 Tripe 270 Veal, Fresh Breast 840 Chuck 610 Flank 910 Leg 670 Leg, cutlets 705 Loin 790 Loin, with kidney 770 Neck 670 Rib 775 Rump 1050 Shank, fore 605 Shank, hind 615 Shoulder 580 Shoulder and flank 975 Forequarter 710 Hindquarter 735 Side, with kidney 715 Veal Organs Heart 720 Kidneys 585 Liver 575 Lungs 530 Lamb, Fresh Lamb chop 1475 Breast or chuck 1350 i8 TRUE FOOD VALUES Hind leg 1300 Loin, without kidney and tallow 1540 Neck 1375 Shoulder 1590 Forequarter 1430 Hindquarter 1 170 Side, without tallow 1300 Lamb, Cooked Chops, broiled 1665 Leg, roasted 900 Lamb, Canned Tongue, spiced and cooked 1010 Mutton, Fresh Chuck 2715 Flank 2065 Leg, hind 1085 Loin, without kidney or tallow 1815 Neck 1420 Shoulder 1245 Forequarter 1595 Hindquarter 1495 Side, including tallow 1520 Side, not including tallow 1560 Mutton, Cooked Mutton, leg roast 1420 Mutton, Organs Heart 845 Kidneys 440 Liver 905 Lungs 495 Mutton, Canned Corned 150O Tongue 1465 AND THEIR LOW COSTS 19 Pork, Fresh Pork chop 1535 Chuck ribs and shoulder 1635 Flank 1065 Ham, fresh 1700 Head 1990 Headcheese 1790 Loin chop 1655 Loin, tenderloin 900 Middle cuts 1825 Shoulder 1690 Side, lard and fat included 2780 Side, not including lard, etc 2505 Clear backs 2970 Government statistics show that the average income of the average American family is $15.90 a week, or $827.19 a year, each family consisting of five persons. This means an income of $2.27 a day, inclusive of Sundays and holidays. These data were obtained from two thousand five hundred and sixty-seven families, comprised of thirteen thousand six hundred and forty-three persons, selected from different parts of the United States. The average expenditure of a family for all purposes was $768.54, leaving a surplus of $58.65. The average amount expended in one year is as follows: Food, $326.90; rent, $117.41; fuel and light, $40.38; clothing, $107.84; insurance, $20.97; furniture and utensils, $26.31; periodi- cals, $8.35; amusements, $12.28; sickness and 20 TRUE FOOD VALUES death, $20.54; church, lodge, and other dues, $19.06; liquors and tobacco, $23.37; niiscella- neous, $45.13- Bureau of Labor statistics placed average of one hundred per cent, in 19 13 (price of foods- stuffs) for eight years, as follows: 1907 81.9 1908 84.2 1909 88.6 1910 92.9 1911 91.9 1912 97.4 1913 100. 1914 102. Smoked Ham The hind legs of a pig, when salted and smoked, are called ham. We broil, fry, roast, boil, and bake ham. The edible portion of ham is forty and three-tenths per cent, water; thirty- eight and eight-tenths per cent, fat, and sixteen and one-tenth per cent, protein. Smoked ham furnishes one thousand eight hundred and sev- enty-five calories of energy per pound. Dried Beef Dried beef, eaten with eggs or creamed, is a tasty dish. It is fifty-four and three-tenths per cent, water; thirty per cent, protein, and six and six-tenths per cent. fat. Dried beef has little nutritive value. It supplies only eight hundred and ten calories of energy per pound. CHAPTER IV Diet and Health Physiology teaches us that food is that sub- stance which, when properly introduced into the body, builds tissue, restores waste, and furnishes heat. These are the three principal functions of food, which should be performed. The second- ary function of food, however, that of social enjoyment, should not be neglected. A table that is attractive in appearance and congenial companions serve to render more effective the primary purposes of food. Food may be divided into four classes : 1. Nitrogenous foods, or proteins, which nourish the muscles, brain, nerves, and tendons, and furnish some heat. 2. Starchy foods and sugars, commonly called carbohydrates, which nourish the fatty tissues, and furnish heat. 3. Fat foods (oils), which take but little part in tissue-building, but are fundamentally heat- producers. 4. Mineral foods — sodium chloride, or com- 22 TRUE FOOD VALUES mon salt, lime, phosphorus, iron, etc. — which are particularly useful in nourishing the bones and teeth, aid digestion, and are necessary in the translations of the fluids in the body. Calorie is a term used to designate the quan- tity of heat afforded by a food product during the process of digestion. The unit of measure is one gram of water (fifteen grains) ; the unit of temperature is one degree centigrade (one and eight-tenths Fahrenheit). A calorie, there- fore, measures the quantity of heat which will raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree centigrade. When a food is completely burned in the body, the same number of calories is produced as if it were burned in a calorimeter. It will be seen that fat burned in the body produces the same number of calories as fat that is burned outside the body in a calorimeter. The same may be said of sugar and starch. It may well be said that food is the fuel of the human system, and that man is made up of the sum total of what he eats. What food is and its true purpose is a study well worth while, for health efficiency and length of life depend on the food you eat. How important, then, it is to select, combine, AND THEIR LOW COSTS 23 and proportion your food according to occupa- tion and the season of the year. There has lately been established in the Health Department Building, in New York, a restaurant which makes a study of food in relation to efficiency. The bill of fare furnishes more information about the relation of diet to health than was ever before packed into so small a space. Every day there is a liberal supply of dishes, ready cooked, with the amount of nutrition in each described; that is, how much protein they contain, how much fat, and how many carbohydrates. The little menu card also tells the customer how many calories a day he needs. Another interesting feature of the menu, besides the names of the dishes that are ready, are two different luncheons, each furnishing the same food value, but differing from each other in price. The following, for example, is the list fur- nished for one day : Low-cost Luncheon, Balanced Ration CALO- PROTEIN PRICE QUANTITY RIES GRAMS Tomato soup 5c. I/2 pint 150 3.00 Macaroni, baked with cheese 5c. 3 heaping ta- blespoons 350 16.5 24 TRUE FOOD VALUES CALO- PROTEIN PRICE QUANTITY RIES GRAMS Ice cream 5c. 2 heaping ta- blespoons 270 6.0 Whole-wheat bread 2 slices 140 5.5 with butter Vz ounce 110 15c. 1020 31.0 High-cost Luncheon, Balanced Ration Tomato soup 5c. ^ pint 130 3.0 Potted roast 20c. 3>S ounces 250 20.0 Creamed s p in a c h with egg 5c. 2 heaping ta- blespoons 55 2.0 Gingerbread 4c. 2 ounces 220 3.5 Coffee 4c. 1 cup Whole-wheat bread 2 slices 140 5.5 with butter Yz ounce 110 38c. 905 34.0 It is a difficult matter to make people eat according to a set rule, particularly if the food does not happen to be just what the individual may wish for at the time; but introducing the element of cost, together with the actual effi- ciency of each article on the bill of fare, cannot help but create a favorable impression. The wise choice of food in relation to health can hardly fail to interest the ordinary man, and when it is shown, in black and white, with mathe- matical precision, how such a choice will reduce the cost of living, we are more than likely to find ourselves looking on it with favor, CHAPTER V Nearly Half a Man's Wages Goes for Food According to recent investigations by the United States Bureau of Labor more than forty per cent, of the income of the average working- man's family is expended for food. The claim is made after inquiry into the con- ditions prevailing in two thousand seven hun- dred families in twenty-four different States. The mere fact that the average workingman spends so much of his income in such a manner, when he could get the same amount of nourish- ment, or even more, at a much lower cost, is pitiful and appalling. Another fact brought for- ward in the investigation referred to is that the more intelligent and well-to-do the housekeepers are, the more economical they are in the purchase of food supplies. Many a mechanic's wife in- sists upon having the best sirloin steak, while the wife of a man who has many times the income of the mechanic may be satisfied with the cheaper cuts. It is a singular fact, especially pertaining to 26 TRUE FOOD VALUES meats of all kinds, that the price per pound has little, if any, relation to the nutritive value. A pound of steak costing fifty cents contains no more nutritive elements than a pound of a cheaper cut costing half the amount ; and if the latter is intel- ligently cooked, it will be quite as appetizing and equally effective. The report also shows that the average Ameri- can mechanic is a great meat consumer, perhaps too great a one, and this may account for the large percentage of income expended for food. With the American mechanic alive to the evils of a too-much-meat diet and the economical methods of preparing the tasty and edible cere- als, vegetables, and lentils, the percentage of income expended for food may be greatly re- duced, also the percentage now spent on physi- cians' and drug bills, and a corresponding in- crease in health and longevity result. Not long ago experiments were made by the Boston Science School along the line of cheap living. From these investigations it was shown that it was possible to live comfortably, if not luxuriously, on sixty-seven cents a day. Meals were prepared for twenty-two cents, and, what is more to the point, eaten with apparent relish by unbiased persons. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 27 In addition, the chemical constituents in the food were carefully weighed and measured, and it was found that a sufficient amount of proteids, fats, and carbohydrates existed in the twenty- two-cent meal to support men working with the customary expenditure of force. The meal, as planned, was afterwards served by Dean Russell, of Columbia University, who gave it to a party of six of his friends. The teach- ers in the department of domestic science laid out the program and the students did the cooking. The cost of materials was two dollars and two cents, from which was deducted the value of the food not actually consumed. This brought the total cost down to one dollar and twenty-eight cents for six people. The menu and prices follow : Grapefruit $0.26 Baked haddock 58 Hollandaise sauce 10 Potatoes on the half-shell. 13 Rolls 17 Butter 08 Pickles 04 Tea 02 Lettuce 16 Wafers 01 Cheese 10 Pineapple sherbet 24 Angel cake 13 $2!^ 28 TRUE FOOD VALUES Miss M. B. Vail, instructor in domestic science at Columbia University, who had charge of the luncheon, says that twenty-two cents would be a fair average for all meals; so persons who pay more than two hundred and forty dollars and ninety cents a year for food are doing an injus- tice to themselves and to their purses. There is one thing that should always be borne in mind — the actual nutritive value of food is the net worth of that food in replacing broken-down tissue and supplying the necessary heat- and force-calories. We often speak of our overworked liver or our overtaxed kidneys, and we mean that these great glands have been imposed on by being forced to handle great quantities of stuff that is little more than sewage-devitalized food, which should never have entered the system, for it con- tains the mininum of nutritive value while impos- ing the maximum of labor. CHAPTER VI "Predigested" and ''Malted" Breakfast Foods" The idea of having part of the process of diges- tion performed outside of the body is not a new one, nor is it confined to human food. About forty years ago there was a furor over malted food for cattle, which it was claimed would greatly increase the strength and flesh of the ani- mals by sparing them part of the work of diges- tion. It was soon found, however, that the cattle did fully as well when left to perform their own work of digestion in the way that nature intended. Physicians have used predigested foods of dif- ferent sorts for their patients for many years. Since the diastase of malt imitates the work of the diastase of saliva and pancreas so well, it is the common means of predigesting carbohydrates, when that is necessary, just as the preparations of pepsin and pancreatic juice are used for the predigestion of protein. Ordinarily predigested foods are intended for invalids under special con- ditions, and for them only on the doctor's orders. 30 TRUE FOOD VALUES The diastase of malt is, as has been said, sup- posed to change the insoluble starch in these cereal foods into more soluble forms. If sufficient malt were used under the right conditions, a con- siderable portion of the starch would undoubtedly be thus transformed. This does not appear to be the case in the majority of the preparations which claim to be predigested. In most of the malted cereals very little of the starch is converted into any soluble form other than dextrin, and the dry heat of cooking produces at least a part of that change. Certainly the claims made for most brands, that the carbohydrates are completely or largely predigested, are quite unwarranted. Fur- thermore, it must be. remembered that if the cereal foods are thoroughly cooked at home before serv- ing, the proportion of soluble or at least gela- tinized carbohydrates formed will be fairly high — certainly as high as or higher than in the predi- gested foods designed to be eaten raw. Malt has a characteristic taste which is relished by many, and on this account the malted cereals are often liked. Their use helps to add variety to the diet, which is generally admitted to be desirable. It is interesting to note that a product in appearance and taste very closely resembling some of the granular, specially prepared breakfast foods AND THEIR LOW COSTS 31 may be made at home by dipping small pieces of whole-wheat or graham bread into a dilute mixture of glucose and malt, drying in an oven, and crushing. Yet it would doubtless not be worth while to prepare such foods in the house- hold. Any stale bread, however, may be dipped into a little molasses and water, dried from twelve to twenty-four hours in the warming oven of aii ordinary range, then crushed, and served like the granular brands of breakfast foods. Many tests have been carried on with such home-made break- fast foods, and they seem to be quite as appetiz- ing as the preparations which they resemble and which sell for twelve or fifteen cents a pound. If the labor of cooking must be taken into account, and strict economy is needful, crackers in milk may well be substituted for the ready- cooked breakfast cereals. It is a well-known fact that crackers are similar to the regular breakfast foods in composition, and at average prices fur- nish more nourishment for the same amount of money. Nor should it be forgotten that as a rational, palatable, and economical dish bread and milk ranks very high. In the diet of young children cereal foods are of much value. The cereal breakfast foods, when they agree with the children, are wholesome and 32 TRUE FOOD VALUES reasonably economical articles. When eaten, as is usually the case, with milk or cream, they are an important addition to the diet. The ill effects sometimes noted may usually be avoided if exces- sive amounts of sugar are not added. Dates or figs, which are sometimes cooked with cereals, not only are palatable and wholesome, but also offer an easy way of varying the cereal dish. Cereal breakfast foods of different sorts are also valuable foods for the aged, as, when prop- erly cooked, they are soft and easily taken care of in the digestive tract. They are often pre- ferred to more hearty foods, and their use is certainly rational. In invalid dietetics cereal foods are, of course, almost indispensable, and the standard flours and meals and the more modern prepared breakfast and special cereal foods all find their place, either when cooked in ordinary ways or for the prepara- tion of gruels or other special dishes. Cereal Substitutes for Coffee Cereal products as coffee substitues have thus far proved a complete failure. Few coffee lovers will admit that 'Tostum" or other cereal substi- tutes equal or even resemble true coffee in flavor. A bulletin issued by the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture says : AND THEIR LOW COSTS 33 "A few contain a little true coffee, but for the most part they appear to be made of parched grains of barley, wheat, etc., or of grain mixed with pea hulls, corncobs, or wheat middlings. It is said that barley or wheat parched with a little molasses in an ordinary oven makes something indistinguishable in flavor from some of the cereal coffees on the market. The manufacturers claim that they make a harmless, unstimulating substitute for coffee, hardly to be distinguished from it in flavor and yielding much greater nourishment at lower cost. The bulk of the infu- sion of cereal coffee is seen to be water, and so the nutritive value must be correspondingly low. Skimmed milk is about twenty times as nutritious. The cereal sub- stitutes are undoubtedly cheaper than the real article, costing as they do from ten to twenty cents per pound less than the coffee berry, though much more expensive than home-parched rye or corn. For those who, for any reason, cannot drink true coffee, the cereal coffee fur- nishes a harmless substitute, but the nutritive value of the infusion is hardly worth considering in the ordinary diet. "If strict economy is necessary, it would perhaps be wiser and probably just as pleasant to use the old-fashioned 'crust coffee,' made by steeping the toasted or browned broken crusts of white, brown, or preferably 'rye and Indian' bread in hot water, and then straining until com- paratively clear. Parched corn, rye, or sweet potatoes, and other old-fashioned coffee substitutes may also be used." A Word About Cooking Thoroughness of cooking is a factor which has a bearing upon digestibility. It not only makes the cereals more palatable, but also breaks down the walls of indigestible cellulose, which surround the starch grains and other nutrients, and pro- duces other changes so that the digestive juices can work on the nutritive ingredients more effec- tively. Poorly cooked cereals are less palatable 34 TRUE FOOD VALUES than the same dishes well cooked, and may cause indigestion and be really harmful. When the partially cooked preparations are used care should be taken to insure sufficient recooking before serv- ing. The majority of the ready- to-eat brands are apparently thoroughly cooked. In the selection of cereal breakfast foods the consumer may be guided by the results of the analyses of disinterested chemists, by the digesti- bility as determined by actual tests, by cost, by taste, by economy, or by the observed effects of the goods upon individuals. It seems fair to conclude that the chemical composition, consid- ered in connection with digestibility and cost, fur- nishes a satisfactory guide for selection, due attention being paid to palatability and individual preferences. All things considered, the cereal breakfast foods as a class are nutritious, convenient, and reasonably economical foods, and worthy of an important place in the diet when judiciously com- bined with other foods. CHAPTER VII Eggs Eggs contain everything needed to make bone and flesh, but they are too concentrated to be taken as the sole element of diet, for the system requires waste. The digestibility of the egg is increased by beating it up with water, milk, or other liquid. In a chart brought out by the United States Department of Agriculture is shown the food value of eggs and cheese, and the energy- producing value of eggs measured by the number of calories to a pound. A man requires about three thousand seven hundred calories of energy a day ; a woman three thousand two hundred. CALORIES PER POUND Cream cheese 1885 Cottage cheese 495 Egg, white of 245 Egg, yolk of 1650 Whole egg 695 Eggs, boiled 765 Boiled whites 250 Boiled yolks 1705 American pale cheese 2055 American red cheese 2165 36 TRUE FOOD VALUES Bowden cheese 1195 California flat cheese 1945 Cheddar cheese 2145 Chesire cheese 1810 Limhurger cheese 1675 Neufchatel 1530 Pineapple cheese 2245 Roquefort cheese 1700 Swiss cheese 2010 Kumiss 240 Raw Eggs There is nothing better as a stimulant when one is exhausted than a raw ^gg. Taken the same as a raw oyster, with a bit of salt, pepper, lemon juice, or vinegar, they are not unpalatable and are easily assimilated. Raw eggs beaten up with milk make a perfect food for weak children. The mixture should be sweetened, and may be given in small quantities at short intervals. When breakfast or any meal time is limited, instead of swallowing a quick lunch half masti- cated, take a raw ^gg, 2l graham cracker, and a small piece of sweet chocolate. By adding an orange or a banana to this you have a combina- tion that will sustain one for hours. For one whole summer, at the noon hour I had no time for properly eating even a quick lunch. I went to a drug store near my office and had two eggs thoroughly shaken up in about two AND THEIR LOW COSTS 37 ounces of chocolate syrup, two ounces of milk, and the glass filled with plain soda. This I found would sustain me thoroughly, in fact, much better than a full meal hurriedly eaten. Many persons will find two eggs too hearty and really more than they require, and one tgg amply sufficient. At a cost of ten cents, the ordinary drug-store price, one will thus have enough nourishment in point of food value to carry one along nicely and sup- plant the midday meal. The office clerk and others, who for various reasons cannot visit the drug store or soda foun- tain, can take the raw tgg, and afterward eat a piece of Baker's Chocolate about two inches square. This will take the place of the above, and if an orange or banana can be had, so much the better. Whole Eggs For the purpose of proper analysis, Professor Langworthy, who has charge of the nutrition investigations of the United States Department of Agriculture, has taken eggs as a whole and also the ^gg divided as "yolk" and "white." This is to show the food value of the whole ^gg, and the separate nourishment in the white and the yolk. The whole tgg furnishes six hundred and 38 TRUE FOOD VALUES ninety-five calories of energy per pound. It is seventy-three and seven-tenths per cent, water, fourteen and eight-tenths per cent, protein, ten and five-tenths per cent, fat, and one per cent, ash. An ^gg should not be boiled more than two minutes. The longer it is boiled, the harder it becomes to digest, although some physicians claim that an tgg boiled for twenty minutes is easier to digest than when boiled ten or fifteen minutes. The Egg, White and Yolk Eggs particularly recommend themselves to the housekeeper because of their high nourishing value, and the many ways in which they can be prepared for the table. Eggs are not so economi- cal as milk, judged from the nourishment stand- point, but except when their price is very high, they are less expensive than meat. The fuel value of the yolk measures one thousand six hun- dred and fifty calories per pound, and the white affords only two hundred and forty-five calories per pound of nourishment. Omelet, No. i 6 eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately Yi pint of milk 6 teaspoons corn starch 1 teaspoon baking-powder A little salt AND THEIR LOW COSTS 39 Add the whites, beaten to a stiff froth, last. Cook in a Httle butter. Omelet, No. 2 First, have fresh eggs; to each tgg add one tablespoon of milk; whip thoroughly. The pan must be so hot that the butter will melt instantly. Pour the tgg and milk into the pan. If the fire is right the whole will cook in one minute. It will cook after it has left the pan. Begin at one side and carefully roll the edge over and over until all is rolled up. Turn on a hot plate and serve immediately. Omelet, No. 3 Take four eggs, separate them ; beat the whites very stiff. To the beaten yolks add one-half cup of milk and a little salt. Heat the spider very hot, grease with a little butter, turn the eggs in, cook quite dry, then set in oven until it grows light. Soft-boiled Eggs Place the eggs in a warm saucepan, cover with boiling water. Let them stand where they will keep hot, but not boil, for fifteen minutes. This method will cook both whites and yolks. It is poor economy to limit your family in 40 TRUE FOOD VALUES respect to eggs. There Is nothing more nutri- tious, and even at four cents each they are cheaper than meat. They may be served in such an unHm- ited variety of ways that one should never tire of them. Although a perfect food, they are not intended to be eaten exclusively, any more than other foods. They are one of the most highly concentrated forms of food, and, being wholly destitute of starch, should be eaten with bread or rice. Do not use a fresh-laid ^gg', by that is meant one that has been laid within ten hours. The white does not become thick or set until after that time has elapsed, and it cannot be beaten stiff. Eggs for poaching or boiling are best when thirty-six hours old. Eggs with a dark shell are richer and have larger yolks than those with a light shell. Hard-boiled Eggs Cook eggs for twenty minutes in water just below the boiling point for use in any receipt which specifies hard-boiled eggs. The yolk of an tgg cooked ten minutes is tough and indigest- ible ; twenty minutes will make the yolk dry and mealy. Then it may be more easily rubbed AND THEIR LOW COSTS 41 smooth for salad or other mixtures, and more quickly penetrated by the gastric juice. If the shell of an ^gg be cracked before boiling, pierce several small holes in the large end to keep the contents from bursting out at the crack. When Eggs Are Unsafe Eggs undergo decomposition very readily. Infertile eggs will keep somewhat longer than fertile eggs. Incubation begins very rapidly if the weather is warm. After incubation begins, decomposition proceeds very rapidly, unless the tgg has been chilled — in which case it becomes a dead ^gg. A dead egg will rot very fast, like a dead hen ; and a sick egg is very unwholesome. Examine a perfectly fresh egg, and see how easily and quickly it comes out of the shell. Now an egg that does not come out of the shell readily, that sticks together, and the yolk of which, when forced, breaks and rolls around, has had an attack of a disease similar to peritonitis. It is an in- fected egg^ and should not be used. CHAPTER VIII False Economy No matter how cheap a thing is, if you do not need it, you waste money in buying it. The first cost of meat is not the only thing to be considered in determining the final cost. A Hamburg steak, which is made from chopped meat, can be nicely cooked in ten-minutes' time, while the same meat, if cut into blocks and made into a stew, will require an hour and a half. The cost of fuel and time consumed, if time has any value, as it should have, must be added to the price of the meat to get the final cost. Remember that there are many cheap meats that cook quickly and give just as much nourish- ment as a steak at fifty cents a pound. A pound and a half of round steak, put twice through the meat chopper and made into a roll or cannelon, may be baked in thirty minutes. The same amount of sirloin steak would cost fifty cents a pound and require fifteen minutes to broil. The round steak would cost twenty-five cents a pound. Never buy a cent's worth more than can be used. TRUE FOOD VALUES 43 The impression that vegetable products are much cheaper than animal is by no means true. Cottolene and "Crisco" are no cheaper than tal- low and lard. A good quality of olive oil is quite as expensive as good butter. Green peas, out of season, rival the salmon that goes with them. Mushrooms may properly be considered the high-water mark of a useless food. In spite of the beef trusts, the cheaper animal fats are still among the least expensive sources of human energy. To live well at small cost, it is false economy to purchase dry groceries in small quantities. Purchase a sufficient amount at a time to last the month through. Perishable foods should be purchased at least every two or three days. Never buy poor fruit because it is cheap — you will find it dear at any price. There is no econ- omy in purchasing more fruit than you can use up in a day or two. If the fruit is ripe and fit to eat, it will begin to decay before being used. What you would save by buying in quantity you lose in quality, for specked or inferior fruit is neither appetizing nor healthful. It is false economy to buy canned goods when you can get a fresh article. Buy fresh vegetables 44 TRUE FOOD VALUES and prepare enough one day to last for two; in this way you will have a better table and will save considerable money. It is always important, and more particularly so at the present time, when the high cost of liv- ing must be considered, that we know something definite regarding cheap and nutritious foods. When we stop to consider the price paid the pro- ducer, and the cost to us, the consumers, it is time for us to get down to bottom facts, to return to the simple life. Dr. Wiley, in an article on the economy of nutrition, says that we pay three hundred per cent, more for the cereals which have unfortu- nately taken the name of "breakfast foods," than the cost of production and their nutritive value justify. The amount of money paid in this country for labels and containers for foods sold under brand names has assumed enormous proportions. This expense has to be borne by the purchaser of these foods from the retail dealer. Pure foods are, as a general thing, largely de- void of flavor — the white of an ^gg, for instance, or any other clear protein, or any fat, or any car- bohydrate except sugars. Experience is said to be a good monitor. We AND THEIR LOW COSTS 45 need abundant food, enough to cover our living expenses and our work, and no more. Our food should be good, that is, it should be fresh, well cooked, appetizing, and digestible. Digestion may be affected by various tempo- rary mental causes, viz: If we are cross, or overtired, or in a hurry, have unpleasant thoughts, or there is discussion of disagreeable matters at the table, it will be impaired. Whatever goes wrong with the food between the dealer's shop and the stomach is our own fault. As a rule we shall do best to stick to the old- time foods, on which our race has thrived since the time of Adam, with cautious excursions into the new and unproved methods of diet. For the normal individual it is enough to eat at leisure what he Hkes best in the way of good foods. As a rule, the appetite is a safer guide to follow than science. CHAPTER IX Shall We Eat Meat? These are the beasts which ye shall eat: The ox, the sheep, and the goat; the hart and the roebuck, and the fallow deer and the wild goat, and the pygarg and the wild ox, and the chamois. — Deuteronomy 14:4-7. With the amount of theoretical and practical literature on food, it is not a difficult matter for persons interested in the subject to discover for themselves by experiments the diet that is best suited to their needs. The better the quality of food, the better the effects produced. Unfor- tunately, in our country at the present time, the best foods are comparatively expensive, such as choice meats, game, poultry, fish, fruit, and veg- etables. It will be noticed that more talent and intellectual strength are generally found among people who use meat liberally than among those who live principally on farinaceous food. What- ever merits vegetarians may claim for their diet, they cannot produce a single talented or hand- some vegetarian, born of vegetarian parents in England, America, or Germany. It is an established fact that children educated TRUE FOOD VALUES 47 in charitable institutions, where they are chiefly fed on cereals, rarely develop into talented or handsome men and women. In fact, a prepon- derance of cereal food deteriorates body and mind. There is no evidence to prove that a vege- tarian diet is better for our climate than the usual mixed diet. On the contrary, the many deaths among vegetarian teachers of late proves that vegetarianism, as practiced at present, is a danger- ous dietic experiment. Because some young peo- ple are in apparent health on a vegetarian diet cannot be considered adequate proof of the theory, for the digestive organs of the young are usually strong. When children are weak, vege- tarian foods have proved to be much more harm- ful than the usual mixed diet. We are told that people of middle age and past should eat sparingly, and they are particu- larly cautioned against the use of meat, especially red meat (any kind of beef), on account of its causing an excess of uric acid, and increasing the tendency to hardening of the arteries (arterio- sclerosis). Dairy food, milk, meat broth, and milk puddings are recommended as their staple diet. The true value of meat has not been sufficiently recognized by the public, for the reason that it 48 TRUE FOOD VALUES has been used with other foods, which have mini- mized its beneficial effects. If eaten by the nor- mal individual, with vegetables, tomatoes, and lemon juice, it has a vitalizing and rejuvenating effect upon persons past middle age. Meat pro- duces physical and mental energy and vegetables prevent the formation of an excess of uric acid, and they also keep the excretory organs and the blood in a healthy state. Tomatoes clear the brain, although this is not generally realized, and lemon juice, if used in place of salt, assists di- gestion. When we stop and think that meat has been considered a necessary food for the human race since the earliest Biblical days, we might ask ourselves whether it would be a wise proceeding on our part to alter the plans of the Creator. Elderly people need not curtail their daily rations as they grow older; they may eat until satisfied, provided the right foods are eaten. To remain in good condition physically and mentally, we must eat sufficient to make up for the daily expenditure of nerve force. There is no virtue in denying one's self neces- sary food. Animals cannot do good work and keep in AND THEIR LOW COSTS 49 good condition unless they receive a proper amount of food. It has been clearly proved that the majority of ailments incident to old age are prevented or remedied in proportion to the amount of meat and vegetables which the individual can properly assimilate. CHAPTER X Food Experts Food experts would have us believe that they understand the processes of digestion, absorption, and elimination as thoroughly as a watch expert understands the mechanical action of a watch. They wisely discuss the various constituents of flesh, wheat, milk, etc., as if it were in their power to produce artificial flesh, etc., with ease. They discuss the process of digestion as if they really understood it. The fact of the matter is that our greatest scientists understand but little of the process of digestion, for the simple reason that they do not understand the secret of life. They cannot explain why the human stomach can digest the stomach of an ostrich or an elephant, and yet not digest itself. They explain that it is the life of the stomach that prevents its self-destruction, but they cannot explain what this life is. Similarly, they do not understand the real food values of meat, eggs, milk, etc. They can make artificial milk which contains all the chemical properties TRUE FOOD VALUES 51 and the correct proportions of real milk ; but let them feed this artificial milk exclusively to a human being or to animals and they will kill the subjects of their experiment. Tests with arti- ficial milk on animals have proved this. With these facts before me, I cannot become very enthusiastic over the food values of many of the prepared and concentrated foods which flood our markets, especially when I have good reason to believe that many such foods contain strong stimulants, intended to arouse the nervous system and excite the blood circulation. Until we really discover the secret of life, I believe it is best to eat the foods which we have been eating for centuries — foods that have made every cell in our bodies. We should follow our instincts. If a certain food does not agree with us and gives us pain, let us look upon such pain as a warning of Nature. If we obey these warnings, we need not bother our heads about the chemical proper- ties of food. What Doctors Do Not Know The wonderful processes which go on in the nourishment of the tissues of the body remain to-day much of a mystery. It is useless for sci- ence to undertake to explain the causes. We 52 TRUE FOOD VALUES know only that they operate through established laws of physical chemistry which are unalterable. The wonderful combinations which are produced, by which inert matter is converted into the living tissues, are of so complex a nature as to be totally beyond the reach of the most expert chemists and physicians. Human physiology has taught us that the tis- sues of the body are wonderfully variable in their composition, and that they possess in their cells a selective power to take from the blood current such materials as may be most suitable for their needs. The ordinary individual would best not bother himself about such complex matters as the char- acter of the proteins he consumes, as long as he does not neglect any of the natural foods and con- fine himself to some one particular or exclusive form of diet. If he wishes to remain on the safe side and yet adopt any exclusive diet, it should be composed largely of one of the established foods, such as milk or wheat, which are found capable of sustaining life. Perfect digestion depends to a great extent upon perfect cooking; and on perfect cooking lies the possibility of the body's absorbing the nutri- ment it requires. Food that is not digested is AND THEIR LOW COSTS 53 wasted, and waste products clog the body and cause inefficiency. A normal person should avoid the tendency to '^pamper" or '"spare" the digestive organs, in searching for foods that are digestible ; the stom- ach, Hver, and intestines need exercise as well as the rest of the body. While they should not be overloaded with fats and rich dishes, they should not, on the other hand, be given a diet of eggs, milk, or ''predigested" foods, or, as a natural consequence, they will become weakened. Do you know how wrong eating causes disease ? Over ninety per cent, of all sickness originates in the stomach or bowels. This is not to be wondered at when we take into consideration the number of feet in the intes- tinal tract, which act as a repository for germs of almost every conceivable kind, through the medium of w^hat we eat and drink. The system becomes infected in consequence and we develop typhoid fever, inflammatory rheumatism, and a thousand and one other ailments. Many foods, harmless in themselves, when eaten in combination with other harmless foods produce a chemical reaction and literally explode. CHAPTER XI Olive Oil, the Purest Food Known In considering the nutritive elements that are disclosed by an analysis of given foods, we must bear in mind what proportion of these values will be expended in converting the food into blood. This is the only sensible plan by which we can arrive at the actual nutritive value of any given food. The rightful conclusion, therefore, is that the highest nutritive value is found in the foods which are rich in nutritive elements, free from poison- ous matter, and which contain but a small amount of effete matter. If their physical character ren- ders them easily assimilated, their nutritive value is still further enhanced. There is a form of food that conforms very closely to these specifications, and we may justly consider it among the highest in nutritive value of all the foods used by man. This food is olive oil. Every particle of it is food, not waste matter. There is no ninety per cent, of water, as in vege- TRUE FOOD VALUES 55 tables; no thirty to sixty per cent, of water, as in eggs or meat ; no vast bulk of indigestible mat- ter that must be excreted — nothing but food. Again, pure olive oil is the purest food known. There is no contamination from soil or water, as in vegetables; no uric acid or lingering diseases, as in meat ; no poisonous ptomaines. Again, olive oil is so easily assimilated that it may be "eaten" through the skin. The cutaneous capillaries absorb it eagerly and carry it into the circulation, where it is manifested in a short time in the increased number of hemoglobins of the blood, resisting the process of cell destruction and building up new tissue. The value of olive oil is not in its heat- producing qualities, as is generally supposed, but it is primarily a blood-maker and a tissue-builder, and is specially called for in every form of mal- nutrition or malassimilation. It also has, aside from its food value, a decidedly beneficial action upon the entire intestinal tract. In speaking of the benefits to be derived from the use of olive oil, I mean the absolutely pure oil, and not that adulterated with cotton seed or any similar substance. To guard against substitution and adulteration, insist on having one of the sev- eral leading brands of California olive oil CHAPTER XII Vagaries Many vagaries are prevalent regarding our diet, what it should be, and what it should not be. It would seem that a man can live on any- wholesome food which he likes and can digest, and which has not too much water in it for him to get his day's fuel out of three or four pounds. The source of a people's food does not seem to make the slightest difference in its mental and moral qualities. The Eskimos, who live entirely on meat and often eat ten pounds at a meal, are the most peaceful of mankind. The Armenian massacres, however, the Balkan atrocities, and the Russian pograms are the work of those who are practically vegetarians. The Yale teams train on beef and mutton. The Greek athletes, who were equally good men, trained on barley, figs, and olive oil. In the old days the messenger service from Madras to Bombay and Calcutta was by means of men on foot, who did sixty miles for a day's work and kept it up, a thousand miles at a stretch, on a diet of rice. TRUE FOOD VALUES 57 In the race of the alhed armies to Pekin, the Japanese soldiers fairly ran away from the Euro- pean regiments, and that on a diet of boiled rice and dried fish. In China a tea-carrying coolie, for a day's work, packs a hundred and fifty pounds over forty miles of road. His diet also is of rice. The famous porters of Asia Minor walk off with a quarter of a ton on their backs, and nothing but bread and dried fruit in their insides. The Chilean miners, who are judged among the strongest laborers in the world, do their work on boiled beans and bread. The winner of the great race from Dresden to Berlin, in 1902, was a corresponding clerk, thirty years of age, who had been tied to his desk nine hours a day, and had done most of his walking on Sundays. He had been a vegetarian for ten years; and for six months before the race had left off eating eggs, milk, cheese, and butter as well. His training diet was two meals a day of crackers, bread, marmalade, fruit juice, Quaker oats, nut butter, and bromose. The corresponding stunt of the British Isles is to walk from Land's End to John o' Groats, a distance of nine hundred and eight miles. The last record for this feat was held by a young 58 TRUE FOOD VALUES workman named Allen, who covered the distance in a little less than seventeen days, and did one hundred and forty miles in the last two. Allen is a man somewhat radical in his views, who sleeps out of doors, and feeds on bread, oatmeal, and vegetables, with a little fruit. The men nurses of the Battle Creek Sanita- rium, all of whom are vegetarians, were matched in an endurance test against some student ath- letes for holding the arm extended horizontally at full length. The nurses came out distinctly ahead. Several went beyond one hour, while one stopped at three hours and twenty minutes, more from boredom than from fatigue. Mr. Horace Fletcher, who begins his day's work at four in the morning and eats nothing until noon, when over fifty years of age, put in a week with a Yale boat crew in training, and held his own with the lads. His diet was only cereal, milk, and maple sugar, costing eleven cents a day. CHAPTER XIII Easy Ways to Prevent Waste ''Waste not, want not," is the motto which should be hung in every kitchen. Every kind of food left over can be utilized in some way. Of course, in using "left-overs" something new must be added. Tough steak may be finely chopped, seasoned with salt, pepper, and onions, and fried in little cakes. A nice stew may be made of the pieces of cold beef. Cut them into small pieces and cover with water, boil till tender, add an onion, carrot, pota- toes, a little turnip, a spoonful of rice, pepper, and salt. Serve with slices of toasted bread. Scraps of veal, mutton, lamb, or lean pork, alone or all together, make a fine meat pie, or, finely chopped up, may be heated in tomato sauce. Remnants of fowl of any kind may be served with cream sauce, hashed with a dash of mustard and served on toast, or used as sandwiches. The bones of fowl slowly simmered in water for a long time give the foundation for a rich soup. Chop pieces of cold ham finely, season with 6o TRUE FOOD VALUES onion and mustard, and use for sandwiches, with scrambled eggs, or in hash. Horseradish makes a good seasoning for this. Cold potatoes may be fried, mashed, creamed, and used in salads. Other vegetables may be used in hash or stews, or as a vegetable salad. Cold beans and corn warmed up in milk make a fine succotash. Cold rice may be made into a pudding, or used in muffins and griddle cakes. Make hash and balls with left-over fish. Chop cold oysters finely and add to poultry dressing. Dry and pound all stale bread, and use for rolling croquettes and fish in. To boil cracked eggs, put a teaspoonful of salt in the water, and the whites will not come through. To remove o^gg stain from silver, rub with a wet rag dipped in salt. Before squeezing a lemon, heat it thoroughly first, and nearly double the amount of juice will be obtained. To avoid waste in cooking potatoes, take them up as soon as they are done. Of course, it is important to begin to cook them at the proper time. When boiled, baked, fried, or steamed. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 6i they are rendered watery by continuing to cook after they reach the proper point. For this rea- son potatoes, to bake or boil, should be selected so as to have them nearly the same size. Begin with the largest first, and continue to select the largest until all are gone. Be careful that the water does not stop boiling, as this will make the potatoes watery. Never boil them hard, as it breaks them. When peeled, they boil fifteen min- utes quicker. The secret of having potatoes mealy and palatable is to cook them rapidly. Steam until the skin cracks and a fork can easily pene- trate the center. If not to be served at once, con- tinue steaming, as they become solid sooner than when boiled. New potatoes should always be boiled in two waters, and old ones are also better for it. In making broth it is a great mistake to assume that the nearly tasteless mass of fibers which is left undissolved by the water has no nutritive value. This tasteless material has been found to be as easily and completely digested as the same weight of ordinary roast. It contains nearly all the protein of the meat, and, if it is properly combined with vegetables, salt, and flavoring material, makes an agreeable as well as nutritive food. 62 TRUE FOOD VALUES The cheapest foods, generally speaking, are those which can be secured in bulk. I purchased what purported to be a pound of bacon, sliced and put up in glass jars, paying thirty-five cents for it. A side of bacon can be purchased for eighteen cents a pound. I was pay- ing seventeen cents for the brand. I have been using in my family a well-known preparation of wheat. It is sold for ten cents a package, which is supposed to contain one pound ; but on the package in small letters, it is stated: "This package contains five ounces net weight." At this rate a pound costs thirty-two cents. Wheat costs about two cents a pound. CHAPTER XIV Why Folks Grow Fat People are too stout mainly for two reasons: They eat too much and exercise too little; there is some defect in their oxidation apparatus. Such persons have an abnormally powerful "sweet tooth"; but a fondness for sweets is a symptom of and not a cause of the obesity. For normal individuals sugar is a good digest- ible food. In healthy children a fondness for it does not cause obesity or indigestion. Normally sugar is too easily oxidized to be stored up as fat or adipose tissue. Fat in the body is not derived so much from the consumption of fats and oils in the food as from carbohydrates, like starch and sugar. The consumption of one ounce a day more than the system requires for actual expenditure of energy, would, in six months' time, increase the bodily weight about ten pounds. However this may be, the most common cause of obesity is excessive eating together with a lack of sufficient or real exercise. As a rule this class of individuals does not know how to take exercise. 64 TRUE FOOD VALUES That form of obesity coming on after forty, associated with florid cheeks, due to the dilated blood vessels of the face, should serve as a warning signal of approaching arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). It is a difficult matter to make people realize the danger of overheating, and the penalties incurred, namely, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, and premature old age, often called the A, B, C of prosperity — apoplexy, Bright's disease, and cardiac degeneration. Active physical exertion that brings into play the muscles of the body is the rational and only method for oxidation, and this must be kept up to prevent the accumulation of piled-up fuel. For the average person four miles a day, rain or shine, should be the rule — not a lazy man's walk, but a quick, energetic movement that will start the perspiration. A regularly laid-out course of gym- nastics, or physical culture exercises, is particu- larly adapted to the reduction of the excessive fat desposits about the hips, back, chest, and abdo- men. Of course, if there is any marked weakness about the heart muscles, the exercises must be carefully graduated by the physician according to the heart's efficiency. Another very efficacious measure is to keep the AND THEIR LOW COSTS 65 bowels open, and to see that the liver is perform- ing its functions properly. Many, if not most, persons have the false notion that if the bowels are kept open by dosing with physic, the liver will take care of itself. If the judicious use of fruit and the proper diet do not remedy the constipa- tion, instead of resorting to active cathartics, it is better to seek the aid of Nature's remedy in some of the natural spring waters, such as Con- gress Springs, Hunyadi Janos, Pluto Water, etc. Another very decided help in these cases is fasting. The human stomach is none the worse for a complete rest for three or four days, not- withstanding the foolish notion that it is danger- ous to skip over a few meals now and then. One good scheme of reducing weight is to eat but one kind of food at a meal. This is not rec- ommended for any one in poor health, but for the hearty obese. It is much easier to get along with a small amount of starches and sugars if a little fat food is taken than if not. Crisp bacon is one of the most digestible forms of fat to eat, and is cer- tainly one of the most satisfying. CHAPTER XV Useful Hints Endeavor to avoid waste either in food or coal. Some cooks will make a rich soup or savory stew out of fragments that a wasteful one rejects as useless. Poverty does not in any way prevent skill, and skill in preparing food means better living at less cost. Economy in buying does not mean buying cheap foods. It means the wise selection of such foods as your purse will allow and those best suited to the occupation of your family. Meat is the most expensive and extravagant of all foods. Save every bit that is left over and make it into a dish for another meal. Remember that pure molasses, honey, and maple syrup are wholesome foods, and often a meal supplemented by biscuits and honey, or mush and syrup, instead of the usual heavy desert, is not only more wholesome, but more enjoyable and certainly more economical. Sugar is a source of quick energy. Give your TRUE FOOD VALUES 67 child a little pure candy and some coarse oatmeal crackers after school, and he is furnished with quick energy in an absolutely harmless form. Do not give candy or sweets just before a meal, for the appetite may be sated and the child refuse his regular food. No matter whether the income is large or small, the balanced ration can always be maintained. Remember that all expenses beyond a certain point are for flavor and luxuries rather than for necessities. To Freshen Vegetables : — Unless vegetables are taken direct from the garden, they are always improved by freshening in clear, cold water. This is especially true of cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, cucumbers, and pie-plant. If new potatoes are soaked thus, the work of scraping them is made much easier and the potatoes themselves will be found mealier. Onions should always be put in cold w^ater before cooking in order to remove the acrid part of the vegetable. Cheese, cabbage, fish, and baked beans should never be put into the refrigerator. They all leave an odor of which it is difficult to rid the refriger- ator, and they also flavor the food. Cooked foods of all kinds should be cooled before they are placed in the refrigerator. 68 TRUE FOOD VALUES Articles of food made of gelatin or of milk should be kept covered, as both absorb not only odors but germs. Brine in which articles for pickles are to be stored should be strong enough to hold up an tgg. A generous pint of coarse salt to one gallon of water is the usual proportion. To Keep Eggs: — Place two inches of wood ashes in the bottom of a tin pail. In this, stand on the small end as many fresh eggs as you can easily, without letting them touch. Sift over them two inches of ashes and adjust another layer of eggs. When the pail is full, cover it tight, and place it in a cool cellar. The eggs will keep perfectly all winter. This is an easy and perfectly satisfactory method of keeping eggs. Buying Meats in Midsummer In planning the meat for the day, bear in mind the fact that in hot weather all meats (especially the flesh of young animals), fish, shell fish, eggs, milk and cheese should only be used when per- fectly fresh, and even then should be watched most carefully. Therefore, buy in small quantities and take extra precautions in the cooking. During great heat, you cannot be too careful in examining your purchase before cooking. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 69 When a joint shows signs of taint, cut off the affected part and make sure that the remainder is quickly washed in vinegar and water, and it will be quite sweet. Because of these midsummer difficulties, it is just as well to bear in mind the derivation of the much-talked-of ''ptomaine" poisoning. Gruesome as it is, it is better to study it as a preventive measure than to realize it as a painful, if not fatal, experience. So here it is : The term is derived from the Greek word, ptoma, a corpse, as the poisonous compounds known as "pto- maines" are found in dead bodies. Because of this, buy only small meats (veal is at its best in the spring), that can be cooked immediately, fish that, like Caesar's wife, is "above suspicion," smoked and salted meats, and eggs which, boiled hard, make a substantial salad with mayonnaise dressing and as omelet afford an agreeable vehicle for meat (minced ham), vegetables (corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.), and fruit, as in apricot omelet. If you are near the water buy fish freely, for many varieties are then at their best, some of which are not available at all in the winter except in a most inferior form due to long distance transportation and cold-storage risks. There- 70 TRUE FOOD VALUES fore, bake bluefish and mackerel, and utilize the remnants by moulding them with gelatin. To Preserve Lemons: — Put them into a crock and cover with water. They will keep in winter two or three months. Preservation of Flour: — Flour should not be kept in a storeroom or pantry where there is cooked food, as it readily absorbs odors. Igno- rance of this fact accounts for poor bread oftener than does an inferior quality of flour. Keep it in a cool, dry, airy room, where it is not exposed to a freezing temperature, or to one above seventy degrees. Always sift before using. It should not be kept in a place where there are onions, fish, vegetables, decaying, or other odorous substances, or in a damp room or cellar. Molasses will run out of a measuring-cup quickly if the cup is first dipped in cornstarch. Deep-fat Frying: — In various experiments carried on to ascertain whether deep-fat frying or sauteing (frying in a small amount of fat) is preferable, the former method has proved to be more economical and the products more digest- ible, because at least a fourth less fat is absorbed by the foods. To be fried in deep fat, foods must contain enough tgg to coagulate them instantly AND THEIR LOW COSTS 71 (as fritters), or else be coated with a thin layer of Qgg or dissolved gelatin (as croquettes). The surface is then instantly sealed, and the fat will not be absorbed to any great extent. "The kitchen should be a frank and friendly part of the house." — Thoreau. Fine-grained sugar makes better cake than coarse-grained. Bread flour may be used in place of pastry flour for cake-making, provided two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch are substituted for two tablespoonfuls of flour in each cup. It takes one and one-third cups of powdered sugar to equal a cup of granulated sugar, and one and one-half cups of brown sugar to equal one of granulated sugar. One half of a cup of cottonseed oil, less one tablespoonful, is equal to one half-cup of butter. In many common recipes sour milk may be substituted for sweet milk, using, instead of the baking-powder called for in the recipe, one-half the quantity of bicarbonate of soda. One pint of thick, sour milk will require a level teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda to neutralize it. One-fourth of a cup of butter plus three table- spoonfuls of lard equals one half-cup of butter. Water in which potatoes have been boiled may ^2 TRUE FOOD VALUES be used as a suitable substitute for sweet milk in making cake. If a cake is sticky, it is because it has not been sufficiently baked or because too much sugar was used. CHAPTER XVI Flour It is impossible to make good bread with poor flour. Good flour should not be perfectly white in color, but of a creamy, yellowish-white shade. If it has a damp peel, is sticky, and gradually forms into lumps or cakes up, it is not of the best quality. Good flour, when squeezed by the hand, holds together in a mass and retains the impression of the fingers, and when made into dough it is elastic, easy to be kneaded, will stay in a round, puffy shape, and will take up a large quantity of water. Poor flour will be sticky, spread itself over the board, and will never seem stiff enough to be handled no matter how much flour be used. It is extravagant to buy cheap flour. It is estimated that one barrel of flour will last one person one year. Flour is not improved by long keeping, though many flour dealers will tell you differently. Flour should always be kept in a cool, dry place, as the least dampness causes it to absorb 74 TRUE FOOD VALUES moisture; the gluten loses its tenacity, and bread made from it is coarse and heavy. Yeast How was yeast first made ? How can a young housekeeper start her own, when away from stores and friends, where she can neither buy nor borrow? These questions are often asked, and the answer is simple: Make a thin batter with flour and water, and let it stand in a warm place till it ferments and is full of bubbles. A pint of this ferment is equal to one cup of old yeast in starting the new. There are three kinds of yeast in general use : the dry, the compressed, and the Hquid. Dry yeast cakes, like the ''National" or 'Twin Brothers," are cheap and always ready to use. Mrs. Lincoln, in her cookbook, says : "They are generally liked by those who care more for econ- omy of time and trouble than for the quality of their bread." Compressed yeast cakes, such as the "Vienna" or "Fleischmann's," give excellent satisfaction when perfectly fresh, and where bread is made in large quantities. For a small family, however, where only a quarter of a cake is used perhaps not more than twice a week, they are incon- venient, expensive, and wasteful. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 75 There are none so independent as those who make their own yeast. The best home-made yeast is that made from the potato. The grated raw potato is to be pre- ferred to the boiled potato, and the yeast is made in much less time. Old potatoes are better than new for yeast, because they contain more sugar. The really essential points are that the water shall be boiling, so that all the cells of the potato shall be acted upon. The salt and sugar assist in the fermentation, and the hops and ginger serve to prevent the yeast from souring, by check- ing the fermentation before all the sugar is con- verted into alcohol. Porcelain or granite kettles should be used for boiling the hops and potatoes, as iron or tin causes the yeast to turn dark- colored. The yeast for starting must be perfectly fresh, and never added until the boiling mixture has become lukewarm, or the plant will be killed. It must be kept warm, and stirred several times while rising, and the next day put away in glass jars that have been well scalded. Keep in a cool place, and always shake or stir well before using. Raw-potato Yeast ^ cup flour 3 raw potatoes 54 cup sugar 1 to 2 quarts boiling water 1 tablespoon salt 1 cup yeast 76 TRUE FOOD VALUES Have at least three quarts of water that is boil- ing. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, grate the potatoes as quickly as possible, and mix them at once with the flour. Pour the boiling water over the grater, and rinse off the potato into the bowl, using perhaps a pint of water at first. Mix the water thoroughly with the potato and flour ; then add, slowly, enough more boiling water to make it the consistency of thin starch. If it does not thicken, pour the mixture into a double boiler or granite pan, and let it come to the boiling point, stirring well to keep it from sticking. Put through a strainer and let it cool. When lukewarm add the yeast. Cover slightly, and keep in a warm (not hot) place, until light and covered with white foam. After it begins to rise, beat it well a number of times, as this makes it stronger. When well risen, put it into wide-mouthed earthen or glass jars. Reserve one cupful or more in a small glass jar for the next yeast-making. This yeast will keep well for two weeks, and makes the finest kind of bread. This receipt for making yeast can be varied by using boiling hop-water. Steep one-fourth of a cup of loose hops five minutes in three pints of water, and strain into the potato and flour. Or AND THEIR LOW COSTS yy the flour may be left out, using more potato or less water. Many think it an improvement to mix one teaspoon of sifted ginger with the flour, sugar, and salt. The hops and ginger will make the yeast dark-colored, but it will not be per- ceptible in the bread. There are other ways of making yeast, but none that possess any advantage over the raw- potato yeast just given. Bread Give us this day our daily bread.— Matthew 6: 11. Wheat is the greatest and most important of all foods. About one hundred million tons are grown in the world every year, yet a third of this immense amount is wasted in the milling of white flour. For every pound of wheat that is milled, a third of a pound is wasted in order to get the flour white. This third that is wasted contains all the vital elements of the grain, and for the need of these missing elements millions have suffered the severest penalty. Nature has provided in a grain of wheat fifteen important elements that are needed properly to nourish the human body. There is no sense in removing ten or twelve of these elements in mill- ing simply to produce a product that is pleasing 78 TRUE FOOD VALUES to the eye. Food value is what is needed, not color. The fibrous part of the entire wheat is very important as a laxative in the food. The outer covering of a grain of wheat is Nature's remedy for constipation. How true it is that vanity sometimes has more to do with the high cost of living than other conditions. Water Bread 2 quarts sifted {new-process) flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon butter, or lard V2 cup liquid yeast, or, Yi. cake compressed yeast, dissolved in Y^ cup water 1 pint lukewarm water Sift the flour, and fill the measure lightly. Turn it into a large bowl holding about four quarts. Reserve one cup of flour to add at the last if needed, and to use on the board. Mix the salt and sugar with the flour ; rub in the shorten- ing until fine, like meal. Mix the yeast with the water. If compressed yeast is used, dissolve a half of a cake in half a cup of water. This is in addition to the pint of water to be used in mixing. Pour the liquid mixture into the center of the flour, mixing it well with a strong spoon. Scrape the dry flour from the sides and bottom ^AND THEIR LOW COSTS 79 of the bowl, and turn the mass over and over until no dry flour is left. If too soft to handle easily, add a little more of the reserved cup of flour. If too stiff, add more water. Knead for half an hour or until perfectly smooth. Cover and let it rise until it doubles its bulk. Cut it down, by bringing a knife up through the dough ; let it rise again. Divide into four parts, then shape into loaves, putting two in each pan, or re- serve some for biscuit. Cover and let it rise again to the top of the pan. Bake in a hot oven for nearly an hour. Milk Bread 1 pint milk, scalded and cooled 1 tablespoon butter, melted in the hot milk 1 tablespoon sugar ^ teaspoon salt y2 cup yeast 6 or 7 cups flour Measure the milk after scalding, and put it in the mixing bowl ; add the butter, sugar, and salt. When cool, add the yeast, and then stir in the flour, adding it gradually after five cups are in, that it may not be too stiff. Use just enough to knead it. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover; let it rise till light; cut it down; divide into four parts ; shape into loaves or biscuit. Let it rise again in the pans. Bake forty or fifty minutes. 8o TRUE FOOD VALUES Parker House Rolls 1 pint boiling milk Y^ cup sugar 1 tablespoon lard J^ yeast cake Put in a bowl and thicken as thick as griddle cakes. Do this early in the morning and let be until noon, then stiffen with flour and let rise until four or five o'clock. Then knead and roll out about a half-inch thick and spread with warm butter. Then cut in cakes and let rise another hour. Bake. CHAPTER XVII Something about Breads With good bread or rolls for her table the housewife may laugh at unexpected company; but without these nothing, however fine, will make a pleasant meal. Raisin Bread Place a pint of milk and a pint of water in a saucepan and bring to the boiling point. Cool until lukewarm, then add a cake of yeast, dis- solved in a half cup of lukewarm water. Add four cups of flour and a teaspoon of sugar. Beat well and let stand to rise. When very light add : Yz cup sugar 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup raisins Knead with flour enough to handle well, form into loaves and bake when the loaves are more than double in bulk. Bake forty-five minutes. Coffee Cake To make the sponge, take a cup of milk, two teaspoons of sugar, a half yeast cake dissolved in a fourth of a cup of water, two cups of flour. 82 TRUE FOOD VALUES Beat well and let stand until light, or better over night. Add : y2.cup melted butter 2 beaten eggs y2 cup sugar 1 teaspoonful salt y2 cup milk 3 or 4 cups flour, to make a dough to knead Let rise again until light, spread with softened butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and when light bake in a moderate oven. Tea Rolls Add two cups of flour to a cup of scalded milk when it is lukewarm, beat well, and add a yeast cake softened in a quarter of a cup of water. When well risen, add: % cup melted butter 2 eggs 1 teaspoon salt A grating of nutmeg 2 more cups flour Knead well and let rise in a warm place. Shape into small rolls, put into a buttered pan and set to rise, well covered. Bake in a hot oven fifteen minutes. Nut Cakes Beat two eggs and stir into them a cup of light brown sugar and two tablespoons of flour. Add a cup of nut meats chopped fine. Spread the mixture in a very thin layer on a well-greased tin and bake ten minutes, or until lightly browned. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 83 Maple Brown Bread 1% cups rye meal 1 cup pure maple syrup 1^ cups corn meal 1 heaping tablespoon IH cups graham flour shortening 1 level teaspoon salt 1 rounding tablespoon baking-powder Add hot water to make consistency of ordinary brown bread. Steam at least three hours. Oatmeal Bread Scald one cup of rolled oats with one and one- half cups of boiling water. Let stand until part- ly cool, then add : \}/2 teaspoons salt 1 scant cup molasses 1 cup milk 1 yeast cake, dissolved in 54 cup warm water Add enough bread flour to mould. Mould and let rise over night. In the morning mould again, divide into three loaves; let rise until about doubled in size, and bake about forty-five min- utes in medium oven. Rye Bread 1 pint rye flour 1 teaspoon salt Yz pint corn meal 2 teaspoons baking- Yz pint flour powder 1 tablespoon butter }i pint milk Sift rye flour, corn meal, flour, sugar, and salt together, and powder. Rub in butter, add milk, and stir thoroughly. Bake in moderate oven forty-five minutes. 84 TRUE FOOD VALUES Scotch Scones 2 cups rolled oats ^ cup sugar 1 cup wheat flour % teaspoon salt ^ teaspoon saleratus Mix dry in a bowl, add two rounding table- spoons of drippings, or lard, or butter. These in- gredients must be thoroughly rubbed together for several moments until very fine. Add enough sour milk to make a dough sufficiently hard to roll. This should be thoroughly kneaded, rolled thin, and cut into desired shape with a sharp knife or cutter. Place on pan in a moderately quick oven and bake a nice brown. When cool, these should be fine and crisp. Graham Muffins 2 cups graham flour 1 cup water 1 cup white flour 2 tablespoons molasses 1 cup sour milk 1 teaspoon soda 1 egg If you use sweet milk, omit the soda and use two level teaspoons of baking powder. Cream Muffins Cream a half cup of butter with a fourth cup of sugar; add a beaten egg. Sift together. 2 cups flour 3 teaspoons baking- 3 teaspoons baking powder Yz teaspoon salt Add these to the first mixture alternately with AND THEIR LOW COSTS 85 three-fourths of a cup of milk. Stir in a cup of stewed, stoned prunes which have been cut in pieces. Bake in warm, buttered muffin pans. Rice Muffins Sift three cups of fiour with four teaspoons of baking powder, one teaspoon of salt, and two- thirds of a cup of sugar. Add: 2 eggs, well beaten ^ cup melted shortening Yz cup cooked rice Y^ cup currants IVs cups water Mix well and bake in hot, buttered muffin pans. Scotch Short-bread 2 cups bread flour Yz. cup light brown 1 cup butter sugar A few grains of mace Work all together with a spoon, fork, or the fingertips, until thoroughly blended. Line a shal- low, round, or square pan with paper, and pat in the short-bread about an inch thick. Bake in a moderate oven until delicately brown, about thirty minutes, and when half cool, mark in squares. Breakfast Muffins Dissolve half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a tablespoon of warm water, and add it to a half pint of thick sour milk. Separate two eggs, 86 TRUE FOOD VALUES beat the yolks, add the sour milk, and stir in quickly one and a half cups of flour and a half teaspoon of salt. Beat thoroughly, and fold in the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in greased muffin pans, in a quick oven, twenty min- utes. Digestibility of Different Kinds of Bread The question is often asked, ''What kind of bread furnishes the greatest amount of digestible nutrients ?" Among the earliest and most famous experi- ments made to test this question are those con- ducted by Meyer and Voit, of Munich, about forty years ago. They used different kinds of rye and wheat bread, and reached the conclusion, which all later work has verified, that the digest- ibility of bread depends upon its lightness. The work done at the Maine and Minnesota experiment stations throws much light on the comparative value of different kinds of bread. Many experiments were made to learn how gra- ham, entire wheat, and patent flours compare in digestibility. The flours used in these compari- sons were milled from the same lots of wheat, and mixed and baked in the same way. The results all show that patent flour yields to AND THEIR LOW COSTS 87 the body a larger proportion of its nutrients than the kinds which include more or less of the bran. Of the protein in bread made from standard patent flour, ^^.6 per cent was found to be actu- ally utilized by the body, as against 82 per cent from entire wheat and 74.9 from graham. Of the carbohydrates, 97.7 per cent from the stand- ard patent, 93.5 per cent from the entire wheat, and 89.2 per cent from graham were utilized. Ap- parently, then, as regards the digestibility of the more important nutrients, the patent flours are superior to those containing bran. It is interest- ing to notice that the digestibility of these three kinds of bread varies in the same order as the lightness of the loaves. The patent flour makes the most porous loaf, next comes the entire wheat, and last of all the graham. The claim is made that the coarser flours, owing to the particles of bran or some other prop- erty, often increase the peristaltic action of the in- testine and thus tend to prevent constipation. This to a certain extent is true, but the claim of superiority on the basis of nutritive value is not warranted. Certainly no plea can be made for them on the ground of economy, for entire wheat and graham flours are not cheaper than white flour. 88 TRUE FOOD VALUES Experiments similar to those with the flours mentioned have been made with different grades of patent flours. It was found that the percent- ages of digestibiHty differed very httle, and that as far as nutritive value is concerned the cheaper grades are fully as good as the more expensive. The bread made from them is as light as that from the finer flours, but not quite so white and appetizing. Where rigid economy is necessary the cheaper grades can be safely used. When the selling price of bread and the cost of its ingredients are compared, the results are quite striking. In two experiments made in New Jer- sey it was found that two lots of bread made from materials costing, respectively, $2.28 and $2.56, were sold for $5.86 and $6.08. This represents a profit of 1 16.5 per cent over the cost of the ma- terials, or, to put it in dollars and cents, the baker received $216.50 for bread the materials of which cost him $100. In Pittsburgh the average in- crease in price over the original cost was no per cent. Even subtracting from this the cost of labor, rent, fuel, etc., the profits of the baker were so high that, to quote from the Pittsburgh report : "It would seem that in the case of very poor families an important pecuniary saving would result if bread were made at home. To the man in ordinary circumstances it must always be more a question of convenience and taste AND THEIR LOW COSTS 89 than of cost. In short, each family can best determine for itself whether it is desirable to pay the baker for the trouble of making the bread and delivering it, or whether the labor of making and the extra fuel for baking can best be provided at home." Hot Bread Statements of a popular nature are frequently met with regarding the unwholesomeness of hot bread. The fact that bread is hot has doubtless little to do with the matter. New bread, especially that from a large loaf, may be readily compressed into more or less solid masses, and it is possible that such bread would be much less finely masti- cated than crumbly, stale bread, and that, there- fore, it might offer more resistance to the digest- ive juices of the stomach. However, with such hot bread as rolls, biscuit, and like forms, in which the crust is very large in proportion to the crumb, this objection has much less force. There is then little difficulty in masticating the crumb, and it is doubtless usually finely divided. The advantages of toast for invalids is often said to lie in the fact that the carbohydrates have been changed into more soluble form by the extra heat- ing. Only the outer layers are thus changed, how- ever, unless the bread is dried and browned throughout. If there is any advantage it probably comes from the more appetizing flavor of the 90 TRUE FOOD VALUES toasted bread and the fact that it is more likely to be thoroughly masticated. The lightness and sweetness of bread depend as much on the way in which it is made as on the materials used. The greatest care should be used in preparing and baking the dough, and in cook- ing and keeping the finished bread. Heavy, badly raised bread is a very dangerous food, and un- fortunately very common, and probably more in- digestion has been caused by it than by all other badly cooked foods. As compared with most meats and vegetables, bread has practically no waste and is very com- pletely digested. It is usually too poor in protein to be fittingly used alone, but when eaten with due quantities of other foods it is invaluable, and well deserves its title of ''the staff of life." CHAPTER XVIII Fish Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. Why, as men do a-land : the great ones eat up the little ones. — Shakespeare : Pericles. Fish, on account of its abundance, cheapness, and wholesomeness, is invaluable as an article of food. It contains less solid matter and more wa- ter than meat, and consequently may be said to be less nutritious and less stimulating. However, as it contains little fat — the white varieties par- ticularly — it is easily digested, and as it has a large proportion of nitrogenous material, it is especially adapted to all those upon whom there are great demands for nervous energy. Salmon heads the list *'of whatsoever hath scales and fins" in nutritive qualities, and it is richer than meat. The next in value are fat hali- but, shad, whitefish, mackerel, bluefish, lean hali- but, bass, flounder, trout, cod, haddock, cusk, etc. Red-blooded fish, like salmon, mackerel, and bluefish, have the oil distributed through the body. They are very nutritious for those who can digest them, but are too rich and oily for invalids. 92 TRUE FOOD VALUES White fish, Hke flounder, halibut, cod, and had- dock, have the oil in the liver, and are more easily- digested. Fish should be perfectly fresh and thoroughly cooked, or it will be not only indigest- ible but sometimes poisonous. All varieties of fish need an accompaniment of starchy foods, like bread and potatoes ; and white fish need beside to be cooked with butter or fat to make them desirable as food. The juices of fish, shellfish particularly, are of an alkaline nature, and this renders lemon juice or vinegar a desir- able condiment as a neutralizing agency. Frozen fish should always be thawed in cold water. It is surprising how few people understand the preparation of salt fish in the making of fish balls, or fish and potatoes. The method here given is that in use by the housewives of Cape Cod, who certainly are adepts in the art of cooking fish. Fish and Potatoes Remove the skin from a salt fish, cut it in pieces, and soak it in water over night. It should not be boiled an instant; boiling renders it hard and tough. It should lie in scalding hot water two or three hours. The less water that is used and the more fish cooked at once, the better. Serve with AND THEIR LOW COSTS 93 boiled potatoes, and sauce made of milk thickened with flour and milk while boiling. Butter should be put in to melt, or, if one prefers, use salt- pork fat. Fish Balls Cook the fish as above. Chop fine and mix with hot mashed potato. Add a spoonful of but- ter and salt-pork fat, also a little pepper. Knead together and make into balls. Dip them in beaten tgg and fry brown. Lobster a la Newburg Cook two cups of lobster meat in three table- spoons of butter for three minutes. Add salt, pepper, and one cup of cream, and cook for five minutes. Add one ^gg, or two tgg yolks, slightly beaten, and cook until it thickens. One table- spoon of Sherry may be used for flavoring. Boiling is the most wasteful way of cooking fish, and also the most insipid. To make a boiled fish palatable, a rich sauce is needed for all kinds except salmon and bluefish. Salmon is very much richer and more oily than other fish, and for this reason it is not injured by boiling. Salmon, bluefish, or a thick piece of halibut are preferable for boiling. Cod and haddock, unless 94 TRUE FOOD VALUES perfectly fresh, are very apt to break or fall to pieces in boiling. Six minutes should be allowed for each pound in boiling. A fish is properly cooked when the flesh separates easily from the bones. If the fish breaks when boiling, remove the bones at once, lay the fish on a platter, and pour the sauce over it. A very good way of boiling fish is to steep it for a few minutes in boiling water which has been quite strongly salted, and to which has been added two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice ; then put it into fresh boiling water without salt or lemon juice, and cook until done. This tends to prevent the fish from breaking, and gives to the meat a fresh white look. A large cod or any whole fish too large for a small family may be economically used as fol- lows : Remove the skin and bones from the thick- est part; stuff and bake. Use the bones and head for a chowder. Cut the tail end into slices, salt well, and fry or broil them. Cod, haddock, cusk, bluefish, salmon, bass, and shad may be stuffed and baked whole. Fish bake more evenly and brown better if placed upright in the pan instead of on one side. If difficulty is found in keeping them in this posi- AND THEIR LOW COSTS 95 tion they may be kept in place by propping with stale bread or pared potatoes. If the fish is long and narrow it may be tied into the shape of the letter S. To do this run a threaded trussing- needle through the head, middle of the body, and tail; then draw the string tight, and fasten the ends. Fish prepared in this manner will retain their shape after baking. In frying pan fish, they should be thoroughly cleaned and dried, seasoned with salt and pepper, and covered first with flour or fine bread crumbs, then dipped in beaten tgg, then in crumbs again. This should be repeated until they are covered completely. Stuffing for Baked Fish 1 cup cracker crumbs 1 teaspoon chopped 1 saltspoon salt parsley 1 saltspoon pepper 1 teaspoonful capers 1 teaspoon chopped 1 teaspoonful pickles onion J4 c^P melted butter This makes a dry, crumbly stuf^ng. If a moist stufBng is preferred, use stale bread crumbs, and moisten with one beaten Qgg and the butter; or moisten the crackers with warm water. Plain Lobster The simplest way of serving lobster is by many considered the best. Remove the meat from the 96 TRUE FOOD VALUES shell, and arrange in a tasteful manner, or cut in small pieces. Let each person season to taste with salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil, or melted butter. Lobster Bisque 2 pounds lobster 1 teaspoon salt 1 quart milk A shake of pepper 1 tablespoon flour 1 pint water Cut the tender pieces of lobster into one- quarter inch dice, put the claw meat and any tough part in a pint of cold water, boil twenty minutes, and add water as it is boiled away. Boil a quart of milk, thicken with the butter and flour, boil ten minutes, add the lobster meat to the milk with the pepper and salt, and pour over the dice in a tureen. The Lobster and Milk Terror How many times is the question asked, "Why cannot lobster and milk be eaten together ? What makes this combination so injurious?" The answer is that they can be eaten together — if both the lobster and the milk are perfectly fresh. There are no poisons formed by this com- bination. On the New England coast, lobsters, crabs, and fish are constantly eaten with milk and cream sauces. The only foundation for this rumor is the fact that both lobster and milk are AND THEIR LOW COSTS 97 subject to rapid and dangerous deterioration, and taken together a person stands a double chance of being poisoned. Lobster salad by itself is a tax on the digestive organs of any one, and ice-cream checks digestion by its coolness. There can be no reasonable excuse for the sale of cold-storage fish after April first. The fishing season is then open almost everywhere, and if fresh fish cannot be had at that season, it is better to do without any. Fish should be slaughtered at the time they are taken and not allowed to die from suffocation, as in the suffocating fish there are developed poison- ous products, which are injurious to flavor and wholesomeness. Fish that have their throats cut and are thoroughly bled at the time they are taken, and are also properly cleaned, will keep sweet and wholesome for a long time. CHAPTER XIX Salads Salads are an easy way of disposing of various odds and ends of cooked vegetables, fish, or meat. Fresh lettuce, roumaine, cabbage, cress, and celery, also fruits, combined with salad dressing, furnish many appetizing and useful dishes. The oil which enters into these dressings is one of the best forms of fat we can use and aids in digestion. There are three principal salad dressings — French, boiled, and mayonnaise. French Dressing 1 saltspoon salt % teaspoon onion juice V2 saltspoon pepper 1 tablespoon vinegar 3 tablespoons olive oil Mix in order given, adding the oil slowly. This dressing is suitable for vegetable and tgg salads, and is also used to marinate and pickle a meat or fish salad. The onion may be omitted, and lemon juice used instead of vinegar. A tea- spoon of prepared mustard added to a French dressing is liked by many. TRUE FOOD VALUES 99 Boiled Dressing Yolks of 3 eggs beaten 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 teaspoon mustard or oil 2 teaspoons salt 1 cup cream or milk Ya, saltspoon cayenne V2 cup hot vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar Whites of 3 eggs^ beaten stiff Cook in double boiler until it thickens like soft custard. Stir well. This will keep in a cool place two weeks. Excellent for lettuce, celery, aspar- agus, string beans, and cauliflower. Boiled Dressing for Cold Slaw. Vz cup vinegar V2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar Y teaspoon mustard Yz saltspoon pepper Boil the above, rub a quarter of a cup of butter to a cream with one teaspoon of flour, and pour the boiling vinegar on it. Cook five minutes and pour over the yolk of one well-beaten ^gg. Mix while hot with one pint of red cabbage, shaved or chopped, or with a mixed vegetable salad. Mayonnaise Dressing 1 teaspoon mustard Yolks of 2 raw eggs 1 teaspoon powdered 1 pint olive oil sugar 2 tablespoons vinegar V2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons lemon % saltspoon cayenne juice Mix the first four ingredients in a small bowl, add the eggs, stir well with a spoon. Add the oil, a few drops at a time, stirring until it thickens. lOO TRUE FOOD VALUES If by chance you add too much oil, do not attempt to stir it all in at once, but take it up gradually. When the dressing is thick, thin it with a little lemon juice, then add oil and lemon alternately, and lastly the vinegar. When ready to serve add half a cup of whipped cream, if you like. The cream makes it whiter and thinner. The oil should thicken the tgg almost immediately, and the mixture should be thick enough to take up in a ball on the spoon before adding the vinegar. Should the tgg be slow in thickening and have a curdled appearance, half a teaspoon of the un- beaten white of tgg or a few drops of vinegar will often restore the smooth consistency. Be careful not to use too much, as it will make the dressing thin. The dressing liquefies as soon as mixed with vegetables or meat; therefore it should be made stiff enough to keep in shape until used. Lobster coral, dried and pounded to a powder, will give mayonnaise a bright, red color. Spinach green, green peas mashed, or chopped parsley will color it green. Never mix the mayonnaise dress- ing with the meat or fish until ready to serve, and then only part of it, and spread the remainder over the top. AND THEIR LOW COSTS loi The following salads are good and inexpen- sive; the latter fact will in these times make them none the less desirable as an article of diet possessing a certain amount of food value. Lettuce Salad Pick over and wash each leaf, draining off the water between two towels. Arrange the leaves in a salad bowel, the larger ones around the edge and the smaller in the center. Serve with boiled dressing or French dressing, or sugar, salt, and vinegar to taste. Never cut the leaves, as that causes them to wilt quickly, but tear them apart. German Potato Salad Take five or six medium-sized boiled potatoes, slice thin one-quarter of an onion; chop all fine. Pour over this two tablespoons olive oil, three of vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a little chopped parsley or celery salt. Mix all together ; let stand one hour before serving. Cabbage Salad Take medium-sized head of white cabbage, cut in shreds or fine strips, add salt, set in a cool place. 6 tablespoons vinegar 1 teaspoon made mustard 2 teaspoons sugar 2 eggs Butter size of an egg I02 TRUE FOOD VALUES Beat all together and steam over kettle. Put cabbage and dressing together, tossing up lightly with fork. Eat when cool. Egg Salad Boil as many eggs as you wish, shell and cut in halves. Take out yolks and mash with a little butter and pepper. Put back into whites. Fill glass dish with lettuce leaves, and lay the eggs on these. As you serve in small dishes pour over salad dressing. Mayonnaise Fish Take a pound or so of cold boiled fish — halibut, rock, or cod — cut into pieces an inch in length. Mix in a bowl a dressing as follows : The yolks of four boiled eggs rubbed to a smooth paste with salad oil or butter. Add to these salt, pepper, mustard, two teaspoons of white sugar, and lastly six tablespoons of vinegar. Beat the mixture until light, and just before pouring it over the fish stir in lightly the frothed white of a raw tgg. Serve the fish with half the dressing stirred in with it, spread the remainder over the top, and lay lettuce leaves (from the core of the head of lettuce) around the edges. To one that is studying economy as Well as AND THEIR LOW COSTS 103 efficiency in diet, the use of salads is especially important in adding bulk to a meal that has a main dish of concentrated nourishment. By con- centrated nourishment we mean a meal or food the whole of which is practically digestible, with- out reference to the amount of nourishment it actually contains. For instance, a loaf of brown bread contains more heat value than a pound of eggs, but it contains a large amount of indigest- ible material, while the entire ^gg may be said to be digestible. Another valuable use of the salad is that it fur- nishes m.ineral salts and an acid to the system, making it a real aid to digestion. Nature is a wise physician in furnishing the actual organic cam- pounds of such minerals as the system requires, and seems to be the only chemist that can make them. Any green salad plant that is in season may be used. They are all rich in the mineral salts and vegetable acids that the system craves, and are in just the form required. CHAPTER XX A Word about Potatoes The potato is a starchy food that cotitains enough moisture in its composition to cook the starch. This moisture is in the form of a watery- juice, in which is dissolved the nitrogenous mat- ter, the various salts, sugar, gum, etc. The starch cells are surrounded and penetrated by this watery bath. In cooking, the nitrogenous juice is coagulated, in part at least, by the heat, the starch granules swell and burst, and the starch absorbs the watery part of the juice. When this stage is reached, if the moisture has been in the right pro- portion, all parts of the potato will present a light, dry, glistening appearance. Every one concedes that such a potato will not cause digestive disturb- ance. However, the moisture is not always in the right proportion. Ripe potatoes and potatoes grown on a well-drained or sandy soil will, as a rule, be dry and mealy if properly cooked. Pota- toes grown in a wet season or in a heavy, damp soil as a rule contain too large a proportion of moisture for the starch'. Old potatoes that are TRUE FOOD VALUES 105 allowed to sprout will be watery, probably owing to the withdrawal of some of the starch for food for the growing sprouts. A poisonous substance called "solanin" is found in or near the skin of potatoes which have grown exposed to the sun or a strong light. Solanin also develops when potatoes are allowed to sprout, and serious illness has been known to follow the eating of exposed and sprouted pota- toes. The green color which a potato exposed to a strong light takes on is largely due to the grains of chlorophyll developed in the parts of the tuber exposed to the light. The strong flavor is probably due to some substance which develops along with the chlorophyll. It will be seen that potatoes in- tended for the table should not be exposed to strong light or be allowed to sprout. Potatoes cooked in dry heat, as by baking in the oven, roasting in ashes, frying in deep fat, or steaming in their jackets, retain all their salts and other constituents, and the flavor is more pro- nounced and savory than when cooked in water. Potatoes so cooked, however, must be served just as soon as they are done, or else they will become soggy and bad flavored. Potatoes cooked in the skin should be free from any blemish and washed absolutely clean. Old io6 TRUE FOOD VALUES potatoes, that is, potatoes that are kept into the spring and early summer, are better for being soaked in cold water and peeled before cooking. Boiled Potatoes The method and time for boiling potatoes are the same whether the potato be peeled, partially peeled, or left with the skin intact. If a dozen or two ordinary sized potatoes are put on the fire in a large stewpan, and are covered generously with boiling water and a cover is immediately put on the stewpan, they will be cooked to the proper point in thirty minutes from the time the cover was put on the stewpan. Small potatoes will cook in two minutes less time, and very large potatoes will require about thirty-five minutes' cooking. If the potatoes are to be boiled in their skins, wash them until clean and then with a sharp knife cut a narrow band of the skin from the center of the potato. Cut a little bit of skin from each end of the potato. If the potatoes are to be peeled, use a very sharp knife and remove the thinnest possible layer. The skins may be scraped off, if preferred. There are special knives for this pur- pose. Let the potatoes boil fifteen minutes, then add one tablespoon of salt for every dozen pota- toes. When the potatoes have been cooking thirty AND THEIR LOW COSTS 107 minutes, drairi off every drop of water and let all the steam pass off. They are now ready to serve, though they will not be injured but, in fact, will be improved by being kept hot for an hour or more, if they are well ventilated in such a way that they dry rather than retain moisture. When boiled or steamed potatoes must be kept warm for any length of time, place the stewpan on the range on a tripod or iron ring, and cover the potatoes with one thickness of cheese cloth. This will protect them from the cold air and allow the moisture to pass off. Baked Potatoes Select potatoes having a smooth, unmarred surface. Wash perfectly clean and let them drain. Put them in an old baking-pan kept for this pur- pose — do not crowd them — and put in a hot oven. If the oven is large and hot and the potatoes of medium size, forty minutes will answer for the cooking. On the other hand, if the oven is filled with cold potatoes, the temperature of the oven will be reduced quickly and it will require an hour to cook the potatoes. Baked potatoes should be served as soon as they are done. If they must be kept any time after the cooking is completed, break them in order that the moisture may escape. io8 TRUE FOOD VALUES Keep them irv a warm oven or covered with cheese cloth in a stewpan. A Word about Spinach Spinach has little food value, but its refreshing and slightly laxative qualities make it a valuable adjunct to the more substantial foods. It con- tains little starch and only a suggestion of sugar, and is therefore one of the vegetables that phy- sicians include in the bill of fare of many invalids who require a diet without these carbohydrates. Like most other vegetables, it is rarely cooked to perfection, yet it is not difficult to prepare. Except for special reasons the simplest methods are the best for this vegetable. No matter how cheap the raw spinach may be, it is always expen- sive in two things — labor and butter. It takes a good deal of time, water, and patience to wash it clean, and no other vegetable requires so much butter if it is to be at its best. Where strict economy must be practiced, sweet drippings from roast beef or chicken may be substituted for the butter. The spinach should be thoroughly washed in clean waters until there is not a trace of sand on the bottom of the pan in which the vegetable is washed. If the spinach is at all wilted, let it stand AND THEIR LOW COSTS 109 in cold water until it becomes fresh and crisp. Drain from this water and blanch. For half a peck of spinach have in a large saucepan three quarts of boiling water and a tablespoon of salt. Put the drained spinach in the boiling water and let it boil ten minutes, counting from the time it begins to boil. When it begins to boil, draw the cover of the saucepan a little to one side to allow the steam to escape. At the end of ten minutes pour the spinach into a colander, and when the hot water has passed off pour cold water over it. Let it drain well, and mince coarse or fine, as is suit- able for the manner in which it is to be served. One peck of spinach will make about one and one-half pints when blanched and minced. Spinach Cooked without Water Fresh spinach, when washed, holds enough water for cooking. Put the spinach in a stewpan and on the fire; cover and cook for ten minutes. Press down and turn over several times during the cooking. At the end of ten minutes turn the spinach into a chopping bowl, and mince rather fine. Return to the stewpan and add the season- ings, allowing for half a peck of spinach two generous tablespoons of butter and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer for ten minutes ; or, if very tender, five minutes will be sufficient. no TRUE FOOD VALUES Spinach cooked in this manner will retain all its salts. It will be more laxative and the flavor stronger than when blanched (boiled in water). In young, tender spinach this is not objectionable, but when the overgrown vegetable is cooked in its own moisture, the flavor is strong and somewhat acrid. A Word about Cabbage. Because of the relatively large amount of sul- phur which cabbage contains, it is apt to be in- digestible and cause flatulence when it is im- properly cooked. On the other hand, it can be cooked so that it will be delicate and digestible. It is one of our most useful vegetables, being available during the late fall, winter, and spring months, when other green vegetables are difficult to procure. The quickest and simplest methods of cooking cabbage are the best. The essentials for the proper cooking of this vegetable are : Plenty of boiling water, a hot fire to keep the water boil- ing all the time, and thorough ventilation, that the strong-smelling gases, liberated by the high temperature, may be carried off in the steam. Young cabbage will cook in twenty-five or thirty minutes ; late in the winter it may require forty-five minutes. The vegetable when done AND THEIR LOW COSTS iii should be crisp and tender, any green portion should retain the color, and the white portion should be white and not yellow or brown. Over- cooked cabbage or cauliflower is more or less yel- low, has a strong flavor, and is very inferior to the same dish properly cooked. In addition, over- cooking is a cause of digestive disturbance. The Proper Way to Boil Cabbage Cut a small head of cabbage into four parts, cutting down through the stock. Soak for half an hour in a pan of cold water to which has been added a tablespoon of salt ; this is to draw out any insects that may be hidden in the leaves. Take from the water and cut into slices. Have a large stewpan half full of boiling water; put in the cabbage, pushing it under the water with a spoon. Add one tablespoon of salt and cook from twenty- five to forty-five minutes, depending upon the age of the cabbage. Turn into a colander and drain for about two minutes. Put into a chopping bowl and mince. Season with butter, pepper, and more salt if it requires it. Allow a tablespoon of butter to a generous pint of the cooked vegetable. Cab^ bage cooked in this manner will be of delicate, flavor and may be generally eaten without distress. Have the kitchen windows open at the 112 TRUE FOOD VALUES top while the cabbage is boiling, and there will be little if any odor of cabbage in the house. Cabbage Cooked with Pork For a small head of cabbage use about half a pound of mixed salt pork. Boil the pork gently for three or four hours. Prepare the cabbage the same as for plain boiling. Drain well and put on to boil with the pork. Boil rapidly for twenty- five or forty-five minutes. Serve the pork with the cabbage. The vegetable may require a little more salt. Smoked bacon or ham may be substituted for the pork. Cabbage may be cooked in water in which corned beef was boiled. Cabbage eaten with pork is an appetizing dish, contains a good amount of nourishment, and is not expensive. Creamed Cabbage 1 pint boiled and minced 1 tablespoon butter cabbage 1 teaspoon flour Yt. pint hot milk Vi teaspoon salt V2 teaspoon pepper Put the cabbage, hot milk, salt, and pepper in a stewpan and on the fire. Beat the butter and flour together until creamy, then stir into the contents of the stewpan. Simmer ten minutes, being care- ful not to scorch the sauce. Serve very hot. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 113 Cabbage, Norwegian Style Shave cabbage very fine, mix with it salt and pepper and sour cream to moisten well. Put in double boiler, and cook over boiling water until it melts down. Serve piping hot. It is claimed that cabbage is very digestible this way and that convalescents can eat it, prepared this way, without harm. Rice and Cabbage Wash some rice, let it simmer in hot water with a cabbage sliced up, for about an hour ; then strain off and put the rice and cabbage in a stew- pan with some butter, a little pepper and salt, and about one quarter of a grated nutmeg. Toss these about in the butter for ten or fifteen minutes over the fire, but do not let them turn color. Then add a small quantity of water and let stew until tender. Serve very hot with grated cheese on top. Waste in Preparing Vegetables In preparing vegetables for the table there is almost always a larger or smaller loss due to in- edible matter — skins, roots, seeds, etc. — and also a waste of good material, which is caused by care- less paring, etc., all these losses being grouped together under the name "refuse." The amount of refuse varies greatly in different vegetables, as 114 TRUE FOOD VALUES shown by a large number of analyses of Amer- ican food materials by the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture. The amount may be very small (seven per cent) in such vegetables as string beans; medium (ten to fifteen per cent), in such vegetables as onions, cabbage, leeks, lettuce, cucumbers; or high (fifty per cent) in such vege- tables as beans in pod, pumpkins, and squash. With tubers, such as potatoes, the average amount of refuse is twenty per cent, and with such roots as turnips, thirty per cent. In preparing vegetables for the table the careful cook will remove all inedible portions and will see to it that the total amount of refuse is as small as is consistent with good quality. Thin paring of potatoes and other vegetables is an economy which it is worth while to practice, and is an easy way of decreasing useless loss. CHAPTER XXI A Word about Tomatoes A half century ago the tomato was a scarce and expensive article. It was then known as the "love- apple," from its resemblance in form to the apple and its ardent color. In those days it was used largely for decorative purposes, and when used as a food it was customary to eat it as a fruit from the hand, sprinkling it lightly with salt or sugar. There was also a bit of superstition connected with its use as an article of food, many people be- lieving it to be unwholesome and productive of "humors," and for this reason eschewing it altogether. Now all this has changed. The physicians tell us the tomato possesses wonderful medical quali- ties, its acid acting as an alterative and tonic to the liver. Farmers in this- country produce them in immense quantities, while abroad the same tale is to be told. In fact, in Italy nearly every dish contains tomatoes in some form, or they are used as its decoration. If you have a large family, it is economy to buy ii6 TRUE FOOD VALUES tomatoes by the basket, keeping them in a dry, cool place, and sorting them over each day. In this way you can select large, firm ones for slicing, medium-sized ones for baking and frying, and the less desirables are used for stewing, flavoring, and sauces. The month of September is the best time for pickling and making ketchup, as the nights are cool and dewy, and the vegetable does not ripen so thoroughly or quickly. If you intend to can tomatoes — and you will if you practice economy — do them early, before they become watery and tasteless. It is imperative to have solid, good-flavored fruit for winter s use. A cheap, inferior article is expensive in the long run. Many housewives serve tomatoes daily during the season, varying the method of serving so as to have variety. Always keep a few on ice, as on hot days they make a most tempting and appe- tizing dish, provided they are ice-cold. Crush some ice very fine, put it in a deep dish, slice a few solid tomatoes and place them in the center. Mince together one-quarter of a green pepper, half an onion, and a little parsley, and spread over the top. Make a French dressing as follows : AND THEIR LOW COSTS 117 Put into a bowl a half teaspoon of salt, two dashes of black pepper and one of red, also a pinch of sugar. To this add four tablespoons of olive oil, a little at a time. With a silver fork beat this thoroughly and rapidly, then, drop by drop, add about two tablespoons of vinegar, or lemon juice, until an emulsion is formed. The seasoning of tomatoes varies with in- dividual taste. For general service, a small quan- tity of sugar is necessary to bring out the flavor and cut the acid, but too much sugar is to be avoided. Broiled Tomatoes Cut large, firm tomatoes in halves. Place them on a broiler, skin side up, season with salt and pepper, and cook them for about fifteen minutes over clear coals. Serve on a hot platter, with melted butter. Fried Tomatoes Cut into halves six medium-sized tomatoes. Spread themx on a platter, skin side down. Sprinkle them with flour, put a few bits of butter on each and some salt and pepper. Into a hot sauce pan of melted butter, or half lard and half butter, put the tomatoes, floured side down. Cook gently over a moderate fire for about thirty min- ii8 TRUE FOOD VALUES utes; before turning each piece, sprinkle the top with flour and seasoning. Use a cake turner if you wish success. Place them on a hot platter in the oven. Make a sauce of one tablespoon of butter, to which, when brown, add two table- spoons of flour, then a pint of milk or cream. Cook until smooth and thick, seasoning to taste. The sugar should be added last. Baked Tomatoes Select six large, firm tomatoes. Cut off the stems and scoop out the seeds. In a bowl mix one cup of stale bread crumbs, a teaspoon of onion, one of parsley, a dash of cayenne, and some salt and sugar. Moisten this mixture with some butter, stuff the tomatoes with it, put fine crumbs over the top of each and a bit of butter. Then place in a hot oven and bake for half an hour. A cream sauce can be made for these, if desired, using the recipe for fried tomato sauce. Scalloped Tomatoes Take a half dozen tomatoes, put a layer of these in the bottom of a baking dish, then a layer of bread crumbs, seasoning each to taste, then a layer of tomatoes, and so on until the dish is full. Put bits of butter on top of the dish and bake in a AND THEIR LOW COSTS 119 quick oven for twenty minutes. Serve in the casserole in which they are baked. Macaroni, rice, minced beef, lamb, and fish may be used in place of the bread crumbs, and each makes a delicious dinner dish. CHAPTER XXII Sweet Peppers Sweet peppers have recently become one of the most popular of vegetables. They certainly make very delectable dishes. In salads they are in- valuable, and many attractive side dishes have the pepper as their basis. The housewife should learn how to tell a sweet pepper from a hot one. There are two tests : First, by the smell ; second, b)^ cutting a piece off and touching it with the tongue. One taste will be sufficient, as the hot pepper is very strong and pungent, and it does not lose its strength in cooking. Sweet peppers are both red and green in color, and sometimes mixed. In selecting them for stuffing it is advisable to choose those that are not too long or too thin. The rounder they are the better they look when served. Sweet peppers are very popular for garnish- ing salads and flavoring creamed chicken. They may be combined with soft cream cheese and fashioned into balls. TRUE FOOD VALUES 121 They make an excellent addition to fried toma- toes. Slice a few strips off a sweet pepper and put in the pan and you will be surprised at the effect produced. Sweet peppers combine nicely with minced ham. This may be made of the remainder of boiled or baked ham. Put the ham through a meat grinder ; also some sweet peppers. To three cups of meat, use one half cup of peppers. In a deep bowl mix the ham, peppers, and one table- spoon of parsley. Put this mixture into a deep baking-dish, sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and bits of butter, and bake in a quick oven for thirty minutes. Stuffed Peppers Select a half dozen sweet peppers. Cut the tops off and scoop out the seeds. Prepare a force- meat of one pint of chopped meat or shredded fish, one cup of mashed potatoes or a half cup of bread crumbs, a tablespoon of parsley, one tgg yolk, a dash of salt, and a few drops of onion juice. Boiled rice or macaroni may be used in place of the potatoes. Fill the peppers with the mixture, sprinkle bread crumbs on top, and bake in a hot oven for a half hour. They may be fried in deep fat if preferred. 122 TRUE FOOD VALUES Pepper Cups Cut a half dozen sweet peppers in halves. Re- move the seeds. Fill the cups with a mixture of two cups of tomatoes (with seeds squeezed out), two cups of bread crumbs, one tablespoon of pars- ley, pepper and salt, and a spoonful of sugar. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top, also a little butter, and bake in a hot oven for thirty minutes. Cheese Rings Use one jar of cream or pimento cheese. Beat this together with a little cream, a few nuts, and a pfnch of salt. Cut the top off a medium-sized pepper and fill it with the mixture. Let it stand for an hour or so, until the cheese is firm enough, then cut it down in thin slices. These pepper rings are very attractive, and garnish salads and meat dishes wonderfully well. CHAPTER XXIII Macaroni, Spaghetti, and Vermicelli These are made from wheaten flour mixed with a small quantity of water. Vermicelli is used in soup and puddings; macaroni and spa- ghetti are used as vegetables. Macaroni is a very nutritious and also an economical food, and should be used much more extensively than it is. It should never be washed, as the boiling water in cooking will better take off anything that needs to be removed. Alw^ays cook it in boiling salted water until tender, before serv- ing it in any way. Drain, and pour cold water over it to keep it from becoming pasty. Macaroni, No. i Break one quarter of a pound of macaroni into three-inch pieces, and put into three pints of boil- ing salted water. Boil twenty minutes, or until soft. Drain in a colander, and pour cold water through it to cleanse it and keep it from sticking. Cut into inch pieces. Lay the strips on a board, parallel to each other, and cut through them all at once. Put in a shallow baking-dish and cover 124 TRUE FOOD VALUES with a white sauce (see page — ). Add half a teaspoon of salt. Mix two-thirds of a cup of fine cracker crumbs with a third of a cup of melted butter, and sprinkle over the top. Bake until the crumbs are brown. If cheese be liked with it, use half a cup of grated Parmesan or any other dry cheese. Put part of it with the macaroni, and mix the remain- der with the crumbs. Macaroni, No. 2 Pour a white sauce over the macaroni, and serve the grated cheese on a separate dish. Macaroni, No. 3 Mix two hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, with the macaroni. Sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper, and add a little prepared mustard, if you wish. Cover with milk and buttered crumbs, and bake until the crumbs are brown. Spaghetti This is a variety of macaroni, only very much smaller in diameter. It is cooked the same as the ordinary macaroni, and served the same with cream or tomato sauce, cheese, and crumbs. Spaghetti may be served without cutting, if one AND THEIR LOW COSTS 125 is skilled in the art of winding it around the fork the same as the Italians do. Macaroni, if properly cooked, is certainly a very palatable dish, and is very nutritious. Where the cost of food is a question of importance to as many of us as it is at the present time, its use should be cultivated and appreciated. With the Italians it forms a large part of their daily sustenance, and when we take into con- sideration the great amount of hard, laborious work that is accomplished by this race in our country, we cannot doubt that their food, cheap though it may be, is remarkably sustaining. CHAPTER XXIV The Use of Sour Milk Almost any one can learn to use sour milk. It possesses a medicinal or therapeutic value for many, and the manufacturers of the various fer- ment milk products make the most of this quality in their extensive advertising. A favorite luncheon of the Bulgarian peasant consists of a dish of hot, boiled new potatoes, not mashed, but just well buttered and seasoned with a little black pepper and salt, and a glass or two of sour milk. The combination is really a good one, and, together with a vegetable salad and whole-wheat bread with sweet butter, forms a most wholesome and nutritious meal on a warm day. Some prefer the sour milk cream to the sweet cream on fruits, as bananas, strawberries, etc. It should be beaten up slightly after removing it from the sour milk. An easy way to make sour milk is to fill a quart bottle or jar, cork it, and set it away in a warm place until it ''sets." In warm weather it will TRUE FOOD VALUES 127 require from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to sour. Then it should be set in a refrigerator or in a cool place until needed. Before using, pour the milk into a bowl and beat with an egg-beater until creamy. Prepared in this way it tastes very much like buttermilk. In the winter the making of sour milk may be hastened in the following manner : From a bottle of milk that has previously been soured, take two or three tablespoons and add it to the sweet milk before corking the jar. Then put it in a warm place, and in twenty-four hours it should be ready for use. If for any reason the sour milk is not used until it becomes strong and separates, it can be used in cooking or made into cottage or Dutch cheese. To make the cheese, set a pan containing the milk (the cream may be skimmed for use with fruit) into a cool oven. Do not shut the stove door. Leave the milk to stand until the curd separates from the whey. Then turn the contents of the pan into a muslin bag and hang it up to drain. When all the whey has drained off, re- move the contents of the bag, add salt to taste, and a generous piece of butter or a little sweet cream. If the oven cannot be used conveniently, set the milk on the back of a not too hot stove. 128 TRUE FOOD VALUES Many nourishing and delicious salads can be made with the cheese as a foundation. The sour milk can also be used to make delicious breads, muffins, and cake, which keep moist and fresh longer than when sweet milk is used. Molded Cheese Salad Take the Dutch cheese and line tiny molds with it. Fill the center with chopped nuts, or ripe olives cut into bits, or chopped-up celery. Turn the molds out on crisp lettuce leaves, and serve with mayonnaise or plain French dressing. Bran Gems made with Sour Milk 2 cups bran 1 teaspoon melted butter 1 cup graham flour 1 teaspoon soda j/2 cup Barbadoes 1 teaspoon salt molasses 1 cup sour milk Mix together the flour, salt, and soda, add the molasses and the milk, and beat well. Then add the melted butter and bake in gem tins. The bran adds a bulkiness and fibrous quality to the food, which makes it of especial value to those troubled with constipation. CHAPTER XXV Coffee as a Beverage Properly made and used in moderation, coffee mildly stimulates the digestive processes, having an opposite effect on the bowels from tea, which constipates. Coffee with some proves a laxative, especially when drunk early in the morning, thus benefiting the liver. In moderation coffee also supports the nervous system, counteracting exhaustion through such support. In excess or improperly made, it should be noted that coffee reverses its action somewhat, causing biliousness, and instead of toning and calming the nerves, excites them through over- stimulation, and instead of aiding digestion, re- tards it. Any coffee may produce such deleterious effects in persons with weak digestion. What do I mean by moderation? Oh, one or two cups a day. What by proper preparation? Well, of the three processes (viz. : filtration or percolation, infusion, and decoction), I believe an infusion made by placing finely ground coffee in 130 TRUE FOOD VALUES water at the boiling point and allowing it to stand for ten minutes, at a temperature of, say, 190 de- grees, is the best. Sufficient strength is thus extracted without the loss of the fine aroma that is sacrificed when the coffee is boiled to any extent, and long boiling develops tannin, which is especially pernicious to digestion. If a greater strength is desired than the in- fusion gives, one does not need even then to boil it, since percolating the infusion will make it stronger and avoid the disagreeable features in- cident to boiling. Idiosyncrasy has much to do with the effects of either coffee or tea — a thing for which we can make no rules. Be it noted, however, that im- properly made or drunk in excess, either of these drinks is not well tolerated by a large number of people. Care of the Coffee Pot How difficult it is to get a cup of really good coffee! Great care is taken to have the best freshly ground coffee and boiling water, but yet there is something wrong with the flavor. The trouble is caused in many cases by the coffee pot. Careless servants often leave the pot for many AND THEIR LOW COSTS 131 hours with the remains of the breakfast cofifee standing in it, or even leave it untouched until it is required for use, and then throw out the sedi- ment, just rinse out the pot with a little cold water, and, without wiping or cleaning out any stale grounds that may be sticking round the sides, proceed to make the fresh coffee. Is it any wonder that, after the stale coffee has been shut up for hours in the pot, the flavor of the freshly made coffe is spoiled? If the coffe pot is metal it is doubly bad. As soon as possible after the breakfast table has been cleared the coffee pot should be emptied. If a strainer has been used, it should be put into a basin of very hot water and thoroughly rinsed until, on looking through it, it is seen to be quite free from grounds. It should be wiped dry and left to air before being put into the pot, which should be well rinsed with very hot water and wiped quite dry inside. Twice a week at least it should have a lump of soda as large as a nut put into it, and be filled to the brim with boiling water, and left to stand for an hour; then emptied, well rinsed in hot water, and wiped dry. CHAPTER XXVI Tea There are three varieties of the tea plant ; both black and green tea can be prepared from them all. Green tea is made from young leaves steamed, roasted, and dried quickly on copper plates. Black tea is made from leaves which have been exposed to the air ten or twelve hours before roasting. The action of the air upon the leaves during this exposure causes the dark color. Green tea gives up less of its juices in drying, which accounts for its energetic action on the nervous system. The tea leaf contains the largest amount of nutritive matter of any plant used as human food, though only a small portion of it is extracted by our common method of making tea. Some of the savage tribes of Tartary boil the leaves with soda, and eat them with salt and but- ter. In our method of using tea as a beverage, we use such a comparatively small quantity that the amount of nutriment is very little, its chief value being the sense of warmth and comfort it gives. It excites the brain to increased activity, TRUE FOOD VALUES 133 and has a tendency to produce wakefulness. It retards the action of the natural functions, causes less waste, and, to a certain extent, saves food. For this reason, when not used in excess, it is suited to poor people, whose supplies of substan- tial food are scanty, and to old persons, whose powers of digestion and whose bodily substance have begun to fail. In making tea never use a tin teapot. Allow one teaspoon of tea for one cup of boiling water. Put the tea in the teapot; pour on the boiling water; cover closely and place it where it will keep hot, but not boil, for five minutes. In boiling tea or allowing the leaves to remain long in the water, by repated steeping, the fra- grant aroma is wasted and the tannin is extracted, which may cause gastric disorders to those who drink it. Never make tea in a tin container, as the tannic acid acts upon the metal and produces a poisonous compound. Tea that is ground like coffee will yield nearly double the amount of its exhilarating quality. The Origin of Tea The Chinese were the first to use tea as a drink. How it originated is told in a pretty legend that dates from 2000 b. c. 134 TRUE FOOD VALUES A daughter of a then reigning sovereign fell in love with a young nobleman whose humble birth excluded him from marrying her. They managed to exchange glances, and he occasionally gathered a few blossoms and had them conveyed to her. One day in the palace garden the lovers met, and the young man endeavored to give her a few flowers; but so keen was the watchfulness of her attendants that all she could grasp was a little twig with green leaves. On reaching her room she put the twig in water, and toward evening she drank the water in which the twig had been kept. So agreeable was the taste that she even ate the leaves and stalks. Every day afterwards she had bunches of the tea tree brought to her, which she treated in the same way. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, the ladies of the court tried the experiment, and with such pleasing results that the custom spread throughout the kingdom, and the tea industry be- came one of the greatest businesses of China and of the world. CHAPTER XXVII The One-course Dinner Where help is hmited or the housewife does her own cooking, and economy is to be considered, the one-course dinner is best to serve. Shin of Beef Stewed Saw the bone in several pieces, put it into a stewpan with sufficient water to cover; bring it to a boil, and take off the scum. This must be done thoroughly, and the meat drawn aside to simmer. Add to it some celery cut into pieces, a good-sized onion, twelve black peppercorns, three or four small carrots; season with pepper and salt. Let the whole stew boil very gently for four hours. Boil some potatoes and turnips separately and serve with the meat. The above, with bread and butter, will make a satisfying and sustaining meal. A dessert may be added, if desired, also tea or coffee. Breast of Mutton Boiled Take out the bones, gristle, and some of the fat. Flatten the joint on pasteboard, and cover the surface thinly with a forcemeat or stuffing. 136 TRUE FOOD VALUES composed of bread crumbs, minced savory herbs, a little chopped parsley, pepper and salt, and an tgg to bind. The forcemeat should not be spread too near the edge, and when rolled the breast should be tied securely to keep the forcemeat in its place. If gently boiled, sent to table hot, and smothered with good caper sauce, it will be liked. It takes at least two hours to boil. Caper Sauce Take one cup of melted butter, stir into it one and a half tablespoons chopped capers and two teaspoons of vinegar. Simmer over fire, stirring gently, for about two minutes. Sufficient for four persons. Baked Ham with Potatoes \V2 pounds of ham, sliced Vz cup grated cheese 3 cups sliced potatoes Salt and pepper 1 cup bread crumbs Milk to cover The ham should be sliced an inch thick. Fry slightly on both sides, cover with the potatoes. Add a dash of salt and pepper, the amount of salt depending on the saltness of the ham. Sprinkle the cheese and crumbs over the top, cover the whole with milk, and bake in a moderate oven for an hour and a half. To make an evenly balanced meal with the AND THEIR LOW COSTS 137 baked ham and potatoes, the following menu offers all that can be desired : Baked Ham with Potatoes Tomato Salad with French Dressing Bread and Butter Apple Pie Tea or Coffee This meal provides plenty of all the five neces- sary food principles: Water, protein (a tissue- building and energy food), carbohydrates, starches and sugars (all energy foods), fats (energy foods), and mineral salts. A Beef-soup Dinner Cover three pounds of meaty huckle bone with two quarts of cold water ; pepper and salt to taste, and cook slowly for four hours. About one and a half hours before dinner add two medium-sized onions, six medium potatoes, two tablespoons of washed rice, one medium-sized carrot sliced small, and half of a small turnip, if in winter, cut in small pieces. Add hot water enough to make about two quarts of soup when the meat and bone have been removed. Some like to add a little poultry dressing, say, a teaspoon to the soup, before serving. Carefully remove the meat to a platter, when the potatoes are done, and place them around the 138 TRUE FOOD VALUES meat. Serve the soup with pieces of meat and potatoes. This is intended with bread to make a complete meal in itself. Beef Pie Three pounds of stewing beef, cooked very ten- der and seasoned the day before you make your pie. Cut the meat into inch pieces and place in a deep dish. Place over it bits of butter and the stewed beef gravy, also a level tablespoon of flour. Cover with a nice pie crust and bake long enough to brown. This is also very nice and more whole- some if covered by a crust of mashed and seasoned Irish potatoes. Bake this long enough to blend meat, flour, and gravy together. If your oven is very quick, cover with a dish, leaving cover off long enough to brown the potato crust. This also makes an economical, one-piece din- ner. A lamb or veal pie may be made in the same way. Rolled Skirt Steak in Casserole This makes an excellent and economical meal. Remove the fat and skin from a skirt steak and pound with the edge of a china plate or saucer. Brush over with a mixture of equal parts olive oil AND THEIR LOW COSTS 139 and vinegar. Roll, skewer, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dredge with flour. Try out three thin slices of fat salt pork in a frying-pan, put in meat, and cook until entire surface is seared and browned, turning frequently, being careful not to pierce, so as to prevent the escape of juices. Put in casserole, add one-third cup of boiling water, cover closely, and cook in a slow oven one and a half hours. Wash and pare small potatoes, and brown surface in tried-out pork fat. Put in the casserole and cook during the last hour of the cooking. Remove meat to hot platter, pour around stewed tomatoes, and arrange the pota- toes at each end of roll. To prepare the tomatoes, turn the contents of a quart can into a sauce pan, bring to the boiling point, and let simmer until most of the moisture has evaporated. Season with butter, salt, and pepper. This with bread and butter and coffee, with any selected dessert, makes an excellent and cheap one-course meal. The size of the steak and number of potatoes may be varied according to size of family. That Leg of Lamb There are five in family. The leg of lamb weighed just seven pounds and cost $1.54. 140 TRUE FOOD VALUES The first night at dinner it was served freshly roasted; the second night, cold and sliced. The third night, from a part of what remained, a well- seasoned hash with cold boiled potatoes and green peppers was made. This made an excellent, hearty dish. On the fourth day, with what remained, bones and all, an excellent soup was made for lunch by adding a spoonful of barley, an onion cut fine, and two or three potatoes. An outlay of $1.54 represented the meat dish for five people at three dinners, to say nothing of the lunch on the fourth day. With the ordinary vegetables or salad and dessert, every member of the family had a sufficient amount of good, nourishing food. English Cheese Pudding In many parts of England this pudding forms the night meal for the laboring classes. It con- tains a large amount of nourishment, and is more digestible than a Welsh rarebit. Grate or chop half a pound of soft American cheese. Toast and butter four slices of bread; put two slices in the bottom of a baking-dish, cover with half the cheese, dust lightly with salt and pepper. Put over them the other two slices and the remaining cheese. Pour over all one pint AND THEIR LOW COSTS 141 of milk; let it stand five minutes, and bake in a quick oven twenty minutes. This will serve four people. Six slices of bread may be used instead of four, with the same amount of cheese, adding an extra cupful of milk. CHAPTER XXVIII How TO Stew Meat Stewing is a method of preparing meat by ex- tracting juice to flavor gravy, and retaining the juice in the remainder by searing the meat. In selecting meat for a stew the cheaper pieces may be used, although it is well to bear in mind that a cheap piece of meat which contains much refuse may be less economical than a higher- priced one, all of which is eatable. The cuts which may be used are usually selected from beef, lamb, mutton, or veal, and are the plate, naval, neck, shoulder, lower part of the round, etc. In preparing meat for a stew, wipe and cut into suitable pieces for serving. Meanwhile, divide into two portions ; add cold water to one portion and heat to the boiling point. Brown the other portion in a little fat in a frying pan. Then add it to the water and meat. The whole should be cooked slowly for three hours, or until the meat is tender. It is better to select meat with some bone and fat, as it makes a richer stew than one made with lean meat. Onions, turnips, car- rots, parsnips, and potatoes are the vegetables TRUE FOOD VALUES 143 commonly used in stews. The vegetables should be cut into half-inch cubes or thin slices, not over a quarter inch thick, and added the last hour of cooking. The potatoes should, however, be par- boiled five minutes, then added to the stew, allow- ing twenty minutes for the cooking. Salt and pepper are the usual seasonings, although parsley, one or two cloves, celery salt, or catchup may be added to give variety. A nice way is to cook the vegetables separately. Beef Stew 2 pounds beef 1 carrot 3 tablespoons flour water 2 onions, sliced 1 turnip 6 potatoes Salt and pepper Prepare according to above directions. Beef Loaf Take two pounds of beef (bottom of round) and grind it in a food chopper. Add three slices of fresh pork, three crackers, two eggs, a half teaspoon salt, a dash of pepper. Roll all into a nice loaf and cover it with sliced onions, four tablespoons of beef drippings, and a cup of hot water. Bake one and a half hours. Southern Beef Take about three pounds of beef (bottom of round will do) ; dredge it in flour on all sides, 144 TRUE FOOD VALUES and brown nicely in a frying-pan. Then have a large baking-pan ready, and place the meat in the pan. Add three small carrots, a small turnip, four onions, teaspoonful of salt, dash of pepper, half a can tomatoes. Place all in pan and add a pint of water. Cover pan and cook in a moderate oven for about three hours. To serve: Slice beef and place vegetables around it on a platter. Thicken the gravy and serve hot. Beef Stew Take one or two pounds of cheap steak, cut in small pieces, fry a delicate brown in pork fat, then pour on boiling water until well covered. Simmer gently one hour, then add one or two onions sliced. Cook until done, which will re- quire about three and a half hours altogether. Serve with either baked or boiled potatoes. More One-course Meals; Getting Your Money's Worth A nice meal, at a very reasonable cost, may be made of boiled Frankfurt sausage, with potato salad, bread, butter, and coffee. Potato Salad 4 cups sliced boiled 2 slices bacon, cooked potatoes and dried 1 chopped onion 3 tablespoons olive oil AND THEIR LOW COSTS i45 y2 cup weak vinegar 4 stalks celery, cut fine 2^ teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon mtxed Pinch of red pepper parsley Into a large bowl put the sliced onion, salt, and vinegar, and let it stand for ten minutes. While the potatoes are still warm, slice into the bowl, mix with onion, salt, and vinegar. Then add oil, celery, bacon, and parsley. Mix together well. Arrange on bed of lettuce, and garnish with small pieces of cooked beets, and chopped hard- boiled eggs. To make a cheaper dish omit the garnishing. A Delicious Luncheon Dish Take a dozen raw potatoes, sliced thin; one large onion, chopped fine ; any kind of cold roast meat, preferably lamb or beef; and the brown gravy. Take a dish, such as a chicken pie would be baked in, and put a layer of the thin sliced pota- toes on the bottom and on the sides. Then put a layer of the thin slices of meat on the bottom; sprinkle over some of the chopped onion, some of the gravy, or pieces of butter, some salt and pep- per; then another layer of potatoes, then meat, onion, butter or gravy, salt and pepper, until the dish is full, having the last and top layer of pota- toes covered well. 146 TRUE FOOD VALUES Fill the dish with hot water, put in a fairly slow oven, and bake three hours, when it will be thor- oughly cooked and delicious. This is a dish that will, I think, be new to many. Cold-meat Pies Cold-meat pies are easy to prepare. They are very good made of chicken, lamb, or veal, and the latter two may be worth considering from an economical point of view. Take two pounds of veal, previously cooked and cut into neat pieces. Put a layer at the bottom of a deep baking-dish. Sprinkle over these some finely minced onion and parsley, a very little thyme, and some grated celery, salt and pepper, and then a layer of hard- boiled eggs cut into slices. Continue in this way until the materials are used, adding also a few slices of ham cut into small dice. Pour over all a strong gravy. This may be made from a knuckle of veal, and should be made sufficiently strong, so that, when cold, it will cut into a firm jelly. Cover all with a pie crust, and bake half an hour. As a variation, the veal may be molded in jelly. Boil a knuckle of veal in a quart of water until it falls to pieces. Season with onion, parsley, celery, salt, and pepper. Take a pretty mold, lay in the bottom a layer of cooked veal, then a layer of AND THEIR LOW COSTS 147 hard-boiled eggs, and a few pieces of ham. Con- tinue until the mold is almost full. Then strain over the contents the gravy. Meat Rolls Meat rolls are made by rolling out some pastry, and cutting it into squares of about four inches in size. Wet the edges all around, lay any kind of finely minced meat on one half, then fold the other half over. Pinch the moistened edges to- gether, so the contents cannot ooze out in cook- ing. Bake for about half an hour. The meat should always be finely chopped and well flavored. Crabs, salmon, or oysters may be used instead of the meat. Why Serve Apple Sauce with Pork? Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the food expert, was asked the following question : "What is the scien- tific reason for eating apple sauce with pork and cranberry sauce with turkey?" His reply was as follows : ^ "It is 'scientific' for foods to be both savory and attrac- tive to the eye. This increases appetite and promotes the how of the digestive juices, and so aids digestion. Apart from this fact, there is no serious reason for these com- binations, nor for many others. Pork is a fatty, highly nitrogenous food, and the watery, acid character' of the apple sauce affords a desirable contrast as to taste, and gives balance to the ration. Any other fruit sauce would do as well ; and, indeed, stewed fruit is an admirable addi- 148 TRUE FOOD VALUES tion to any dinner, either served hot as the side dish of the^ meat course, or cold, as a substitute for our heavy, indigestible pies, puddings, or frozen sweets — eaten just when they discourage most effectively the efforts of the stomach to digest the meal." Mexican Pie 2 slices of bacon, diced 1 cup canned tomatoes 1 cup chopped meat, raw or cooked VA teaspoons chili-pepper powder Salt and pepper to taste Cold corn-meal mush Line the bottom and sides of a deep pie-pan with mush, making it a half inch deep. Fry the bacon till crisp, add the other ingredients, and cook together for a few moments. Pour this into the lined pan, cover with a layer of mush, and dot with bits of butter or bacon fat. Brown in the oven. This is an excellent way to use any sort of left-over meat, and the dish is really very appe- tizing. Rolled Steak Take a thin slice from the round or flank steak ; trim it neatly, dust lightly with salt and pepper, then thickly with bread crumbs and a little chopped parsley. Roll the steak so that in carving you will cut across the grain ; tie in three places. Put a sliced onion, one carrot, a whole clove, and a bay leaf in a baking-pan. Put the steak on top, add a pint of hot water, cover the pan, and cook AND THEIR LOW COSTS 149 in a moderate oven one or one and a half hours. Lift the pan, brown the steak quickly, and dish it, removing the strings. Make a brown sauce, using the water from the pan. If it does not measure a half pint, add sufficient water to make the quan- tity. A Word about Broiling Steak Wipe, trim off any superfluous fat, and remove the bone. Save the flank end for broiled meat cakes. Grease the gridiron with some of the fat. Broil over a clear fire, turning every ten seconds. Cook about four minutes, if liked rare ; longer, if liked well done. Serve on a hot platter. Season with butter, salt, and pepper. Steaks should be cut at least an inch thick. Many prefer them much thicker. Sirloin, cross cut of the rump, and top of the round are all good steaks. The round is juicy, but has running through it some tough white fiber, which makes it difficult to masticate. If very tough, pound it with a meat hammer or cut across it several times on both sides with a sharp knife. The intense heat will sear the sur- face quickly, and prevent the escape of the juices. Many prefer not to remove the bone in a sirloin steak ; but it burns quickly, and the steak is more easily carved when the bone is removed. Carve I50 TRUE FOOD VALUES in narrow slices, giving each person a bit of ten- derloin, fat, and the upper part. Broiled Meat Cakes Chop lean, raw beef quite fine. Season with salt, pepper, and a little chopped onion. Make it into small flat cakes, and broil on a well-greased gridiron or in a hot frying-pan. Serve very hot with butter. The flank end of the sirloin is better when cooked in this manner than when cooked with the other part of the steak. Pork Chops, Portuguese Method Place the chops in a deep platter, slice up a small garlic and place on the chops, turn a half cup of vinegar over all, and let remain over night. Turn off vinegar and garlic before cooking. This gives the chops a fine flavor and makes them very tender. Pork steak may be prepared in the same way. Baked Pork Chops Make a dressing of bread crumbs, one well- beaten ^gg, one tablespoon of melted butter ; sea- son with pepper, salt, sage, and onions. Put the dressing in a baking-dish, lay the pork chops on top of the dressing, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and put the dish in the oven. When the AND THEIR LOW COSTS 151 chops are brown on one side, turn over, and brown on the other side. The juice from the meat will drip into the dressing and give it a delicious flavor. Cook for three-quarters of an hour. Delicious Hamburg with Tomato Take one pound of Hamburg steak and fry nice and brown, also take one can of tomato soup and add a half can of water to the soup ; heat to the boiling* point. Then take the Hamburg and put it in the tomato soup. Stir both together and serve hot with buttered crackers. This is a very nice dish. Breaded Lamb Cut cold boiled or roast lamb into thick slices. Dip in beaten egg, season with pepper and salt, cover with fine cracker and bread crumbs, and fry in smoking hot fat. Mock Veal Loaf with Creamed Peas Have the butcher grind together two pounds of neck meat and one pound of pork butts. Add to this two well-beaten eggs, four slices of bread, soaked in water until moist, one teaspoon of salt, one half teaspoon of white pepper, and a dust of paprika. Mix well and form into a loaf shape. 152 TRUE FOOD VALUES Place in greased baking-pan and cover half over with milk. Bake in a moderate oven for one hour. Have prepared one can of peas, drain off water, add one pint of milk, and one tablespoon of butter. Then add one teaspoon of cornstarch moistened with a little cold milk, and seasonings to taste; stir until boiling. Place loaf on a hot platter and pour over whole the creamed peas. This is a very cheap dish, and a test will prove it to be an extremely palatable one. Bacon and Eggs, New Style 6 small slices dry bread, 4 eggs diced yi cup milk 8 slices of bacon, diced Salt and pepper to taste Fry the bacon until brown. Add the bread, and toss with the bacon and fat until well sea- soned and slightly browned; then add the eggs beaten with the seasoning and milk, and scramble as usual. This is a very good way to use up dry bread. Veal Fritters 1 egg Scant Yi. cup flour XYz cups chopped veal A pinch of salt and 4 tablespoons milk white pepper Yi tablespoon salad oil V-z. taplespoon lemon juice Frying fat Beat thoroughly the egg yolk; add milk, oil, salt and pepper, flour, and lemon juice. Beat AND THEIR LOW COSTS 153 white of egg stiff and add to the mixture when ready to use. Then stir in veal, which should not be chopped too fine. Drop with spoon into slightly- smoking fat, and fry to a golden brown. Drain on soft paper or cheesecloth. Serve with or with- out sauce. Chicken may be used in place of veal. Utilizing Cold Griddlecakes To any clear soup, add the cold cakes, cut into the thinnest slices possible with sharp scissors. You will be delighted with the result. Shepherd's Pie Roast beef, gravy, potatoes mashed with butter. Mince the beef, and put layers of the beef and mashed potatoes in a buttered baking-dish. Put a layer of potatoes at the bottom. Moisten each meat layer generously with gravy. Salt and pep- per to taste. Make the top layer of potatoes, dot with small pieces of butter, and brown. A great deal of rich gravy should be used. Creamed Veal in Pastry Horns This is an excellent tasting dish, and can be made of either left-over cold veal, chicken, or lamb. Cut the meat into small cubes, heat thor- oughly in a good white sauce, and fill pastry horns with mixture. Garnish with parsley, and pour 154 TRUE FOOD VALUES over a cream sauce seasoned with chopped pars- ley. Serve very hot. Scalloped Ham and Potatoes Put through the chopper enough cold boiled ham to give one cupful and a half. Cut six large boiled potatoes in thin slices. In a saucepan mix together two tablespoons each of butter and flour, a scant teaspoon of salt and a third of a teaspoon of white pepper. When bubbling, stir in gradu- ally one pint of hot milk, and cook until smoothly thickened. In a buttered dish put alternate layers of potato, ham, and sauce until all are used. With a half cup of stale bread crumbs, mix one table- spoon of melted butter. Spread this over the top and bake in a quick oven until browned. Cheese Toast Toast as many slices of stale bread as can be used. Make a pint of white sauce, as for the scalloped ham and potatoes, but scant the flour and salt. Two minutes before taking from the fire, stir in one cup of chopped or grated cheese, and stir until it is barely melted, then pour over the hot toast. This is substantial and appetizing. CHAPTER XXIX A Few Satisfying Drinks, Thirst- quenchers Ginger Cream Take a tumbler two-thirds full of ginger ale; put in three tablespoons of rich cream; stir and drink. This is a most delicious drink for either hot or cold weather. Ginger Punch For five minutes boil a pint of water, a pound of sugar, and the grated yellow rind of a lemon. Strain, and while hot stir into it two sliced bananas and a quarter of a pound of chopped candied cherries. Stand aside to cool. At serv- ing time put a good-sized block of ice into the punch bowl, add the juice of six lemons to the banana mixture, turn it into the punch bowl. Add two bottles of ginger ale, and one quart of Apolli- naris. Serve at once. Mint Punch From twelve stalks of mint, strip off the leaves, chop them very fine and rub them to a paste, add- 156 TRUE FOOD VALUES ing gradually one pint of cold water. Add a pound of sugar. Boil five minutes and strain through cheesecloth. When cold, add the juice of six lemons. At serving time turn this mixture into the punch bowl over a block of ice, throw in a few fresh mint leaves, and add sufficient Apolli- naris to make a palatable drink. Ginger Squash Fill a large glass a third full of finely chopped ice; add a half bottle of ginger ale, and fill the glass at once with Apollinaris ; stir and serve. Iced Cocoa Put two heaping teaspoons of cocoa into a double boiler ; add gradually a half pint of boiling water. Cook and stir five minutes; add a half pint of milk, beat thoroughly, take from the fire and stand aside to cool. At serving time fill the glasses a third full of finely chopped ice; add a teaspoon of powdered sugar ; fill the glass two- thirds full of the cocoa, and fill the remaining third with whipped cream. Lemonade a la Savarin For eight people three lemons are sufficient. The best lemonade is made with lemon and orange juice rather than with lemon alone. Take AND THEIR LOW COSTS 157 three lemons and one small, juicy orange. Cut in halves and squeeze out the juice with a glass reamer or lemon squeezer. Put lemon juice and orange juice together. Take the pulp and skins, cut into pieces and cover with sugar, allowing them to stand at least an hour in order that the sugar may extract the oil from the skins. Make the syrup of sugar and water — a cup of sugar to a half cup of water will be sufficient — and pour while hot over the fruit juice. Let stand until cold; add a half cup of water to the sugar and lemon skins, and mash and press in a fruit press until all the juice possible is extracted. Add this to the lemon syrup. It should make a pint of heavy juice, which may then be diluted with water, taking usually three cups of water to re- duce to the desired consistency and delicacy of flavor. The principal thing to be considered is to make a thick, heavy sirup which forms a body and blends the beverage, so that in place of a thin, acidulated drink, one gets substance. The next point is to extract all the juice and flavor of the fruit. If the skins of the lemons be left standing covered with water, a bitter extract is formed, which should not be used, being astringent and disagreeable. The sugar without the water 158 TRUE FOOD VALUES merely extracts the oil, which adds to the flavor, and thus makes one lemon go farther without diluting the result. Do not chop the lemon skins and let them stand covered with juice or water, and then add to the lemonade. The only safe way is to do exactly as described, and while the juice with sugar added may stand twenty-four hours before using, the skins with sugar over them should not. Lemon- ade should be freshly made to be right. Iced Cocoa, Panama-Pacific Exposition Style Iced cocoa is an insipid drink unless made with a sirup. At the Panama- Pacific Exposition in San Francisco one booth became famous because of the cocoa served there — a real deliciously flavored iced cocoa. The recipe used was as follows : Mix a half cup of cocoa with one cup of sugar and one cup of warm water and hold over hot water until both sugar and cocoa are dissolved. Boil to a heavy syrup. Remove from the fire and thoroughly chill. When ready to serve, flavorwith half a teaspoon of vanilla and two tablespoons of strong coffee. Put from two to three tablespoons of this mixture in a glass ; add the same quantity AND THEIR LOW COSTS 159 of chopped ice, and a quarter of a cup of cream. Shake well, fill with water, add more cream or sirup if necessary. The entire mixture may be made and poured into the glasses rather than mixed in each glass if desired. Again the main point is to have a heavy sirup made with enough cocoa to give a chocolate flavor and cream enough added to make a rich drink. This makes a very different beverage from that ordinarily sold under the head of chocolate soda. Sugar Sirup A heavy sirup of sugar and water will keep almost indefinitely under proper conditions. The usual proportions are a half cup of water to two cups of granulated sugar. Put the sugar in a saucepan, add the water and stir over the fire, where the mixture will slowly heat until the sugar is dissolved. Place on the front of the stove, and let the sirup boil without stirring until it spins a delicate thread, when it is ready to be taken from the fire. Grape Punch Add to a quart of grape juice the juice of six lemons and two oranges, two quarts cold water, and two cups of sugar. Pour into the punch i6o TRUE FOOD VALUES bowl; add sliced oranges, bits of pineapple, ber- ries, or sliced peaches. Tea Punch 4 cups water % cup lemon juice 2 cups sugar Strong cold tea Boil sugar and water together for fifteen min- utes; cool, add lemon juice and freeze in three parts ice to one part salt. Serve in frappe or tall tea-glasses, pouring two or three tablespoons of the tea over each serving. Fruit Cup Five tablespoons of Ceylon tea infused in a quart of boiling water. Let it stand for five min- utes, and then pour over two pounds of granu- lated sugar. Cook this into a thick sirup. Cool, and add to the strained juice of six lemons, six oranges, one pineapple, and one quart of berries. The fruit may be varied according to the season. Add one teaspoon of vanilla and one teaspoon of almond extract. When ready to serve, add a quart of any good mineral water or a quart of iced water, and serve cold. This formula will make a gallon of liquid, and the quantity may be increased or diminished according to one's need. CHAPTER XXX Hints for Breakfast The longer I live, the more I am persuaded that the gifts of Providence are more equally distributed than we are apt to think. Among the poor so little is enjoyed so much, and among the rich so much is enjoyed so little. — Margaret Bottome. 1 Broiled Ham Corn-meal Griddlecakes Creamed Potatoes Hot Apple Sauce, Coffee 2 Oranges Oatmeal, Thin Cream Egg Omelet Bread and Butter. Coffee 3 Bananas Shredded Wheat, Thin Cream Scrambled Eggs. Mashed Potato Cakes Coffee 4 Pears Toasted Corn Flakes, with Milk and Sugar Boiled Eggs. Dry Toast Doughnuts. Coffee 5 Fruit Cereal Boiled Eggs. Buttered Toast Doughnuts. Coffee i62 TRUE FOOD VALUES 6 Cereal, with Dates Scrambled Eggs Creamed Potatoes Rye Muffins. Coffee 7 Thin Slices of Fat Salt Pork (rolled in flour and dried) Fried Apples Potatoes Cooked in Milk Corn-meal Muffins Coffee 8 Fruit Corned Beef Hash Buckwheat Griddlecakes Coffee 9 Grapefruit Creamed Salt Codfish Baked Potatoes Bran Rolls. Coffee 10 Oranges Cereal. Codfish Balls Ginger Cookies. Coffee 11 Stewed Prunes Cream of Wheat, Cream Eggs Cooked in the Shell Hashed Potatoes Rice Griddlecakes. Coffee 12 Calf's Liver. Fried Bacon Creamed Potatoes Breakfast Corn Cake Apple Sauce Coffee AND THEIR LOW COSTS 163 13 Bananas Oatmeal, Cream Omelet. Muffins Coffee 14 Fruit Mashed Potato Cakes Bacon Cooked in Oven Eggs Cooked in Shell Dry Toast Coffee. Cocoa 15 Fruit. Cereal Broiled Bacon. Corn Cake Coffee CHAPTER XXXI Prunes One of the most valuable fruits that the market always affords, both from an appetizing and an economical standpoint, is the prune. Aside from its use as a sauce (stewed prunes) there are many recipes for its use in a variety of ways. Prune Cheese Pie Roll out a light pie crust made from one pint of pastry flour (sifted), half a cup of butter, half a cup of iced water or cider, and half a teaspoon of salt. The shortening may be mixed half and half, but a better crust results from the use of all butter. Use a knife or spatula in mixing pastry. Sift the salt into the flour; cut the butter, bit by bit, into the flour, adding the water or cider a few drops at a time, and mix it thoroughly. Turn on the board and roll several times. If a richer crust is wanted, after the paste is rolled, spread bits of butter over it, fold over, and roll the paste again. Always use the best materials in making crust, and have everything as cold as possible. Plain paste, to give the best results, should be kept on TRUE FOOD VALUES 165 ice or chilled. For the filling, stew prunes, cut them in two, remove pits and skins, and put with the juice into the lower crust. For the upper crust use strips or a lattice of the paste. When the pie is nearly done put grated American cheese through the openings between the crust, upon the prunes. Cover the whole top of the pie with whipped cream, and replace in the oven to brown on top. Serve hot or cold. Plain Stewed Prunes Wash a pound of prunes in several waters. Let stand nearly covered with water over night. Then simmer on back of stove till tender. Add table- spoon of sugar before removing from the stove. Serve with cream. Stuffed Prunes Wash large and perfect prunes in warm water. Steam one hour, then remove the stones. Stuff with half a date each, some English walnuts chopped fine, and a little powdered sugar. Fill them full, shape nicely, and roll in powdered sugar. Best if made a week before using. San Jose Prune Cake 1 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking pow- V2 cup butter der (level) Yi cup water Grated rind of V2 lemon 3 eggs 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 cup steamed and chopped prunes i66 TRUE FOOD VALUES Bake in loaf shape, putting layer of batter on bottom of cake pan, then layer of prunes and layer of nuts, having cake at top. Bake in slow but steady oven. Prune Brown Bread 1 cup corn meal Vz cup New Orleans 2 cups whole wheat flour molasses 1 cup sour milk 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soda 1 cup dried prunes, washed, pitted, and chopped fine Scald the corn meal, add other ingredients. Put mixture in three baking-powder cans, cover, and steam two and a half hours. Prune Sherbet To one and a half pounds of prunes in a stew- pan add a little water. Cover pan, set on back of range to simmer slowly until prunes are tender. Rub through colander ; sweeten to taste ; freeze as ice cream. Serve on plate with water-ice around it. For water-ice take : One pint clarified sugar, a half pint of water; grate the rind of two lemons onto the sugar; add juice of five lemons and one orange. Strain through hair sieve. When cold freeze as ice cream. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 167 Sweethearts 1 cup sugar V2 teaspoon soda 1 cup sour cream 1 egg 1 teaspoon baking- A pinch of salt powder Flour sufficient for a stiff dough Roll out one-half quite thin and spread with a layer of finely chopped prunes. Roll the other half and put on top. Cut in shape of hearts. Bake in quick oven. Prune Jelly Wash and cover one pound of prunes with cold water; soak them over night. Next morning bring them to a boiling point ; press them through a colander. Have ready a half box of gelatin, that has been covered with a half cup of cold water and soaked for half an hour. Put the prunes over the fire ; add a cup of sugar and the juice of a lemon; stir in the gelatin, and when the whole comes to melting point, turn it into a mold and serve with whipped cream. There should be at least a pint and a half of this pulp, otherwise it would be too stiff with a box of gelatin. Prune Pudding Make a small mould of lemon jelly. Boil large selected prunes slowly until very tender, taking i68 TRUE FOOD VALUES care to keep the skins unbroken. Drain and place in a glass dish. Break up the jelly all about them, so that the two parts will have the appearance of being made together. Pile whipped cream over the prunes and jelly. Prune Whip Take one cup of prunes, cooked soft, a half cup of sugar, and the whites of two eggs. Whip well, and set in glasses to cool. Serve with whipped cream. CHAPTER XXXII A Word about Chocolate Chocolate is such a general favorite with almost every one that any dish or combination using it will not come amiss. Chocolate is the finely ground powder from the kernels of the cocoa tree, mixed to a stiff paste with sugar, and sometimes flavored with vanilla. It is the most nutritious and convenient form of cocoa ; a small cake of it will satisfy hunger. It is a very good lunch for travelers. Chocolate does not produce the injurious effects which render tea and coffee objectionable, and is far better for children and working people. Chocolate Pie Take a pint of milk, a pinch of salt, and a half cup of butter; put on to boil. Add a half cup of grated chocolate, a half cup of sugar, well mixed with a quarter of a cup of flour; cook until smooth. Flavor with vanilla and bake in a bot- tom crust. Cover with whipped cream. This makes a good-sized pie. Chocolate sauce, to serve with ice cream or as a I70 TRUE FOOD VALUES pudding sauce, is delicious. Mix well a half cup each of grated chocolate and sugar, add a half cup of cream, and heat slowly until well blended. Chocolate Put one square of Baker's chocolate, two table- spoons of hot water, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan, and boil until it is smooth, stirring con- stantly. Add gradually one pint of boiling water, and when ready to serve add one pint of hot milk. Use all milk and two squares of chocolate, if liked richer; or thicken with one teaspoon of corn- starch wet in a little cold water, and boil five minutes before adding the milk. Chocolate Gelatin 1 pint milk A half box gelatin 1 pint cream Two ounces chocolate A half cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Cover the gelatin with a half cup of cold water and let soak for half an hour. Put the milk over the fire, adding sugar and chocolate, then the gelatin. Take from the fire, add the vanilla, and fold in the whipped cream when it is cool. Set away to chill in a naold. Chocolate Filling This is a most delicious filling or frosting for a plain chocolate cake. Take a cup of sugar, five AND THEIR LOW COSTS 171 tablespoons of cream, one egg beaten, and two squares of chocolate. Cook in a double boiler for an hour. Then beat and when thick enough put on the cake. Chocolate Roll 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cream tartar 4 eggs ^ teaspoon soda 1 cup sifted flour For Filling : 1 square Baker's V2 cup milk chocolate Yt. cup granulated sugar Boil until right consistency; add one teaspoon vanilla; spread and roll. Chocolate Sandwiches Slightly butter thin slices of white bread ; trim off the crusts. Melt a small piece of butter and grate into it the bitter chocolate, sweetened to taste with granulated sugar. Take from the fire and cool. Moisten with a little cream, if the filling is too thick to spread between the slices of bread. Chocolate Crullers Cream two tablespoons butter and a half cup of sugar. Gradually add the beaten yolks of three eggs and one and a half cups more of sugar, a cup of sour milk, one teaspoon vanilla, two ounces of chocolate grated and melted over hot 172 TRUE FOOD VALUES water, one-third of a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a half teaspoon of boiling water, the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth, and sufficient sifted flour to make a soft dough. Roll out, cut into oblongs and divide each into three strips, leaving the dough united at one end. Braid loosely, pinch the ends together, and cook until brown in smoking-hot fat. Cocoa Sponge Cake lYz cups sugar 3 eggs V2 cup cold water yi cup cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 teaspoons baking- 1^ cups flour _ powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon Beat yolks of eggs light, add water, vanilla, and sugar. Beat again thoroughly, then add the flour with which the baking-powder, cocoa, and cinna- mon have been sifted. Fold in the stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Bake in rather a quick oven twenty-five or thirty minutes. Chocolate Tarts Grate two ounces of the best French chocolate, and mix with it a pinch of powdered cinnamon, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of finely chopped lemon rind, a dessertspoon of sifted sugar, and a heap- ing teaspoon of ground rice. Mix a pint of cream or new milk with four well-beaten eggs, and add AND THEIR LOW COSTS 173 the custard gradually and smoothly to the choco- late powder. Stir the mixture over the fire for a few minutes, but be careful that the cream does not curdle. Line the inside of a tart dish with a good light paste or puff paste. Pour the cream when cool into it. Bake the tart in a moderate oven about half an hour. Sufficient for five or six persons. Chocolate Cake 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon haking- 1 cup sugar powder Pinch of salt Sift into a bowl. Put into a measuring-cup one teaspoon of butter, two squares Baker's chocolate, melted ; then add two eggs, and fill cup with milk and add to dry ingredients. Beat well. Add a teaspoon of vanilla last. Bake in a moderate oven. Boiled Frosting Take one cup of granulated sugar ; boil until it threads. Then add it to the beaten white of one egg, beating until it is thick enough to spread. CHAPTER XXXIII Diet in Constipation Use foods that leave a bulky residue in order to stimulate the muscular coat of the intestines. The following foods may be recommended: Soups. — Broths, oyster soup, sorrel soup. Fish. — All kinds boiled. White sorts broiled. Sardines in oil. Meats. — Most kinds, poultry, game, etc. Farinaceous Foods. — Brown or graham bread, gingerbread, oatmeal porridge, bran bread, bran pudding, whole-meal bread, corn bread. Vegetables. — Most fresh varieties if well boiled. Spinach, boiled onions, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, salads with oil, lettuce, asparagus, tomatoes, salsify, celery. Dessert. — Figs, prunes, tamarinds, baked ap- ples, oranges (on rising), melons, grapes, raisins, stewed fruits, honey, or molasses. Beverages. — Glass of water, preferably hot, drunk on rising (add salt to taste). Pure water in plenty, black coffee, cocoa, lemonade. Mineral Waters: Richfield Springs, Crab Orchard, Bed- TRUE FOOD VALUES 175 ford, Saratoga, Hunyadi, Carlsbad, Rubinat, Friedrichshall, Kissingen, Villacabras, Puellna. The foods that must be avoided are : Pork, veal, goose, liver, hard-boiled eggs, salt meats, salt fish, peas, beans, nuts, pineapples, new bread, pastry, pickles, cheese, spirituous liquors, milk. Diet in Dyspepsia Small meals should be taken at regular inter- vals. Punctuality is of great importance. Masti- cate thoroughly ; eat slowly and temperately. The following foods may be taken : Soups. — Small quantity. Clear soups of beef, mutton, oyster. A little vermicelli or tapioca may be boiled with these. Cream pea soup, pea, to- mato, hominy, and bean soups. Fish. — Oysters and little-neck clams in any form except fried. Weakfish, whitefish, shad, cod, perch, trout, bass, smelt, fresh mackerel. Meats. — Meat-juice, roast or broiled beef, mut- ton, chicken, tripe, calf's head, venison, tongue, sweetbread. Eggs. — Raw, soft-boiled, poached ; omelet, combined with chicken or oysters. Eat dry toast or stale bread with eggs. Farinaceous Foods. — Bread at least one day 176 TRUE FOOD VALUES old; brown bread, toast, rye, gluten, and graham bread, zwieback, crackers, cream crackers, cracked wheat, rice, sago, tapioca, macaroni, ar- rowroot, corn meal, hominy, wheaten grits, gra- ham grits, rolled rye, rolled oats, rice cakes, browned rice, baked flour. Vegetables. — These are best made into puree by passing through a colander or mashing. Greens, spinach, lettuce, water-cresses, French beans, sweet corn, green peas, asparagus, celery, baked tomatoes, potatoes (but little). Dessert. — Fruit, rice, tapioca, Indian, and farina puddings; custards — rice, snow, rennet, sponge cake, floating island; orange charlotte, gelatin creams, blanc mange, baked and stewed apples and pears, grapes, and all ripe fruits except bananas and pineapples. No rich sauces. Beverages. — Drinks should mostly be taken near the end of meals. Hot water before meals, milk, lime-water, Vichy, weak tea (one-half ounce to the pint), kumiss, weak cocoa, pepton- ized cocoa and milk, buttermilk, acid wine (if there is acidity). Black coffee and lemon juice on first rising. Mineral waters : Carbonic water, Congress, Hathorne, Ballston, Kissingen, Apol- linaris, Poland, Highland Spring. The foods that must be avoided are : AND THEIR LOW COSTS 177 Rich soups and chowders, all fried foods, veal, pork, liver, kidney, hashes, stews, pickled and corned meats, preserved.and potted meats, turkey, goose, duck, sausage, salmon, salt mackerel, blue- fish, sturgeon, eels, shrimps, sardines, lobster, crabs, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, string beans, parsnips, eggplant, turnips, carrots, squash, salsify, sweet potatoes, beets, pastry pies, made dishes, nuts, dates, jams, dried and candied fruits, candies, cheese, strong tea, ice water, malt liquors, sweet and effervescent wines, spirituous liquors. CHAPTER XXXIV Skill in the Preparation of Food "Every girl ought to know that cookery is a fine art and the mastery of it an accomplishment of which to be proud." Skill in the preparation of food means better living at less cost. Economy in marketing does not necessarily mean the buying of cheap foods, but the wise selection of such foods as your means will allow and those best suited to the particular needs of your family. "Buy just enough and not too much," is a wise rule to remember. Save every bone, whether of beef, mutton, veal, or poultry, as well as the remaining gravies and sauces in the meat dishes, and add them to the stock-pot. The stock-pot should be considered a household necessity by every family, not alone from an economical standpoint, but because it furnishes a form of nourishment that cannot be too highly appreciated. Meat costs the most of all foods. Every bit that is left over should be utilized for another meal, either by adding it to the richness of the TRUE FOOD VALUES 179 stock-pot, or by cutting it into cubes and warming up in a brown sauce, with which it will make an appetizing and sightly dish. A small meat-grinder, costing not over one dol- lar and a half, is a great money-saver, and some- thing that every economical housewife should possess. With it the tough ends of the rump or of round steak can be made into appetizing meat balls, Hamburg steak, and the like. The butt end of a ham may be chipped up in the same way, frizzled as you would dried beef, with milk for the sauce. With corn bread and coffee this makes an excellent one-dish meal. If you think your steak is tough, instead of pounding it try treating it with a marinade. Pounding does not really make it more tender, it simply breaks the fibers. The marinade, being composed in part of vinegar, softens them. It is made of one spoonful of vinegar to two of good salad oil. Both sides of the steak should have this well rubbed in some hours before the meat is to be cooked. There will be no taste of the vine- gar, and the flavor of the steak will be improved. Rather tasteless cuts of meat may be treated in the same manner, adding to the vinegar and oil a sprinkle of paprika or other pepper. Meats to be boiled are often improved by having a tablespoon i8o TRUE FOOD VALUES of vinegar added to the water in which they are cooking. If there is any question whether the meat is fresh or not, it may be made perfectly sweet by being left for some time in vinegar, which should be well rinsed off when the meat is prepared for cooking. Gravy is a perplexing problem in small families, where so many dishes are poor without it. How difficult it is to keep gravy on hand, in spite of the constant advice to "save the trimmings for stock," every mistress of a small family knows. By all means save bone, gristle, odds and ends of meat of all kinds, and make them into broth. Even then it often happens that on the days you have done so no gravy is required. Stock sours quickly in summer, and, besides, in no family of three or four are there odds and ends enough to ensure stock for every day. The only remedy for this is to make a stock that will keep for months — in other words, glaze. With glaze on hand you have a soup for an emergency or a rich gravy for any purpose. To make glaze, take six pounds of a knuckle of veal or leg of beef, also half a pound of lean ham, and cut into pieces the size of an ^gg. Rub a quarter of a pound of butter on the- bottom of your pot, which should hold two gallons. Put in AND THEIR LOW COSTS i8i the meat with half a pint of water, three medium- sized onions with two cloves in each, a turnip, a carrot, and a small bunch of celery. Place over a quick fire, occasionally stirring it until the bottom of the pot is covered with a thick glaze, which will adhere lightly to the spoon. Fill up the pot with -cold water, and when at the boiling point draw to the back of the stove, where it may gently simmer three hours if veal, six if beef. Carefully skim it. Pass the stock through a fine hair-sieve into a pan, then fill up the pot again with hot water, and let it boil four hours longer; strain and pour both stocks into a large pot or stewpan together ; set it over the fire and let boil as fast as possible, with the lid off, and with a large spoon in it to keep it from boiling over. Stir occasionally. When it is reduced to three pints, pour into a small stewpan, set again to boil, but more slowly, skimming if necessary. When it is reduced to a quart, boil again quickly, stirring it well with a wooden spoon until it be- gins to get thick and of a fine yellow-brown color. Be careful it does not burn. Get a sausage skin from the butcher; cut a yard of it, tie one end very tightly, and pour the glaze into it by means of a large funnel. Tie up. From it cut slices to use. A thick slice cut from this will make a bowl i82 TRUE FOOD VALUES of soup, to which may be added any cooked vege- tables, rice, or barley. Glaze adds much to the beauty of many dishes. If roast beef is not brown enough on any one spot, set your glaze ( for this purpose it is well to have filled a jar in addition to the skin) in boiling wa- ter. Keep a small, stiff brush, such as are sold for the purpose, called a glazing brush. When the glaze softens, as glue would do, brush over the meat with it, and it will give the lacking brown. While eggs are dear it is well to know that by substituting cornstarch for every third tgg in a recipe, and beating well, the same effect is pro- duced as if the extra ^gg were added. One flat tablespoon is the amount. A Good Meat Substitute 1 can kidney beans 1 tablespoon of bacon Juice of 1 can tomatoes fat or drippings A little onion junce Salt and pepper to taste Drain and rinse the beans. Strain the tomato juice over the beans in a saucepan ; add the bacon fat, onion juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook rather slowly for twenty minutes and serve garnished with crisp bacon. The tomato juice thickens around the beans, making the whole delicious. This, served with plain, boiled rice, a green vegetable, such as string beans, carrots, or AND THEIR LOW COSTS 183 cauliflower, a simple salad of lettuce, if desired, and a light dessert, makes an extremely satisfying and nourishing meal, even to a most confirmed meat-eating man. It can be made even more economically by using dried kidney beans, soaking them over night, letting them simmer very slowly for three hours, and then straining. This gives a much larger quantity of beans, material for fine soup, and perhaps enough beans for a good salad, served with French dressing. The first method is for quick service; the second for economy. Icings If you have three or four good cake recipes and know how to make a variety of icings, you should be able to produce almost any kind of cake de- sired. White layer cakes lend themselves to chocolate and cocoanut icings, while the *'gold" cakes are fine with cream and custard fillings. Try some of these icings and add them to your store of cake knowledge : To make mocha cream filling, whip one pint of heavy cream, add three tablespoons of confec- tioners' sugar, and one or two tablespoons of very strong cold coffee. This may be varied by add- ing some crushed macaroons or ground nuts. i84 TRUE FOOD VALUES French butter frosting is fine and it is easily made. Take a quarter cup of fresh butter, two cups of sifted confectioners' sugar, hot water as needed, and any desired flavoring. If you have no unsaUed butter, wash good table butter. To do this heat a bowl and your hands in hot water, then chill, and, taking butter into bowl, work and knead it under cold water. Place butter between folds of a clean napkin and pat dry. Now cream the butter and sugar, adding a little hot water as needed. The mixture must be light and creamy, and after being applied to the cake, set it' in a cold place and the frosting will harden. This gives you the foundation for all kinds of French frosting. If you use hot coffee instead of water you have a mocha frosting, to which one or two spoonfuls of powdered chocolate may be added. Ground nuts are also nice in this frosting, or nuts and candied cherries may be set on top as decorations.. Quick Mayonnaise Mayonnaise dressing for salads would be used much more frequently were it not for the time required to prepare it. By the following method the same amount may be made in a few minutes' time : Beat the tgg with an tgg beater, add the AND 'THEIR LOW COSTS 185 seasonings and mix them well ; then beat in a tea- spoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Begin to add the oil gradually at first, by the tablespoonful. Beat the mixture well until the thickening process begins. You can then pour in the oil quite reck- lessly, and need stop only to add an occasional spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice to thin the mixture and give it the desired flavor. The proportion of acid or of the seasonings may need to be increased somewhat when the salad oils are first used, in order that the new oil may not prove too noticeable. Larding Many kinds of meat which are lean and dry are very much improved by the addition of some kind of fat. The tenderloin of beef, the thick part of the leg of veal, etc., are often prepared in this way. Take a piece of clear, fat pork about two inches wide and three inches long; force this into the center of the meat, cutting a gash in the same for the purpose. A small piece of garlic put in the center of a roast of beef, in addition to the pork, not only makes it more tender and juicy, but adds a much finer flavor. i86 TRUE FOOD VALUES Broiling This is cooking directly over the hot coals, and the secret of nice broiling is frequent turning. The fire should be bright red, but no flame. The damper should be wide open, so that the smoke from dripping fat may be carried into the chimney. There is nothing so good for broiling as a double wire broiler. Grease it well, and have the thickest part of the meat near the center of the broiler. Do not salt the meat while broiling, as salt draws out the juice. Turn over as often as you can count ten, and cook four minutes, if one inch thick. Fish should be floured or rolled in meal to keep the skin from sticking. They should be cooked from five to fifteen minutes, depending upon the thickness. Chickens require from twenty minutes to half an hour. Chops are improved by broiling in buttered pa- per. A sheet of letter paper, rubbed with softened butter, folded over the chop with the edges pinched together, keeps out the air, and all the juice is retained. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 187 Frying Oysters To fry oysters properly requires no little skill; otherwise they may be compared to a greasy piece of sole-leather. Only the largest oysters should be cooked in this way. Having selected your oysters, put them into a colander and pour over a little water to rinse them; then place them on a clean towel and dry them. Have ready some grated bread crumbs seasoned with pepper and salt, and plenty of ^gg beaten till very light ; for each tgg allow a large teaspoon of cream. Beat the ^gg and cream to- gether. Dip each oyster first into the tgg and cream, and then into the crumbs. Repeat this twice, until* the oysters are well coated all over. Have ready boiling, in a frying-pan, an equal mixture of butter and lard. It must very nearly fill the frying-pan and be boiling hot when the oysters go in, otherwise they will be heavy and greasy. Fry them a deep yellow on both sides and serve hot. When cream is too thin to whip, the unbeaten white of an ^gg may be added to overcome the trouble. A piece of onion added to chicken when it is i88 TRUE FOOD VALUES stewing will greatly improve the flavor, and the onion taste will not be noticed. When baking pie the juice from the fruit often soaks through the under crust. This can be pre- vented by brushing the under crust with the white of an ^gg. Macaroni versus Meat Good macaroni is a highly nutritious food, and cooked with cheese it is an almots ideally bal- anced ration. However, the claim that macaroni contains four times the nutriment of meat by weight is misleading. It would be approximately correct to say that you get the same amount of nutriment for a fourth of the money, when buy- ing the macaroni, and, from an economic point of view, its occasional substitution for meat, especially when served with cheese, is highly to be recommended. Pound for pound, sirloin steak yields only two-thirds as much energy or heat as macaroni, but it contains twenty times as much fat, and about a fourth more protein. Fats Fat, aside from being a lubricant to the body, is the greatest source of latent or reserve energy that the body has, yet there is probably no neces- sary food constituent more thoroughly disliked. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 189 Fats must be broken up or emulsified before they can be digested. Fortunately the normal body is so constituted that it does not crave large quantities at a time. For this reason fats are seldom served by themselves alone, but in com- bination — olive oil being generally cut by lemon juice or vinegar in a French dressing, butter being spread on bread, eggs served with bacon, apple sauce with fat pork, etc. Nature demands a bal- ance. Fat is the last food constituent to be acted upon by the digestive organs; foods cooked in fat re- main in the digestive tract from one to two hours longer than is ordinarily necessary. For this rea- son, if such foods are eaten to excess, sooner or later intestinal indigestion is sure to follow. CHAPTER XXXV Tested Recipes for Cake "You cannot eat your cake and keep it too." — Proverb. Date Cake Yi cup butter 2 eggs, beaten until light ^Ys cups brown sugar Y2 cup sweet milk Wi cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons baking-powder Mix all together until smooth, then add a half teaspoon nutmeg, a half teaspoon cinnamon, a half pound of dates, cut in cubes. Beat hard and bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes. Soft Molasses Cookies Y3 cup butter 1 teaspoon ginger Yi cup boiling water Y2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 cup molasses Ya teaspoon salt 1 level teaspoon soda Flour for drop batter Melt the butter in the boiling water; add the molasses and the other ingredients sifted to- gether. Drop from a spoon upon a buttered bakirjg-pan, having the cakes some distance apart. Bake in a moderately quick oven. The dough should be of a consistency to makes cakes that do not spread too much. Try one cake, then add more flour if needed. Stored in a tight-closed earthen jar the cakes will keep moist a long time. TRUE FOOD VALUES 191 Jelly Roll 2 eggs Pinch of salt Yz cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking- 5 tablespoons milk powder 1 large cup flour Bake in large baking-pan, spread with jelly, and roll while hot. Oatmeal Gingerbread Warm one pint of molasses with a fourth pound of butter, lard, or good drippings, and a fourth pound of brown sugar. Mix with one and a half pounds of fine oatmeal, a half pound of flour, a teaspoon of baking-powder, a tablespoon ground ginger, a half teaspoon mixed spices, one ounce candied orange peel, cut fine, one pound raisins chopped. Pour the warmed ingredients over the dry mixture and stir well. A portion of this mixture may be mixed with nuts and baked in squares in a slow oven. The rest may be baked in a loaf tin. Snickerdoodles 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 4 tablespoons butter 1 cup milk 1 scant cup flour 2 teaspoons baking-powder 1 cup raisins ground with a meat cutter Drop batter from a tablespoon onto greased tins, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixed, if desired. Bake in quick oven. 192 TRUE FOOD VALUES Buttermilk Cookies One and a half cups granulated sugar, or two cups soft white sugar, one cup lard, one cup but- termilk in which have been dissolved two level teaspoons of soda. Flavor with nutmeg and add flour to make a soft dough. Bake in a hot oven. Poor Man's Fruit Cake Dissolve a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in four teaspoons of water. Put in a bowl, add a half cup of molasses, one cup of thick sour milk, and three tablespoons of melted butter. Mix thoroughly; add one cup of brown sugar, and then stir in three cups of sifted flour. Add one level teaspoon each of cinnamon and ginger, and half a nutmeg, grated; stir in one pound of seeded raisins. Turn into a square bread pan and bake in a moderate oven for one hour. When done turn it from the pan, and when cool put it in a tin box to ripen for at least one week. The above is an excellent fruit cake, and the cost is very moderate for a cake of the kind. The recipe was given us by a lady, who declared it the best fruit cake she had ever eaten. How TO Make Three Kinds of Cake at One Time Separate the yolks of four eggs into the mixing AND THEIR LOW COSTS 193 bowl, with two cups of sugar and half a cup of butter. Add whites beaten and cream lightly. Put in one teaspoon vanilla, two teaspoons baking-powder, and gradually add enough flour until mixture drops from spoon. Take three small greased loaf tins and put a third of this mixture into first tin, adding a few raisins, thus making loaf raisin cake. Drop the second third into small bowl, add one and a half teaspoons cocoa to color it, and put in second pan — making loaf of chocolate cake. Into the last third put a pinch each of nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon, and the third tin will have a delicious spice cake. These make a nice variety for lunches and can be made in one mixing. Oatmeal Cookies 1 cup butter 2 cups flour V/i cups sugar V2. teaspoon baking- 2 eggs powder 4 tablespoons sweet milk 1 large cup raisins 2 cups oatmeal (un- (seeded, cut, and cooked) floured). 1 teaspoon cinnamon A little nutmeg Cream the butter and sugar together ; add the eggs, well beaten, then the milk and oatmeal. Sift the baking-powder in the flour, and add the raisins and nutmeg last. The batter should be 194 TRUE FOOD VALUES very thick, and is dropped on well-greased tins in small circles and baked for fifteen or twenty minutes. They may be ornamented with nuts or fruits, if desired. There is no reason why the deft housewife can- not make cakes and cookies that for daintiness of flavor and variety excel those turned out by the large bakeries, and are certainly far more eco- nomical. There need be no restrictions to the baking of cookies or sand tarts. The wise cook will make them in large quantities, then put them into air- tight tins, and she will have enough in the larder for days to come. One necessary requirement for making good cookies is to have an even and rather quick oven. Sand Tarts Take one cup of butter, one and a half cups of sugar, three eggs, a tablespoon of water, two- thirds teaspoon of baking-powder, and sufficient flour to make stiff enough to roll. Cream the butter and sugar together; add yolks, well beaten, with water and whites beaten to a froth. Add the baking-powder and flour last. Roll the dough very thin; cut in circles or AND THEIR LOW COSTS I95 squares ; sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top ; and bake in a quick oven for about fifteen minutes. Plain Cookies 5^ cup butter 1 egg 1 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking- }i cup milk powder Flour to roll out thin Cream the butter ; add the sugar, milk, the egg beaten lightly, and the baking-powder mixed with two cups of flour, then enough more flour to roll out. Roll a little at a time. Cut out. Bake about ten minutes. The above is economical and good. ' A Rice Pie-crust There are some people who are denied the en- joyment of eating pie because the crust is hard to digest. The following use of rice makes an ex- cellent substitute for pie-crust in all lemon and cream pies. Put a quarter cup of rice into one cup of water, with a pinch of sah, and cook until soft. It is best to use a double boiler. Press the boiled rice into the shape of an under crust in the pie pan, and let it stand until it jellies. Make the lemon or cream filling and put it in the rice crust. Cover with the usual meringue, and brown lightly in the oven. If cut when cool, the rice will hold its 196 TRUE FOOD VALUES shape and prove a pleasant surprise to a pie-loving family. Serve cold. Ginger Creams 1 cup molasses 4 cups pastry flour 1 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons soda 5^ cup butter 1 teaspoon cinnamon Yz cup lard 1^/2 teaspoons ginger 1 cup sour cream VA teaspoons cloves 2 egg-yolks Vz teaspoon salt Mix together molasses, sugar, cream, egg- yolks, and the shortening, which should be melted. Mix the soda and spices with two cups of flour and beat into mixture. Add balance of flour; cover, and let stand an hour to swell. Then drop by rounded teaspoonfuls, two inches apart, onto a buttered sheet. Bake in a moderate oven. A raisin may be placed in the center of each be- fore baking, or they may be iced, when done, with vanilla frosting. Apple Cake 1 pint flour %. cup butter Vz teaspoon salt 1 egg Vz teaspoon soda 1 scant cup milk 1 teaspoon cream tartar 4 or S sour apples 4 large tablespoons sugar Mix dry ingredients in order given ; rub in the butter; beat the tgg and mix it with the milk; stir this into the dry mixture. The dough should be soft enough to spread a half inch thick on a AND THEIR LOW COSTS 197 shallow baking-pan. Core, pare, and cut the ap- ples into eighths ; lay them in rows on top of the dough, sharp end down, and press slightly ; sprin- kle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake in hot oven twenty-five minutes. Chocolate Gingerbread Put in a mixing bowl half a cup of molasses, one tablespoon each of melted lard and butter, half a cup of brown sugar, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a quarter of a teaspoon each of grated nutmeg and ground ginger, and a heap- ing tablespoon of grated sweet chocolate mixed to a paste with a little warm water. Blend the ingredients thoroughly, and then stir in one tea- spoon of baking-soda dissolved in a small cup of sour cream and sufficient sifted flour to form a cake batter. Pour into an oblong greased cake pan, and bake about twenty minutes in a moderate oven, covering when cold with a chocolate frosting. Brown-sugar Frosting Take one and a half cups brown sugar, a third cup milk, and one teaspoon butter. Boil together until a soft ball is formed when a little is dropped in cold water. Cool till tepid, add a half teaspoon 198 TRUE FOOD VALUES vanilla, and beat till thick enough to put on the cake. Chocolate Sponge Cake Beat up thoroughly four fresh eggs. Mix with a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of baking-powder, a half cup of potato flour, and two squares of chocolate. Stir well. Place in a well-greased pan and 1 ike for at least half an hour. "It simply melts in your mouth." It is the recipe of Miss Effie M. Cahoon, a sixteen-year- old Harwich High School girl, who won the title of ''Champion Housewife of Massachusetts" in the cooking-economies contest conducted by the Massachusetts Agricultural College. CHAPTER XXXVI Desserts A well-fed man is a happy man. A Delicious Graham Pudding To make a delicious graham pudding, put a cup of molasses, a cup of sweet milk, two cups of graham flour (not sifted), a tablespoon of melted butter, a scant teaspoon of soda, half a grated nutmeg, and a cup of raisins, currants, and citron mixed, in a bowl, and mix well. Turn into a mold and steam three hours. Prune Pudding Soak a cup of tapioca over night. The next morning cook until it is soft in a little water. Then mix with it a cup of sugar, a little salt, a cup and a half of stewed prunes, which have had the stones removed, a third of a teaspoon of cin- namon, and the juice and rind of a lemon. Turn into a mold and put in a cold place. Serve with whipped cream. Indian Pudding Into a quart of milk in a double boiler stir four large tablespoons of Indian meal mixed in a little 200 TRUE FOOD VALUES water, half cup of molasses, half cup of sugar, and a little salt. After cooking a while, stir in two beaten eggs. When cool, stir in a cup of cold milk, and bake three hours. Maple-Sirup Sandwich Spread one slice of white bread with maple sirup or molasses with a wooden spoon, the other slice with butter. Put the two pieces together and cut in any shape desired. Lemon Toast Pudding Take three slices of toast, two eggs, a cup sugar, a lemon (juice and grated rind), a five- cent can of evaporated milk, and a pinch of salt. Break toast in small pieces, add as much water as there is evaporated milk, stir both together; add sugar, salt, eggs well beaten, lemon juice, and grated rind, and pour all over the broken toast in pudding pan. Let set a few minutes until toast is well moistened Add a little more milk if neces- sary, and bake naif hour in a moderate oven. Apple Roll Make a pie crust with three even cups of flour, one good cup of lard, and a little salt. Roll out thin and cover with chopped apples with a little cinnamon sprinkled over them. Roll up like a AND THEIR LOW COSTS 201 jelly roll, cut in one-inch slices, and bake until brown. To be served with sauce or cream. Macedoine of Fruit Cut in small pieces any fruit on hand. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and let stand on ice for several hours. Serve in glasses with a spoonful of whipped cream on top. Nut Tapioca Soak two thirds of a cup of tapioca over night in three cups of water. In the morning add one cup of brown sugar, one teaspoon of salt, and two- thirds of a cup of hickory nut meats, broken fine or ground. Mix well and cook in double boiler, covered, for one hour. Serve cold with whipped or plain cream. Apple Pie with Cheese A new and appetizing way of serving cheese with apple pie is as follows: Choose a good- flavored English or American ripe cheese. It should be somewhat dry. Grate generously over the pie, and heat in the oven just long enough to make the pie hot and to melt the cheese. Apple Betty Use soft crumbs from the center of a stale loaf of bread. Mix three cups of crumbs with half a 202 TRUE FOOD VALUES cup of melted butter. Have ready three cups of sliced apples. Put the buttered crumbs and the fruit into a baking-dish, in alternate layers, hav- ing the last layer of crumbs. Sprinkle each layer of fruit with a little sugar, also cinnamon, or grated orange, or lemon peel, as desired. Bake about one hour. Let the dish be covered during the first half of the baking, but remove, at the last, that the erumbs may brown. Serve hot with sugar and cream. Honey The United States Department of Agriculture, in a new bulletin on the uses of honey, recom- mends it for making cakes, as well as for icing on cakes. Cakes made with honey will keep their quality longer than those made with sugar, and if made without butter will keep good for months. Peach Bread Pudding On a pint of fine stale bread or cracker crumbs pour boiling water and stir in a tablespoon of melted butter. After letting stand until thor- oughly soaked, add two well-beaten eggs and half cup of sugar. On the bottom of a buttered pud- ding dish put a thin layer of this batter, over it a layer of sliced peaches, and so on, dredging each layer of peaches with sugar till the dish is full, , AND THEIR LOW COSTS 203 having batter at the top. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Serve with sweetened cream. This is an excellent way of using second quality peaches. Orange Pudding Take enough puff paste to line a pie dish, the juice of three large oranges, the yolks of three eggs, quarter of a pound of sugar and half pint of milk. Mix all together, leaving out two ounces of sugar, and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Whip the whites of the eggs until stiff, stir in the remainder of the sugar, then pour this over the pudding, and bake a golden color. Vanilla Snow Pudding One cup of rice, five cups of salted water; boil for twenty minutes, then add half cup sweet cream, half cup sugar, one tablespoon butter, and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Flavor with vanilla. Pile on dish and serve cold. Coffee Souffle V2 cup milk 1 tablespoon gelatine Wz cups coffee A good pinch of salt Yz cup sugar 3 eggs If you have coffee left over from breakfast or dinner, by no means allow it to be thrown away, but see that it is saved from day to day and kept in a bottle, as it can be used in many ways. 204 TRUE FOOD VALUES One of the best ways of using the coffee is in the making of coffee jelly. But there are others as nice. For instance, there is coffee souffle, which will please every member of the family. First soak the gelatin for an hour in cold water. Then mix with the coffee, milk, and half of the sugar. Heat in a double boiler. Beat the yolks of the eggs slightly, add what is left of the sugar and the salt, and pour slowly into the coff^ 2 mix- ture. Cook until the mixture becomes thick, and then add the whites of the eggs beaten stiffly, and a half teaspoon of vanilla. Beat the whole thor- oughly and turn into a mould. CHAPTER XXXVII How Food Frauds may be Frustrated The increasing frequency of prosecutions under the Food and Drugs Act, against trades- men for selling dangerous and adulterated food, has justly caused a feeling of uneasiness among the public as to what they are really getting for their money. When it is reflected that the num- ber of inspectors is not nearly sufficient properly to check the evil, and that, moreover, even when dishonest shopkeepers are detected, their nefari- ous profits are so large that they are content to risk prosecution again and again rather than give up selling adulterated goods, any feeling of un- easiness that exists must be increased tenfold. The pure food law, which went into effect January i, 1907, has done much toward checking the wholesale and gross violation of foods im- posed upon the people by unscrupulous firms. Yet, however severe the punishment, and how- ever closely the various frauds are watched, many will still be inclined to beat the law. The only certain check on adulteration is one 2o6 TRUE FOOD VALUES applied by the housewife herself, and I propose to give some simple hints whereby any one can tell at once what it is one is buying. These methods are used by the trade to protect itself against dishonest manufacturers and merchants, and the very mention of them will send a cold shiver down the spine of the ''margarine-for-but- ter ' man. One of the commonest of all swindles is selling margarine for butter, and when it is reflected that the former can be purchased wholesale at about seven cents per pound, and when sold as butter fetches from thirty to forty cents, it is hardly surprising. Best margarine is probably as wholesome as butter, but some of the cheap makes have been adulterated with tallow and glucose, and in some cases have even contained the early stages of the tape-worm. There are a number of very simple ways of detecting margarine in butter, or distin- guishing margarine from butter. For example, if a small piece of the suspected article be rubbed violently between the hands a tallowy smell will be observed if it contains margarine. Another method is to make a little wick of twisted cotton or thread, pull it through the ar- ticle to be tested, and light it, blowing out the AND THEIR LOW COSTS 207 flame immediately. If margarine is present, there will be an unmistakable tallowy whiff like that from a blown-out candle. If butter is melted in a tube it froths readily, while margarine will scarcely froth at all unless it contains butter, and then only in proportion to the butter present. When butter is melted there is a residue of salt and water, but the bulk forms a clear, perfectly transparent mass of pure butter, while margarine is not transparent and has a milky appearance. Another swindle is chicory sold for coffee, and as the latter costs from ten to fifteen cents per pound and fetches from twenty to thirty cents when sold as coffee, it is a swindle that is likely to continue so long as human nature is what it is. With a little practice it is possible to detect chicory at once by its smell, which is raw and bit- ter and quite distinct from the rich aroma of coffee. Most grocers rely entirely upon this test. The housewife might remember, however, that it is always darker in color than coffee, and when kept for any time it is liable to cake, which pure coffee never does. The only certain way of avoiding chicory is to buy the coffee whole and grind it as required ; the flavor is much better immediately after grinding, 2o8 TRUE FOOD VALUES and as chicory cannot be made Into lumps one is sure of not getting any. Sham whole chicory has, however, been found occasionally mixed with the genuine article, and consists of pellets of clay or colored farina. Probably the best test for pure coffee is to place a teaspoon of the ground coffee gently on the surface of a glass of water. If it is pure it will float for a long time and scarcely color the water, but if it contains coloring matter of chicory it will quickly absorb water and sink, imparting a brownish tint to the water. If a teaspoon of the suspected article is stirred rapidly into a glass of cold water, pure coffee will rise to the top and scarcely color the water, but chicory will sing to the bottom and stain the water a dark brown tint. Even chicory has been freely adulterated, sam- ples from Germany and Holland having some- times been proved to contain red earths, Vene- tian red, and ground mustard husks, wheat, rye, or beans. Another favorite fraud is the addition of alum to bread and baking-powders, which gives a pleas- ing whiteness to the bread, but has a less satis- factory effect on the stomach of the victim v^^ho eats it. It causes constipation and indigestion, AND THEIR LOW COSTS 209 and, if there is enough of it, it may be dissolved by the gastric juices and enter the blood, which it will coagulate, with perhaps very serious results. A rough-and-ready test for alum in bread is to plunge the heated blade of a table-knife into the loaf when it arrives warm from the baker's. If it contains alum the peculiar sour smell of this un- desirable substance may be detected on the blade. Another way is as follows : Crumble a slice of the suspected bread into a glass of cold water, add a slip of leaf gelatin, cover, and leave all night. In the morning take a small quantity of solution of log-wood to which enough carbonate of ammonia has been added to render it alkaline, and stain the swollen gelatin with it. If the bread is pure the gelatin will be of a dark red color, but if alum is present it will be of varying shades of blue, according to the amount of alum present. Baking-powders occasionally contain very large quantities of alum, as much as forty per cent, being sometimes revealed by analysis, but it is very easily detected. Stir a couple of tea- spoonfuls in a glass of cold water, and if it is pure it will bubble up owing to the formation of carbonic acid gas ; but the presence of alum pre- vents this and it is lifeless. Green peas in bottles and tins are frequently 2IO TRUE FOOD VALUES colored with copper, which, in sufficient quanti- ties, is highly dangerous ; in fact, there have been cases in the courts where a tin of peas contained enough poison to kill a man. It is very easy to detect the presence of copper. If the peas are poured into a glass and a small piece of clean steel, such as a large darning-needle, is steeped in the mixture and left all night, a plating of cop- per will be deposited on the steel if any is present in the peas. Happily a process has been discovered for col- oring green preserved vegetables by ''chlorophyl,'* or the beautiful natural coloring of leaves, etc., and this is quite harmless, besides giving a better color than the dangerous copper. A very common swindle is the sale of beet sugar in imitation of cane sugar, to which it is altogether inferior; but it can be distinguished from the former by color, smell, and taste. If beet sugar is put into tea without milk it will turn the liquid very dark, but not so with cane sugar. This is the best way of telling one from the other. Colored beet crystals, however, sold in imitation of Demera sugar, can generally be known from the genuine article by stirring a spoonful rapidly in cold water and examining the undissolved residue. If the color is washed out AND THEIR LOW COSTS 211 it IS probably colored beet sugar and not the genuine cane. Olive oil is perhaps adulterated more than any similar food product. The most common adul- terant is cotton-seed oil, but sesame oil and min- eral oil are sometimes found. The latter is highly dangerous, as it is entirely indigestible and most objectionable. Rough-and-ready tests for purity are by shaking up the bottle — adulterated oil holds the air bubbles much more freely than the pure olive oil ; or, where the oil congeals at too high a tem- perature — if there is ten per cent., or more, adul- teration present the congealed mass will float on top for several days. It is a common practice of grocers selling adulterated oil to prescribe it as "salad oil" or ''household oil" instead of ''olive oil," as, if it is so described, they cannot be prose- cuted. Moral: Ask for olive oil, and see that you get it. Tinned sardines are often anything but sar- dines, and the same thing may be said of an- chovies. It is very difficult to know a sardine from the many imitations that are put up, but if the small fish are chosen the purchaser is on the safe side. There is a very simple way, however, of telling anchovies from their many (far in- 212 TRUE FOOD VALUES ferior) imitations. The belly fin is much nearer the head than the one on the back; the head is pointed, the upper jaw projects over the lower one, the body is thin, and the tail wide-forked and slender. By noticing these points, one can very easily distinguish it from the sardines, sprats, pilchards, etc., often sold as genuine anchovies. INDEX Apple Betty, 201 Apple cake, 196 Apple pie with cheese, 201 Apple roll, 200 Apple sauce, why serve with pork? 147 Bacon and eggs, new style, 152 Baked fish, stuffing for, 95 Baked ham with potatoes, 136 Baked pork chops, 150 Baked potatoes, 107 Baked tomatoes, 118 Beef, corned and pickled, cal- ories per pound, 17 Beef, dried, 20 Beef, fresh, calories per pound, 16 Beef loaf, 143 Beef organs, calories per pound, 16 Beef pie, 138 Beef, shin of, stewed, 135 Beef soup dinner, 137 Beef, Southern, 143 Beef stew, 143, 144 Bisque, lobster, 96 Boiled dressing, 99 Boiled dressing for cold slaw, 99 Boiled frosting, 173 Boiled potatoes, 106 Bran gems made with sour milk, 128 Bread, 11 Bread, digestibility of different kinds, 86 Bread, hot, 89 Bread, maple brown, 83, Bread, milk, 79 Bread, oatmeal, 83 Bread, prune brown, 166 Bread, raisin, 81 Bread, rye, 83 Bread, water, 78 Breaded lamb, 151 Breads, something about, 81 Breakfast foods, predjgested and malted, 29 Breakfast, hints for, 161 Breakfast muffins, 85 Breast of mutton boiled, 135 Broiled meat cakes, ISO Broiled tomatoes, 117 Broiling, 186 Broiling, steak, word about, 149 Brown bread, prune, 166 Brown sugar frosting, 197 Buttermilk cookies, 192 Buying meat in midsummer, 68 Cabbage and rice, 113 Cabbage cooked with pork, 112 Cabbage, creamed, 112 Cabbage, Norwegian style, 113 Cabbage, proper way to boil, 111 Cabbage salad, 101 Cabbage, word about, 110 Cake, apple, 196 Cake, chocolate, 173 Cake, chocolate sponge, 198 Cake, cocoa sponge, 172 Cake, coffee, 81 Cake, date, 190 Cake, how to make three kinds at one time, 192 Cake, poor man's fruit, 192 Cake, San Jose prune, 165 Cake, tested recipes for, 190 Cakes, broiled meat, 150 Cakes, nut, 82 Canned lamb, calories per pound, 18 21$ 214 INDEX Canned mutton, calories per pound, 18 Caper sauce, 136 Care of the coffee pot, 130 Cereal substitutes for coffee, 32 Cheese, molded, salad, 128 Cheese, prune, pie, 164 Cheese rings, 122 Cheese toast, 154 Chocolate, 170 Chocolate, a word about, 169 Chocolate cake, 173 Chocolate crullers, 171 Chocolate filling, 170 Chocolate gelatin, 170 Chocolate gingerbread, 197 Chocolate pie, 169 Chocolate roll, 171 Chocolate sandwiches, 171 Chocolate sponge cake, 198 Chocolate tarts, 172 Chops, pork, baked, ISO Chops, pork, Portugese method, ISO Cocoa, iced, 156 Cocoa, iced, Panama-Pacific Exposition style, 158 Cocoa sponge cake, 172 Coffee as a beverage, 129 Coffee cake, 81 CoflFee, cereal substitutes for, 32 Coffee pot, care of, 130 Coffee souffle, 203 Cold meat pies, 146 Cold slaw, boiled dressing for, 99 Composition of milk, 11 Constipation, diet in, 174 Cooked lamb, calories per pound, 18 Cooked mutton, calories per pound, 18 Cookies, buttermilk, 192 Cookies, oatmeal, 193 Cookies, plain, 195 Cookies, soft molasses, 190 Cooking, a word about, 33 Corned beef, calories per pound, 17 Cream mufiins, 84 Creamed cabbage, 112 Creamed veal in pastry horns, 153 Crullers, chocolate, 171 Date cake, 190 Deep fat frying, 70 Delicious graham pudding, 199 Delicious Hamburg with tomato, 151 Delicious luncheon dish, 145 Desserts, 199 Diet and health, 21 Diet in constipation, 174 Diet in dyspepsia, 175 Digestibility of different kinds of bread, 86 Dinner, one-course, 135 Doctors, what they do not know, 51 Dressing, boiled, 99 Dressing, French, 98 Dressing, mayonnaise, 99 Dried beef, 20 Drinks, satisfying, 155 Dyspepsia, diet in, 175 Easy ways to prevent waste, 59 Economy, false, 42 Egg salad, 102 Egg, white and yolk, 38 Eggs, 35 Eggs and milk, 14 Eggs, hard-boiled, 40 Eggs, raw, 36 Eggs, soft-boiled, 39 Eggs, to keep, 68 Eggs, unsafe, 41 Eggs, whole, 27 Energy value of meat, 15 English cheese pudding, 140 Experts, food, 50 INDEX 2IS False economy, 42 Fat folks, 63 Fats, 188 Filling, chocolate, 17§ Fish, 91 Fish and potatoes, 92 Fish balls, 93 Fish, mayonnaise, 102 Flour, 7i Flour, to preserve, 70 Food experts, 50 Food frauds, 205 Food, proper proportion of, 7 Food, skill in the preparation of, 178 Food values, 1 Frauds, food, 205 French dressing, 98 Fresh beef, calories per pound, 16 Fresh lamb, calories per pound, 17 Fresh mutton, calories per pound, 18 Fresh pork, calories per pound, 19 Fresh veal, calories per pound, 17 Freshening vegetables, 67 Fried tomatoes, 117 Fritters, veal, 152 Frosting, boiled, 173 Frosting, brov/n sugar, 197 Fruit cake, poor man's, 192 Fruit cup, 160 Fruit, macedoine of, 201 Frying, deep fat, 70 Frying oysters, 187 Fuel-producers, 1 Fundamental basis of nutrition, 3 Gelatin, chocolate, 170 Gems, bran, made with sour milk, 128 German potato salad, 101 Ginger cream, 155 Ginger creams, 196 Ginger punch, 155 Ginger squash, 156 Gingerbread, chocolate, 197 Gingerbread, oatmeal, 191 Good meat substitute, 182 Graham muffins, 84 Graham pudding, 199 Grape punch, 159 Griddle cakes, utilizing cold, 153 Growing fat, 63 Ham, baked with potatoes, 136 Ham, scalloped, and potatoes, 154 Ham, smoked, 20 Hamburg with tomato, 151 Hard-boiled eggs, 40 Health and diet, 21 High cost luncheon, balanced ration, 24 Hints for breakfast, 161 Hints, useful, 66 Honey, 202 Hot bread, 89 How food frauds may be frus- trated, 205 How to make three kinds of cake at one time, 192 How to stew meat, 142 Iced cocoa, 156 Iced cocoa, Panama-Pacific Ex- position style, 158 Icings, 183 Indian pudding, 199 Jelly, prune, 167 Jelly roll, 191 Keeping eggs, 68 Lamb, breaded, 151 Lamb, canned, calories per pound, 18 Lamb, cooked, calories per pound, 18 Lamb, fresh, calories per pound, 17 2l6 INDEX Lamb, that leg of, 139 Larding, 185 Lemon toast pudding, 200 Lemonade a la Savarin, 56 Lemons, to preserve, 70 Lettuce salad, 101 Loaf, beef, 143 Lobster a la Newburg, 93 Lobster and milk terror, 96 Lobster bisque, 96 Lobster, plain, 95 Low cost luncheon, balanced ration, 23 Luncheon, delicious dish, 145 Luncheon, high cost, balanced ration, 24 Luncheon, low cost, balanced ration, 23 Macaroni, 123, 124, 125 Macaroni, spaghetti, and vermi- celli, 123 Macaroni versus meat, 188 Macedoine of fruit, 201 Malted and predigested break- fast foods, 29 Maple brown bread, 83 Mayonnaise dressing, 99 Mayonnaise fish, 102 Mayonnaise, quick, 184 Maple sirup sandwich, 200 Meals, more one-course, 144 Meat, broiled, cakes, 150 Meat, buying in midsummer, 68 Meat, cold, pies, 146 Meat, energy value of, 15 Meat, how to stew, 142 Meat, macaroni versus, 188 Meat rolls, 147 Meat, shall we eat it? 46 Meat substitute, 182 Mexican pie, 148 Milk and eggs, 14 Milk and lobster terror, 96 Milk bread. 79 Milk, composition of, 11 Milk, use of sour, 126 Mint punch, 155 Mock veal loaf with creamed peas, 151 Molasses, soft cookies, 190 Molded cheese salad, 128 More one-course meals, 144 Muffins, breakfast, 85 Muffins, cream, 84 Muffins, graham, 84 Muffins, rice, 85 Mutton, breast of, boiled, 135 Mutton, canned, calories per pound, 18 Mutton, cooked, calories per pound, 18 Mutton, fresh, calories per pound, 18 Mutton organs, calories per pound, 18 Nearly half a man's wages goes for food, 25 Nut cakes, 82 Nut tapioca, 201 Nutrition, fundamental basis of, 3 Oatmeal bread, 83 Oatmeal cookies, 193 Oatmeal gingerbread, 191 Oil, olive, 54 Olive oil, 54 Omelets, 38, 39 One-course dinner, 135 Orange pudding, 203 Origin of tea, 133 Oysters, frying, 187 Parker House rolls, 80 Peach bread pudding, 202 Pepper cups, 122 Peppers, stuffed, 121 Peppers, sweet, 120 Pickled beef, calories per pound, 17 Pie, apple, with cheese, 201 Pie, beef, 138 INDEX 217 Pie, chocolate, 169 Pie crust, rice, 195 Pie, Mexican, 148 Pie, prune cheese, 164 Pie, Shepherd's, 153 Pies, cold meat, 146 Plain cookies, 195 Plain lobster, 95 Plain stewed prunes, 165 Poor man's fruit cake, 192 Pork chops, Portugese method, 150 Pork, fresh, calories per pound, 19 Pork, why serve apple sauce with, 147 Potato salad, 144 Potatoes, 92 Potatoes, baked, 107 Potatoes, boiled, 106 Potatoes, word about, 104 Predigested and malted break- fast foods, 29 Preservation of flour, 70 Preserving lemons, 70 Prevention of waste, 59 Proper proportion of food, 7 Proper way to boil cabbage, 111 Prune brown bread, 166 Prune, cake, San Jose, 165 Prune cheese pie, 164 Prune jelly, 167 Prune pudding, 167, 199 Prune sherbert, 166 Prune whip, 168 Prunes, 164 Prunes, plain stewed, 165 Prunes, stuffed, 165 Pudding, delicious graham, 199 Pudding, English cheese, 140 Pudding, Indian, 199 Pudding, lemon toast, 200 Pudding, orange, 203 Pudding, peach bread, 202 Pudding, prune, 167, 199 Pudding, vanilla snow, 203 Punch, ginger, 155 Punch, grape, 159 Punch, mint, 155 Punch, tea, 160 Quick mayonnaise, 184 Raisin bread, 81 Raw eggs, 36 Raw potato yeast, 75 Rice and cabbage, 113 Rice muffins, 85 Rice pie crust, 195 Rolled skirt steak in casserole, 138 Rolled steak, 148 Rolls, meat, 147 Rolls, Parker House, 80 Rolls, tea, 82 Rye bread, 83 Salad, cabbage, 101 Salad, egg, 102 Salad, German potato, 101 Salad, lettuce, 101 Salad, molded cheese, 128 Salad, potato, 144 Salads, 98 San Jose prune cake, 165 Sand tarts, 194 Sandwich, maple sirup, 200 Sandwiches, chocolate, 171 Satisfying drinks, 155 Sauce, caper, 136 Scalloped ham and potatoes, 154 Scalloped tomatoes, 118 Scones, Scotch, 84 Scotch scones, 84 Scotch shortbread, 85 Shall we eat meat? 46 Shepherd's pie, 153 Sherbert, prune, 166 Shin of beef, stewed, 135 Shortbread, Scotch, 85 Sirup, sugar, 159 Skill in the preparation of food, 178 2l8 INDEX Smoked ham, 20 Snickerdoodles, 191 Snow pudding, vanilla, 203 Soft molasses cookies, 190 Soft-boiled eggs, 39 Something about breads, 81 Souffle, coffee, 203 Sour milk, bran gems made with, 128 Sour milk, use of, 126 Southern beef, 143 Spaghetti, 124 Spaghetti, macaroni and vermi- celli, 123 Spinach cooked with water, 109 Spinach, word about, 108 Sponge cake, chocolate, 198 Sponge cake, cocoa, 172 Steak, rolled, 148 Steak, rolled skirt, in casserole, 138 Steak, word about broiling, 149 Stew, beef, 143, 144 Stewed prunes, 165 Stuffed peppers, 121 Stuffed prunes, 165 Stuffing for baked fish, 95 Substitute for coffee, 32 Substitute for meat, 182 Sugar sirup, 159 Sweet peppers, 120 Sweethearts, 167 Tapioca, nut, 201 Tarts, chocolate, 172 Tarts, sand, 194 Tea, 132 Tea, origin of, 133 Tea punch, 160 Tea rolls, 82 Tested recipes for cake, 190 That leg of lamb, 139 Thirst-quenchers, 155 Tissue-builders, 1 Toast, cheese, 154 Tomatoes, baked, 118 Tomatoes, broiled, 117 Tomatoes, fried, 117 Tomatoes, scalloped, 118 Tomatoes, word about, 115 Unsafe eggs, 41 Use of sour milk, 126 Useful hints, 66 Utilizing cold griddle cakes, 153 Vagaries, 56 Vanilla snow pudding, 203 Veal, creamed, in pastry horns, 153 Veal, fresh, calories per pound, 17 Veal fritters, 152 Veal, mock, loaf with creamed peas, 151 Veal organs, calories per pound, 17 Vegetables, preparing, 113 Vegetables, to freshen, 67 Vermicelli, macaroni and spaghetti, 123 Waste, easy ways to prevent, 59 Waste in preparing vegetables, 113 Water bread, 78 What doctors do not know, 51 When eggs are unsafe, 41 Whole eggs, Z7 Why folks grow fat, 63 Why serve apple sauce with pork? 147 Word about broiling steak, 149 Word about cabbage, 110 Word about chocolate, 169 Word about cooking, 33 Word about potatoes, 104 Word about spinach, 108 Word about tomatoes, 115 Yeast, 74 Yeast, raw potato, 75