Cotton fibres magnified(1) Soak in cold, soft water for twelve hours or more, and then drain and rinse. Hard water may be softened by boiling, or by the addition of soda (1/8 tsp. of soda to 1 pt. of water).
(2) Cook by simmering in softened water until they are soft.
(3) After simmering, the beans may be baked.
Forms in which used:
The series of lessons on vegetable foods being finished, it is a good time to take a salad lesson. All salads were originally made from fresh young plants or salad greens, and though any food material is now used for the purpose, the subject seems to follow naturally the lessons on plant food.
The pupils should derive unusual pleasure from this work. The dishes made are most attractive and appetizing, besides affording an opportunity for each member of the class to display individual artistic skill. None of the principles are new, so that the lesson will be really a review.
The outline of notes for the class will be:
This depends on the ingredients. If salad greens only are used, the food value is mainly the mineral matter, but the dish will be refreshing and appetizing, and the oil, butter, or egg used in the dressing adds nutriment.
Salads are prepared with little trouble and with no expense for fuel.
(1) Salad greens.—Wash thoroughly, and put in cold water until crisp, drain on a towel, wrap in a damp cloth, and put in a cool place. Cabbage and lettuce may be finely shredded.
(2) Fruit and cooked vegetables.—Cut into cubes or suitable pieces. Chill and mix with the dressing, to absorb it.
(3) Meats.—Remove the fat, skin, and gristle. Cut in cubes and chill.
(4) Fish.—Remove the bones, flake, chill, and pour dressing over; but do not mix.
| 2 tbsp. sugar | 1/4 cup vinegar |
| 1/2 tsp. mustard | 2 eggs |
| 1/2 tsp. salt | 2 tbsp. butter. |
(1) Mix the first four ingredients in a saucepan and heat until dissolved.
(2) Beat the eggs very light in a round-bottomed bowl, using a Dover egg beater.
(3) Beat the vinegar mixture into the eggs.
(4) Set the bowl, with its contents, over a dish of boiling water, then beat slowly and constantly until the mixture is thickened.
(5) Lift the bowl from the heat at once.
(6) Beat in the butter and set away to cool.
(7) If desired, a half cup of whipped or plain cream may be added just before the dressing is used.
| 1/4 tsp. salt | 4 tbsp. olive oil |
| 1/8 tsp. pepper | 2 tbsp. vinegar. |
(1) Stir the salt and pepper into the oil.
(2) Add the vinegar slowly and stir vigorously until well blended and slightly thickened.
(3) Serve with any salad made of salad greens.
As the study of mineral food involves a knowledge of chemistry, little more can be done in Junior classes than to teach that certain mineral compounds are required for the body, to point out their two main uses, and to lead the pupils to know the foods which generally supply these.
Their attention should be directed to the fact that all mineral matter is found, in the first place, in the earth's crust, but that, with the exception of salt, animals cannot use it in that form. Plants can use it, and they absorb it from the soil; then we eat the plants, and in that way obtain the mineral substance, or we may obtain it by eating the animals which have eaten the plants. Water also, in making its way through the earth, may dissolve certain minerals and, by drinking the water, we obtain these.
It will not be necessary to teach the names of the minerals which our food must supply, as most of these will mean nothing to the pupils. They might be asked to name one or two which are very familiar; for instance, the lime in bone and the iron in blood. They may be told that there are a few others which they will learn when they study chemistry in the high school.
The pupils have already learned that mineral matter serves two main functions in the body: that is, building and regulating, and it is a good plan to classify the well-known foods under these two headings. With a little guidance the pupils can do most of this for themselves. They know that milk serves all building purposes in a child's body, and must, therefore, contain mineral matter. Eggs build animal bodies, and must contain this substance also. Meat is the animal body that has been built, therefore meat has this substance; but we shall find in the meat lessons that there is no mineral matter in fat and that the cook cannot dissolve it out of bone, therefore muscle or lean meat must be eaten to obtain it. Seeds, too, contain building material for new plants; therefore, the building mineral matter must be stored in their cells. Hard water is known by the lime it contains, therefore this, if drunk, assists in the formation of bone.
The class must be told that the mineral in the juices of plants is mainly for regulating purposes; that is, to keep our bodies in order, or as we say, healthy. When they get out of order, we usually go to a doctor to be regulated or made well. The medicine which he prescribes often contains some mineral in solution, perhaps iron. The mineral matter which is in the juices of plants, being a more natural form than the mineral matter in the medicine, is more easily made use of in the bodily processes. This is one reason why people should eat plenty of vegetables and fruit.
Many springs also furnish water with large quantities of mineral matter in solution, which is used mainly for medicinal purposes. The pupils may know some places where we find such springs, and these should be mentioned, such as Preston Springs, Banff, and Mount Clemens, which have become health resorts through the presence of these waters. When the springs are in a distant country and their waters are known to contain a certain mineral which our bodies need, the water is bottled and shipped to us, and may be obtained from a druggist. Hunyadi Janos, Apenta, Vichy, and Apollinaris are well-known medicinal waters shipped from European springs.
Note.—This classification will be most useful to the pupils in preparing well-balanced meals in their diet lessons.
After studying in this elementary way the composition of the animal and vegetable foods, the pupils will be ready for simple lessons on diet. The class may now be said to have a working knowledge of the well-known foods, and they should be given a chance to use this knowledge, by combining and serving these foods for simple meals.
It will be helpful in this work, to guide the pupils in making out a reference table of the food constituents. This will give lists of food in which each constituent predominates, as follows:
Beverages (water, milk, tea, coffee, cocoa), fruit, vegetables.
(1) For building—milk, eggs (yolk and white), lean meat or fish, seeds, hard water
(2) For regulating—fruit, vegetables, mineral waters.
Milk (curd), eggs (yolk and white), lean meat or fish, seeds.
Fruit (juice), non-starchy vegetables (juice), milk (whey), commercial sugar.
Parts of plants which serve as storehouses:
Tubers—potatoes, artichokes
Roots—parsnip, tapioca, arrowroot
Stem—sago
Seeds—cereals, legumes, some nuts (peanuts, chestnuts).
Milk (cream), egg-yolk, meat or fish (fat), fruit, as the olive (oil), most nuts (walnut, butternut, pecan, peanut, etc.).
Besides the necessary substances in food, the pupils must be told that there are other points for the housekeeper to consider when preparing the meals, namely:
Under 1, above, it may be explained, that when a meal is prepared which gives the body a correct proportion of each food substance, it is said to be well balanced. From numerous experiments the "Dietary Standard" for one day for a grown person has been calculated to be:
Although the pupils cannot be expected to follow this table accurately, from lack of sufficient knowledge, it will be of some assistance to them in choosing a combination of food for the home meals.
Under 2, above, some of the variations of food are obvious, but some must be taught. Children require simple, nourishing food, which will contain plenty of protein and mineral matter for tissue building as well as much fuel food. Their diet should be varied and abundant.
In old age the diet should also be simple, because of the lack of vigour in the digestive organs, but the amount of building material should be decreased. The food of old people should contain proportionately more carbonaceous material.
Brain workers require less food than those engaged in active muscular work, and it should be less stimulating and less bulky. Their diet should be in a form that is easily digested.
With the foregoing general ideas in mind, the pupils may be asked to prepare menus for simple home meals. These should be assigned as home work, so that plenty of time can be given to their consideration, and then they may be brought to the class for criticism. The best of these should be chosen for actual practice in school work.
Note.—It is intended that this part of the work shall be presented in a very rudimentary way. The teacher should feel satisfied if she succeeds in implanting ideas of the importance of these food considerations, so that the pupils will be ready for more specific instruction to be gained in higher schools or from their own reading. Cheap bulletins on Human Nutrition, published by Cornell University, will be excellent reading on this subject.
Before the pupils are given a meal to prepare and serve, table setting should be reviewed, and the rules of table service taught as follows:
Note.—Extra cutlery and napkins should be conveniently placed on a side table, in case of accident.
Where the class consists of twelve or more pupils, it must be divided for the preparation and serving of a meal. Each section should prepare and serve a meal for the others, until all have had experience. As breakfast and luncheon are the simpler meals, they should be taken first in the order of lessons. The duties of the cooking and serving should be definitely settled, and each girl given entire responsibility for a certain part of the work.
Those who are served should represent a family. Members should be chosen to act as father, mother, lady guest, gentleman guest, and children of varying ages, so that the duties and serving of each may be typified.
The order of work should be discussed and planned by the pupils, the teacher guiding the class by her questioning. In lessons of this kind, the main work of the teacher is to ascertain what the pupil knows and to systematize her knowledge.
A typewritten sheet of directions may be given each pupil to hang in her room, and may serve as an incentive to her to perform the duties outlined.
Once a week the following work should be added:
After the pupils have had training in the care of their bed-rooms, this experience, together with their lessons in cleaning, should enable them to keep any of the other rooms in the house in good order.
It should be pointed out that, in these days of sanitary building and furnishing, there is no necessity for the semi-annual "housecleaning" of former times. Each week the house can be thoroughly gone over, with the exception of laundering curtains and washing wood-work, and these duties might be taken in turn, a room at a time every week, so that the work will not accumulate.
The class should be taught to consider the economy of time and energy and encouraged to provide themselves with all the latest aids they can afford.
The cleaning methods which are necessary for this work and which have not been formally taught, should now be definitely outlined. These are the weekly sweeping, weekly dusting, and cleaning special metals.
Utensils made of these are heavy, but strong and durable, and hold the heat well.
They must be kept dry and smooth. Moisture causes rust, roughens the surfaces of the utensils, and makes them more difficult to clean. If they are not to be used for some time, the surfaces should be greased or coated with paraffin.
(1) Wash in hot soap-suds, rinse in hot water, and dry thoroughly.
(2) If food is burned on, scour with some gritty material or boil in a solution of washing soda, rinse in hot water, and dry thoroughly.
Utensils made of this are light and inexpensive; they are good conductors of heat, but they are also good radiators and lose heat quickly.
As tinware is steel or iron coated with liquid tin, the grades vary according to the "base-metal" used and the thickness of the coating. Utensils made of this metal must be carefully kept from scratches, since deep scratches expose the base-metal and allow the formation of rust.
(1) Wash in hot soap-suds, rinse, and dry thoroughly.
(2) If food is burned on, boil in a weak solution of washing soda, rinse in hot water, and dry thoroughly.
Note.—Whiting may be used to brighten the tin, but scouring is not recommended, as it wears off the coating.
Utensils made of this are attractive, not heavy, and they do not tarnish or rust.
These wares are made by coating steel or sheet-iron with a specially prepared glassy substance called enamel or glaze. Two or three coats are applied. The durability depends on the ingredients used in the glaze and on the number of coats applied.
Such utensils should be heated gradually, scraped carefully, and handled without knocking, to avoid "chipping".
(1) Wash in hot soap-suds.
(2) If stained, use some scouring powder; wash and dry.
(3) If food is burned on, boil in a solution of washing soda and then scour; wash and dry.
Utensils made of this are very light in weight and, as they have no crevices, are easily cleaned. They are also good conductors of heat.
This metal warps under a high temperature, and should, therefore, be used with care. Do not turn the gas on full, or, if used over wood or coal fires, be sure to leave the stove lid on.
Some foods injure the metal, if they are allowed to remain in it very long.
(1) Wash in hot water, with mild soap. Alkalies should not be used, as they darken the surface.
(2) If food is burned on, the dish should be soaked in water and then scoured with bathbrick or emery powder.
(3) Whiting may be used to brighten it.
This is not used for utensils, but for table tops and for placing under stoves, etc.
(1) Use hot water and mild soap. Alkalies and acids affect zinc and should be used with care.
(2) If stained, rub with coal-oil or a paste made of coal-oil and soda, and then wash in hot water.
This is used for garbage pails, ash pans, stove pipes, etc. It is made by dipping sheet-iron into melted zinc.
The same as for zinc.
Utensils made of these are heavy but durable and are good conductors of heat. They are dangerous, if not properly cleaned.
(1) Wash in hot water, using a little washing soda to remove any grease, rinse well, and dry.
(2) If stained or tarnished, scour with salt and vinegar, then rinse thoroughly, and dry.
This is used for spoons, knives, forks, and serving dishes, but never for cooking utensils, on account of its cost. It is the best conductor of heat among the house metals.
(1) Wash in hot soap-suds.
(2) If stained or tarnished, use whiting or silver polish, wash, and dry.
| 2 tbsp. borax | 1/2 cup alcohol |
| 1 cup boiling water | whiting. |
Note.—The care and cleaning of the metals out of which ordinary utensils are made, such as granite ware, tin, and steel, may be taught incidentally as the utensils are used.
The principles of laundry work have been taught in the washing of dish cloths and towels, and now these principles have only to be extended to white cotton and linen clothes of any kind.
The pupils may be asked to bring soiled articles of white linen or cotton from home for use at school in exemplifying the necessary processes. In schools which lack an equipment, these processes may be discussed in class and then practised at home. The teacher should choose from the following outline what is most suitable to the class:
Lesson I
For laundry purposes, the water should be soft. The quality known as hardness, which some water has, is due to the lime which it has dissolved in making its way through the earth.
Water is said to be temporarily or permanently hard according to the kind of lime it has in solution. Temporarily hard water may be softened by boiling; the lime will be deposited, as may be seen in the "furring" of tea-kettles. Boiling has no effect in softening permanently hard water, so a substance known as an alkali is used for this purpose.
Note.—Sufficient blueing should be used to make the blueing water a pale sky-blue colour when a little of it is lifted in the hand.
| 2 tbsp. laundry starch |
| 1/2 tsp. borax |
| 2 cups cold water. |
Dissolve the borax in a little boiling water. Add the cold water gradually to the starch and mix thoroughly. Add the dissolved borax and stir well before using.
| 2 tbsp. starch | 1/2 tsp. lard, butter, or paraffin |
| 4 tbsp. cold water | 1 qt. boiling water. |
Mix the starch with the cold water until free from lumps. Add the lard, then gradually stir in the boiling water, and keep stirring until thickened. Cook fifteen minutes and use hot.
Note.—Borax in starch gives greater gloss and increases the stiffness. It also gives more lasting stiffness. Lard, butter, or wax is used to give a smoother finish and to prevent the starch from sticking to the iron.
Steps Method
Wet the clothes; rub the soiled parts with soap and roll each article separately; pack in a tub, placing the clothing most soiled at the bottom; cover with warm soapy water and soak from one hour to over night.
The soaking softens and loosens the fibres of fabrics, so that the foreign matter in them can be more easily separated. It also dissolves the soluble impurities in the fabrics.
Wring the clothes out of the soaking water, and place them in a tub of clean warm water or soap-suds; rub the soiled parts first on one side and then on the other, using the knuckles, a washboard, or a washing-machine. When each piece is clean, wring it tightly.
The rubbing scrapes or rubs out the foreign matter which has been loosened by the soaking.
Shake out each piece and put it into a tub of clear water; rub, and move about in the water to get rid of any soiled water that the clothes may contain; wring tightly.
Shake out each piece and place it in a boiler of cold water with or without soap; bring to boiling heat, and boil briskly for twenty minutes.
The boiling kills any germs and assists in whitening the clothes.
Lift the clothes from the boiling water by means of a clothes stick and place them in a tub of clear, cold water; proceed as in the first rinsing.
Open out each piece and place one or two at a time in a tub of blueing water for just a moment; wring tightly, and shake out each piece.
The blueing tends to counteract any yellow tinge in the clothes, making them appear whiter.
Dip one piece at a time into the starch mixture until well saturated; then wring.
Only certain articles or parts of articles will require this part of the process, to give them body or stiffness and, it may be, glossiness.
Shake out each piece thoroughly; fasten to a clothes-line or hang on a rack to allow the moisture to evaporate. This should be out-of-doors in the sunlight if possible.
Foreign matter which is difficult or impossible to remove by the ordinary washing process is called a stain. Such matter is not dissolved by the usual cleansing agents used in laundry work, such as water and soap, but requires some special solvent to act on it. The choice of the agent to be used will depend on the nature of the foreign matter to be removed. In some cases it is difficult to find an agent which will not act also on the colour of the fabric; in other cases to find one which does not injure the fibre of the goods.
The pupils should be asked to give instances from their own experience where special solvents were used to remove stains, and be required to make a list of these. If necessary, the teacher should supplement this list with the names of other agents and the methods of using them.
The washing of woollen materials is part of the Course for the work of the Senior Grade of Form IV, but, for the sake of convenience, the laundry lessons of both Grades of Form IV are outlined in one section of this Manual.
Before allowing the class any practice in this branch of laundry work, it will be necessary for the teacher to make certain principles very clear:
(1) Wetting the woollen material and then rubbing or twisting it. When the fibres are wet, they expand somewhat and the projecting scales, or notches, are loosened. If the material is rubbed at this time, the notched edges interlock.
(2) The use of strong soaps or alkalies. These act chemically on the fibres and soften and expand them, causing the notched edges to become so prominent that they catch in one another.
Note.—The structure of woollen fibres may be sketched on the black-board and compared with those of cotton and linen.
To impress the foregoing principles, a few experiments will be found most useful.
(1) By rubbing soap directly on the cloth and then sousing the goods in the water.
(2) By using a soap solution instead of the soap, as in (1).
(3) By rubbing on a wash-board.
In each case dry the cloth and compare with an original piece.
After the results of the experiments have been discussed, the pupils may formulate a series of "points" to be observed in the washing of woollen fabrics.
Cotton fibres magnified
Linen fibres magnified
Woollen fibres magnifiedThe training of the previous years should have formed good habits of work and have given experience in ordinary cleaning, and in the cooking and serving of the simple food materials. Through this training the pupils should also have been impressed with the value of food, and should have learned the sources of food and of all well-known household materials.
The training of this last year, while continuing the Junior work, should also emphasize the household processes that require greater mental development to understand and greater practical skill to carry out. It is the border year between the public school and the high school, and must necessarily anticipate the elementary science of the latter. In this year more responsibility should be given to the pupils and more originality should be expected of them. Where they have hitherto followed recipes and been given rules, they should now follow principles and deduce rules.
Of the several topics outlined in the Course for Form IV Senior, it is advisable to start with the preservation of food. Fruit and vegetables are most plentiful when the school year opens, and September is the most opportune month to preserve these for winter use. Facts concerning food preservation may have been taken incidentally in previous lessons, but now the subject should be systematically taught, so that canning, preserving, and pickling may be intelligently practised.
The lesson may be introduced by referring to the unusual attention given to fruit at the time of ripening. The economical housekeeper takes certain foods when they are most plentiful and preserves them for use when they are not in season. Some foods require special care to keep them from decaying. The decay is caused by the action of microscopic plants called "bacteria", which get into the food.
It is difficult for any one to get a correct conception of bacteria; especially is it so for children. The teacher should be most careful not to attempt to give the class unimportant details, but the few necessary facts should be made very clear and real. The following points should be impressed:
All plants have the same requirements. Any well-known plant may be put before the class to help them to think of these. They must be told that microscopic plants differ from other plants in one respect; they do not need light. Hence bacterial requirements are as follows: (1) water, (2) food, (3) air (oxygen), (4) heat.
The class should be led to see that if any one of these conditions is removed, the remaining ones are insufficient for the plant's activity.
To the housekeeper, preserving food means overcoming bacteria. There are only two ways of doing this, either of which may be chosen:
In the first way, extreme heat is used to kill the bacteria in the food, and then while hot, the food is sealed to keep out other bacteria: Example, canning.
In the second way, conditions are made unfavourable to the bacteria in the food, as follows:
When the lesson is finished, the class is ready to practise the principles it involves. The lessons on the special preservation of fruit may follow at once.
Utensils used in canningAs canning is the method of preservation most commonly used, practice should be given in this method. In rural schools with a limited equipment, it may be that only one jar can be prepared. In other schools, it may be impossible to provide each pupil with material for work, on account of the expense. In the latter case, the materials may all be brought from home, or each pupil may bring her own jar and fruit, and the school supply the sugar.
Instruction on the care of jars and the preparation of fruit and syrup must precede the practical work.
Use fresh, sound fruit, not too ripe.
Use about 1 cup of water for each pint can.
No. 1 Syrup.—Equal parts of sugar and water, or 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.
No. 2 Syrup.—1-1/2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar.
Fill the sterilized jars with prepared fruit, with or without syrup. Place the covers, but do not fasten them down. Stand the jars in a steamer over cold water. Cover the steamer and heat to the boiling point. Steam at least fifteen minutes, or until the fruit is tender. Remove from the steamer, fill to overflowing with boiling syrup, and seal at once. Invert.
Put a false bottom in the boiler, to prevent the jars from being broken. Fill the jars with fruit, and add syrup if desired. Cover and place the jars in the boiler without touching one another. Pour in tepid water to within an inch of the top of the jars and bring gradually to boiling heat. Cook and finish as directed in 1, above.
Fill sterilized, hot jars with prepared raw fruit and cover with hot syrup. Place the jars in a moderate oven, in a baking dish containing about an inch or two of hot water. Cook and finish as in 1, above.
Make a syrup in a fairly deep kettle. Put the prepared fruit into it and cook gently until tender. When the fruit is cooked, lift carefully into hot, sterilized jars, and fill to overflowing with boiling syrup. Seal at once and invert.
Note.—By Methods 1, 2, and 3 the fruit is kept more perfect in shape and loses less flavour than by Method 4. Methods 2 and 4 are best to choose for class practice.
After the lesson in Canning, it may not be wise to take the school time for further practice in the preservation of fruit. When such is the case, the theory of jam and jelly making may be discussed in class for home practice. The notes of these lessons may appear as follows:
Utensils used in making jellyWhere the teacher finds it desirable, a lesson should now be given on pickling, with or without class practice. At least one or two good recipes may be given for home use.
There are no new principles to teach. The use of vinegar, salt, and spices as preservatives should be reviewed.
It is desirable that this test shall be made in as few lessons as possible, because nearly all the time in cookery for this year will be required for the new work, namely, a series of lessons on flour mixtures.
Flour is a food substance ground into a powder.
(1) Certain cereals—wheat, rye, barley, buckwheat, rice
(2) Potatoes.
(1) Graham flour—the entire wheat seed is ground.
(2) Whole wheat flour—the first outer coat of cellulose with its valuable mineral contents is removed before the seed is ground.
(3) White flour—only the central white part of the seed is ground.
Note.—The pupils should be given specimens of fall wheat to examine, so as to compare the outer coat of cellulose with the central white part of the grain.
(1) Starch—a fine, granular, white substance
(2) Gluten—a sticky, yellowish, elastic substance (a protein food).
To find the substances in white flour, each pupil should mix half a cup of bread flour with enough cold water to make a dough. She must then be taught to knead it. This knowledge will be of use later in the bread lessons. After it is thoroughly kneaded until it is smooth and well blended, the dough should be washed in several waters. The first washing water should be poured into a glass and allowed to settle, to show the starch. After all the starch is washed away, the gluten will remain.
The gluten may then be put into a greased pan and baked, to demonstrate that it admits of distention, and also to show that it may be stiffened permanently by heat into any distended shape. The baked gluten should be reserved to be used as a specimen in succeeding lessons.
(1) Bread flour—contains much gluten.
(2) Pastry flour—contains little gluten.
Note.—Macaroni is a paste made from wheat flour which contains much gluten.
(1) The colour is a deeper cream than pastry flour, on account of the larger amount of gluten which it contains.
(2) When squeezed, it will not hold the impress of the hand.
(3) When the flour is made into a dough and washed, about one fourth of the original quantity remains as gluten.
A lightened mixture of flour and liquid, with or without other ingredients, is called a flour mixture.
(1) Stirring.—A roundabout movement which simply mixes the ingredients.
(2) Beating.—An upright, circular movement, which incorporates air into the ingredients while being mixed.
(3) Folding.—A slow, careful beating, which blends the ingredients without loss of the air they contain.
(4) Kneading.—A movement of the hands to blend the ingredients and also to incorporate air.
(5) Cutting.—A hacking movement of a knife to mix fat through flour.
(1) Gluten
(2) Gluten and egg-white.
To show the framework, the gluten baked in the flour lessons should be used. It should be pointed out as the skeleton of the mixture which upholds the entire structure and on which the other ingredients depend. To have light mixtures, this framework must admit of being expanded and also of being stiffened permanently into the stretched shape. Since egg-white has both of these necessary qualities, it may be used for a framework either alone or in combination with gluten.
It should also be observed that a mixture of ingredients light in weight does not prevent the framework from rising as much as heavy ones do.
The pupils will see that the framework of a mixture must increase in size in order to make the mixture light, but it must be made very clear that, while heat stiffens any framework, it will not distend it. Some other agency is required for this.
(1) Air.—Incorporated by beating, kneading, and sifting.
(2) Steam.—Incorporated in the form of a liquid which, when heated, changes to steam.
(3) Carbonic acid gas.—Formed in the mixture by the chemical union of soda with some acid. Examples: soda and sour milk; soda, cream of tartar and water; soda and molasses.
The lightening agents, air and steam, may be taught from the samples of baked gluten. Experiments will show how to produce the carbonic acid gas.
It may now be explained that, for the sake of convenience, soda and cream of tartar may be obtained already mixed, in accurate proportions of two parts of acid to one of the soda. This mixture is known as baking-powder. As very little moisture is necessary to start the action of the powder, a little cornstarch is added to it to keep it dry. For the same reason, it should always be kept tightly covered.
Soda is made from common salt and is cheap, but the source of cream of tartar makes it expensive, so that good baking-powder cannot be low priced. If such be advertised, it is usually adulterated.
As soon as the foregoing principles of flour mixtures are understood, they should be put into practice. The lessons on cake, bread, and pastry should follow in the order named, with as much practical work in connection with each as the time will allow.
(1) Cakes without butter.—These mixtures contain no heavy ingredients and have little weight depending on the framework. They are lightened by air and steam only. Examples: sponge cake, angel cake.
(2) Cakes with butter.—These are mixtures having ingredients of greater weight; and the three lightening agents—air, steam, and carbonic acid gas are used to raise them. Examples: pound cake, chocolate cake, nut cake, etc.
Note.—Practice should be given in making at least one of each kind of cake, to demonstrate the method of mixing employed.
(1) Attend to the fire, so as to have the oven at a proper heat.
(2) Grease the pans thoroughly; greased paper may be used to line the bottom of the tin, but, in the case of fruit cake, the whole tin should be lined.
(3) Have everything ready, so that the mixing may be quickly done.
(4) Use pastry flour.
(5) Use fine granulated sugar to ensure its being dissolved.
(6) Blend the ingredients thoroughly, and at the same time incorporate as large an amount of air as possible.
(7) Fill the pan about two-thirds full, pushing the mixture well to the corners and sides, so as to leave a depression in the centre.
(8) Attend carefully to the baking.
(1) Cake without butter—
(a) Separate the yolks and whites of the eggs.
(b) Beat the yolks until thick and lemon-coloured.
(c) Add sugar to the yolks gradually and continue beating; add the flavouring.
(d) Beat the whites until stiff and dry, then fold them into the first mixture.
(e) Gradually sift and fold in the flour until well mixed.
(2) Cake with butter—
(a) Cream the butter by working it with a wooden spoon.
(b) Add the sugar gradually by stirring it in.
(c) Beat the eggs until light, and add to the first mixture. (The eggs may be separated and the whites added later.)
(d) Add the liquid and beat until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved.
(e) Mix the flour and baking-powder in a sifter and gradually sift and beat it into the mixture until it is thoroughly blended.
(Liquid and flour may be added alternately.)
(f) Fold in the stiffly beaten whites, if the eggs have been separated.
(g) If fruit, peel, nuts, etc., are used, they should be floured out of the quantity allowed for the cake and added last.
(1) Small, thin cakes should be baked in a hot oven.
Examples: cookies, layer cake.
(2) All loaf cakes require a moderate oven.
(3) In baking cakes, divide the time stated in the recipe into quarters as follows:
First quarter—mixture should begin to rise.
Second quarter—mixture should continue rising.
Third quarter—mixture should begin to brown and to stiffen into shape.
Fourth quarter—mixture should finish browning and stiffening and shrink slightly from the sides of the pan.
(4) Mixture is cooked when a slight pressure leaves no dent, or when a small skewer or fine knitting-needle put into the centre comes out clean and dry.
To the inexperienced minds of the girls in the Fourth Form, to whom the study of flour mixtures is new, the number and variety of these seems very large. All cook books give an almost endless collection of recipes for cakes, cookies, muffins, etc., and to the pupils each of these seems an entirely new mixture. In reality, many of them are but slight variations of the same type. A certain mixture of materials is used for a foundation, and numerous varieties are made from this by addition, subtraction, or substitution of ingredients. The original mixture is called a basic recipe. Instead of teaching isolated mixtures, it will be found an excellent idea to give the class the basic ingredients for a recipe and encourage them to suggest variations, either original or from memory.
Typical basic recipes for cake and biscuits are given below:
| 1/4 cup butter | 1 1/2 cup flour |
| 3/4 cup sugar | 1/4 tsp. salt |
| 2 eggs | 2 tsp. baking-powder |
| 1/2 cup milk | 1/2 tsp. vanilla. |
To the basic recipe add 1 tbsp. of spice. Sift in the spice with the flour.
Add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. Increase the baking-powder by one third. Put a little of the flour on the nuts and beat them in at the last.
Add 3/4 cup of currants, raisins, figs, or dates, or a mixture of all. Increase the baking-powder by one third. Flour the fruit and add it last.
Add 1/2 cup grated chocolate. Increase the milk by 2 tbsp. Heat the chocolate in the milk just enough to dissolve it. Cool the mixture and use in place of milk.
| 2 cups flour |
| 1/2 tsp. salt |
| 4 tsp. baking-powder |
| 2 tbsp. fat (butter, lard, or dripping) |
| About 2/3 cup milk. |
Add 2 tbsp. of sugar after the fat is added.
Add 2 tbsp. of sugar and 1/2 cup of fruit, (currants, raisins, peel, or a mixture of all) after the fat is added.
Add 2 tbsp. of sugar, and use one egg and only 1/2 cup of milk. Beat the egg until light, add to milk, and use this for liquid. Form into round cakes about eight inches in diameter, and cut into quarters.
Add 1/2 cup of fruit to the scone recipe.
Same as scones, but double the amount of fat.
Use the basic recipe, leaving out the fat.
Use the basic recipe to make the dough that incases the fruit.
In beginning the bread lessons, it will be found that there are no new principles to teach. It will, however, be necessary to explain the new means of producing gas which is used in this particular mixture, namely, yeast.
From their lessons on the "Preservation of Food" and "Canning", the pupils are already acquainted with one class of microscopic plants. The little plants, in that case, were a source of great inconvenience to the housekeeper. Yeast may be introduced as another family of one-celled plants, but one which is most useful. Under good conditions these tiny plants will produce a large amount of carbon dioxide gas, provided they are given sufficient time. If, however, the gas be required quickly, soda and acid must be used. For this reason, plain flour mixtures, in which the carbon dioxide is quickly made, are called quick breads, to distinguish them from breads in which yeast is used. Examples of these are baking-powder biscuits, gems, corn-bread, etc.
The use of yeast is the simplest and cheapest way of obtaining carbonic acid gas, and mixtures so made remain moist longer than those in which baking-powder is used.
Throughout the introductory lesson, this fact must be kept prominently before the class, that yeast is a plant and, as such, requires plant conditions. The necessary conditions will be known from the lesson on "Bacteria", so that they have only to be reviewed. The pupils may be told that although they cannot see the plants, they can very plainly see the bubbles of gas which the plants give off when the latter are made active under favourable conditions.
Yeast is a one-celled plant which can be seen only with a microscope. Under good conditions it becomes very active and multiplies rapidly by a process called budding. It is used by the housekeeper for the carbonic acid gas it gives off.
Yeast plants magnified(1) Oxygen
(2) Water
(3) Food.—This must be sugar, or starch which it will change into sugar. Potato starch is more easily used by yeast than flour starch. It uses also some nitrogenous food and mineral matter.
(4) Heat.—The yeast plant thrives in a heat of about the same temperature as our bodies. A little extra heat will only make it grow faster; but excessive heat will kill it.
Freezing will not kill the plant, though cold makes yeast inactive.
Yeast was first found as wild yeast in the air, but now it may be obtained at grocery stores, in three forms:
(1) Liquid yeast.—The plants are put into a starchy liquid. This will keep only a few days, as the starch sours.
(2) Dry yeast.—The plants are put into a starchy paste and the mixture is dried. This form will keep for months, because it is perfectly dry but, for the same reason, it takes the plants a long time to become active when used.
(3) Compressed yeast.—The plants are put into cakes of a starchy mixture and left moist. They will keep only a few days. Good compressed yeast is a pale fawn colour, smells sweet, breaks clean, and crumbles easily.
Make a yeast garden by using the plants obtained at the grocery store as follows:
Take half a cup of lukewarm water to give the plants moisture, a teaspoonful of sugar for immediate food, and the same of wheat starch (flour) for a reserve food. Beat the mixture to infold oxygen, and then put in one-quarter cake of yeast plants.
Divide the mixture among a number of test-tubes, so that each group of four pupils has three.
(1) Place one test-tube in warm water and heat to boiling.
(2) Place one test-tube in water which feels warm to the hand.
(3) Place one test-tube in cracked ice and freeze the mixture. Afterwards thaw, and place the same test-tube in lukewarm water.
Observe the results, and compare the amount of gas formed under the different conditions.
Ingredients of plain bread:
Amount of ingredients for one small loaf:
| 12 hr. to rise | 5 hr. to rise | 3 hr. to rise |
| 1/4 yeast cake | 1/2 yeast cake | 1 yeast cake |
Note.—One cake of compressed yeast contains about the same number of yeast plants as one cake of dry yeast or one cup of liquid yeast.
Process in making bread:
In this lesson, after deciding on the necessary ingredients, the pupils may be told the amount of each to use for their class work. They should then measure and mix these ingredients and set the dough away for the first rising. While the bread is rising, the kitchen may be put in order and the other steps of the process reasoned out and written.
Other school work must be taken then, until the dough has fully risen, when the process may be completed. After each stage of the process has been carried out, the notes on it may be written.
With the foregoing principles of bread-making in mind, the class should be able to make any bread mixture. Each pupil should have entire responsibility for the process of making one small loaf of plain bread. About half a cup of liquid, mixed with the other necessary ingredients, makes a good-sized loaf for practice. Smaller loaves than this give little chance for manipulation.
In Household Management centres, where the pupils come from other schools for the lesson period only, the process will have to be divided into two lessons. The first lesson may include the first two stages—mixing and first rising—each pupil using small quantities, say for one eighth of a loaf of the ordinary size. At the end of the lesson, they may carry their dough home for completion, or it may be used by another class which is ready for the later steps of the process.
The second lesson will include the last three steps—moulding, second rising, and baking—and it will be necessary for the teacher to have dough prepared for the moulding stage when the class arrives.
These mixtures are but variations of plain bread. The extra ingredients, such as milk, eggs, butter, spices, sugar, currants, raisins, peel, etc., are added at the most convenient stage of the process.
Note.—If there is not time to have one fancy bread, such as Parker House rolls or currant bread, made in school, recipes for these may be discussed in class and the work done at home.
Note.—There are several good kinds of bread-mixers which may be bought in three sizes. Small size makes 1 to 2 loaves and costs $1.35 (about). Medium size makes 2 to 6 loaves and costs $2.00 (about). Large size makes 4 to 10 loaves and costs $2.50 (about).
Pastry is one of the simplest flour mixtures, and one that has the lowest food value. The intimate blending of butter or lard with the flour envelopes the starch grains with fat, and makes the mixture difficult to digest. The same thing occurs in frying food and in buttering hot toast; so the idea is not a new one to the class.
In introducing the lesson on pastry, this principle of digestion should be reviewed, and it should be made plain that delicate pudding and seasonable fruits are a much better form of dessert.
There are no new principles to teach, but some old ones to impress. The object of the housekeeper should be to make a mixture that is light and one that will fall to pieces easily. To ensure the latter, anything that would toughen the gluten must be avoided.
From the bread lesson, the pupils have learned that working the water into the gluten or much handling of flour after it is wet, makes a mixture firm and tough. In pastry there must be enough gluten to stick the ingredients together, but its elastic quality is undesirable. For the latter reason also, a small amount of water is used.
In the cake mixtures, it was found that the use of fat in the "butter cakes" made the framework tender and easily broken, so in pastry the same means may be employed. Fat of some kind is mixed with the flour to act on the gluten and destroy its toughness.
Air and steam are the only lightening agents commonly used in pastry. Since cold air occupies less room than warm air and admits of more expansion, it is desirable that the mixture be kept very cold. The low temperature also prevents the fat melting; hence, the necessity for the use of cold utensils and materials throughout the process.
(1) Flour, (2) salt, (3) fat, (4) water.
(1) Use only pastry flour, which will have a small amount of gluten.
(2) After the flour is wet, handle the mixture as little as possible, to avoid working the water into the gluten and making it tough.
(1) Fat is used to destroy the elasticity of the gluten, so that it will not be tough when cooked.
(2) Butter, lard, or dripping may be used.
(3) Lard makes more tender pastry than butter.
(4) Butter gives the best flavour.
(5) Half butter and half lard makes a good mixture.
(6) Layers of fat may be put in between layers of pastry, to separate it into flakes.
(7) If two fats are used, the softer is cut into the flour, and the harder one laid on the paste and folded in.
(1) Use the water as cold as possible.
(2) Use the least amount of water necessary to make the ingredients adhere.
(1) Air.—(a) This should be as cold as possible.
(b) The air may he folded in, between layers of pastry.
(2) Steam.
(1) Plain pastry.—In this, one quarter to one third as much fat as flour is used, and it is all "cut in".
(2) Flaky pastry.—In this, the same amount of fat is used as in plain pastry, but half of it is "laid on" and folded in.
(3) Puff pastry.—In this, one half as much fat as flour, up to equal parts of each is used; one quarter of the fat is cut in, and the remainder is laid on and folded in.
1-1/2 cup pastry flour; 1/4 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup fat (lard and butter); ice water.
More preparation is needed for the first meat lesson than for most foods. Some days before, thin bones such as leg or wing bones of fowl, or rib bones of lamb should be soaked in diluted hydrochloric or nitric acid (one part acid to ten of water), to dissolve the mineral substance which gives the bone its rigidity.
Any time before the lesson, a large solid bone of an old animal, such as a knee or hip joint of beef, should be burned for hours to get rid of the connective tissue which holds the mineral substance in shape. This should be carefully done, in order to retain the shape of the bone and to show the porous formation of the mineral substance. If the bone is not blackened by the fire, its white colour will also indicate the lime of which it is formed.
On the day of the lesson it will be necessary to have a piece of meat showing the three parts—fat, bone, and muscle. A lower cut of the round of beef has all these parts, and the muscle is sufficiently tough to show its connective tissue plainly. For the study of fat, a piece of suet is best, as it can be easily picked apart to show its formation.
In examining fat meat and lean meat it is essential that, at least, every two pupils have a piece, as close scrutiny is necessary. One or two samples of bone will suffice for the class.
No definite amount of work can be laid down for any one lesson. The interest and ability of the class must be the guide. In rural schools, the time of each lesson must be comparatively short, though no Household Management teacher should spend more than forty minutes on purely theoretical work without a change of some kind.
The following is an outline of the facts to be considered in this particular study:
(1) Beef, from the ox or cow. The best meat comes from an animal about four years old.
(2) Veal, from the calf. It should be at least six weeks old.
(3) Mutton, from the sheep. Spring lamb is from six to eight weeks old; yearling is one year old.
(4) Pork, from the pig.
(5) Fowl, poultry—chicken, turkey, duck, goose.
(6) Game, wild animals—deer, wild duck, partridge, etc.
(1) Fat.—(a) Inside fat, around the internal organs, usually called kidney fat, or suet.
(b) Outside fat, next the skin, called caul fat.
(2) Bone, (3) muscle, or lean meat.
(1) Connective tissue, (2) true fat, (3) water.
Fat should be the first part studied, because it is the simplest tissue and the parts are most plainly seen. Pick the specimen apart, and the tissue that holds it together is found. Its name is easily developed from its use.
The water may be shown by heating pieces of fat in a small saucepan and, when it becomes hot, covering the dish with a cold plate. Remove the plate before it gets heated, and moisture will be condensed on its surface. The presence of water in fat may also be reasoned out by remembering that water enters into the composition of all body tissues.
(1) Mineral matter (lime), (2) connective tissue, (3) water.
Neither the mineral substance nor the connective tissue in bone can be seen until either one or the other is eliminated.
Strike the fresh bone with a steel knife, and it shows the quality of hardness. Bones are built from food, and the only food substance that is so hard is mineral matter. Show the burned bone, with only the mineral matter left, and let each pupil examine it. Its formation indicates the spaces which the part burned out of it occupied. Let it fall or crush part of it in the fingers, to show how easily it is broken. Such bones would be no use as a framework to support the body. The bones of very old persons get too much like this, and we are afraid to have such people fall. The burned bone needs something to hold it together—a connective tissue. Such a tissue was in the spaces before the bone was burned.
Show the bone after it has been prepared in an acid solution, with only the connective tissue left. Explain how it was prepared. Bend it to show its pliability. To be of use in the body it needs some substance to make it hard and rigid—the mineral matter which was dissolved out.
Note.—This is an excellent time to show the necessity for bone-building mineral in the diet of babies and young children. If they do not get this mineral substance during the growth period, they cannot have hard, rigid bones, and their bodies are apt to become misshapen—bow legs, curved spines, etc. This substance is also necessary for hard, sound teeth.
Draw attention to the fact that the mineral matter in milk and eggs is in solution, and therefore ready to be used by the body. Mineral matter is not in solution in bone, and cannot be dissolved by the digestive process, therefore it is practically of no use as food.
Compare the connective tissue of bone with that of fat, and let the pupils account for the difference in thickness. Lead them to see that connective tissue can be dissolved in hot water, and in this way may be extracted from the mineral part of bone. The housekeeper may do this herself, or she may buy it already extracted, as gelatine.
(1) Connective tissue
(2) Red part, made up of microscopic tubes holding a red juice. The juice contains:
(a) Water
(b) Red colour
(c) Flavour
(d) Muscle albumen—a protein substance similar to egg-white
(e) Mineral matter.
It should be made clear that the walls of such tiny tubes can never be thick enough to be tough. Attention should be called to the real cause of toughness—the thick connective tissue.
Note.—Very small pieces of meat will serve for specimens. Tough meat is better, because it shows the connective tissue more plainly. When the muscle is being examined, it should be carefully scraped with a knife, until a layer of connective tissue is laid bare. The red part that is scraped off should be explained, and a drawing should be made to illustrate it.
Minced lean beef should he soaked in a little cold water for at least twenty minutes, to extract the muscle juice for examination. The juice should be strained through a cheesecloth and poured into a glass. It shows nothing but water and a red colour.
In order to find the other substances, pour part of the juice into a small saucepan and heat it gradually until it boils gently. The red colour will disappear, and the albumen which is dissolved in the juice will coagulate and become plainly visible. The pupils will recall that egg-white was affected in the same way by heat, and may be told that this coagulated substance is similar to egg-white, and is called muscle albumen. The odour given off by heating suggests that the flavour is also in the muscle juice, hence the importance of conserving this juice in the cooking process.
Strain the boiled juice to get rid of the coagulated albumen and then examine the liquid that is left. Its colour plainly denotes mineral matter in solution.
If time permit, the following experiments may be taken. The facts which these experiments prove may, however, be developed in a much shorter time by questioning:
(1) Cut lean meat into small pieces, cover them with cold water and let them stand. Note the colour of the water.
(2) Cover a piece of lean meat with boiling water and let it stand. Note the colour of the water.
(3) Sprinkle a piece of meat with salt. What happens?
(4) Wrap a piece of meat for a few minutes in ordinary brown wrapping-paper. What happens?
(5) Simmer a small piece of very tough meat for about an hour and then examine the connective tissue.
(6) Boil or bake a small piece of very tough meat and then examine the connective tissue.
(1) All flesh should be uniform in colour, of a fine grain, and firm and springy to the touch.
(2) Beef should be bright red in colour, well mottled, and surrounded with fat.
(3) Mutton should be a dull red, and its fat white, hard, and flaky.
(4) Lamb is lighter in colour than mutton, and the bone is redder.
(5) Veal has pinkish-coloured flesh and white fat. Very pale veal is not good.
(6) Pork should have firm flesh of a pale red colour. The skin should be white and clear, the fat white.
(7) Poultry:
(a) Chickens.—Young chickens have thin, sharp nails; smooth legs; soft, thin skin; and soft cartilage at the end of the breastbone. Long hairs denote age.
(b) Turkeys.—These should be plump, have smooth, dark legs, and soft cartilage.
(c) Geese.—These should be plump and have many pin feathers; they should also have pliable bills and soft feet.
(1) Remove the meat from the wrapping paper as soon as it arrives, to prevent the loss of juices. The butcher should use waxed paper next to the meat.
(2) Wipe the meat all over with a damp cloth, but do not put it into water.
(3) Place the meat on an earthen or enamel dish, and set it in a cool place until required.
(4) Frozen meat should be thawed in a warm room before being cooked.
(1) Extracting certain substances.—(a) Soup—substances extracted in water from lean meat, bone, and fat.
(b) Beef-tea—substances extracted in water from lean meat.
(c) Bouillon—substances extracted in water from lean meat and flavoured with vegetable.
(d) Beef juice—juices extracted from lean meat by heat only, or by pressure.
(2) Retaining all substances.—Roasts, boiling pieces, steaks, chops, cutlets.
(3) Retaining part and extracting part.—Stews.
(1) The toughness of meat depends on the thickness of the connective tissue holding the muscle tubes together.
Cuts of beef
Bony structure(2) The connective tissue is made thick and tough by two causes.—
(a) Age—in old animals the connective tissue has grown thick.
(b) Exercise—in certain parts of the body, where muscles are much used, these muscles must be more firmly bound together, as in the neck and legs, etc.
(3) Dry heat will harden connective tissue, making it more difficult to cut and chew; therefore tough cuts should not be cooked in dry heat.
(4) Moist heat will soften and finally dissolve connective tissue, making it easy to cut and chew; therefore tough cuts should be cooked in moist heat.
(5) Tough meat is more abundant in an animal's body, and is, therefore, cheaper than tender meat.
(6) Tough meat has richer juices than tender meat and should be used for soup, broth, and beef-tea.
(1) The less muscle juice is coagulated by heat, the more easily it is digested.
(2) Because of their close texture, the liver, kidney, and heart of animals are more difficult to digest.
(3) Mutton and lamb, because of their shorter fibres, are more easily digested than beef.
(4) Veal is difficult to digest, owing to its stringy fibres.
Cuts of veal
Cuts of lamb(5) Pork has a large amount of fat intermingled with its fibres, and is, therefore, difficult to digest.
(6) Chicken and turkey are easily digested, but goose and duck are indigestible, because of the fat through the muscle fibres.
(7) Game is easy of digestion.
The practical work, besides the experiments, in connection with the meat lessons, should consist of at least three preparations of this food: (1) the cooking of tender meat, (2) the cooking of tough meat, (3) the making of soup.
Cuts of porkThe object of each preparation should be made plain, so that the pupils may fully understand what they are trying to accomplish.
(1) To change the flavour and appearance.
(2) To seal the tubes to keep in the juices.
(3) To cook the meat without densely coagulating the protein of the muscle juice, so as to keep it digestible.
(1) To change the flavour and appearance.
(2) To soften and partially dissolve the connective tissue, making it easy to cut.
(3) To avoid making the muscle juice indigestible.
(1) To extract the connective tissue from the bone.
(2) To extract the muscle juice from the tubes.
Place the meat in a very hot oven with pieces of the fat or some dripping in the pan. Baste every ten minutes. Keep the oven very hot for a small roast. For a large roast, check the fire after the first fifteen minutes. Bake fifteen minutes to each pound.
(1) Over the coals.—Put the meat between the hot greased wires of a broiler. Place over a very hot, clear fire. Turn the broiler every ten seconds. Beef one inch thick cooks rare in eight minutes.
(2) Pan Broiling.—Heat a frying-pan smoking hot. Lay the meat in flat; turn constantly until seared, then frequently, as in broiling, but do not pierce the muscle part with a fork. Beef one inch thick cooks rare in ten minutes.
Cover the meat with boiling water. Boil five minutes. Then simmer until done. Tender meat takes twenty minutes to the pound; tough meat takes from three to five hours.
Cut the meat in pieces of a suitable size. Cover with cold water. Bring gradually to the simmering point and simmer until tender, usually three or four hours. Keep the pot closely covered.
Take one pound of steak from the top of the round. Wipe the steak, remove all fat, and cut the lean meat in small pieces. Place in canning jar, and cover; place on a rest in the kettle and surround with cold water. Allow the water to heat slowly, care being taken not to have it reach a higher temperature than 130 degrees. Let stand two hours; strain and press the meat to obtain all the juices. Salt to taste.
Note.—These rules may be dictated to the class, as all of the principles which they involve have been previously discussed.
Since fish is the flesh of sea animals, there will be little new to learn concerning it.
Main points of difference between this flesh and ordinary meat are:
Kinds of fish:
Selection of fish:
Fresh fish may be recognized by the following:
Cooking of fish:
Fish may be cooked in any way similar to meat. As the flesh of fish contains food substances which are very easily dissolved in water, boiling is not a good method of cooking to choose for this food. Steaming, baking, and frying are more suitable.
A lesson on gelatine naturally follows the lessons on meat and fish. The study of bone and the making of soup have explained the source of this substance, and only a few additional facts are necessary.
The gelatine practice dishes are sure to prove attractive to the class, and the common use of this food in sickness, and in salads and desserts, makes it important that its food value be understood.
Gelatine is obtained from the bones, cartilage, and skin of animals. It is the connective tissue dissolved out of these parts.
The housekeeper may obtain it for herself or she may buy it already extracted; both are equally good.
(1) Sheet gelatine
(2) Shredded gelatine
(3) Granulated gelatine.
(1) It softens in cold water, but will not dissolve.
(2) It dissolves in hot water.
(3) It jellies when cold, if the solution be sufficiently strong.
(4) Good gelatine has little taste, colour, or odour, and no sediment when dissolved.
(1) Put a small amount of cold water or any cold liquid on gelatine, and let it stand until the liquid is absorbed.
(2) Add a boiling liquid and stir thoroughly until dissolved.
(1) Gelatine is a nitrogenous substance, but cannot of itself build tissues, as most protein foods do. When eaten, it will save the tissues already making up the body, hence is called a protein-sparer.
(2) It is very easily digested, and for this reason it gives a pleasant variety to the diet of an invalid.
(3) It makes an attractive dessert at the end of a substantial meal, without adding much nutriment.
(1) It may assist in making soup.
(2) Any liquid may be used to dissolve this substance to make a plain jelly. Examples: coffee jelly, tomato jelly, wine jelly.
(3) Plain jelly may be varied as follows:
Allow the plain jelly mixture to cool until it is as thick as cream, and then beat in whipped egg-white, or fruit, or chopped vegetables, and set away until firm. Examples: snow pudding, orange charlotte, vegetable salad.
(4) Strain off the juice from a can of fruit, heat it, and use it for dissolving the gelatine. When almost set, add the fruit, and set away to become firm.
A lesson on frozen dishes may be taken at any time, but it seems specially opportune after the gelatine lesson. It may be impossible to make these dishes in school, but the facts of the lesson may be discussed and recipes furnished, after which a Form IV pupil should find no difficulty in carrying out these recipes at home.
Elementary science should be correlated, to explain the use of salt in the freezing process.
(1) Scald the can and dasher and cool just before using.
(2) See that all parts of the freezer are properly adjusted.
(3) Empty the mixture into the can; never fill the can more than three-quarters full, to allow for expansion when freezing.
(4) Prepare ice by chipping finely or by crushing in a canvas bag by means of a mallet.
(5) Allow three measures of ice to one of coarse rock salt and pack this mixture solidly around the can.
(6) Turn the crank slowly and steadily until the mixture begins to freeze, then turn more rapidly until frozen.
(7) Add more ice and salt as needed, but do not draw off the salt water except to keep it from getting inside the can.
(1) When the mixture is frozen, draw off the water, remove the dasher, and pack the contents of the can down solidly with a spoon.
(2) Replace the cover, using a cork for the opening, then repack in ice and salt (four parts ice to one part salt).
(3) Cover with newspapers, blanket, or carpet, and let it stand for at least one hour before serving.
(1) Wet the mould and pack the frozen mixture in solidly.
(2) Place the cover on the mould and bind strips of greased cotton or waxed paper around all the crevices.
(3) Imbed the mould in ice and salt (four parts ice to one part salt).
(4) Wrap a cloth wrung from hot water around the mould for an instant, before removing the mixture.
The food work of the previous Forms, from constant reference and use, should be so well known that it may be reviewed in one lesson, under the following heads:
After the review, the class may be asked to prepare menus for one day's meals, keeping in mind the following:
The preparation of menus may be continued, even while other work is being studied, until the teacher feels satisfied with the ability of the class to prepare menus intelligently.
The planning of menus should, if time permit, be extended to actual practice in preparing and serving the meals called for by some of the menus. In this Form there should be a limit set to the number of people served and the cost of the food.
Since breakfast and luncheon were prepared in the Junior Form, a dinner should be taken in this. The entire responsibility of the meal should be given to the pupils, each being appointed to perform definite duties. The teacher may advise while the class is planning the work, but not assist while it is being carried out.
Each member of the class may be asked to prepare a menu to suit the special conditions which have been made as to number and cost. These may be planned at home and brought to the teacher for criticism. At the first lesson, three or four of the best may be written on the black-hoard for comparison and choice.
When the selection is made, members of the class should be chosen for the following duties: (1) marketing, (2) preparation of food, (3) laying the table, (4) serving, (5) representing members of the family to eat the meal.
Note.—To prevent any suspicion of favouritism, the duties may be written on slips of paper and the pupils allowed to draw these.
At the second lesson the meal will be prepared, served, and eaten. In schools lacking an equipment, the meal may be planned and selected in the same way as above, but the entire responsibility of carrying it out must rest on one pupil, as it will be necessary for each to prepare and serve it in her own home.
The natural food of an infant is its mother's milk, and too much stress cannot be placed on the necessity of nursing by the mother.
Even if the mother has but a small supply, the baby should not be weaned; the supply should be supplemented by modified milk. In the rare cases where a mother cannot nurse her baby, a physician should prescribe the food. In such a case the best substitute is cow's milk.
If cow's milk be used, it will have to be changed or "modified" to make it as far as possible like mother's milk. Cow's milk differs in the following respects: It has (1) less water and therefore more solids; (2) a larger proportion of protein and mineral compounds; (3) less sugar; (4) a different combination of fats.
Cow's milk cannot be made like mother's milk, but it is better food for a little baby if cream, milk sugar, and barley water, are added in certain proportions, varying according to the age of the child.
| Milk | 7 ounces |
| Milk sugar | 1/2 ounce |
| Cream (18%) | 1 ounce, if ordinary milk be used or 1/2 ounce if Jersey milk be used. |
| Barley water | Dilute with barley water to make 20 ounces for the first two or three weeks, then reduce to 16 ounces up to about three months of age. The volume may then be reduced to 14 ounces, and at five or six months to 12 ounces. |
Mixed milk, and not one cow's milk, should be used, for the reason that a better average of milk is secured from several cows than from one. The supply should be fresh and clean. To make sure of the latter, scrupulous care should be given to the cleanliness of the cows' bodies and stables, the utensils, and the clothing and hands of the milkers. If there is any doubt of the cleanliness, the milk should be pasteurized. The pasteurization greatly reduces the bacterial life in the milk by a temperature which does not change its composition and digestibility, as is the case in sterilizing it.
Sterilize bottles as for canning. Nearly fill the bottles with milk and cork them with absorbent cotton which has been sterilized (by being baked a delicate brown). Place the bottles on a rest in a deep kettle and surround them with cold water as high as the milk. Heat the water gradually to 155 degrees Fahrenheit, or until tiny bubbles show in the milk next the glass. Remove the kettle and contents to where the temperature of the milk will remain the same for half an hour. Then cool the milk quickly by putting the bottles first in lukewarm water and then in cold water. Keep in a cool place and do not remove the cotton until ready to use. Pasteurized milk should not be kept more than a couple of days.
The utmost care and cleanliness should be observed in preparing the infant's food. All utensils which come in contact with the food should be sterilized each time they are used. Bottles with rubber tubes should never be used, as they cannot be thoroughly cleaned. The bottle should be plain and graduated without a neck, and the nipple should admit of being turned inside out.
After the nursing, the bottles should at once be rinsed with cold water. Later, the bottles and nipples should be carefully washed in hot, soapy water, then rinsed in clear, hot water. They should then be sterilized by boiling in water for twenty minutes, after which they may be placed in boric acid solution (1 tsp. to 1 qt. water), or the bottles may be emptied and plugged with sterilized absorbent cotton until again required.
It saves much time to make sufficient food to last for twenty-four hours. This may be put into a large bottle, or what is better, into the several nursing bottles, and each plugged with sterilized absorbent cotton. After cooling, the bottles should be put on the ice or in some cool place until required. Where there is no refrigerator, an ice-box made on the principle of the home-made fireless cooker will do excellent service. When the food is to be used, it should be warmed slightly above body heat by placing the bottle in warm water.
The following table is taken from The Care and Feeding of Children by L. Emmet Holt, M.D., of New York.