The Comhiorier
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Koclpos.
'ftkq a word or two of kindness,
Soa'son vell with somo good deed,
'Add of!jDkarlty a plenty,
And of hope n gonorous meed;
'And if you mold them rightly, v
Which may bo no easy thing,
You will find you have a dainty
Fit to sorvo to any king.
Take. a brimming pint of patience,
And of faith an equal share,
Stir thorn thoroughly togothor
In the crystal bowl of prayer;
Mix with these a cup of wisdom,
And a dash of self-control,
And 'tis yours to quench the craving
Of a famished human soul.
Tako of happiness full measure,
From the Granary above,
Knead the whole with inspiration,
Loavon with abiding love;
And somo day you may bo able
To supply, with gentle art,
All that the broad that is required
By ono hunger-stricken heart.
t Ralph Mothvon Thomson in the
Humanitarian.
Drying Fruits and Vegetables
Tho drying of fruits and veget
ables, while not new to many of the
oldor generation, is nevertheless an
interesting subject to housewives
generally. Because of the newer
developments, also, there Is much in
formation in the following article by
Mabol L. Harlan, of tho department
of agricultural extension of Purdue
university, Indiana, that will prove
helpful to readers of this department.
Ed.
Before tho war it was ostimatod
that in this country fully two-thirds
of our fruit and tons and tons of
vegetables wont to waste every year.
Now it is imperative that overy ounce
bo ,sa.vod.
Slnco the developments of other
methods of food preservation, drying
has not 'boon as much used as in tho
early days; hqwevor, in order to
supply tho groat amount of food
necessary to feed the people at home,
.. our soldiors and our allies, we are
rosorting more and more to this old
time method as it offers a simple,
convenient and economical moans of
preserving food materials and per
mits tho carrying over of the surplus
into periods when fresh fruits and
vegetables are expensive or unobtain
able. Drying is based on the fact that
when a certain amount of moisture
is removed from the material, organ
isms are not able to grow and multi
ply in it. This principle is known as
evaporation or dehydration.
"Drying has tho very great ad
vantages that the product has a
weight of only one-fourth to one
failnjh that of fresh material; that
Hthere is a very considerable reduc
tion in bulk due to actual shrinkage
land t;o tho fact that all portions not
(.actually fit for food are removed and
that the dry material may be atoreri
Almost maonnneiy without danger of
(deterioration and without the usa nf
expensive and special containers,"
;ays Joseph S. Caldwell, nlant nhvni-
:ologist of the United States depart-
Artificial Heat Best.
There are several methods nf immo
varying; drying in the sun, in tho
' oven and by means of a drier placed
I
olthor over hot water or over the top
of a stove, and especially constructed
evaporators. Perhaps the oldest
method used by the housewife is that
of drying in tho sun. Wherever
climatic conditions make It possible,
sun drying is the leas' -expensive
mothod of preserving foodstuffs. This
method demands that a rainless sea
son of bright sunshine and high
temperature coincide with the period
at which the crops to be dried are
maturing. Wire screen or mosquito
netting must always be used to pro
tect tho material from flies and other
insects.
Tho use of artificial heat In drying
has the advantage that the work is
done independent of weather condi
tions and that it is possible to dry a
considerable number of foodstuffs
which ordinarily can not be dried in
tho sun. A simple, satisfactory drier
for home use may consist of a series
of trays with wire mesh bottoms.
These trays shout fit together closely
so that when heat Is applied beneath
the warm air will pass upward
through the wire bottom and carry
with it moisture from the product.
This arrangement enables one to dry
various products at the same time or
a quantity of the same product. This
drier may be constructed from old
boxes or scraps of lumber at very
little cost.
In tho Days of Old.
An old lady who relates her experi
ence in drying says: "I must go back
about thirty years to tho date of my
first kiln for drying fruit. On a hill
side I dug two shallow trenches, then
built a stone wall, then a support in
tho center, leaving a space on each
side for fire. Over the top of these
walls we placed a large, flat rock. At
the end of the trenches we built a
chimney of stone and mortar, plas
tored the kiln and sides of the walls
with a mortar made of clay. When
the top was smoothed over we spread
papers and started the fire.
"As soon as the papers were dry
it was ready for use and we negan
spreading the fruit (it was peaches)
with the cut side up. It was fun to
see them begin to wilt. The fire was
closely watched to keep from burn
ing. As the fruit began to wither,
the pieces were moved closer together
and more fruit, added. About two
days finished the process.
"That was tho way I managed in
the long-ago days, but the fruit
evaporators were Invented and. the
drying process hastened and many
other fruits and vegetables were
saved. Pumpkin and winter squashes
may be dried. Peel and slice them
one-eighth of an inch thick and
string with a darning nefedle and
twine o,nd hang them in the sun or
dry in an evaporator. The flavor is
retained and these make delicious
pies. Needs to be soaked several
hours before cooking."
Care Should Be Taken.
Care should be taken in the selec
tion and preparation of vegetables
and fruits for drying. Only tender
young vegetables and fresh fruit
should bo used and they should be
prepared and dried very soon after
gathering. Blanching and cold dip
ping are desirable for vegetables.
This gives a more thorough cleans
lug, removes objectionable odors and
flavors, gives a bettor color and soft
ens and loosena the fiber, allowing
quicker and more uniform evapora
tion of moisture. After blanching
and cold-dipping, remove the mois
ture by shaking in a sieve or colan
der and placing the Vegetables on
towels. The time for blanching
and cold-dipping of vegetables for
drying is approximately the same as
for canning. Fruits are not blanched
or cold dipped.
The following are a few of the
vegetables and fruits which may be
successfully dried at home:
String Beans Strijig the beans,
break into pieces and blanch from
five to ten minutes, in water which
has had added to it two tablespoon
fuls of ordinary baking soda to each
gallon of water. Spread about one
inch deep on trays to dry.
Sweet Corn Select young, tender
corn. Cook in boiling water from
five to eight minutes or until the
milk is "set.". Cut the kernels from
the cob with a sharp knife, taking
care nl to cut too close to the cob.
Scrape cut the portion of the kernel
remaining. Spread in thin layers on
trays to dry.
Tomatoes Blanch to remove the
skin, cold dip, slip the skin, slice to
thickness of one-quarter inch. Spread
oh trays and dry. A good product.
Rhubarb Chose tender, fresh
stalks. Wash carefully and cut in
small pieces (about one inch in
length). Spread out to dry until
leathery and there 'is no sign of
moisture. Condition and store( as
peas.
Soup Mixture This has proved a
boon to the busy housewife. Instead
of preparing vegetables each time for
her soup, it is only necessary to add
a spoonful of the dried mixture to
the stock or stew. The vegetables
used in this mixture are carrots,
turnips, beans, celery, cabbage and
onions.' These should be carefully
washed and cut in small dice or
shredded. They should be dried
separately as some vegetables dry
more quickly than others. When
dry they are mixed together and left
to condition four or five days before
storing, then store in jars, tins,
boxes, etc., and keep in a dry place.
Small pieces of left over raw veget
ables may, be dried at any time and
stored, thus building the soup mix
ture gradually.
Ways to Save Sugar
There is a greater shortage of both
the sugar-cane and sugar-beet crops
than was expected in tne early part of
the season. At no time since the be
ginning of the war has there been
a normal output of sugar because of
the devastation of foreign sugar-beet
fields. There has been a serious loss
of sugar at sea due to the submarine
warfare. The government requires a
generous supply to meet the needs
of the men in the service.
Instead of letting the sugar short
age bother her, the resourceful
housewife is bending all efforts to
learn the best ways of using less
sugar in her cooking and preserving
and of canning without it; or with
sugar substitutes. She is drvimr
many of the fruits; she Is learning
to put up fruits and juices and but
ters and to make sirups at liome
from sugar beets, quinces and annles
She is substituting oorn s?rupT mol
lasses, maple sirup, and honey for
sugar in her canning and general
cook ng, and she is making sugarless
candies, fruit pastes and confecUons
Bulletins telling how to carry out
these methods may be had free on
VOL. 1JUW, 8
application to the United Stabs a.
partment of agriculture. de
Sugar-saving not only meang cuU
ting -down on consumption, w
also means preventing waste. Ame
icans have allowed their fondness f
sugar to increase to the point wh
it has passed extravagance and w
come actual waste. Qver-sweetenin.
of tea and coffee is one of our btS
faults. JMore than this, too often a
good part of the sugar Is not dl
solved and is left in the bottom of
the cup to be thrown away. Everv
housewife should enforce the rule of
"one teaspoonful to the cupful or
none at all." The children as well
as the grownups must be willing to
do without some of the sweet things
they want and everyone must he sat
isfied with much smaller amounts of
sweetening in general cooking.
Servev fresh fruits without sugar
instead of sweet puddings; have
salads often in place of desserts; use
sweet dried fruits like dates, raisins
or figs with the breakfast cereals, or
a little sirup in place of sugar. Use
cake sparingly and make it- from
recipes that call for molasses or si
rups instead of frosting spread It
with a little jam, fruit butter, or
paste.
Contributed Recipes
Potato Pudding This recipe
makes a rich, moist pudding at small
expense. Sift one pint whole wheat
flour, half teaspoon salt and one of
baking, soda, and one heaping tea
spoon mixed spices. Add half cup
each of finely chopped beef suet,
dark molasses, so.ur milk and creamjr
mashed potatoes, and one cup
(mixed) ..seeded raisins, shredded
citron and .currants. Mix all well,
turn into greased mold, steam two
and one-half hours. J. M. 0.
Economy Dish Take one-half
pound ground meat, one-half pound
macaroni, one small tin tomato
soup (about ten or twelve ounces).
One small onion, pepper, salt and
bread crumbs. Cover the macaroni
with water and boil for twenty
minutes; strain, mix in the soup,
then add ground meat, salt and pep
per, and pour into a dish. Cover
the top with bread crumbs and bake
in a fairly hot oven one and one
half hours. C. Ht. T.
Indian Pudding One quart milk,
one-half cup corn meal, one-half
cup molasses, one teaspoon salt, one
teaspoon cinnamon, one cup cold
milk. Heat milk. Stir meal in
slowly until it thickens. Take from
stove, add molasses, salt and spice.
Put mixture into a buttered earthen
dish and 'add cold milk. Bake two
hours; serve with milk or cream.
Mrs. H. T. D.
Rice Popovers Two level cups
cold boiled rice, two level cups flour,
two teaspoons baking powder, two
tablespoons sugar, two eggs sep
arated, two cups milk, one level
teaspoon salt. Mash rice until
smooth. Sift flour, baking powder,
sugar and salt twice. Beat yolks or
eggs, add whites beaten stiff ana
stir them .into rice. Then add mi ij
and flour alternately and beat tm
smooth. Fill gem pans two-thirus
full and bake in hot oven about ni
teen minutes. Grease pans well.
Miss T Pi.
. Excellent Pie Crust (Saving
wheat flour) One teacup cornstarch
one heaping teaspoon baking pow
der, salt to taste; one heaping taoie
spejon shortening (may use laru
compound) cut into the flour or
work in with the finger tips enough
cold water to wet the same as i wneu
only wheat flour is used. C. T.
Smothered Sausage Fresh saw
age meat should be molded "
small flat cakes and placed In ""
bottom of a greased baking P
Add a layer of seasoned mashed P
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