m.m::m

m m

BAILEY ALLEN

/B E R K E L E Y ^i

LIBRARY

I UNIVMSITY OF
V CALIFORNHA J

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

AGRICULTURE
BEQUEST

OF
ANITA D. S. BLAKE

MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

MRS. ALLEN'S COOK
BOOK

BY

IDA C. BAILEY ALLEN

Editor "Housewives' Forum," Pictorial Re*ui&vu

Formerly Editor "Three Meals a Day,'' Good Housekeeping

Lecturer for Chautauqua and the Westheld

Domestic Science Schools

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

PROFESSOR LEWIS B. ALLYN

Formerly Chemist of the Westfield Board of Health
Food Editor of The McClure Publications

ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY
T L ALLEN AND A. E. SPROUL

BOSTON
SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY

PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1917
BY SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY

(INCORPORATED)

AGRICULTURE
GIFT

printers

J. rAEKHJLL & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.

/9

AGRIC.
LIBRARY

TO

MY HUSBAND

WHOSE FAITH AND CONSTANT HELP IS A
NEVER FAILING SOURCE OF INSPIRATION

159

PREFACE

* *

Each year brings me thousands of letters from house-
wives all over the country, as well as from Canada and
Mexico, and many from the old world. Some of them
contain requests for recipes, but the majority ask for
help in solving home problems of finance, the prepara-
tion of food, the saving of time and energy, and the
institution of the balanced ration as a means toward
economy and better family health. Many others ask
about proper service, and what foods should be com-
bined; but not a few contain a little heart-break, and
many of them end in this wise, " If I had only been
taught how to cook, and how to do housework when I
was a girl, instead of growing up in ignorance and selfish-
ness, how much easier my life would be now, and how
much more effective I should be as a mother, a wife
and a housekeeper ! "

In presenting this book the burden of my message is:
Let every mother realize that she holds in her hands the
health of the family and the welfare and the progress of
her husband. It is she who helps to make brain and
brawn. There is no magic in the work she does. There
are no mortars and pestles, there are no test tubes and
Bunsen burners. Her chemicals are foods pure and
simple, her equipment, bowls and pans, kettles and a
range. With these aids she must evolve a good family
health, and in so doing contribute to the health and wel-
fare of the nation.

It is a wonderful thing to be a woman ; it is a wonder-
ful thing to be a wife, but most of all it is wonderful
to be a mother, and the woman who realizes her priv-
ileges and knows that her daily work is not drudgery,
but that it is constructive in the truest sense of the word,
and who does this work with love and pride in her heart,
is fulfilling the highest destiny that a woman can have.

If I were to make a plea, I should ask that every

PREFACE

woman in this country, whether she has the vote, or
whether she is merely depending upon personal influence,
should try her utmost to introduce courses in domestic
economy in every school in both city and country, in
every prison and in every reformatory.

If I were to put forth a request, it would be that every
woman in this country make herself a " pal " and friend
of her daughters and her sons, and that from little baby-
hood up she teach them the interesting processes of home
work and cookery, so that there will be a sound founda-
tion for the homes that are to come and an already es-
tablished knowledge that will make possible glorious
home partnership and splendid health for the genera-
tions that are to be.

The author wishes to acknowledge her indebtedness to
the Ladies' Home Journal, Pictorial Review, Good House-
keeping, the Delineator, Country Gentleman, the Boston
Cooking School Magazine, the North American, and the
Ohio State Journal for their kindness in allowing re-
prints of her various articles which have been published
in their columns, and for the privilege of reproducing
photographs which have been used from time to time in
their pages.

IDA C. BAILEY ALLEN.

INTRODUCTION

A well rounded dietary is the only sensible one. While
we should eat to live instead of reversing the process,
care in selection and judgment in preparation make our
dietetic choice a matter of pleasure and profit as well as
of duty.

The chemical composition of the body requires foods
of similar composition. The author of this book in a
delightfully simple manner has presented the problem so
that, generally speaking, the body may extract from the
foods the maximum amount of building and fuel mate-
rial with the least expenditure of dynamic energy.

The housewife who studies these chapters cannot fail
to find suggestions adaptable, economical and hygienic.

It will, of course, be understood that no class of food
performs a strictly simple function. For example, while
proteins are building foods, they also furnish a consider-
able amount of heat or energy. Likewise, fats and oils
furnish energy and, to some extent, assist in tissue-build-
ing. In other words, any food is likely to react outside
its own class.

Mrs. Allen has expressed in popular terms a simple,
workable outline of food combination, well adapted to
the needs of the housewife. If her book is carefully fol-
lowed, the dietary of the average family will be much
improved, cost decreased, and a general gain in health
experienced.

LEWIS B. ALLYN.

Food Editor of The McClure Publications

Contents

Chapter

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

PART I

THE EVERYDAY CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY
THE DIET IN SPRING, SUMMER, FALL AND WINTER

THE CHILDREN'S MEALS

THE PROBLEM OF THE DINNER PAIL .
THE FINE ART OF COMBINING FOODS .
SEASONINGS

Page
I

27
40

50
54
66

VII THE EQUIPMENT AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE KITCHEN 74

VIII RANGES AND THEIR OPERATION .... 85

IX THE SHORT-CUT PREPARATION OF MEALS . . 96

X THE SERVICE OF HOME AND COMPANY MEALS . 116

XI THE CHAFING DISH 123

PART II

I MEASUREMENTS ....... 131

II BEVERAGES 133

III FRUITS 144

IV CEREALS 159

V EGGS AND SAVORY EGG DISHES . . . . 170

VI YEAST BREADS 188

VII QUICK BREADS * 218

VIII APPETIZERS 233

IX SOUPS 240

X FISH 269

XI THE FRYING OF FOOD 300

XII MEATS 316

XIII SAVORY SAUCES . 388

XIV POTATOES . 397

XV VEGETABLES 408

xii Contents

Chapter Page

XVI THE EDIBLE WEEDS . . . . . . 447

XVII SALADS AND How TO MAKE THEM . . . 453

XVIII SANDWICHES . . 498

XIX DESSERTS 510

XX SWEET SAUCES 555

XXI FROZEN DESSERTS 562

XXII CAKE 583

XXIII COOKIES, CUP CAKES AND LITTLE CAKES . . 607

XXIV ICINGS AND FILLINGS 620

XXV PASTRY 630

XXVI THE MAKING OF CANDIES 644

XXVII CHEESE . . . . . ... . 66 1

XXVIII INVALID COOKERY AND SERVICE . . . . 674

XXIX CANNING, PRESERVING AND PICKLING . . . 687

INDEX . 725

List of Illustrations

Mrs. Allen in Her Own Kitchen Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

Table Set for Home Breakfast 36

After-Dinner Coffee Service 36

An Adequate Fireless Cooker 80

A Group of Ice -Cream Moulds 80

An Adequate Steamer 112

Table Set for Informal Chafing Dish Supper. . . . 126

Ways to Serve Oranges . . 146

Ways to Serve Strawberries 146

Curried Eggs in Chafing Dish 178

Swedish Timbales . 178

General Utility Wheel-Tray Set for Afternoon Tea Service. 216

Smoked Salmon Canape 234

Peanut Butter Canape 234

Making Soup Stock 252

Lamb Chops . 252

Baked Oysters on the Half Shell 270

Tomatoes Stuffed with Shrimps 270

Cold Boiled Salmon with Mayonnaise 294

Fish, Ready to Boil 294

Rice with Onion and Peppers en Casserole .... 326

Casserole of Lima Beans and Beef ...... 326

Table Set for Formal Luncheon 344

Baked Pork Chops with Apples 360

Baked Sausage with Broiled Sliced Apples .... 360

Chicken Pot Pourri ......... 374

Chicken Mousse Loaf 374

Baked Potatoes and Potato Rack 398

French Frying Potatoes 398

xiv List of Illustrations

FACING PAGE

Table Set for Home Dinner . . . . . . 424

An Asparagus Cooker 438

An Improvised Asparagus Cooker 438

Tomato Cream Salad 468

Tomato and Sardine Salad ....... 468

The Picnic Lunch 500

Steamed Christmas Pudding 534

Rhubarb Pudding with Banana Decoration .... 534

Summer Fruit Cup ......... 564

Ways to Serve Pineapple 564

Colonial Sponge Cake . . . . . . ! . . 598

Walnut Cake . 598

Dropped Nut Cookies . 618

Frosted Ginger Nuts 618

Cheese and Nut Balls 664

Macaroon Bisque . . . . . ... . 664

Wheel-Tray Set for Invalid Luncheon . . . 684

Table Set for Formal Christmas Dinner .... 706

MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

CHAPTER I

THE EVERYDAY CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND
COOKERY

THE BALANCED RATION

Every housewife is the mistress of the destiny of her
family. In the foods which she prepares and serves
she has the power to build strong, healthy bodies, the
bedrock of brilliant minds, to furnish energy for work
and life, and to create a reserve against worry and dis-
ease. Within her hands she holds the glorious manhood
and splendid womanhood of to-morrow.

The balanced ration furnishes the solution of the
house-mother's difficult problem in providing the right
food for the needs of her family. As usually explained
the problem of the balanced ration seems so difficult,
technical, and obscure, that the average woman, although
anxious to place her cookery on a scientific basis, be-
comes appalled by the host of technical terms and numer-
ical calculations and finally abandons all attempt at
science and falls back into the old routine of unscientific
cooking. Nevertheless the problem is really simple, and
can be worked out for each individual family by the ex-
penditure of a little time and thought at no extra cost,
for the balanced ration tends to reduce the food bills.

But first, what is the balanced ration? It is simply
the correct combination into meals of the proper amounts
of food and the proper food constituents in such ways
as to please both the eye and the palate, appease the
hunger, furnish each section of the body the food re-
quired for energy, and allow for the storing-up of re-
serve force against the time of need.

Our bodies are made of many different elements,
which, in conjunction with water, combine to form flesh,
bone, blood, and so on. But each time a motion is made,
a thought flashed in the brain, or even a word spoken, a

2 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

small part of the body tissue is broken down or ex-
hausted. This waste is carried off through the pores of
the skin and by the excretory organs, but there Nature
pauses. She cannot mend a break without material, and,
just as the plumber needs solder, she requires food to re-
pair the wornout tissues. As the body is so complex,
a wide variety of foods is needed in order that there
may be sufficient material to repair each part. This is
one reason why human beings crave variety in their food
and thrive best upon a mixed diet.

The housewife, in working out her food problem, may
classify foods in the following six groups of constituents :

1. Proteins, or Muscle- Makers as beef, lean pork,
mutton, poultry, lamb, veal, game, cheese, nuts, milk,
eggs, fish, dried peas, dried beans, lentils and milk soups.

2. Carbohydrates, or Fuels including starches and
sweets.

A. Starchy Foods as potatoes and all starchy veg-
etables, macaroni, spaghetti, noodles and the like, cooked
and prepared cereals, bread, muffins, biscuits, crackers,
bananas, cocoa, corn starch and tapioca puddings, cereal
puddings and so on.

B. Sweets as cakes, frostings, candies, rich pre-
serves, jellies, rich breads (as coffee cake), cookies,
sweet puddings, stewed fruit, honey, maple syrup and
other sugary foods.

3. Fats, or Reserve-Force Foods as fat ham, pork,
bacon, fat fish, sausages, cream soups, full milk cheese,
cream cheese, olive-, corn- and peanut-oil, ripe olives,
mayonnaise and all salad dressings, rich gravies and
sauces, rich pastry, most nuts, suet puddings, fritters and
all foods cooked in fat, sweet chocolate, ice cream made
with cream, mousse, parfaits and Bavarian creams.

4. Minerals and Acids as cucumbers, corn, toma-
toes, cabbage, celery, egg plant, spinach and all greens,
salad plants, prunes, figs, rhubarb and all dried and fresh
fruits.

5. Bulky Foods, or Cleansers as all mineral foods,
coarse breads, woody vegetables, gritty cereals and bran
foods.

6. Liquids, or Dissolvent Foods as water, stock and
milk soups, broths, tea, coffee, skimmed milk, whey, but-

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 3

termilk, fruit drinks, gelatines, water ices, frappes, sher-
bets and watery fruits and vegetables.

While this classification is only a general one, it is
sufficiently accurate and practical to enable any house-
wife to place her cookery on a scientific basis without
any trouble or abstruse calculations. All foods contain
certain properties, as proteins possess a small proportion
of heat-giving properties, while most carbohydrates con-
tain a trace, or more, of protein. For convenience's sake
in planning a balanced ration each food must be grouped
according to its predominating characteristic, for the un-
derlying principle in the preparation of food lies in cook-
ing properly the ruling constituent, as protein in proteins,
starch in carbohydrates, and so on, at the same time
retaining as much of the total food value as possible.

In arranging meals the principal or main dish should
usually be a protein food a roast, baked eggs, a rare-
bit, or any food from the muscle-making group. Then
come the carbohydrates (starches and sugars), the fats
(as butter, olive oil and the like), the minerals (in the
form of fresh fruits or vegetables) and the bland and
" filling foods," listed under the dissolvent or bulky
group (as stock soup, gelatine, apples, and so on).

If the wrong foods are prepared and served, it is al-
most as easy to starve in the midst of plenty, as when
there is nothing to eat, and Nature creates a feeling of
dissatisfaction which results in a constant appetite, or
a craving, for the lacking food. A mother was utterly
discouraged because she could not seem to provide her
athletic boy of fifteen with enough to eat. One night,
after eating ten slices of bread and butter, three helpings
of potato salad, six slices of cake, and three dishes of
preserves, he was rummaging in the pantry a half hour
after supper for " something to eat." She finally de-
cided that he was not being supplied with the right kind
of food, so she studied dietetics and the balanced ration,
and instituted scientific meals. The boy's appetite be-
came normal almost at once. He was starving on starch,
while all his healthy young muscles demanded their por-
tion of protein.

A meal often leaves a craving sense of incompleteness,
caused by a similarity in flavor in all the foods served.

4 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

A small quantity of any of the vividly seasoned foods
furnishes an appetizer. For convenience the foods suit-
able for use in this way may be termed " esthetic foods,"
and include all condiments, pickles, green olives, chili
sauce, ketchup, crystallized ginger, green peppers, pimen-
toes, sour oranges and fruits, tart jellies, lemon juice,
wintergreen and peppermint candies and so forth. The
esthetic touch may be added to any course desirable, al-
though it relieves monotony if it appears midway of
the meal. If the esthetic touch is added properly, the
whole meal assumes point and every food fits into its
niche.

In planning any meal the bulky group of food constitu-
ents must predominate in quantity; starches should ap-
pear second, the proteins third, sweets fourth and fats
fifth, while the liquid group should be sufficient to act as
a dissolving agent. In general, two starches should
figure in a meal, one protein, one fat besides butter, at
least one bulky food, one mineral, or more if desirable,
one sweet, and a dissolvent besides water. If foods are
apportioned in this way, in quantities of the usual " help-
ing," suited to the occupation and age of each member
of the family, second portions will seldom be requested;
when each part of the body is receiving adequate nourish-
ment, less food is needed.

The food of each meal should be suitable for the needs
of each member of the family. Briefly, the man at hard
labor and the active boy from twelve years up require
hearty foods that " stick to the ribs " usually meaning
those consuming a long time in digestion ; the housewife,
active school girls from twelve years on, and men at
sedentary occupations need lighter food or that more
easily digested; while children from four to eight and
old people need a fair quantity of simple food. Children
under four demand small quantities of easily digested
foods, supplemented by plenty of minerals and milk,
while the child from eight to twelve may eat the usual
family meal in quantities suited to his growth and ac-
tivity. No matter whether the income is large or small
the balanced ration can always be maintained. Jt must
be borne in mind that beyond a certain point the cost of

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY- 5

food is for flavor and luxuries rather than for the neces-
sities of diet.

A day's menu for a family, consisting of a father at
clerical work, a mother who acts as housekeeper, an 'ath-
letic son, a girl of ten, and a child of four, might be as
follows :

Breakfast

Coddled Apples, B, 4, 5, 6

Cracked Wheat, A, 5

Light Cream, 3

Baked Eggs, i

Popovers, A, and Butter, 3

Coffee (for grown-ups), 6

Luncheon or Supper

Cream of Tomato Soup, i, 6

Escalloped Cheese, i
Bread, A, and Butter, 3

Lettuce Salad, with Shredded Peppers and Oil Dressing, 3, 4, 6
Steamed Whole Wheat Pudding, A Raisin Sauce, B

Tea, 6

Dinner

Clear Soup, 6

Lamb with Gravy, i, 3 Boiled Rice, A

Cabbage Slaw, with Minced Mint, 3, 4

Baked Parsnips, A

Sliced Oranges in Jelly, B, 4, 5

Tea, 6

The numbers following each item refer back to the
table of food constituents, proteins being called i ;
starches A ; sweets B ; fats 3 ; minerals 4 ; bulky foods 5
and liquids 6. Some of the foods may be included in
two or more classifications; in this case several numbers
appear after each item.

These menus are roughly balanced, and approximate
dietetic standards in so far as is practicable. A sufficient
quantity of sugar is added in preparing coddled apples to
classify them as sweet (B), but at the same time they are
mineral (4), ballast (5), and liquid (6). Cream of
tomato soup is at once a protein (i), because of the milk
it contains, and a dissolvent (6), because it is a liquid.
A knowledge of cookery and familiarization with the

6 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

table of food constituents given above will enable anyone
to classify all foods in their relation to the balanced
ration.

In these special menus each food constituent appears
in correct proportion, and every member of the imagin-
ary family can obtain from them the foods suited to his
or her needs. The. cracked wheat at breakfast is suffi-
ciently bulky to " stand by " the athletic son, who will
doubtless eat steadily through the meal. The father and
mother will eat smaller quantities because they are not
so active and burn less energy, while the girl of ten will
probably be satisfied with a choice of either eggs or
cereal. The four-year-old child should be given either
eggs or cereal, but not both. Milk 'is also needed, if the
cereal serves as his main dish. As he is too young to
eat hot breads, a slice of bread and butter may be sub-
stituted for the popovers. The same common sense dis-
posal may be made at the other meals.

PROTEINS, THEIR PREPARATION AND PLACE
IN THE MENU

The part which the proteins should play in the balanced
ration is the most serious consideration in arranging a
diet. If insufficient protein is taken, the body cannot
grow or build up the wornout parts ; while, if too much
is taken, the result is serious disease. As a matter of
fact many of the so-called degenerative diseases are
traced to too much protein in the diet. So the selection
of protein foods involves considerable thought. Another
cause for thought is that many foods analyze a large
proportion of protein that is not digestible and we live
upon what we digest, irrespective of what we eat.
Mushrooms, for example, contain a certain amount of
protein, but it is in such form that the body cannot
digest it all. The outer layers of certain grains contain
considerable protein, yet, as it cannot be assimilated, the
nutritional value of this part of the grain is chiefly in the
mineral matter which is also present. As these foods
contain a large amount of waste material, they are also
of value as " ballast " in the diet.

The following foods may be roughly classified as pro-
teins :

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 7

Beef, poultry, game, pork, lamb, mutton, veal, cheese,
nuts, milk, eggs, fish, dried beans, peas, lentils and milk
soups.

All dishes which consist largely of any of these foods
also belong to this classification, so that the possibilities
of presenting protein in the diet are considerable. Many
housewives have the idea that only savory dishes, suitable
for the main portion of a meal, are proteins, but this
idea is erroneous. Any of these foods, whether in a
sweet, a salad, or a soup, is a protein. For instance,
dried lima-bean soup, chicken salad, escalloped beef,
baked egg custard, cheese souffle, or nut croquettes are
all proteins, and if they are not so considered in the
menu, the body may rebel and become heir to the ills
attending a diet too rich in protein. This is not difficult
when the common error of serving meat three times a
day is made. It is obvious that with so wide a variety
of protein foods from which to choose there should be
no trouble in planning menus in which meat figures but
once a day.

The statement is frequently made that the protein
value in three eggs, three ounces of cheese, two ounces of
salted peanuts, or a pint of milk equals that in five ounces
of meat. While this may be true, it is impracticable
to serve many of these meat substitutes uncombined, for,
unless they are supplemented by some food which serves
as ballast, they do not contain a bulk equalling that of
meat. Most people feel that the satisfying of hunger
consists in eating until the stomach is full, and this
cannot be done on a concentrated diet, as overeating
and illness result. If the cheese is escalloped with
coarse crumbs, the peanuts hash-browned with potatoes,
the eggs creamed and served on toast, the milk solidified
into junket or enforced with oatmeal or whole wheat
crackers, the ballast will be supplied and the body satis-
fied. The reason that meat substitutes are not more
generally used is probably because most women fail to
grasp this point, and a single trial of the so-called sub-
stitutes, plain or not properly combined, convinces them
that " their family would rather have meat " and they
turn back to their former ways.

The selection of protein best suited to the menu de-

8 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

pends largely upon the family. The more digestible
types are advisable for those doing light work, the
" heartier," or less digestible foods for those of greater
activity.

The digestibility of a few more common foods may be
noted roughly as follows:

QUICKLY DIGESTED SLOWLY DIGESTED

(One to three hours) (Three to five hours)

Milk Pork in all forms

Broiled -tripe Veal in all forms

Turkey Nuts in all forms

Broiled chicken, lamb chops Cheese in all forms

and steak Mushrooms

Broiled, poached, scrambled Pot-roast of beef

and coddled eggs Casserole dishes

Baked custard Hard-cooked and fried eggs

Broiled trout, halibut and sal- and omelets

mon Stews

Boiled cod, halibut and salmon Fried meats of all kinds

Salt codfish, baked or creamed All "made dishes" of meats

Oysters, raw or baked in shell Fried fish of all kinds

Boiled beef Mackerel, sardines, canned sal-
mon, and all fat fish
Lentils, peas and beans

This raises the most important point in connection
with proteins their cookery for it is possible to make
a food that is otherwise digestible difficult of digestion by
improper cooking, and to make those so-called " indi-
gestible " much more palatable and nutritious by the
right treatment. To a considerable extent perfect diges-
tion depends on perfect cooking, and on the same con-
sideration hinges the greatest possibility for absorption
of nutriment. Food that is not digested is wasted ; a
human machine clogged with the wastes of indigestion
is inefficient. However, in searching for digestible
foods any tendency to " pamper " or " spare " the diges-
tive organs of a normal person should be avoided. The
whole body needs exercise the stomach, liver and in-
testines, as well as the legs and arms, and, while they
should not be overloaded, they should not be given a
diet of eggs, milk and predigested foods on which they
will become weakened.

The cooking of all protein foods is alike in that they
should neyer be subjected to high temperatures, as this

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 9

has a hardening effect on the protein element, making
it indigestible. If an egg, for instance, is boiled or
poached in rapidly boiling water for four minutes, the
white becomes opaque and leathery, while, if the time
is slightly increased and the egg is immersed in water
just below the boiling point, it becomes perfectly cooked,
having a jellied, translucent appearance.

It may be given, then, as a rule, that eggs should al-
ways be cooked at the lowest possible temperature. If
eggs are to be hard-cooked, the only way to avoid the
unpleasant chemical changes brought about by the usual
prolonged cooking is to put them on in cold water, bring
them slowly to the boiling point, boil rapidly for ten min-
utes, then plunge at once into cold water to stop all fur-
ther cooking. This is the only case when an egg, as a
protein food, should be boiled. Scrambled eggs, as usu-
ally served, are leathery and indigestible, because they
are turned into melted butter in a pan so hot that the
eggs are not only coagulated immediately, but are fried
as well. Properly, the mixture should be turned into a
cold, thick frying pan, the lump of butter added, and the
whole cooked so gently that the result is creamy. Fried
eggs and omelets should also be cooked slowly. A per-
fectly fried egg cannot be prepared under five minutes,
while an omelet of fair size needs ten. Custards and
desserts of all kinds, containing eggs, should be sur-
rounded by boiling water while cooking, as this keeps
the temperature below boiling point. Otherwise they
will " curd," or, in other words, the eggs will cook in
lumps.

Fish consists of a considerable proportion of protein,
yet there is probably no other food so maltreated. The
majority of people " do not care for fish," but in how
many cases is it ever served other than fried or boiled?
If the former method is used, the delicate flavor and tex-
ture is usually overcome by the hot fat ; if the latter, the
fish is " cooked to death." If fish must be fried, let it
be in deep fat. The high heat will immediately coagu-
late the outside protein cells, preventing the escape of
juices, while the cold fish will reduce the temperature
sufficiently to carry on the process slowly. In boiling
(a misleading term) fish should be started in water just

io MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

at boiling point; for, as the protein of fish is soluble in
cold or merely warm water, it will otherwise be lost.
If it be wrapped in a cloth and the complete cooking car-
ried on at simmering-point (as with the boiled eggs), the
fish will present a " jellied " appearance, be very tender
and remain whole. If boiled rapidly, it is not only
" cooked to pieces " but the breaking open causes the
loss of both flavor and part of the protein. In boiling,
the fish should be subjected to high heat only long enough
to seal the outside. The same rule also applies to plank-
ing. In no case should the process be hurried.

Meats may be cooked in various ways, boiling, broil-
ing, stewing, pot-roasting, braizing, roasting and casserol-
ing being the most common. " Boiled beef," properly
prepared, is one of the juiciest and most digestible of
meats, but, like fish, it must never be actually boiled.
Again, though different in appearance, meat contains
practically the same protein as eggs and fish, and, if
boiled, becomes tough and leathery. The protein of
meats, like that of fish, is soluble in cold water, so they
should always be plunged into boiling water to seal, or
" sear," the pores, in order to preserve the protein, then
simmered gently till done. In this way the juices will be
retained and the meat become tender and gelatinized.
In preparing a five-pound piece it will be necessary to
increase the time of cooking about an hour over the
old method. The fireless cooker is a successful medium
for preparing tough meats, because it necessitates a slow
process. The resulting stock will be thin and rather
" flat," because the flavors have been retained in the
meat, which is of first importance. In stewing, on the
other hand, the meat and liquor are of equal importance ;
so the meat is immersed in cold water, and brought
slowly to the simmering point, in order to make the broth
of strong flavor. In this way the juices are divided be-
tween the meat and the broth, making the stew more
palatable. Casserole cooking is merely baking a stew in
an earthen dish. Pot-roasting is modified boiling, the
meat being first browned or seared all over in fat to keep
in the juices, then added, with the vegetables and spices,
to boiling water sufficient to cover it half over. It should
never boil.

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY II

In broiling or pan-broiling, meat should be subjected
to heat sufficient to sear it quickly, then turned immedi-
ately to sear the other portions, lest the juices escape.
As most meat for broiling is cut crosswise, the fibers con-
taining the meat fluids are left exposed. Unless the
searing be quick and complete, these juices will escape,
the result being a flat, tasteless meat. If, however, the
searing is thorough, and the meat is turned frequently,
the juices run back and forth in the fibers, which expand
with the heat until the meat assumes a puffy appearance.
In roasting, meat is exposed to a very hot heat till seared,
all over, then finished at a lower temperature.

Cheese is another protein that requires careful cook-
ing. It consists largely of casein, the protein of milk,
and, like all the other foods in this group, is rendered
indigestible by high temperatures. This is the reason it
disagrees with many. If baked, it should always be set
in a pan of hot water ; if in a rarebit or cheese sauce, it
should be cooked in a double boiler ; either method keeps
it below the boiling point. In case it is to be added to
soup or macaroni, the dish should be fully prepared be-
fore the addition, the heat being sufficient to melt the
cheese. If served plain, it should be finely shaved, or
cut in small pieces, and some bulky food should always
accompany it.

Dried peas, beans and lentils should always be soaked
several hours before cooking, thoroughly rinsed, and
then simmered until tender. Again, it takes slow-cook-
ing to make the protein digestible. A little baking soda,
added while cooking, aids in softening the husks and
overcoming the gases that frequently attend the eating
of dried vegetables.

CARBOHYDRATES AND FATS

THEIR PREPARATION AND PLACE IN THE

MENU

Just as the protein builds muscle, the carbohydrate ful-
fills the great mission of acting as fuel for the body,
thus providing heat and activity and energy for work.
Without this food constituent, the body would become

12 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

lazy, chilly and inert, while oxidation digesting
could not take place.

The list of carbohydrates which includes both
starches and sugars is extensive. The following foods
may be listed as starches : All vegetables which contain
a noticeable amount of starch and sugar, ^s white pota-
toes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, melons,
sweet corn, and squash ; all cereals, both ready-to-eat and
cooked, including rice, samp, macaroni, spaghetti, ver-
micelli and noodles ; bread, all muffins, biscuits and crack-
ers; bananas and corn starch; arrowroot, cereal and
tapioca . puddings. Sugars include all foods made very
sweet : as cakes, most pies, f rostings, candies, rich pre-
serves, stewed fruits, jellies, sweet puddings, rich breads
(as coffee cake), cookies, Barbadoes or other molasses,
honey and maple and corn syrup.

iThis classification must not be misunderstood, for it is
only general in scope. Most carbohydrate foods contain
some protein and some fat. A cake made from eggs
w r hich contain both protein and fat will contribute
a proportion of both constituents to the dish.

Starches in the raw state are largely indigestible and
cannot be absorbed by the body. Thorough cooking
converts the starch into a sweet substance similar to
sugar and renders it digestible. In case the cookery is
incomplete, as in half-cooked cereals, the starch, instead
of being used in the body, goes through the digestive
canal, irritating the stomach and intestines and fre-
quently causing accumulations of gas. Just as plain
starch cannot be prepared for laundry purposes without
the addition of boiling water to burst the grains, so is
this addition necessary in cooking all starchy foods, un-
less they contain a large amount of water in themselves.
For this reason cereals cannot be cooked without the
medium of water or other liquid, while potatoes, which
are composed of considerable water, can be cooked either
with or without water.

Cereals are the cheapest and most nourishing of the
fuel foods. As they consist of approximately three-
fourths starch, they are distinctly carbohydrates, al-
though oats, wheat, rye and corn contain about ten per

\

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 13

cent of protein, and even rice, though mostly starch, has
eight per cent of protein.

Bread, both ordinary white and whole wheat, contains
so large a percentage of starch that it must be classi-
fied as a carbohydrate. Bread has a place peculiarly
its own in the diet, but when enormous quantities are
consumed at a meal it denotes one of two things it
is eaten through custom or because the meal is unbal-
anced.

In considering sweets, the place of pure molasses,
honey and maple syrup should be noted. They are
wholesome foods, and a meal supplemented by warm
biscuits and honey, or browned mush and syrup, instead
of the usual heavy dessert, is not only more wholesome
but more enjoyable. Pure candy deserves a place in the
diet, and, when properly used, may supplement the menu.
Sugar is a source of quick energy, and, often, a little
plain candy or sugar water acts as a restorative in cases
of fatigue. If a stick of candy is occasionally given to
the child after school, with coarse oatmeal crackers, so
that he will not eat too rapidly, he is furnished with
quick energy in an absolutely harmless form. But if
candy is eaten just before a meal, the appetite is sated
by the sweet, and the regular food may be refused.

Stewed fruits, either dried or fresh, jellies and pre-
serves, may be considered as sweets on account of the
sugar they contain. A little thought shows that the too
frequent supper of bread and butter, cookies, cake, pre-
serves and tea, served so largely in country towns, is
made up mostly of carbohydrates. Yet in many famil-
ies it is served the year through. In most households
the tendency is towards too much carbohydrate, which
is liable to bring about auto-intoxication and obesity. Up
to a certain point the body needs starch, but when an
oversupply begins to be stored up as fat, the danger
of obesity begins.

FATS

Fat is an important food constituent for it is the great-
est source of latent or reserve energy, yet there is prob-
ably no other item of the diet so generally disliked.

14 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

From the time a child is old enough to be given meat he
generally refuses even to taste the fat, and the mother,
instead of coaxing him to eat, often cuts off the " offend-
ing " morsel, little realizing that she is depriving her child
of a great essential of his food.

In the fat, or reserve force, group we find the fol-
lowing foods : fat ham, pork, bacon, fat fish, sausages,
cream, butter, oleomargarine, cream soups, rich cream
cheese, olive-, corn- and peanut-oils, mayonnaise, and all
salad dressings, almonds, peanuts and other nuts, rich
gravies, ripe olives, hard or cream sauce, all kinds of
rich pastry, suet puddings, fritters and all grease-cooked
foods, chocolate, ice cream, mousses, Bavarian creams
and parfaits.

Fats must always be broken up or emulsified before
they can be digested. The normal body is so. constituted
that it does not crave large quantities at a time. So fats
are generally served in combination olive oil being cut
by lemon -juice or vinegar in a French dressing, butter
spread on bread, eggs served with bacon, cream with
shortcake and apple sauce with fat pork, Nature always
calling for a balance.

As fat is the last food constituent to be acted upon
by the digestive organs, it may be readily seen why this
becomes the reserve force element of the body. Any
food cooked in it cannot be digested until Nature has
broken up the fat cells. An omelet, fried eggs, fried
steak, doughnuts, croquettes and the like are not easily
available for the body's use until the fat has been acted
upon. Pastry, cake and suet puddings rich in fat are
equally slow of digestion, for the fat is so blended about
the grains of flour and other ingredients that it must first
be dissolved before they can be utilized. Foods cooked
in fat remain in the digestive tract from one to two hours
longer than is ordinarily necessary. This overtaxes the
whole system, and, if such foods are eaten persistently,
results in pallor, eruptions on the face, and a general air
of lassitude. This does not mean that fried foods should
be excluded from the diet, but that they should be served
in moderation.

In health all fats in reasonable amounts are digestible
in the following order : good butter, cream, olive oil, pea-

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 15

nut- and corn-oils, oleomargarine, beef fat, and the vari-
ous pork products.

In frying, fats are usually heated to the smoking point,
when they break up and some of the products evolved
are irritating to the intestinal canal. This is why burned
butter is unwholesome, and why doughnuts and other
foods fried in lard heated to the smoking-point are in-
digestible. Animal fats smoke at a much lower temper-
ature than do vegetable oils. For this reason the veg-
etable product is a much better medium for frying.
Olive oil is the best, prepared vegetable cooking oils come
second, while lard and beef fat are the least desirable.

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
the more economical, and the products more digestible,
because approximately one-fourth less fat is absorbed
into the foods. To be fried in deep fat, foods must con-
tain enough egg instantly to coagulate them (as fritters),
cfr else be coated with a thin layer of egg or dissolved
gelatine (as croquettes). The surface is then instantly
sealed, and the fat will not be absorbed to any great ex-
tent.

MINERAL, ACID AND BALLAST FOODS

Mineral, acid and ballast foods are so closely connected
that they really belong to the same group, and are sepa-
rated only for convenience in planning the balanced
ration. They include all bulky, watery vegetables, as
onions, corn, cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, celery, egg-
plant, radishes, spinach, and all greens ; asparagus, string
beans, salad plants, prunes, figs and rhubarb; all fresh
fruits, coarse breads, cereals made from undenatured
food products, as whole wheat meal, oatmeal, home
ground cornmeal and brown rice.

The term " minerals " is so little understood that the
importance of this constituent in the diet is usually over-
looked or left to take care of itself. The body averages
seven pounds of mineral matter, five-sixths of which is
found in the bones, the remainder being distributed
throughout the tissues, where it performs important du-
ties in assisting to oxidize, or burn, the food, carry off

i.6 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

carbon dioxide (the by-product of oxidation) giving life
to the nervous system and pliability to the muscles. In
fact life cannot be carried on without mineral, and, just
as there is crop failure if land lacks phosphorus or some
other necessary constituent, the body droops, grows pale
and finally ill, if deprived of any of these minerals.
Lime, for instance, is essential to digestion, and, strangely
enough, has a great affinity for sugar. In case many
sweets are eaten and not enough lime, the body begins to
call on its own store to combine with the sugar, gradually
the lime is sapped from the teeth, and decay is apt to be-
gin. Life itself cannot be carried on without iron, for
the little red corpuscles of the blood cannot refresh,
or reorganize, the body without it. When iron is defi-
cient, pallor, lassitude and, finally, anemia may set in.
The body cannot lack any one mineral and expect the
others to carry on their work effectively. But if a bal-
anced diet is used and the vegetables and fruits are care-
fully prepared, the body will be supplied with all the
mineral matter necessary. On such a diet little thought
need be given to the matter of minerals and salt will be
the only one which will have to be added.

As all vegetables contain a variety of minerals, it is
somewhat difficult to classify them as being rich in any
particular one.

Lime is found in all cereals and predominates in brown
rice, as well as in radishes, apples and spinach ; while
iron has a definite place in apples, lentils, strawberries,
cabbage, spinach and string beans.

It will be noticed that in classifying cereals the word
" undenatured " is prefixed to wheat, oatmeal, cornmeal
and brown rice. When a cereal is " denatured," one or
more of its valuable elements have been removed. When
wheat is made into white flour, a portion of the mineral
is sacrificed. A similar loss is sustained when the heart
and outer husks are removed from corn. Rolled oats
and polished rice suffer in like manner. In this way
the body is really deprived of several of the most im-
portant food elements, and, if these special denatured
foods predominate in the diet, mineral starvation results=

Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the necessity of
supplying minerals in the diet for prospective mother-

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 17

hood. The body is then taxed to the utmost to supply
not only itself, but the food essences needed for the new
life. In this case, as with the child, the diet should be
over-rich in minerals, as, otherwise, the bony structure
of the coming baby will suffer, while the mother will be
robbed of her own supply of body minerals to give to
the child. The decay of the teeth of the pregnant mother
is largely due to the lack of lime and phosphorus in the
diet.

Fruits, like vegetables, are both mineral and ballast
foods. They also convey to the body various acids which
are combined with minerals in such a way as to play an
important part in maintaining health. As digestion
transforms these acids into alkalis, they cause the blood
to become alkaline and the urine less acid. The differ-
ing flavors of fruits are due to these acids, in part, but
more to the presence of small numbers of little bodies
which almost elude investigation. While these are of
no great nutritive value, they give the fruits pronounced
flavor and make them valuable stimulants to the appetite
and aids to digestion, because they excite the digestive
juices.

Fruits in their raw state have a much greater tonic-
value, but as they are indigestible to many people, it is
often necessary to cook them. Unless the liquor or
medium in which they are prepared is served with them,
they suffer great nutritive loss. The skins should be
retained as far as possible, as many of the mineral salts
are found just beneath the surface and are lost when the
fruit is pared. Whether raw or cooked all fruits should
be served with less sugar than is the usual custom.
Fruit drinks offer an opportunity to introduce acids and
salts into the system; any fruit, from peaches to grape-
fruit, is adaptable, either alone or in combination. Again,
these drinks should not be served too sweet, or the direct
value is thwarted. Uncooked, acid fruits, however,
should not be served in combination with starchy foods,
as they frequently cause indigestion. Many a person
has suffered for years from flatulence through eating
both raw, acid fruit and cereal for breakfast.

Figs, prunes and bananas should be classed as food
fruits, rather than mineral fruits. Both figs and prunes

18 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

contain so much sugar that they are listed under carbo-
hydrates, although their mineral content is high. Both
are ballast foods and very laxative. The banana is
largely starch, so it also is classified under carbohydrates.
As it is almost impossible in the north, to obtain bananas
fully ripened, they should be served cooked, as other-
wise, the starch is often indigestible. In any case the
outer surface should be scraped off until the banana be-
comes slippery.

To manufacture foods that are 'concentrated, so
that the body may acquire its nourishment without deal-
ing with bulk, has been the subject of many experi-
ments. But it has been proved that the body must have
bulk in order to stimulate the digestive organs to suffi-
cient activity, and to clear or " sweep out " the intestines.

Most vegetables and fresh fruits contain so much cel-
lulose that they are invaluable as ballast foods. Favor-
ite refreshments a century ago were apples and nuts.
This is a perfect combination, as the bulk of the apple
satisfies the appetite and prevents the eating of too
many nuts. If heeded, this simple rule of using bulk to
supplement concentrated foods will do much towards
producing better health. Bulky cereals, as whole-wheat
meal, corn- and oatmeal, are splendid ballast foods, and,
in cases of auto-intoxication or constipation, should be
used to replace ordinary flour in making bread. All of
the ballast foods should be used freely in either case.

The dissolvent group includes several of the foods
classed under minerals and bulk, as well as others which
contain an abundance of liquid. Under this heading we
find watery fruits and vegetables; gelatines, water-ices,
frappes and sherbets; buttermilk, skimmed milk, fruit
drinks, tea, coffee, water and stock and milk soups.
About two-thirds of the body's weight is due to water.
Approximately four and a half pints are given off each
day in the waste and exhaustion, a portion of which is
actually manufactured in the body tissues, the remainder
coming from food and drink. Roughly speaking, in or-
der to maintain the fluid balance for a day, at least two
quarts of liquid should be taken by an adult, besides
that contained in the food. In case the diet is over-
heavy in meat and protein, more will be needed to carry

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 19

off urea and other products of protein waste than when
it is largely vegetarian or balanced.

THE CALORIES AS A BASIS OF FOOD VALUES

To the average housewife the modern literature on
food, with its terms and calculations far removed from
her experience and knowledge, reads so much like a text-
book of mathematics, that at the mere mention of " calor-
ies " she metaphorically " throws up her hands " and
banishes all further thought of scientific cookery. As a
matter of fact many of the discussions of food, which
involve the question of calories and the resulting calcu-
lations, are absolutely impracticable for ordinary use and
overlook certain fundamental conceptions in the question
of dietetics. For example, through the experience of
years housewives have built up a series of food combina-
tions which, when examined according to scientific
standards, prove to be properly balanced in regard to
the various foodstuffs and to have the approximate num-
ber of calories to provide a sufficient diet. We find, for
example, meat is served with potatoes almost universally,
an approximate balance of foodstuffs, or rather a start
towards that end. In other words the experience of the
household has shown that certain combinations and cer-
tain amounts of food keep the family in health and fur-
nish the necessary material for repair of the body and
for growth. What the scientists have been doing in the
past generation has been to check up practice and place
it upon a formal basis so that rules for diet might be
formulated.

Now to make it possible to eliminate guess-work from
cookery and dietetics and enable us to figure out the
whys and wherefores of the customs of the kitchen with
absolute accuracy it was necessary to invent new terms.
So it came about that " calorie " appeared. There is
nothing especially complicated about this term and any
housewife, in spite of her doubts and apprehensions, can
easily acquire all the fundamental conceptions which it
needs to add to her considerations in diet. " Calorie " is
simply a term of measurement to show how much value
a food has in the work the body has to do. The house-
wife, through practice, is entirely familiar with a gas

20 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

bill made out in terms of " feet " and probably with an
electric light bill in terms of " kilowatts " ; also that the
automobile is said to have so much " horse power."
Few of us could give an accurate definition of these
terms, but we accept them as the measure of our gas or
of our electric light bill, or of the power of the car,
without much thought or consideration. So a calorie
is a similar unit of measure, only this time applied to our
food. If a scientist is asked for the meaning of the
term he will say that " it is the amount of heat which
will raise the temperature of so much water so many
degrees." He would, however, probably speak more pre-
cisely and say the amount of heat which will raise a
pound of water four degrees Fahrenheit, but all one
needs to know to apply the knowledge " calorie " repre-
sents to the household is that each food contains so many
calories and we must have about so many of them in
our daily diet.

In short, calorie means heat and in this definition we
see again that science is merely verifying an ancient
tradition based on the knowledge gained from experi-
ence. " Cool as a cucumber " is a phrase as old as the
hills, but the new science of food values proves its ac-
curacy. The cucumber is cool lacks heat for it
takes a pound to supply seventy calories. Then we all
know the nursery rhyme, " Pease porridge hot," and
science shows that it is hot, for dried peas supply us with
1655 calories per pound. And " pease porridge cold,
pease porridge in the pot nine days old " is merely an-
other way of saying that the heat units are all there after
nine days.

But these facts need in no way confuse us, for it is en-
tirely unnecessary and impracticable to figure out exactly
and absolutely the calorie content of each article of diet
and the amount of total for the day. The most efficient
results will be attained by fixing firmly in the mind the
general proportions and general values of the different
articles of food and checking up the family ration,
roughly, from time to time. The principles of the bal-
anced ration set forth in the preceding pages are, as a
matter of fact, entirely sufficient for the introduction of
scientific cookery into the household, but a notion of

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 21

the caloric basis of " food values " is doubtless a help
in understanding the problem most thoroughly.

As we need so many feet of gas to run the oven in
the gas stove for baking, so we need so many calories
of food value to run our bodies each day. Perhaps it
is easier to understand the application of the calorie if
we consider that a large slice of bread, a large potato,
an ordinary pat of butter, a shredded wheat biscuit, two
ordinary graham crackers, or a small lamb chop each
furnishes approximately one hundred calories in the
daily ration. With these measures as a basis it is not
so difficult to understand what is meant by saying that
the average adult needs from 2500 to 3000 calories in
the food of his daily ration. -We all know from experi-
ence and observation that a woman neither requires nor
eats as much food as a man and her requirements have
been estimated at about two-thirds that of the man. An-
other way of figuring is that the body needs so many
calories for so much weight, and this brings the same
result for a woman on the average obviously weighs
less than a man. So children require less food than the
adult and so on. The requirements for food which the
scientists have laid down simply put into mathematical
form the facts most of us have known and put more or
less into practice.

A rough estimate of food requirements is about as
follows :

A man without work 2450 calories

A man doing moderate work 3000 calories

A man doing hard work.... from 3400 to 5500 calories

At first glance it may appear that there is not the ex-
pected difference between the requirements of a man
doing little work and one doing a great deal. But we
must remember that the largest part of our food is used
up in the unconscious activities of the body. Even when
we are asleep the body is using up the energy derived
from the food so that the unconscious demands require
a considerable supply of food in themselves. Another
vagary of the bodily mechanism is that brain work re-
quires little or no energy from our food. This is why
professional men should limit their food intake far
below that of the day laborer.

22 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

Perhaps the matter of the amount of food required
may be summed up by saying that the average man needs
from three to four pounds of food a day this, of
course, including bulky foods of a low caloric value
proportioned according to the principles of the bal-
anced ration. For it is not sufficient that the food total
the 2000 or 3000 calories required ; they must be propor-
tioned properly among proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
Most of the dishes which appear on our tables combine
the foodstuffs in some proportion or other. One has
only to glance at a steak, for example, to realize that it
must contain fat in addition to the protein which is its
preponderating element. It is now believed that the
food elements should appear in about the following pro-
portions: i6f% protein, 25% fat, and the balance, or
5^2 %j carbohydrates. In other words we should eat
half as much again fat as protein and two and a half
times as much carbohydrates as fat. The principal point
of difference is about the protein, some authorities con-
tending that eight per cent of protein in the diet is suffi-
cient.

But in estimating the demands for the three foodstuffs
it should be remembered that all the food which we take
in is not available, only about three-quarters of the pro-
tein, for instance, being used in the body, so that a cer-
tajn excess beyond the theoretical requirements is prob-
ably desirable.

From the foregoing we may estimate the daily food
demands as follows :

DAILY FOOD REQUIREMENTS

Adult of Total Carbo-

150 pounds calories Protein Fat hydrates

At rest in bed 1800 300 450 1050

Slight activity 2200 366 550 1284

Light work 2600 433 650 151?

Moderately hard work 3000 500 750 1750

Very hard work 3400-5500 566-916850-1350 1984-3234

Children require more food in proportion to their
weight than adults. Their requirements are about as
follows :

Age o- 6 months 400- 800 calories

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 23

6-12 months 800 calories

2 years 900 calories

4 years 1200 calories

8 years 1400 calories

12 years 1600 calories

The following table gives, roughly, the approximate
constituents of the principal foods. In calculating food

values it is necessary to know that an ounce of protein

produces about 120 calories ; and an ounce of carbo-
hydrates about the same, while an ounce of fat produces
over twice as much, or approximately 260 calories.

TABLE OF FOOD VALUES

Calories per Calories

Food pound as Calories Calories of Carbo-

purchased of Protein of Fat hydrates

BEEF

Brisket 1165 235 930

Chuck rib 755 305 450

Flanks 1185 365 820

Porterhouse steak .. mo 375 735

Sirloin steak 985 325 660

Tenderloin 1330 320 1010

Plate 1200 255 945

Ribs 1 1 10 280 830

Round 745 375 37O

Rump 1065 300 765

Forequarter 905 280 625

Hindquarter 950 315 635

Soup stock 170 no 60

Heart 1160 310 850

Liver 555 395 x IO 5

Tongue 545 275 170

Roast, cooked 1620 435 1 185

Round, cooked 840 540 300

Corned 1270 280 990

Tripe 270 225 45

Dried 780 5*5 26 5

VEAL

Breast 645 300 345

Leg 585 3oo 225

Cutlets 705 395 3io

LAMB

Leg 1130 310 820

Chops, cooked 1470 360 mo

Roast, cooked 900 385 515

MUTTON

Leg 900 225 675

Roast, cooked 1420 490 930 ....

MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

TABLE OF FOOD VALUES Continued

Calories per

Calories

Food

pound as

Calories

Calories

of Carbo-

purchased

of Protein

of Fat

hydrates

PORK

Fresh ham

. . 1520

280

1240

....

Chops

1340

260

1080

....

Pigs' feet

.. 365

80

285

Ham, smoked ....

, , 1670

285

1385

....

Bacon

2685

185

2500

....

Sausage

. . 2125

250

1875

....

POULTRY

Chicken, broiler. .

. . 295

250

45

Fowls

775

270

505

....

Turkey

. . 1075

330

745

....

FISH

Bass

. . 200

165

35

....

Catfish

.. 9i5

225

690

....

Cod

.. 165

163

2

....

Eel

.. 580

290

290

....

Haddock

.. 165

163

2

Halibut

. . 470

300

170

....

Mackerel

.. 365

225

140

....

Salmon

000

275

325

....

Lobster

. . 150

00

60

....

' EGGS

. . 720

260

460

....

BUTTER

. . 3605

20

3585

....

CHEESE

American

. . 2055

500

1495

Cottage

. . 510

400

35

75

Neufchatel

. 1520

365

1130

25

Roquefort

. . 1700

440

1210

50

MILK

. . 325

65

165

95

CEREALS

Barley, pearled . . .

. . 1650

60

IO

1480

Buckwheat flour. .

. . 1620

120

35

1465

Cornmeal

. . 1545

I4O

170

1235

Oatmeal

1860

300

290

1270

Oatmeal, boiled

.. 285

50

10

225

. Rolled oats

. . 1850

320

270

1260

Rice

. . 1630

150

10

1470

Wheat flour, entire

1675

260

80

1335

Wheat flour, graham. 1670

260

90

1400

Wheat flour, white

. . 1650

2IO

40

1400

Macaroni

.. 1665

260

30

1375

Spaghetti

1660

230

15

1415

Bread, brown ....

. . 1050

IOO

75

875

Bread, corn

. . 1205

150

190

865

Bread, rye

.. 1180

175

25

980

Bread, white

.. 1215

175

50

990

CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND COOKERY 25

TABLE OF FOOD VALUES Continued

Calories per

Food pound as

purchased
CAKE

Baker's 1370

Coffee 1625

Fruit 1760

Gingerbread 1670

Sponge 1795

Sugar cookies 1920

Doughnuts 2000

PIE

Apple 1270

Mince 1335

Squash . . 840

CANDY 1600

CORN STARCH 1675

SUGAR 1860

VEGETABLES ,

Asparagus, cooked . . 220

Beans, Lima, green. 255

Beets, cooked 185

Cabbage 125

Carrots 160

Celery 70

Corn, green 180

Cucumbers 70

Onions, cooked .... 190

Parsnips . ... 240

Peas, green 255

Potatoes 310

Potatoes, boiled.... 440

Spinach, cooked . . . 260

Tomatoes 105

Turnips 125

APPLES 220

BANANAS 300

CRANBERRIES 170

ORANGES 170

PRUNES 255

STRAWBERRIES 175

NUTS

Almonds, edible part 3030

Chestnuts 1125

Cocoanut, prepared. 3125

Peanuts, edible 2560

SOUPS

Beef 120

Bouillon, canned ... 50

Chicken, canned.... 100

Pea, canned ....... 235

Calories

Calories

Calories

of Carbo-

of Protein

of Fat

hydrates

1 20

180

1070

125

300

1 200

IOO

400

1260

IOO

390

1180

no

440

1245

125

435

1360

130

870

IOOO

60

400

810

no

500

725

50

300

490

1600

1675

...

...

1860

40

135

45

60

10

185

45

40

IOO

25

IO

00

20

10

130

15

5

50

18

16

146

13

8

49

18

77

95

25

16

70

8

177

35

5

270

50

5

385

40

170

50

17

16

72

17

5

103

5

IO

205

17

17

366

7

23

140

12

5

163

20

235

17

23

135

4IO

2275

345

1 2O

225

780

125

2375

625

500

1600

460

85

15

20

40

5

5

70

5

. 25

70

30

135

26 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

But it is not sufficient that the diet contain the neces-
sary number of calories, properly distributed among the
proteins, carbohydrates and fats,, that there should be a
sufficient bulk to insure the normal functioning of the
bowels, and a proper amount of water and minerals, for
scientists have discovered that certain mysterious sub-
stances, vitamins, are also necessary and vital to health.
What these substances are we do not know, but they ap-
pear to be present in fresh foods, as meat, eggs, milk,
and vegetables, and removed in the processes of manu-
facture of many foods. It is necessary, therefore, that-
fresh foods be included in the diet to provide these sub-
stances; another argument in favor of the balanced
ration.

CHAPTER II

THE DIET IN SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, AND
WINTER

If a family is fed a ration regulated according to the
principles of balance, and deluged with the three other
great foods sunlight, air, and water seasonal evils
associated with foods will amount to little, and the fam-
ily will be immune to many of the ills which arise when
the principles of dietetics and hygiene are neglected.
But in many families custom so largely regulates the
menu according to wrong principles that spring fever
and the like are very real conditions.

The usual winter diet, for example, consists of greasy
foods, such as sausages, fried bacon, roast pork and pork
chops too many sweets, pie and rich cake with a
scarcity of fruits and vegetables, and so is responsible
for the ills associated with spring. The over-fed body
rebels against the cloying diet, impoverished blood shows
itself in anemia and blotched skin, pale cheeks are the
guiding posts to tired stomachs, and the weary liver
manifests itself in overpowering sleepiness. The old-
time disease, " spring fever," tinges the beauty of the
early spring days with melancholy sickness and ill-
temper.

A late March visit to a city school showed vividly the
general tone of the system at this season, where proper
dietetic principles had been neglected. The building was
situated in a good locality, and the children were from
well-to-do families. The pinched, wan faces, dull eyes,
yellow skins of the pupils and the general atmosphere of
lassitude which prevailed throughout the building was
appalling. " I cannot do anything with them," said the
discouraged teacher. " They will not respond ; they are
either too tired or too lazy." " Spring fever," or, more
scientifically, the ills of spring, had gripped the children
in a relentless grasp and showed its insidious presence

27

28 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

in auto-intoxication, or the poisoning of the body through
its own waste.

These ills are mainly due to improper diet. In the
spring the hearty winter foods must be forgotten, and
replaced by lighter dishes, rather than by adding the lat-
ter to meals already too heavy. A well known physician
once remarked, " In treating disease diagnosis comes
first, diet second, and medicine last." So the house-
mother must learn not only how to get her family well,
but how to prevent illness due to improper food. Un-
fortunately the housewives who have attained this knowl-
edge, or apply it to every-day living, are few and it
takes the doctor with attendant medicines to bring the
family into a normal state. His bill, by the way, goes
into the family budget, an unnecessary item, blamed to
the high cost of living! Such phrases as "biliousness,"
" gas in the stomach," " face broken out," " paleness,"
" anemia," " constipation," " touch of rheumatism,"
" colds," are conditions which are closely related to diet,
as the house-mother who understands the importance of
diet in disease is aware.

If the body acquires the habit of eating over-hearty
foods in winter, a change of diet, like the gradual transi-
tion from winter to summer clothing, should be made
slowly. This not only accustoms the body to a new
regime, but possesses the added advantage of bringing
about the change so insensibly that all danger of dis-
agreeable comment from the family is obviated. It must
always be borne in mind that, while a person is well and
active, the same relative amount of food is needed by the
body throughout the year, and that the difference be-
tween winter and summer diet, for example, lies not in
quantity, but in judicious substitution.

Of all the digestive organs the liver is the busiest. It
has been named the " clearing house of the body," for it
is there that much of the cleansing of the blood is done
and the body poisons or toxins are, so to speak, strained
out, and the blood purified. Moreover, it is the great
storehouse for sugar or " glycogen " and prepares other
food stuffs for assimilation. Now the usual winter diet
is excessively sweet and starchy hot breads, griddle
cakes, quantities of potatoes, too much cocoa, macaroni,

THE DIET 29

rice, rich puddings, pies and cakes, cereals loaded with
sugar, all of them good in their place, but, as a general
rule, used indiscriminately. For instance, mince pie, a
rich and hearty food, is the frequent dessert of a heavy
dinner, whereas, to preserve the dietetic balance, it
should be used to supplement a scanty meal. The ex-
cess food causes the digestive organs to overwork
(thereby breaking down), the liver is called upon to do
extra work in storing up the sweets, and a headache
frequently results. When it is understood that very
heavy food, eaten out of place, tires the organs, it may
easily be seen why too much starch or sweet finally
clogs the liver, causing the secretion of bile to accumulate,
and bringing about biliousness, auto-intoxication, and
indigestion.

" Gas in the stomach " usually indicates a tired condi-
tion or a lack of pepsin in the gastric juice. A blotched
face usually follows, whereas the latter condition often
accompanies anemia. Constipation, of all ills, is per-
haps the most prevalent. The word may be translated
in two ways, either as a lack of bowel movement without
cathartics, or in the sense that the intestinal movement
goes on without carrying off the entire waste. Just as
an iron pipe becomes filled with rust and the stream of
water constantly decreases, the large intestine can be
lined with waste that is never thoroughly cleared away.
This is the usual type of spring constipation, and it car-
ries with it extreme lassitude and intestinal indigestion,
because the poisons which remain in the intestines are
becoming re-absorbed, thereby enabling the body to poi-
son itself. When an individual is in this condition, he
becomes a prey to every passing breeze and change of
temperature, often contracting a severe cold or the
" grippe ! "

All of these unwell conditions can be alleviated, and
nearly always prevented, if the correct foods appear upon
the spring table - not when the April sun shines hot
upon the waking earth and the insidious poisons have
begun to work, but by mid-March when the body first
feels the change. Nature has provided for this exigency
in the most satisfactory way, for along with the warm
days come the spring foods, until, by early April, the

30 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

markets are replete with the tempting greenery of the
season.

Ballast or bulky foods are those which should be used
to replace the cathartics and physic of the medicine chest.
Under this heading we find the fresh green vegetables,
spinach, cowslips, dandelions being the most efficacious
of them all. Spinach has been termed by the French
" the broom of the stomach " because it is so bulky that
it sweeps through the alimentary tract, stimulating the
secretion of the juices, scraping the walls and carrying
all waste away. Spinach once a day for a week or more
will bring about immediate results. It will soon pall
upon the appetite, if it is always served in the same way,
but any housewife with imagination (wherein lies the
secret of good cookery) can make it into so many seduc-
tive dishes, that a complaint will not be heard. As plain
" greens/' creamed, poured upon toast, and surmounted
with poached eggs, scuffled, in salad (either combined
with other vegetables or with eggs), boiled with ham,
or scalloped with salt fish it can be used for any meal
in the day. It is a great mistake to consider foods suit-
able only for certain occasions, for all foods are so
adaptable that they can be prepared in diverse ways for
breakfast, luncheon or dinner, and whereas, for example,
the family may refuse spinach for dinner, they will wel-
come it for breakfast because it is a novelty!

This same group of ballast foods includes lettuce, ro-
maine and watercress all known as salad plants.
Watercress has been used since great antiquity as a
spring salad and tonic, for the old Greek had, in a way,
a greater faith in diet than we have to-day.

All of these greens contain the mineral craved by the
worn-out tissues. Iron, potassium, calcium, sulphur,
phosphorus, all these and many more are contained in
all growing things. It is due to Nature's wonderful
alchemy that so many minerals can be eaten at once, for
were a like amount to be taken in the form of medicine,
severe illness and, sometimes, death would follow.
Spinach is the richest in iron of any vegetable, carrots
follow, while dandelions, beets, salad plants and all veg-
eatables contain certain amounts. Watercress furnishes
sulphur, whereas cauliflower, onions and cabbage are

THE DIET 31

rich not only in sulphur, but phosphorus. Butter is usu-
ally adopted as a seasoning for vegetables, but, when-
ever possible, olive oil should be substituted.

There is no more refreshing way to serve vegetables
than in a salad, and in the springtime, when the body
needs natural tonics, no other dressing should be used
than olive oil and lemon juice. Use three tablespoon-
fuls of oil and a tablespoonful of lemon juice, well-
mixed, and add a dash of salt and pepper. This will
dress salad for six people. Olive oil, however, may be
rather prohibitive because of its high cost. If it is im-
possible to afford it, peanut oil may be substituted.

A green salad may replace the main course at a lunch-
eon, if cheese, eggs, or nuts are combined with it. Cream
cheese, for instance, can be put through the potato ricer
and sprinkled over it cream cheese may be served with
any green salad. Sliced hard-cooked eggs may accom-
pany cress or cooked spinach, and nuts are delicious
with any cabbage or celery combination. In such cases
the meal should commence with a simple soup, and a
good way to introduce an excess of mineral into the
spring diet is to prepare a cream of lettuce, cress, or spin-
ach soup. These may have as a foundation any clear
soup stock the vegetable, together with rice, should b,e
simmered in it, hot milk added when they are soft, and
the whole strained and thickened with egg. Such a soup
is a perfect adjunct to a luncheon. Entire-wheat-meal
bread or rolls should accompany the salad,* and the des-
sert may consist of an egg and milk pudding with a
simple cookie or cake.

But Nature's tonics include not only vegetables but
fruits as well. The citrous group, including the grape-
fruit, orange and lemon, are wholesome and palatable.
As a general rule the lemon is used in beverages in
this case it should be very tart or, better still, be left
unsweetened. A baked lemon is not unpalatable, and
may be eaten with a spoon, and lemon juice may be used
in any case as a substitute for vinegar. In lemon jellies,
in salad dressings, poured over other fruits, served in
black coffee, in pineapple puddings, and in other ways,
lemon juice may be served to the family.

Rhubarb, while it is really a vegetable, is served as a

32 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

fruit in so many ways that it need never become a mo-
notony. As a gelatine, baked with raisins, stewed,
cooked in cubes, and dressed with oil and lemon juice,
or in the form of dumplings or shortcake, it is delicious.

Pineapple appears the first of May and its juice is a
splendid tonic. About the second week in May straw-
berry season is at its height. Of all the world-spanning
fruits it is the foremost, carrying with it refreshed
vitality and a satisfied appetite.

All of these spring fruits and vegetables should be sup-
plemented by at least two quarts of water daily to aid
the kidneys in eliminating waste, and by the use of whole
wheat meal bread made of unrobbed wheat to stimu-
late the action of the intestines.

THE SUMMER DIET

The sultry nights, scorching noons and long, languorous
days of mid-summer produce a relaxed condition in the
whole body and this torpor must be overcome before
food can be digested. The fundamental principle under-
lying the summer diet is the toning up of the digestive
organs to the point where they will respond quickly to
food. There is no better stimulant than a hot soup or
Bouillon, served without cream. Either will whip the
cells of the stomach into action, stimulate the gastric
juices and pave the way for assimilation of solid food.
One means of cooling the body is through evaporation.
When perspiration is profuse, evaporation is increased,
and when a cup of hot, clear soup is served, it not only
starts the gastric juices, but induces perspiration. If
preceded by the soup, a salad, punch or ice will not pro-
voke disturbance, because the stomach juices are already
at work and the languid condition has been overcome.

Ice cream and iced drinks are gastronomically pleas-
ing, no doubt, and during the actual moment of eating
produce a passing sensation of coolness. However in
reality there is no type of food more heating, because the
stomach is chilled and digestion is consequently retarded ;
the sudden cold checks the flow of perspiration, causing
waste products, ordinarily expelled through the pores, to
be retained, and metabolism, or the burning of the tis-
sues, is thereby increased, because the body machinery

THE DIET 33

is clogged. Besides all this, most ices and cold drinks
are dependent upon ice cream, chocolate, or cream in
varying degrees as a basis, and are highly sweetened to
suit the popular taste. Cream and chocolate are not
heating foods, but sugar in any form is a heat producer,
so, in addition to the clogging of the system, most so-
called cooling creams and drinks become heating agents,
because of their constituents. The increase of heat does
not mean that the temperature of the body rises above
normal, but simply that the sensation of heat becomes
more pronounced. In rare cases, however, the sudden
chill, or the accession of an over-abundance of heating
food, will produce a severe attack of indigestion, with
a consequent rise of temperature.

Meat is heating because it contains certain stimulating
juices is a quick fuel and during assimilation causes
a greater breaking down of tissue than any other food.
A meat substitute contains all the elements of meat, with-
out being stimulating and heating. Under this heading
may be mentioned eggs, nuts, cheese, fish and milk, or
combinations of foodstuffs such as macaroni with cheese
sauce, or potato and nut salad with oil dressing. In or-
der to be efficacious any substitute dish must contain
both protein and fats, which are the principal constituents
of meat. For instance, a salad of cottage cheese
(which is made of skimmed milk) must be supplemented
with an olive oil dressing in order to be a satisfactory
meat substitute. The average active family should have
a small amount of meat once a day, because the system
craves variety. The most acceptable meats for summer
use appear in lighter form, as boiled ham or tongue,
chicken in various ways, chops, veal, or pressed corned
beef and meat loaves. The balance of the meal should
consist largely of fresh vegetables with bread, butter
and a sweet.

Every meal, in addition to meat, or meat substitute,
should be enlivened by green and fresh vegetables. For
convenience green vegetables may be termed those which
are served raw including lettuce, cress, escarole, ro-
maine, celery, new dandelions and radishes, while under
the head of fresh vegetables may be grouped all the
remaining products of the garden. Green vegetables

34 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

should be served raw, as salads not the usual mayon-
naise-drenched, nut-sprinkled salad of the American
home, but the deliciously seasoned, oil-absorbed dish of
the French. It is an easy matter to buy a prepared
dressing at the groceries to pour it over a dish of wet
leaves and call it a salad. It is another matter to pre-
pare it so that the family longs for it. The reason that
Mary will not eat lettuce, or John romaine, is not usually
because of the food, but of the faulty preparation. Any
green salad must be carefully dried, the French dress-
ing poured over it, and then mixed, or " fatigued " as the
French say, until it is so thoroughly mixed that the leaves
look wilted. Then only will the salad fulfil its mission.
Fresh greens dressed in this way are usually suitable for
breakfast, luncheon or dinner, while a salad of mixed
vegetables, of fish, eggs, potatoes, or meat should be
served only as the main dish at luncheon or dinner. A
mayonnaise or a heavy cream dressing has no place
with the salad of an otherwise heavy meal. There is
no better summer food than olive oil but it must be
used as a part of, rather than as an addition to, a meal,
as otherwise the excess fat will upset digestion. Fresh
vegetables should be stewed in as little water as possible,
so that the liquid may serve as sauce, and be seasoned as
needed, with salt, pepper and olive oil, or butter.

During the winter season hot breads have a certain
place in the diet, but in summertime they should be fore-
gone as they are liable to cause auto-intoxication. When
they are used, they should be of a lighter variety, as
baking powder biscuits, or whole wheat gems. There
is, however, no better time for the introduction of de-
licious yeast breads than during this time of automobile
luncheons and picnics, and occasionally rasin and nut
bread, a loaf of graham or rye, or old-fashioned Johnny-
cake will often retrieve an otherwise scanty meal.

For the summer dessert there is no food so suitable
as fruit, and, if rightly prepared and served in a variety
of ways, it will never become tiresome. When the day
is exceptionally warm, a fruit ice has a place in the
menu because it introduces both water and fruit juice.
When an ice cream is to be served, it should be used in
a menu scanty in fat, as otherwise it will be overheating.

THE DIET 35

If iced drinks must be used, let them be of acid qual-
ity, as lemonade, orangeade, pineapple punch, or rasp-
berryade, rather than heavy iced-coffee or chocolate.
Ginger ale is a good summer drink because it is so pep-
pery that it acts as a stimulant although too much,
like an overabundance of spice, will cause the stomach
muscles to become so relaxed that they refuse to respond
except to stimulus.

In planning the summer diet, the housekeeper must
lay aside all tradition of the particular foods suitable
for each meal, and when asparagus is in season, for in-
stance, serve it creamed for breakfast, or introduce let-
tuce as a breakfast salad, while poached eggs for lunch,
or macaroni and cheese at dinner may prove acceptable.
In other words the summer diet must not be stereotyped
rather it should be so lenient that the foods may con-
form to the weather, and the housewife should be con-
versant with food values in order to plan the meals ac-
cording to rough dietetic standards.

Meat is by no means the most expensive item in the
living budget, and the housewife living on a limited in-
come will find it difficult to plan summer meals within
her allowance when the bills for green stuffs and fruits
are high. However, menus can be planned to suit every
pocketbook, and, while it may not be possible to purchase
fresh fruits and vegetables when they first appear, they
soon drop to a normal figure. A young wife who was
living for the first time in a city flat displayed with pride
her garden ! She was fortunate enough to possess a
back porch, about eight feet square; the ingenious hus-
band had constructed two shelves on the porch floor and
on each of the shelves were placed boxes of earth in
which cress, lettuce and radishes were growing. " I
simply had to have salad," remarked the girl, " and as we
can't afford to buy it we've grown it here and it's such
fun," she added.

A woman who is really interested will contrive to
feed her family on the right food under all circumstances.

THE FALL AND WINTER DIET

Diet in the winter differs from that of any other sea-
son. It is a time of brisk winds, snow and ice, and the

36 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

colder the weather the greater oxidation there is in the
body. The fact that food is to the body as coal to the
furnace means no more to the majority of educated
housewives than the falling of a rain drop, for the truth
that food makes warmth and heat, activity in little bodies,
and the energy of great minds does not seem real.

People who exist in warm rooms and live at low rates
of speed can eat hot-house foods in a hot-house at-
mosphere, but those who really revel in the cold weather
are buoyed up by a wholesome winter diet to all vicissi-
tudes of wind and storm. Those who keep warm when
the thermometer hovers near zero are not necessarily
swathed in heavy flannels, muffled with scarfs and bur-
dened with furs they may be those whose rosy cheeks,
bright eyes and springing step denote correct feeding
and adequate digestion. Right feeding in winter does
not concern itself with quantity but rather with furnish-
ing a sufficient amount of nourishment with a minimum
of waste. The individual who eats too much cannot util-
ize the surplus, and it must be passed off, partly digested,
as waste from the skin, kidneys and bowels. This over-
exerts the waste channel and much of the energy gained
from the food is used in eliminating waste. The vitality
is thereby lowered and the individual becomes " run-
down " and is subject to colds, grippe, and indigestion.
More complete digestion and less waste is the efficient
fundamental of the winter diet.

Fuel foods are meats, starches, sweets and fats. Meat
makes muscle, enriches the blood and furnishes heat, and,
for most of us, it is a necessity in the winter diet.

Starches and sweets are fuel or activity foods, their
mission being to create quick energy. When a sudden
heat is desired, the housewife adds a little kindling to
the dying fire. Where the vitality is lowered a cup of
cocoa, or a little rice with melted jelly, will restore en-
ergy, because it adds kindling to the body flame. But,
like the fire of light wood, it is soon consumed, and the
inertia again appears. Starch is to the diet as kindling
to the fire; it produces a quick heat, then burns itself
out. Prodding the body to greater activity on a diet
of starch is as criminal as beating a horse that is old and
weak, yet it is a common practice in many homes !

f

"I/

1*

**

TABLE SET FOR HOME BREAKFAST

AFTER-DINNER COFFEE SERVICE

THE DIET 37

Besides meat to make muscle and energy, starch to
furnish quick energy, and fat to afford reserve force,
the body needs, in winter as in summer, the eliminating
qualities of fresh fruits, and uncanned or fresh veg-
etables to cleanse the blood and keep the waste channels
awake and active. In England the cranberry is more
generally used and appreciated for this purpose than is
the case in this country. In northern countries the cran-
berry is gathered as a precious winter food, dried on
long strings, and used as an antidote to the overmuch fat
demanded by the rigorous winter. Like the greens of
the spring diet the cranberry, through its citric acid and
iron, has a definite and neglected place in the winter
menu.

Oranges, lemons and grapefruit may also be added to
the list of the winter's tonic fruits, any one containing
a well defined amount of citric acid. Whenever they can
be obtained, grapes are an unequaled winter fruit, bring-
ing tartrates of soda, potash, phosphoric acid, lime,
magnesia and iron to the body in such form as to be al-
most immediately assimilated into the blood. It is need-
less to state that when canned, made into jelly or mar-
malade, grapes, like all the preserved fruits, lose their
efficiency as tonic fruits and become sweets-.

As in the diet for the rest of the year, the fresh veg-
etable has a definite place in the winter menu. The term
signifies not only green vegetables, but all that are not
canned, as beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips, oyster-plant,
onions and cabbage. None of these lose their salts and
acids when taken from the ground, although the water is
somewhat evaporated, causing a withered appearance.
Of the green vegetables peculiar to the winter season,
celery is generally available. As it contains a generous
proportion of salts or minerals it is peculiarly valuable
as a blood food. Watercress may be found under the ice
in all northern brooks a bountiful provision of Nature
to supply phosphorous and sulphur in sufficient quanti-
ties. Lettuce, endive and parsley can be obtained
throughout the year in city markets and are valuable as-
sets to the winter menu. In the country stores they can-
not be secured, but there is no reason why any housewife
with a scrap of land at her disposal cannot raise them in

38 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

hot beds. In case this is not feasible they may be grown
in window boxes.

As lettuce or endive do not need much sun or demand
much heat, it is always possible to find a suitable window
for them. Parsley, to be of rich green, needs sunlight.
An attractive way to grow it is to obtain a wooden paint
bucket, bore half inch holes in the sides, fill the bucket
with rich earth, and plant the seeds in the holes. When
hung in a sunny kitchen window the seeds will germi-
nate in about two weeks the final result being not only
a delightful seasoning for the winter foods, but a real
ornament to the room.

Mince pie, sausages, griddle cakes, roast pork, oatmeal,
doughnuts, pork and beans and suet puddings, all have
a certain niche in the winter menu but they must be used
in proper combination. Sausage is a fuel food, for ex-
ample, and should not be used in a menu otherwise re-
plete with fat. To illustrate, a luncheon of sausage,
fried potatoes, bread and butter, and suet pudding would
give indigestion as all contain a large amount of fat.
When used properly, sausages should appear in a menu,
which would eliminate the large amount of the fat, as
mashed potatoes and another vegetable, and a plain
dessert.

If possible, the winter meal should be commenced with
something hot, as a cup of soup, or a little hot, spiced
grape juice, because they stimulate the digestive juices
to greater activity. It must be remembered, however,
that it is necessary to work in an extra amount of fuel
food to overcome the wearing away of the tissues
through oxidation, yet this must be done in such a way
that nausea will not be produced. A meal consisting of
starch and sugar is sure to bring, sooner or later, a sick
headache in its wake. -Any woman who is guilty of
serving the typical New England supper of white bread,
an economical supply of butter, cake, cookies, preserves
and tea, has only to remember the frequent early morn-
ing headaches in her family to prove this statement.
Both sugar and fats must be introduced generously into
certain of the foods, the remainder of the menu consisting
of other elements. Cabbage will take up one-third of its
weight in fats, mashed potatoes one-half, baked potatoes

THE DIET 39

three-fifths, and peas one-fourth. When the family
seems to lack energy, add extra olive oil or butter to the
vegetables, then turn back and add some more! If the
family seems tired, a quick energy food is probably
needed, but do not urge more food, prepare cocoa or
apple sauce, or some other food, making it sweeter than
usual, and do not demur when son " loads " his cereal
with sugar. He needs it or he would not do it. Let the
children make taffy Sunday afternoons, they crave the
sugar, but keep careful watch lest the inborn tendency
toward a " sweet tooth " is not abnormally developed.

CHAPTER III
THE CHILDREN'S MEALS

There is no part of household economy so generally
neglected as the children's meals, particularly from the
time when liquid diet is supplanted by solid food up to
the beginning of school days. When a seedling is first
set in the earth, it is carefully shielded from the hot rays
of the sun and watered regularly till the roots are well
grounded. Then the shield is removed and gradually
the plant grows, until, with proper care, it reaches per-
fection. The way of children is the same ; when the
little one is weaned and taught to eat solid food up
to maturity his diet needs supervision ; but the first six
years, great formative period of health, are the most
critical of all, for just as the plant wilts in the hot sun
and shrivels, from lack of water, so may the little child
fade if the correct diet is not provided.

As children grow irregularly they demand, at different
periods, various kinds of food for building purposes
yet at all times enough of each element must be provided
to insure the even growth of all parts of the body. Up
to the age of eighteen months, the child has eaten little
except milk, bits of stale bread, some hard crackers, a
morsel of rice, a little beef juice, or, occasionally, part
of an egg and some orange juice. He has not been par-
ticularly active and, therefore, has demanded little
starch, the milk-sugar, with starch from bread, sufficing
to meet his need, as he is occupied with the business of
growing. He now commences to be more active, both
bodily and mentally, and needs more starch, or activity-
making food, to replace the energy he so freely gives off.
This is best supplied in the form of cereal or bread.
At the same time the pliable little bones are withstand-
ing great weight in proportion to their strength and need
foods that make them firm and we/11-formed. Minerals
are the elements needed and, for the convenience of the

40

THE CHILDREN'S MEALS 41

mother and the digestion of the child, they may be pro-
vided under the great head, cereals. Not the ordinary,
steam-cooked, predigested article of commerce, but the
well-prepared, old-fashioned, undenatured cereal. Mush,
made from the whole corn, heart and all, brown rice, not
polished with talc, oatmeal, whole wheat mush, made
from the entire grain these are the cereals that make
blood and bone, brain and brawn, because they contain
all the wholesomeness of Mother Earth. They include
more than minerals for bone and starch for energy ; they
include, as analysis shows, a goodly percentage of protein
for tissue building. But in themselves they are not a
perfect food for they lack fat, the great element which
gives to the body reserve force, needed in stress of dis-
ease that is why they are always combined with good
milk or light cream. As they are rich in starch they
should not be served with sugar, since that gives to the
body too much carbohydrate.

Up to the time the child is six months old, Nature has
not provided a specific digestive juice to act upon any
carbohydrate other than milk-sugar. Why, then, when
a. child begins to run about, should his system be sated
with sweets when it is not necessary to growth? Babies
of two years and less cry for candy, children, not old
enough to differentiate in flavors, demand sugar on their
cereal ; this is abnormal, the latent sugars in fruits,
breads, healthful crackers and cookies being sufficient
for the need. A child will not know what candy is un-
less taught, and if adoring relatives are instructed that
no sweets or other foods are to be given, other than those
in his dietary, he will always be ready for his meals and
can digest them properly.

As he can eat but a small amount at a time, he should
be fed often, needing five feedings a day, from eighteen
months up to two years and a half, and four from two
and a half up to three and a half years. He is then ready
to go on a three-meal ration, though, if he shows a
tendency to be hungry between times, it is far better
to establish a regular period for the luncheon than to
allow promiscuous nibbling.

The ideal way to feed children is away from the family
table, a suitable meal being provided for them. A low

42 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

nursery table and chairs of kindergarten height are often
used for this purpose, lending a note of comfort and
" grown-up " air to meal-time that always has a good
effect. In the average American home where little help
is kept this is not usually practicable as it entails extra
work for the mother. It may be adopted, however, at
supper-time in order to observe an early bed hour.

As children always want exactly what grown-ups have,
it is difficult to feed them a strict ration, unless the elders
of the family are willing to sacrifice so that the children
will not see rich and tempting foods. The mother must
also be clever enough to know the value of substitution.
Every small boy will tease for coffee, " just like daddy,"
and it will often be given him before he is three, the
mother never realizing that she is fostering nervousness
and a necessity for artificial stimulation. The child
should not be allowed to taste tea or coffee, being given,
instead, a cup " like father's," full of " cambric tea," or
brown bread coffee slightly sweetened, and, knowing no
difference, he will be contented and happy. Make the
child's food look as much like the family's as possible.

He should not be asked what he wants to eat, as his
taste is undeveloped and he always wants an impossibil-
ity. He should be taught to eat anything placed before
him, provided care is taken not to serve too much, or he
will overeat. From the first he should be trained to
chew his food well, or he will eat too fast; moreover,
children should not be left alone at meals, for the same
reason. A grown person should always be at hand to
watch and to carry on conversation, thus interrupting the
business of eating with frequent rests. Another reason
children eat too fast is because food is too fully pre-
pared, nothing being left for them to do but eat it. When
a child is old enough to sit at the table, he is old enough
to be taught good manners and self-help.

As it is one of the great essentials of the diet, water
should be given from birth, but as the child is liable to
use it to " wash down " food, it is not a wise plan to
serve it at meals. Better give him a drink the first thing
in the morning, also in the mid-morning and afternoon,
and an hour after every meal. If he asks for more, he
should be given as much as he craves.

THE CHILDREN'S MEALS 43

In giving children liquids at meal-time, it should be
borne in mind that most of them are foods and should
be treated as such in the dietary. Milk, for instance, is
a protein food and, if it accompanies a meal, the amount
of meat or eggs served should be cut down proportion-
ately, as, otherwise, the meal will not balance. When
cocoa is provided, it should be considered both a starch
(from the cocoa) and a protein (from the milk) and
therefore treated as a factor in the meal. It is a heavy
food and, taken in excess, sometimes clogs the kidneys.
Therefore, it is not a wise breakfast drink, being better
suited to an occasional mid-afternoon lunch or supper.

From the first, Nature provides for the child a' bal-
anced ration. Later, it behooves the mother to plan food
as nearly balanced as she gives the older members of the
family. Whereas it is true that the child has little taste
developed, he often rebels at monotony. Often, the
necessary, every-day foods may be provided in a new
guise, soft gingerbread cookies, in animal shapes, bread
as a " bread man " and " eggs in a nest," instead of
boiled, are all good examples of the way the same food
may be served in different ways. The basis of every
meal for the child should be a protein, a starch, or two,
a fat, and minerals. It is best to limit the portions ac-
cording to the age of the child. From a year and a half
to two years and a half the day's menus may be planned
as follows :

7 A. M. Fresh milk, half a cup ; the yolk of a slightly
boiled egg, one or two thin slices of entire wheat bread
and butter.

ii A.M. A scant half cup of milk and a graham
cracker.

2 P. M. One cupful of chicken, beef, or mutton broth,
one thin slice of toast and a little well-boiled brown rice
with milk.

5. P. M. One or two thin slices of toast, moistened with
hot milk.

This menu may be changed from day to day, two
tablespoonfuls of well-cooked cereal with an additional
half cup of milk being substituted for the egg in the
morning. The juice of half an orange and a thin slice of
bread and butter for the eleven o'clock lunch, a table-

44 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

spoonful of rare, broiled scraped beef, or a small, well-
baked potato and a saucer of junket for the broth at
noon, while two tablespoonfuls of cereal and rich milk
could be used at night. If the child is inclined to be
constipated, a tablespoonful of steamed prunes, or figs,
unsweetened, may be sifted and fed at one meal of the
day. This, with a little orange juice, and the persistent
use of entire-wheat-meal bread will usually overcome
any such tendencies.

From two and a half up to three years the diet may
be gradually increased; the succeeding menus show how
this change may be affected.

7 A. M. A small cup of milk, a poached egg on buttered
toast and a small quantity of sifted cooked prunes, figs
or apple sauce.

ii A. M. A cupful of beef, chicken, or mutton broth
with a whole wheat cracker.

2 P. M. A small slice of rare roast beef or mutton (a
heaping tablespoonful cut up), a small baked potato,
mashed and served with cream or dish gravy, a thin
slice of bread, a small saucer of cereal pudding.

5:30 P.M. Whole wheat crackers and milk and soft
ginger cookies.

For breakfast an undenatured cereal with cream may
replace the egg, for variety. In case this is done, the egg
may be used at supper. The eleven o'clock lunch should
not be eaten unless the child is really hungry. At noon
a little finely divided steak, chop, chicken, or turkey
may be used instead of the beef, but no game, pork, veal,
or fried meats should be allowed.

From three and a half years up to six the diet may
be increased; from then on he will assume the general
family diet. It will be unnecessary to watch quantities
closely, as, if normal, the child's appetite is a fair guide
and he will not overeat if taught to masticate each mouth-
ful thoroughly. The following menus show a variety of
correct combinations.

Breakfast

Cereal with light cream; entire wheat bread and but-
ter; a choice of eggs lightly boiled, poached or scrambled,
varied occasionally by a little well-boiled ham or baked

THE CHILDREN'S MEALS 45

bacon or a few creamed oysters or oyster stew. Fresh
fruit should never be eaten at breakfast, as the acid is
liable to combine with the starch of the cereal causing
gas to form. Hqwever, it may be used as a mid-morn-
ing luncheon, ripe peaches, pears and cantaloupes, seeded
grapes and oranges being suitable ; bananas should never
be used unless baked.

Dinner

A half cup of clear soup, broth, or bouillon, beef, tur-
key, chicken or mutton, roasted or broiled, or a small
quantity of broiled fish; entire- wheat-meal bread and but-
ter, a choice of baked potatoes, boiled brown rice or but-
tered spaghetti, and one of the following vegetables:
stewed celery, stewed spinach, fresh peas, fresh string
beans, lettuce, or any salad green or fresh celery. For
dessert, fruit, gelatine, junkets, cereal puddings, baked
custards or plain cream or water ices are permissible.

Supper

Supper varies greatly with the season of the year. In
winter nothing is more welcome than a simple milk soup,
with buttered entire-wheat-meal toast, fresh or stewed
fruit, and a slice of sponge cake a day old, or a soft gin-
ger or sugar cookie. If eggs are not used at breakfast
time, they may appear at supper, while a dish of wheat
cereal and a glass of milk or cocoa and a baked apple
may often be sufficient. In the summertime great care
should be taken not to feed the child heating food at
night, therefore, the best supper is really fresh milk with
stale bread or crackers and a soft cookie. In case the
child seems to need more nourishment, a well-beaten egg
may be added to the milk and served as an egg-nog, while
cereal (preferably undenatured), cooked with dates or
figs, may be moulded and served cold with a little sugar
or light cream. It should be remembered that when
cereals are served at supper the same rule applies as at
breakfast fresh fruit should not accompany them.
The usual stewed fruit may be varied in many ways,
fruit whips, boiled apples, lightly spiced prunes, dates
flavored with orange juice and steamed figs, offering a

46 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

change. Often, a supper otherwise deficient in protein
may be balanced by the addition of a baked custard con-
taining eggs. It must be kept in mind that none of these
meals will balance unless whole-wheat-meal bread and
undenatured cereals are always used to supply the neces-
sary mineral. They also accomplish another great mis-
sion, that of regulating the bowels through bulk.

In case the child refuses to eat, do not force him
against his will, but examine his mouth, which may be
sore from cutting teeth, and make sure that his digestive
organs and bowels are active. Again, the food may not
be well-cooked and flavored, as the majority of cooks
think that anything will do for a child. If he is simply
irritable and cross, take the food away and do not offer
it again until the next meal.

SCHOOL LUNCHEONS

Mothers are beginning to realize that the school lunch-
eon must consist of something more substantial than
white bread sandwiches made with jam, jellies, or fruit
butters, a slice of cake and a piece of pie. These are all
foods that, rightly used, may have a definite place in the
diet, but they must appear in suitable combination or else
the child will practically be " starving in the midst of
plenty," i.e. be suffering the bad effects of malnutrition,
because of a diet over-filled with starch and sweet, and
lacking in the elements that give stamina and promote
muscular development.

There is a widespread notion that the balancing of the
daily ration can be stretched over the three meals with-
out regard to actual combinations in each menu: that a
lunch consisting of a too large proportion of starch and
scarcity of other foods can be reckoned in at the close
of the day as having furnished a generous share of the
starch needed for the twenty-four hours, the other meals
being made deficient in starch to keep up the general
balance. Theoretically, this may be true, but practically,
it does not work out well, because the body is being con-
stantly torn down, or laid waste, and needs the actual
replenishment of all food elements three times a day.
This does not necessarily mean that large quantities of
food must be consumed at each meal, but rather that

THE CHILDREN'S MEALS 47

smaller portions of each element needed for replenish-
ment should be provided. As a general rule this is not
true with the school luncheon, whether carried by the
child or furnished by the school at small cost. When the
luncheon is carried, this condition is entirely under the
mother's control, but, when it is provided at the school,
it should be controlled by someone who* knows dietetic
values and who can provide a well-balanced meal.

The receptacle in which the luncheon is carried has a
great influence on the food. A papier mache, or leather,
box, for instance, absorbs odors and at the same time im-
parts this accumulation to fresh foods that are packed
in it. The most satisfactory utensil is a tin or granite-
ware pail, or box, that can be scalded and sunned each
day; or a wicker basket that can be washed and aired.
Most school luncheons, in comparison to regular meals,
contain very little nourishment, and mothers frequently
say that the children will not eat what is provided, lay-
ing the responsibility to small appetites. In only too
many cases the decrq&sing desire to eat is due to dis-
agreeable food flavors.

It is impossible to lay down hard and fast menus for
all children, as they differ in their likes and dislikes.
Girls, for instance, enjoy carrying little jars of creamed
meat, or stewed fruit, which necessitates a spoon and
they really anticipate the noon hour with its possibilities
for " make believe " housekeeping. On the other hand,
the average boy says he doesn't " want any frills " and
begs for a compact lunch that can be eaten quickly. Un-
fortunately this is one of the worst features of the
school luncheon, for too rapid eating causes indigestion
and the consequent mental heaviness which is the bane
of school teachers. This can be overcome in a measure
by the mother who need not prepare the luncheon too
completely hard-cooked eggs, for instance, should be
left in the shell, crusts left on the bread and whole fruits
provided, so that it will take the boy a few minutes to
get his food ready to eat. For this same reason, nuts in
the shell should be provided; they cannot be eaten too
quickly and their rich protein is worth working to get.

The general directions for planning the school lunch-
eon should be the same as those for any other meal.

48 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

There should be a meat or its equivalent, enough starch
to correspond to the bread and potatoes eaten at most
meals, something bulky to fill up the chinks, one sweet
and a refreshing food, as fruit. The obvious food for
the main part of the lunch is the sandwich, which may be
varied by different types of bread as well as fillings.
Whole-wheat-meal or bran bread, made with yeast, are
excellent types of bulky foods, which, at the same time,
will supply the child not only with ballast and minerals
and other food principles, but with the vitamins, or life-
giving principles found in the husks of wheat, as well as
in other foods. These breads are richer in general
nutriment than white bread, so, if a sweet filling is to be
used, it will balance to best advantage in this com-
bination.

The following fillings are particularly good for these
breads : Cottage cheese and chopped walnut meats ;
peanut butter and well-drained, stewed prunes; thick
honey and sliced bananas, sprinkled with lemon juice ;
cottage cheese and sliced tomatqes; dates and cream
cheese ; cold welsh rarebit made with milk ; cream cheese
and marmalade; ground dried beef, cooked in a thick
tomato sauce and a little grated cheese. In all of these
cases the butter should be beaten to a cream and spread
out to the edge of the slice. Jf cake or other sweets are
provided, sweet sandwiches should be used sparingly.
In all cases the filling should be moist, but not wet enough
to make the bread soggy; the slices should be cut not
more than a quarter of an inch thick, as, otherwise, the
children will get too much bread for the amount of
filling.

White bread sandwiches should usually have a sub-
stantial filling of meat, cheese, nuts, or eggs ; fish should
not be used, as it imparts odors and is likely to spoil
through conflicting temperatures. If the bread is com-
paratively fresh and moist, thinly-sliced tender meat can
be used if the bread is spread with enough butter to
make the slices cling together. However, in many cases,
it is a better plan to mince the meat and cook it in a
thick white sauce, as this makes a moist filling and at the
same time utilizes meat that cannot be sliced. Whenever
possible, it is a good plan to provide one or two vegetable

THE CHILDREN'S MEALS 49

sandwiches. These may be made of well-dried lettuce
leaves, chopped celery, sliced radishes, spinach mixed
with a little cream cheese, or even well-drained string
beans dressed with a little olive oil and lemon juice.
Fruits, like sliced and sugared peaches, also can be used
as fillings. For meats the variety is unlimited; thin
cakes of broiled hamburg steak; crisp, but not dry,
bacon, and broiled ham, all helping out the usual cold
meats. Whatever the sandwich, it should always be
wrapped in paraffine paper to prevent dryness. Some-
times cold corn bread or muffins can be used to good ad-
vantage, and there are always the quick loaf breads, as
Boston brown bread, nut bread, raisin loaf and whole-
wheat date bread that can fill in an emergency.

Whenever possible, a tid-bit, as radishes, celery, or
ripe olives, should be furnished. Dessert may consist
of some simple cake, preferably of the sponge variety or
wholesome cookies, as the old-fashioned gingersnaps, or
sugar cookies, and the more modern oatmeal cakes.
Stewed fruit may be furnished, or a custard, or a single
portion of cereal pudding, baked in a jelly glass, will
often furnish a welcome change. ' A delicate child that
needs special nourishment should be provided with a hot-
cold bottle for milk, soup, or cocoa.

The following menus are well adapted to the average
child.

1

Whole Wheat Bread and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
White Bread and Tomato Sandwiches

Hard-Cooked Eggs Radishes
, Sponge Cup Cakes Peaches

Creamed Chicken Sandwiches
Boston Brown Bread and Nut Butter Sandwiches

Celery Ripe Olives

Chocolate Gingerbread Grapes

3

Corn Bread with Butter Bacon Sandwiches

Whole Tomatoes with Salt
Baked Custard Pears

CHAPTER IV
THE PROBLEM OF THE DINNER PAIL

Two triangles of pie, a piece of cake, some white bread
sandwiches, spread sparingly with butter, usually put
together with jelly or jam, a dill pickle, and, on rare
occasions, a bit of cheese this is the typical noon lunch
carried by the average workman. If eaten constantly,
this diet, which consists almost entirely of starch and
sweets, is liable to cause ill health and lead {6 disease.

Few realize that dinner-pail meals need greater thought
than those served at the table. Only too often they lack
variety, are unattractively packed, and are made up of
any left-overs that chance to be at hand in the early
morning hours.

The choice of a luncheon receptacle is of great im-
portance ; leather is not to be considered, because foods
absorb the odor ; the ordinary collapsible tin box does
not hold enough for a full meal; papier mdche soon
grows musty, while the usual tin pail is apt to rust. The
most attractive utensil is an enamel dinner pail, fitted
with trays. This may be thoroughly scalded and aired
each day, and, with care, will last indefinitely. The next
best solution is a pasteboard box, fresh daily. These may
be obtained in quantity from any wholesale stationer,
and occupy little storage space. Unattractive packing
often spoils an otherwise good meal. Waxed or paraf-
fine paper is indispensable, as, by its use, foods are not
only kept moist, but are prevented from taking on the
mixture of flavors that permeate a lunch box when the
foods are not carefully wrapped. This may be pur-
chased, inexpensively, by the pound, from the stationer.
Each sandwich should be wrapped in the paper, sepa-
rately, and secured by a rubber band. This makes pos-
sible the introduction of piquant flavors, as onions, horse-
radish, etc. By this means pie, sliced cold meats, cheese
and cake may be kept moist ; even fruit should be wrapped
to keep the odor from escaping.

50

THE DINNER PAIL 51

A large jelly tumbler, or small fruit- jar, may be used
for moist foods, like baked beans, creamed vegetables,
meats and salads, and for cooked cereals, with milk, pre-
served fruit, baked custards or puddings. For such
foods the spoon should not be forgotten, while a small
linen napkin is always a much appreciated luxury.

While the noon lunch should be neatly packed, with
due regard to the order in which the foods will be eaten

for the working man is only too seldom supplied with
a table on which to " spread " his meal it should not
be too " dainty." No hungry man will be satisfied with
a few paper-thin sandwiches, a piece of delicate cake, and
small portions of fruit or pudding. He usually reports
for work by seven in the morning, and the long stretch
of five hours till noon, coupled with actual physical labor,
creates a ravenous appetite that demands quantity. If
care is taken to balance the meal, leaving, however, more
starch and sugar than is usual to re-supply this rapidly
dissipated energy, he will eat less and keep in better
trim than when it is disregarded. As a general rule men
feel that they have " nothing to eat,"* 3 unless meat is pro-
vided ; so, when meat substitutes are given, they must be
planned so that they " look " like a large amount in order
to appease the hungry eyes. At the same time, it should
be borne in mind that many meat substitutes are not so
concentrated as meat, thus making it necessary to pre-
pare a larger amount to provide the same degree of
nourishment.

The season of the year should always be considered

a luncheon of heavy foods, suitable to cold weather,
being unappetizing during the warm summer months.
A man at hard labor always needs substantial foods, but
fruit, vegetable and meat substitutes may be more gen-
erally introduced with the coming of spring they will
largely overcome the usual tendencies toward " spring
fever."

An earnest housewife said, " My husband carries a din-
ner-pail and is dyspeptic ; he has no means of heating the
food. What can I do to make it more digestible ? " The
answer was, " Provide a hot soup by means of a hot-
cold bottle." When, the body is weary the stomach
needs " toning up." The best way to do this is by means

52 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

of a hot soup or drink, as it stimulates the stomach to im-
mediate action. As " hot-cold " bottles may be purchased
from fifty cents up, a little economy will place them
within reach of almost anyone. Occasionally, factories
provide " hot closets," so that coffee or food may be left
there to heat. This makes possible a greater variety of
foods.

There is nothing so jading to the appetite as monotony.
A constant diet of white bread, some kind of pie and
cake, always made by the same recipe, soon gets a man
to the point where nothing " tastes good." The lunch
box offers just as great opportunity for thought and skill
as the finest company meal if imagination is called into
play. Many foods ordinarily served hot are acceptable
when cold; sandwich fillings may be prepared in many
odd combinations and desserts replace the too frequent
pie. A surprise now and then, as salted or cracked nuts,
or a few pieces of candy, mean as much to a grown-up
as to a child.

The following menus contain suggestions for the differ-
ent seasons :

For Fall and Winter

Sliced Meat Loaf Potato Chips

Bread and Jelly Sandwiches Plain Bread and Butter

Baked Apple with Top Milk Gingerbread

Coffee or Cocoa

Stewed Lima Beans in Tomato Sauce

Peanut Butter Sandwiches Bacon Sandwiches

Cranberry Pie Coffee

Welsh Rarebit Sandwiches Creamed Corned Beef Sandwiches

Potato Salad

Date Tapioca with Top Milk Chocolate Cake

Coffee or Tea

Split Pea Soup (Hot-Cold Bottle)

Minced Ham Sandwiches Onion Sandwiches

Indian Pudding with Top Milk A Few Grapes

Coffee or Tea

For Spring and Summer

Brown Rice with Sugar and Top Milk
Peanut Butter and Lettuce Sandwiches

Scrambled Egg Sandwiches
N Stewed Rhubarb Jelly Roll

THE DINNER PAIL 53

Swiss Cheese and Rye Bread Sandwiches Nut and Potato Salad
Strawberries and Sugar Layer Cake
Lemonade

Nut Bread and Creamed Bean Sandwiches

Mutton Salad Sandwiches

Farina Pudding with Crushed Blackberries Spice Cake

Coffee

' Club Sandwich Succotash

Buttered Rolls
New Apple Pie Cocoa

The best gauge of a hungry man's appetite is what
is or is not left over in the pail. There can be no definite
rule given as to quantity the amount needed by various
people differing with the kind of work and individuality.
If the ration is approximately balanced, amounts may
soon be judged.

Occasionally a few slices of cold meat may be in-
troduced, as in the first menu. As these are usually eaten
with the fingers, this should not be done unless there is a
lavatory at hand. When pie is used, it belongs in a
menu that seems deficient in heavy food, as in the second
and last menus. When cereals are used, care should al-
ways be taken to secure the whole grains, such as brown
rice, cracked wheat, and oatmeal, as they are not only
more bulky, but far more nourishing than the denatured
kinds. Fruits, either fresh or dried, should be fully in-
troduced, as they are invaluable tonics and appetizers, and
every menu should contain some one food of marked
flavor to give it point.

To put foods together that harmonize, that are, at the
same time, inexpensive and nourishing is worthy the high-
est effort, for what a man is and does depends largely
upon what he eats.

CHAPTER V
THE FINE ART OF COMBINING FOODS

The question of the proper thing to serve at each meal
is one that confronts every housewife, and often proves
very perplexing. Many women seem to feel that, when
the main dish has been selected, the other foods will take
care of themselves. But no meal can be piled together
helter-skelter, for in planning the menu some one dish
must be selected around which the rest of the meal re-
volves. The main dish, properly speaking, is repre-
sented by the most substantial course, but the meal can
often be made to fit around a special dessert or salad. A
correspondent, for instance, asked for a company dinner
menu in which the dessert might be grape juice jelly, with
whipped cream. Taking into consideration the three fac-
tors that must be observed in planning every meal, no
matter how simple, the dietetic value of the food, pleas-
ing the palate, and satisfying the eyes I sent her the
following menu :

Oyster Bouillon Wafers

Chicken Maryland
Timbales of Green Peppers with Rice Browned Cauliflower

Celery Hearts

Grapejuice Jelly, with Whipped Cream Orange Cakes
Coffee

In this menu the jelly acts as the point of interest; that
is the flavors of the meal reach in it a climax. There is
nothing so unsatisfying as to finish a well-cooked meal
which is so badly planned that it leaves an impression of
monotony. Many a case of overeating and consequent
indigestion may be traced to the combination of too many
foods on the same taste-level. The palate, which is very
sensitive in its search for something distinctive in flavor,
is so continually disappointed that one may unconsciously
keep on eating long after the appetite is satisfied. The

54

THE FINE ART OF COMBINING FOODS 55

term taste-level applies to foods which are made of sim-
ilar ingredients.

I have often heard an old Southern Mammy say that
every white vegetable should have a green or dark one
to balance it at a meal. This rule is not infallible, but,
generally speaking, the white vegetables, as hominy, rice,
potatoes and macaroni, are of a starchy nature, and, to
carry out the balance of the meal, a green vegetable rich
in minerals should be provided. In case one of the more
succulent white vegetables is chosen, like cauliflower,
which will furnish ample mineral, the meal will not taste
well unless either the starchy or the mineral vegetable is
darkened in some way, as browned cauliflower or fried
potatoes. In case a third vegetable is to be added, it
should be of contrasting color, that is potatoes, carrots
and spinach may be used together, or rice, tomatoes and
string beans, but fried potatoes, white turnips, and cauli-
flower, would not be a good combination.

A white fish or meat should be served with a sauce of
contrasting flavor and color. In preparing the gravy for
roast meats, for example, it should be made of a rich
dark brown color; otherwise it will look insipid. Light
meats, such as pork tenderloin, veal cutlets and the like,
are much better when combined with tomato, or some
dark sauce, and, if chicken is to be creamed, the addition
of an egg yolk or two, or some minced parsley or green
pepper, to give color value as well as additional flavor, is
an excellent plan. Very dark foods, such as spinach,
timbales, baked tomatoes and so on, should be combined
with light colored sauces and vice versa. This also ap-
plies to puddings.

The greatest help in planning combinations is to
schedule meals ahead for at least a day, preferably for
the week, leaving one meal blank to take care of the left-
overs. Lack of variety shows very plainly when put
down in black and white.

Every meal must be planned by a pattern or skeleton
menu, whether just for the family or for company. If
these patterns are kept in plain view whenever the menus
are made, there will be little danger of providing unbal-
anced rations. I find it an excellent plan to build up the
meals by aid of skeleton menus, such as the following:

56 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

Breakfast

1. Fruit, raw or cooked.

2. Cereal with top milk, only with cooked fruits, or
those partially non-acid, as pears, bananas or melons.

3. Eggs, left-over meat, fish, or, occasionally, a vege-
table, and milk or egg combinations ; potatoes only when
cereal is omitted ; any bread, with butter, cereal beverage
or coffee.

Cocoa should not be served unless the supply of but-
ter is diminished, and the main course is very light. If
desired, the cereal may take a different form, as fried
mush or hominy omelet. In this case any kind of raw
fruit may be served.

Luncheon or Supper

1. Any fruit cocktail, canape, or cream or stock soup,
with crackers. (This course may be omitted.)

2. Any light meat, egg, nut or cheese dish, as scallops,
timbales, croquettes, ramekins, or substantial vegetable
or cereal dishes, combined with proteins; any kind of
bread.

3. A light salad of fruit or vegetables, with boiled,
French, or mayonnaise dressing.

4. A light dessert, as fresh or cooked fruit, whips,
gelatines, or corn starch puddings, accompanied, if de-
sired, with cookies, cake, hot gingerbread, or waffles;
tea.

If a heavy soup, as a bisque, puree, or egg- thickened
soup, is served, the meat course may be omitted. If
potatoes, rice or spaghetti are provided, in addition to
the main course, the dessert should be light. For an
elaborate meal a light vegetable, such as green peas, may
accompany the main course. If desired, a substantial
meat, fish or vegetable and nut salad may be substituted
for the second and third courses. A fruit salad may be
the dessert. Neither milk nor cocoa should be served
unless needed to supply a scanty protein allowance. A
heavy dessert is allowable only when needed to give bal-
ance to the meal. If deficient in protein, an egg custard
may be used ; if lacking in fat, an almond pudding, but-
terscotch pie and so fort!].

THE FINE ART OF COMBINING FOODS 57

Dinner

1. Any fruit or fish cocktail, canape, or stock soup and
crackers. (This course may be omitted.)

2. Any substantial meat or fish, baked, boiled, braized,
fried, broiled, stewed, or en casserole. A choice of white
or sweet potatoes, rice, hominy, or macaroni. One or
two other vegetables.

3. Any vegetable salad with French dressing, or one
of its derivatives, or with very fat meats, an orange or
grapefruit salad, with French dressing ; a green vegetable,
as celery or radishes, may be substituted. If the salad
is of fruit, it may be supplemented with crackers or sweet
biscuits, and act as dessert.

4. A light dessert, as junket, gelatine, whip, fruit cup,
baked oranges, baked stuffed apples with heavy meats.
Heavier desserts, as pies, puddings, tapioca cream and so
forth, with light meats. Only tart desserts with fish.
Coffee.

If fish is served as a separate course, it should precede
the meat, and be in the form of timbales, croquettes,
ramekins, or small portions of broiled or boiled fish, with
or without sauce.

As appetite craves change, the essential in planning ap-
pealing meals is to combine a variety of foods so that
they harmonize. Nature is a trustworthy teacher.
Years ago she taught the good old combination of pork
and beans, bread and cheese, pork and apple sauce, be-
cause they tasted well together her pupils not realiz-
ing that these foods supplemented each the other.

To prepare foods that " taste good," look well and are
digestible it is a good plan to follow the infallible rule of
" enough but not too much," as well as to consider the
esthetic beauty and appearance of the combination. Con-
servatism too often stands in the way of the average
housewife, many serving the same dishes year in and
year out, that their mothers served before them. How-
ever, the women are not entirely at fault, the habits of the
men contributing a large share towards the existing nar-
rowness. The New Englander is starved without his
breakfast doughnuts ; the Southerner without his corn
pone, and the Westerner without his wheat cakes, regard-

58 MRS. ALLEN'S COOK BOOK

less of the fact that the meal may contain dishes of equal
stability and nutrition.

Another reason why women get into " ruts " is because
too many men seem to like monotony being satisfied
with frequent repetitions of a few good dishes, often ridi-
culing any attempt toward growth and betterment in the
family menu. The man who growls over the " high cost
of living " is too often the one who demands the same
old foods !

Breakfast is usually the most neglected of the three
meals, actual scantiness of food, combinations which are
indigestible, and hasty service leading to frequent mid-
morning indigestion and consequent " grouchiness."
One of the greatest mistakes perpetrated in most house-
holds is the serving of an acid fruit with a cereal or
cream. Some cast-iron stomachs can stand this combina-
tion, but often it brings about fermentation with accom-
panying gas. When a cereal is to be served, the fruit
should be bland, as bananas, peaches, apples, dates, stewed
figs or prunes, not only because it is the correct thing
to do, but because it " tastes good." In this case the
heavier part of the meal should be scheduled accordingly
and contain foods of marked flavor. If scrambled eggs,
for instance, follow a bland fruit, and cereal with cream,
the effect is flat; while, on the other hand, if a little
dried beef or bacon is cooked with the eggs, or if they
are made into an omelet with tomato sauce, the whole
meal gains point. However, if the meal starts with an
acid, like oranges, pineapple or grapefruit, the main por-
tion may be heavier and somewhat bland. Plain scram-
bled eggs should be suitable in this case and might be
accompanied by fried potatoes (to give substantiality)
and corn muffins, as no cereal is served. Fish never
should be served for breakfast, unless preceded by an
acid fruit, or accompanied by an acid sauce. Potatoes
or hominy should never be served when a cereal appears,
as all are starches, and, therefore, too similar in texture
and taste. When steak and potatoes are served, for in-
stance, the cereal should be omitted. When cereal is
used, plain bread and butter, biscuits or rolls should be
prepared, while cereal muffins may be used when the
cereal is omitted. In other words care should be taken