Part 9

TUESDAY--Cabbage Lettuce Salad. Nut-meat (Pine Kernels). Pears.

WEDNESDAY--Celery. Nut-meat (Walnuts). Green Figs.

THURSDAY--Cauliflower Salad. Nut-meat (Cashew). Blackberries.

FRIDAY--Watercress and Radishes. Nut-meat (Barcelona). Quince.

SATURDAY--White Cabbage Salad. Nut-meat (Peanuts). Apples.

=_Winter--(December-January-February.)_=

=FIRST MEAL.=

SUNDAY--Tomato and Celery Salad. Cheese or Fresh Almonds. Dried Fruit Salad.

MONDAY--Carrots and Artichokes. Cheese or Cob Nuts. Dried Figs.

TUESDAY--Onions. Cheese or Fresh Walnuts. Dates.

WEDNESDAY--Batavia. Cheese or Brazil Nuts. Raisins.

THURSDAY--Cauliflower Salad. Cheese or Filberts. Sultanas and Currants.

FRIDAY--Red Cabbage Salad. Cheese or Barcelona Nuts. French Plums.

SATURDAY--Mixed Root Salad. Cheese or Spanish Nuts. Dried Peaches.

=SECOND MEAL.=

SUNDAY--Cucumber Salad. Nut-meat (Pine Kernels). Fresh Fruit Salad.

MONDAY--Celery Salad. Nut-meat (Hazel). Oranges.

TUESDAY--Winter Cabbage. Nut-meat (Almonds). Bananas.

WEDNESDAY--Corn Salad & Radishes. Nut-meat (Walnuts). Grapes.

THURSDAY--Cabbage Lettuce Salad. Nut-meat (Cashew). Red Bananas.

FRIDAY--Chicory Salad. Nut-meat (Peanuts). Tangerines.

SATURDAY--Endive Salad. Nut-meat (Barcelona). Apples.

The above Menus are compiled by the Misses Julie and Rose Moore.

=USEFUL DOMESTIC INFORMATION.=

A clove of garlic will give a very delicate and tasty flavour to many soups and other dishes. For soups it is only necessary to rub the tureen with the cut clove before the soup is poured in. For savoury dishes and stews one small clove may be boiled (after being peeled) in the stewpan for five minutes.

To remove the skins from tomatoes place them in boiling water for about two minutes.

Turnips taste much better if a little cream is added to them after being mashed.

Any cold green vegetable can be used to make a soufflé. It should be rubbed through a sieve, and then 1 or 2 well-beaten eggs should be added. A few drops of Tarragon vinegar may be used to change the flavour. (See Recipe 97).

Cheese should be crumbly, as it is then more easily digestible. It is a good plan to test it in the following manner:--First buy a small piece and melt a portion with milk in a double saucepan; if it has a granulated appearance it is safe to buy some more of the same cheese; if, on the contrary, it is tough and stringy, it should be avoided, as it will be found lacking in nutriment and will be very liable to cause digestive troubles.

Butter should be made to look dainty and appetising by being prepared for the table with butter pats. Small pieces can be twisted round to form the shape of a hollow shell. It may also be rolled into marbles and be garnished with parsley.

Parsley can be made a brilliant green by placing it in a cloth (after chopping), dipping it in cold water, and wringing it tightly in the hands, squeezing it with the fingers. For garnishing savoury puddings or fried potatoes, etc., this is worth knowing.

Parsley which has been used for garnishing, or which is in danger of going to seed, can be preserved green for seasoning purposes by placing it in the oven on a sheet of paper, and drying it slowly in such a manner that it does not burn; it should then be rubbed through a sieve and put into a bottle.

All boiled puddings should be allowed room to swell, or they may prove heavy when served.

Instead of chopping onions, a coarse nutmeg grater should be kept for the purpose, and the onion should be grated like lemon rind. This saves much time and labour and answers better for flavouring soups, gravies, or savouries of any kind.

The addition of some bicarbonate of soda to the water in which onions are boiled will neutralize the strong flavour of the oil contained in them, and prevent it from becoming troublesome to those with whom it disagrees.

Freshly cut vegetables are more digestible and wholesome than those which have been lying about in crates or shop windows. They also cook more quickly. The water in which vegetables have been boiled should be saved for stock for soups and gravies (except in the case of potatoes).

To prevent hard-boiled eggs from becoming discoloured, they should be plunged into cold water as soon as they are removed from the saucepan.

Those of my readers who wish to use unfermented and saltless breads and cakes can obtain the same from the Wallace P. R. Bakery. The purity of goods supplied from this factory can be depended upon.

When it is difficult to obtain pineapples for making fruit salads, the same enhanced flavour can be secured by adding some of Dole's Hawaiian Pineapple Juice.

To prevent the odour of boiled cabbage pervading the house, place a piece of bread in the saucepan.

Flaked nuts, if sprinkled over puddings, custards, trifles or jellies, greatly improve the flavour and appearance.

In the preparation of soups, stews, &c., the preliminary frying of the vegetables improves the flavour and dispenses with any insipidity. The oil should be fried until it is brown.

=HOW TO COOK VEGETABLES.=

=Artichokes= should be boiled until tender only. If over-boiled they become dark coloured and flavourless.

=Asparagus= should be cut into equal lengths and tied into bundles. These should be stood on end in a deep stewpan, leaving the tops about an inch above the water. When the stalks are tender the tops will be cooked also. This plan prevents the tops falling off through being over-cooked.

=Cabbage= should only be boiled until tender; if over-cooked it is pulpy and flavourless. Boiling too fast causes the unpleasant odour to be given off which is sometimes noticeable in a house when this vegetable is being cooked. The lid of the saucepan should not be used.

=Cauliflower= must not be boiled until its crispness is lost. It must be only just tender enough to eat. It can be served 'au gratin' (120), or as in recipe No. 121.

=Carrots= should be steamed, not boiled. The skins should then be wiped off and they should be served with a white or brown gravy. They are also nice if scraped, sliced and stewed in haricot broth (recipe 239). The smaller the carrots the more delicate will the flavour be.

=Kidney or Haricot Beans= need to be carefully trimmed so that all stringy parts are cut away. They should be boiled until tender, and no longer, and served with thin white sauce. The smaller and greener they are the better.

Old pods should remain unpicked until nearly ripe, when the solid beans can be used for haricot soup or entrées. The 'Czar' bean is the best to grow; it is the giant white haricot, and the seeds are delicious when picked fresh and cooked at once. There is the same difference between fresh and dried haricots, as between green and dried peas. Dried Haricots must be soaked in cold water for twelve hours before being cooked. They can then be stewed until tender--the water being saved for soup or stock.

=Vegetable Marrow= should be steamed or boiled in its jacket. The flavour is lost if this is removed before cooking.

=Mushrooms= should be fried very slowly in a small quantity of butter. They should be stirred during the process, and the heat employed must be very moderate indeed or they will be made tough. They can also be stewed, and served in the gravy when thickened with arrowroot.

=Potatoes= should be cooked in their jackets. To boil them in the best way, the water in the saucepan should be thrown away when they have been boiled for 5 minutes and cold water should be substituted. This plan equalises the cooking of the interior and exterior of the potatoes. When cooked they should be drained, a clean cloth should be placed over the pan and they should stand on the hot plate to dry. They should be lifted out separately, and should be unbroken and floury. Sodden potatoes ought to be regarded as evidence of incompetency on the part of the cook.

Potatoes baked in their jackets are considered by many to be preferable, and, as it is almost impossible to spoil them if this plan is adopted, it should be employed when the cook is inexperienced.

Fried potatoes, cooked in the Devonshire fashion, are nice for breakfast. It is best to remove some from the stewpan when half cooked on the previous day. These should be cut up in a frying pan in which a fair amount of butter has been melted, and the knife should be used while they cook. In a few minutes the potatoes should be well packed together, so that the under-side will brown; an inverted plate should then be pressed on them and the pan should be turned upside down while the plate is held in position with one hand. A neat and savoury-looking dish will thus be made, but over-cooking must be avoided previous to the browning process, or they will look sloppy.

Potatoes can be mashed with a little milk and butter. They should then be packed into a pretty shape and garnished with chopped parsley (109).

Another way of cooking them is to use the frying basket and dip them in very hot Nutter. They should either be cut into thin fingers previously, or else be half boiled and broken into pieces. This latter plan is perhaps best of all, and they are then termed "potatoes sauté," and are sprinkled with chopped parsley before being served.

A very savoury dish can be made by boiling some potatoes until nearly tender, and then putting them in a pie dish with small pieces of butter sprinkled over them; they should then be baked until nicely browned.

To make potatoes _white_ when cooked they should be steeped in cold water for two hours after peeling.

=Peas= should be placed in a covered jar with a little butter, and should be steamed until tender. No water is required in the jar. The pods, if clean and fresh, should be washed, slowly steamed, rubbed through a colander, and added to any soup or other suitable dish in preparation. Another method is to boil the peas with mint, salt, sugar and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda added to the water. Small young peas should always be chosen in preference to those which are old and large.

=Spinach= should be cooked according to the directions given in recipes 90 to 92, or 103.

=Beetroot= should be baked in the oven instead of being boiled. By this method the flavour is improved and the juices retained.

=LABOUR-SAVING APPLIANCES.=

Domestic work in the kitchen may be very much simplified and lightened if proper utensils are employed, and those who are able to do so should obtain the following appliances, in addition to those which are generally used:--

=The 'Dana' Nut-Mill.= This is used for making bread crumbs from crusts or stale bread; for flaking nuts and almonds, etc., so as to make them more easy of digestion, and nut-butter so as to make it mix more conveniently with dough when employed for making pastry and cheese--rendering it more readily digestible. This nut-mill may be obtained from G. Savage & Sons, 33, Aldersgate Street, London, E. C., and from Health Food Depôts (price 7/6). It serves the same purpose as a sausage machine as well.

=A Frying-Basket= is necessary for letting down rissoles, croquettes, cutlets, fritters, potato chips, etc., into the stewpan which is kept for frying purposes. The stewpan should be four or five inches deep, so as to avoid the possibility of the Nutter or vegetable fat bubbling over and catching fire upon the stove. Aluminium or nickel are the best metals.

=A Raisin Stoner.= It enables one to stone a large quantity of fruit in a very short time. Most ironmongers stock these machines.

=A Potato Masher.= Necessary for flaking potatoes and preparing haricot beans, peas, etc., for admixture in rissoles or croquettes. By this means the skins can be easily removed after they are cooked.

=A Wire Sieve= (about 1/8th-inch mesh). Useful for preparing spinach, and in many other ways which will suggest themselves to every cook.

=A Duplex Boiler.= For scalding milk by means of a steam jacket. It prevents burning, and boiling over. The =Gourmet Boiler= is a valuable cooking appliance of the same sort. Failing these a double saucepan is necessary.

=A Chopping Basin=--a wooden bowl with a circular chopper which fits it. This prevents the pieces from jumping off and lessens the time occupied. It is also less noisy and can be used while the operator is seated.

=A Vegetable Slicer.= The best appliance for this purpose is a combination tool--made so that one can slice carrots, etc., to any size and thickness, and also core apples, peel potatoes and perform other functions with it.

=A Metal Frying Pan.= A nickel, aluminium, or steel frying pan is almost a necessity. Enamel chips off very soon and is dangerous, as it may cause appendicitis.

=MEDICINAL AND DIETETIC QUALITIES.=

As it is important that those who adopt a reformed diet should know something about the dietetic and medicinal value of the articles they consume, the following information may prove helpful:--

=Apples= purify the blood, feed the brain with phosphorus, and help to eliminate urates and earthy salts from the system. As they contain a small amount of starch, and a good proportion of grape sugar combined with certain valuable acids, they constitute a most desirable and hygienic food for all seasons. They should be ripe and sweet when eaten. People who cannot digest apples in the ordinary way should scrape them, and thus eat them in _pulp_ rather than in _pieces_.

=Bananas= also contain phosphorus, and are consequently suitable for mental workers. They are easily digestible, and nutritious, being almost a food in themselves.

=French Plums= are judicious food for persons of nervous temperament and for those whose habits are sedentary; they prevent constipation, and are nutritious. They should be well stewed, and eaten with cream, Plasmon snow-cream, or Coconut cream (see recipe 224).

=Strawberries= contain phosphorus and iron, and are therefore especially desirable for mental workers and anæmic invalids.

=Tomatoes= are good for those who suffer from sluggish liver. The popular fallacy that they are liable to cause cancer, which was circulated by thoughtless persons some few years since, has been pronounced, by the highest medical authorities, to be unsupported by any evidence whatever, and to be most improbable and absurd. In the Island of Mauritius this fruit is eaten at almost every meal, and Bishop Royston stated that during his episcopate of eighteen years he only heard of one case of the disease.

=Lettuce= is soothing to the system and purifying to the blood. It should be well dressed with pure olive oil and wine vinegar (2 spoonfuls of oil to 1 of vinegar, well mixed together, with a pinch of sugar). A lettuce salad eaten with bread and cheese makes a nutritious and ample meal. The thin and tender-leaved variety (grown under glass if possible) should always be chosen.

=Figs= contain much fruit sugar which can be rapidly assimilated, and are very nourishing and easily digestible; when they can be obtained in their green state they are specially desirable. They may be considered one of the most valuable of all fruits, and are most helpful in many cases of sickness on account of their laxative medicinal properties.

=Dates= are very similar to figs, and are both sustaining and warming; they are easily digested if the skins are thin.

=Gooseberries=, =Raspberries=, =Currants= and =Grapes= are cooling and purifying food for hot weather; but, if unripe, they will often upset the liver. This type of fruit should not be eaten unless _ripe_ and _sweet_.

=Walnuts, Hazel and Brazil Nuts= contain a considerable amount of oil, and are consequently useful for warming the body and feeding and strengthening the nerves. Vegetable fat in this form is emulsified and more easily assimilated than free animal fats, as in butter, etc. Nuts are also rich in proteid matter. Where people find that they cannot masticate nuts, owing to impairment of teeth, the difficulty may be removed by passing the nuts through a 'Dana' nut-mill. When thus flaked and spread between thin slices of bread and butter, with honey, they make delicious sandwiches for lunch. A pinch of curry powder (instead of the honey) makes them taste savoury.

=Chestnuts= contain a larger proportion of starch, but are digested without difficulty when boiled in their jackets until fairly soft. If eaten with a pinch of salt they make a nice dish.

=Pineapples= are valuable for cases of diphtheria and sore-throat, as the juice makes an excellent gargle. This fruit is considered to aid digestion in certain cases.

=Cheese= is very rich in protein--far more so than lean beef. If well chosen, and new, it is a most valuable article of diet, and feeds brain, nerves, and muscles; but as it is a concentrated food it should not be taken in excessive quantity. Half a pound of cheese is almost equal to a pound of average flesh meat. The best varieties are Wenslet, Gruyère (very rich in phosphorus), Port Salut, Milk (155), Wensleydale, Cheshire and Cheddar.

=Protose, Nuttose=, and similar malted nut-meats, are more than equivalent to lean beef--minus water, waste products, and disease germs. The International Health Association first invented these valuable substitutes for animal food, and has an able advisory medical staff, therefore they may be regarded as results of modern dietetic research. Protose contains 25% protein and 14% fat.

=White Haricots= are rich in protein (far more so than lean meat), and should be eaten in moderation. Brown haricots contain iron in addition to their large percentage of protein.

=Lentils= are almost identical in composition, but are more suitable for those who do not have much physical toil.

=Peas= are slightly less nitrogenous than lentils and haricots, but otherwise very similar; they are best when eaten in a green form, and when young and tender. When they are old the peas should always be passed through a potato masher, as the skins are very indigestible.

=Macaroni= contains starch and a certain amount of the gluten of wheat. Some of the best varieties are made with eggs as well as flour. Tomato sauce is the best accompaniment to it, with Parmesan or grated and melted cheese (see recipes 66 to 71).

=Rice= as usually sold consists chiefly of starch, but if unglazed and _once milled_, it is much more nourishing, as the cuticle of the cereal (which is rich in gluten and protein) is then left on it. The addition of cheese or eggs, makes it a more complete food (see recipes 72 to 80).

=Potatoes= consist principally of starch and water, with a certain amount of potash. Their dietetic value is not high.

=Wholewheat Bread= contains, in addition to its starch, much vegetable albumen, and a large supply of mineral salts, such as phosphates, etc. It is, therefore, when light and well cooked, of high dietetic value both for flesh-forming and nerve feeding. Physical workers should use it as a staple article of food, and mental workers will also find it most helpful. The coarser the brown flour, the more laxative is the influence of the bread. This is point worth noting.

=Eggs= are nutritive chiefly on account of the albumen which they contain in the white portion, but they are liable to cause digestive trouble, and they must not be taken too freely by those who are subject to biliousness and constipation. Such persons often find it advantageous to have them boiled quite hard.

=Emprote= (Eustace Miles proteid Food) contains the proteids of wheat and milk (35%), with digestible Carbohydrates (45.2%), fat (6.6%), and assimilable salts (7.9%). It makes a good addition to soups, beverages, and dishes lacking in protein.

=Nuto-Cream Meat= is a modern substitute for white meat and poultry, containing 19.7% protein, 48% fat, and 23% Carbohydrates. It is made from nuts and corn, and is useful for invalids and young children.

=Milk= contains nearly all the elements necessary for repairing bodily waste. It should be scalded for half-an-hour in a double saucepan--to destroy tubercular and other germs. If then allowed to stand for 12 hours, clotted cream can be skimmed off (as in Devonshire) and the milk can be used next day. It keeps much longer after being thus scalded. Dried milk is now procurable in such forms as 'Lacvitum' and 'Plasmon.'

=Celery= is a useful blood purifier, and is valuable in all cases of rheumatism, gout, &c. Celery salt is a valuable addition to soups and savoury dishes, and is preferable to common salt.

=Spinach= contains a considerable quantity of iron in a readily assimilable form, and is, therefore, good for anæmic persons.

=Onions= have a wonderfully improving effect upon the skin and complexion if eaten raw, and they act powerfully as diuretics.

=HYGIENIC INFORMATION.=

[Sidenote: =How to Keep Young.=]

Old age is accompanied by the accumulation in the body of certain earthy salts which tend to produce ossification. The deposit of these in the walls of the arteries impedes the circulation, and produces senility and decrepitude. Flesh-food accelerates this process, but the juices of fruits, and distilled or soft water, dissolve out these deposits. The older one becomes the more freely should one partake of fruit and soft water.

The more juicy fruit we consume, the less drink of any kind we require, and the water contained in fruit is of Nature's purest and best production.

Frequent bathing and the occasional use of the vapour bath also help to eliminate these deposits, and those whose skins are never made to perspire by wholesome exercise in the open air must cause this healthful operation to take place by other means--or pay the penalty which Nature exacts.

[Sidenote: =Food and Climate.=]

Vegetable oils and fats produce heat and build up the nerves. We require a much larger amount of food containing fat in cold weather and in cold climates than in warm weather and in warm climates. By producing fruits in profusion in the summer-time Nature provides for the satisfaction of our instinctive desire for such simple and cooling diet when the temperature is high. But in winter-time more cheese, butter, olive oil, or nuts, should be eaten every day.

[Sidenote: =Cancer and Flesh-eating.=]

The latest declarations of some of the principal British medical authorities on 'Cancer' are to the effect that people become afflicted with this disease through the excessive consumption of animal flesh. The alimentary canal becomes obstructed with decomposing matter, toxic elements are generated and absorbed in the system, and cancerous cellular proliferation ensues. It is noteworthy that fruitarians are scarcely ever afflicted with this disease, and that a strict fruitarian dietary (uncooked) has often proved curative. See pages 133 and 166.

[Sidenote: =How to avoid Dyspepsia.=]

If the digestive process is unduly delayed by overloading the stomach, or by drinking much at meal-times so as to dilute the gastric juice, fermentation, flatulence and impaired health are likely to result. Raw sugar if taken very freely with starch foods is also apt to produce fermentation.

It is a mistake to mix acid fruits and vegetables by eating them together at the same meal. Fermentation is often thus caused, as vegetables take a long time to digest. A very safe rule to observe, and one which would save many from physical discomfort and suffering, is this--only eat fruits which are palatable in the natural uncooked state. Before Man invented the art of cooking, he must have followed this rule.

Those who suffer from dyspepsia will, in most instances, derive benefit by taking two meals a day instead of three--or at any rate by substituting a cup of coffee or of hot skimmed milk and a few brown biscuits for the third meal. Hard workers are the only persons who can really get hungry three times a day, and we ought not to take our meals without "hunger sauce." Fruit alone, for the third meal is better still.