Chapter 13

3 c. macaroni (2 pieces) 3 tsp. salt 3 qt. boiling water 6 c. white sauce (medium)

Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until tender. Drain, pour cold water over it, and drain it once more. Put the macaroni into a baking dish, sprinkling a layer of grated cheese upon each layer of macaroni. Pour in the sauce and sprinkle the top with cheese. Cook until the sauce bubbles up through the cheese and the top is brown. To give variety, finely-minced ham, boiled codfish, or any cold meat may be used instead of the cheese. (Will serve ten.)

_Cornstarch Pudding_

1 qt. milk 3/4 c. cornstarch 1/2 tsp. salt 3/4 c. sugar Vanilla

Scald the milk in a double boiler. Mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together. Gradually add to the hot milk and stir constantly until it thickens. Cover, cook for 30 minutes, add vanilla, and pour into cold, wet moulds. When set, turn out, and serve with milk and sugar. (Will serve nine.)

_Apple Sauce_

9 tart apples 3/4 c. water 6 whole cloves (if desired) 3/4 c. sugar Piece of lemon rind (if desired)

Wipe, pare, quarter, and core the apples. Put the water, apples, lemon rind, and cloves into a sauce-pan. Cook covered until the apples are tender, but not broken. Remove the lemon peel and cloves. Add the sugar a few minutes before taking from the fire. The apples may be mashed or put through a strainer. (Will serve nine.)

_Note._--The lemon and the cloves may be used when the apples have lost their flavour.

_Stewed Prunes or Other Dried Fruit--Apricots, Apples, Pears_

3/4 lb. fruit (about) 1-1/2 pt. of water 1/3 c. sugar 1 or 2 slices lemon or a few cloves and a piece of cinnamon stick

Wash the fruit thoroughly and soak overnight. Cook in the water in which it was soaked. Cover, and simmer until tender. When nearly cooked, add sugar and lemon juice. The cloves and cinnamon should cook with the fruit. All flavourings may be omitted, if desired. (Will serve nine.)

_Soft Custard_

2 c. milk 6 tbsp. sugar 2 eggs 1/2 tsp. vanilla A few grains of salt

Scald the milk in a double boiler. Add the sugar and salt to the eggs and beat until well mixed. Stir the hot milk slowly into the egg mixture and return to the double boiler. Cook, stirring constantly, until the spoon, when lifted from the mixture, is coated. Remove immediately from the heat, add vanilla, and pour into a cold bowl. To avoid too rapid cooking, lift the upper from the lower portion of the boiler occasionally. (Will serve six.)

_Tapioca Custard Pudding_

3 c. scalded milk 2 eggs slightly beaten 2 tbsp. butter 4 tbsp. pearl, or minute, tapioca 6 tbsp. sugar A few grains of salt

Minute tapioca requires no soaking. Soak the pearl tapioca one hour in enough cold water to cover it. Drain, add to the milk, and cook in a double boiler for 30 minutes. Add to remaining ingredients, pour into buttered baking-dish, and bake for about 25 minutes in a slow oven. (Will serve eight.)

_Rice and Tomato_

2 c. cooked rice 2 tbsp. butter 2 tbsp. flour 2 c. unstrained or 1 c. strained tomato 1 slice of onion minced Salt and pepper

Cook the onion with the tomato until soft. Melt the butter, and add the flour, salt, and pepper. Strain the tomato, stir the liquid into the butter and flour mixture, and cook until thick and smooth. Add the rice, heat, and serve. (Will serve six.)

_Cracker Pudding_

6 soda crackers 3 c. milk 3 eggs 6 tbsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt

Roll the crackers and soak them in milk. Beat the yolks and sugar well together and add to the first mixture, with some salt. Make a meringue with white of eggs, pile lightly on top, and put in the oven till it is a golden brown. Serve hot. (Will serve six.)

_Note._--Dried bread crumbs may be used in place of the crackers.

_Candied Fruit Peel_

The candied peel of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and other fruits makes a good sweet which is economical, because it utilizes materials which might otherwise be thrown away. Its preparation makes an interesting school exercise. The skins can be kept in good condition for a long time in salt water, which makes it possible to wait until a large supply is on hand before candying them. They should be washed in clear water, after removing from the salt water, boiled until tender, cut into small pieces, and then boiled in a thick sugar syrup until they are transparent. They should then be lifted from the syrup and allowed to cool in such a way that the superfluous syrup will run off. Finally, they should be rolled in pulverized or granulated sugar.

A large number of recipes have been given, in order that a selection may be made according to season, community conditions, and market prices, and so that sufficient variety may be secured from day to day.

Attention given to this matter will be well repaid by the improved health of the pupils, the greater interest taken in the school by the parents, and the better afternoon work accomplished. It has been well said: "The school lunch is not a departure from the principle of the obligation assumed by educational authorities toward the child, but an intensive application of the measures adopted for the physical nurture of the child, to the end of securing in adult years the highest efficiency of the citizen".

USEFUL BULLETINS

_The Rural School Luncheon_: Department of Education, Saskatchewan

_The Box Luncheon_: New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University

_Hints to Housewives_: Issued by Mayor Mitchell's Food Supply Committee, New York City

_Home Economics in Village and Rural Schools_: Kansas State Agricultural College

_Home-made Fireless Cookers and Their Use_: Farmers' Bulletin, United States Department of Agriculture

_Hot Lunches for Rural Schools_: Parts I and II, Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts

_Rural School Lunches_: University of Idaho, Agricultural Extension Department

_The Rural School Lunch_: University of Illinois College of Agriculture

_The School Luncheon_: Oregon Agricultural College

HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE WITHOUT SCHOOL EQUIPMENT

There is no school so unhappily situated or so poorly equipped that it is unable to teach effectively the lessons previously outlined in the "Care of the Home" and "Sewing". Now that a grant in aid is provided by the Department of Education any rural school may procure one of the sets of equipment for cooking suggested or some modification thereof. As a stepping-stone to the provision of that equipment and as a means of educating the people of the district in regard to the advantages of teaching this branch of Household Science, it may be advisable or even necessary, in some cases, to attempt practical work, even where no equipment is installed by the school authorities.

It should be remembered that the present position of Manual Training and Household Science in urban schools is entirely owing to private initiative and demonstration, by which the people were shown how and why these subjects should be included in the curriculum of the schools. It is reasonable to suppose that the same results will follow if somewhat the same methods are tried in the case of the rural schools, which form such a large part of our educational system. Two methods of giving instruction of this character have, in the United States, been followed by successful results.

FIRST METHOD

In the first of these, the teacher spends the last thirty or forty minutes, generally on Friday afternoons, in the description and discussion of some practical cooking problem which may be performed in the homes of the pupils. Before this plan is adopted, it should be discussed with the pupils who are to take the work. They should be required to promise that they will practise at home; and the consent and co-operation of the parents should be secured, as the success of this home work depends, in the first place, on the willingness of the pupil to accept responsibility, and, in the second place, on the honest and hearty co-operation of the parents.

A meeting of the mothers should be called, in order that the plan may be laid before them and their suggestions received. At this meeting afternoon tea might be served. The teacher should plan the lessons, but occasionally, particularly at festive seasons, the pupils themselves should be allowed to decide what shall be made. When it is possible, the food prepared at home should be brought by the pupil to the school, in order that it may be compared with that made by other pupils and be judged by the teacher. In other cases, the mother might be asked to fill up a previously prepared form, certifying to the amount and character of the work done at home by the pupil each week.

The instructions placed on the black-board should be clear and concise and give adequate information concerning materials, quantities, and methods. They should be arranged in such a way as to appeal to the eye and thus assist the memory. Connected composition should not be attempted, but the matter should be arranged in a series of numbered steps, somewhat as follows:

_Recipe: Boiled Carrots_

Carrots Boiling water Salt and pepper Butter

1. Scrub, scrape, and rinse the carrots.

2. Cut them into pieces by dicing them.

3. Place the pieces in a sauce-pan.

4. Set over the fire and cover with boiling water.

5. Cook until the pieces are soft at the centre when pierced with a fork.

6. Serve in a hot vegetable dish.

After being thoroughly explained, these directions are placed in a note-book, for the guidance of the pupil in her home practice. In some cases, the directions are placed on properly punched cards, so that at the end of the year every pupil will have a collection of useful recipes and plans, each one of which she understands and has worked out. In many lessons of this type demonstrations may be given by the teacher and, if the food cannot be cooked on the school stove, it may be taken home to be cooked by one of the pupils.

Lessons given according to this method, by which the theory is given in school and the practice acquired at home, need not be restricted to cookery. Any of the lessons prescribed in the curriculum for Form III, Junior, may be treated in the same way. Lessons on the daily care of a bed-room, weekly sweeping, care and cleaning of metals, washing dishes, washing clothes, ironing a blouse and, in fact, on all subjects pertaining to the general care and management of the home, may be given in this way.

Each lesson should conclude with a carefully prepared black-board summary, which should be neatly copied into the note-books, to be periodically examined by the teacher. The black-board work of many teachers leaves much to be desired, and time spent in improving this will be well repaid. Examples of summaries of the kind referred to are to be found in the Ontario Teachers' Manual on _Household Management_. These instructions may be type-written or hectographed by the teacher and given to the pupils, thus saving the time spent in note-taking.

SECOND METHOD

The second of the plans referred to is a modification of what is known as the "Crete" plan of Household Science, so called from the name of the place in Nebraska, U.S.A., where it was first put into operation. By this plan, definite instruction is given in the home kitchens of certain women in the district, under the supervision of the educational authorities. It was adopted, at first, in connection with the high schools of the small towns in that State but, with certain modifications, it is suitable to our rural school conditions.

In every community there are women who are known to be skilful in certain lines of cookery, and the plan makes use of such women for giving the required instruction. They become actually a part of the staff of the school, giving instruction in Household Science, and using the resources of their households as an integral part of the school equipment.

In order to put this plan into operation, a meeting of women interested in the school should be called and if, after the plan has been laid before them and fully discussed, enough women are willing to open their homes and act as instructors, then it is safe to proceed. The subjects should be divided, and a scheme somewhat as follows may be arranged:

Mrs. A. bread and biscuits Mrs. B. pies and cakes Mrs. C. canning and preserving Mrs. D. gems and corn bread Mrs. E. desserts and salads Mrs. F. cookies and doughnuts Mrs. G. vegetables.

Six has been found a convenient number for a class, though ten is better, if the homes can accommodate that number. Half-past three is a good time for the classes to meet, as they then may be concluded by five o'clock, thus leaving the housewife free to prepare her evening meal. The day of the week should be chosen to suit the convenience of the instructor. The classes may meet once a week.

Arriving at the home of the instructor at half-past three, the pupils are seated in the most convenient room, and the lesson is given. During this talk the pupils are given not only the recipe, but details as to materials, the preparation thereof, the degree of heat required, the common causes of failure and, in fact, everything that in the mind of a practical cook would be helpful to the class. Notes are taken, and afterwards properly written out and examined by the teacher of the school.

The instructors prepare the food for cooking, and sometimes, as in the case of rolls and so on, they cook the food in the presence of the pupils. When white bread is to be baked, the pupils are asked to call, a few minutes after school, at the home of the instructor, to watch the first step--setting the sponge--and again the next morning before school to see the next step--mixing the bread--and again, about half-past eleven or twelve, to see the bread ready for the oven and, finally, on the way back to school, to see the result--a fine loaf of well-cooked bread. The pupils try the recipe carefully in their own homes, not varying its terms until they are able to make the dish successfully. When they can do this, they are free to experiment with modifications, and there should be no objection to receiving help from any source; in fact, it is a good thing for the daughter to get her mother to criticize her and offer suggestions in the many little details familiar to every housekeeper, but which cannot always be given by an instructor in one lesson.

By this method the pupils learn in their own homes and handle real cooking utensils on a real stove heated by the usual fire of that home. If it is a good thing--and no one doubts it--to learn Household Science in a school where everything that invention and skill can provide for the pupils is readily at hand, is it not worth while to enter the field of actual life and, with cruder implements, win a fair degree of success?

At the end of five or six months, after the pupils have had an opportunity to become skilful in making some of the dishes which have been taught, it may be well to have an exhibition of their work. Each pupil may, on Saturday afternoon, bring one or more of the dishes she has learned to prepare to the school-house, where they may be arranged on tables for the inspection of the judges. The dishes exhibited should be certified to as being the work of the pupil with no help or suggestion from anybody. Of course, work of this kind cannot be undertaken by the "suit case" teacher. The teacher who packs her bag on Friday at noon, carries it to school with her, and rushes to catch a train or car at four o'clock, not returning to the district until Monday morning, has no time for this kind of service.

Occasionally the entire class may meet with their instructors in the school-room. An oil-stove and the necessary equipment may be obtained, and a demonstration may be given by one of the instructors. By this means much valuable instruction will be given that is not included in the regular course. At this time also many things may be discussed that pertain to the growth of the movement and the general well-being of the pupils.

The plan is flexible and may be modified easily to suit different localities. It calls for no outlay on the part of the school trustees; nor are the instructors necessarily put to any expense, as the articles prepared in giving the lessons may be used in their own homes.

By the adoption of one of the plans outlined, or such modifications of them as the peculiar requirements of the district may demand, every rural school may do something, not only toward giving a real knowledge of some phases of Household Science, but also toward developing the community spirit and arousing an interest in the school, which will benefit all concerned.

THE FIRELESS COOKER

At the present time there is urgent need for thrift and economy in all that pertains to the management of the household--particularly in food and fuel. In the average home much fuel could be saved by the proper use of what is known as the fireless cooker. The scientific principle applied has long been known and is, briefly, as follows: If a hot body is protected by a suitable covering, the heat in it will be retained for a long time, instead of being lost by radiation or conduction. This is why a cosy is placed over a tea-pot.

In using a fireless cooker, the food is first heated on the stove until the cooking has begun, and then it is placed in the fireless cooker--a tight receptacle in which the food is completely surrounded by some insulating substance to prevent the rapid escape of the heat, which in this way is retained in the food in sufficient quantity to complete the cooking. Sometimes, when a higher cooking temperature is desired, an additional source of heat, in the form of a hot soapstone or brick or an iron plate such as a stove lid, is put into the cooker with the food.

The same principle is also employed in cookery in other ways. For example, in camp life beans are often baked by burying the pots overnight in hot stones and ashes, the whole being covered with earth; and in the "clam bakes" on the Atlantic Coast, the damp seaweed spread over the embers on the clams prevents the escape of the heat during cooking. The peasants in some parts of Europe are said to begin the cooking of their dinners and then to put them into hay boxes or between feather beds, so that the cooking may be completed while the family is absent in the fields.

The chief advantages in the use of the fireless cooker are these:

1. It saves fuel, especially where gas, oil, or electric stoves are used. Where coal or wood is the fuel, the fire in the range is often kept up most of the day, and the saving of fuel is not so great. In summer, or when the kitchen fire is not needed for heating purposes, the dinner can be started in the stove early in the morning, and then placed in the fireless cooker, the fire in the range being allowed to go out. During the hot weather, the use of a kerosene or other liquid-fuel stove and a fireless cooker is a great convenience, since it not only accomplishes a saving in fuel, but helps to keep the kitchen cooler. The saving in fuel resulting from the use of a fireless cooker is greatest in the preparation of foods such as stews, which require long and slow cooking.

2. It saves time. Foods cooked in this way do not require watching, and may be left, without danger from fires or of over-cooking, while other duties are being performed or the family is away from home.

3. It conserves the flavour of the food and makes it easier to utilize the cheaper cuts of meat which, although not having so fine a texture or flavour, are fully as nutritious, pound for pound, as the more expensive cuts. Long cooking at a relatively low temperature, such as is given to foods in the fireless cooker, improves the flavour and texture of these tougher cuts of meat. Most people do not cook cereals long enough. By this method, the cereal may be prepared at night, cooked on the stove for about fifteen minutes, and then put in the fireless cooker. In the morning it will be cooked and ready to be served.

The fireless cooker may be used to advantage in preparing the following: soups; pot roasts; beef stew; Irish stew; lamb stew; corned beef and cabbage; boiled ham; baked beans; chicken fricassee; vegetables, such as turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets; dried vegetables, such as peas and beans; and dried fruits, such as peaches, apples, apricots, and prunes; cereals; and puddings.

The fireless cookers described in the following pages are not experiments. They have all been tested and found to be most practical.

DIRECTIONS FOR FIRELESS COOKER--NO. I

While there are many good fireless cookers on the market which cost from five to twenty-two dollars, according to size and make, it is possible to construct a home-made cooker which will give very satisfactory results and will be considerably cheaper than one which is purchased in the shops.

Materials required: A box or some other outside container; some good insulating or packing material; an inside container for the kettle, or a lining for the nest in which the kettle is placed; a kettle for holding the food; and a cushion, or pad, of insulating material, to cover the top of the kettle.

THE OUTSIDE CONTAINER

For the outside container a tightly built wooden box, such as that shown in Figure 39, is satisfactory. The walls should be thick and of some non-conducting material. An old trunk, a small barrel, or a large butter or lard firkin or tin will serve the purpose. Another possibility is a galvanized iron bucket with a closely fitting cover (this has the advantage of being fire-proof). A shoe box 15 by 15 by 28 inches is convenient in size, since it may be divided into two compartments. It should have a hinged cover and, at the front, a hook and staple, or some other device to hold down the cover tightly; an ordinary clamp window fastener answers this purpose very well. The size of the container, which depends upon the size of the kettle used, should be large enough to allow for at least four inches of packing material all round the nest in which the kettle is placed.

THE INSULATING MATERIAL

For packing or insulating material a variety of substances may be used. Asbestos and mineral wool are the best, and have the additional advantage that they cannot burn. Ground cork (used in packing Malaga grapes), hay, excelsior, Spanish moss, wool, and crumpled paper may also be used satisfactorily. Of these materials crumpled paper is probably the best, as it is clean and odourless and, if properly packed, will hold the heat better than the others. It is wise to line the box with one thickness of heavy paper or with several thicknesses of newspaper, to make it as air-tight as possible. Asbestos sheeting may be used instead. To pack the container with paper, crush single sheets of newspaper between the hands and pack a layer at least four inches deep over the bottom of the outside container, pounding it in with a heavy stick of wood.

Place the inside container for the cooking kettle or the lining for the inside of the nest in the centre of this layer, and pack more crushed paper about it as solidly as possible. The method of packing with paper is shown in Figure 40. If other material is used it should be packed in a similar way.