Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

“ QUANTITY OF FOOD IN CALORIES.--Without doubt, the most intelligent way in which to feed people is to compute the number of calories required daily. As will be remembered, the calorie is the unit employed to measure the amount of work that the food does in the body, either as a tissue builder or a producer of energy. The composition and food value of practically all foods are fairly well known, and with this information it is a simple matter to tell fairly accurately the amount of food that each person requires. ”

“ CHAIN STORES.--The principle of selling great quantities of food at a comparatively small profit on each item is put into practice in chain stores, which are operated by different companies throughout the United States. Such stores are a boon to the housewife who must practice economy, for they eliminate a middleman by acting both as wholesaler and as retailer. Because of this fact, foods that are purchased in large quantities from the producer or manufacturer can be offered to the consumer at a lower price than in a retail store not a part of a chain. ”

“ The housewife who disregards these factors fails in the purchase of food, for she does not know so well what foods to buy nor how to buy them in a way to keep down the cost as the woman who is familiar with these matters. It is possible that the cost of a food may be out of all proportion to its value because of the profits that must necessarily be paid to each person through whose hands the food passes. In the first place, the overhead expenses of the food dealer must be paid by the housewife, who is regarded as the consumer. ”

“ This volume, the fifth of the Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, deals with the varieties of fruits and the desserts that can be made from them, the canning and preserving of foods, the making of confections of every description, beverages and their place in the diet, and every phase of the planning of meals.
With fruits becoming less seasonal and more a daily food, an understanding of them is of great value to the housewife. In Fruit and Fruit Desserts, she first learns their place in the diet, their nature, composition, and food value. ”

“ Therefore, in its broadest sense, confections may be regarded as preparations having for their chief ingredient sugar or substances containing it, such as molasses, honey, etc., usually mixed with other food materials, such as nuts, fruits, chocolate, starches, and fats, to give them body and consistency, and flavored and colored in any desired way.
2. The making of confections, and of candy in particular, is both a useful and a delightful pastime that can be indulged in even by those who are only slightly skilled. ”

“ But to begin thinking about an hour before meal time what to have for a meal is neither wise nor economical, for then it is too late to determine what ought to be served from a diet standpoint and there can be prepared only those foods which the time will allow. As can well be understood, this is both a disastrous plan for correct diet and a very extravagant way in which to feed a family. Quickly broiled steaks and chops, commercially canned vegetables and fruits, and prepared desserts should be the occasional treat rather than the daily food. ”

“ Because so much depends on the diet, the housewife, while considering what can be bought with the money she has to spend, must also decide whether the foods she plans to buy are suitable for the needs of her family. In fact, she should be so certain of this matter that she will automatically plan her menus in such a way that they will contain all that is necessary for each person to be fed. But, as every housewife knows, the appetites of her family must also be taken into consideration. ”

“ In addition to coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, and cereal beverages, fruit, soft, and nourishing drinks receive their share of attention.
To be a successful home maker, it is not enough for a housewife to know how to prepare food; she must also understand how to buy it, how to look after the household accounts, what constitutes correct diet for each member of her family, how to plan menus for her regular meals and for special occasions, and the essentials of good table service. All these things, and many more, she learns in The Planning of Meals, which completes this volume. ”

“ Jelly Making, Preserving, and Pickling continues a discussion of the home preservation of foods, showing how they can be kept for long periods of time not by sterilization, but with the aid of preservatives. Each one of these methods is treated as to its principles, equipment, and the procedure to be followed. After trying the numerous recipes given, the housewife will be able to show with pride the results of her efforts, for nothing adds more to the attractiveness and palatability of a meal than a choice jelly, conserve, marmalade, or jam. ”

“ It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between vegetables and fruits. For instance, the tomato is in reality a fruit, but it is commonly used as a vegetable, and rhubarb is more of a vegetable than a fruit, but it is always used as a fruit. It can therefore be seen that the line between vegetables and fruits is not clearly drawn. It is well to remember that fruit is usually the edible pulpy mass covering the seeds of various plants and trees, and that it is generally cooked or eaten raw with sugar, whereas vegetables are seldom sweetened in cooking. ”

“ Fruits, because they are wholesome, appetizing, and attractive, occupy a valuable place in the diet. In fact, it is these qualities rather than their food value that accounts for the popularity of fruits among all people. In addition to causing fruits to appeal to the esthetic sense, their attractiveness serves another important purpose. It is said that Nature made them attractive in color, odor, and flavor in order that birds might be allured to attack them for food and, by spreading the seeds, assist in their propagation. ”

“ It is also well understood that up to maturity there is a difference in the diet because of a difference in the needs of the body. However, from maturity up to 60 years of age, the diet is altered by the conditions already mentioned, namely weight, size, sex, climate, and work or exercise. At the age of 60, the amount of food required begins to decrease, for as a person grows older, the body and all of its organs become less active. Then, too, there is a reduced amount of physical exercise, which correspondingly reduces the necessity for food. ”

“ Neither tea nor coffee possesses any food value. Unless sugar or cream is added, these beverages contain nothing except water, flavor, stimulant, and tannic acid. Chocolate and cocoa, however, are rich in fat, and as they are usually made with milk and sugar they have the advantage of conveying food to the system. Because of their nature, tea and coffee should never be given to children. Cocoa and chocolate provide enough food value to warrant their use in the diet of young persons, but they should not be taken in too great quantity because of the large amount of fat they contain. ”

“ Then, too, the housewife should work out carefully which she can use to greater advantage, prepared or unprepared cereals. If she finds that unprepared cereals are the more economical and if she can depend on their food value as being as high as that of the prepared ones, she should by all means give them the preference. Of course, she may use prepared cereals for convenience or for varying the diet, but the more economical ones should be used with greater regularity. ”

“ One of the difficulties of every housewife having a family composed of persons of widely different tastes and ages is the preparation of meals that will contain sufficient food of the correct kind for all of them. Children up to 6 years of age usually require something especially prepared for their meals, except breakfast, but, as a rule, the selection of the diet for children from 6 years up to 15 or 16 years of age is merely a matter of taking from the meal prepared for the remainder of the family the right amount of the various foods. ”

“ Unless the menu is planned for a special occasion, the cost of the various dishes should be made to balance. For instance, if an expensive meat is to be served, the vegetables and the salad selected to accompany it should be of moderate cost. On the other hand, if an expensive salad is to be served, a dessert of moderate cost, such as a simple rice pudding, should be used to offset the price of the other dish. Planning meals in this way is urged for the sake of economy, and if it is carefully followed, all the meals may be made to average about the same cost. ”

“ EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON DIET.--The climate in which a person lives has much to do with the kind of diet he requires. In the extreme North, the lack of vegetation makes it necessary for the inhabitants to live almost entirely upon animal food except during the very short warm season. Consequently, their diet consists largely of protein and fat. Under some circumstances, a diet of this kind would be very unfavorable, but it seems to be correct for the people who live in these regions, for generations of them have accustomed themselves to it and they have suffered no hardship by doing so. ”

“ To understand how to preserve perishable foods in the seasons of plenty for the times when they are not obtainable is a valuable part of a housewife's knowledge. Canning and Drying deals with two ways of preserving foodstuffs, treating carefully the equipment needed and all the methods that can be employed and showing by means of excellent illustrations, one of them in natural colors, every part of the procedure followed. The fruits and vegetables that permit of canning, as well as certain meats and fish, are taken up in a systematic manner. ”

“ The body regulators must be included in the food given, for they assist in all processes carried on in the body. Some are necessary to aid in the stimulation required to carry on the processes of digestion and in some cases make up a part of the digestive fluids. Consequently, vegetables and fruits that supply these body regulators and foods that supply vitamines should be provided.
Water, the chief body regulator, not only is essential to life itself, but forms by far a greater proportion of the body than any other single substance. ”

“ DATES, which are the fruit of the date palm, are not only very nutritious but well liked by most persons. They are oblong in shape and have a single hard seed that is grooved on one side. As dates contain very little water and a great deal of sugar, their food value is high, being more than five times that of apples and oranges. They are also valuable in the diet because of their slightly laxative effect. When added to other food, such as cakes, hot breads, etc., they provide a great deal of nutriment. ”

“ For canning foods by steam pressure, special equipment is necessary. In one of the steam-pressure methods, what is known as a water-seal outfit is required, and in the other a device called a pressure cooker is employed. The work of getting the containers ready, preparing the food for canning, packing it into the jars, and sealing and testing the jars is practically the same in the steam pressure methods as in the cold-pack methods. The difference lies in the cooking and sterilization of the foods after they are in the jars and partly sealed and in the rapidity with which it may be done. ”

“ Many times a particular fruit will agree with almost every one but a few exceptional persons, and, for no apparent reason except their own peculiarities of digestion, it disagrees very badly with them. ”

“ CANNING FRUIT JUICES FOR JELLY.--During the canning season, when a great deal of such work is being done, the housewife often feels that making jelly and preserves is an extravagant use of sugar. Still, fruit juices left over from canning and large quantities of fruit, such as crab apples and currants, that are not suitable for other purposes, will be wasted unless they are used for jelly. If it is not convenient to use the fruit at the time it is obtained, a good plan is to extract the juice as for jelly making and then can it. ”

“ The fact that fruits are being more extensively used every day is as it should be, for this food is entitled to an important place in the diet of all persons. So important is fruit in the diet that it must be looked on not as one of the things that may be taken or omitted as a person wishes without making any difference either way, but as a food to include in one form or another in nearly every meal. The child who is so young that it cannot take any solid food may have fruit juices included in its diet to decided advantage ”

“ The lines used to connect all dealers from the producer to the consumer represent transportation or delivery, and the increase in cost due to overhead expense and profit is indicated by the black spaces, which increase in size as the number of dealers increase. The producer may be the manufacturer, but in most cases he is the farmer, the stockman, the dairyman, or the fruit grower. The dealers handling the food between the producer and the consumer are known as middlemen. They include the wholesaler, the jobber, and the retailer. The retailer is the grocer, the butcher, or the green grocer. ”

“ The preservation of foods by canning and drying should not be looked at as an old-fashioned idea; rather, it is a matter in which the housewife should be vitally interested. In fact, it is the duty of every housewife to learn all she can about the best methods to employ. Canning methods have been greatly improved within the last few years, and it is a wise plan to adopt the newer methods and follow directions closely. Especially should this be done if foods canned by the older methods have spoiled or if mold has formed on top of the food in the jars. ”

“ Another important point in successful meal planning is the avoidance of two dishes in the same meal made from the same food. For instance, tomato soup and tomato salad should not be served in the same meal, for the combination is undesirable. Corn soup contrasts much better with tomato salad than does the tomato soup, for it has the bland flavor that is needed to offset the acid salad. Some housewives, it is true, object to such planning on the ground that it does not give them opportunity to utilize all the materials they may have on hand at the same time. ”

“ There are three distinct reasons why foods should be preserved in the home. The first is to bring about economy. If fruits, vegetables, and other foods can be procured at a price that will make it possible to preserve them in the home at a lower cost than that of the same foods prepared commercially, it will pay from an economical standpoint. The second is to promote conservation; that is, to prevent the wasting of food. ”

“ If the cold-pack method is employed in canning fruit, it is possible to obtain a sterilized product that is dependent for preservation on neither the sirup used nor the acid of the fruit. In this method, the jars, jar tops, covers, and utensils for handling the fruit do not have to be sterilized beforehand. They may simply be washed clean and kept hot in clean water until they are needed. After the fruits are prepared, some are blanched or scalded and cold-dipped, while others are not. They are then packed into jars and boiling sirup is poured over them. ”

“ In serving beverages to healthy persons, the food value of the meal should be taken into consideration. The beverage accompanying a heavy meal should be one having very little food value; whereas, in the case of a light meal, the beverage can be such as will give additional nutrition. For instance, hot chocolate, which is very nutritious, would not be a good beverage to serve with a meal consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, salad, and dessert, but it would be an excellent drink to serve with a lunch that is made up of light sandwiches, salad, and fruit. ”

“ As has already been learned and as will be noted here, a food substance often has more than one use in the body. For instance, protein builds tissue and also yields energy, but its chief work is that of building tissue, and so it is classed first as a tissue-building food substance. ”

“ It is definitely known that alcohol acts as a food when it enters the body, for it is burned just as a carbohydrate would be and thus produces heat. That this action takes place very rapidly can be detected by the warmth that is produced almost immediately when the drink is taken. Some of it is lost through the breath and the kidneys without producing heat, and it also acts upon the blood vessels near the skin in such a way as to lose very quickly the heat that is produced. It is never conserved and used gradually as the heat from food is used. ”