Chapter XVI: Section XI: The Scout Aide (2)

WHAT TO HAVE FOR BREAKFAST--Breakfast is in most families the simplest meal of the day and the easiest to prepare. Some people are satisfied with fruit, cereal, toast or muffins, coffee for the adults, and milk for the children. Many families, however, like the addition of a heartier dish, such as boiled or poached eggs, fish hash, or minced meat on toast. If a hearty dish is served at breakfast this is a good time to use up such left-overs as potato, fish, or meat.

SIMPLE BREAKFAST
Apple sauce or sliced peaches.
Oatmeal or cornmeal mush.
Toast or muffins.
Coffee (for adults).
Milk (for children).

HEARTY BREAKFAST
Apple sauce or sliced peaches.
Oatmeal or cornmeal mush.
Toast or muffins.
Coffee (for adults).
Milk (for children).
Poached eggs or minced lamb on toast.

FRUIT--Raw fruit should be carefully washed and prepared in such a way that it can be easily eaten. Berries may be cooked with no other preparation than washing. Fruits, such as apples and pears, should be washed, pared, quartered, and cored before cooking. Any fruit which becomes dark on standing after it is cut may be kept light colored by dropping the pieces into a pan of water until they are ready to be cooked. If this is done most of the water should be drained off before they are cooked.

Dried fruits, such as prunes, which have a wrinkled skin should be soaked for a short time in cold water before they are washed. Otherwise it is impossible to get them clean. After washing they should be covered with cold water and soaked over night, or until they are plump. They should be put on to cook in the water in which they are soaked and cooked until tender. Sugar should then be added if they are not sweet enough.

The most common method of cooking fresh fruit is to boil it gently with just enough water to prevent it from burning. Sugar should be added just before the cooking is finished, the amount depending on the acidity of the fruit and the taste of the family.

In sampling food, the cook should remember that the rest of the food is to be eaten by other people. She should never taste from the cooking spoon, but should transfer her sample to a tasting spoon which is not returned to the kettle.

CEREAL--Cereals, such as oatmeal, cornmeal, and cracked wheat, should be cooked in a double boiler. A double boiler can be improvised by setting a pail or pan into a kettle of boiling water. Cereals for breakfast may be cooked the day before and reheated in the double boiler, but should not be stirred while reheating. A tablespoonful or two of cold water on top will prevent a hard skin from forming while standing. All prepared cereals are better if cooked for a longer time than the package directions indicate. It is hardly possible to cook any grain too long. The fireless cooker is especially valuable for cooking cereals, but a longer period of time must be allowed than for cooking in a double boiler. A home-made fireless cooker, described in another place, is interesting to make. Ready-to-serve cereals are very expensive compared with those cooked at home.

Cracked wheat, 1/4 cup to 1 cup water; 3-12 hours.

Rolled oats, 1/2 cup to 1 cup water; 1/2-3 hours

Cornmeal, 3 tablespoonfuls to 1 cup water; 1-4 hours.

Use 1/2 teaspoonful of salt to each quart of water. Have the water boiling rapidly. Add the cereal gradually. Let the mixture cook directly over the fire 5 minutes. Place over boiling water or in the fireless cooker to cook slowly for a long time. Keep covered and do not stir. The time of cooking given in the table means that the cereal is eatable after the shorter time mentioned, but is better if cooked the longer time.

TOAST--Good toast is worth knowing how to make. The cook should not be satisfied with toast which is either white or burned.

Toast is most easily made from stale bread, which should be cut in one-third to one-half inch slices. A single slice of toast may be made by holding it over the fire on a fork. In camp a forked stick answers every purpose. The easiest way to make several slices is to put them in a wire toaster and hold them over hot coals. Begin carefully and hold the bread some distance away from the fire, turning it often until it dries. Then hold it nearer the coals until it a golden brown on both sides. With a new coal fire or wood fire toast must be made on a toaster on the top of the stove to prevent the bread from being smoked. If the top of the stove is being used for other things, the drying may be done in the oven.

MUFFINS--Any good cook book has numerous recipes for muffins, most of which, can be made easily if the directions are followed exactly.

Cornmeal Muffins (for four persons):

Four tablespoonfuls butter or oleomargarine, 3 tablespoonfuls sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 1-1/3 cups flour, 2/3 cup cornmeal, 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder.

Cream the butter, add the sugar and the egg well beaten. Sift the baking powder with the flour and cornmeal and add to the first mixture, alternating with milk. Bake in buttered muffin pan 25 to 30 minutes. This mixture makes good corn bread if baked in a shallow buttered pan.

COFFEE--If the family drink coffee, they will want coffee for breakfast no matter what other items of the menu may be varied. It should be served only to the grown-up members of the family. Coffee of average strength is made as follows:

One-half cup coffee finely ground, 4 cups cold water, 2 eggshells.

Mix the coffee, the crushed eggshell, and 1/2 cupful of cold water in a scalded coffee pot. Add the remainder of the water and allow the mixture to come gradually to the boiling point. Boil 3 minutes. Draw to the back of the range and keep hot for 5 minutes. Add 1/8 cupful of cold water and let stand 1 minute to settle. Strain into a heated coffee pot in which the coffee is to be served at the table.

A method for making coffee used by the guides in the White Mountains is as follows:

Boil the water in an ordinary pail, remove the pail from the fire, pour the dry coffee gently on the top of the water, cover tightly and move it near the fire where it will keep warm but will not boil again. In about thirty minutes the coffee will have become moistened and sunk to the bottom of the pail. If the coffee is slow in becoming moist, time may be saved by removing the cover for a moment and pressing gently with a spoon on the top of the coffee, but the mixture must not be stirred. It is essential that the water be boiling when the coffee is added, that the cover be absolutely tight, and that the coffee be kept hot without boiling. Half a cup of coffee to four cups of water makes coffee of average strength.

MILK--The little children of the family should have whole milk at every meal. The older children should have milk at breakfast and supper time. There is no food so good for children who want to be well and strong. A part of the family supply of milk is sometimes skimmed to give cream for use in coffee and on desserts. The cream contains most of the fat in the milk, but the skimmed milk which is left is still a very valuable food, containing the substances which make muscle and bone, and every bit of it should be used in the cooking or for making cottage cheese. The waste of milk is the worst possible extravagance.

EGGS--Eggs may be prepared in countless ways, and the ambitious cook will find much amusement in trying some of the suggestions in the cook books. Eggs are an entirely satisfactory substitute for meat and fish, and are therefore often served for the main dish at dinner or supper. Many people like an egg every morning for breakfast, but this is a rather extravagant habit. If eggs are served for breakfast they are usually cooked in the shell, poached or scrambled. The men of the family sometimes prefer their eggs fried, but this is not a good method for the children. Only fresh eggs can be poached successfully, so that this is a good test for freshness.

_Poached Eggs_--Oil the skillet and fill it to within a half inch of the top with water. Break each egg into a saucer and let the water boil after the egg is placed in it. The egg is done when the white is jelly-like and a slight film is formed over the yolk. Remove the egg with a griddle cake turner to a piece of buttered toast. Sprinkle lightly with salt. If the eggs are not absolutely fresh, the white will scatter in the water. If the first egg to be cooked shows this tendency oiled muffin rings may be put in the pan to keep the rest of them in shape.

_Soft Boiled Eggs_--A soft boiled egg has much the same consistency as a poached egg. It is easier to manage because the shell is unbroken, but it is harder to get it of just the right consistency because the contents of the egg are invisible. Most people are very particular to have the egg just hard or soft enough to suit them, and it is necessary for the cook to practice to be sure of uniform results. Drop the eggs carefully into a kettle of boiling water, draw the kettle back on the stove so that the water does not boil again and (for a soft egg) allow the eggs to remain for five minutes. If the eggs are very cold they should remain longer.

USE OF LEFT-OVERS FOR BREAKFAST--If the family likes a hearty breakfast this is a good meal at which to use bits of left-over meat which might otherwise be wasted. Meat may be chopped or ground, reheated in the gravy which was served with it, and served on toast. Lamb is especially good minced on toast. To make hash mix equal quantities of meat and chopped potato and brown nicely in a greased frying pan. Such mixtures should be tasted to make sure that they are salted enough. Some people like a very small amount of onion with any of these made-over meat dishes.

DINNER

WHAT TO HAVE FOR DINNER--If all the members of the family are at home at noontime it is usually more convenient to have dinner then, but if members of the family are away or hurried at noontime it may be better to have dinner at night. Dinner may consist of several courses, but if the mother or the daughter of the family prepares the meal, the family is usually perfectly satisfied with two courses.

The main course of a simple family dinner consists of meat, fish, eggs or a cheese dish served with potato, rice or macaroni, and a vegetable such as string beans, green peas, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes or corn. If the family likes salad, the vegetables are often served as a salad. This is a very good way to use up small amounts of vegetables which are left from the day before. Often little remainders of two or more vegetables may be very attractively combined in this way.

Some families like hot bread at dinner, and hot breads, such as baking powder biscuit (described under supper), or corn bread (described under breakfast), are particularly good with some combinations. Examples are baking powder biscuit with meat stew or fricasseed chicken and corn bread with bacon and eggs or ham. If fish is served in a chowder, buttered and toasted crackers are usually served. An occasional chowder for dinner is an excellent way to use up any surplus of skimmed milk which may be on hand.

The kind of dessert served at dinner, besides depending on the taste of the family, depends on the amount of money which is spent for food and whether there are young children in the family. Pie and ice cream, which are favorite desserts in many families, are expensive. Little children should not have desserts which contain a good deal of fat, such as pie or doughnuts, or which are the least bit soggy, as some steamed puddings are inclined to be. The most economical desserts and those best suited to the children are baked puddings made with milk and cereal, such as Indian pudding, rice pudding, and those made with cereal and fruit, such as Apple Betty or peach tapioca. If there is skimmed milk on hand the possibility of using it in a milk pudding should be considered. Chocolate bread pudding and Apple Betty made a very attractive use of left-over bread. Dessert should always be chosen with reference to the heartiness of the first course. A main dish which is not very filling can be balanced by a more substantial dessert.

SIMPLE DINNERS:

1. Hamburg steak.
Baked potato.
Squash or baked tomatoes.
Apple Betty.

2. Roast chicken or roast lamb with dressing and currant jelly.
Mashed potato and gravy.
Peas or string beans.
Orange jelly and whipped cream.

MEAT--The best way to learn about cuts of meat is to go often to market and talk to the butcher whenever he has a minute to spare. Some cuts of meat are tough with coarse fibers and much connective tissue. They should be ground if, like Hamburg steak, they are to be cooked by a short process, such as broiling. If not ground, the tougher meats are usually cooked a long time with water and made into a stew, a pot roast, a meat pie, or a meat loaf. These cuts are cheaper, but require more care in preparation than the more expensive cuts. Examples are the bottom of the round, the shin, and the flank of beef. The more expensive cuts, such as the top of the round, tenderloin and sirloin, are more tender, more delicately flavored, and are used for broiling and roasting. Some cuts which seem inexpensive really cost more than they appear to because they contain large amounts of bone or waste fat. The difference between lamb and mutton is a question of the age at which the animal was slaughtered. Lamb is much more tender than mutton, is more delicately flavored and more expensive. There is a similar difference between chicken and fowl. Fowl is much tougher than chicken and requires careful and long cooking to make it tender.

_Pan Broiled Hamburg Steak_--Hamburg steak may be bought already ground at the butcher's, or one of the cheap cuts of beef, such as bottom of the round or shin, may be bought and ground at home. Many people like a little salt pork or onion ground with the meat.

Make the meat into small, flat cakes and cook in a smoking hot frying pan which has been thoroughly rubbed over with a piece of fat. When one side is seared over nicely turn the cakes (a griddle cake turner or spatula is helpful) and broil on the other side. Place on a hot platter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dot with bits of butter and garnish with a little parsley or watercress.

A rump or sirloin steak may be broiled in a hot frying pan in a similar way. Wipe and trim the steak, place in a smoking hot frying pan and sear both sides. Reduce the heat and turn the steak occasionally (about every 2 minutes) until it is cooked, allowing 8 minutes for a rare steak, 10 minutes for medium cooked steak, and 12 minutes for well done steak, for a steak 1 inch thick. Avoid puncturing the meat with a fork while cooking.

Many people prefer to broil a steak on a broiler. This is practical with gas or electricity or over a wood or coal fire which is reduced to clear coals without smoke or flame. It is very difficult indeed to cook Hamburg steak on a broiler.

Lamb chops may be broiled in either way.

_Roast Leg of Lamb_--Wash the leg of lamb, place it on the rack in a roasting pan and put in a hot oven with the roaster uncovered. When the roast is well seared (15 to 30 minutes), draw from the oven, sprinkle with salt, pour a little water into the pan, and put on the cover. Finish cooking at a lowered temperature, allowing 20 or 25 minutes for each pound.

A dripping pan may be used in place of a roaster, using a pan of similar size for a cover. A rack may be improvised from a broiler, a toaster or a cake rack.

Beef is roasted in the same way, but is usually cooked for a shorter time (15 to 20 minutes for each pound).

BEEF STEW (for four):

2-1/2 pounds beef shoulder or shin.
2 cups diced potato.
1/3 cup turnip cut in half inch cubes.
1/3 cup carrot cut in half inch cubes.
1/4 onion chopped.
2 tablespoons flour.
Salt and pepper.

Wash the meat, remove from the bone and fat and cut in 1-1/2 inch cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dredge with flour. Sear the pieces of meat in the frying pan in the fat cooked out from the trimmings of fat. Put the meat in a kettle, and rinse the frying pan with boiling water, so that none of the juices will be lost. Add the bone, cover with boiling water and boil five minutes. Lower the temperature and cook until the meat is tender (about three hours). Add the carrots, turnips, onions, pepper and salt in an hour, and the potato in 15 minutes before the steak is to be served. Remove the bone and any large pieces of fat. Stir two tablespoons of flour to a smooth paste with a little water and thicken the stew.

Such a stew may also be made with lamb, mutton, or veal, using other vegetables as desired. Celery and onion are better than turnip and carrot with veal.

CHICKEN--If a chicken is purchased at the market it is usually delivered dressed. This means that the head has been cut off, the entrails removed, and the coarser pinfeathers pulled out. Many times, however, it is necessary to know how to do this oneself.

_To Dress and Clean a Chicken_--Cut off the head and draw out the pinfeathers. Remove hair and down by holding the fowl over a flame (a gas flame, an alcohol flame, or a piece of paper flaming in the wood or coal range), constantly changing the position until all parts of the surface have been exposed to the flame. Cut off the feet. Wash the fowl thoroughly, using a small brush, in water to which a little soda has been added. Rinse and dry. Make a slit down the back of the neck. Remove the crop and windpipe. Draw down the neck skin long enough to fasten under the back. Make a straight cut from 1/2 inch below the tip of the breastbone to the vent. Cut around the vent. Slip fingers in carefully around and fully loosen the entrails. Carefully draw out the entrails. The lungs, lying in the cavities under the breast, and the kidneys, in the hollow near the end of the backbone, must be taken out separately. Remove the oil sack and wash the chicken by allowing cold water to run through it.

To clean giblets (the gizzard, the heart, and the liver) proceed as follows: Separate the gall bladder from the liver, cutting off any portion of the liver that may have a greenish tinge. Remove the thin membrane, the arteries, the veins and the clotted blood around the heart. Cut the fat and the membranes from the gizzard. Make a gash through the thickest part of the gizzard as far as the inner lining, being careful not to pierce it. Remove the inner sack and discard. Wash the gizzard carefully and boil in water to use for giblet sauce.

If the chicken comes from the market dressed it should be washed carefully and any pinfeathers removed which were overlooked by the market man.

_To Stuff, Truss and Roast a Chicken_--When the chicken is clean and prepared as directed, fill it with stuffing (described later), a little in the opening at the neck, the rest in the body cavity. Sew up the opening with a few long stitches. Draw the skin of the neck smoothly down and under the back, press the wings close against the body and fold the pinions under, so that they will cross the back and hold down the skin of the neck. Press the legs close to the body. Thread the trussing needle with white twine, using it double. Press the needle through the wing at the middle joint, pass it through the skin of the neck and back, and out again at the middle joint of the other wing. Return the needle through the bend of the leg at the second joint, through the body, and out at the same point on the other side; draw the cord tight and tie it with the end at the wing joint. Thread the needle again and run it through the legs and body at the thigh bone and back at the ends of the drumsticks. Draw the drumstick bones close together, covering the opening made for drawing the chicken and tie the ends. Have both knots on the same side of the chicken. When cooked, cut the cord on the opposite side and draw out by the knots.

Lay the stuffed and trussed chicken on its back on a rack in a roasting pan. Lay a strip of salt pork on breast. Place in a hot oven until the chicken begins to brown, then lower the temperature and cook the chicken until very tender. Baste often with the drippings in the pan. From 3 to 4 hours will be required for a five-pound chicken. If a fowl is used it should be steamed for 3 or 4 hours and then roasted for 1/2 hour.

_Stuffing_--For a large chicken mix thoroughly 4 cups of finely broken stale bread, 1-1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of poultry dressing and 4 tablespoons of fat. Pour over the mixture hot milk or water, stirring lightly until the mixture is moist.

_Giblet Gravy_--If the chicken was properly roasted the drippings in the pan should be nicely browned, but not burned. Make a gravy from these drippings and the water in which the giblets were boiled. To do this pour the water into the pan, set the pan over the fire and stir until the contents of the pan are dissolved. Thicken with a smooth paste of flour and water, using two tablespoons of flour for every cup of liquid. Boil until the flour tastes cooked. Strain. Add the giblets cut in small pieces.

VEGETABLES--All vegetables should be clean, crisp and firm when ready for cooking. Vegetables are prepared and cooked in a variety of ways, but almost all vegetables should be carefully washed as the first process. It is convenient to keep a small brush for washing the vegetables, like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and beets, which must be scrubbed to get them clean. Vegetables which are to be eaten raw, such as lettuce and celery, should be washed with special care, wrapped in a clean, wet cloth and put in the ice box to keep them crisp.

_Baked Potato_--Select smooth potatoes of even size. Scrub them carefully and bake them in a hot oven. The time required is from 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes and the temperature of the oven. When the potatoes are done, slash each one with a knife to let the steam escape, and serve immediately.

_Mashed Potato_--Wash the potatoes, pare, cover with boiling salted water (1 level teaspoon of salt to a pint of water), and cook until tender (30 to 45 minutes). Drain off the water and return to the fire a moment to dry. Mash the potatoes, add butter, salt, pepper and hot milk, and beat vigorously until light and creamy. For three cups of potato use 2 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of hot milk. Pile lightly in a hot dish and serve immediately.

_Steamed Squash_--Wash and cut in one-inch slices. Steam until tender, scrape from the shell, mash thoroughly, season with salt, pepper and butter, and serve.

_String Beans_--Snap the ends from the beans, remove any strings, cut into short pieces, wash, cover with boiling salted water (1 level teaspoon to a pint) and cook until tender. The time required will vary from one hour to three hours, depending on the age and kind of bean. Drain the beans, season with salt and butter, and serve.

Canned string beans should be rinsed, reheated in as little water as possible, drained, and seasoned.

_Baked Tomatoes_--Select smooth tomatoes of even size. Wash the tomatoes, cut a thin slice from the stem end and remove a spoonful of pulp. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and scraped onion, fill the cavity with buttered crumbs, place in a pan (preferably one which can be used as a serving dish at the table), and bake in a moderate oven until the tomatoes are tender. Serve in the dish in which they were cooked or remove them carefully to the platter on which the Hamburg steak is being served, arranging them in a ring around the meat.

The buttered crumbs are prepared by melting a tablespoon of butter or oleomargarine and stirring in six tablespoonfuls of dry bread crumbs.

DESSERTS--Most desserts are easy to make if the directions given in the cook books are followed exactly. Many people take pride in making delicious cake or pie, who are careless about making good toast or baking a potato well.

_Apple Betty_--Prepare well-sweetened apple sauce and thin slices of lightly buttered bread cut in small triangles. Fill a shallow baking dish with alternate layers of apple sauce and toast, beginning with apple sauce and ending with toast. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and cinnamon and heat in the oven. Serve with cream.

_Orange Jelly_--Swell 1-1/2 tablespoons of powdered gelatin in half cupful of cold water. Mix 1 cupful of orange juice, 1/4 cupful of lemon juice, 1/2 cupful of sugar and 1-1/4 cupfuls of boiling water. Add the gelatin and stir carefully until it is dissolved. Strain into a wet mould and chill until the jelly is firm. Unmould the jelly and serve with whipped cream or a custard sauce. To unmould the jelly, run the point of a knife around the edge of the mould, dip the mould quickly in warm water, place an inverted serving plate on top of the mould, turn both over and lift the mould carefully.

SUPPER OR LUNCH

WHAT TO HAVE FOR SUPPER.--Supper shows more variation between families than other meals of the day. Some men insist upon meat, even though meat is served for their dinner, but this is rather extravagant unless there is left-over meat which should be used. Hash and minced lamb on toast, which were suggested for the hearty breakfast, would be equally well liked by most families for supper. Many families prefer for supper some milk dish such as macaroni and cheese or a cream soup served with either stewed or fresh fruit or followed by a fruit or vegetable salad. Hot rolls or baking powder biscuits are a very attractive substitute for plain bread if someone has time to make them at the last minute. If the mother and daughter do all the work of the family, they usually like to have on hand cookies or cake, which can be used for supper rather than to have to prepare some special dessert. Cold meat has the advantage that it is ready to serve with little preparation, but many other dishes such as the macaroni and cheese and the creamed soup, suggested in the menus, may be made when dinner is being prepared and simply reheated for supper.

A hot drink at night usually seems desirable except on hot days in the summer. If tea is served for adults, the children should have cocoa or milk.

If dinner is served at night, luncheon is served in the middle of the day. The suggestions made in regard to supper apply equally well to luncheon.

Little children should have their hearty meal in the middle of the day and a light meal at night no matter what arrangement of meals the rest of the family may have.

SIMPLE SUPPERS

1. Macaroni and cheese or cold meat
Stewed or fresh fruit
Cookies
Bread and butter
Tea (for adults)
Milk or cocoa (for children)

2. Cream of potato soup
Vegetable or fruit salad
Baking powder biscuit
Tea (for adults)
Milk or cocoa (for children).

_Macaroni and Cheese._--For macaroni and cheese the macaroni must be cooked and white sauce prepared. Break three-quarters of a cup of macaroni in inch pieces and cook in two quarts of boiling water to which a tablespoon of salt has been added. The water must be boiling rapidly when the macaroni is added and must be kept boiling constantly. When the macaroni is tender, drain it in a strainer and run enough cold water through it to prevent the pieces from sticking together. To prepare the sauce, melt two tablespoons of butter or oleomargarine in the top of a double boiler, stir in two tablespoons of flour and a half teaspoon of salt and pour over the mixture a cup and a half of cold milk. Cook this mixture directly over the heat, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken. Then place the dish over the lower part of the double boiler, containing boiling water, and let it continue cooking for fifteen minutes. Put a layer of the boiled macaroni in a buttered baking dish and sprinkle with cheese, either grated or cut into small pieces. Pour on a layer of the sauce. Follow this by layers of macaroni, cheese and sauce until the dish is full. Cover with buttered crumbs and bake until the crumbs are brown. To make the buttered crumbs, melt one tablespoon of butter or oleomargarine and stir in six tablespoons of crumbs.

The macaroni and cheese may be prepared in the morning if desired and baked at supper time in a moderate oven. It should be left in the oven long enough to become thoroughly hot. If there are little children in the family a dish of creamed macaroni should be made for them without the cheese.

_Cream of Potato Soup_--

3 potatoes
1 quart milk
2 slices of onion
3 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tbsp. butter or oleomargarine

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water. When soft rub through a sieve. Scald the milk with the onion in a double boiler, remove the onion, unless the family likes it left in, add the salt, celery salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan, stir the flour into it and then add this mixture to the hot milk, stirring briskly. Cook for ten minutes over boiling water in the double boiler.

A good creamed soup may be made from almost any vegetable, substituting vegetable pulp for the potato. Celery soup and corn soup are very good. With these and most other vegetables, the celery salt should be omitted. Onion salt is very useful.

Creamed soups are very good made from skimmed milk if there is a supply in the house which should be used.

SALAD--The pleasure in a salad is in its crispness, attractiveness or arrangement, and pleasant combination of flavors. A salad may be arranged in a large dish and served at the table if it is the chief dish of the meal, such as chicken salad or fish salad, but it is usually arranged in individual portions and made to look as dainty and pretty as possible. All fresh vegetables and fruits used should be crisp and cold and thoroughly washed. Canned or leftover vegetables or fruit may often be used.

_To wash lettuce._--Handle delicately. Remove leaf by leaf from the stalk, examining for insects. Pass the leaves backwards and forwards through clean water until all sand is removed. Fold in a wet cloth and keep in the ice-box until it is used. The lettuce leaves should be dried when they are used.

_French Dressing._--Mix 3/4 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. Add oil and vinegar alternately, beating constantly with a fork until 5 tablespoons of vinegar and 10 tablespoons of oil have been used. A quick way to make French dressing is to mix all the ingredients in a bottle with a tightly fitting stopper and shake vigorously until the ingredients are blended. Some persons prefer less vinegar, and reduce the amount to 2-1/2 tablespoons vinegar to 10 of oil.

_Cooked Salad Dressing._--

3/4 tablespoon sugar
1/4 tablespoon butter
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 tablespoon flour
1/8 teaspoon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of red pepper.

Heat the vinegar in the upper part of double boiler over direct heat. Sift the flour, mustard, salt and pepper thoroughly. Pour the boiling vinegar gradually upon the mixture, stirring constantly. Return to the upper part of the double boiler and cook over hot water until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add the butter and remove from the fire. Chill before using.

_Mayonnaise._--

1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons lemon juice or 2 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mustard
2/3 teaspoon salt
Dash of cayenne pepper
2/3 cup of oil (olive oil, cotton seed oil or other edible oil).

Have the ingredients chilled, Place the mixing bowl in crushed ice. Mix the egg yolk, mustard, salt and cayenne pepper. Add a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice, then a teaspoon of oil, drop by drop, until all the ingredients are used. Constant beating is necessary throughout.

_Fruit and Vegetable Salads._--Good combinations for salad are (1) potato and beet, (2) carrot and green peas, (3) tomato and celery, (4) asparagus and pimento. Combinations of fruit and vegetables are, (1) apple and celery, (2) orange and green pepper. Combinations of different kinds of fruit and nuts or cheese are especially good. Examples are, (1) pineapple and orange, (2) white cherries stuffed with nuts, (3) banana rolled in chopped nuts or (4) half pears (cooked or raw) with a ball of cream cheese and chopped nuts in the cavity made by the removal of the core.

Magazines which devote a page to cooking usually have in their summer numbers pictures of salads from which suggestions in regard to arrangement may be taken.

_Baking Powder Biscuit._--

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening
3/4 to 1 cup milk or milk and water.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt, twice. Put in the shortening, then add the milk gradually, mixing with a knife. The dough should be as soft as can be handled without sticking. Turn onto a lightly floured board, roll lightly 3/4 inch thick and cut with a floured cutter. Bake in a hot oven 12 or 15 minutes.

_Tea._--People who like tea have very decided ideas about how strong is should be and how long it should be steeped. The following gives tea of moderate strength.

Scald the teapot and put in 4 teaspoonfuls of tea leaves. Pour over them four cups of boiling water, cover and steep 3 minutes. Strain into a teapot and serve at once.

_Cocoa._--The children of the family should never have tea. On a cold night cocoa is a very pleasant variant from the usual glass of milk.

Mix 4 tablespoons of cocoa with 3 tablespoons of sugar and a little salt. Add 1 cup of boiling water and cook until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add a quart of milk and heat to boiling. This may be done more safely in a double boiler. Just before serving beat with an egg beater.

General Suggestions

If the Girl Scout who is preparing for her examination will look back over the menus which have been suggested, she will notice that milk is emphasized. It is absolutely essential that the children in the family shall have milk. If the family do not like milk to drink, it should be remembered that every bit which is used in cooking serves the same purpose as if it were taken from a glass, but little children do not ordinarily get enough milk unless they drink some. Fruit should be served at least once a day and better twice, and some vegetable other than potato should be not only served but eaten by the family. Children who are not taught to like vegetables when they are little sometimes never learn to like them, and it is really important to eat vegetables, not only because they contain important substances for growth, but because it is only good manners to learn to like all the ordinary foods which are served. Anyone who has cooked knows how discouraging it is to feel that some member of the family does not like the food. There is a temptation in the city where fruit, vegetables and milk are high, to use too much meat and but little of these foods. It has been suggested recently that in forming an idea as to whether the money is being spent to the most advantage, the money spent for fruit and vegetables, for milk and cheese, and for meat and fish should be compared. In a well-balanced diet these amounts should be nearly equal. An increasing number of people are becoming lacto-vegetarians, which means that they eat no meat or fish, but balance their absence by using more milk, eggs and cheese.

Before starting to prepare a meal the Scout should not only have her menu in mind, but should have an idea how long it will take to prepare each dish so that everything will be ready to serve at the same time with all the hot dishes very hot and all the cold dishes very cold. If all the dishes of the meal require about the same length of time in their preparation the ones should be started first which can be most easily kept in good condition.

Enjoyment of a meal depends quite as much on neat and comfortable service as it does upon good food. The table cloth, napkins, dishes and silver should be clean and the dishes should be arranged so that there is as little danger as possible of accident. This is the reason, for example, for the rule that a spoon should never be left in a coffee or tea cup. This arrangement is usually more comfortable if nothing is placed on the table which is not going to be actually used at the meal, except that a few flowers or a little dish of ferns in the center of the table is very much liked by most people, if there is room for it. It often happens that the family see more of each other at meal times than at any other time in the day and everyone should try to make meal time a pleasant, restful, good-humored time.

HOUSEHOLD WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

The careful housewife soon becomes skilled in weighing and measuring the various goods she buys and uses. At the store she is on guard against short measures, and if she does not market in person, she has machines at home to test what is delivered. The following table is given for frequent reference use by the Girl Scout while earning her badges in Homecraft. She will also find it useful in learning to judge weights and distances for her First Class test.

TABLE OF HOUSEHOLD WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

(_Reprinted by permission of publisher from "Housewifery," by L. Ray Balderston, M. A._ J. B. Lippincott, 1919)

_Linear Measure:_

12 inches = l foot
3 feet = 1 yard
5-1/2 yards = 1 rod
320 rods = 1 mile
1760 yards = 1 mile
5280 feet = 1 mile

_Square Measure:_

144 square inches = 1 square foot
9 square feet = 1 square yard
30-1/4 square yards = 1 square rod
160 square rods = 1 acre
1 square mile = 1 section
36 square miles = 1 township

_Avoirdupois Weight:_

27.3 grains = 1 dram
16 drams = 1 ounce (oz.)
16 ounces = 1 pound (lb.)
100 pounds = 1 cwt. (hundredweight)
2,000 pounds = 1 ton

_Liquid Measure:_

4 gills = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon
31-1/2 gallons = 1 bbl.

_Dry Measure:_

2 pints = 1 quart
8 quarts = 1 peck
4 pecks = 1 bushel
105 dry quarts = 1 bbl. (fruit, vegetables, etc.)

_Miscellaneous Household Measures:_

4 saltspoonfuls = 1 teaspoonful
3 teaspoonfuls = 1 tablespoonful
16 tablespoonfuls = 1 cupful
2 gills = 1 cupful
2 cupfuls = 1 pint
1 cupful = 8 fluid ounces
32 tablespoonfuls = 1 lb. butter
2 cups of butter = 1 lb.
1 lb. butter = 40 butter balls
4 cups flour = 1 lb.
2 cups sugar = 1 lb.
5 cups coffee = 1 lb.
1 lb. coffee = 40 cups of liquid coffee
1-7/8 cups rice = 1 lb.
2-2/3 cups oatmeal = 1 lb.
2-2/3 cups cornmeal = 1 lb.
1 cup of liquid to 3 cups of flour = a dough
1 cup of liquid to 2 cups of flour = a thick batter
1 cup of liquid to 1 cup of flour = a thin batter
1 teaspoonful soda to 1 pint sour milk
1 teaspoonful soda to one cup of molasses
1 teaspoonful cream of tartar plus 1/2 teaspoonful
soda = 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder

2. THE CHILD NURSE

There always are and always will be children to be taken care of. There is no way in which a girl can help her country better than by fitting herself to undertake the care of children. A Girl Scout thinks for herself, and knowing the Health Laws, she knows the important things to consider in caring for children:

1. The care necessary for the child's bones.
2. When it should exercise its muscles.
3. Its rest.
4. The air, sun and food and water which it needs.
5. How to keep it clean.

_Bones_--Great care must be taken in handling a baby. Its bones are soft and easily injured, and for this reason a baby should not be handled more than necessary. When very young its entire spine should be supported, and no undue pressure made upon the chest, as often happens if the baby is grasped under the arms. In lifting a young baby from its bed, the right hand should grasp the clothing below the feet, and the left hand should be slipped beneath the infant's body to its head. It is then raised upon the left arm. An older child should be lifted by placing the hands under the child's arms, and never by the wrists. If children are jerked or lifted by the arms, serious injury may be done to the bones. The bones, when a child is growing, are partly composed of soft tissue which is easily destroyed, and further growth is prevented. Many children are brought to the hospitals with injuries done to their arms from being jerked across the street. Do not let a child walk too soon, especially a heavy child. Bow legs and knock knees come from standing and walking when the bones are soft.

_Exercise_--At least twice a day an infant should be allowed for fifteen or twenty minutes the free use of its limbs by permitting it to lie upon a bed in a warm room, with all clothing except the shirt and diaper removed. In cold weather leave on the stockings. Later, when in short clothes, the baby may be put upon a thick blanket or quilt, laid upon the floor, and be allowed to tumble at will.

_Rest_--Healthy children never sleep too much. A new born baby should sleep nine-tenths of the day. A child should have a nap during the day until four years old, and, if possible, until seven or eight years old. It should go to bed before six. It should have a crib or bed to itself, placed where it will have fresh air, but protected from draughts, and its eyes protected from direct rays of light.

_Air and Sun_--A little child is in its room so much it is very important that fresh air and sunlight should be brought to it there. Rooms may be well aired twice or three times a day, removing the baby to another room while the windows are open. The child may be placed in its crib or carriage before on open window, dressed as if for the street. After children are three months old they may be taken out, but the sunny part of the day should be chosen, between 10 a. m. and 3 p. m. in cold weather. At night the windows should be partly opened, but care should be taken that the infant does not become chilled. Be careful that sheet and blankets do not get over a baby's head. The clothes may be pinned to the side of the bed.

_Food and Water_--Even little babies should be given water twice a day. The water should be boiled, cooled and kept covered. It is hardly possible for children or older persons to drink too much water. During hot weather a child needs more water than during cold weather.

Mother's milk is the only perfect food for an infant during the first nine or ten months. If it is necessary to give artificial food from a bottle, the greatest possible care must be taken. The milk used should be the best obtainable. To obtain clean milk it is necessary that everything that touches it be clean, sterilized when possible, and that the cows, and men who handle the milk be healthy. In New York City all milk is classified according to its cleanliness and butter fat content. The cleanest and richest milk is called "certified milk" and is sold raw. The other milks are classified according to cleanliness. Grade A, B and C are all pasteurized. Only certified and Grade A should be used for infant feeding. You know that sterile means free from germs or bacteria. Milk or water may be made comparatively sterile by boiling. Pasteurized milk is milk which has been heated to 155° Fahrenheit, kept at that temperature for thirty minutes and cooled quickly by placing the bottles in cold running water.

Punctual feeding makes good digestion, and even if the baby takes an extra nap it is better to wake a healthy baby to give him his meals at regular hours than to let his digestion get out of order. Between meals a little water which has been boiled and cooled and kept covered will wash out its mouth as well as refresh the child. The average infant is fed every three hours until it is five months old. After that it is fed every four hours until it is fifteen or sixteen months old, when it is shifted to three meals a day with perhaps a cup of milk in long intervals. Solid food, such as zwieback and milk or cereal, is begun at seven months, and by thirteen or fourteen months the child will be eating cereal, bread, broth, beef juice, potato, rice, vegetables, etc. Candy is harmful for children, and even older children should eat candy only after meals. Raw fruit, except orange juice, is apt to be upsetting in summer.

Keep the baby and everything around him clean. The baby's food is the most important thing to keep clean. The cleanliness of the bottle, when it is necessary to feed the baby from one, is very important. Choose a bottle of fairly heavy glass with rounded bottom and wide mouth, so that it may be easily cleaned. Short rubber nipples which clip over the neck of the bottle and which can be easily turned inside out, should be selected, and discarded when they become soft, or when the openings become large enough for the milk to run in a stream instead of drop by drop. Remove the bottle from the baby's mouth as soon as empty, rinse at once in cold water and then fill with a solution of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), about one teaspoonful to a pint of water. Before rinsing wash in hot soapsuds, using a bottle brush, rinse well in plain water, and boil for twenty minutes, placing a clean cloth in the bottom of the basin to protect the bottle from breaking. Before using new nipples they should be scrubbed inside and out and boiled for at least five minutes. After using they should be carefully rinsed in cold water and kept in a covered glass containing a solution of boric acid (one teaspoonful dissolved in a pint of boiling water), and at least once a day be turned inside out and thoroughly washed with soap and water, then rinsed. Nipples should be boiled twice a week.

_Bath_--A baby should have a bath every day, not sooner than one hour after feeding. The room should be warm; if possible there should be an open fire in the room. The temperature of the water for a baby up to six months old should be 98°. Then it should gradually decrease, next temperature being 95°, until at the age of two it should range between 85° to 90°. Before a baby is undressed the person who is bathing the baby must be sure that everything needed for the bath and dressing is at hand. The hand basin or small tub of warm water, a pitcher of hot water in case it is needed, castile or ivory soap, soft wash cloths, towels, brush, powder, fresh absorbent cotton, boric acid solution, and the baby's clothes laid out in the order in which they will be needed in dressing the child, the soft flannel bandage, the diapers, the shirt, flannel petticoat, dress and shawl.

For some people it is easier to handle a baby when laid on a bed or table than on one's lap, having under the child a soft bath towel or canton flannel large enough to be wrapped around it. Its nose may be cleaned with a bit of absorbent cotton rolled to a point, using a fresh piece for each nostril. To bathe the eyes use fresh pieces of absorbent cotton dipped in boric acid solution. Wash the baby's face carefully so that the water does not drip into its ears. Dry the face carefully. Wash the head gently and thoroughly with soap, being careful to rinse completely. Soap the baby's body before putting it into the bath. As a soapy little baby is difficult to hold, support him firmly all the time he is kicking and splashing, by placing the arm or hand at the baby's back between its shoulders. Wash particularly, under the arms, the creases in the back of the neck, between the legs, fingers and toes. The bath should be given quickly and the baby lifted out in the bath towel or flannel, covered and dried quickly, using a soft towel. Rub the baby very slightly. All the folds of the skin should be dried and well powdered: under the arms, behind the ears, about the neck, legs, etc. Do not put too much powder on, as it forms a paste. Dress the infant and lay it on its crib while putting away all the things used for its bath. It is perfectly proper for a baby to exercise its lungs by crying, so do not be alarmed, but be sure that its clothing is comfortable and that the child is clean. Garments worn at night should always be different from those worn during the day. The garments next to the skin should be of wool or part wool, except the diaper, which should be soft cotton, and when new, washed several times before using. Wet diapers should be rinsed in cold water and dried before using a second time; about every twenty-four hours diapers should be washed, scalded, rinsed in cold water and hung in the air to dry.

Daily Routine--Child Under Two Years of Age

6.00 A.M. Feed warm milk.

7.30 A.M. Seat on chair or hold over chamber not more than ten minutes. If the child has no movement of the bowels at this time, try later.

9.00 A.M. Give bath, and immediately after, feed, then put to bed in a well ventilated room, darkened, or out of doors in carriage or crib. Be sure no strong light is in the child's eyes. Child should sleep until one o'clock.

1.00 P.M. Take up, make comfortable, and feed.

2.00 P.M. Take child out of doors again, but do not stay after 3 P.M. in winter time. Later in summer. Stormy days keep in house in crib or carriage, well wrapped up in room with window open.

3 to 5 P.M. Hold child, or let it stay in crib and play or kick.

6.00 P.M. Undress, rub with soft, dry towel, put on nightclothes, feed and put to bed in well ventilated room.

10.00 P.M. A young baby should be fed at this time, dried, and not fed again until 6. A.M.