The late summer and early fall is a hot, lazy time when the business of planning food for the family is not a particularly interesting one. There are vegetables to cook and vegetables to can until one\u27s hands are hopelessly stained and we almost wish there were no vegetables

Ingersoll, Blanche

English

The late summer and early fall is a hot, lazy time when the business of planning food for the family is not a particularly interesting one. There are vegetables to cook and vegetables to can until one's hands are hopelessly stained and we almost wish there were no vegetables.</p

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THE IOWA HOMEM AK ER 7 Vary the Vegetable By BLANCHE INGERSOLL, Assistant Professor of Household Science THE late summer and early fall is a hot, lazy time when the business of planning food for the family is not a particularly interesting one. There are vegetables to cook and vegetables to can until onels hands' are !hopelessly stained and we almost wish there were no vegetables. But did you ever stop to think how monotonous and uninteresting our meals would be if th ere were no vegetables-or if all the vegetables were white? Against the background of our white flour, white sugar and clear white fat, the red tomato and yellow carrot and green spinach are splashes of interesting color and flavor. The possible combina-tions of color and flavor are almost end-less at this time of year when there are so many vegetables available. Iron-so necessary to the body- is found in spinach and other greens. Phy-sicians tell us that the natural iron of food is more readily used by the body than the iron contained in medicines, and indeed it is more pleasant to take. Children need lots of iron in their diet, and if they do not like the green veget-ables it is surely no more trouble to teach them to like these foods than it iR to give them bitter tonics. Tomato and spinach pulp are often given to a very small child that he may have a good s tart in life with a plentiful supply of the valuable food elements. In fact, a ll of our scientific knowledge of foods gives us more a nd more respect for vegetables until we wonder that many people seem to take so little interest in them. One very practical suggestion has been made that instead of talking so much about the value of vegetables it might be more effective to teach people to cook and ser ve them more temptingly. There is no doubt but that the poor cooking of vegetables has been one great r eason for their unpopularit y. .Many housewives have not realized that vegetbles require careful handling and cook-ing to make them attractive. The rules 'for vegetable cooker y are not new or startling, but they have not been heeded. Take for example, su ch a com-mon thing as . a boiled potato. Boiled potatoes are common, but good boiled potatoes-tender, mealy and well clone-are quite uncom-mon in many American homes. It is not enough to merely thrust a potato into a pan of water and cook it until it ceases to be raw. To have a satisfactory product one must follow the rules of the game and in this case the rules are very simple. Add salt to the water which mus t be boiling rapidly before the po-tatoes are put into it, otherwise a great deal of the nutritive value of the potato will be dissolved out and lost . As the cooking proceeds the water present in the cells of the potato is changed to steam. This steam cooks the starch making tha potato mealy and tender. If, however, the water in the kettle merely simmers or ceases to boil at any time during the cooking, the steam in the cells is con·· densed to water and the result is a sog-gy potato. When done, drain at one~ and shake the pan or kettle over the fire until the potatoes are dried on all sides. Starchy vegetables allowed to stand in the water, or merely drained and not dried, will. always be soggy on the outside. Another cause of soggy ~egetables, whether starchy or otherwise, is over-cooking. Cook vegetables only until they are tender when pierced. Further cooking causes them to mush or break up, making a limp, soggy discouraged looking m ess that is decidedly unpalat-able. Mistreated in this way, vegetables lose their individuality and all look and taste alike. It naturally follows that vegetables will become monotonous if they all look and taste alike. One can-not blame the family if they choose to eat bread and meat instead. Strongly flavored vegetables such as cabbage and onions are much more at-tractive and appetizing if cooked. in a large quantity of water in an uncovered kettle so that much of the strong odor and flavor escapes in the steam. With a little careful watching the liquid can be cooked down until it is practically all absorbed into the vegetable. On the other hand, fresh green vegetables such as asparagus and spinach should be cooked very quickly in. a very small amount of water so that the good juices and fresh flavor may be r etained as far as possible. W ell prepared vegetables are always best when served simply, that is with just butter and salt and their own juices. If any one vegetable is uninteresting when served alone, the addition of another of contrasting color and flavor will serve to make it attractive. Plain white tur-nips look insipid alone but command at-tention when combined with green peas. Out here in "Ioway" we merrily sing our corn song on all occasions but some-times in August, the constant r epetition of corn and tomatoes, and tomatoes and corn bores us and we long for some oth-er food. Just for a change try baking the corn in a custard. Cut boiled corn off the cob and mix it with an unsweet-ened custard mixture. Bake in a la rge mold or pudding dish in a slow oven until firm. Turn on to a hot platter and serve with slices of hot broiled to-matoes as a garnish. The tomatoes may be dipped in melted butter and cooked in a broiler, or they may be browned in a little butter in a frying pan. The yel-low mold of corn and the red tomatoes make a very attractive dish. Corn omelet is another delightful com-bination of corn and eggs, especially if served with a tart jelly or a pickle r elish. Either of the above dishes will tak e the place of meat since t he eggs supply the protein. If you a re tired of beets the sam e old way, glaze t hem . H eat two tablespoons-ful of sugar with two tablespoonsful of butter in a frying pan until t he sugar melts. Add boiled beets and cook very slowly over a mat for 15 or 20 minutes. turning the beets occasionally unt il they have a glossy coating. Tiny glazed beets of even size make a pretty garnish for a meat dish or for a platter of mixed vegetables. However. cubed or sliced beets may be treated in the same way and served rt!'l a vegetable. Glazed onions, usin e: tt>e "ma ll white ones, a r e delicio•H; and different. The plehi" n parsnip made into frit.ter s becomes <lllite an unusual dish for luncheon or supper. Dip pieces of cooked par snip into a fritter batter and fry in deep fat. Served with tomato catsup and crisp bacon; your family will" shout for more. Raw carrots have become quite a fad in home economics cirdes sin ce we have learned to appre-ciate the value of raw foods. Shredded cabbage with a t iny bit of green pepper and a nile of gra-ted carrot on top is ouite a favor-ite. We sometimes call it vita-mine salad. Green string beans and carrots cooked this t ime. make a popular salad for lunch eon or supper. The green and yellow color com-bination is so attractive that one suspects much of the popularity of this salad to be due to its ap-pearance. Salsify, suggestive of oyster s, a nd celeric, with a celery flayor, a r e two root vegetables of the late fall tha1 seem to be very well liked where they a re at (Continued on page 16.) 16 Vary the Vegetable {Continued from page 7) all known, but many people seem not to have made their acqauintance. They are easily gr_own, will stand frost, and are usually very cheap, selling at two or three cents a pound. They may be hoiled and served buttered or creamed, in soup or in salad. It would be well worth while to cultivate their acquain-tance if you have not already done so. Then there are stuffed vegetables : baked tomatoes stuffed with buttered crumbs or with an egg baked in each tomato cup, cabbage leaves rolled around :.> meat stuffing or the whole head stuffed with meat or cheese mixture, peppers stuffed with rice or crumbs with ham or veal, or large onions suffed with minced dried beef and crumbs. In fact one never failing recipe for variety is to concoct a new stuffing or stuff a differ-ent vegetable. If, at any time, you think you have exhausted all the possibilities hunt up an Armenian cook book and you will find that almost two-thirds of all the recipes in the book are for "dolmas," dolma being their name for dishes with stuffing. It would seem with the endless possl· bilities, that our meals need never be monotonous. Every housewife JShould recognize the vegetable as an aristocrat in food society and should prepare ancl serve it most carefully so that the fam-ily will learn to treat it with proper re-spect. Any mother who succeeds in mak-ing vegetables popular on her table has solved one of the biggest problems in the feeding oE her family. She Gets 24 Cups More to the Pound Chocolate Cream Coffee Is More Economical Because It Goes So Much Farther, Says This User Minne(lpolis, Minn., (Special)-" It has a finer flavor, is stronger but not bitter, does not require any clearing and has a good color even if milk is used instead of cream," says Mrs. Frank Springstead of 2414 26th Ave. So., in regard to Chocolate Cream Coffee. "Six of us drink it twice a day and one pound lasts me two days longer than another brand I used, which would mean at least 24 cups more to the pound. "The paraffin-walled canisters keep it from losing its strength or drying out." You, too, will find it is economy to buy the best coffee. Ask your grocer for WESTERN GROCER COMPANY THE IOWA HOMEMAKER +I-111-II-II-11-11- 11- II- 11- II-AI-II-11- + +·-··-··-··-··-··-··-··-··-~·-··-·-··- + THIS STORE always appreciates your busi-ness and will always do all we can to merit same. Call any time and see the new wear-abies in New Fall Dresses Underwear Hosiery Martha Four Foot Hosiery Gossard Corsets and Corse-lettes and Braissiers Mail orders accepted on approval Aug. F. Schwien 723 Story St. Boone,. Ia. Home Economics People use Harris ' Certified Color Colors -Red, Yellow, Green and Vio-let. Also Manufactured by fRANK E. HARRIS CO., tnc.c Binghampton, N. Y. I I + -YI-~I-11-11-11-IN-11-IM-MI-11-11-MI-M+ + -NI-MI-~M-11-11-II-11-11-11-II-11-11....\.1+ +~~-••-••-••-••-••-11•-••-••-••-••-••-••-••-••-•~-na-•r.-••-••-••-••-••-••-••-••-••-••-•+ ! • THE NEW ENGLAND "Trade at Headquartersn·lt's Safe" Do You Like to Wear the Latest Styles? If this be true, it will pay you to take a trip over to Marshalltown and inspect our large stock of Silks or other materials suitable for making that new garment; or, if you prefer it ready-made, a visit to our second floor will bring you in contact with a complete stock of the newest in ladies' ready-made clothes. Our prices throughout every cleparement are most reasonable. l i i i i E. L. RAY MaJ~:own A. W •BURCH I . i +I-IM-II-II-II-IN-MN-NN-MII-11"-NI-111-NM-aN-IIII-·1--.III-MII-NM-MI-111-IU-II-II-II-II-II- II-I+ 

Vary the Vegetable

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Vary the Vegetable

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