Domestic science (Clark, Cornell home economics)

Potatoes are not a concentrated, hearty food because of the great proportion of water which they contain. As a rule they are an inexpensive food, easily digested if properly cooked. They must be served with proteid and fatty foods. Potatoes taken out of the ground too soon are not ripe, and if left too long after digging before they are used, the starch is partly changed to gum. They are planted in spring and harvested in autumn. For eating they are best in fall and winter. It is more economical to buy small ones, for there are more BAKED POTATOES 217 in a bushel. They should be kept in a cool dry place and sprouts should be removed. Baked Potatoes — Home Recipe. Select mediumsized potatoes, scrub them well and dry them. Bake them in a hot oven until soft — about 45 m. Turn occasionally, in order that they may bake evenly. For stuffed potatoes, or potatoes on the half shell, cut baked potatoes in two lengthwise, or cut a small slice from the top of each, and carefully scoop out the inside. Mash fine, add 2 tbsp. butter, about i c. hot milk, 1 tsp. salt, and white pepper to taste. Beat until very light. Well-beaten whites of two eggs may be added and stirred in gradually. Fill the skins with this mixture. If white of egg is used, brush over with the yolk. Place in oven, to brown the tops, about 10 m. Fine-chopped ham or parsley may be added to the potato if desired. School Recipe. 1 small potato, i tsp. butter, ^ s.s. salt, 1 spk. pepper. Notes This potato-lesson is a review of Lesson 2, Book I. Pupils may be told the week before that they are to have a potato-lesson and may be asked to prepare potatoes in some new and attractive way. Ask them to look over their notes and recipes of the year before, that they may be prepared. It would be a good plan also to give them the directions for obtaining starch from the potato. Ask them to prepare starch during the week and bring it in a small bottle at the next lesson. Sample may be labelled with name, date, and material, and kept in the laboratory. The baked potatoes, prepared individually, are all put into the oven at the same time. For a label, fasten paper on with a piece of toothpick. Order of Lesson 1. Class of food, growth, and care. 2. How cook starchy foods. 3. Iodine test. 4. Composition and value of potatoes. 5. Purpose in the body. 6. Ways and economy in cooking. 7. Discussion of recipe. 8. Practice work. Lesson IX Oysters are shell-fish, belonging to the special group called mollusks, which have hinged shells and soft bodies. Clams, mussels, scallops, etc., belong also to the group. They grow in bays and along coasts. Among the varieties of oysters are Blue Points, New York, Wareham, Providence River, Norfolk, Lynnhaven, " selects," and Count oysters. Oysters are not good from May to August, for they are then discharging eggs (at a rate of millions a year). The composition of oysters is: Water 88.3%, protein 6.1%, fat 1.4%, mineral .9%; carbohydrates, especially in the form of glycogen in the liver, 3.3%. Oysters are not a hearty concentrated food, for they contain a great deal of water. They are of value for proteids and are easily digested if not made tough by over-cooking. If cooked in liquid, the tern- perature should be below the boilmg-point, for boiling makes proteid hard and tough. If oysters are fattened for market in water where sewage is discharged, there is danger that they may contain germs of typhoid fever. After removal from the shell they should be washed and drained on a dry cloth, always being lifted carefully by the gills. Oyster liquor is seldom used, but if so, should be strained. If oysters are in the shell, open them by inserting a knife on the side opposite the hinge.