Domestic science (1914 text-book)

Wash and scrape the celery before cutting it into slices. Cook in boiling water till tender, then strain through a sieve, being careful to strain out all the pulp. Scald the milk, to which the onion has been added. When the milk is scalded, remove the onion and add the milk to the celery water. Bind with the butter and flour rubbed together. Puree of Lima Beans One pint of Lima beans; if dry, soak over night in cold water; boil in water or the thin part of a can of tomatoes (using the thick part for scalloped tomatoes), until they are soft. If the water reduces very much, add a little milk or water. Sift very closely and add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste; if you like, add a little onion juice, mace, or any other seasoning. To keep the thick part from separating, add one scant tablespoon of flour cooked in one tablespoon of butter. Let the butter stand in a warm place until it is melted, then rub the butter and flour together until perfectly smooth, pour in one cup of boiling soup, and stir hard; then stir into the remainder of the soup. Slice three small tomatoes very thin, put them into the soup, and it will be ready to serve as soon as it boils. Use just enough water when first boiling the beans to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the kettle. Digitized by Google STARCH Lesson XVI Experiments Materials used: 1 tb sugar 2 tb cornstarch water Utensils needed: Microscope (if possible) , teaspoon slides with various starch grains cup 2 tumblers tablespoon Work to be done: Experiment 1: 1. Fill each tumbler two-thirds full of water. 2. In one, place 1 tb sugar. 3. Mix 1 tb cornstarch with enough cold water to make a paste, dilute it a little, and put it into the second tumbler of water. 4. Stir the contents of each tumbler. 5. Let it stand a few minutes. What has become of the sugar? of the starch? . What then is one difference between sugar and starch? Experiment 2: 1. Place 1 tb dry starch in the cup. 2. Pour over it 2 tb boiling water. Do not stir it. What has happened? 3. Break open one of the lumps. How does it appear on the inside? What is the effect of hot water upon starch? Look at the various slides through the microscope. Principles: In appearance starch is a fine white powder. The grains of this powder differ in different plants. For example, potato starch grains are oyster-shaped and have peculiar markings, Digitized by Google STARCH somewhat like the markings on an oyster or clam shell. They are also much larger than the starch grains of rice or of tapioca. The great difference between starch and sugar is that the latter is soluble in cold water and the former is not. When hot water is poured upon dry starch, the grains first touched by it swell, forming a jelly-like mass around the other grains not immediately touched by the hot water. The reason, then, why flour must be mixed either with cold water or other liquid, or with butter or other fat, in making white sauces and soups, is that each little grain must lie separate or apart from the others so that each may be reached by the hot liquid at once, thus causing them all to swell at the same moment so that there will be no lumps formed. Cleaning up: Soak all the sticky dishes in cold water. What has been learned: 1. Starch grains are a fine white powder. 2. They vary in size, shape, and markings in different plants. 3. Sugar is soluble in cold water; starch is not. 4. Hot liquids swell the starch grains they first touch, thus forming balls, or lumps. 5. Soups and purees are so nutritious that with bread and butter they may form a complete luncheon. Lesson XVII Materials used: 4 c milk 1 tb sugar Cornstarch Mold 1 tb cornstarch i tp salt J tp vanilla or other flavoring Utensils needed: Double boiler measuring cup wooden spoon cup for mixing cup or other mold