Domestic science, principles and application

Wash macaroni thoroughly when tender to remove outside starch, preventing it from sticking together. To Butter Crumbs. — Sift crumbs in a strainer first to make them fine. Add 3^ c. melted butter to 1 c. of dry breadcrumbs, mix thoroughly before using. To Grate Cheese. — Use a dry cheese that will grate, but do not pack in measuring it. Grate on a common grater. 1. Boiled Macaroni Method. — Break the macaroni into inch pieces. Drop into boiling salted water, allowing 1 tbsp. of salt to 1 qt. of water. Cook until tender, 20 to 25 minutes, or until it can be easily pierced with a fork. Keep plenty of water on to cover while cooking. When tender, pour into a colander and wash thoroughly in cold water to remove the starch that causes the pieces to stick together. Season, and serve with thin white sauce or with Tomato Sauce. 2. Baked Macaroni with Cheese 13^ c. macaroni 1 c. thin white sauce }/2, c. grated cheese 13^ c. buttered crumbs CARBOHYDRATES— CEREALS. WHEAT 61 Method. — Prepare the macaroni as for boiled macaroni. Butter a baking dish, put in a layer of boiled macaroni ; then cover with one-half of the grated cheese and one-half the buttered crumbs. Put the remainder of the macaroni on next, the rest of the cheese, and then the rest of the crumbs. Bake in a moderate oven until the crumbs are nicely browned and the sauce boils up around the sides. {Each two use 4 sticks macaroni, 2 tsp. cheese, and 3^ c. white sauce.) 3. Baked Macaroni and Tomato Method. — Use 13^^ c. of stewed tomatoes in place of the white sauce, and arrange the macaroni in layers with the tomato and crumbs in place of the white sauce and the cheese. 4. Tomato Sauce 2 tbsp. butter 1 c. strained tomato 2 tbsp. flour yz tsp. salt Pepper Method. — Make according to White Sauce, using the strained tomato in place of milk. Or use half tomato and half milk, and add a speck of soda to keep it from curdling. DIGESTION AND ITS RELATION TO COOKERY Purpose of Digestion. — The food that we eat, as we have learned, nourishes the body. Every Uving cell that composes the tissues must have food particles brought to it by the blood in order to grow or produce energy. This means that the food as eaten must be reduced to a very fine state to enable it to pass into the blood and be used in the body. This process of dissolving the usable portions of food is called digestion. The parts of the body that have this work to do are called the digestive organs, and the organs that form the path through which the food passes form the alimentary canal. How Food Is Dissolved. — The greatest changes that food undergoes in digestion are brought about by substances called enzyms, or ferments, which are contained in the different digestive juices. These ferments have the power to reduce foods to simpler substances that dissolve in liquids and pass readily into the blood. In some way they bring about great changes and are not themselves affected. There are many of these ferments, each acting on a different class of food. In the Mouth. — In order to make it easy for the digestive juices to act, the food is first ground fine in the mouth by the teeth. The saliva softens the food and makes it easy to swallow. At the same time the ptyalin in it begins to act on starch, changing it to sugar.