Food and health

Cooking at school. " What can we have to cook with at school ? " This will depend upon the yard and the size of the school. If there is plenty of room around the building, you already know one simple arrangement ; for it is hardly possible that you have never roasted potatoes in the ashes of a fire out-of-doors. A fireplace of stones or brick may be built and vegetables roasted ; an old pail may be hung on a stick laid across the stones or, better still, on an iron bar or rod which may be found in some old scrap heap or at the blacksmith's. Wonders can be accomplished also with an old stove, which some one would be glad to give. John Alden is an energetic boy at Pleasant Valley School, ready to do carpenter work or to engineer the making of a stone or brick fireplace for cooking food at school. If there is a shed in which it can stand, perhaps a friend will contribute an oil stove. In the picture (Fig. 4) you will see the equipment for cooking which may be made from packing boxes that the grocer gives away. Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University. Fig. 4. — An equipment for cooking may be made from packing boxes. The boxes may be stained or painted white. This painting is pleasant work for a rainy day. If the mothers are interested in the club, they may be willing to give a few utensils ; but, if the members of the club are very independent, they can buy their own. Only a few are needed and the expense will be slight. Courtesy of President M. M. Parks, Georgia Normal and Industrial College, Milledgeville, Georgia. Fig. 5. — A neatly arranged school cupboard, i, wide-mouthed pitcher; 2, covered saucepans; 3, double boiler; 4, wire strainer; 5, Dover egg beaters; 6, measuring cups; 7, bowls; 8, knives, forks, and spoons ; 9, " utility " plate, for cooking work. H In cold weather the luncheon can be prepared in the schoolroom ; and, if the heater has a flat top, cooking can be done on that. A fireless cooker to use at school is convenient and can be inexpensive. (See Lesson 26.) If you have never tried it, you will be surprised to see how many delicious luncheon dishes can be made in the schoolroom. If your school has a well-furnished cooking room, preparing luncheon at school is an easy matter. Kf " ^-.,,.._U wm J^^*j Ws Courtesy of Miss Jessie D. Ebert. Fig. 6. — Serving luncheon at the Big Tree School. At the Pleasant Valley School the work began with very simple equipments. Marjorie Allen heard of the school lunch club from a cousin who lives in New York State. Miss James, the teacher at the Pleasant Valley School, asked Marjorie if she would not write to her cousin and ask for a description of her club. This is the answer to Marjorie's letter : The Big Tree School,^ September 5, 1915. Dear Marjorie : Yes, indeed, our hot lunch club is a great success. This is the way we began : There is a farm bureau in Erie County, and we celebrate Corn Day. We children at the school had a bread contest to which everybody came. Our mothers and fathers were so pleased that one of the trustees put some cooking equipment into our basement, and we use an old bookcase with glass doors for our cupboard. There are twenty-four of us in our cooking class, and each family gave twenty-five cents for buying dishes. We brought our own notebooks, spoons, cups and plates, aprons, soap, and hand towels ; and we met every Wednesday afternoon. Then, as we had begun to have cooking lessons, our teacher thought we might as well have a hot lunch ; so we had a warm-food club. Most of us come a long way and bring luncheon, and so we began by making only one or two hot things like cocoa, soup, stew, boiled rice with raisins. This is the way we plan for the lunches. We have a