Food and health

What happens to an egg when it is cooked ? If you break an egg into a saucepan of cold water, and heat the water slowly, what changes can you see in the egg ? Try it and see. There comes a change in color, first, in the white of the egg, before the water boils at all ; and when the water boils, the yolk and white become hard. If you leave the egg long enough in water below the boiling point, both the yolk and white harden, the yolk being " mealy '' and the white firm so that it can be cut. The cooking does not change the food value of the egg. What do you gather from this little study of the cooking egg ? If you want an egg to be jelly-like, it must be cooked below the boiling point of water. If you like it firmer, cook it in boiling water, without being afraid that it will be indigestible. This is the latest advice from scientific people. Beating eggs. How convenient it is that the white of egg is elastic, and that we can stretch it by beating, and can catch the air in it, and use the air for making muffins and cakes " light.'' The yolk becomes creamy ; a bit of yolk in the white will keep the white from being stiff. Can you break an egg and drop the white in a bowl without a speck of the yolk .? There is one other important point about the yolk and the white. Do you know how the yolk hangs in the shell ? By a string. Look for the string. Do you know why the hen turns the egg over ? If the egg lies on Qne side, the yolk drops. If the egg is shaken, the string breaks, and so when we send eggs by mail or express they must be firmly packed. Some other materials to be used with eggs for breakfast and other meals. We have spoken of dried beef in Lesson 17. If the meat for hash is rather too small in quantity, put the chopped meat with some bread crumbs in the bottom of a baking dish, break enough eggs to cover on top of the meat, and set the dish in the oven. Eggs can be made into dishes with potato, or bread or bread crumbs, with cold meat, fish, and cheese. Look back at the lesson on scalloped dishes, and plan an egg scallop for breakfast or supper, with what you have left in the house from dinner. Eating raw eggs. A good quick lunch. An egg, swallowed whole, followed by a cracker, is a " quick lunch " that is wholesome ; and it is sometimes convenient to be able to take an egg in this way. A sprinkling of salt upon it makes it taste better. Whipped eggs. What and how much, I egg I teaspoonful of sugar a shake of salt some flavoring f cup of milk How to make. Beat the yolk and white separately. Add to the yolk a teaspoonful of sugar, a shake of salt, some flavoring, and f of a cup of milk. Beat the white gently into this mixture and serve In a glass. The flavoring may be a quarter of a teaspoonful of vanilla, or a tablespoonful of orange juice. This is sometimes served to an invalid who can take milk, and is an agreeable luncheon for any one. If milk does not agree with one, a larger amount of fruit juice may be used with the addition of some water, possibly carbonated. The white alone is given in cases of severe illness, mixed with a small amount of water and fruit juice, if the physician permits the latter. This is sometimes the only food that can be retained by an invalid. Jellied or coddled eggs. See that the shells are whole and clean. If the eggs are just taken from the refrigerator, lay them in warm water a few minutes. Make ready a double boiler, with the lower part half full of boiling water. Put the number of eggs that you wish to use into the inner boiler. Cover with water that has just stopped boiling. Put on the boiler cover. Stand the boiler where the water below will no longer boil. The eggs will be done in from six to eight minutes. See if you can think of another way of doing this same experiment. Boiled eggs.