Foods and household management

Stew pan, enamel ware, close cover. Round or square baking pans, enamel ware, covered. Earthenware pot, covered. Methods. — If you can cook one fruit, you can cook all. Two common fruits are selected for your experiments, the apple and the prune ; both are delicious, and both contain iron, the prune more than the apple. The apple. — A tart variety is best for cooking. The Greening and the Baldwin are excellent. Apples are cooked whole, or as a sauce. Whole, cooked with or without the skin, either stewed or baked. For cooking whole, select those of uniform size. For cooking whole, with the skin, select those with fair skins. For cooking whole without skin, select firm texture, not mellow. An apple sauce may consist of slices, or may be mashed or strained, and may be either stewed or baked. Less perfect apples may be used than for baking. First step for all, — Wash, and examine carefully for blemishes, bruises, and insects in the interior. I. Whole apple baked, with skin. (1) Remove core. (2) Place in pan, with enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan. (3) Pour sugar into the holes. . (4) A bit of butter may be put on the top of the sugar. (5) Nutmeg or cinnamon may be mixed with the sugar if the apples are flat in taste. 94 FOODS AND HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT (6) Cover the pan, and bake in a moderate oven, until the apples are tender. The length of time depends upon the quality of the apple. (See class experiment.) Half apples. — This is a modification of (1). Cut the apples in two crosswise, and proceed as with the whole apple. 2. Whole apples baked, without skin. — A good method when skins are tough. (1) Remove core and pare. (2) Place in earthen baking dish. The remainder of the process is the same. (3) Serve in the dish in which they are baked. (4) Currant jelly, or seeded raisins may be placed in the core holes instead of sugar. Class experiment, — Bake side by side two apples of unifonu size, one with, one without, the skin. Note carefully the length of time for baking each. What difference? Why is this? It may be necessary in the school kitchen to bake in a quick oven,' on account of the shortness of the class period. It does not spoil the apple to do this ; but the longer process that you can use at home gives a richer color and flavor. For this experiment, one pupil may bake the apple without the skin, and the next pupil one with the skin in case there is but one apple apiece ; or it may be made a class experiment with two apples. 3. Whole, stewed. (Compote.) — This is a more difficult method than method 2, and really no better. (1) Core and pare five or six apples. (2) Dissolve J cup sugar in i pint water in a saucepan. (3) Place apples in the sirup. They should be barely covered. (4) Cover closely and keep just below the boiling point, until the apples are tender. (5) Cool slightly, remove the apples with care and place in the serving dish. Put a spoonful of jelly in each apple. (6) Boil down the sirup and pour it over the apples. (7) Chill, before serving with plain or whipped cream. 4. Apple sauces. — In the cooking of the whole apple you have all the principles and processes of apple cooking. You can now make apple sauce of your own invention, and need FRUIT AND ITS PRESERVATION 95