Foods and household management

water, or chipped ice. If the cream is warm, the beating will churn the cream to butter. (1) For a fine, close-whipped cream use a Dover egg beater. (2) For a lighter whipped cream, use a wire beater. 2. To mold butter. — A pair of wooden butter pats is necessary for this. Dip these first into hot water, then into cold. Cut off a square piece of butter, enough for one person, make it flat or round with two knives, and then roll it into shape between the butter pats. Chill, and serve in a dish on ice ; or give one to each person on a butter plate, just at the last moment before serving the meal. Never serve soft butter. 3. To cook bacon. — Bacon has alternate layers of fat and lean, but it is the fat that has chief consideration in the cooking process. The aim is to brown and crisp the fat without burning it and without causing a volume of smoke in the kitchen. Make ready a trying pan, and have at hand a jar for holding fat standing on a plate. Cut the bacon in thin slices with a sharp knife. Heat the pan, and put in the bacon. The fat will begin to " try out " at the melting point. Pour this melted fat into the jar. Turn the pieces of bacon with a fork. If the smoke is rising in volumes the pan is too hot. The novice should not try this experiment for the first time by herself. The fat may even burst into flame if the pan is too hot. When the bacon is sufficiently cooked to become crisp on cooling, it is ready to serve, by itself, with toast, or with eggs. The making of sauces and gravies. — Many sauces and gravies are made from a fat, mixed with a starchy substance, the two mingled with a liquid. The fat gives flavor and nutriment, the starch is used for thickening, the liquid also gives flavor. You are now familiar with the cooking of fat and starch, and can readily understand that the combination of all these ingredients is not an easy matter. The fat will float upon the top of the liquid unless the right amount of starch or flour is used, and the flotir will have a tendency to lump. There are several good methods in use. The method given for your experiment is one of the simplest, because it uses only a few utensils, and gives uniformly good results. It requires no more watchfulness than the other methods. These sauces and gravies are not foods for little children and invalids. 4. Foundation recipe for sauces. Proportions, (1) Thin sauce (for milk toast) 1 tablespoonful of fat, 1 of flour, J pint liquid. m or (2) Medium sauce (for vegetables). 2 tablespoonfuls of fat, 2 of flour, } pint liquid. or (3) Thicker sauce, also for vegetables, meats, fish, and macaroni. 3 tablespoonfuls of fat, 3 of flour, } pint liquid. Salt is used to taste. Method. — Melt the fat in a saucepan. Pour in the flour, all at once, and stir the flour and fat together, until the mass thickens slightly. Pour in all the liquid at once, cold. Set the saucepan where the heat is moderate. Stir steadily with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens. 5. A white sauce is made with butter, and milk the liquid. Stop the cooking just short of the boiling point. 6. A tomato sauce is made with butter or beef fat, strained tomato