Foods and home making

1. Milk may be purchased in or poured into half-pint bottles. If a paper cap or other stopper is placed in the bottle, and the bottle is packed so that it stands upright, milk can be carried to school. Of course, a milk bottle covered with a paper cap needs to be carried carefully. See that the lunch basket or box is carried so that the milk bottle remains upright. Milk can also be carried in a vacuum bottle. A vacuum bottle is especially desirable for carrying milk in warm weather, since milk which is cold when poured into the bottle will remain cold. By using a paper “ straw,” milk may be conveniently sipped from a bottle without the inconvenience of pouring it into a glass. In case the pupil carries lunch to a school where there is a lunch room, milk may be purchased in the lunch room even if other foods are brought from home. When a warm food is desirable, cocoa or cream soup may be bought in the lunch room either in place of the milk or in addition to the milk. 2. Fruits are among the foods best adapted to the lunch box. Often the foods carried in a lunch box are dry ; juicy fruits, such as oranges, apples, grapes, and many others, supply moisture. Cooked fruits, such as apple sauce and dried apricots or prunes, may be used in the lunch box if the fruit is placed in a jelly glass or other container with a tightly fitting cover. Some fruits are suitable for use as sandwich fillings. Bananas, raisins, dates, and many other fruits make excellent sandwich 228 Luncheon or Supper fillings. Directions for making these sandwiches are given on this and the next page. 3. Three fresh vegetables — tomatoes, lettuce, and celery — are especially well adapted to carry in the lunch box. Canned tomatoes which have been cooked and seasoned after removal from the can, as well as string beans or peas, also cooked and seasoned, are among the most tasty canned vegetables when served cold. These vege- tables may be carried in covered jelly glasses or other glass containers. If you carry your lunch- eon, can you join the luncheon contest? There is no reason why milk, fruits, and vegetables brought from home should not have quite as much credit as when purchased in the school lunch room. Your lunch box or basket containing these foods may be carried to the checker and credit re- ceived. How should sandwiches be made for the school lunch? You like to have the bread of sandwiches cut in even slices. It is difficult to slice fresh bread, i.e., bread which has been out of the oven less than 24 hours. The bread for sandwiches, then, should have been baked at least 24 hours previously. Although such bread is termed stale bread, it is not hard or dry bread. Whether bread is to be made into sandwiches or served plain, stale rather than fresh bread should be used, since the lattei digests less readily. Figure 82. Bread Board and Knife A bread board is a necessary piece of kitchen equipment. Its use prevents marring the kitchen table with the bread knife. A bread board may be used in chopping vegetables. Lunch at School — The Box Lunch 229 To slice bread , place it on a bread board (see Figure 82) and with a sharp knife cut it into even slices. Cut the slices about i inch in thickness. As the bread is sliced, it is well to arrange the slices in pairs so that one slice of a sandwich will exactly fit the other slice.