Foods and home making

(c) Add a small quantity of milk to the tomato and soda mixture. Heat slightly. Does the milk curdle ? If we make cream of tomato soup carefully and add baking soda to the tomatoes before combining with milk, the milk will not curdle. One of the reasons why we like tomatoes is that they have a tart taste. It is possible to destroy the taste of the tomato by adding too much baking soda. Moreover, cooking the tomatoes with much baking soda would probably destroy some of the vitamins contained in them. If soda is added, only a small quantity should be used. Put the tomatoes and onion (if used) in a saucepan. Cover them (to prevent evaporation) and cook at simmering temperature for about 15 minutes. Press the tomatoes through a strainer. Make a white sauce, using the remaining ingredients with the excep- tion of the salt. Since a large quantity of milk is used in making the sauce it is advisable to heat the milk before combining it with the other ingredients. CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP 2 cups canned or stewed tomatoes 1 slice onion, if you wish 1 quart milk 1 cup flour \ to cup butter or substitute 2 teaspoons salt i teaspoon pepper 240 Luncheon or Supper The soup should not be cooked after the strained tomato is added to the white sauce. It is therefore necessary to have the tomatoes and sauce hot before combining them. Reheat the tomatoes, if necessary, and keep the sauce hot. Add the hot strained tomatoes slowly to the white sauce, stirring con- stantly. Add the salt. Serve at once. Yield : 7 servings. The following directions should be carefully observed : 1. Use fresh milk; heat it before adding to the butter and flour in making white sauce. 2. Omit the salt when making the white sauce. Add the salt when the soup is ready to serve. 3. Add the tomato to the sauce rather than the sauce to the tomato. 4. Have both the tomato and sauce hot before combining. Do not cook after combining. 5. Serve at once after combining the tomatoes and sauce. What breads shall we serve with soup ? It is well to keep in mind the old saying, “ Variety is the spice of life,” when planning foods that are to be eaten together. One way to have variety in foods is to use dry foods with moist foods. We find that bread or crackers are suitable foods to eat with soup. This is because soup is a moist food while bread is a dry food. There are ways of preparing plain bread or crackers that make them especially attractive to serve with soup. All the ways suggested make bread or crackers crisp. Crispness as well as dryness makes the contrast between bread and soup even more striking. Here are some directions for preparing crackers and bread : CRISP CRACKERS If crackers are allowed to stand exposed to the air, they absorb mois- ture and lose their crispness. They become crisp again when heated. Place crackers on a pie pan or baking sheet. Bake them in a hot oven — 400° F. — for 8 or 10 minutes. CROUTONS Croutons are made from stale bread, cut into cubes and toasted. Because the bread is in small pieces, it need not be broken into bits before eating. Luncheon or Supper Soups — Canned Foods 241