Foods and home making

Sometimes a maraschino cherry is used as a garnish for each serving. A less expensive and quite as effective garnish may be prepared by reserving \ slice of pineapple and coloring it as follows : Place the half slice on a saucer and sprinkle it generously with red sugar. Turn it Luncheon or Supper 3H over and sprinkle sugar on the other side. Soon the sugar will dissolve in the pineapple juice and tint the pineapple. Cut the tinted pineapple in 6 pieces. When just ready to serve, place a piece on top of the fruit in each cup. Fresh strawberries or blackberries make a pleasing garnish. What are some inexpensive desserts containing milk? The principal ingredients of a dessert called blancmange are milk, cornstarch , and sugar. The cornstarch thickens the milk; the sugar sweetens it. When we learned to thicken milk with flour in making white sauce, we found by experimenting that we must mix the flour with butter or with cold water before adding it to a hot liquid. (See Experiments 14 and 15, page 236.) In the recipe for blanc- mange there is no butter, so we cannot use the method followed in making white sauce. We could mix cornstarch with some cold milk. There is, however, another more satisfactory way of making blancmange. Let us see : Experiment 21: To show what hap pe)is when flour is mixed with sugar before it is added to a hot liquid. (а) Into a small saucepan, put 1 teaspoon of flour and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Mix thoroughly. Add \ cup boiling water. Stir and heat until the mixture thickens. Is the mixture smooth? (б) If a recipe for a sauce thickened with flour contained no butter, but contained sugar, how would you mix the ingredients so as to obtain a smooth sauce? Scald the milk in a double boiler. In a bowl, mix well the cornstarch and sugar. Add the hot milk to this mixture, stirring as you pour the milk. Pour the mixture into the double boiler. Note the time. Stir and cook over hot water. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens. Then cover. The pudding should cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the stove. Add the flavoring and salt. Stir to mix. BLANCMANGE 2 cups milk £ cup cornstarch \ cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla -j^jj teaspoon nutmeg £ teaspoon salt Luncheon or Supper Desserts 315 Rinse out cups or molds with cold water. Pour the pudding into the molds. Set aside to cool. It is not ready to serve until the mixture is stiff. When ready to serve, turn from the mold. Serve with sugar and cream or with sliced peaches or other fruit. Yield : 5 medium servings. Variation. — A chocolate cornstarch pudding may be made by adding either cocoa or chocolate to the mixture. If cocoa is used, 3 tablespoons will be needed ; increase the sugar to § cup. (Chocolate-flavored desserts require more sugar than those flavored with vanilla or spice.) Mix the cocoa with the cornstarch and sugar. Then proceed as in making plain blancmange. Add only | teaspoon of vanilla and no nutmeg. Mold. Serve with cream.