Foods and home making

If a cookie dough were made with only a little fat, the cookie would seem tough, somewhat like bread. More fat is needed to shorten the dough or to make it tender. Because more fat is used in making cut cookies than in making gingerbread and drop cookies, the fat is not melted before it is added to the other ingredients. You must soften the fat by creaming it, i.e., work- ing and beating it with a spoon or spatula. CUT COOKIES \ cup butter or other fat 2 cups soft-wheat or pastry flour 1 egg 1 or 2 teaspoons baking powder f cup sugar (See footnote, page 88.) 2 tablespoons sour cream or milk £ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg or vanilla ^ teaspoon salt Sift some flour, then measure 2 cups. Add the other dry ingredients to the flour. Put the fat in a mixing bowl. It is well to warm the fat or let it stand in a warm room so it will not be so difficult to soften. Soften the fat by working and beating it with a spoon or spatula. Beat the egg. Add the beaten egg to the fat. Mix well. Then add the sugar and milk. If vanilla is used, add it now. Beat until all are Dinner 446 well blended. You should not be able to see the individual grains of sugar in the mixture. Through a sifter, add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Mix all ingredients very thoroughly, using a knife. Shape the dough into a cylinder of the diameter you desire in your cookies. Place the cylinder on a plate and put it in the refrigerator or other cold place. Let it stand for several hours or until it is chilled. Flour a pastry board slightly. Place the dough on the board and cut the dough into slices — thick or thin, as you desire your cookies. Place the slices on a greased baking sheet or shallow pan and bake in a hot oven — 3750 F. — for 10 to 13 minutes. Remove from the pan, cool, and store as directed for date cookies, page 445. Because cut cookies are chilled, they are also called icebox cookies. The advantages of slicing cookies as directed in this recipe rather than rolling them out and cutting with a cookie cutter are : (1) much time is se.ved, and (2) the dough is handled less. Yield : 3 dozen cookies, thin, 2§ inches in diameter. Variation: Caramel Cookies. — For the f cup of white sugar, substi- tute 1 cup of brown sugar. Chopped nuts may be added. Use \ cup for this recipe. SUMMARY Gelatin is a hard, unpalatable, transparent substance prepared from bones and other animal tissue. Gelatin contains proteins of poor quality. Cold water swells and softens gelatin ; hot water dissolves it. Gelatin dissolved in water or other liquid stiffens the liquid when cold. One tablespoon of granulated gelatin stiffens about 1 pint of liquid. Because gelatin is lacking in flavor, it is usually sweetened with sugar and flavored with an acid such as tartaric or with fresh fruit juice. Gelatin is a more valuable food when it contains fresh fruit juices, be- cause the latter are generally rich in vitamins and mineral matter. Since only a small quantity of gelatin is contained in one serving of the gelatin dish, the food is valuable chiefly for the sugar and fresh fruit juice added to it.