The home cook book

DURING cold weather, when the body requires all the warmth possible to be obtained from heat-giving foods, one important addition to the day's menu is a perfectly cooked breakfast cereal. Two of the best foods for this purpose are oatmeal and cornmeal, which are richer in fats than the other grains. Oatmeal is the richer of the two in food material, but plenty of exercise is required for its perfect digestion. For the strong, hardworking laborer it is one of the best and most economical of foods. For people who lead sedentary lives, the lighter wheat foods, of which there is an abundance in the market, are better suited. NEED OF VARIETY The housekeeper who studies the family health ought to familiarize herself thoroughly with the subject of breakfast cereals ; it is one of large importance. Having found what foods are best liked by the household, she might lay in for the winter's needs a good assortment and use the cereals alternately; a wheat preparation one morning, oatmeal another, and cornmeal the next morning perhaps. There will be no palling on the appetite with such a routine, besides the cereals may be served in a varied style day by day. Baked apples are a delicious accompaniment to any of the oatmeal or wheat cereals, as are also sliced peaches, well-ripened bananas, dates, or flavored apple sauce. [illustration: Plate XXL] Serve with cream. Never spoil a good cereal by serving poor milk with it. Cereals are deficient in the fats contained in cream and in the salt found in fruits, therefore the combination, which is as delicious as it is healthful. A preparation like farina is much improved by having stirred into it, just before serving, figs, dates, or cooked prunes, cut in pieces. HOW TO KEEP CEREALS When cereals arrive, empty them at once into glass jars, and screw the lids on tight. Frequently the manufacturer or the grocer is blamed for a poor, wormy cereal, which has really been ruined by the treatment accorded it on the pantry shelves. It is left in the paper case in which it was packed, with the cover torn off. Mice regale on it, moths inhabit it, dust settles on it, damp induces mould, and presently it is spoiled. The manufacturer seals it with care, the grocer stores it on dry, clean shelves. Then comes the housewife who thinks any sort of treatment is good enough for groceries. NEED OF THOROUGH COOKING Cereals are infrequently accorded the right of proper cooking. An indigestible pasty-looking mess meets with the most unfavorable verdict, when, if cooked as it ought to be, nothing could be more nutritious or appetizing. The directions which accompany a cereal seldom give time enough for cooking, unless it be set to boil in a vessel right over the fire, which is far from satisfactory. Steaming for hours in a double-boiler gives very different results. The method for cooking cereals is the same, although measurements differ, one cup of cereal absorbing more or less liquid than another. After some study and tests of cereals and the time they need for thorough cooking, I have compiled the following table : Cereal Indian Meal .... Coarse Oatmeal . . . Fine Hominy . . . Coarse Hominy . . Cracked Wheat . . Vitos Wheat Germ Meal . Malt Oats Flaked Oats .... Mother's Oats . . . Steamed Cooked Oats Pettijohn Banner Oats .... Wheatlet