Household science and arts

Butter is made from the cream of milk, which is composed chiefly of little particles of fat. Beating, shaking, or churning causes the particles of fat to unite and separate from the rest of the milk. Butter contains fat, water, proteid (casein), and mineral matter. Food Value. — Butter is one of the most palatable and easily digested of the animal fats. It is made of sweet cream or of sour cream. To most people butter made from sweet cream tastes very flat and insipid. In America it is usually made from sour cream or cream that has been put through a process called ripening. Cream is ripened by the action of bacteria which thrive under certain conditions. If these bacteria have not grown and done their work, the butter lacks its distinctive flavor. Oleomargarine. — Generally speaking, oleomargarine is made from the oily part of purified beef fat churned with milk, mixed with some butter, salted, and colored. It is clean, wholesome, and nutritious, and looks so much like pure butter that it is difficult to distinguish them one from the other. Digitized by Google Test for distinguishing Butter from Oleomargarine. — Put 1 tbs. of the substance into a small saucepan and hold the saucepan over a gas flame, stirring it thoroughly 'with a wooden skewer or a wooden spoon. Let the substance boil, but do not let it bum. Genuine butter boils with little noise and produces an abundance of foam. Oleomargarine boils noisily, sputtering like fat which has water in it, and produces little or no foam. 1 pt. cream J ts. fine table salt, or more if desired BUTTER MAKING Put the cream into a quart preserving jar. Shake it until the butter separates from the liquid. Collect the butter particles with a wooden spoon and press out as much buttermilk as possible. Wash the butter several times in cold water, or until the water is clear. Put it into a dry bowl, add salt, and work it well into butter, using a wooden spoon. Make the butter into shapes or balls. DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING BUTTER BALLS Use small butter paddles. Allow them to stand in boiling water about three minutes ; then put them into ice water and let them stand until they are thoroughly chilled. Cut the butter into inch cubes, put them into a bowl of ice water. When they are chilled, make them into balls by rolling them between the paddles. Put them on a plate and set them in the ice box to harden. Cheese Cheese contains proteid (casein), fat, and water. Food Value. — Cheese has a very high food value, containing a large amount of nourishment in highly concentrated Digitized by Google CHEESE 69 form. Its concentrated proteid and fat make it somewhat indigestible, especially to invalids and children ; but for active outdoor workers it is one of the cheapest and most nutritious of foods. It is a good substitute for meat, and contains more proteid to the pound. Your teacher will tell you how it is made and allow you to make some, perhaps. Different girls in the class should leam about these cheeses. Find out at the grocery store how they differ in appearance, and leam where each comes from. Edam cheese ; Swiss cheese ; Roquefort cheese ; Cottage cheese; and Camembert cheese. Source, —r Cheese, like butter, is a milk product and is made from whole milk, skim milk, or milk to which cream has been added. Process of Making. — Milk is curdled, and the liquid, called whey, is drained off. The curd is then subjected to heat and pressure, and certain harmless germs are allowed to grow in it. Flavoring and coloring matter are added, and then it is sometimes stored for a time in cool cellars. This last process is called ripening, and some cheeses are kept years to ripen and improve the flavor. RECIPE 77. BAKED CRACKERS WITH CHEESE