True food values and their low costs

hours with the remains of the breakfast coffee standing in it, or even leave it untouched until it is required for use, and then throw out the sediment, just rinse out the pot with a little cold water, and, without wiping or cleaning out any stale grounds that may be sticking round the sides, proceed to make the fresh coffee. Is it any wonder that, after the stale coffee has been shut up for hours in the pot, the flavor of the freshly made coffee is spoiled ? If the coffee pot is metal it is doubly bad. As soon as possible after the breakfast table has been cleared the coffee pot should be emptied. If a strainer has been used, it should be put into a basin of very hot water and thoroughly rinsed until, on looking through it, it is seen to be quite free from grounds. It should be wiped dry and left to air before being put into the pot, which should be well rinsed with very hot water and wiped quite dry inside. Twice a week at least it should have a lump of soda as large as a nut put into it, and be filled to the brim with boiling water, and left to stand for an hour ; then emptied, well rinsed in hot water, and wiped dry. CHAPTER XXVI Tea There are three varieties of the tea plant ; both black and green tea can be prepared from them all. Green tea is made from young leaves steamed, roasted, and dried quickly on copper plates. Black tea is made from leaves which have been exposed to the air ten or twelve hours before roasting. The action of the air upon the leaves during this exposure causes the dark color. Green tea gives up less of its juices in drying, which accounts for its energetic action on the nervous system. The tea leaf contains the largest amount of nutritive matter of any plant used as human food, though only a small portion of it is extracted by our common method of making tea. Some of the savage tribes of Tartary boil the leaves with soda, and eat them with salt and butter. In our method of using tea as a beverage, we use such a comparatively small quantity that the amoimt of nutriment is very little, its chief value being the sense of warmth and comfort it gives. It excites the brain to increased activity, and has a tendency to produce wakefulness. It retards the action of the natural functions, causes less waste, and, to a certain extent, saves food. For this reason, when not used in excess, it is suited to poor people, whose supplies of substantial food are scanty, and to old persons, whose powers of digestion and whose bodily substance have begun to fail. In making tea never use a tin teapot. Allow one teaspoon of tea for one cup of boiling water. Put the tea in the teapot; pour on the boiling water; cover closely and place it where it will keep hot, but not boil, for five minutes. In boiling tea or allowing the leaves to remain long in the water, by repeated steeping, the fragrant aroma is wasted and the tannin is extracted, which may cause gastric disorders to those who drink it. Never make tea in a tin container, as the tannic acid acts upon the metal and produces a poisonous compound. Tea that is ground like coffee will yield nearly double the amount of its exhilarating quality. The Origin of Tea The Chinese were the first to use tea as a drink. How it originated is told in a pretty legend that dates from 2000 b. c. A daughter of a then reigning sovereign fell in love with a young nobleman whose humble birth excluded him from marrying her. They managed to exchange glances, and he occasionally gathered a few blossoms and had them conveyed to her. One day in the palace garden the lovers met, and the young man endeavored to give her a few flowers ; but so keen was the watchfulness of her attendants that all she could grasp was a little twig with green leaves.