Cook fruit until tender. Press through a sieve. Measure, and to each pound of pulp, allow 1 pound of powdered sugar✪ Peach Paste. Cook together over a slow fire, watch- ing carefully to prevent scorching, until it begins to thicken. Cooking the pulp in a double boiler for the last part of the process will prevent scorching. Pour ^-inch layers of the paste on the oiled surface of a flat dish or tray. Place in a current of air and allow to dry for two or three days. When it is dry, sprinkle with granulated sugar and form into a roll. PARISIAN SWEETS. Chop equal parts of figs, dates, and nuts together. Knead on a board dredged with confectioners' sugar until well blended. Roll to ^-inch thickness, cut into cubes or rounds, and dip each piece in confectioners' sugar. Store in tin boxes (A small amount of honey is an improvement✪ Parisian Sweets.) Lesson 3. Ways of Preparing Potatoes. AIM, To show how to cook starchy vegetables so as to conserve their food value. POINTS TO BE BROUGHT OUT, 1. Aim in cooking starchy vegetables is: A. To render more digestible by softening the cellulose and cook- ing the starch grains. B. To retain the mineral matter. C. To improve the flavor. 2. Points to be considered in cooking: A. Moist heat is necessary to soften the cellulose and cook the starch. This may be obtained by cooking in steam or liquid or by api)lying dry heat to the outside if the vegetable oontaina sufficient water to furnish the necessary moisture. USE AND PREPARATION OF FOOD. 39 B. Much of the valuable mineral matter lies just beneath the skin^ therefore the largest amount of this is retained when the vegetable is cooked in the skin. C. If the vegetable is to be pared, the paring should be as thin as possible, so that the least amount of mineral is lost. D. Since the mineral matter is soluble, the water in which pared or sliced vegetables are cooked contains much food value. It should either be served with the vegetables or used in soups, gravy, sauces, etc. E. The flavor of the vegetable is both volatile and soluble, so may be retained by cooking with as little escape of steam as possible and by retaining the liquid in which the vegetable is cooked. 3. Methods of cooking : A. Baking. — One of the most economical methods, but adapted chiefly to vegetables having an outside coat to hold in the steam and containing enough water to cook the starch and sof len the cellulose. B. Casserole cooking. — Similar to baking, the covered dish taking the place of the peel and retaining flavor and food value. C. Boiling. — A good method when the peel is left on during the cooking, or when only a small amount of liquid is used and this retained for food. D. Escalloping. — Suitable for the first cooking or for reheating left-over vegetables. The liquid is retained and the crumbs on top help to hold in the flavor and add additional flavor when browned. E. Frying. — Suited to very few vegetables, except as a method of preparing left-over dishes. In this case it is used to add flavor. The intense heat tends to overcook the outside before the inside is done, except when the vegetable is sliced very thin. F. Sauteing. — The temperature is somewhat higher than boiling. The fat used tends to soak into the vegetable and render it less di- gestible, but adds flavor by browning. 4. Seasoning and serving :

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Cook fruit until tender. Press through a sieve. Measure, and to each pound of pulp, allow 1 pound of powdered sugar. Cook together over a slow fire, watching carefully to prevent scorching, until it begins to thicken. Cooking the pulp in a double boiler for the last part of the process will prevent scorching. Pour ^-inch layers of the paste on the oiled surface of a flat dish or tray. Place in a current of air and allow to dry for two or three days. When it is dry, sprinkle with granulated sugar and form into a roll. PARISIAN SWEETS. Chop equal parts of figs, dates, and nuts together. Knead on a board dredged with confectioners' sugar until well blended. Roll to ^-inch thickness, cut into cubes or rounds, and dip each piece in confectioners' sugar. Store in tin boxes (A small amount of honey is an improvement.) Lesson 3. Ways of Preparing Potatoes. To show how to cook starchy vegetables so as to conserve their food value. 1. Aim in cooking starchy vegetables is: A. To render more digestible by softening the cellulose and cooking the starch grains. B. To retain the mineral matter. C. To improve the flavor. 2. Points to be considered in cooking: A. Moist heat is necessary to soften the cellulose and cook the starch. This may be obtained by cooking in steam or liquid or by api)lying dry heat to the outside if the vegetable contains sufficient water to furnish the necessary moisture. B. Much of the valuable mineral matter lies just beneath the skin^ therefore the largest amount of this is retained when the vegetable is cooked in the skin. C. If the vegetable is to be pared, the paring should be as thin as possible, so that the least amount of mineral is lost. D. Since the mineral matter is soluble, the water in which pared or sliced vegetables are cooked contains much food value. It should either be served with the vegetables or used in soups, gravy, sauces, etc. E. The flavor of the vegetable is both volatile and soluble, so may be retained by cooking with as little escape of steam as possible and by retaining the liquid in which the vegetable is cooked. 3. Methods of cooking : A. Baking. — One of the most economical methods, but adapted chiefly to vegetables having an outside coat to hold in the steam and containing enough water to cook the starch and soften the cellulose. B. Casserole cooking. — Similar to baking, the covered dish taking the place of the peel and retaining flavor and food value. C. Boiling. — A good method when the peel is left on during the cooking, or when only a small amount of liquid is used and this retained for food. D. Escalloping. — Suitable for the first cooking or for reheating left-over vegetables. The liquid is retained and the crumbs on top help to hold in the flavor and add additional flavor when browned. E. Frying. — Suited to very few vegetables, except as a method of preparing left-over dishes. In this case it is used to add flavor. The intense heat tends to overcook the outside before the inside is done, except when the vegetable is sliced very thin. F. Sauteing. — The temperature is somewhat higher than boiling. The fat used tends to soak into the vegetable and render it less digestible, but adds flavor by browning. 4. Seasoning and serving :

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Peach PasteParisian Sweets

Use and preparation of food