Vegetarian Cook Book

to make the proper consistency to spread nicely. A wire whip or potato masher is an excellent utensil for mixing. A little salt can be added if desired. Nut butter does not keep long when mixed with water. NUT CREAM Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons. Hot water, 1 pint. Salt, 1 teaspoon. Add enough water to the peanut butter to emulsify it as for table use; then dilute with the remainder of water, add salt, set on the stove, and bring to a boil; it is then ready to serve. CRYSTALLIZED PEANUTS Peanuts, 1 quart. Egg, 1. Sugar. Use peanuts that have been baked enough that they will not have a raw taste. Beat the egg slightly with two tablespoonfuls of water, stir well into the peanuts, and let stand about ten minutes in a colander; then roll in sugar, and turn again into the colander, which should have rather large perforations ; rub out all loose sugar, spread on a pan, and dry slowly in a warm place. NUT PREPARATIONS 313 SALTED PEANUTS Prepare as for crystallized peanuts, using salt instead of sugar. Care should be exercised not to leave too much salt on the nuts. If not for immediate use, place in fruitjars, and screw on the covers tight. TO BLANCH ALMONDS Remove the hard shells, and let the kernels stand in boiling water until the red skins will slip off when pressed between the fingers. FRUITS AND THEIR PREPARATION FEUITS AND THEIR PREPARATION It is not the intent of this chapter to exhaust the consideration of the topic of fruit and its service, but to drop a few suggestions that wiU assist the reader in varying the bill of fare. Fruits are usually served first at breakfast and lunch, and last at dinner. Apples: plain; sauce; baked, and served with cream and sirup. Apricots: plain; sauce; sliced, and served with cream. Bananas : plain ; sliced or baked, and served with cream. Blackberries: plain; with cream; stewed. Cherries: plain; stewed. Currants, black, red, or white: plain; stewed; as salad. (See strawberry salad.) Date^: plain; puree; sometimes stewed. Figs : plain ; sliced with cream ; stewed ; steamed. Grapes: plain; stewed; salad. Grapefruit; cut in halves, and sprinkled with sugar; served plain. Green gage plums: plain; stewed. Huckleberries: plain; with cream. Melons — cantaloup, musk, and Spanish melons, and casabas: cut in suitable pieces, seeds removed, filled with broken ice, and served. Nectarines: plain; sliced with cream; stewed. Oranges: plain; sliced with powdered sugar. Peaches: plain; stewed; sliced with cream. Pears: plain; stewed; baked. (317) Plums: plain; stewed. Pineapples: fresh sliced; diced; grated; canned. Pomegranates : cut in sections and served plain ; seeded, crushed, and prepared as nectar. Prunes: fresh; stewed. Quinces: usually served as preserves, or stewed with apples. Easpberries, red and black : plain ; with cream ; stewed*. Strawberries: plain; with cream; salad; stewed. APPLE SAUCE Much time, effort, and material may be saved by the following method of stewing apples: Wash the fruit, remove decayed portions, cut in quarters, and remove only a small portion of stem and blossom ends. No harm comes from cooking sound cores and skins. Pass through a fine colander, and sweeten. If they were cooked in very little water, the portion remaining in the colander may be moistened, and thus a trifle more of pulp be saved. MAPLE APPLES Apples, 4.