526 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



away you were supposed to sit down until your instructor came and 

 viewed your work. If it was properly done and everything in order 

 you were excused, if^not, you were told wherein it failed and expected to 

 put it in order. Dish towels were to be hung up neatly and while at work 

 you must keep your table tidy. 



One thing that I very much liked about the work there was the strong 

 emphasis placed upon order, which I consider is one of the first principles 

 of good housekeeping in the true sense of the word. 



The first morning was spent in cooking vegetables, the next cereals, the 

 two following days the cooking of meats, next the cooking for the sick and 

 the last day fruits. Here we learned many ways of cooking and serving, 

 some very apetizing and attractive dishes, and obtained some very helpful 

 ideas, some new and some old. I will give a few of them, which might 

 be of benefit to some of you. 



Pepper is a superfluous article of diet, there being no nutrition what- 

 ever in it. Scientific cooks use less spices. The day is coming when we 

 will have less and less highly spiced foods. 



We must eat what we can procure and what satisfies every need of the 

 body. Prepare your foods, not in the easiest way, but the most palatable 

 and nutritious. The basis of palatable foods is sanitary cooking, and the 

 cooking of our foods the proper length of time for each article, and in the 

 proper manner. 



They advised cornmeal, oatmeal and vitos as the nutritious breakfast 

 foods. The reason so many people do not like breakfast foods is because 

 they are not thoroughly cooked and not served in an appetizing way. Oat- 

 meal is of very high food value. Mrs. Feuling says: "I have never found 

 a more appetizing, palatable and nutritious dish than the breakfast foods 

 when properly cooked and properly served." Long cooking is very impor- 

 tant. They may be served with cream and sugar and an addition of jelly or 

 fruit, if so desired. The uncooked breakfast foods are not of very high 

 food value for the bulk and are high priced and are for lazy people. 

 There is more nurition in yellow cornmeal than in white. 



So much lies in the way an egg is cooked in respect to its digestability. 

 They should never be cooked at boiling temperature. Have been tested 

 in test tubes with the strongest of acids and found absolutely indigestible 

 when cooked at the boiling point. This is the way they advise cooking 

 them: Take one pint of boiling water to each egg; take off the stove, 

 then drop in the eggs and let stand ten minutes for a soft, nice, creamy 

 egg, for a firm egg, twenty minutes. 



Use forethought about your meals, meats especially, vegetables some- 

 times, cereals always. 



The chief principles in meat cooking lies in what it is to be used for. 

 If for meat sear it over by using boiling water to keep the juices within, 

 and if for soup use cold water. Cook all meats at a temperature above the 

 boiling point and longer than the ordinary recipe. Have your frying pan 

 hot before putting meat into it. Never stick a fork into frying meat, as 

 it permits the juices to escape, but slip the fork under and turn it over. 



When planning a meal one should use good taste in the appearance 

 of the table, serving what will give a contrast of colors. As an illus- 

 tration carrots and potatoes at the same meal make a pretty contrast. 



