HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 185 



wortliy of thought, more interesting or that gives greater returns 

 for study. Many subjects connected with cookery have been 

 quite clearly worked out. In making bread, for example, we no 

 longer endeavor to follow mother's method. Improvements have 

 been made in milling, giving us better flour; yeast is differently 

 prepared. Our methods must be adapted to our materials. In 

 bread making many interesting questions present themselves 

 such as: What is the nature of yeast? Are any of the laws gov- 

 erning plant life applicable to yeast? How does the growth of 

 the yeast make the bread light, or porous? What five things 

 are accomplished by the heat in baking? Why use wheat flour? 

 Why not use oat flour, or corn flour for fermented bread? Why 

 make this porous bread, is it any more palatable or digestible? 

 So many interesting questions cause us to lose sight of the little 

 labor necessary for mixing, kneading and baking. There is 

 need of further research and experiment in connection with 

 bread making in our homes, for until recently nearly all investi- 

 gation of fermentation has been for the furtherance of the mak- 

 ing of liquors. 



In cooking fruits there is opportunity for and need of much 

 interesting thought. Fresh fruits should be cooked with boil- 

 ing water. As sugar is rendered no more soluble, palatable, 

 digestible, or nutritious by cooking and is, in the presence of some 

 acids, changed to glucose by heat, and consequently is much less 

 sweet, it should be added only long enough to dissolve nicely, be- 

 fore removing the fruit from the fire. Dried fruit should be 

 washed and then soaked in cold water until no longer wrinkled 

 in appearance, but until it has imbibed sufficient water to give 

 the original rounded form and then cooked slowly in the water 

 in which it was soaked. If cooked rapidly in boiling water 

 without first being soaked, the cells are hardened by the heat and 

 lose the power of imbibing water and the fruit comes to the table 

 unsightly, unpalatable and indigestible. 



If we want a nice juicy roast, instead of taking the meat, rub- 

 bing well with salt, and putting in a pan containing water, and 

 "basting " frequently while roasting — which process invariably 

 gives a delicious gravy but a very unsavory roast — we have but 

 to find some method of imprisoning the juices. This is very 

 easily done by searing the cut sides on a smoking hot pan, then 

 cooking by placing in an oven hot enough to keep the meat fry- 

 ing and "sputtering," but not hot enough to emit any smoke ork 

 opening the door. 

 Vol. IV— 24. 



