hampshire county farm bureau monthly 

 home: making 



FIRELESS COOKERS 



GAIN IN POPULARITY 



Hot Soup and Ice Cream Keep 

 tfqually Well 



The fireless cooker is the most versatile 

 kitchen utensil imaginable. Women who 

 have tried them are quick to appreciate 

 their value, and numerous accounts of 

 tireless cookery come into the office. The 

 Home Demonstration Agent recently re- 

 ceived the following testimonial : 

 My dear Miss Harriman : 



Having occasion to go to Northampton 

 sometime ago, I went into Riley's and as 

 he was very much in doubt of never 

 finding those agate three compartment 

 utensils for Fireless Cooker, I brought 

 home the aluminum ones and have used 

 my fireless cooker a good many times. 

 Have made soups, and boiled and creamed 

 potatoes, rice, things with cream gravies 

 and white sauces — preparing them at 

 noon and finding them all hot at supper 

 time. It is also fine for spinach and I 

 have also baked beans. 



It seems rather funny, but one day 

 I'll have hot soup in it and the ne.xt day 

 ice cream. I have tried both vanilla and 

 chocolate and they are fine and it takes 

 such a little ice. One of my neighbors 

 has several dinners to put up so she puts 

 .soup, potato and meat in the cookers, 

 puts it in the wagon and sends it along. 

 Quite an idea. 



I hope this week to make a tender 

 chicken out of an old hen. Oh yes! and 

 I forgot that of course I use it for cooked 

 cereals putting in less water than I would 

 on the stove, as there is no chance for 

 steam to escape. 



Yours most sincerely, 

 Mrs. C . C. Knapp, 



Cumminffton, Mass. 



At Laurel Park, one interesting feature 

 of the six days' program was a demon- 

 stration on "Home Nursing" given by 

 Miss Christine Hall, trained nur.se at 

 Smith College. Miss Hall gave helpful 

 suggestions on children's diseases, making 

 the patient's bed, changing the linen, with 

 the patient in bed, and making the patient 

 comfortable. About fifty women and 

 girls were present at the demonstration. 



MEND POTS AND PANS 



AT GRANGE MEETING 



Cape Cod Grangers Vary Program 



Don't depend on itinerant tinkers to 

 mend your broken kettles, let the Grange 

 do it. 



A certain Grange on Cape Cod decided 

 that the Home Economics program should 

 be different. During the afternoon ' 

 session, the women brought in kitchen 

 utensils that needed mending. In the 

 evening the men were rounded up in four 

 groups and with the repair kits at hand 

 proceeded to mend the .32 broken articles. 



VARIOUS USES FOR TOMATOES 



The tomato, although not very nutri- 

 tious, may be classed as one of our most 

 useful vegetables.- Raw, it makes an 

 attractive and refre.shing salad and may 

 be served by itself or in combination 

 with other vegetables, with meat or with 

 fi.sh. As a vegetable, the tomato may 

 be prepared in many ways. It makes a 

 good foundation for soups and sauces. 

 Made into catsup or pickles it serves as 

 a relish. The addition of a little tomato 

 gives a pleasant, acid flavor to many 

 soups and sauces and also to meat, fish 

 and vegetable dishes. 



When properly canned this vegetable 

 keeps well and retains its natural flavor. 

 The housekeeper who has a generous 

 supply of canned tomatoes on hand will 

 find them very valuable at all times of 

 the year, but especially in the winter 

 months when the variety of vegetables 

 is not great. 



CANNED TOMATOES 



Scald la minutes or until skins loosen. 

 Cold-dip. Remove stems and cores. Cut 

 in pieces or leave whole and pack directly 

 into hot jars. Press down with table- 

 spoon (add no water). If tomatoes are 

 whole fill jar to 1* from top with hot 

 strained juice. Add level teaspoonful 

 salt per quart. Put rubbers and caps of 

 jars into position, not tight. Sterilize in 

 water bath, homemade or commercial, 22 

 minutes. 



Kitchen walls should be painted so 

 that they may be wiped with a damp 

 cloth, making cleanliness possible with- 

 out great demand on strength and with- 

 out the disarrangement caused by white- 

 washing or calcimining. 



Try to make the dishes served of such 

 size that there will be enough to satisfy 

 the appetite of the family and no unneces- 

 sary table or plate waste. Don't be 

 ashamed to plan closely. Thrift in food, 

 means providing enough food, neither too 

 little nor too much. 



The housewife must not practice econ- 

 omy at the expense of the health of her 

 family. Growing children must have 

 good milk to drink as well as other nour- 

 ishing food. 



Why not give a community supper or 

 entertainment now to earn money to help 

 finance the school lunch this fall? Many 

 children in your community would be 

 better workers and have higher rank if 

 you would see to it that a warm dish at 

 noon was provided. 



PRACTICAL HINTS 



ON MAKING JELLIES 



In making jellies, housewives usually 

 find more difliculty than when preserving 

 fruit in any other way. The cause is due 

 probably to the fact that no hard and 

 fast rules can be given. The following 

 directions have been given by Prof. 

 Chenoweth after experimenting for some 

 time at the Mass. Agricultural College. 



In making jellies three things must be 

 present in the fruit juice. These are 

 pectin, acid and sugar. All three of 

 these occur in some fruits, while othei's 

 may lack either the pectin or acid in 

 suflicient quantity. This explains why it 

 is relatively easy to make jelly out of 

 certain fruit juices like the apple and the 

 plum, but difficult or impossible to get 

 good jelly from such fruits as the peach, 

 cherry and some of the small fruits. 



All fruit is at its maximum quality 

 when it is just ripe. At this time, also, 

 most fruits which normally contain acids 

 and pectin in sufficient quantities to pro- 

 duce jellies are in their prime for jelly 

 making. If one must use fruits slightly 

 over-ripe either add a small quantity of 

 the same fruit that is under-ripe or add 

 another fruit that is known to contain 

 pectin. 



If the fruit is known to contain pectin 

 but is deficient in acid the addition of a 

 small amount of juice from an acid fruit, 

 such as cherry, currant plum or apple, 

 will correct this deficiency. No hard and 

 fast rule regarding the amount of this 

 acid juice to be added can be given be- 

 cause the quantity will vary somewhat 

 It should never exceed one-half of the 

 non-acid fruit. 



Test for Pectin : 



1. Alcohol test. (WOOD ALCOHOL 

 IS A POISON. It should be labeled as 

 such and great care must be taken in 

 its use.) 



Mix 1 tablespoon of the cooked juice 

 with 1 tablespoon of alcohol; if pectin 

 is present it will collect either in a solid 

 mass (which indicates a large amount), 

 or in small particles (which indicates 

 small amount.) This test should be 

 watched carefully as the wood alcohol 

 tends to dissolve the pectin in a short 

 time. 



2. Epsom Salts Test. Mix together 

 1 teaspoon of cooked fruit juice, i tea- 

 spoon of Ep.son salts. Stir until all are 

 dissolved and let stand five minutes. If 

 the mixture sets into a jelly within this 

 time it is a good jellying juice. 



Preparation of Fruit. Wash fruit 

 thoroughly and, if fruit is large, cut. 

 Slice apples i inch thick at right angles 

 to the core, running from the stem to 

 the blossom end. When cut this way the 

 Concluded on page 7 



