EXTENSION COUESE IN VEGETABLE FOODS. 13 



to eat. If wilted, the stalks should be separated and placed in cold 

 water for an hour. They should then be washed and rinsed, wrapped 

 in a cloth, and kept in a cool place. Do not scrape or trim them un- 

 til just before serving. 



EXERCISES, LESSON II. 



Materials needed. — Any available salad plants, such as lettuce, dandelion, 

 chicory, celery, chives, endive, escarole, cabbage, mustard, parsley, peppergrass, 

 radish, romaine, water cress — as many types as possible. If only lettuce or 

 celery can be secured, have one root for each student or group of students. 

 Apples, cucumbers, etc., may also be used. For salad dressings provide olive, 

 cottonseed, or peanut oil, sour cream, peanut butter, eggs, bacon fat, lemon Juice, 

 vinegar, and other seasoning materials, according to the recipes to be chosen 

 from those at the end of this section. 



Excursion. — If feasible, visit markets, farms, or gardens, or gather wild 

 plants. Learn to recognize different salad plants and test their merits as raw 

 foods, alone or with various dressings. 



Weigh head of lettuce with the roots. Remove inedible portions and sort 

 the leaves according to quality ; weigh and estimate the percentage of refuse 

 and relative values of each portion. Pull apart and wash each leaf thoroughly, 

 dry on a cloth without bruising, then arrange in a salad bowl with the larger 

 perfect leaves outside and the tender ones in the center. Torn but otherwise 

 good leaves may be rolled or folded and cut in shreds or ribbons for other salads. 



In the same way clean, weigh, and estimate values of all parts of celery, in- 

 cluding the root. Reserve tough stalks, portions of the root, and coarser white 

 leaves for use in soup stock in some succeeding lesson (V or XI). The tough 

 outer fiber sometimes may be pulled or scraped off. Sort celery like lettuce, 

 reserving tenderest portions to serve in simplest form. If there are enough of 

 the green and the tender white leaves, cook them for greens. Lettuce leaves 

 may be combined with them, if desired. The larger green leaves have too 

 strong flavor for this purpose. Cut the larger, coarser stalks into lengthwise 

 strips and then into quarter-inch slices. Let these stand in a French dressing 

 for an hour or more, then combine with lettuce, nuts, apples cut into dice, or 

 other material, or serve in a hollowed apple or tomato. Section of cabbage or 

 cucumber may be used in this way when celery is not available. 



CABBAGE. 



Cut a portion of the stem from a cabbage, put the cabbage into a dish of water, 

 and cover with a cloth. In 24 hours it will be much crisper, having absorbed 

 water like any withered plant. Take a small, light-weight cabbage, turn back 

 the leaves, and compare with a head of lettuce and with a cabbage of similar 

 size, but weighing twice as much. Cut a cabbage into quarters, take out the 

 inner third of each section and serve as a salad. Sometimes the inner cabbage 

 leaves are tender enough to serve whole like lettuce, but usually they should 

 be shaved with a knife or vegetable cutter or chopped. The coarser outer 

 leaves may be reserved for soup or scalloped cabbage. (See Lessons III 

 and XL) 



