144 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 1913 



do, and calls for a great deal of thought and care on the 

 part of the cook. Everyone has the instinct of neatness 

 and I do not need to expatiate upon the immaculate linen, 

 bright silver and sparkling glass. 



But there is one thing almost unattainable, and that is, 

 heat. Who does not know the disappointment of the coffee 

 little more than lukewarm. Any one who has had any ex- 

 perience in a hospital has suffered such disappointments. I 

 have spent many weeks in several hospitals, as a victim, 

 and I know what it is to have a tray appear in the morning 

 with the cereal just warm, 

 the coffee without steam, 

 and the toast cold with 

 burnt edges and lonesome 

 bits of butter scattered 

 over the slice. 



Knowing full well that 

 my only hope of getting 

 away, lay in my eating 

 enough to furnish 

 strength, bravely would I 

 struggle to do my part. 

 So, with tears rolling 

 down my cheeks I could 

 eat the food. Why do 

 women cry about food, 

 either when they are eat- 

 ing and are disappointed 

 in the food, or when 

 another fails to eat what 

 they have prepared? 

 Then I mentally resolved 

 that when it came my 

 turn to prepare food for 

 the sick it should always 

 be hot. 



This is by no means im- 

 possible. Have all the 

 dishes which are to be used on the tray as hot as they can 

 be made — before the food is placed upon them or in them. 

 If food is to be carried through long halls then there 

 should be covers over everything meant to be hot. 



The cereals, which should always be thoroughly cooked 

 for everyone, should be watched with even greater care 

 for the convalescent. The toast should be browned, not 

 burned, and, if an edge or corner gets burned, don't let it 

 go onto the tray in that shape. Then spread the butter 

 evenly, being sure to butter the edges of crust which too 

 often are neglected. Toast for the convalescent should be 

 thoroughly dried as well as browned. 



When the welcome time comes that the patient is put on 

 light diet, there your wits must work and your skill be 

 demonstrated. How easy it is to spoil the looks of a 

 poached egg for instance. To be sure the egg is all there 

 if the yolk is broken and smeared over the slice of toast, 

 but will the same interest be there to meet it when it comes 

 before our patient ? 



It is equally easy to have a perfect poached egg if one is 

 careful to observe these hints. Have the egg to be cooked 

 absolutely fresh, this goes without saying; then the water 

 must be boiling rapidly and be strongly salted. Do not 

 touch the egg after dropping it into the water or the white 

 will be separated from the yolk. Gently dip up the water 

 and pour over the egg until it is a white ball. Dip the 

 crusts of the slice of toast in salted water, butter liberally, 

 and, with great care, place the egg upon it. 



The time when the steak is ordered for the patient, which 

 she is "to chew but not swallow," do not make the mistake 

 of giving her the tenderloin, where the fibre is so tender 

 that one either does "swallow," or loses all the good of the 



A DAINTY SANDWICH FOR VALENTINE'S DAY 

 By Mary H. Northend 



A Dainty Sandwich for Valentine's Day. Cream two tablespoons 

 butter, and add one half cup grated American cheese, two tablespoons 

 anchovy essence, paprika and mustard, and one half cup finely chopped 

 olives. Season with salt and spread on lettuce leaves between thin slices 

 of bread. Tie with pink ribbons, and place small hearts cut from 

 candied cherries on the top of each sandwich. 



steak. The tough end of the porterhouse steak contains 

 more real nourishment, and the patient is not tempted to 

 swallow. A very good way too, is to have a small meat 

 press such as is used for young children when beef juice 

 is ordered. Broil a piece of round steak and cut only a 

 few small pieces for the patient, squeezing over these the 

 juice of the rest of the meat. 



Baked apples, to be in their glory, should be served as 

 hot as possible and timed to be done at the time of serving. 

 An apple after standing a half an hour loses that delicious 



lightnesswhich gives flavor. 

 Not everyone knows 

 how to cook prunes. This 

 may be a very rash state- 

 ment but it is true. 

 Prunes are used so much 

 in an invalid's diet that 

 they should be made as 

 palatable as possible. 

 Wash thoroughly after 

 soaking for twenty 

 minutes, then cover well 

 with tepid water. To a 

 pound of prunes put one 

 cup of sugar and a salt- 

 spoon of salt, and stir 

 well into the water around 

 the prunes. Leave them 

 soaking over night and 

 cook slowly for half an 

 hour in the morning. This 

 method gives a rich flavor 

 to the fruit. 



In the matter of deserts 

 we have a large number 

 to choose from, and by 

 making a change every 

 day you can keep the 

 patient in a pleasurable state of anticipation. All the 

 deserts which are usable contain a large proportion of nour- 

 ishment. You may say what you will about desert being 

 only a needless trimming after the real meal is eaten, but 

 I think the character of the meal is determined by the last 

 taste. One may use more ingenuity along this line than 

 anywhere else. 



All the "snows" are permitted. Take one tablespoon of 

 gelatine and soak in a cup of cold water. Add a cup of 

 hot water a cup of sugar and whatever fruit juice or mashed 

 fruit you are to use, another cupful. When this mixture 

 has cooled until it begins to rope, stir in the whites of two 

 eggs beaten to a stiff froth. I have found that the juice of 

 half a lemon may be added to almost all kinds of fruit with 

 success. This is served with a soft custard. Think of the 

 nourishment contained in this set of deserts and all of 

 them pretty. 



Spanish cream, baked custard, chocolate cream with its 

 dots of meringue in place of whipped cream which is too 

 rich for our invalid, and, later on, the white bread pudding, 

 chocolate bread pudding, rice pudding, all so good, and all 

 so attractive with their meringue covers, are a fascinating 

 picture as they come on the tray. Just keep the patient 

 guessing and you go a long way toward keeping up the 

 needful interest in the food which is to mean health and 

 strength. 



Invalid cookery is very interesting and one can do no 

 more satisfactory work than keeping tempting food in 

 tempting form always ready for their invalid, for you do 

 help on the work of recovery, not alone through the actual 

 nourishment but through the pleasant state of mind which 

 the food attractively served places one toward* that end. 



