ZShe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1163 
Okra  and  Its  Uses 
Of  what  use  is  okra  or  gumbo?  Is  it 
good  to  eat,  healthful,  bow  prepared  and 
at  what  size  is  it  ready  for  use? 
E.  M.  w. 
Okra  or  gumbo  is  excellent  in 
soups  and  stews,  and  also  served 
separately  as  a  vegetable.  Sometimes 
the  taste  for  it  is  not  acquired  at  first, 
because  of  its  peculiar  glutinous  quality, 
and  it  is  certainly  wholesome,  though  not 
credited  with  high  nutritive  value.  The 
pods  are  ordinarily  ready  to  use  when 
about  two  to  three  inehes  long,  but  some 
remain  tender  when  larger;  they  should 
be  tender  enough  to  pierce  easily  with 
the  fingernail.  They  become  very  tough 
and  fibrous  as  they  grow  older.  The 
following  are  familiar  recipes.  Okra 
combines  well  with  tomato  in  any  style 
and  also  with  sweet  corn. 
Okra,  Creole  Style. — Wash,  trim  and 
cut  into  slices  a  quart  of  young,  tender 
okra ;  place  in  a  granite  saucepan  two 
teaspoonfuls  of  butter,  a  medium-sized 
onion,  a  medium-sized  green  pepper,  both 
minced  fine ;  stir  over  the  fire  until  a 
golden  brown,  then  add  three  large  to¬ 
matoes  peeled  and  cut  into  pieces,  three 
tablefepoonfuls  of  Spanish  or  some  hot 
pepper  sauce  and  salt  to  taste,  and  the 
okra.  Cover  the  saucepan  and  simmer 
gently  for  half  an  hour.  Turn  out  on  a 
hot  dish  and  sprinkle  over  with  a  tea¬ 
spoonful  of  minced  parsley  and  serve. 
Okra  Soup. — Stir  into  a  quart  of 
chicken  stock  two  slices  of  ham,  chopped 
fine,  a  chopped  onion,  and  two  dozen 
okra  pods,  sliced.  Add  a  pint  of  tomato, 
stewed  and  strained.  Boil  all  together 
until  the  okra  is  tender;  season  and 
serve. 
Gumbo. — Joint  a  fowl,  fry  for  five 
minutes  in  butter  or  nice  fat,  then  put 
meat  in  large  kettle.  Cook  two  sliced 
onions  in  the  fat  in  frying-pan.  then  add 
to  the  chicken  with  half  a  pound  of  lean 
salt  pork  cut  into  dice.  Add  two  quarts 
of  water,  and  let  simmer  about  two 
hours,  then  add  two  dozen  young  okra 
pods,  half  a  pod  of  green  pepper,  chopped, 
and  a  pint  of  sliced  tomatoes.  Simmer 
till  chicken  is  done,  season,  remove  large 
hones,  add  a  pint  of  sweet  corn  pulp, 
five  minutes  before  serving,  and  thicken 
with  a  tablespoonful  of  butter  rolled  in 
flour.  The  real  Southern  gumbo  is  usu- 
ually  thickened  with  fill'*  powder — young 
leaves  of  sassafras,  dried  and  powdered. 
Brunswick  stew  also  calls  for  okra. 
This  is  often  made  of  squirrels,  but  is 
made  from  chicken  as  follows:  Stew  a 
large  fowl  until  the  meat  leaves  the  bone; 
remove  skin,  gristle  and  bones  and  chop 
the  meat  in  coarse  pieces.  Return  to 
the  liquor;  add  a  pint  of  corn  scraped 
from  the  ears,  a  pint  of  young  Lima 
beans,  three  cupfuls  of  tomato,  a  good- 
sized  onion,  minced  fine,  a  pint  of  young 
okras,  a  small  red  pepper,  minced,  a 
litt  le  celery  seed,  two  tablespoon  fills  of 
butter  and  salt,  pepper  and  Worcester¬ 
shire  sauce  to  taste.  Simmer  until  okra 
is  tender  and  then  serve.  The  addition 
of  a  little  paprika  just  before  the  stew 
is  takeu  up  improves  it  greatly.  This 
recipe  is  very  good  for  warming  over 
cooked  meat,  either  beef  or  mutton ;  it 
makes  an  exceedingly  savory  and  eco¬ 
nomical  stew.  The  meat  should  be  cut 
in  ueat.  pieeps,  free  from  gristle  or 
coarse  fat.  then  brought  to  the  simmer¬ 
ing  point  in  gravy,  stock  or  water,  if 
there  is  no  gravy  available,  tW‘  vegetables 
and  Reasoning  being  added  as  in  the  re¬ 
cipe  above. 
Okra  is  canned  for  Winter  use,  and 
also  cut  in  slices  and  dried  like  sweet 
corn. 
Tomatoes  for  Winter  Use 
Green  Tomato  Chili  Sauce. — Slice  the 
green  tomatoes  and  salt  down  as  you  do 
egg  plant,  put  a  weight  on  them  and  let 
stand  until  morning,  then  Tinse  in  cold 
water  to  take  out,  the  salt  and  wash  out 
the  seeds  and  bitter  juice  of  the  green 
tomato.  For  12  tomatoes  take  four  sweet 
green  peppers,  half  dozen  chili  peppers, 
one  large  onion,  one  cupful  vinegar,  one 
tablespoonful  sugar,  two  tenspooufuls  of 
salt,  oue  of  pepper,  two  of  ground  all¬ 
spice,  half  teaspoonful  of  mace,  one  of 
cinnamon,  one.  of  cloves.  Chop  the  toma¬ 
toes  fine,  boil  20  minutes,  strain  and 
press  through  a  sieve.  Chop  the  peppers 
and  onions  very  fine,  first  taking  out  the 
seeds  of  the  peppers.  Boil  all  together 
for  10  minutes ;  add  spices,  then  bottle 
and  seal. 
Tomato  Conserve, — Cut^five  large  sound 
A BARREL 
A  MINUTE 
tomatoes  into  pieces  and  cook  them  until 
they  are  tender*,  with  two  onions,  in  which 
three  or  four  cloves  have  been  stuck,  two 
bay  leaves  and  salt  and  pepper  to  taste. 
Then  turn  the  fruit  on  to  a  fine  sieve 
placed  over  a  bowl  and  drain  off  the  juice. 
Boil  the  juice  until  it  has  been  half  re¬ 
duced.  Next  remove  the  onions  and  hay 
leaves  from  the  tomatoes  left  on  the  sieve 
and  press  the  pulp  through  the  fine  mesh¬ 
es.  Add  to  it  the  juice,  put  the  mixture 
into  wide  mouthed  bottles;  cover  them 
loosely  and  stand  them  in  a  kettle  of 
warm  water  (it  should  he  about  their 
own  temperature).  Bring  the  water  to 
a  boil  and  boil  for  half  an  hour.  Leave 
the  bottles  in  the  kettle  until  they  are 
cool,  then  tighten  their  covers  and  set 
them  in  the  dark.  This  is  excellent  to  use 
in  any  recipe  calling  for  tomato  sauce. 
Egg  Tomatoes  in  Sweet  Pickle. — Pour 
scalding  water  over  seven  pounds  of  the 
egg  tomatoes,  let  them  stand  for  a  mo¬ 
ment,  then  remove  the  skin.  Cover  them 
with  vinegar  much  diluted  with  water 
and  let  them  stand  12  hours.  Tut  one- 
half  cupful  of  weak  vinegar  in  the  pre¬ 
serving  kettle  and  add  part  of  the  toma¬ 
toes,  then  some  sugar  and  any  whole 
spices,  such  as  ginger,  allspice,  cinnamon, 
cloves  and  mace,  using  these  or  even 
more  varieties  according  to  taste.  Add 
Even  Your  Wear 
Can’t  Faze 
These  Socks 
If  there’s  any  work  that 
makes  a  man’s  socks  look 
“all-shot-to-pieces,”  it’s 
farm  work.  Y ou’re  on  your 
feet  most  of  the  time,  doing 
the  jobs  that  are  hard  on 
shoes  and  even  harder  on 
socks.  Don’t  put  up  with 
sore  feet  and  quickly  worn- 
out  hose.  Buysocksthatare 
built  strongest  where 
the  wear  is  hardest. 
DURABLE 
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FOR  MEN,  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN 
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soles  and  toes — securely  knit- 
on  tops.  Buy  Durable  Durham 
Hosiery  for  the  whole  fam- 
ily.  It  gives  everybody  M 
longer  wear  because  it  is 
made  from  the  stretchiest,  tg 
sturdiestyam  we  can  make. 
It  sells  for  10,  15  and  25  1 
cents.  If  your  dealer  hasn’t 
Durable  Durham  Hosiery, 
ask  him  to  get  it 
When  you  're  in  town  have 
the  storekeeper  shozc  you 
the  25 -cent  Mercerized 
Durable  Durham  Hosiery. 
DURHAM  HOSIERY  MILLS 
Durham,  N.  C. 
Embroidery  Designs 
.0*A3/ 
Points  of 
952 — Designs  for  Embroidering  Vestees  with 
Collars,  Price  of  transfer  pa  Hern.  10  ceuts. 
The  BcallopeU  edges  n re  lo  be  padded  and  but¬ 
tonholed,  tile  stems  are  to  be  outlined;  tin-  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  designs  can  be  worked  in  solid 
embroidery  or  as  eyelets.  To  pad  continuous 
scallops,  out.  n  skein  of  thread,  apply  two  or 
more  strunds  over  tile  center  of  the  stamped 
scallops,  keeping  within  the  lines,  tacit  here 
and  there  lti  couching  fashion,  gather  the 
threads  closely  at  each  point-  of  the  scallops  or 
work  elmln  stitch  betweeu  the  stamped  lines, 
heavier  at  the  center,  lighter  at  the  points. 
Buttonhole  closely  over  the  foundation.  To 
make  solid  embroidery,  first  pad  by  darning 
backward  and  forward1  lengthwise  over  the 
stamped  figures,  then  work  closely  over  and  over 
stitches,  working  in  the  opposite  direction  from 
the  padding,  for  eyelets,  first  encircle  by  run¬ 
ning  a  thread  around  each  stamped  outline, 
pierce  the  dots  with  a  stiletto,  cut.  a  slight  silt 
lengthwise  then  crosswise  in  each  oval  figure, 
push  back  tin?  material  on  the  wrong  side  and 
work  closely  over  and  over:  to  outline  tin*  stems, 
take  short  stitches,  keeping  the  needle  toward 
tlio  right  and  work  upward. 
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more  of  the  tomatoes,  more  sugar  ami 
more  spices,  alternating  the  layers  thus 
until  all  the  tomatoes  and  five  pounds  of 
sugar  have  been  used.  Cook  very  gently, 
stirring  just  enough  to  prevent  scorching 
without  breaking  the  tomatoes.  When 
these  are  quite  clear  and  transparent,  re¬ 
move  them  carefully  and  boil  down  the 
syrup.  When  the  syrup  is  thick  strain 
it  and  add  the  tomatoes.  Boil  up  once 
and  pour  into  pint  jars  to  be  sealed  at 
onee. 
Sour  Green  Tomato  Pickle. — Peel 
green  tomatoes  and  to  each  quart  add 
three  small  cucumbers,  one  pint  small 
white  onions,  two  green  peppers,  quarter 
of  a  pound  of  stilt,  and  half  a  pound  of 
mustard  seed.  Chop  all  fine,  mix  and  set 
away  in  a  jar  for  twenty-four  hours; 
then  cover  with  good  vinegar  and  place 
bits  of  horseradish  root  on  top.  Cover, 
but  do  not  seal.  / 
Green  Tomato  Catsup. — One  peck  of 
green  tomatoes  and  two  large  onions 
sliced.  Place  them  in  layers,  sprinkling 
salt  between;  let  them  stand  24  hours 
and  then  wash  and  drain  them.  Add  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  mustard  seed,  one 
ounce  allspice,  one  ounce  cloves,  oue 
ounce  ground  mustard,  oue  ounce  ground 
ginger,  two  tablespoon  fuls  black  pepper, 
two  teaspoonfuls  celery  seed,  a  quarter  of 
a  pound  of  brown  sugar.  Put  till  in  pre¬ 
serving  pan,  cover  with  vinegar  and  boil 
two  hours;  then  strain  through  a  sieve 
and  bottle  for  use. 
You  spend  the  winter  indoors.  Beautiful, 
harmonious  surroundings  mono  winter  cheer.  Be¬ 
fore  cold  weather,  go  through  your  home  and 
"epruce  up"  the  furniture  end  woodwork.  It’9 
sasy  and  a  pleasure  with 
WITH  A  HANNEGAN  STEADY 
STREAM  PUMP.  3-In-One. 
More  Wator,  Leas  Power,  Leaa  Noise. 
Sond  tor  Catalog  a 
WESTERN  PUMP  &  MACHINERY  CO..  Inc. 
ST.  PAUL,  -  MINN. 
BOOKS  WORTH  READING 
FI  How  Crops  Grow,  Johnson . 1.50  | 
1 1  Celery  Culture,  Beattie . 60  | 
ij  Greenhouse  Construction,  Taft....  1.50  | 
The  Rural  New  Yorker,  333  West  30th  St.,  N.  3 
Tha  Giant 
I  Painter 
Hats  are  the  most  euuuing  beasts  known.  They  will  eat  anything  but 
poison.  They  will  go  anywhere  except  in  a  trap.  But  Itid-of-Rats  (Non- 
1‘oisonoils)  gets  them  every  time.  So  (lull clous  to  Rats  and  Mice  that  they 
go  for  it  like  tiles  for  molasses.  Clears  this  destructive  pest  in  short 
order  from  houses,  corn  cribs,  grain  bins,  poultry  houses,  stables,  etc. 
Harmless  to  domestic  animals.  To  clear  a  farm,  figure  at  the  rate  of  3 
cents  per  acre:  once  cleared  1  cent  per  acre  per  year  will  keep  it  clear. 
Give  Rid-of-Rats  a  trial.  If  it  doesn’t  do  all  we  claim,  simply  write  us, 
and  back  comes  the  money.  If  your  dealer  can’t  supply  you,  order  direct 
from  us. 
Sample  box  10  can/s.  Dozen  boxes  $1.00  east  of  Miss.;  r$1.20  west  of  Miss. 
BERG  &  BEARD  MFC.  CO.,  12-14  Steuben  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
