902 
C'Atf RURAL NEW.YORKER 
Things to Eat 
Homemade Beet Syrup 
It looks now as if sweets, including 
sugar and syrup, will be high in price 
next year. In England and Germany 
these sweets have gone to prices which 
are nearly out of sight. Economical 
country people are looking .about for sub¬ 
stitutes which may bo grown on the 
farm. Honey will serve in many cases. 
Arrangement for Cutting Beets 
and make an excellent substitute for 
sugar and molasses. Not all farmers 
have bees, however, and it is good to 
have a variety. Thus the Department 
of Agriculture advises fanners to try 
growing sugar beets, and extracting a 
small quantity of syrup for home use. 
We spoke about this several weeks ago. 
Of course the beets should now be grow¬ 
ing and have reached a fair size in or¬ 
der to get them through properly. Oi-di- 
nary table beets will give some sugar, 
but not as much of course as the true 
sugar beet. The beet should stand as 
long as is safe in the ground and make a 
full growth if possible. The syrup mak¬ 
ing described by the Department is very 
simple. The beets should be dug, thor¬ 
oughly dried and cleaned. Then the 
crowns are ctit off down to the iioint of 
the lowest scar made by the leaf. The 
crown or upper pait of the beet contains 
a large part of the salts taken from the 
ground, and these should be loft out of 
the syrup. It is necessary to have the 
beets perfectly clean. On a small scale 
this cleaning can be done by throwing 
the beets into .a tub of cool water. After 
soaking for a few minutes, when the dirt 
has been loosened, the beets are thor¬ 
oughly senibbed with a coarse brush 
made of stiff bristle or wire. When these 
beets are thoroughly cleaned, they are 
cut into thin slices. A cutter used in 
making sauerkraut is useful for this pur¬ 
pose, fastened to the top of a barrel as 
shown in the picture. 
A bushel of beets will make about two 
bu.shels of slices. This should be put in 
a barrel at once and covered with about 
10 gallons of water. Boiling water is 
best. Cover the barrel with a blanket 
or doth to retain the heat, shake it from 
time to time and let the beets soak for 
an hour. Then draw off the water and 
strain through several thicknesses of 
cheesecloth. No pressing is reciuired, as 
the hot water washes out the sugar. This 
liquid is slowly boiled down until it 
makes a thick synip. The liquid as it 
comes from the barrel has a sweetish- 
bitter taste. In boiling a scum or froth 
rises to the top. This contains the strong 
beet-like taste, and when it is skimmed 
off and thrown out the syrup is left 
sweet and wholesome. 
Rules for Cooking Barley 
There has been a considerable increase 
in the acreage of barley this year. This 
is true particularly in some localities 
where the grain never was grown before. 
Early in the year many people came ask¬ 
ing about sowing Spring wheat through 
parts of New England and the Middle 
States. Our general advice was not to 
attempt Spring wheat very much south 
of the southern line of Vermont and New 
Hampshire. Either oats or hurley will 
usually give more grain feed south of 
that line. Many people took this advice 
and seeded barley, and at present the 
crop looks well. What can be done with 
it as a substitute for wheat? On most 
farms the best thing to do will be to use 
it as chicken feed. 
As regards its value as human food, 
too little barlej’^ has been used thus far 
in this country, most of the crops having 
been sold to the brewers for beer-making. 
Now, however, it is evident that the 
brewing industry is coming to its end, 
and barley will be used more and more 
as human food. An excellent circular 
entitled “Twelve Ways to T’se Barley,” 
has been issued by the Eniversity of Wis¬ 
consin at Madison. This little pamphlet 
by Amy L. Daniels states that up to 
1870 the women of England and Northern 
Europe well understood the value of 
barley meal. The great production of 
wheat throughout the world has driven 
barley very largely out of consumption, 
and barley cookery has become a lost art. 
High-grade barley contains as much pro¬ 
tein as hard wheat. The methods of 
cooking it ai*e more nearly like those of 
corn meal, and in making barley bread a 
combination of v.'heat flour and barley 
flour should be used The circular gives 
12 recipes for using barley, and they run 
all the way from barley pone to sponge 
cake. Here are three of them: 
Fried Barley Balls.—1 quart boiling 
water, li/4 cups bailey meal, 2 small 
eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon but¬ 
ter. Cook barley meal in boiling salted 
water at least one hour in double boiler. 
Cool, add butter and well-beaten eggs. 
Form into balls 1% inches in diameter, 
roll in flour, and fry in deep fat. IServe 
with syrup and butter. 
Barley Spoon Bread .—Vi cup salt 
pork cut in i/i-inch cubes, 4 cups boiling 
water, 1 cup barley meal. 2 or 3 eggs. 
Cook salt pork in saucei)an until slightly 
brown, add Avater and Avhen boiling, 
sprinkle in barley meal, stirring constant¬ 
ly. (^ook in a double boiler one hour, 
<-()ol, and add well-beaten eggs. Turn 
into buttered dish and bake in a moder¬ 
ate oven % hour. 
Scotch Broth.—.3 pounds mutton from 
forequarter, 2 quarts cold Avater, % table- 
s])()onful salt, teaspoonful pep])er, 1 
small onion, carrots and turnips, C‘»l> 
each cut in small t_ubes, 2 tablespoons 
flour, o tablespoons pearl barley. Wash 
meat, remove skin and fat, and cut meat 
in small pieces; add Av.ater, seasonings, 
vegetables, barley a^d flour mixed Avith 
;i little cold Avater. Cook sIoaa'I.v from 
six to eight hours. As Av.ater evaporates, 
add enough to make up for that lost by 
evaporation. 
Use of “Left Overs” 
When a few pieces of fried ham are 
left over I cut off the rind and some of 
the fat, put it through the food chopper, 
add about iy> times as much cold pota¬ 
toes (mashed and seasoned are excellent) 
an onion and a little pepper. Made into 
croquettes; these are nice for breakfast. 
Near the bone the boiled ham cannot 
be neatly sliced. Remove some of the fat 
(not all or it will be too dr.v), chop it. 
add an onion, the same amouut-of cold 
boiled potatoes, cut in cubes, a dash of 
pepper and celery salt, a hard-boiled egg 
cut quite fine, then any got)d salad dress¬ 
ing. Any meat can be substituted. 
The bone is really the sweetest part of 
the ham. When there is not enough meat 
to be cut well, boil the bone for two to 
three hours, starting it in cold water. 
Add one or two sliced onions, a feAV 
peeled potatoes and a turnip (not diced). 
When done, remove vegetables, .strain the 
small pieces of meat Avhich have fallen 
from the bone, make a gravy from two 
cups of the liquor. This is a nojrishing 
meal for two or three people and A-ery 
economical. 
For the next meal add stewed tomatoes 
to the rest of the liquor; strain, and 
thicken for a tasty soup. If any be left 
over mash a feAv baked beans you may 
haA'e among your left-o\’ers and you have 
a palate-tickling bean soup. 
On making stuffed eggs to serve Avith 
a salad I find it much cheaper, and time- 
saving to remove the yolks, mash thor¬ 
oughly and add enough of the salad dress¬ 
ing to moisten Avell. Then replace the 
mixture into AA’hites. This supplies all 
the ingredients and is more delect.able. 
Instead of garnishing with plain hard- 
boiled eggs. I usualfy prepare them this 
Avay, and find it is not economical, for 
they are all eaten ! 
My chocolate pudding tickles my hus- 
band’s ai)petite. Bring one pint of milk 
to the boiling point, mix Avell half a cup 
granulated sugar, one tablespoon corn¬ 
starch, one tablespoon cocoa, pinch of 
salt. Add enough milk to moisten aa'cII, 
add to hot milk. Wlnm thick enough, re¬ 
move, add one teaspoon A’anilla. This is 
very good Avhen wann, served Avith cream, 
plain or Avhipped. When cream is as 
scarce as it is noA\’, squeeze the juice of 
one orange, sweeten Avith poAvdered sugar. 
Add the stiffly beaten Avhite of one egg. 
When this sauce is used I add the yolk 
to the mixture Avhich goes into the boil¬ 
ing milk. Do not add the Avhite of egg 
until just before serving, as it cakes. 
How many housekeepers make apple 
flop? You all have many apple desserts. 
ila\'e j’ou this? Line the sides only of a 
baking dish with a rich biscuit crust. 
l*are and core enough apples to fill to the 
top of crust, when sliced. Season with 
cinnamon and sugar. Add a ^little Avater 
to make some juicy sauce, but' not enough 
to make it soggy. CoA'er Avith more 
crust, piercing to alloAV the steam to es¬ 
cape. The crust Avhen baked should be 
about half-inch thick. If the dough is 
patted out instead of rolled it is not so 
apt to be tough. mks. t. n. leavis. 
Rhode Island. 
Simple Fare at Church Suppers 
We Avomen can help in the present Avar 
by rounding the corners in our church 
and (Jrange suppers. Tavo Aveeks hence 
I Ashall gladl.A’ entertain the ladies’ aid of 
our little church. The returns from these 
meetings, aside from the spiritual and 
social uplift, amount to about .$5 each 
meeting, possibly if the aid dinner is AA-ell 
attended Ave Avill collect ,$(5. charging each 
one present 1,5 cents for his dinner. Con¬ 
servatively estimating, the dinners Avhich 
Ave seiwe for this amount, if secured in an 
average cit.v restaurant. Avould cost not 
less than 75 cents, and probably over $1 
for each per.son. .lust because some of 
us had lard in crocks on our pantry 
shelves, and canned fruits, Ave did not 
realize that pies Avere made out of valu¬ 
able material. At our last aid eight dif¬ 
ferent kinds of pie Avere sei’ved and six 
different kinds of pickles. A liberal and 
varied dessert in addition to vegetables, 
.several kinds of cake and the rare potato 
and still more expensive beef make our 
semi-monthly meetings neighborhood oc¬ 
casions Avhich are heartily anticipated by 
the menfolk, since we all knoAV the short¬ 
est way to a man’s heart. We women 
dread these occasions, yet Ave gladly bear 
the burden of them for the cause. My 
plan is to simplify the menu, and by all 
means hope to stop the men at the third 
piece of pie. We Avomen believe that if 
a farmer is to be a valiant soldier of the 
soil he can’t get the fighting spirit on pie 
A Community Bread Baking Oven in Palestine 
July 21, 1917. 
and cake, neglecting the baketl beans, 
mashed potato and beef gravy. We peo¬ 
ple who are Grangers have been equally 
lavish with our suppers, and we all lost 
money by trying to “spread.” 
My idea for one of these dinners dur¬ 
ing the pre.sent national situation, is to 
serve one vegetable aside from potatoes, 
a meat gravy, one kind of pie, one kind 
of pickle, bread and butter and coffee. 
This Avould be an ample menu and Avould 
lessen the labor considerably. There still 
AA'ould be food material left in the com¬ 
munity which might be at the service of 
the government food dictators. Further¬ 
more, our husbands could go directly to 
their Avork rather than wait around all 
afternoon for an attack of indigestion to 
develop. mrs. Gertrude jack. 
R. N.-Y.—The famoms Niagara Go. 
(N. Y'.) Farmers’ Club has monthly 
meeting.s—once each year in every town 
of the county. These meetings are won¬ 
derfully successful. They are u.sually 
held in the local church and the women 
of the church or Grange serA’e dinner and 
usually supper. These meals are models 
—very simple (much like a farmers’ 
regular dinner) AA'ell cooked and well 
seiwed. It is a fine art to feed a croAvd 
of hungry farmers as they do it at these 
gatherings. 
The Art of Canning Chicken 
Are the bulletins issued by the govern¬ 
ment free? If not, Avhat do they charge? 
I AA'Ould like to get one on canning meats. 
I read in the Hope Farm Notes about 
canning chicken. Would you tell how it 
is done? MRS. T. M. 
Ohio. 
I haA’e been canning meat for 20 yenrs. 
and have never lost a can. I have never 
read a Government bulletin on the sub¬ 
ject. Most of the bulletins are free. I 
find that one reason more AA’omen do not 
can meat is that they get the idea it is a 
big undertaking, and calls for special 
utensils. I am a busy Avoman Avith many 
things to do that must be done every day, 
so have no time for big jobs. As for 
utensils I use only Avhat the household 
affords. I haA’e an old-fashioned iron pot 
that holds four quait cans .set on a cir¬ 
cular bit of board. The steamer coA-er 
fits it closely. I use this Avhen I can 
chicken, as four is as many as I can find 
time to prepare. I use the Avash-boiler 
Avhen I Avant more room. 
There is one thing I have noticed in 
all articles on canning that I have read. 
All say use neAV rubbers. I Avill vary 
that and say u.se only good rubbers; some 
neAV ones are not good and some good ones 
are not new. 
Prepare chicken as for cooking, i)ack 
raAA’, bones and all, in glass cans. I use 
any kind I haA’e. but the Avide-mouth cans 
Avith Avire spring over the cover are 
easie.st to use. A quart can will hold an 
ordinar.v-sized Leghorn hen, but some of 
the larger breeds more than fill a can. I 
leaA’e out the back and neck. It takes 
practice to fit the i)ieces in, so the can 
Avill l>e p.acked tightly. I save the giz¬ 
zard to top off Avitli and before putting it 
in I add a teaspoon of .salt. Do not put 
any AA’ater in the can. The juices of the 
meat Avhen cooked Avill not fill the can, 
but the meat aboA-e the juice will keep. 
If it is a screAV-top can scrcAV top on 
tight: then loosen ju.st a little. If put 
on too loo.se the juice Avill draAV out in 
cooking. If a Avire-top can fasten ju.st 
the one wire that holds the lid on. Place 
in kettle on a board Avith sticks betAveen 
the cans to keep them from touching; 
put in Avater, not hot, to come about 
half Avay to top of cans. Cook four hours 
after the Avater boils, and keep it boil¬ 
ing. Have hot Avater ready to fill up the 
kettle if any boils aAvay. If more con- 
HEGiVAR fCWCRS 
'©t'RNES 
Reproduced From New York Evening Telegram 
venient the four hours ma.v be divided to 
suit. I set the kettle aside, leaving the 
cans in the Avater until I can finish boil¬ 
ing ; at the end of the four hours’ boiling 
remove cans and examine the rubbers. I 
have extra rubbers ready that have stood 
in Avarm water. If the can is sealed do 
not remove the lid, but if the lid is loose, 
reim>ve, put on ucav rubber and seal 
quickly, I am convinced that this is the 
point Avhere some fail. Do not alloAV any¬ 
thing to come in contact with the con¬ 
tents of the can, the inside of the can, 
or the inside of the cover. O that fatal 
little wipe with a cloth to make it look 
neat! c. 
