fht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
979 
Persimmons  and  How  to  Use  Them 
t’ART  I 
Persimmons  are  so  plentiful  in  the 
South  that  they  should  be  used  in  cook¬ 
ing  a  great  deal  more  than  they  are. 
Aside  from  the  date,  no  fruit  equals  the 
persimmon  in  food  value.  When  persim¬ 
mons  are  dried,  although  they  are  not  so 
sweet,  they  taste  a  great  deal  like  dates, 
and  when  sweetened  enough  they  may  be 
substituted  in  most  recipes  for  that  fruit. 
The  astringency  of  persimmons  is  made 
much  more  noticeable  when  they  are 
cooked  ;  therefore  in  all  dishes  where  per¬ 
simmons  are  cooked  it  is  well  to  add  one- 
half  teaspoon  of  baking  soda  to  each  cup 
of  persimmon  pulp.  In  most  recipes 
using  dates,  in  substituting  persimmons, 
use  this  rule  or  formula.  In  any  such 
recipes,  instead  of  the  given  quantity  of 
dates,  use  twice  as  much  prepared  per¬ 
simmon  pulp  as  the  amount  of  dates 
called  for. 
To  prepare  the  persimmon  pulp  for 
substituting,  add  half  as  much  sugar  to  it 
as  pulp  and  add  one-half  teaspoon  of  soda 
for  each  cup  of  persimmon  pulp.  Sub¬ 
tract,  from  the  amount  of  liquid  called 
for  by  the  date  recipes,  an  amount  of 
liquid  equal  to  half  the  amount  of  pre¬ 
pared  persimmon  pulp  usea.  The  liquid 
thus  subtracted,  and  the  sugar  thus  add¬ 
ed,  each  just  equal  in  amount  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  dates  called  for  by  the  date  recipe. 
If  the  persimmons  are  to  be  dried,  pre¬ 
pare  them  for  use  in  the  following  way  : 
Wash  them  and  break  them  in  two,  and 
spread  on  plates  in  the  sun,  on  a  screened 
porch,  or  put  them  in  a  rather  cool  oven 
until  they  are  about  half  dry.  Now  the 
seeds  can  be  easily  removed.  Be  careful 
to  gcc  every  seed  out,  for  if  any  seed  is 
left  in  it  will  give  the  pulp  a  "puckery” 
taste.  Now  the  drying  may  be  com¬ 
pleted. 
The  following  are  some  good,  well- 
tested  recipes.  Doubtless  a  little  experi¬ 
menting  will  suggest  others. 
Persimmon  Bread. — To  one  cup  per¬ 
simmon  pulp  add  one  cup  water,  one-half 
teaspoon  soda,  one  yeast  cake,  two  table¬ 
spoons  shortening,  flour  to  make  a  stiff 
dough.  Set  to  rise  and  make  like  or¬ 
dinary  light  bread. 
Persimmon  Nut  Bread — -One  pint 
bread  sponge,  one  cup  chopped  nut  meats, 
two  tablespoons  maple  or  brown  sugar, 
two  cups  of  persimmon  pulp,  a  little  salt. 
Add  two  tablespoons  caraway  seeds  if 
desired.  Mix  the  ingredients  thoroughly. 
Add  flour  enough  to  form  into  a  loaf. 
Knead  or  stir  well.  Let  rise  until  double 
its  size,  brush  over  with  beaten  egg.  The 
top  of  each  loaf  may  be  sprinkled  with 
coriander  seeds. 
Persimmon  Buns. — One  quart  (or  four 
cups)  light  bread  sponge,  two  cups  white 
sugar,  l1/^  cups  warm  milk  or  water,  one- 
half  cup  of  soft  butter  or  lard,  one  egg, 
one  cup  persimmon  pulp,  one-half  tea¬ 
spoon  soda  and  a  pinch  of  salt.  Add 
flavoring,  one  teaspoon  cinnamon,  one- 
half  teaspoon  grated  nutmeg  or  two  table¬ 
spoons  grated  orange  rind,  may  be  used. 
Persimmon  Raised  Cake. — Twto  cups 
light  bread  sponge,  l1/,  cups  sugar,  one- 
half  cup  butter,  two  eggs,  one  cup  per¬ 
simmons,  two  teaspoons  nutmeg,  one  tea¬ 
spoon  cinnamon,  one  teaspoon  soda,  dis¬ 
solved  in  a  little  water.  Mold  into  a  loaf. 
When  light,  bake  in  a  rather  slow  oven, 
as  it  scorches  easily. 
Persimmon  Waffles. — Two  cups  flour, 
two  teaspoons  baking  powder,  one-half 
teaspoon  salt,  one  cup  persimmon  pulp, 
two  tablespoons  melted  butter,  one-half 
teaspoon  soda,  two  eggs.  Sift  dry  ingre¬ 
dients  together  twice.  Rub  in  the  butter, 
add  beaten  eggs  and  then  add  enough 
milk  to  make  a  smooth,  thin  batter — 
about  three-fourths  cup.  Bake  in  a  well- 
greased  waffle  iron.  Serve  hot  and  crisp, 
with  butter  and  syrup. 
To  vary,  add  two  tablespoons  peanut 
butter  or  add  one-fourtli  cup  sugar.  For 
a  fruitier  waffle  or  griddle  cake  sub¬ 
stitute  two  cups  of  persimmons,  and  one 
teaspoon  soda  for  the  amounts  given 
above.  Cornmeal  may  replace  half  the 
flour. 
Persimmon  Filled  Muffins. — Make  muf¬ 
fin  mixture  with  wheat  flour  or  half_  corn- 
meal.  Prepare  a  persimmon  mixture 
with  one-half  cup  sugar  and  one-half 
teaspoon  of  soda  for  each  cup  of  persim¬ 
mon  pulp.  Beat  well.  Fill  the  hot  gem 
pans  half  full  of  muffin  mixture,  then 
put  a  rounded  teaspoon  of  the  persimmon 
mixture  in  each,  and  put  a  little  more 
muffin  mixture  on  top.  Each  muffin 
should  contain  a  fruit  center. 
Persimmon  Rice  Pudding. — One  quart 
milk,  one-third  cup  well-washed  rice,  one 
tablespoon  butter,  one-third  cup  sugar, 
one-half  cup  dried  persimmons  cut  in 
small  pieces,  or  one  cup  fresh  persimmon 
pulp,  and  one-half  teaspoon  soda.  Flavor 
with  one  teaspoon  vanilla  or  nutmeg  and 
cinnamon  if  desired.  Bake  in  a  slow 
oven  about  three  hours,  until  creamy  and 
thick,  stirring  occasionally  (at  least  dur¬ 
ing  the  first  hour).  A  good  dessert  to 
prepare  on  wash  or  honing  day. 
Persimmon  Bread  Pudding.  Two  cups 
stale  bread  crumbs,  1V\  cups  sugar,  one 
cup  persimmon  pulp  mixed  with  one-halt 
teaspoon  soda,  two  eggs  well  beaten,  1% 
cups  milk,  one-half  teaspoon  each  of  nut¬ 
meg,  cinnamon  and  cloves,  one-half  tea¬ 
spoon  salt  and  1V2  teaspoons  of  baking 
powder.  Heat  the  milk  and  pour  aver 
the  bread  crumbs.  Add  sugar,  »:gs,  salt, 
spices,  and,  finally,  persimmon  pulp  and 
baking  powder.  Mix  thoroughly.  Pour 
into  buttered  bakb>r  dish  and  bake  in  a 
moderate  over..  Serve  with  creamy 
sauce,  cream  or  whipped  cream,  as  pre¬ 
ferred. 
EUNICE  SMITH. 
Improving  the  Child’s  Vocabulary 
To  the  mothers  who  are  especially  in¬ 
terested  in  reading  for  the  little  folks  I 
would  like  to  tell  of  a  discovery  I  have 
recently  made.  It  would  be  easy  to  apply 
it  to  the  children’s  school  books  or  other 
books,  although  it  came  to  me  in  the 
effort  to  make  use  of  a  magazine  which 
was  sent  to  us  and  which  contained  some 
stories  beyond  my  tivo  children,  who  are 
four  and  five  and  a  half. 
I  found  in  the  magazine  the  story  of 
Christopher  Columbus  told  in  a  most  in¬ 
teresting  form  and  nicely  illustrated,  but 
the  sentences  were  many  of  them  too 
long,  the  phrases  unfamiliar  and  the 
words  not  in  the  vocabulary  of  such  little 
tots.  I  hesitated  to  read  the  story  as  it 
was  written,  but  I  knew  I  could  not  tell 
it  as  entertainingly  unless  I  kept  the 
book  open  before  me.  So  I  determined 
to  try  a  combination.  I  began  to  read 
the  story  from  the  book,  reading  slowly 
especially  in  the  descriptive  parts,  as  all 
little  folks  like  to  have  us  do.  We  came 
to  the  word  wharves,  and  I  explained  it 
in  a  very  few  words  by  saying  it  was  a 
landing  place  for  ships,  just  as  a  train 
has  a  station.  A  little  further  on  we 
came  to  a  phrase  about  Asia,  and  that  I 
omitted  entirely,  knowing  it  would  not 
mean  anything  to  the  children,  even  when 
I  had  explained  it.  It  was  not  neces¬ 
sary  to  the  story  part,  anyway.  I  fol¬ 
lowed  the  entire  story  through  in  that 
way,  sometimes  substituting  a  familiar 
word — as  “the  queen’s  friends”  in  the 
place  of  “the  queen’s  councillors” — some¬ 
times  omitting  whole  phrases  or  sen¬ 
tences  or  revising  them  in  simple  form 
to  suit  the  understanding  of  my  very 
small  listeners.  The  story  was  so  inter¬ 
esting  that  it  was  called  for  the  next 
evening  and  was  again  told  in  the  very 
much  revised  form.  The  third  evening 
I  ventured  to  use  a  few  of  the  unfamiliar 
words  I  had  been  avoiding,  and  they 
came  so  naturally  in  the  story  and  the 
surrounding  text  was  so  familiar  by  this 
time  that  they  were  scarcely  noticed. 
The  next  night  more  of  the  new  words 
and  phrases  were  introduced.  Sometimes 
a  question  was  asked  about  the  new 
word,  and  I  immediately  went  back  to 
the  old  familiar  word  I  had  at  first  used. 
It  was  not  always  a  true  synonym,  but 
it  served  the  purpose.  The  story  never 
did  become  worn  out,  and  at  the  last 
reading  I  went  through  it  in  the  exact 
words  of  the  text  without  a  question 
from  either  of  the  children.  They  un¬ 
derstood  even  the  new  words  and  en¬ 
joyed  thoroughly  a  story  which  before 
this  process  of  gradually  getting  ac¬ 
quainted  would  have  “stumped”  them 
completely. 
All  this  sounds  like  hard  work  for 
mother,  but  let  me  tell  you  the  very 
satisfactory  results  I  found.  The  chil¬ 
dren  play  out  all  the  stories  they  hear, 
especially  if  they  are  full  of  action — -of 
“things  doing.”  I  heard  my  little  four- 
year-old  talking  quite  freely  about  the 
“monsters  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean”  and 
how  the  people  “wept  and  wailed”  when 
the  sailors  set  forth.  The  terms  voyage, 
wharf,  Indies,  Portugal,  and  others  like 
them,  are  used  daily  with  ease.  They 
do  not  of  ^course  know  about  Portugal, 
except  that*  it  is  a  country  far  away,  but 
that  is  more  than  many  children  of  that 
age  know.  Our  teachers  tell  us  one  of 
the  greatest  faults  of  the  school  children, 
and  of  us  adults  as  well,  is  that  we  use 
only  a  very  limited  number  of  words. 
We  do  not  make  use  of  the  many  tools  of 
language  at  hand.  We  hear  some  one 
and  go  home  and  say,  “She  talks  so  well 
and  so  easily  I  enjoyed  hearing  her.” 
She  had  command  of  a  variety  of  words 
and  knew  how  to  use  them.  It  would  be 
easy  for  us  to  aid  our  children  in  ac¬ 
quiring  a  wider  vocabulary  if  we  could 
find  time  to  introduce  these  new  words 
in  some  interesting  way.  The  boy  who 
becomes  interested  in  radio  will  soon  be 
rattling  off  a  whole  string  of  terms  the 
rest  of  us  would  not  know  from  Greek. 
It  is  because  they  are  connected  with 
something  be  is  very  much  interested  in. 
And  so  with  the  stories  the  children  like. 
If  they  were  first  told  in  the  simplest 
language  and  then  words  a  little  longer 
and  perhaps  a  little  better  adapted  were 
substituted,  the  child  would  not  only 
learn  the  words,  but  see  their  application 
and  use  them.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  adapt 
a  story  in  that  way  as  it  is  to  take  a 
story  written  for  older  minds  and  at  first 
boil  it  down  to  the  simple  form  for  the 
younger  mind.  The  readers  of  the  older 
children  can  be  used  to  teach  the  little 
folks  new  words.  Then  the  words  should 
be  used  about  the  home,  and  we  should 
not  be  too  conscious  that  they  are  new 
words.  A  child  will  not  use  terms  that 
are  new  and  strange  to  him  if  he  thinks 
the  elders  are  aware  he  is  experimenting 
with  a  new  word.  He  becomes  self-con¬ 
scious  at  once  and  embarrassed.  But  if 
the  elders  use  the  words  themselves  easily 
and  do  not  seem  to  notice  when  he  ven¬ 
tures  to  use  them  he  becomes  bold  and 
proud  of  his  new  acquirement. 
I  wish  some  of  the  mothers  would  try 
this  experiment  of  “making  over”  stories 
to  fit  little  minds  and  then  gradually  en¬ 
large  the  story  a  little  and  see  the  re¬ 
sults.  It  takes  thought,  and  sometimes 
mother’s  mind  is  weary  as  well  as  her 
back  and  feet,  and  does  not  function 
readily.  But  it  is  worth  the  trial,  and 
you  will  be  surprised  to  see  the  readiness 
with  which  the  little  ones  grasp  new 
words  and  begin  to  use  them. 
MRS.  E.  E.  L. 
How  to  Use  the  Flag 
The  conference  called  by  the  American 
[Legion  to  draw  up  a  code  covering 
proper  civilian  usage  of  the  flag  adopted 
the  following  list  of  15  things  to  avoid : 
1.  Do  not  dip  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  to  any  person  or  any  thing.  The 
regimental  color,  State  flag,  organization 
or  institutional  flag,  will  render  this  hon¬ 
or.  At  sea  the  flag  may  be  dipped  in 
acknowledgment  of  the  salute  of  the  flag 
of  another  nation. 
2.  Do  not  display  the  flag  of  the  Unit¬ 
ed  States  with  the  Union  down  except 
as  a  signal  of  distress. 
3.  Do  not  place  any  other  flag  or  pen¬ 
nant  above  or  the  right  of  the  flag  of  the 
United  States. 
4.  Do  not  let  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  touch  the  ground  or  trail  in  the 
water. 
5.  Do  not  place  any  object  or  emblem 
of  any  kind  on  or  above  the  flag  of  the 
United  States. 
(i.  Do  not  use  the  flag  as  drapery ;  use 
bunting. 
7.  Do  not  fasten  the  flag  in  such  a 
manner  as  will  permit  it  to  be  easily 
torn. 
8.  D  not  drape  the  flag  over  the  hood, 
top  or  sides  of  a  vehicle  or  of  a  railroad 
train  or  boat.  If  it  is  desired  to  display 
the  flag  on  a  motor  car,  affix  the  staff 
firmly  to  the  chassis  or  clamp  it  to  the 
radiator  cap. 
9.  Do  not  use  the  flag  to  cover  a  speak¬ 
ers  desk  or  to  drape  over  front  of  a  plat¬ 
form  or  over  chairs  or  benches. 
10.  Do  not  display  the  flag  on  a  float 
in  a  parade  except  on  a  staff. 
11.  Do  not  use  the  flag  as  a  ceiling 
covering. 
12.  Do  not  use  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  as  a  portion  of  a  costume  or  of  an 
athletic  uniform.  Do  not  embroider  it 
upon  cushions  or  handkerchiefs  or  print 
it  on  paper  napkins  or  boxes. 
13.  Do  not  put  lettering  upon  the  flag. 
<  14.  Do  not  use  the  flag  of  the  United 
.States  in  any  form  of  advertising,  nor 
fasten  an  advertising  sign  to  a  flag  pole. 
15.  Do  not  display,  use  or  store  the 
flag  in  such  a  manner  as  will  permit  it  to 
be  easily  soiled  or  damaged. 
Two  Kichen  Helps 
As  I  do  not  want  to  run  the  risk  of 
being  classed  with  those  “who  pride  them¬ 
selves  on  never  sitting  down,”  I  am  writ¬ 
ing  to  agree  with  Mrs.  Edith  Bald¬ 
win  Emerson  on  everything  she  says 
about  having  a  high  stool  in  one’s  kitch¬ 
en.  I  don’t  know  how  I  ever  happened 
to  leave  that  out  when  sending  in  “A 
Housekeeper’s  Notes,”  unless  it  was  be¬ 
cause  my  stool  is  something  I  have  had 
so  long  and  gotten  so  used  to  that  I 
completely  forgot  it.  I  use  it  for  many 
things;  keep  it  near  the  sink,  and  could 
not  get  along  without  it.  After  our  baby 
was  born  and  I  was  alone  with  the  new 
little  charge  and  all  my  other  work, 
standing  long  on  my  feet  was  almost  un¬ 
bearable.  .  I  learned  to  do  nearly  every¬ 
thing  sitting  down,  even  to  washing  out 
baby  clothes  i 
Another  thing  I  want  for  my  kitchen 
some  time  is  a  Linoleum  rug.  The  floor  is 
R  nice  hard  maple,  but  also  exceedingly 
“hard”  to  keep  clean,  and  a  rug  of  that 
sort  would  be  easy  to  clean  and  last  a 
long  time  if  varnished  once  or  twice  a 
year  with  a  water-spar  varnish.  I  have 
one  in  my  dining  zoom,  and  find  it  solves 
the  floor  covering  question  for  a  farmer’s 
family,  especially  when  there  are  chil¬ 
dren.  Accidents  are  bound  to  happen 
with  little  folks  around,  and  a  pitcher 
of  “spilt  milk”  is  nothing  to  “cry  over” 
in  our  dining  room. 
MARIAN  B.  SPENCER. 
A  Fifteen-cent  Canning  Outfit 
We  wanted  to  do  a  little  cold  pack 
canning,  but  the  family  is  too  small  to 
make  it  worth  while  to  invest  in  an  ex¬ 
pensive  outfit.  We  found  several  sugges¬ 
tions  for  keeping  the  jars  from  direct 
contact  wdth  the  bottom  of  the  kettle, 
but  none  seemed  quite  to  suit  our  case, 
chiefly  because  there  was  no  handle  pro¬ 
vided  with  which  to  lift  the  hot  jars  out 
of  the  kettle  when  the  time  came  to 
screw  up  the  jar  caps. 
Finally  we  decided  on  a  tin  pie  plate, 
stabbed  holes  in  it  with  nail  and  hammer, 
having  eight  holes  around  the  edge.  Into 
these  eight  holes  two  yards  of  copper 
wire  was  threaded,  twisted  in  and  out  to 
make  the  balance  right,  and  so  as  to  have 
four  loops  to  twist  into  the  form  of  two 
handles,  with  which  to  lift  the  pie  plate 
containing  the  hot  jars  out  of  the  kettle. 
The  pie  plate  fits  the  bottom  of  an  or¬ 
dinary  aluminum  or  agate  kettle,  deep 
enough  to  allow  the  jars  to  be  tightly 
covered  by  the  lid  of  the  kettle. 
The  same  little  contrivance  may  be 
used  for  steaming  potatoes  and  other 
things  by  putting  something  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  kettle  for  the  pie  plate  to 
stand  on  so  as  to  raise  it  above  the  level 
of  the  water.  The  pie  plate  cost  10  cents, 
the  copper  wire  five  cents,  and  the  result 
is  all  we  can  desire.  a.  e.  f. 
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prepaid.  REMIT  WITH  ORDER.  West  of  Mississippi  River  and  Foreign  Countries,  add  15c.  postage 
WINDSOR  STATIONERY  CO..  181  14th  Street.  Long  Island  City.  N.  Y. 
