Part 81 (1/2)

QUESTIONS

What materials in Apple Sauce Cake leaven it?

What ingredient usually present in cake recipes is omitted in this cake?

What takes the place of this ingredient?

In Chocolate Cake, how much baking soda is required to neutralize the acid of the sour milk? For what purpose is the additional quant.i.ty used?

What is the purpose of cooking the cocoa and water (see _Cocoa and Chocolate_)?

Determine the difference in the cost of Chocolate Cake with and without eggs.

What ingredient in Spice Cake contains a small quant.i.ty of acid? Explain why baking soda is an ingredient of this ingredient.

Why should the cooked mixture of Spice Cake be cool before the remaining ingredients are added?

RELATED WORK

LESSON CXLIX

THE LUNCHEON BOX

The luncheon box most commonly used is of pasteboard or tin. Both these materials have advantages and disadvantages. Bread and cake are prevented from drying out when placed in a tightly covered tin box. On the other hand, food odors are retained and one p.r.o.nounced odor may permeate all of the foods. But since dry bread is unpalatable, the tin box is considered more satisfactory. It should be kept clean and free from odors, should be emptied of its contents every day, washed (scalded often), and allowed to remain open all night. The collapsible box is the most convenient.

For most lunches, a teaspoon, jelly gla.s.s, and in some cases a drinking cup are all the ”dishes” needed. The jelly gla.s.s may serve for many purposes. Cup custard may be steamed or baked in it, or it makes an admirable mold for an individual steam pudding. Small fruits and fruit sauces may also be carried in jelly gla.s.ses.

MENU MAKING FOR THE LUNCHEON BOX.--A luncheon box may be made a source of pleasure to the school child or everyday worker. To bring this about, the foods must be varied on successive days. It is not necessary that each luncheon consist of various foods. Indeed, many kinds of food or foods in great quant.i.ty are not desirable for a child who sits quietly at study much of the day or for a person of sedentary occupation. It is both possible and necessary, however,--if the luncheon box is not to become monotonous,--to have different foods for each day of the week. As in any meal, all of the foodstuffs should be represented in the food of a luncheon box.

FOODS FOR THE LUNCHEON BOX.--(1) _Sandwiches_.--Bread is the basis of almost all box luncheons. Since sandwiches furnish the most convenient way of carrying foods that are to be eaten with bread, they invariably form a part of every luncheon. Because they are used so frequently they should be varied. Different kinds of bread, such as graham, Boston brown, and nut bread, may be used. Variety may be had by serving bread sometimes in the form of m.u.f.fins or rolls. The slices of bread may be cut thin or thick to suit the appet.i.te of the eater. It is often desirable to leave the crusts on the bread. b.u.t.ter should be creamed before spreading it on the bread.

If the sandwiches are to be cut extremely thin, spread the bread before cutting it into slices. If sandwiches are prepared some time before they are served, they can be kept moist by wrapping in a dry towel, covered with a towel wrung out of hot water.

The fillings for sandwiches offer many variations. They may be divided into two cla.s.ses, seasoned and sweet. _Seasoned fillings_ may include meat, eggs, cheese, vegetables. If meat is used, it may be cut in slices, or chopped and mixed with a sauce. If sliced meat is used, it is well to tear it into pieces. (This applies also to lettuce.) If it is desired to lessen the quant.i.ty of meat in a diet, the meat should be chopped, for it has been found that only half as much meat is required when it is chopped and mixed with a dressing. Either Salad Dressing or White Sauce may be combined with meat. A French Dressing made of vegetable oil, lemon juice, and seasonings is better, so far as ease of digestion is concerned, than Cream or ”Boiled” Salad Dressing. If oil is not palatable, learn to like it. Any of the seasoned fillings may be mixed with Salad Dressing. Sliced tomatoes spread with Mayonnaise or Cream Salad Dressing, chopped peanuts mixed with salad dressing, sardines or cold chicken with lemon juice and paprika make tasty sandwich fillings.

_Sweet fillings_ for sandwiches include: preserved or dried fruits, bananas, nuts. Sandwiches made with a sweet filling are most popular among children. Some of them make good subst.i.tutes for cake, and are much more easily digested. The dried fruits such as dates, figs, and prunes, cooked and combined with bread and b.u.t.ter, make excellent foods. The growing child is apt to become anemic. Since prunes contain iron, they should be frequently used in children's diet. Cooked prunes--seeded and flavored with lemon juice--make palatable sandwiches, especially when brown bread is used or a few chopped nuts are added. Breads containing sugar or mola.s.ses are most pleasing when used with a sweet filling. Banana sandwiches are much improved by the addition of lemon juice or Salad Dressing. Nuts are often combined with both sweet and seasoned materials; their use gives opportunity for variety. Chopped raisins and nuts may be moistened with grape juice and used as sandwich filling. Chopped dates, apples, and nuts mixed with salad dressing make a pleasing filling.

Crushed maple or brown sugar mixed with cream or b.u.t.ter and used with whole wheat bread is a favorite sandwich among children.

(2) _Relishes_.--Celery, olives, and radishes serve as relishes for the luncheon box. Celery and olives (especially those stuffed with pimentos or nuts) are pleasing as a sandwich filling. Most relishes, however, are more suitable for the luncheon box of a mature person than for that of a child.

(3) _Desserts_.--Cake is a common const.i.tuent of the luncheon box.