TABLE TOPICS

The lightest breakfast is the best. — Oswald.

A New Name for Breakfast. — "Turn, mamma, leth's go down to tupper," said a little toddler to her mother, one morning, recently.

" Why, we don't have supper in the morning," replied the mother.

" Den leth's do down to dinner, ' urged the little one.

" But we do n't have dinner in the morning," corrected the mother.

" Well, den, leth's do down any way," pleaded the child.

" But try and think what meal we have in the morning," urged mamma.

"I know," said the toddler, brightening up.

" What meal do we have in the morning ?"

" Oatmeal. Tum on ; leth's do." — Sel.

Seneca, writing to a friend of his frugal fare which he declares does not cost a sixpence a day, says : —

"Do you ask if that can supply due nourishment ? Yes ; and pleasure too. Not indeed, that fleeting and superficial pleasure which needs to be perpetually recruited, but a solid and substantial one. Bread and polenta certainly is not luxurious feeding, but it is no little advantage to be able to receive pleasure from a simple diet of which no change of fortune can deprive one."

Breakfast ! Come to breakfast ! Little ones and all, — How their merry footsteps Patter at the call ! Break the bread ; pour freely Milk that cream-like flows ; A blessing on their appetites And on their lips of rose.

Dinner may be pleasant,

So may the social tea.

But yet, methinks the breakfast

Is best of all the three.

With its greeting smile of welcome,

Its holy voice of prayer,

It forgeth heavenly armor

To foil the hosts of care. — Mrs. Sigourney.

Health is not quoted in the markets because it is without price. — Sel

It is a mistake to think that the more a man eats, the fatter and stronger he will become. — Sel.

Y^^MlUSTOM has so long established the usage of finishing ^ijjfe. the dinner with a dessert of some kind, that a menu is

AWyji considered quite incomplete without it ; and we shall ^0\ devote the next few pages to articles which may be deemed appropriate and healthful desserts, not because we consider the dessert itself of paramount importance, for in- deed we do not think it essential to life or even to good living, but because we hope the hints and suggestions which our space permits, may aid the housewife in preparing more wholesome, inexpensive dishes in lieu of the indigestible articles almost universally used for this purpose.

We see no objection to the use of a dessert, if the articles offered are wholesome, and are presented before an abundance has already been taken. As usually served, the dessert is but a "snare and delusion" to the digestive organs. Compounded of substances " rich," not in food elements, but in fats, sweets, and spices, and served after enough has already been eaten, it offers a great temptation to overeat ; while the elements of which it is largely composed, serve to hamper the digestive or- [296!

DESSERTS. 297

gans, to clog the liver, and to work mischief generally. At the same time it may be remarked that the preparation of even wholesome desserts requires an outlay of time and strength better by far expended in some other manner. Desserts are quite unnecessary to a good, heathful, nutritious dietary. The simplest of all desserts are the various nuts and delicious fruits with which nature has so abundantly supplied us, at no greater cost than their harmful substitutes, and which require no ex- penditure of time or strength in their preparation. If, how- ever, other forms of dessert are desired, a large variety may be prepared in a simple manner, so as to be both pleasing and appetizing.

GENERAL SUGGEvSTIONS.

In the preparation of desserts, as in that of all other foods it is essential that all material used shall be thoroughly good oi its kind. If bread is to be used, the crumbs should be dry and rather stale, but on no account use that which is sour or moldy, Some housekeepers imagine that if their bread happens to spoil and become sour, although it is hardly palatable enough for the table, it may be advantageously used to make puddings. It is indeed quite possible to combine sour bread with other ingre- dients so as to make a pudding agreeable to the palate ; but disguising sour bread by sweets and flavors by no means changes it into a wholesome food. It is better economy to throw sour bread away at once than to impose it upon the digestive organs at the risk of health and strength.

Bread which has begun to show appearance of mold should never be used ; for mold is a poison, and very serious illness has resulted from the eating of puddings made from moldy bread.

Eggs, to be used for desserts, should always be fresh and good. Cooks often imagine that an egg too stale to be eaten in any other way will do very well for use in cakes and pud- dings, because it can be disguised so as not to be apparent to the taste ; but stale eggs are unfit for food, either alone or in combination with other ingredients. Their use is often the occasion of serious disturbances of the digestive organs. Most

298 SCIENCE IN THE KITCHEN.

desserts in which eggs are used will be much lighter if the yolks and whites are beaten separately. If in winter, and eggs are scarce, fewer may be used, and two tablespoonfuls of dry snow for each omitted egg stirred in the last thing before baking.

Milk, likewise, should always be sweet and fresh. If it is to be heated, use a double boiler, so that there will be no danger of scorching. If fresh milk is not available, the condensed milk found at the grocer's is an excellent substitute. Dissolve according to directions, and follow the recipe the same as with fresh milk, omitting one half or two thirds the given amount of sugar.

If dried sweet fruits, raisins, or currants are to be used, look them over carefully, put them into a colander, and placing it in a pan of warm water, allow the currants to remain until plump. This will loosen the dirt which, while they are shriveled, sticks in the creases, and they may then be washed by dipping the colander in and out of clean water until they are free from sedi- ment ; rinse in two waters, then spread upon a cloth, and let them get perfectly dry before using.

It is a good plan, after purchasing raisins and currants, to wash and dry a quantity, and store in glass cans ready for use. To facilitate the stoning of raisins, put them into a colander placed in a dish of warm water until plump"; then drain, when the seeds can be easily removed.

For desserts which are to be molded, always M^et the molds in cold water before pouring in the desserts.