The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 3, 1917, Page 11

-0 “ Harm ‘When Food Costs Are Mo S 0 PRING 1is here and the ques- tion of canning fruits and vegetables: will soon be claim- 839 ing attention. Rhubarb is one of our best fruits and the cold process of canning has many ad- vantages. I have used this process several seasons and am very well Batisfied with results. Cut up the rhubarb as for cooking; put a little bit at a time in a jar, crush with a stick or pounder and repeat until the jar is full and the fruit . is entirely covered with juice. The acid- ity of the juice preserves the fruit. . One advantage of this raw crushed rhubarb is that it can be mixed with other fruits as wanted. I have put ripe bananas with mine, cooking thoroughly. A proportion of one part bananas to two of rhubarb is good and makes a palatable, whole- some sauce. For variety put in can- died orange and lemon peel, which gives a delicious flavor. We are very partial to these two ways of cooking"’ rhubarb and they seem to be well liked among our friends. I have used musk- melons and mulberries with rhubarb also, and the sauce was liked very much. Of course the melons and ber- ries were grown on the farm, for the the former, at least are too expensive. ‘When I was a girl in our farm home, we had numerous ways of preparing rhubarb of which we never seemed to tire. The bulletins sent our from the United States department of agricul- ture say gooseberries and sour plums can be put up the same as the raw crushed rhubarb. - I shall try out both this season if possible. PRESERVING ORANGE PEEL Perhaps some may be interested in knowing how to candy the lemon and orange peel. Collect them until you have a dozen or more, separate or mixed, put in cold water and cook until tender, cool and scrape off as much of the white pulp as possible. To secure the best results I then shred the peel, prepare a thick syrup, drop in a few pieces at a time, let them simmer until the syrup looks rich and yellow, drop on dry sugar, cool and seal, This is just fine to put in steam- ed puddings, home made candies, etc. For a change I run the cooked peel through the meat chopper, cook in a thin syrup and use as flavoring for pudding sauces, etc. enough syrup to cover the peel to bet- ter preserve when put in fruit jars. We keep the prepared peel constantly on hand to help out when the unex- pected guest drops in. Either way of Be sure to have._. { S e —— L untain Hig ST Some Unusual Ways of Preparing Dishes for the Farm Table preparing 1s not difficult and I have had no trouble with this keeping well. ‘With flour soaring sky-high, the question of bread is a vital one con- cerning all of us.” In our home we are making oatmeal and rye bread, with of course some white bread accassion- Reading-by candle light in the days of long ago. on the walls. £ 4 ally. For the oatmeal bread I take bread sponge, and for four big loaves four cups oatmeal scalded, then cooled, four cups karo or sorghum, or one cup syrup for each cup oatmeal, and one quart sponge. Mix with white flour and work down once, then let raise, Notice the dark, shadowy light For the Boys and Girls—About Lights *0Oh teacher, do the angels carry candles an’ ain’t it just like heaven? I wisht I could be around a Christmas tree forever.” These remarks were made by a little tot looking at candle lights and a Christmas tree for the first time. The soft pale light of eandles usually recalls to children festive occasions of various sorts and to grownups, the time of shadowy out- lines, different odors of burning oil and & general smoky appearance of walls. The story of lights or ways of pro- ducing light is a long and interesting one. Candles play an important part in religious rites even today and also in social functions. When Solomon built the temple he placed in it ten golden candle sticks. The primitive candle stick was a torch made of slips of bark, vine tendrils or wood dipped in wax or tallow. The golden age of_ the candle lasted about 125 years. PINE KNOT LIGHTS Our American colonists used pine Xnots sometimes called candle wood. - These gave a fairly brilliant and steady light, but smoke and dripping pitch made them anything but ideal. The Betty lamp was the simplest and earli- est form of lamp used by the colonists, This. was a shallow receptacle of pewter, iron or brass, round, oval or triangular in form, two or three inches in diameter and with a projecting nose an inch or two long. 2 This little basin was filled with tal- . low or grease and a piece of twisted rag or rush was placed so that it hung over the nose. The latter part of the 17th century the use of whale oil in lamps became quite common in Amer- ica, but candle sticks were always con- sidered more elegant. Candle light is certainly more beautiful than the light of these early lamps because the bad smell of burning oil could not be pre- vented. Ordinary candles were made of mut- ton tallow and similar substances, but the finer ones were made of the fragrant bayberry. This berry furnish- es a pale green wax emitting a soft white light and a delicate pleasing odor. It is not greasy and does not soften Iin warm weather. Candles were made by molding or dipping. Four to six candles could be run in one of . the molds-which was much better than by the ‘Jlow process of dipping. ALL KINDS OF CANDLESTICKS Many and varied were the candle sticks and some were so arranged that - a sort of shade or chimney could be put on to protect the flame from the wind. Bpermaceti, stearin, and parafin wax are some of the more recent ma- terials of which candles are made. ‘Wax ‘lights . were known to the Romans. In some localities if it were known a family owned mahogany or gold candle sticks, no more questions were asked regarding their financial standing. " In 1783 Argand, a Swiss physician residing in T.ondon, invented a lamp that was much better than any ever made before. . The chimney protects the flame from sudden gusts of wind and also creates a draft of air just as the fire chimney creates a draft. Argand’s lamp was the first to have a chimney. .In 1797 Murdock invented the first gas light. Baltimore was the first city in the United States to be lighted by gas in 1821. WHEN ELECTRIC LIGHTS CAME IN About 1876 electric lights began to appear. - The powerful arc-light made by the passage of an electrical current between two carbon points was the first to be invented. This gave as much’light as a hundred gas jets or several hundred lamps. The problem of good lights for the farm homes is one that is being rapid- ly and satisfactorily settled through the numerous, modern, scientific ways which all up-to-date lighting plants would gladly explain to any one inter- ested. Another thing to be considered is properly placing lights to secure the best results. -Candle lights are soft and beautiful, but not sufficient. The very dimness and inefficiency of the old lamps was to some extent a safe- guard against ugly and vulgar install- ations. Over-lighting and poorly placed lghts are a menace that needs con- stant watching to protect the eyes. Exposure to bright unshaded lights means eye trouble which can be avoid- ed by pretty delicate shades. Here is an opportunity for the clever girl to utilize her ingenuity in color schemes and with crochet hook. Many beau- tiful inexpensive shades are made of the simplest kind of materials, and mold into loaves. Bake one hou and a half in a slow oven. ¥ For the rye bread scald one cup corn meal for every cup rye flour, one quart of sponge for each four cups of rye flour, and one-half cup syrup to each cup rye flour. Mix stiff with white flour and bake the same as the oat- meal bread. Two rounding tablespoon- fuls of shortening for the four cups of rye or oatmeal I have found to be about right, and of course plenty of salt. To have variety we have corn- meal and oatmeal muffins, and johnny cake. On "the farm we would occasionally have shorts biscuits which made a change. I have tried making muffing out of the wheat called first cracking at the mill. Take two parts wheat and one of flour, a little shortening, sour milk, a little: sugar, a scant table- spoonful to each cup milk, and bake ag gems or muffins. This makes a coarse wholesome food and a good laxative. WILD GREENS The so-called greens such as the dandelion, wild lamb’s quarters, nettles, cowslips, sour dock, etc., are all worthy of our attention and can be dressed up and made very palatable as well ag giving a variety to the table. The young tender dandelion leaves crisped in cold water, well drained, chopped fine, a little chopped onion, a hard boiled egg and any preferred salad dressing, make a dish worth trying. Lettuce, water cress and other salad plants all have their place on the table and numerous wholesome dishes can be made from them. Then, to those who know, the mushrooms are another article of food that may well claim attention. Some varieties are considered very wholesome and as there are so many Kkinds; no end of new dishes can be made from them. As the different species come along, I will tell you a few of the things I have done personally with mushrooms. In this rambling talk I have endeavor- ed to bring out some of the ways we are trying to have a variety and at the same time do so as cheaply as possible. I would so much like to have our readers just sit down and write us about some of the things they are doing about the practical every- day problems. . Let us hear from you. FILET LACE Ch 41, turn. 5 Ist row—I1 tr in eighth st from hook; ch 2, tr'1, ch 2, tr 1, ch 2, tr 4, ch 2, tr 4, ch 2 tr1 ch 2 tri ch2 tr4, ch 2, tr 1, ch 2, tr 1, ch 3, fasten with sl st in last tr; ch 3, 4 tr in ch 3, sl st in first tr, ch 3, 4 tr in 3 ch. 2nd row—ch 3, 1 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, ch 2, 4 tr,ch 2 4tr,ch2 4tr,ch2 1tr ch 2, 1tr, ch 5, turn. 3rd row—1 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, ch 2, 4 tr, ch 2,1 tr, ch 2, 1tr, ch 2, 4 tr, ch 2, 4trich2 1tr,ch2 1tr 4trinch 3, fasten in first st of shell in another TOW. 4th row—ech 3, 4 tr in ch 3, 1 tr be- tween shells, ch 2,1 tr, *, ch 2, 4 tr, ch 2, 16 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, ch 5, turn. 6th row—1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr, 2 ch, 4 tr, 6 open meshes or spaces (2 ch, 1 tr) 4 tr, 2 open spaces. 6th row—Same as fourth row to *; 2 open spaces, 16 tr, i1 mesh, 4 tr, 3 open spaces ch 5, turn. Tth row—3 open spaces, 4tr, 1 space, 4 tr, 3 spaces, 4 tr, 2 spaces, 2 shells. 8th row—same as second row. o e S SR e S i