FRIDAY

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S we make up this number of AMERICAN COOKERY, the U. S. Food Administration is urging housekeepers to make, for the present, potatoes rather than bread the staple article of our diet. The crop of potatoes was large last year, and this supply should be utilized before it goes to waste. For many uses old potatoes are preferable to new. The very early crop is often sent to market before it is fully matured, and such potatoes never give a mealy and truly delectable dish. Then, too, even if ripe, they will not give a dish of fluffy mashed potato so much enjoyed by everyone.

The ways of using mashed potatoes are almost endless; but first of all look out for the little details that will surely make or mar the dish. During storage the potatoes lose water by evaporation, and this should be, in part, restored to them before cooking. Pare and let stand in cold water to cover, at least, an hour before cooking. Set to cook in boiling, salted water and keep boiling till done; drain and press at once through a potato-ricer, into a hot dish. Add salt, hot milk and some form of fat and beat with a slitted wooden spoon until white and fluffy. To enjoy in perfection

eat at once.

Either fresh-made or left-over mashed potatoes may be used as a case for eggs or creamed meat, fish or vegetables. Press the potato in a greased dish to leave an open center; break in an egg

or fill with the creamed article. In the first case, cook until the egg is of the consistency desired. The creamed dish may be covered with buttered crumbs and the cooking is completed when the crumbs are browned.

Getting along without wheat flour is really less of a privation than it was, at first, thought. Barley, rye, oatmeal, corn, potato and rice flours give good results in cake and pastry.

Yeast bread is the one item for which wheat flour seems absolutely necessary, and many of us will gladly use the various baking powder forms of bread as temporary expedient. Some of these will prove so satisfactory that, hereafter, they will be given a lasting place in our bills of fare.

Yeast bread may be made with rye flour without the use of any wheat. The dough should be mixed quite stiff; as the dough is sticky, use rice flour on the board for kneading. Use milk rather than water in mixing; this item means much, when rye flour is used. By the use of milk the quality and texture of the bread is much improved.

The recipe for baking powder bread, given on another page, gives a loaf that may be sliced when cold. For many

the sugar is an objection, but it helps to lighten the bread. A cup of chopped nuts may be used in place of the shortening. This bread dries out quickly.

In a meal in which potatoes and other vegetables replace bread, the dessert

may often appear as a shortcake; strawberries, raspberries, Loganberries, canned apricots, blackberries and peaches form a succession of good things eminently appropriate for shortcakes. The crust made of barley and rice flour is recommended, though a sponge cake made of potato flour will be preferred by some. Keep in mind that fruit may be canned. just as successfully as far as preservation is concerned without sugar as with it. It is a matter of convenience to be able to open a can of fruit ready for the table; also the appearance of some fruit, as peaches and pears, would not be improved by reheating with sugar at time of serving; thus, if convenient, sugar might be used in canning these fruits. Berries and early apples will taste much more like fresh fruit if they be canned without sugar, and then be reheated and sugar be added at time of

use.

Extract fruit juice for jelly in the usual manner; heat to the boiling point and store in sterilized jars, as in all canning with the open kettle. When sugar is available and jelly is desired, the final work may be done in less than half an hour. Fresh-made jelly is certainly pref

erable to that which has been stored for some time; the fruit flavor is higher. We feel that the presentation - at this time this time of a recipe for cake frosting requires an apology. We give the recipe because it is so simple and never fails. It may be made with one tablespoonful of Karo and six tablespoonfuls of honey in place of the sugar. The recipe is well. worth holding on to for use when conditions change. One or two ounces of melted chocolate may be beaten in at the last moment.

Time-Saving Frosting
(Mrs. Crafts)

Put seven-eighths of a cup of granulated sugar, three tablespoonfuls of water and the white of one egg in a small double boiler. Let water in the lower part of the boiler be boiling rapidly; set the upper part holding the ingredients in place, and beat constantly seven minutes, when a boiled frosting that will remain in place will be ready for use. The water in the lower receptacle must be boiling rapidly throughout the seven minutes. Use a Dover egg beater.

meal.

E

XPERIENCE doesn't amount to very much unless we use it to safeguard our future actions, or employ the knowledge gained to save others from disappointment.

In company with a number of other patriotic American women, I canned, last year, everything cannable, as fruits and vegetables made their appearance.

Having canned fruits for a great many years, I had some experience in this line, and so met with no disappointment whatever. I was particular, of course, that cans and tops were properly matched, that rubbers were new and sound, that fruit was at its best, and, as a rule, used the method of packing my fruit in the can raw, covering with sterilized hot syrup, and then cooking the fruit in the can in a water bath long enough to sterilize, following government tables for the time to subject each kind of fruit to the heat.

My only disappointment was with strawberries. The first of these were done exactly according to directions of canning experts, that is, the syrup was made, poured over the fruit, and the can closed and the contents cooked the given length of time. The fruit shrunk so as to leave an air space at the top. Consultation with one of the State Food Agents reassured me, for the time, as she declared that this was a vacuum and the fruit would be all right; but, somehow, I was not easy about it, and set those first batches by themselves. Later batches I did differently.

I kept some of the syrup in reserve, proceeded exactly as before, only when the fruit was sufficiently cooked, I took off the top, filled up the can with the boiling syrup, and closed it quickly. During the winter I was able to compare results. The cans that had a space at the top de

veloped a growth of mould and the fruit faded badly. When it was opened the mould could be removed in a layer, and there was no hint of fermentation, but the fruit was not as solid as desired. The cans that were filled up to overflow with the hot syrup came through much better. They didn't have a particle of mould, the fruit was much more solid, and the color and the flavor were better.

I also learned some things about vegetable canning, which I trust will save disappointment this year. This canning was nearly all done by the cold-pack, intermittent method, so widely recommended last summer. Some of my vegetable canning, however, was done by the open-kettle method, vegetables being prepared, cooked, and canned boiling hot. These groups canned in different. ways were kept apart. Some of both of them spoiled. The majority of both of them kept. I am sure I know the reason, and this year I do not believe I will have any disappointment, no matter which method I use.

Part of my cans were washed and presumably sterilized by an excellent maid, who had kept house more years than I had, but at the time I was a little doubtful as to the thoroughness of her work. This was not to be surprised at, as her training along lines of sanitation and her knowledge of bacteria were not extensive. This year I shall see to the proper cleaning and sterilizing of every can myself, and this is the way I am going to do it.