Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Management Part 28

2 tbsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. mustard 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 cup vinegar 2 eggs 2 tbsp. b.u.t.ter.

(1) Mix the first four ingredients in a saucepan and heat until dissolved.

(2) Beat the eggs very light in a round-bottomed bowl, using a Dover egg beater.

(3) Beat the vinegar mixture into the eggs.

(4) Set the bowl, with its contents, over a dish of boiling water, then beat slowly and constantly until the mixture is thickened.

(5) Lift the bowl from the heat _at once_.

(6) Beat in the b.u.t.ter and set away to cool.

(7) If desired, a half cup of whipped or plain cream may be added just before the dressing is used.

2. Uncooked salad dressing:

1/4 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 4 tbsp. olive oil 2 tbsp. vinegar.

(1) Stir the salt and pepper into the oil.

(2) Add the vinegar slowly and stir vigorously until well blended and slightly thickened.

(3) Serve with any salad made of salad greens.

STUDY OF MINERAL FOOD

As the study of mineral food involves a knowledge of chemistry, little more can be done in Junior cla.s.ses than to teach that certain mineral compounds are required for the body, to point out their two main uses, and to lead the pupils to know the foods which generally supply these.

Their attention should be directed to the fact that all mineral matter is found, in the first place, in the earth's crust, but that, with the exception of salt, animals cannot use it in that form. Plants can use it, and they absorb it from the soil; then we eat the plants, and in that way obtain the mineral substance, or we may obtain it by eating the animals which have eaten the plants. Water also, in making its way through the earth, may dissolve certain minerals and, by drinking the water, we obtain these.

It will not be necessary to teach the names of the minerals which our food must supply, as most of these will mean nothing to the pupils. They might be asked to name one or two which are very familiar; for instance, the lime in bone and the iron in blood. They may be told that there are a few others which they will learn when they study chemistry in the high school.

The pupils have already learned that mineral matter serves two main functions in the body: that is, _building_ and _regulating_, and it is a good plan to cla.s.sify the well-known foods under these two headings.

With a little guidance the pupils can do most of this for themselves.

They know that milk serves all building purposes in a child's body, and must, therefore, contain mineral matter. Eggs build animal bodies, and must contain this substance also. Meat is the animal body that has been built, therefore meat has this substance; but we shall find in the meat lessons that there is no mineral matter in fat and that the cook cannot dissolve it out of bone, therefore muscle or lean meat must be eaten to obtain it. Seeds, too, contain building material for new plants; therefore, the building mineral matter must be stored in their cells.

Hard water is known by the lime it contains, therefore this, if drunk, a.s.sists in the formation of bone.

The cla.s.s must be told that the mineral in the juices of plants is mainly for regulating purposes; that is, to keep our bodies in order, or as we say, healthy. When they get out of order, we usually go to a doctor to be regulated or made well. The medicine which he prescribes often contains some mineral in solution, perhaps iron. The mineral matter which is in the juices of plants, being a more natural form than the mineral matter in the medicine, is more easily made use of in the bodily processes. This is one reason why people should eat plenty of vegetables and fruit.

Many springs also furnish water with large quant.i.ties of mineral matter in solution, which is used mainly for medicinal purposes. The pupils may know some places where we find such springs, and these should be mentioned, such as Preston Springs, Banff, and Mount Clemens, which have become health resorts through the presence of these waters. When the springs are in a distant country and their waters are known to contain a certain mineral which our bodies need, the water is bottled and s.h.i.+pped to us, and may be obtained from a druggist. Hunyadi Janos, Apenta, Vichy, and Apollinaris are well-known medicinal waters s.h.i.+pped from European springs.

SUMMARY OF SOURCES OF MINERAL FOODS

1. Building mineral matter.--Milk, eggs, lean meat, seeds, hard water

2. Regulating mineral matter.--Fruit, vegetables, mineral waters, salt.

NOTE.--This cla.s.sification will be most useful to the pupils in preparing well-balanced meals in their diet lessons.

DIET

After studying in this elementary way the composition of the animal and vegetable foods, the pupils will be ready for simple lessons on diet.

The cla.s.s may now be said to have a working knowledge of the well-known foods, and they should be given a chance to use this knowledge, by combining and serving these foods for simple meals.

REFERENCE TABLES OF FOOD CONSt.i.tUENTS

It will be helpful in this work, to guide the pupils in making out a reference table of the food const.i.tuents. This will give lists of food in which each const.i.tuent predominates, as follows:

1. Water:

Beverages (water, milk, tea, coffee, cocoa), fruit, vegetables.

2. Mineral matter:

(1) For building--milk, eggs (yolk and white), lean meat or fish, seeds, hard water

(2) For regulating--fruit, vegetables, mineral waters.

3. Protein:

Milk (curd), eggs (yolk and white), lean meat or fish, seeds.

4. Sugar:

Fruit (juice), non-starchy vegetables (juice), milk (whey), commercial sugar.

5. Starch:

Parts of plants which serve as storehouses:

Tubers--potatoes, artichokes

Roots--parsnip, tapioca, arrowroot

Stem--sago

Seeds--cereals, legumes, some nuts (peanuts, chestnuts).

6. Fat:

Milk (cream), egg-yolk, meat or fish (fat), fruit, as the olive (oil), most nuts (walnut, b.u.t.ternut, pecan, peanut, etc.).

Besides the necessary substances in food, the pupils must be told that there are other points for the housekeeper to consider when preparing the meals, namely: