Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 288, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1915 — The Preparation of Vegetables [ARTICLE]

The Preparation of Vegetables

In these harrying days of modern progress, efficiency is ever the slogan of the busy housewife. She realizes that it Is on the golden moments that she must first economize if she would reap a later harvest of the ever necessary dollars, and what is still more valuable, her own peace of mind. In housework there are countless , tasks which each day must be done anew, and now most of these are being reduced to their least common denominator which in this case means the least number of motions in their accomplishment. Of these daily tasks, preparing the vegetables for cooking is one of the most irksome. In many households this is still done by the slow methods of other days, but most modern housewives look eagerly for new methods and means. Every kitchen should be provided with an inexpensive potato parer, which by means of a crank easily pares all but the most uneven potatoes. This little machine can be also used for paring such vegetables as carrots and small white turnips. Then there are other vegetables which are pared easier after cooking, such as parsnips, celerias, and salsify, needing only to be well scrubbed with a vegetable brush before boiling. When they are done and partially cooled, they can be pared in a jiffy with a sharp knife, going, round and round the vegetable never up and down against the grain of the fibrous skin. The partial cooling of these vegetables does not injure them as they are usually creamed or fried after boiling anyway. Everyone knows that a Hubbard squash to be good must have the hardest of outside shells, and it is just this hard shell that makes difficult the preparation of this vegetable for cookin. Here the vegetable brush again comes into use, for scrubbing the squash well before it is cracked open and the. seeds removed. The pieces are then put on to boil, shell and all, and when tender, drained and cooled, the flesh is easily lifted from the shell with a case knife. It takes but a moment to mash, season and reheat with a little butter added. How many times have I seen otherwise good housekeepers stand and cut up string beans for cooking! They cut them in small pieces one at a time, using their thumb for a cutting board, leaving it criss-crossed with tiny black lines, besides losing valuable minutes in the process. Every kitchen should boast a small cutting board made of hardwood. After the beans are strung, place them on this board in bunches, cutting a number at once at each stroke of a sharp knife. In this way it takes but a moment to prepare a quantity. The cutting board is also useful to cut celery for salads. Take four or five stalks at a time, cq) them in small lengthwise strips, and then crosswise in pieces the same as the beans. Carrots and turnips can be cut in the same way, and also parsley, although some use scissors especially made for the last.

Apples for cooking can be pared in one swift turn of a wheel if an apple parer » used. This has much the same mechanism as the potato parer, and* is about the same in price. And speaking of apples, I must tell of i friend I watched making her winter’s mincemeat. She did not pare the apples at all, simply cored them, and put them through the fine blade of the food chopper. She held that the best part of the apple is directly under the skin, as of most fruits and vegetables. When the mincemeat was finished she defied me to tell whether the apples had been pared or not, and I confess I would not have known if I had not witnessed the operation This same friend when paring onions for boiling, immersed them in a large pan of water to keep the fumes from rising. She said she sometimes placed a piece of bread on the end of her paring knife for the same purpose. So it is not alwltfs the latest most up-to-date product of the manufacturer that helps in.this form of ever-mo-notonous work, it is sometimes just the “know how.” Still the wise housewife watches the shops for new things and adds them to her kitchen equipment as soon as she is sure they are dependable.—The Housewife.