The Dickinson press., 1890-05-17
FLOWERS USED FOR FOOD.

FLUW EllN UNEU FUR FUUU.
VARIOUS KINDS THAT ARE EDIBLE
AND ARE EATEN.
Slowed Lilies at n Ladies' Luncheon-Lo-
Gust Flowers Dipped in Batter and Fried
In On-The Thistle Family-A Rose
Cake-Candied blossoms.
"Animals feed, man eats, but the nan
of intellect alone knows how to eat"
So says q man versed in wisdom. And
truly he was wise, for the ''fate of M
tons depends upon how they're fed"
Cooking is a science, and the author who
declared that "the discovery of a new
dish does more for the happiness of man.
kind than the discovery of a new planet"
was evidently a philosopher, for all men
are interested in cooking.
Flowers! The very word is the quint-
essence of poetry. fragrance and beauty.
A dinner, novel in the extreme, was
given by an eastern girl, a wealthy debu-
tante. The dinner was served in great
magnifcence, and at it "stewed lilies
was the most favored dish.
1t didn't matter at all that the 'stewed
lilies" rescmbled inferior greens or cauli-
flowers in appearance, and as to taste
imagination fails to convey its awful
wishy-washiness, if the antipodal terms
be allowed, yet every girl at the table
declared as she dipped her fork into the
stewed novelty that they were perfect
ly delicious, you know" and they could
eat them "every day." No pepper, no
salt, no soupcon of butter defiled this
purity of the lily stew; forbid, god of
fashion, perish the thought, oh, cuisine
of aesthetic food! the lilies We're stewed
simply intact and eaten simply and with
tact. For no muscle of the tortured
fashionable gourmande's face betrayed
the feeling that she was eating a dish
that was similar to washed out sunshine
or the ghost of a stale spongecakc. They
were stewed lilies all the same, and if
each partaker turns herhead away at the
sight of the flower in full bloom for some
time to come, why inquire further: Is
the mere fact of the effects of a first
cigar to Danish forever the habit of smok-
ing others?
A DINNER OF LocUsTS.
Not very long since an article in an
eastern paper spoke of a clever woman's
subterfuge in cooking in following man
ner: "The latest novelty in the vegetable
line is the introduction of flowers, that
is edible flowers. The two which are
said to be the most satisfactory belong
absit omen! to the thistle family, and
rejoice in the James calligonum poly
gonordes and bastia latiflior. The popu-
lar form of both English and French
seems somehow hard to conquer in the
case of these new dishes, but doubtless
all will come in time. 1t is related of a
bright Boston woman that once whilst
she was living in the country abroad, in
a spot where the markets were extreme
ly unreliable, she was surprised one day
by the arrival of several guests near the
hour of dinner. 1t CHANGED, as it usually
does in similar cases, that her larder
that day was especially bare; SO she set
to work her wits as her only assistants
to overcome the difficulty. The locust
trees were in full bloom, SO she selected
the finest clusters, dipped them in batter
and fried them in boiling oil. The dish
proved not only an ornamental one, the
shape of the ordinary clusters being not
unlike that of grapes, but it proved pail
atable as well, and if not very substan-
tial, went no inconsiderable way in the
scanty dinner.
When Rome became the center of rich
es she had every luxury of the table, from
the growing locust in bloom to the os-
trich. "St. Johns bread" is said also to
be a species of wild locust, and there are
other methods of cooking in which they
have been used. As for the dandelions,
they are converted by the skillful cook
into the most palatable dishes. They
are also gathered with care and made
into ahealthful tea as well as into stewed
vegetables. The dandelion is sometimes
termed not a flower, but it certainly is
entitled and justly SO to floral considera-
ton, and belongs to the floral family.
SOME EDIBLE PLANTS.
The nasturtium makes a most delight.
full salad, the leaves being selected TO,
the purpose as the most delicious portion,
The peppery, peculiar taste tickles the
taste of the epicure with its charms, anC
the nasturtium salad is a favorite disf
on the buffet of the fastidious epicure
The seed of this flower makes a mos
tempting pickle, and invites by it's quail
tiles an appetite to the most jaded palat,
and stomach.
The cactus is a plant that has beer
used with effect by the Indians. Whe1
the Sioux SO long defed the government
and were left without food or liquid
they converted the cactus into a nourisll
ing vegetable. Besides this, the liqui,
coming from them served in the place O
water.
Roses have always played an import
ant feature in the high art of cooking
Under Charlemagne's reign the device
for cooking into which flowers were ir
serted were several, while in the Sever
teenth century the women of the gentles
birth, greatest wealth and highest pos
ton in court took the greatest person;
interest in their kitchen and its results
A favorite method of giving fish I'll
taste of flowers at this time was to DO
them in rose water. The flavor was s
thoroughly impregnating that you wou]
imagine the fish was a rose itself. I'll
mode of dining in this century was OF
of great magnifcence. The rose as a
article of food has a history which go
away back. 1t was well known to tt
ancient Greeks and Romans.-St. Lou
Post Dispatch.
A Clam Shell in the Hens Throat.
A Waldo county farmer, on going
his hen house the other morning, sa
one of his ~favorite hens lying on h
back, legs in the air and mouth wi