The Portland daily press., 1900-08-04
NURSERY COOKERY.
THE SMALL CHILD's SUMMER
DIET.
BY Christine Terhune Herrick.
CONTINUED from last week.)


When the small fruits have taken their
departure or are on the decline, there is a
little space when nothing presents itself
to take the place of the berries. To this
statement one may possibly make an
exception in favor of the harvest apple,
which the small boy frequently seems to
prefer in its unripe state. Still, he will
generally consent to eat it even when it
is ripe and comparatively harmless and
will enjoy it when baked or made into
apple sauce. In either form it is about
as wholesome and beneficial dainty as
child can eat and is especially good fo1'
children who have any tendency to con-
stipation.
AS the summer progresses and ripe
fruits present themselves, the dangers in
the child's way lessen. Ripe reaches, if
peeled can do a child no harm when he
Is well. The same cannot be said of
pears. There is a tough quality to their
fibre that is hard to digest and the only
way in which most pears are fit for lit
tie stomachs is when they have been
cooked.
STEWED PEARS (PEELED).
Peel pears, core them and quarter
them Put them into agate ware or
porcelain lined sauce pan, and sprinkle
them thickly with sugar Cover them
with boiling water, put the saucepan at
the back Of the stove and cook very
slowly until the fruit is tender Take
the pears out with a split spoon, let the
juice stew fast for Is minutes longer
turn it over the pears and let these
stand one side until cold. If the pears
are comparatively tasteless, add the
juice of a lemon and a few bits of the
peel before they are cooked.
STEWED PEARS CUNPEELED).
Wash and core small pears, but do not
peel. Put them in a saucepan and cover
with cold water. Stew until they are so
tender that straw will pierce them, and
then put in, for a dozen small pears,
three tableshoonfuls of molasses and a
half teaspoonful of ground ginger.
Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer,
take out the fruit, boil the syrup for half
an hour longer and pour it over the fruit
Eat cold.
BAKED PEARS.
Wash and core large sweet pears, ar
range them in a bake dish, and fill the
holes left by the cores with sugar. Pour
a tablespoonful of cold water on each
pear. Cover the pudding dish closely
and bake the fruit until tender. Take
out the pears, pour the liquor over them
and set aside until very cold. These are
extremely good eaten with cream.
Against melons much the same objec-
lions may be urged that have been given
concerning pears. If they are perfectly
fresh and perfectly ripe, they may be
eaten in moderation by healthy child
This, in spite of the fact that the juven-
lie robbers of melon patches do not
usually come to an untimely end. Still
1t is unsafe to leave the decision as to the
state Of the fruit and the amount of it
that may be eaten to the Judgment of a
child who will be influenced more by his
palate than by his prudence.
Concerning grapes, it is well to utter a
word Of warning. If children can be
taught to reject the seeds as well as the
skin there is little risk in their eating
this fruit. But although it is now toler-
ably well proven that grape seeds are
not responsible for appendicitis, these
yet hav other sins to answer for, and q
mass 0 irregular cornered crane seeds
IS likely to Gauss as much disturbancefn
the intestines as an equal quantity of the
berry seeds against which caution has
been given.
All that has been said about the use Of
fruit applies of course, to the healthy
child, and even he must have passed his
fifth or sixth year before he can be per
mitted to eat fruit freely. He should be
a good deal older than that before he is
allowed practically unlimited indul-
gence even in ripe fresh fruit. The
young child, and even more, the delicate
child, must be guarded from the posi-
bility Of gratifying an appetite that is
unchecked by prudence
A word about vegetables. Most fresh
summer vegetables may be given to the
healthy child. Peas, young beans (these
with little care), tomatoes. SQUASH.
asparagus, spinach and some others are
excellent. Corn is to be given with care
unless it has been scraped from the cob.
and so freed from the tough husks of the
kernels. New potatoes and fried egg
plant, cabbage, beets, turnips. parsnips
and all raw vegetables except PERHAPS
lettuce and ripe tomatoes, must be de-
MED them Never, even although the
child may seem to be furnished with
cast iron digestion, should he be allowed
TO taste cucumbers, which, after all. are
NJ 1000 only for ostriches and epicures.
FOR YOUR scRAP-BoOK.