Delaware gazette and state journal., 1900-01-25
NURSERY COOKERY.
THE SMALL CHILD's DIET. !
BY Christine Terhune Herricks

r u 1
Continued from last week.)
The question OF giving fresh fruits
to children of four or five years of age
requires q little attention. II apples,
pears or peaches are given they must
be thoroughly ripe and should, of course,
be peeled before the child eats them.
Oranges should be freed from the white
inner skin, and the seeds must be re- |
moved from grapes. Stewed fruits. as
prunes or other dried fruit, must be |
cooked until very tender. Apple sauce |
Is always excellent, especially for any |
one who has tendency towards con-
stipation.
Three meals day are perhaps all
that the FIVE year old child really needs.
But il he breakfasts between seven and
eight in the morning and is active in
habit, he will feel the need Of something
to bridge the interval between the first
and second meals of the day. cracker
or a slice Of bread and butter and a
glass of milk at about II o'clock will not
come amiss and will prevent the child
striving to satisfy his hunger with less
wholesome articles Of food. At this Pc
riod Of between two and three hours
after q meal the stomach is in condi-
ton where 1t absorbs the milk by capil-
Ary attraction SO that it goes at once to
the blood, instead of first being convert-
ed into curd and going through the
regular processes of digestion as IL does
when the stomach is entirely empty.
The fact that the child has,-or should
have-twenty teeth by the time he
reaches his fifth year, permits him to
have a quite extended dietary. For his
dinner he may begin, as hitherto, with
n soup, and this may be followed by un-
derdene steak or chops, roast beef or
mutton or lamb. or chicken roast, broiled
or stewed, or roast turkey. With this
may come couple of vegetables. One
of these may be green, as peas, string
beans OF spinach, the other starchy, as
potatoes, rice or macaroni. As a rule,
children OF this age should abstain from
canned foods. A judicious variety
should be chosen, that the child may not,
by monotony, take a distaste to any
one vegetable. Such variety Is easily
obtained and will be welcome to the
grown-ups, who make the children's
dinner their own luncheon.
BAKED HoMINY.
Into a cupful of boiled small hominy
work a tablespoonful of butter, tea
spoonful of sugar and half as much salt.
Add to them one egg, beaten light, and a
full cupful of milk. When all are well
mixed turn into creased pudding dish
and bake covered half an hour. I'm
cover and brown.
SWEET POTATO PUFF.
Boil mealy sweet potatoes, and when
tender pass them through a colander or
vegetable press. To two cupfuls of the
potato thus prepared add an egg, beat
en- light, cupful of milk, a heaping ta.
biespoonfulj of butter and a little salt
Bake in CREASED pudding dish to light
brown.
After the solid part of the dinner there
may be light pudding, When ther,
has been a preponderance of starchy
dishes early in the meal the desser
should be fresh OF stewed fruit, junke
or something Of A similar character
Rice, cornstarch and bread pudding
should be served when such vegetable
as cauliaower, spinach, stewed celery
tomatoes and the like have been in tn
majority.
BREAD AND APPLE PUDDING.
Line creased pudding dish,-on
with straight sides,-with slices Of but
tered bread from which the crust ha
been trimmed. Peel tart apples, cho
them into small pieces, and fill the spac
in the middle of the dish with this
sprinkling them literally with sugar
If you choose, you may add little cir
namon. Put a few bits of butter owe
the top. Bake in the oven till the app
is thoroughly cooked. If the dish ha
been we'll packed and cooked, the pud
ding will turn out upon platter almos
like a mould of jelly. 1t may be cate
hot with hard sauce or with butte
and sugar.
For the child's supper, the same foe
may be provided as when he was yount
er, bread and milk, bread and COCO
cereal and milk. milk toast. Once in
while bowl of some good cream sol
will make pleasant change, or the
may be given dish of tomato toast l.
stead Of milk toast.
TOMATO TOAST.
Toast rather thick slices of sta
bread, and trim off the crust Ha'
a pan standing by containing litt
hot milk and into this dip each sli
Of toast before laying 1t in a puddi
dish. When this has been done butt
the pieces and sprinkle little salt ov
them.
Have ready half cupful of toma
sauce, made by draining the liquor frt
stewed tomatoes and thickening hi
pint of 1t with tablespoonful of but
and one OF -four. Pour the sauce o,
the toast, cover 1t and set it in the ov
for five minutes before sending to tab
Even at a tender age child may c
hibit marked tastes and distastes
certain articles of food. If one co,
accept the old postulate That what {
- likes will not disagree with one,
converse might stand good, and I
child be allowed to reject a food he
not relish. 1t is however, a mistake
permit this.
There are, of course, certain oc
sions in which child's fancies in d
should be regarded Sometimes there
prejudices that II seems impossible
overcome, and these repugnances C
tinue into mature life. But often "
little patience the mother can add,
by one, to the child's dietary, a 7
SOUP an unfamiliar vegetable, vari
of meat hitherto refused, until ther
.ee tJSty Caur6 f,aaaa.