Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-24
Table and Kitchen.
Add the Date to Your List OF Useful
Foods.


are the richest of all fruits. and the date
palm is the most highly priced tree in the
east, and object of peculiar veneration
to millions of the human race, to whom it
furnishes chief sustenance in its dates of
agate and Jasper" The date is as much a
staple article of diet to the Egyptian as rice
to the Hindu, and furnishes a greater va
riety of food and other life necessities. They
are used fresh or dried, besides being used
to furnish, by distillation, wine and VIM
egar. The immature panicles of the flow
ers they use for food; oil is expressed from
the seeds, and they are also roasted to fur
nish coffee. From the leaves and stems
they make baskets, weave mats, hammocks,
matching for their dwellings, while the
wood of the tree gives them timber and
cordage from it's fibers. Every part seems
necessary for their comfort and existence.
Compared with rice, the carbohydrate in
the date is almost solely present in the
form of sugar; in rice it is presented mainly
in form of starch
Dates and good rich milk furnish an ideal
meal for a person engaged in sedentary
labor.
Authorities give the constituent parts of
dates as follows: More than two-thrds solid
matter; about per cent of flesh-forming
substances; nearly so per cent sugar; min
eral matter and considerable waste ma
terial.
and well rice, as it contains. about the
same proportion of heat-forming substance
as rice. While the fruit brought to this
country is highly esteemed, 1t is in no way
regarded as a necessary or even valuable
food, except by the few who seek to intro
duce the simple and natural foods in our
dietary. There are many reasons why dates
should recommend themselves to the home
provider. Chief among these, of course, is
the actual food value of the fruit, coupled
with its extreme cheapness. They can be
obtained all the year round and are most
plentiful when fresh fruits are scarce.
They are to be found in almost any place,
are easily transported, and seldom, if ever,
sell for more than ten cents per pound,
sometimes less They are excellent for
children, as well as tempting to their appe-
is surprising that the average housewife
does not more fully appreciate this adj
dition to her sometimes meager list Of win
ter treats for the table.
Date Cereal Mush.
This served with good cream will give a
hearty, wholesome and digestible breakfast.
Put quart of boiling water in a kettle
with little salt and slowly sift into the
boiling water, through your fingers, enough
entire wheat meal, about cupful to thick
en- to soft mush; as soon as the meal be-
gins to remain on top, enough has been
added and water IS absorbed. If more meal
gently for twenty minutes and then stir
in a cup of seeded dates, cover and cook
ten minutes longer, then serve hot or cold,
with cream.
Dates With Cream.
Remove the stones from half a pound of
dates; cut the dates in strips and place in
a glass DISH sprinkle with a little orange
or pineapple juice and heap pint Of whip
ped cream over the top. Let get very cold
before serving.
Date Cream.
Put a quart of milk in a double boiler
with a teaspoonful Of blanched and chop
ped almonds and let it scald. Add two ia
blespoonfuls of cornstarch to a cup Of sugar
and beat to cream with a tablespoonful
of butter; add the milk slowly to this mix
ture and then return to the double boiler.
Stir and cook smooth and thick, then add
two cupfus of stoned and skinned dates.
Turn into a glass dish and set away to get
very cold Serve with chocolate sauce.
Chocolate may be added to this pudding in
stead of fiavoring with almonds. In this
chocolate.
Date Puffs.
Add half teaspoonful of salt and two tea
spoonfuls of baking powder to three cups of
white or whole wheat -four. Separate two
eggs, beat the yolks light and add to a large
tablespoonful of butter creamed with a
tablespoonful of sugar; then add two cup
fuls of milk and the flour. etc. and lastly
the beaten whites Of the eggs. Turn into
creased gem or pop-over pans and bake In a
hot oven for twenty or twenty-five minutes.
Date and Apple Fluff.
Prepare the apples same as for apple
sauce, and when partially cooked add an
equal quantity of stoned dates and stir and
cook until latter are tender; then press all
through a sieve; return to the fire and cook
until quite dry and firm, then add sugar
and butter to taste and cook a while longer,
until as stiff as before. Cool and add the
whites of four eggs beaten very stiff, to
one and a half cupfuls of the sauce. Stir
the egg whites in as lightly as possible to
mix. Serve heaped in glasses or turn into
a pudding dish and sprinkle with powdered
sugar and bake in slow oven for twenty
or twenty-five minutes. Serve with apricot,
orange or hard sauce.
Date Cream Pie.
Wash carefully a pound Of dates and
soak in little cold water over night. In
the morning stew until soft enough to rub
through a sieve. Then add a quart Of rich
milk. Three eggs beaten light, q saltspoon
of salt and little grating of nutmeg. Bake
with an under crust only. This quantity
will make three pies
Date Bread.
Make a sponge with a pint Of lukewarm
water or milk, three cups of white flour,
half a teaspoonful of salt and half yeast
cake dissolved in lukewarm water. Set in a
warm place to rise until double it's original
bulk; then add two tablespoonful Of sugar
and two of molasses, three cups of sliced
dates, and enough entire wheat flour to
make a medium stiff dough- Turn into we'll
creased pans and bake after it has nearly
doubled its bulk. Allow three-quarters of
an hour for baking and let the bread stand
for twelve hours before cutting, after it Is
baked.
Date Pudding.
Take one cup of sour milk, one cup Of
brown sugar, or molasses, two tablespoon
fuls of butter, one teaspoonful baking soda,
one pound of stoned dates, nutmeg, cloves
and cinnamon to suit the taste and enough
coarse whole wheat flour Cor cold cooked
cereal can be used) to make stiff batter.
Turn into buttered mold or basin, cover
closely and steam two hours. Serve with
any pudding sauce.
Corn Starch Pudding and Dyspepsia.
If the individual is suffering with acid
dyspepsia such desserts should be excluded
from his diet In fact although a SEEM
ingly simple and wholesome combination,