The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-12
CoRr AND Irs rnopUCrs.

\ OOA<Es hksD AA0 IAs0DoO~fN The unusually large corn crop made this year and the certainty that the yield of corn can be largely increased by use of proper methods. once more adds interest to the question of its use as human food, and to the wonder that 1t is not as popular as 1t should be. even in the United States. In Europe the efforts to popularizo 1t have not met with encouraging success, al- though our government sent over a special agent in the person of Colonel Charles J. Murphy, who went as the representative or commissioner of the Department of Agriculture to create an interest in it as an article of diet. For some reason the people of the old world have never acquired a taste for corn products as food, and only eat 1t as a necessity when other bread ma terial is scarce. or because the corn is cheaper
 But for that matter. corn bread or other preparations of corn are not as popular in our own country as one might expect. when we consider the numerous ways in which 1t can be pre- pared. For a steady and continuous diet it is true that 1t Is not as satis- factory as flour bread. and we can easily understand how the ordinary palate will tire of 1t if 1t always comes in the same form, but when it can be sent to the table in so many ways why should 1t not be popular? What. for example, is more appetizing or nour- ishing than the Johnny cakes of the soid times? It was not only good. but very good. and we suspect 1t would still be popular if there existed the open wood fire places at which 1t could be cooked. but stoves and coal fires have relegated this excellent food to the country, where they still have hard wood to burn and open fire places be- fore which the cake can be cooked.
 And speaking of corn and its vari- ous uses reminds us of the explicit and somewhat lengthy and humorous direc- tions given by a recent writer for pre- pairing what he calls the best of all corn preparations. He says:
 If any intelligent man will take the trouble to cook his own cornmeal musb' Bridget to keep out of the way mean time, he can assist in the renaissance of the divinest cereal and have g. breakfast feed which he can eat joy fully s65 days in the year and never tire of.
 The recipe for cooking is simple. Get a pure. coarse meal. Keep it in a glass jar with a cover that screws tightly. becomes wormy if not we'll covered Never try to keep 1t in the house in 2 large quantity. and never get 1t of g. grocer e,r,,, who keeps t long on hand: ad:
 American who has taken this matter into his own hands has gas range. When he goes to his bath in the morn about two inches of water in it, into which he will put a heaping teaspoon full of salt. Then let him light the gas and turn it up only enough so that ter will have begun to boil He will have learned this trick by experience. The kettle should be covered with a lid.
 Then let him All a teacup nearly full of this cornmeal and turn up the gas now so that the water in the kettle boils actively. Then let him remove the lid of the kettle and sprinkle the meal slowly from the cup into the boiling water, making sure by the use of spoon, if necessary, that the meal does not lump But 1t will not lump If he sprinkles the meal slowly and carefully and the active boiling keeps up.
 By the time he has poured in all the meal his mush will have grown quite thick, and will be sputtering and throwing up little volcanic eruptions. It is now time to cover the kettle with the lid and to turn down the gas just low enough so that the mush will keep boiling little and sputtering under the lid, but will not burn.
 Then let the man go and shave or complete his dressing. That will take him fifteen minutes: and at the end of that time. on returning, he will find the mush still sputtering, but perfectly cooked and ready to be eaten.