Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-30
House,
HOLD
hints

One of the most trying problems that
confronts the housewives OF today is the
financial one: How to adjust the living
expenses Of the household in their marked
expansion to incomes that are simply
holding their own or are markedly cur
tailed. We can all do without luxuries
in planning our expenditures, yet even so
it is sometimes difficult to draw the line
between luxuries and necessities; to know
where one ends and the other begins. In
careful marketing and the simplif1cation
Of menus is to be found one excellent way
of lessening expenses. If a housewife
would set a good economical table sha
should do her own marketing and In per
son, not through the phone. Nor is this
Of necessity reflection on the grocer or
butcher. Prices and quality vary from
day to day. and If one is there to see what
is at its best and freshest and make choice
according to the daily conditions there is
nearly always a chance to save. The SEN
sible marketer seldom buys fruits. vege-
tables or other foods out of season. If one
takes food as nature sends 1t, the bill of
fare is continually changing. and one has
everything at it's best and cheapest. Sea-
sonable foods are those that come when
the system needs them most. Vegetables
and fruit forced in hot houses are never
as rich in flavor as those grown out-ot-
doors in sunshine and rain. At this sea-
their best. while veal and lamb are most
suitable in spring and early summer. Fish
are their finest in spring and sumner, and
eggs are in the spring at the zenith OF the
hens activities. For one who would econ
onnize in fuel. strength and time the nat
ural foods offer great Inducements.
The Wholesome Prune.
The prune more than other fruit, has
come into its own in the last few years.
It's former bad reputation and the jibes
that were cast at It, as the sign manual OF
the cheap boarding house, came simply
from the ignorance of the cook who did
not know how to prepare them properly.
When cooked as they should be there are
few fruits more wholesome. A proof
value came to light last summer in one
Of the choice residential towns near New
York
The fruit stalls were filled with lavish
display Of peaches. grapes, melons. pears
and apples. but the prices in most cases
were almost prohibitive to those of slen-
der incomes. "What are your customers.
obliged to be careful in their expenditures.
doing about fruit?" I asked the grocer.
"Prunes!' was his laconic answer. "Usr-
ally we have no call at all for prunes in
the summer. but this year there is as
much demand for them as in the winter,
and don't know but more
The food value of prunes Is very high.
d
to a gallon of milk. It also possesses i'm
portant medical properties. Believed to
have come originally from Turkey. It was
carried to Europe nearly thousand years
return from the crusades. For years
they were imported into this country In
large quantities, but now, thanks to the
rapid development of the fruit industry in
California, we are beginning to export
them. Among the choicest dainties last
year in the fruit stores along 9th avenue
were the great black lustrous Oregon and
California prunes stuffed with nuts, as
dates have been.
Stuffed Prunes.
Select the largest and choicest fruit and
after washing thoroughly one by one put
in steamer and steam until soft enough
to pit. Then fill each one with fondant,
with fondant chopped nuts mixed or with
chopped nuts and raisins. to which
slight sprinkling of salt has been added.
Still another method of stuffing Is this.
which. by the way, received the third
prize in a California prune contest:
soft enough TO pit. then fill each prune
with quarter teaspoonful powdered
sugar. some nicely chopped walnuts ana
a half date. Shape the prunes nicely and
sprinkle with granulated sugar. These
are richer IL left a week before eating.
preparing 1ruueS.
Prunes should always be thoroughly
washed. While the most of our own
American fruit is packed with cleanliness
and care, the fastidious person likes to
make assurance OF cleanliness doubly
sure. Wash in tepid water, rubbing each
piece between the thumb and forefinger.
Rinse well, then put to soak in the water
in which they are to be cooked. Ten or
twelve hours soaking in cold water or
L. xrvfl1 he
should not soak long enough for the skins
to break. Unless one has an exceptional
ly sweet tooth, two and half hours
cooking on the back of the stove, closely
natural sweetness of the fruit and make
them quite sweet enough. If preferred
sweeter, add sugar while they are being
soaked Sugar added to prunes after
cooking INJURIES the flavor; Never COOK
tin or iron, as a noticeable bad taste Is
impaired to them. The very incest way OF
cooking them is to put them In an earthen
pipkin in the same water IN Whlch they
have been soaked, cover closely and cook
slowly in the oven. A good proportion or
water is q cup and half c6id water to
every cup Of prunes. Cooked in this way
the fruit emerges tender, sweet and lus-
troiis and with the real fruit flavor, to-
tally at variance with the tasteless happy
go-lucky prune of the boarding house.
Prunes should never be boiled. That
is one Of the things that spolls them. IL
you do not wish to cook them in the oven.
simmer gently on the back Of the stove.
Serve plain, or with cream plain or whip
ped. A dish of prunes- at breakfast and
one before retiring is better than any
patent medicine for regulating the diges-
tive apparatus.
Prune Butter.
This makes an excellent filling for the
children's sandwiches, or spread for
their bread. Having thoroughly washed
the prunes. soak them In colo water and
simmer until tender, pit and put through
a puree sieve. to remove the skins. Add
the Juice of a lemon or orange, sweeten II
desired and cook in a double boiler until
as thick as desired. Marmalade is made
in the same way, only using as much
sugar as fruit.
Prune Whip.
A good dessert, this, for an invalid. ADD
to one pint of prune pulp the whites OF
four eggs. Whip with the pulp until light,
and set in the oven until pulled and light.