Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-04
Expert Tells and Shows
Women How to Pre-
pare Crabs and Other
/ Difficult Dishes.

r,sre is a lot Of difference between
..sssine a soft-shell crab and preparing
bsefsteak for dinner. The crab is alive
,ns keeps kicking and grabbing at one
,r,th his pinchers. Consequently, few
housewlves undertake the preparation of
hard-shell crabs-or soft-shell crabs for
,hs, natter-for their own table uses
The result OF this is that few men get the
dsiicacy Of soft-shell crabs broiled on
their tables at home.
Those women who were fortunate
enough TO attend the lecture delivered by
~, Anna A. Carroll at the EVENING
TrneER Cooking School, Horticultural
Val Broad street below Locust street,
yesterday afternoon are now able to have
i've crabs delivered to their homes and
nrenare them for their own tables.
This was the third lecture of Mrs. Car
rols course, which lasts until June 12
she delivers her lectures at 2:30 o'clock
m the afternoon. There VIII be no lecture
on Sunday, June 6.
The meat yesterday was broiled soft
,beli crabs. Mrs Carroll had dressed a
few crabs before the opening of the lee
hire Before placing these In the oven,
however she had a box of live crabs
brought to her table. Holding one OF
these kickers up with two fingers, she
remarked to the audience;
"Thls is the way to hold them with the
'front.' up and the back of the crab toward
YOU. Take the apron off with the thumb
and finger Then turn the crab sideways.
Raise the soft shell and remove the many
little fingers. You will find two sacks one
on each side. After cleaning off the fin
GERS on one side turn the sack back and
clean Il out thoroughly. Then turn the
crab back as originally held and press out
clean under the shell where the apron
vas removed. Turn the other side of the
shell up and clean as previously shown
for the first side. Place the crab in
clean water and wash thoroughly around
4 the legs and she'll"
After Mrs Carroll had cleaned two OF
Che crabs she asked If any one wanted
her to clean another and IL they all knew
4 how II should be done. A number of the
. women looked at each other In a doubt
+ ful manner. so the lecturer took a third
4 crab and repeated the operation. At the
conclusion of the lecture n great many
A OF the audience came forward and asked
Y her to show at close range how the clean
lng should he done.
ALL NEEDED INSTRUCTION.
1t was evident from the interest of the
women and the manner in which they
commented upon the process of preparing
crabs for cooking that very few of them
we're familiar with this work. Mrs. Car
roll attempted to mako this lecture as in
terestlng as possible, as she considers 1t
far better for housewives to buy their
I've crabs and prepare them for cooking
hther than buy crab moat or dressed
srabs from the market and 1t proves
big saving. She made a number of i'm
portant suggestions which are worth brief
mention She commented upon the fact
that there Is much about cooking aside
from simply supplying the physical needs.
In this connection she said that many
housewives failed to realize that really
good things have much to do with the
sheerfulness Of the home and with the
homo spirit.
SAVE CHICKEN FAT.
She recommended that chicken fat be
carefully conserved. 1t should be rem
iered, she said, to be used In gingerbread
lnd for sauces. This would help keep
fown the cost of chicken. In stewlng
nlcken she suggested both the soup and
suee could be made from the water in
Fhleh the chicken is cooked
buiter fat or tat from beef, when rem
lsred, makes good shortening. This kind
's' can be bought at low price from