The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-05-12
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BUREA
FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Director.
Washington. D. C
BEEF STEW PROPAGANDA.
Washington. D. C

Washington, ID. e, May 81 you
can no longer afford to buy sirloin
steak, hunt out the Home Demonstra-,
ton class which the Department of
Agriculture is probably holding in your
town, and attend one of it's lectures.
A lecture may seem a poor subSti-
tute for sirloin steak, but at these lee
lures they actually pass out more sub
stantial substitutes. such as beef stew
and pot roast. designed to prove to
you that these things can be made
good enough to tickle any palate. Not
only housewives, but restaurant keep
ers, hotel men. professional cooks and
all others who have to do directly with
the preparation of food. are finding
these classes worth while.
These home demonstration classes,
which were started in all of our large
cities during the war as a national
conservation measure. are now being
continued for the public welfare. A
few months ago, the value of a dollar
was So cents; now, the latest calcula-
ton places it at Al cents. This means
that families which formerly spent a
dollar q day for food will now have to
spend two dollars unless they learn to
use bay leaf here and a bit of dried
parsley there. and make cheaper food
take the place of more costly products.
No housewife who is interested in
stretching her income to cover the
ever expanding cost of food. can af-
ignore them should. in the opinion of
certain male authority who is afraid
| TO be quoted, be run down by truant
officers and made to attend them.
One of these classes is held here in
! Washington in the Smithsonian in
| stitution tucked away in an obscure
portion of the building which also con-
tains a collection of gorgeous Oriental
| tapestries and models of the first au-
| tomobile and the first steam engine.
| l1r1
| by the name of Miss Ollie Chinn, who
is a specialist in household economics.
| If you tell her what you eat for break
fast, she. can Immediately point out
| where your menu is wrong-what
should be taken out and what put in
| to constitute a healthy, balanced diet.
| Or if you happen to be interested in
clothes, she can tell you how your last
| winters suit can be cut up and made
Into several garments for the children.
| The course of lessons include not only
! a complete study of the economical
purchase and preparation of food, but
| a lecture on textiles and the removal
| ton of old clothes; a discussion of
family budgets, of labor-saving de-
vices for the home, and of balanced
diets.
The room in which the class is held
contains an electric washing machine,
steam pressure cooker, a home
made flreless cooker and a home
made tea-cart, model gas stove, re-
| frigerator, kitchen cabinets, sink and
| drainboard, table and kitchen utensils.
Along the walls are cases containing
! more scientific specimens. Two of
| these contain various food products of
| the same caloric content. Thus the
! unscientific individual is surprised to
| find that an orange contains as much
fuel value for the human body as
two-inchN slab of meat or two table,
spoons of peas or about two dozen
stalks of asparagus. Another case
| contains specimens of canned goods
put up by the girls canning clubs I'M
| der the direction of the department
| of agriculture The department is
trying to introduce these products to
city women thru its home demonstra-
ton classes, which have arranged to
| take orders for them.
The food classes, which are being
held every Thursday afternoon are
always we'll attended. A couple of
weeks ago, the class took up the study
| of the economical use of meats. Miss
| Chinn began by explaining the ancient
but universally unaccepted fact that
| Americans eat too much meat and
| that, of course, one of the first econo-
mics was to stop providing so much
of it. The scientists of the department
| of agriculture, according to Miss
! Chinn, have discovered that twelve
ounces of meat and meat substitutes
/
to consume in any one day. A woman
requires only eight-tenths as much.
| In other words, three or four ounces
| Of meat day are enough for any,
| body, if he eats eight or nine ounces
of meat substitutes. including, prefer
ably, four ounces. pint. of milk.
| Having decided this, the class next
| took up the question of buying. Miss
Chinn pointed out that cheap cut of
meat was just as good as an expensive
cut of meat, if properly cooked and
| favored. But it seems that there is
a. wide difference between cheap cuts
! and cheap cuts. Like the little girl
with the curl. when good the cheap
cut is very. very good. and when bad
it is horrid. 1t all depends upon the
animal from which it is taken. Now
it is one of the many misfortunes of
Washington. says Miss Chinn, that it
| receives very little of the choicest
meat distributed by the packing in
dustry. Those retailers who handle
the best grades of meat at high prices
usually refuse to handle the cheapest
| cuts at all, but sell them to other deal
| ers. So it is matter requiring a great
amount of skill to pick out a good pot
| roast, for example, from a miscellane-
Gus collection of pot roasts. Neverthe-
less. Miss Chinn asserts, there are GER
| tain unmistakab,e indications. Good
| meat should be bright red, and thor
oily notified with fat-not gristle. The
fat should be solid fat and a good
| shade of yellow, and 1--WE apologize for
the word) Shiny. These are the gem
eral points. but it is admitted, abso-
lutte knowledge in this line may be
acquired only thru bitter experience.
a meat chart, showing the different
cuts of meat as they appear on the
animal is said to be of great help.
Miss Chinn held up a slice of round
steak to illustrate to the class what
she meant. Round steak, she asserted.
was not cheap-you have to pay IS
cents for a pound and auarter-but
it is cheap in comparison to other
steaks. because there is so little waste
in the form of bone. Rarely is it pos
sible to achieve good results in broil :