The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-22
Gran ges, Lem 01lS, Grapefruit Furnish
 Share Of Vitdnlines

q If there is one general fault and danger with the Average> winter diet, 1t is an over supply of floury, starchy and pasty foods. True, we need large qunntftics of the starch-sugar group of foods, but nit the s9me time ~e must guard against failihg to balance our meals with sufficient green, succulent and mineral bearing elements.
 Hearty doses of griddle cakes and syrup are Hourishing and heat giving, but they must Bc offset by some form of -roughage" or juicy vegetables and fruits. We cah stand a concentrated winter menu of beans, sweet potatoes, waffles, rich .gruvies and meat pies as long as we also eat sufficient amounts of the regulating, if mysterious, vita mine.
 It may seem difficult to secure bal ancing foods in winter, but really we have a fair supply in oranges, lemons and grape fruit, in cranberrfes and such essentially winter vegetables as kale, celery, spinach, cabbage and its transformation into sauerkraut. All of !, the citrus fruits contain large 1uanti- ties of the valuable acid so helpful in regulating the. liver and c oling the blood. Grape fruit possesses q bitter
 
 shared by the lemon. It should be eaten without sugar to secure the most marked benefits.
 Fortunately, cranberries have in- creased greatly in popular favor and whereas few years ago they were not used except as an accessory to a holiday feast, now they areS rightly used almost daily in the menu. Gran berries contain a large per cent of both citric acid and iron and are there- fore strongly tonic and purifying, cs- pecially in the winter when other ber- ries and fresh .fruits-are difficult to ob- tain. It is said that they reduce in flammation and by their sharp and tangy flavor relieve and offer a much needed contrast to any heavy or gassy dish. They need not be strained and made into jelly. Indeed, they seem more delicious stewed in simple sauce or comkped in various palatable des- serts.
 When we come to cabbage, so often maligned by the sensitive and the fas- tidious, we strike an entire family of foods with most valuable salts, vita- mines and general "roughage" quail ties. Every member of this group, through the white, red, Savoy cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale, ranks almost 100 per cent in vitamine value. The strong odor given off while cooking is indicative of the sulphur phosphorus and other mineral clements it possesses. The ideal way to eat cab bage is raw; however, if cooked pfope- ly it's valuable qualities may be retined, and cooking properly means shredding, dropping into rapidly boiling water tor steaming), keeping the lid off and cooking for not more than one-half hour. Cabbage cooked in a lump until it is red and coarse is not fit, for food.
 In the simple process of salting which results in sauerkratt, cabbage develops certain bacteria which are most valuable to the human system. We may turn up ourfnoses as we will, but a survey of world eating habits will show that many people of strong stock are almost brought up on cab bage and sauerkraut. As a winter dish, sauerkraut can be recommended as full of vitamines and again an ex- cellent balance against the all too pasty griddle cakes and starchy winter dishes,
 Kale, the great crinkly leaves of which are so common, before the win ter market stalls, is q milder member,