San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1926-01-01
DUCK Or GOOSE.
FOR HOLIDAY
DINNER
Delicious New Years Meal
Is Prepared With
Little Effort.
BY ERNA J. BERTRAMS

Director C.. Food Economies, Armour
and Company.
Tradition states that turkey is the
Thanksgiving piece de resistance, and
many of you most likely did have n
beautifully Drowned juicy turkey on
that day. Now the big question is
what to have for New Years dinners.
One of the incest meats, just at
this season. is either duck or goose.
Goose, in particular, is relatively in
expensive, although of course, it does
contain just little more fat than
duck.
Fruit cup, roast goose, candied
sweet potatoes, apple sauce, baked
squash, dinner rolls, cranberry-raisin-
carrot salad, pumpkin or mincc pie,
coffee and nuts offers a nice COM
bination for the festive meal. A meal
similar to that described above should
be planned at least a few days ahead
Of time, thus allowing the homemaker
ample time in which to prepare the
various dishes, not leaving everything
for the feast day, and as often hap
pens when that is done, the home
maker is worn to n FRAGILE and cannot
do her best as a hostess.
DUCKS ARE SMALL.
In this column there have been
articles time and again regarding the
characteristics of good meat, etc. In
order to be an efficient shopper OF
poultry, the homemaker should know
the characteristics Of the type of poul-
try which will produce the finest fin
ished dish: that is, of course, of pro-
perly cooked.
Ducks usually weigh from four to
six pounds-if they are heavier than
that, they are as n rule quite old.
Geese run from four to 10 or III
pounds-those weighing more than
that are usually well aged and no
matter how careful the cook is in the
preparation, they are inclined to be
tough.
Young geese and ducks have soft
white web feet and tender wings.
The body should be plump and thick
and the fat light and semi-transparent.
The breast bone should be soft and
the flesh tender. The bcak should
be yellow and brittle. When buying
either ducks or geese, the one way |
to be sure Of having a young, tender
bird is to test it by squeezing the |
it breaks down without
too much pressing. the bird is young.
Another way to tell the age is by tear
ing the web of the foot-if it tears |
very readily, you are sure of having
a tender, juicy bird.
REMOVE PENFEATHERS.
The bird, when taken into the home,
should be drawn and the pinfeathers
picked. You will find by using
strawberry huller or tweezers that it
is quite a simple matter to remove
he pinfeathers. All young birds have
a fair amount of pinfeathers the
older the bird the fewer the pin
feathers and the greater the abun-
dance of hair. After the pinfeathers
have been picked, the bird should be
singed and washed thoroughly in cold
water. Remove the oil sack at the
pack near the vent. A small vege-
able brush is just the thing to use
or scrubbing poultry. Rub salt in
tide and outside, after, of course, re-
moving all the entrails, and being
iure that the bird is thoroughly clean
md sweet; then stuff with any favor
tie dressing, sew or skewer the open
ng. Dust with flour, put in roast
r and place in a hot oven $50 degrees
Fahrenheit. Scar thoroughly for
wenty minutes, then reduce the tenn
,erature to $50 degrees Fahrenheit
md allow the bird to continue roast
ng, figuring % minutes to the pound
that is the weight of the bird after
t is dressed and stuffed.
Since geese are quite fat, it will
e necessary to remove the drippings
rom the rooster in order to be sure
{ having a nice brown gravy, then
id water and one onion cut in small
ieces. A little Drowned flour or cara
1el may be added to assure a brown
ravy. Serve very hot.