The Indianapolis times., 1930-12-10
Much Work
Can Be Done
DayBefore
BY SISTER MARY
NEA Service Writer

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year after year. In fact, most fam
lilies resent any marked innovation
In the festivities and consider the
Christmas dinner lacking if the cook
fails to provide the traditional IA
vorites.
Christmas breakfast is an i'm
portant meal in homes where there
are children. When the stockings
hung over the foot of the bed or
fireplace are quite small, breakfast
may be wanted at early as 5 o'clock.
Breakfast any time until o'clock
means a fairly hearty meal. but it
should be simple and easily pre-
pared. Fruit prepared the day be-
fore, toast made at the table and a
simple, easily digested main dish are
all that is necessary.
Excitement retards digestion, so
the children's breakfast must be a
simple meal.
Plan Dinner Carefully
Careful planning on the part Of
the housewife will simplify the
preparation of her dinner so that
she may enjoy her own gifts 'and
guests without overwork and worry.
Several days before Christmas
she will take stock of her staple
supplies and be sure that all table
appointments are ready for use.
The day before Christmas usually
is a very busy one for the cook.
The fowl should be cleaned and
stuffed and trussed, ready for the
oven. The pudding sauce can be
made at least in part.
The salad dressing can be made
one or two days before wanted and
kept on ice. The celery can be
crisped and wrapped in a damp
towel until wanted The lettuce can
De washed and crisped and kept in
an alright container.
Consomme or bouillon should be
fnade and clarified all ready for re-
heating. A cream soup can be made
ready for combining.
Make Plum Pudding Early
Plum pudding is better if made
several weeks before wanted for use
and stored in a closely covered crock
or tin box until Christmas day
when it can be returned to its mold
and steamed one hour before serv-
ing.
All this planning produces a
schedule that will reduce the amount
or work left to be done on Christ
mas day to a minimum.
Goose has been the popular
Christmas bird for centuries. but
any sort of fowl or roast is in per-
feet keeping. A study Of world
wide Christmas customs shows a
great variety of meats from which
to choose.
Many housewives plan their
Christmas dinner with regard to the
preceding Thanksgiving feast and
the following New Years festivity;
turkey for Thanksgiving, goose for
Christmas and duck for New Years
Start With Soup
The woman who has no maid
will hesitate to serve an elaborate,
many-courSe dinner, but if chill
dren are present it is best to start
the meal with a clear soup. The
hot soup steadies small nerves and
Is an aid to digestion.
Following are two menus that can
be elaborated or simplified to meet
individual needs.
Keep in mind the necessity of
serving foods that children may
eat without an aftermath of dis
comfort. Let a dish Of stewed
prunes garnished with a dab of
whipped cream and a cube of
bright red jelly take the place of
plum pudding for their dessert.
MENU-NO. 1
Bouillon
Radishes Celery Assorted Olives
Roast Goose with Prune Stufing
Giblet Gravy
Martinique Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
Tomato Jelly and Cream Cheese
SdlaQ
Plum Pudding Sunshine Sauce
Christmas Candy
Black Coffee
The potatoes are cooked, sea-
soned and nodded the day before.
Christmas day they are baked twen-
ty minutes in a moderate oven to
make very hot; brown slightly.
The salad is made the day be-
fore and on Christmas day is re-
moved from molds and served on
q bed of lettuce.
With the exception of roasting the
goose and making the gravy, the
actual amount of cooking and time
required to prepare the dinner is
slight.
MENU-NO. 2
Grapefruit Cocktail
Consomme
Crown of Roast Pork
Blushing Apples
Glace Sweet Potatoes
Nodded Spinach
Stuffed Sweet Pepper Salad
Jellied Plum Pudding Fruit Cake
Nuts Fruit
Coffee
The roast is prepared ready for
roasting the day before. The blush
ing apples are made. sweet potatoes
parboiled and the salad and pudding
made ready to serve. The fruit cake
has been baked for weeks.
On Christmas morning the cock
tail must be made and chilled. Later
the pork must be roasted, the con-
somme reheated, the spinach cooked
and the sweet potatoes finished
But there is no elaborate and
paintaking fuSsing necessary in the
preparation of the meal.
PLEDGES TO GIVE