The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1937-07-16
AVOCADO rs ONE r
OF KING FRUITS
1t Contains Many Important
Nutritive Qualities.
BY EDITH M. BARBER

by EDITH vi. BARBER ~
THE avocado, one of our native
= American fruits, has compare
lively recently made itself widely
known. In its original form in our
southern tropics, it has always been
an important food and deservedly
so, as it outranks all other men,
bers of the fruit family in some of
the most important nutritive quail
ties. 1t contains even more fat than
the olive and unlike other fruits
also contributes a certain amount
of protein.
1t is grown today for our markets
in Florida, the West Indies and in
the Southwest, particularly Califor-
MIA, where the fine grades have
been given the name "calavo." Now
that packing and shipping facilities
have been perfected, it has been
made possible for many parts of the
country to become acquainted with
this delicious fruit, which is some
times called the alligator pear. Be-
cause of the distance which it must
travel and because it must be used
as soon as it is really ripe, the
price in our markets is never low
enough for us to use it as a staple
food. The price, however, has
dropped enormously. At the height
of the season it may be found at
real bargain prices. Both its flavor
and texture have made it a popular
addition to our table, where we gen.
orally use it as salad.
In my opinion it is at it's best when
dressed with lime juice as it is in,
the tropics, with lemon juice, or
with chill sauce, an idea, by the
way, which came to me from Homo
lulu. If French dressing is used, the
proportion of vinegar to oil should
be larger than usual. The avocado.
combines well with tomatoes, grape
fruit and oranges, which contrast
with it both in flavor and texture.
Alternate slices of the fruit may
be arranged on bed of romaine or
lettuce or avocado halves may be
filled with mixed fruits.
Avocado and Crabmeat.
avocadoes
l cup picked crabmeat
"a cup finely minced celery
/ teaspoon onion juice
"a cup catsup or chill sauce
Cut avocadoes in halves and re-
move pits. Mix crabmeat with eel
cry, onion and catsup or chill sauce
and fill fruit with this mixture. Serve
as a first course or as a luncheon
salad.
Sweet-SOur Dressing.
V cup sugar
" cup vinegar
2 tablespoons salad oil
tablespoon minced onion
/ tablespoon minced celery
tablespoon minced pepper
teaspoon salt
" teaspoon paprika
" teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Mix ingredients, add small piece
Of ice and beat one minute until
thick.
Caramel Custard
l cup sugar
8 eggs
Salt
teaspoon vanilla
Put half the sugar into a small
frying pan and stir over low fire
until a syrup is formed. Stir in
another one-fourth cup of sugar and
continue stirring until it is melted.
Pour this mixture into six creased
custard cups. Beat eggs slightly,
add remaining sugar, salt, milk and
vanilla. Mix well and pour into Gus
tard cups. Bake in a pan of hot
water in a moderate oven, 375 de-
grees Fahrenheit, until custard is
set.
Baked Prunes.
l pound of prunes
Water to cover
Pick over the prunes and place in
q baking dish, cover with water and
soak several hours. Cover and bake
in a slow oven an hour or more.
The long, slow cooking will bring
Out t1lC lldtQ4 al SuSdA ea11O AAO oWCCt-
ening will be needed. Other dried
fruits may be cooked in the same
way, but small amount of sugar is
desirable with the more acid fruits.
Jellied Tomato Ring.
! tablespoons gelatin
! " cup cold water
/ cans tomato soup
2 cups water
Salt
, Pepper
or cloves
Bay leaf
; Stuffed olives
Soak gelatin in water. Heat soup
with water and add seasoning. Add
soaked gelatin and stir until dis
solved. Arrange stuffed olives In
ring mold Quart size) and pour over
thin layer of hot mixture. Chill
in refrigerator until set. Add rest
mixture. Chill in refrigerator two
hours until set. Turn out of mold on
cold platter, fill center with vege-
table salad and garnish with lettuce.