Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-25

STOulu Town, Jnere were plenty OF
just those fresh vegetab -profiting
by the weeks freeze on canned
goods, and the housewives need of
tomatoes. carrots, cabbage, etc, for
the family mealS)
The inclusion of dried beans and
peas and lentils in the point ration
ing plan was jolt to lot of women
who had been relying on them to
exc out scsnty supplies of meats and
other protein foods. Coming as 1t
did, almost on top of the Govern
ments listing of edible dried beans
as Victory Food Special" (Synony-
nous heretofore with "surplus'D for
the period from January 18 to %. it
was an unexpected and bitter blow.
At that time the Government re-
leases stated that there was an all
time record supply of dried beans
available this year and that the
amount was ample for civilians here
at home, as well as for lease-lend
and the armed forces. This would
naturally give the average man or
woman the impression that dried
beans could be relied upon in an
otherwise unreliable food world
but, apparently, such Is not the case.
The same thing, of course, happened
with cheese-another Victory Spe-
cial," which Is now on the shortage
list, although not yet rationed.
Complaining and questioning,
however, isn't going to help out the
immediate situation, which is what
most concerns the woman who must
keep herself and her family prop
erly fed. Soothing releases from
Government agencies that suggest
she pattern her dietary require
ments along lines used by the Army
in feeding its men don't help much
when she can't pick and choose in
local markets and must take what
she can f1nd-when she can find it.
Today, as never before, the house
wife is "on her own; her problem
is hers alone, to solve as best she
may. She has, of course, plenty of
company in her misery, but it is up
to her individually to decide how
best she can feed her family. And
now she must add to her many 9TH
er talents that of being an expert
accountant, If she is to stay within
the strict bounds of rationing and
budgeting.
1t boils down, really, to using
ereat-grandmother's housekeeping
methods with great grandgdauhter'
equipment. Economical cooking and
ro nf {,,
cans usually call for long, slow
simmering or baking. Home made
soups, home baked beans, braising
cheap cuts of meat, steaming and
boiling of cereal buildings ard root
vegetables-all these were done
cheaply and easily by great-grand-
mother on her slow and sure coal
range. On modern electric and gas
stoves this becomes a major prob
lem. We are being told to use as
little cooking fuel as possible-so
how can we set about this long,
slow cooking? Fire hazard must
also be considered, for modern
ranges cannot be left unmatched
and INTENDED as were the coal
stoves. And what of the woman who
works all day? How can she throw
a meal together quickly on her re-
turn in the evening?
The only solution that we can see
at the moment is that two or three
mornings week must be allocated
to marketing and the same number
Of evenings set aside for preparing
quantities of food that can be left
IN the refrigerator until needed and
then will take only a few minutes
to reheat. BY buying a quantity
of foodstuffS at one time the av-
erage woman will find it easier to
keep track of her ration points
and by cooking in patches she will
be able to serve quickly prepared
meals at least several days a week
The mothers of young infants are
going TO be hit the hardest, for it
appears that even if some canned
foods are used for babies, the young
ster's diet must be supplemented
by fresh fruits and vegetables to
be adequate. With produce as high
as 1t is this Is going to be another
headache as far as the budget is
concerned, and where the extra
work enters the picture it is really
going to keep mother at home more
than ever and may mean that she
will have to abandon several of
those war jobs for which she has
volunteered. It's good news, how
ever, that Washington stores seem
reasonably well stocked with the
implements required for pureeing
babys foods; we made special
checkup on the matter and find
that there are several types still to
be had, most Of them inexpensive.
SO there it is. It's not a very
pretty picture, but American wom-
en- never have been sisSies, and they
can take it. And they'll take 1t
well. Well try to help all we can
with suggestions and reports, and
we'll be glad to answer your ques-
tions at any time. The Woman's
Page has the greatest admiration
for the women of Washington. and
the way they have put their shoul-
der to the wheel of the war effort