Evening star., 1948-04-02
Readers Clearing House
COMMENT,


From Mrs. G. E. D., HydttsDilte.)
To Mrs. E. W.. who wanted fool
proof pressure cooker because she
makes a bad habit of forgetting
the food she puts on the stove, and
also wanted advice on how to break
the habit. This sounds to me as If
she had mental block" against
cooking, since she says her memory
is average otherwise. She must have
some deep-seated dislike of or re-
bellion against cooking, possibly
without really realizing 1t herself,
especially If this habit has persisted
for years, as I judge it has from
other remarks in her letter. If she
can force herself to take real and
Joyous interest in her cooking. I
think her trouble will disappear.
A concrete help-plan trips up
stairs, phone calls, ETC., for earlier
in the afternoon, and when once
you have started on your dinner,
stay with it, unless of course you
are having pot roast or something
of that nature. I find If put my
longest-cooking food on exactly the
length of time before dinner to have
1t ready, then put other things on
in turn according to the time it
takes them, fixing salad, etc., mean
while, that I usually keep busy the
whole half or three quarters Of an
hour 1t takes, and come out even
at the end, without even the temp
tation of leaving anything. Modern
methods of cooking vegetables call
for short cooking times and low heat,
you know.
AS for the pressure cooker, If
food were put on and forgotten
for an hour or So" the cooker might
not be damaged, but the food would
be a sorry mess. Cooking time in
pressure cookers is figured by min
utes and half minutes. My cooker
is the type that has serving cover
80 that 1t can come to the table,
and is highly satisfactory for me.
/ use 1t on an electric range and
find that If stay right with 1t for
the three or FOUR minutes 1t takes
to come to the correct pressure and
then for the unit to cool off enough
Tor the pressure to stay put" I
san then leave it strictly alone,
knowing the pressure will stay con-
slant and the food be perfectly
cooked at the end OF the allotted
time. OF course, you have to work
out exactly how much heat your
stove requires to attain this end.
I start mine on High" then when
pressure is reached, switch to Low"
I usually have to keep the cooker
off the unit for a minute or so
while it is cooling off to Low"
They are a wonderful help in speed
ing up the meal-getting especially
II you use it for your longest-cook-
ing vegetable or meat. You can
then usually cook this about the
same length Of time you are cooking
your quick" vegetables in sauce
pans, and it will take only IS or 20
minutes to get the whole meal,
set the table and everything.
POEMS WANTED?
From M. T. L., L1nhdm.
hope some one may be able to
help me in the search for two poems
I would like so much to have. /
read both In a volume of poetry
years ago in the Public Library
where I picked up the book on the
desk next mine and had to give the
book up to the owner who had been
away for a while. So I did not get
the name of the book nor the author
Cor compiler), nor the titles OF the
poems nor their authors. I do not
remember the first lines even. So,
you see, I am very handicapped. I
cannot use the usual aids and my
only recourse is to tell the story OF
each and hope that someone knows
the poems and will share his knowl-
edge with me.
The first is the story of a 18th or
14th century monk who had been
assigned kitchen work in the mon
astery because he had no education
nor ability in any fine art. Each
monk was engaged in doing his
finest piece of work to place upon
the altar on certain occasion II
forget which occasion). One wrote
book, one designed the head and tail
pieces to the chapters of book, one
painted a great picture, one worked
on tapestry, others on architec-
ture, or his garden, his orchard, etc.
Now, the kitchen monk knew of
nothing he could do to make an Of
fering worthy of his Lord And so
he was downcast for many days. At
last he recognized his limited tall
ents, acknowledged them to himself,
threw off his unhappiness and said
as he went about his work: "At least
I can polish my kettles and pans
to the Glory of God" And he made
them shine like the sun.
The other poem concerns itself