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12
THE CHEM AWA
AM ERICAN
or atten tio n ; com m unities w here th e homes are filthy, dam p, poorly
ventilated, and poorly lighted; homes w here no sanitation ex ists, no
know ledge of food value. S trong men and women connot be raised on
outlandish chemical com binations or poorly cooked, indigestible food.
All th is brings us aro u n d to the assertion made in th e b eg in n in g —
th at to become useful citizens m uch depends upon the home; th e re
fore. let us stu d y housekeeping in a scientific wav, m aking it a profes
sion instead of a d ru d g ery ; let us utilize m odern science in th e home,
thereby preserving and prom oting h ealth , happiness, and prosperity.
T h e cornerstone of society is th e home.
But I shall be m ore specific and confine my rem arks to a few of the
culinary processes. Cookery is the art of p reparing food for the n o u r
ishm ent of th e body. Food is cooked to develop new flavors, to m ake
it more palatable and digestible, and to destroy m icro-organism s.
Scientists teach us the chem ical elem ents of w hich the body is com
posed and they are sim ilar to those of the foods w hich nourish it. W e
m ust then make a study of all foods and how to prepare and how to
cook them .
M any people, although they like cooking and are considered good
cooks, have no know ledge of a w ell-balanced meal; know little of the
com position of foods or th e reasons for the processes they carry on
daily.
F or our dem onstration we shall m ike a plain cake. T h e m ix in g and
baking of cake requires mere care and more ju d g m en t th an any other
branch of cookery. G reat care m ust be taken in m easuring and com
bining ingredients. Pans m ust be properly prepared, oven heat re g u
lated, and the cake watched d u rin g baking. F or the best results, the
best ingredients are essential— fine g ran u lated su g ar, good b u tte r, fresh
eggs, pastry flour, goed baking pow der, and pure flavoring.
Recipe for a plain cake: One cup of sugar, one-half cup of b u tter,
tw o eggs, tw o-thirds cup of m ilk, two level cups of flour, two level te a
spoons of baking pow der, one teaspoon of flavoring
U ntensils required; M ixing bowl, wooden spoon, teaspoon, m eas
uring cup, egg beater, bowl for beating eggs, flour sifter, cake tins.
In g red ien ts required: S u g ar, b u tte r, eggs, m ilk, flour, baking pow
d er, flavoring.
M easurem ents: In m easuring use one sized cup th ro u g h the entire
process; all m easurem ents level. T o econom ize on dish w ashing, first
m easure flour into the sifter, sugar into th e m ixing bowl, th en the b u t
ter, add th is to the sugar, last the m ilk. P ut the baking pow der w ith
the flour.
C om bining ingredients: Cream b u tter and su g ar and beat eggs.
C akes are m ade lig h t by the cream ing of b u tter and sugar, by beating