Food Value

During cold weather, when the body requires all the warmth possible to be obtained from heatgiving foods, one important addition to the day's menu is a perfectly cooked breakfast cereal. Two of the best foods for this purpose are oatmeal and cornmeal, which are richer in fats than the other grains. Oatmeal is the richer of the two in food material, but plenty of exercise is required for its perfect digestion. For the strong, hardworking laborer it is one of the best and most economical of foods. For people who lead sedentary lives, the lighter wheat foods, of which there is an abundance in the market, are better suited.

Need of Variety

The housekeeper who studies the family health ought to familiarize herself thoroughly with the subject of breakfast cereals; it is one of large importance. Having found what foods are best liked by the household, she might lay in for the winter's needs a good assortment and use the cereals alternately; a wheat preparation one morning, oatmeal another, and cornmeal the next morning perhaps.

There will be no palling on the appetite with such a routine, besides the cereals may be served in a varied style day by day. Baked apples are a delicious accompaniment to any of the oatmeal or wheat cereals, as are also sliced peaches, wellripened bananas, dates, or flavored apple sauce.  Serve with cream. Never spoil a good cereal by serving poor milk with it Cereals are deficient in the fats contained in cream and in the salt found in fruits, therefore the combination, which is as delicious as it is healthful. A preparation like farina is much improved by having stirred into it, just before serving, figs, dates, or cooked prunes, cut in pieces.

How To Keep Cereals

When cereals arrive, empty them at once into glass jars, and screw the lids on tight Frequently the manufacturer or the grocer is blamed for a poor, wormy cereal, which has really been ruined by the treatment accorded it on the pantry shelves. It is left in the paper case in which it was packed, with the cover torn off. Mice regale on it, moths inhabit it, dust settles on it, damp induces mold, and presently it is spoiled. The manufacturer seals it with care, the grocer stores it on dry, clean shelves. Then comes the housewife who thinks any sort of treatment is good enough for groceries.

Need Of Thorough Cooking

Cereals are infrequently accorded the right of proper cooking. An indigestible pastylooking mess meets with the most unfavorable verdict, when, if cooked as it ought to be, nothing could be more nutritious or appetizing. The directions which accompany a cereal seldom give time enough for cooking, unless it be set to boil in a vessel right over the fire, which is far from satisfactory. Steaming for hours in a doubleboiler gives very different results. The method for cooking cereals is the same, although measurements differ, one cup of cereal absorbing more or less liquid than another.

After some study and tests of cereals and the time they need for thorough cooking, I have compiled the following table:

Table Of Leading Breakfast Foods

The Way To Cook A Cereal

To cook any of these cereals, set the upper half of a doubleboiler over the fire and bring the water to boil. Add one teaspoon of salt for one quart of water. For any coarsegrained cereal, the Scotch method of adding the meal "marlin' it in," as it is called can scarcely be improved upon. Measure the oatmeal into a bowl, hold it in the left hand, and slowly with the right hand sprinkle it into briskly boiling water. Until every grain of the meal separates stir constantly. In five minutes the cereal will have begun to thicken slightly.

Now set the upper half in the lower part of the doubleboiler half filled with hot water. Put on the lid and allow the cereal to steam till the grains are perfectly swollen. Do no stirring after the steaming process begins, or the cereal will be starchy, the grains broken and the fine nutty flavor destroyed. In cooking a smallgrained cereal, such as farina, wet it with cold water, add to the boiling water, then cook like the oatmeal except that it may be stirred occasionally.

Indeed, before it is fully cooked a brisk beating with a wire whisk will improve it, breaking any lumps which may have formed.

A Secret Of Making A Cereal

One secret of making a cereal as delicious as possible lies in proper measurements of the grain and the water. Always use the same cup for measuring, and follow directions exactly. Adding water to thin a cereal when it is half cooked or pouring it off to thicken it will ruin the flavor completely.

When a cereal has cooked the required time and is still too moist, it may be thickened in ten minutes by taking off the lid of the boiler and allowing evaporation to thicken it The flavor of many cereals is much improved by using half water and half milk in the cooking. Any one who has tasted the milk porridge of Scotland will realize this. When the milk is used the cereal must be very carefully cooked; it will burn readily if set over the fire. Hominy, farina, and oatmeal are especially improved by the addition of milk.

Cracked wheat is delicious eaten cold. It thickens considerably while cooling, therefore add onethird more water than if it is to be served hot. Pour it in a wet mold and allow it to jelly. Serve with cream, sugar, and raw or stewed fruit. Hominy may be used as a vegetable as well as for a foundation for various delicious puddings. This cereal requires somewhat different treatment from wheat or oatmeal preparations. Soak the hominy for several hours in cold water, strain and put it in salted boiling water.