The Sully County Watchman

SUMMER EATING.
Suggestions Concerning Economy in the Kitchen During the Hot Season.

Food should be seasonable. As clothes are changed according to the weather variations, so should the equally important diet be regulated.

In many wisely-ordered households, the system of arranging summer foods after new and approved methods has been adopted, insuring the saving of money, fire, time and labor, with the additional advantage of having most desirable and healthful dishes to tempt and satisfy the appetite, without proving a tax to the digestive organs.

Science is hand-maiden to convenience, and there is actually no limit to the supply of canned, potted and preserved food. All manner of soups, fish, meats, fowl, sauces, puddings, and fruit are prepared, excellent in quality and at low cost, considering the fact that every atom of the "put off" article is eatable, and the extent to which the air-tight method of preparation is employed amazes one who has not kept pace with the ingenuities brought to bear upon methods of table management.

The soups vary in character: there are extracts for clear soup, powders so rich and concentrated that a table spoonful or so will thicken and make tasteful a full quart of soup; and then there are jars or bottles of juices with vegetables requiring only the boiling water to make regular French soups.

The meats too, are so convenient, for in summer one would sooner forego the delights of a juicy roast than to heat the range and the house, except on extra occasions, and most desirable substitutes are the lobsters, and salmons to eat plain or for salads; the canned and potted meats and game, which should always be kept on hand to meet the unpleasant emergencies which often arise—a rainy day or the arrival of an unexpected guest, when no one is at leisure to run to the groceryman or to order from the market-man.

The patient and obliging baker, whose daily task is to supply the rolls, bread, tea-biscuit, and sometimes cake, saves a great amount of annoyance.

His pies at this season can be dispensed with, for the summer fruits, each in its season are wise substitutes for pastry, for fruit aids instead of retarding the assimilative processes, and when ripe fruit cannot be procured, the canned, dried, and sugared fruits prove most acceptable, and when all prepared they really prove a panacea for many of the summer complaints which so much annoy children.

There are also many vegetables which tend to lubricate the system and supply at the same time elements of sustenance.

Tomatoes, sliced or cooked, are excellent, and everyone knows how delicious they are with the Mayonnaise accessory.

Asparagus, too, covers the widest ground of material demand. Like celery and onions, it is a good nervine and may be served on toast with drawn butter sauce or simply boiled tender in salted water and eaten as salad with sauce of vinegar, salt, and pure oil.

Few persons understand the capacities of the cucumbers, which is usually pickled, served raw or grated, and mixed with vinegar for sauce. The larger specimens can be sliced lengthwise, seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled in flour, and fried to a dainty brown in lard or butter, forming an acceptable breakfast or tea dish, with a meaty taste added to a flavor of the vegetable.

As little force and fire as possible should be called into service in preparing summer foods. The cereal element predominates in the constitution of the modern diet. Corn, oats, and wheat, in some form, are found upon every breakfast table, and are praised for their muscle-building properties.

The Scotch and Irish oat meals are undoubtedly superior to the domestic, but the American method of furnishing it steamed or partly cooked saves time and trouble. Every mill has of course its own way of grinding its grits and samp and different meals, but all agree concerning the best and simplest way of serving them—have the grains well done, eat with a measure of milk and sugar, if desirable, when cold, and with butter or cream and sugar when hot.

Milk is not only an accessory, but is a splendid substitute for heavier articles of diet, for it is nourishing to a high degree. Tea and coffee have each their niche in the archives of table furnishing, and one must not lose sight of the fact that warm drinks neutralize the effects of cold food for the system; but milk in sickness and in health has a character and qualities peculiarly to its own. Sour milk or buttermilk is a healthful drink, and lemonade is specially grateful on a warm day or evening. A glass of lemonade taken hot before breakfast is swift to correct irregularities.

Salt or smoked fish is most relishable for breakfast either broiled or boiled, eaten with stewed, boiled or fried potatoes, and eggs are an excellent warm weather diet. They supply the phosphorous requisite to the system, and prove a most convenient substitute for all kinds of meats. Herb omelettes are a benefaction to the busy housekeeper, as are the gas and kerosene stoves, on which they may be prepared at a moment's notice.

On cool mornings hot cakes are acceptable, and can be eaten with fruits or meats. Light and delicate griddle-cakes of graham or wheat flour or corn meal, can be made, baked, and eaten with fresh butter on twenty minutes' notice, while delicious biscuits require a little longer time to become the crisp brown which betokens the well-done and most tempting bread made with baking powder, decided improvements upon the sometimes yellow or spotted soda biscuit of the old-time South.—Philadelphia Times.

The man who economizes saves, and he who saves most can invest most, and he who invests most reaps most in the way of net profits. This is the law in a country where all roads are free to citizens. All roads are free to the citizens of this country. Thrift is not the absolute creature of statutes, though statutes may afford the means of thrift.—North American.