El Dorado Daily News

Menus for the Family

Dinner.
Potato Nests with Creamed Fish, Green Peas
Bread and Butter
Apple Tapioca Pudding
Date Cookies (dropped)

Supper.
Spinach Chowder
Chocolate Cornstarch Blanc-mange
Milk (flavored with nutmeg)
Date Cookies.

Date Cookies that the eight-year-old can make: 1 egg, 1/8 cup sugar, 3/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup dates stoned and cut fine.
Beat egg until light, add sugar, butter, dates, flour sifted with baking powder and salt. Mix well, drop from tip of spoon on greased tin sheet and bake several minutes in a low oven, or at 325 degrees F.

Spinach Chowder.
3 cups milk, 1 quart spinach, 1 3/4 potato, 2 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons flour, 3/4 tablespoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon celery salt, 1/4 teaspoon onion salt, 2 eggs, hard cooked.
Scald milk. Cook spinach without addition of water and chop fine. Cook potatoes in small dice or tiny cubes and cook until tender. Add milk and potato to spinach and its water. Melt butter, add flour and when well blended add to first mixture. Add seasonings and just before serving add slices of hard cooked egg.

Apple Crusties.
The pastry foundation for apple crusties should be mixed with orange juice and a little nutmeg for a flavoring. The sauce for the top of the crusties is made of 1 cup chopped apples, 1 saltspoon of salt, grated nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of seeded raisins, the whole moistened with 1/3 cup of orange juice. Cook ingredients together until the apples are soft. When cool spread on the crusties, adding a tiny bit of butter, extra sugar and the grated rind of the orange. Apple crusties are delicious served with cheese for afternoon tea. Arrange the cheese strips on each plate, crossing in log-cabin fashion.

Cocoanut Crusties.
To the pastry add 2 tablespoons of shredded cocoanut and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Cut the crusties in an oval shape. Spread with a filling of hard sauce and cover with cocoanut, moistened with lemon juice. Use lemon juice in the crust in the place of water. Cocoanut crusties can be rolled a little thinner than the berry or fruit crusties, and may be baked in a very quick oven but watched carefully, so that the cocoanut will brown but not burn. If sweetened, crust with the addition of the cocoanut makes a more desirable crustie than those with the fruits, but as a titbit to serve with chocolate it is delicious.

Cherry Crusties.
1 cup of fresh or canned cherries. Add to them 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar. With the big table cherries use only half as much sugar. Boil the cherries and sugar together until the mixture thickens. When cool spread on the crusties, which should be made with lemon juice, and press half a marshmallow, cut crosswise, on top. Bake in moderate oven, so as to have the marshmallow melt evenly and brown the crust. These are delicious with chipped ham and potato puffs served with peas for a luncheon entree.

Pineapple Crusties.
The smallest sized can of shredded pineapple, or an equal amount of fresh pineapple, minced fine and cooked with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar and the smallest sized bottle of maraschino cherries, chopped fine, makes a good sauce for pineapple crusties. Allow a dessertful for each crustie. Before baking the crusties in the oven, sprinkle each with a little extra sugar and lemon juice. For thinning the crust, either the liquid from the cherries or the pineapple can be used and a tiny piece of the pineapple, if a fresh one is used, can be placed on top of each crustie, or a maraschino cherry.

Tutti-Frutti Cherries.
Chop together equal portions of figs, dates, raisins, candied cherries and English walnuts. In proportion to 1 cup of the mixture add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of butter and 1/2 cup of orange juice. Put this mixture on the stove and cook for about 15 minutes. When thick enough to spread, and the fruits have all disintegrated, take from the fire and let it cool. Cut the crusties in various shapes, spread with a thin covering of the rich mixture and bake in quick oven. When cold, halves of nuts can be added to the top of each or a candied cherry. Mix the nuts with lemon juice. These crusties take the place of small fancy cakes. For a plainer spread mix either chopped dates, figs, or raisins with a little hard sauce and a little orange juice and you have either a date, fig or raisin crustie.

Peach Crusties.
A rich pastry crust is desirable for these crusties, and either fresh, canned or dried peaches can be used for the sauce. Mix with a cup of the peach pulp 2 tablespoons of orange juice, 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Let this mixture simmer on the stove for about 10 minutes. Spread it on the crusties when cool, and add extra sugar and cinnamon on top of each crustie before putting in the oven. Orange juice is used to thin the crust. When using apricots, which can be used in the same way as the peaches, omit the cinnamon and use a very little grated nutmeg instead. A half marshmallow can be pressed on top of each apricot crustie to make a more delicate titbit, and green gage plums are delicious used in the same way.

Ginger Snaps.
1/2 cup molasses, 2 1/2 tablespoons shortening, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, 1/6 teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Heat molasses to boiling point and add shortening and dry ingredients mixed and sifted. Chill thoroughly. Toss one-fourth of mixture on a floured cloth and roll as thin as possible; shape with fancy cutter first dipped in flour. Place near together on a greased tin sheet and bake in a moderate oven, or at 335 degrees F., from four to six minutes.