The Omaha Guide

Summer Planning

The sun's in its heaven and there's work in the garden that needs doing. Or, perhaps it's the wash ready to come down from the line that needs folding and sprinkling. Vines hang heavy with berries crying to be made into jams and jellies. In the midst of all this hum of activity, it's lunch-time. I know you hardly want to take the time to stop to make it, but the family will be indoors shortly. Something quick and easy to fix, and yet palatable enough to keep them sustained until dinner? That's the order and here's the way to carry it out:

1. Puree vegetables left over from dinner the evening before and store them in the refrigerator. All you need to do is make up a thin cream sauce quickly and add vegetables to it; reheat and serve.

2. Keep a stock of sandwich fillings on hand and let the family "spread" them for themselves during lunch time. It saves you work.

3. Salad ingredients are a "must" for hot weather time. If there is washed lettuce chilled until crisp along with washed tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, radishes, green peppers, and some of the fresh fruits kept on tap, it's easy to toss a salad together in the time you could blink an eyelash. A variety of dressings will keep salads from becoming monotonous.

4. Draw heavily on fresh fruits for desserts. Plan to make ice cream, cake or cookies once a week to have on hand for a quick solution to the dessert problem.

Sandwich Spreads.

1. Bacon-Cheese Filling
3 ounces cream cheese
½ cup chopped, cooked bacon
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 tablespoon milk
Blend all ingredients thoroughly. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Chopped Meat Spread
1 cup left-over meat, ground or chopped
1 teaspoon mustard
2 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped pickle
Mayonnaise to moisten
Mix all together. Spread on buttered bread when ready to use.

3. Peanut-Butter and Chili Sauce Spread
1 cup peanut butter or peanut crunch
⅛ cup chili sauce
Mix together and use for spreading whole wheat or white bread.

4. Egg and Green Pepper Sandwich Spread
3 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped
1 cup pimiento, minced
⅓ cup green pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chili sauce
Mayonnaise to moisten
Blend all ingredients together. Chill and then spread on bread to taste.

5. Savory Ham Filling
1 cup ground left-over ham
2 tablespoons pickle relish
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Mayonnaise to moisten
Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Spread on rye or whole wheat bread.

Salads.

*Salmon and Egg Salad
(Serves 4)
1½ cups fresh flaked salmon or ½ pound canned salmon
1 small stalk celery, cut into small pieces
½ cup salad dressing
Lettuce
2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
Break salmon into small pieces. Combine salmon with celery and salad dressing. Arrange lettuce on platter, then place sliced egg and tomatoes around salmon.

2. Lettuce-Spinach Toss (Serves 6)
1 head lettuce
½ pound fresh spinach, washed carefully
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 green pepper, cut in rings
2 hard-cooked eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons vinegar
Chill and chop raw spinach and lettuce. Add salt, pepper, vinegar, green pepper, chopped hard-cooked eggs to one-half the sour cream. Just before serving, fold in the spinach and lettuce and add remainder of sour cream.

3. Ginger Ale Salad (Serves 6)
1 package lime-flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
Few grains of salt
1 cup ginger ale
1 cup green grapes
¼ cup pineapple
1 head lettuce
Dissolve gelatin in boiling water and salt. Add ginger ale and let cool. When mixture begins to thicken fold in halved, seeded grapes and diced pineapple. Place in mold and chill until firm. Serve on shredded lettuce with mayonnaise or sour cream dressing.

4. Molded Vegetable Salad (Serves 6)
2 cups cooked or canned string beans
3 tablespoons chopped green pepper
3 tablespoons chopped pimiento
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon minced onion
¼ cup chopped celery
1 package lemon-flavored gelatin
Prepare gelatin according to directions on package. Add vinegar and minced onion. When cool, add remaining ingredients and allow to chill until firm.

5. Cottage Cheese Salad (Serves 6)
3 cups cottage cheese
1 cup diced pineapple, fresh or canned
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Mix all ingredients together in order given. Chill and serve on a bed of greens.

Released by Western Newspaper Union.