HINTS FOR THE 40s HOUSEWIFE
THE USE OF FUEL IN WAR TIME
The coal stove or the open fire with an oven at the side, both of which are still in use in so many homes, for heating and for other household purposes, should supply all the accommodation required for the cooking. Often however gas, electricity (if you have electricity) or oil will be the only fuel in use, and in such cases the question of the question of the amount of these fuels consumed in cooking will be of particular importance. A few practical hints for economising in the various kinds of fuel may be found helpful.
HINTS WHICH APPLY TO ALL TYPES OF STOVES
1. Understand thoroughly the stove in use and choose utensils which are suitable for it.
2. Keep the stove and the utensils clean both inside and out.
3. Do not leave pans uncovered except for special reasons.
4. Whenever possible make use of a steamer with several compartments .As a substitute, use a large saucepan partly fill it with water, and place in it covered basins or jars containing the various foods to be cooked.
5. When the oven is hot make good use of it.
TO SAVE FIREWOOD AND MATCHES,
1. Use newspaper fire – lighters and spills.
2. When possible collect sticks and fir cones.
TO SAVE COAL
1. If the firebox has a movable bottom adjust it according to the amount of heat required. If too large, reduce its size with fire bricks.
2. for soups and stews have a small fire and either cook on the top of the stove, beside the fire, or in the oven.
3. When not required for cooking, bank up the fire with wet coal dust, and damp crumpled newspaper. Burn refuse which is of no use for live stock or garden.
4. Make briquettes from coal dust by damping the dust and packing it in the bags or cartons in which sugar is bought.
5. Sift all cinders and use again.
NOTE
Coke should only be used in a stove with a closed fire.
TO SAVE GAS
1. Do not use a large burner if a small one can do.
2. Never allow the gas flame to flicker up the sides of kettle or saucepan.
3. When using the grill always place a saucepan or kettle on the top of it.
4. To cook a meal on one gas burner, place a sheet of iron or an asbestos mat on the top of the burner. By this means the heat obtained will be sufficient to cook the food in two or three pans. If a gas ring only is available, the same results can be arrived at if the ring is placed on an old metal tray, built round with bricks, and a sheet of iron placed on the top.
5. Turn off the gas immediately after use.
TO SAVE ELECTRICITY.
1. Use flat bottomed saucepans large enough to cover the boiling plates, and place them on the stove before switching on the current. Two or three saucepans will boil or simmer on one boiling plate.
2. When using either boiling plates or oven, switch to “low" as soon as the necessary temperature has been reached. Turn to “ off “ before the cooking is finished, as an electric stove holds heat for some time after the current has been switched off.
3. Do not waste this retained heat but use it for additional cooking to heat water, etc.
4. Use the solid boiling plate or boiler, griller as a girdle. Grease before use and switch to “low”
TO SAVE OIL
1. Buy oil of good quality.
2. Keep the lamp wicks carefully trimmed.
3. Use saucepans which completely cover the burners.
4. Regulate the flame as required and extinguish it as soon as the cooking is finished.
BUDGETING IN WAR TIME.
It must not be forgotten that in case of small incomes the family dietary must necessarily be planned in relation to the amount available for food, and that this can only be determined after other essential items of expenditure have been taken into consideration.
The money required to meet overhead charges (rent, rates, heating, lighting, ECT) must first be calculated and the remainder allocated in such a way as to leave as much as possible for food.
Consideration should also be given to ways of increasing this allowance.
RATIONED FOODS
The following foods are those that are to be rationed at present.
1. Beef, Mutton, Veal, Pork.
2. Bacon and Ham
3. Butter and Margarine
4. Cooking fats of all kinds
5. Sugar.
It is very important, therefore, for the housewife to consider how she can make the best use of the family rations and how she can devise means to supplement them.
TO REPLACE BEEF, MUTTON, LAMB, VEAL, PORK.
Liver, tripe poultry, game, rabbits, fish, cheese and eggs can all be used.
TO REPLACE BACON AND HAM
Corned Beef which has a good deal of fat can often be used as a substitute for bacon and ham in cooking.
BUTTER, MARGARINE, AND COOKING FATS.
As all fats are to be rationed the housewife must do all in her power to augment the allowance. She should, save all dripping and any fat left in the pan after frying, if not allowed to burn and carefully strained after use, fat can be used again and again for frying.
Remove all surplus fat from meat before it is cooked and clarify it.
Save all papers in which butter and other fats have been wrapped and use them as required for greasing basins and tins, and for covering food while it is still cooking.
Skim off surplus fat while food is cooking and also when it is cold and clarify it. It is essential that no fat should be wasted for it is such an excellent source of energy, one manifestation of which the production of heat is of special value in winter. In addition fats are good sources of vitamins A and D.
TO REPLACE SUGAR
It is hoped that there will be reasonable supplies of golden syrup, treacle and honey, and these are good substitutes for cane and beet sugar.
Dates are rich source of sugar and if chopped finely can replace sugar in many puddings and cakes.
Saccharine is a chemical substitute for sugar which possesses its flavouring qualities without its food value. It is expensive but only a very small quantity is required.
Certain vegetables in addition to beetroots, i.e. carrots, and parsnips, contain a fair proportion of sugar.
Fruits both fresh and dried and jam are good sources of supply and the percentage of sugar in milk is considerable.
HINTS FOR CATERING
1- Meals should be planned ahead if the best use is to be made of food, fuel and money.
2- The housewife should do her own daily shopping and do it early in the day in order to take advantage of any glut of food. Ordering by telephone or standing orders may lead to waste.
3- When possible use should be made of foods which grow wild, ie, blackberries, bilberries, raspberries, crab apples, strawberries, nuts, dandelion leaves, nettle leaves and mushrooms.
4- “Left over “and scraps of food should never be wasted and can be utilised in a variety of ways.
STALE BREAD
It may be made into breadcrumbs by passing through a wire sieve or through a mincer.
It may be soaked and used in the making of puddings and savoury dishes.
It may be made into crisped bread by baking pieces in a cool oven, or into sweets rusks by dipping pieces in sweetened milk before baking
It may be made into browned crumbs by crushing after crisping. These are useful for coating food for frying, or for sprinkling on various foods, ie boiled bacon, ham, and some savoury dishes.
It may be fried with bacon; this makes the bacon go further.
COLD POTATOES
They can be re-heated in a frying pan with a little fat.
They can be re-heated with the remains of other vegetables.
They can be used for making potato cakes or scones.
They can be used in making bread, steamed pudding and pastry in place of some flour
SOUR MILK
You can use it in making scones and cakes. If it is used bi-carbonate of soda must be substituted for baking power.
Skim or separated milk if obtainable can be used instead of whole milk. If used for milk puddings the deficiency of fat (the only constituent in which it is inferior to whole milk) can be made good by adding a little butter or vitaminised margarine.
Canned milk can be used for cooking and in beverages. As the sugar in the sweetened variety is liable to crystallise with keeping the unsweetened is preferable for storage purposes.
Good brands of dried milk may be diluted for drinking purposes as well as for cooking. Full instructions for their use will be found on the tin.
EGGS
Eggs when cheap should be preserved for use when new laid eggs are scarce and therefore expensive.
Dried eggs or liquid eggs may often be substituted for ordinary eggs with satisfactory results.
The different brands of dried eggs have instructions for their use supplied with them.
Liquid eggs are at present only obtainable in large cans.
As they do not keep for any length of time after the can has been opened, they are not suitable for the requirements of a small household.
NOTE
Custard power and commodities sold as egg substitutes have little food value as compared with eggs.
Eggs may be saved if food which is to be coated for frying is brushed over with a thin paste of flour and milk, instead of with beaten egg.
HOUSEHOLD STOCK
Use any bones, cooked or uncooked, trimmings, scraps of meat, gristle, giblets of poultry, liquor from boiled meat, plus vegetables, ect.
Trim off any fat, wash the meat and bones, put them into a pan, cover them with cold water, add a little salt and bring slowly to the boil and skim
Add a few fresh vegetables and simmer gently for several hours.
Strain and set aside to cool.
When cold remove the fat and stock is ready for use.
Stock must not be left in the pan overnight, and any stock not used should be boiled up the next day.
The flavour of stock is improved by the addition of herbs, which should be tied together and placed in a muslin bag.
The following are the herbs most commonly used: - Parsley, thyme, marjoram, bay-leaf.
Good soup may be made from household stock, sieved and thickened.
If desired one or two soup cubes may be added.
These do not greatly increase the nourishment of the soup but a variety of different flavours may be obtained in this way.
