Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Management by Ontario Part 45

(7) Add more ice and salt as needed, but do not draw off the salt water except to keep it from getting inside the can.

2. Packing:

(1) When the mixture is frozen, draw off the water, remove the dasher, and pack the contents of the can down solidly with a spoon.

(2) Replace the cover, using a cork for the opening, then repack in ice and salt (four parts ice to one part salt).

(3) Cover with newspapers, blanket, or carpet, and let it stand for at least one hour before serving.

2. Moulding:

(1) Wet the mould and pack the frozen mixture in solidly.

(2) Place the cover on the mould and bind strips of greased cotton or waxed paper around all the crevices.

(3) Imbed the mould in ice and salt (four parts ice to one part salt).

(4) Wrap a cloth wrung from hot water around the mould for an instant, before removing the mixture.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION OF MEALS

The food work of the previous Forms, from constant reference and use, should be so well known that it may be reviewed in one lesson, under the following heads:

1. Uses of food

2. Necessary substances in food

3. Composition of the common foods--milk, eggs, meat, vegetables, fruit, seeds

4. General sources of each food substance.

After the review, the cla.s.s may be asked to prepare menus for one day's meals, keeping in mind the following:

1. Daily balance of food substances

2. Appetizing appearance and flavour of the food

3. Economy of time, labour, and money in providing the food.

The preparation of menus may be continued, even while other work is being studied, until the teacher feels satisfied with the ability of the cla.s.s to prepare menus intelligently.

The planning of menus should, if time permit, be extended to actual practice in preparing and serving the meals called for by some of the menus. In this Form there should be a limit set to the number of people served and the cost of the food.

Since breakfast and luncheon were prepared in the Junior Form, a dinner should be taken in this. The entire responsibility of the meal should be given to the pupils, each being appointed to perform definite duties.

The teacher may advise while the cla.s.s is planning the work, but not a.s.sist while it is being carried out.

Each member of the cla.s.s may be asked to prepare a menu to suit the special conditions which have been made as to number and cost. These may be planned at home and brought to the teacher for criticism. At the first lesson, three or four of the best may be written on the black-h.o.a.rd for comparison and choice.

When the selection is made, members of the cla.s.s should be chosen for the following duties: (1) marketing, (2) preparation of food, (3) laying the table, (4) serving, (5) representing members of the family to eat the meal.

NOTE.--To prevent any suspicion of favouritism, the duties may be written on slips of paper and the pupils allowed to draw these.

At the second lesson the meal will be prepared, served, and eaten. In schools lacking an equipment, the meal may be planned and selected in the same way as above, but the entire responsibility of carrying it out must rest on one pupil, as it will be necessary for each to prepare and serve it in her own home.

CHAPTER XIII

FORM IV: SENIOR GRADE (Continued)

INFANT FEEDING

This subject is more suitable for older students than for those attending the public and separate schools, but, because of its importance and the fact that many girls never go beyond the Entrance cla.s.s, it is deemed wise to present, to the pupils of Form IV, the main facts relating to the feeding of infants. Each teacher must however use her judgment in the choice of these facts for her cla.s.s and in the method of presenting them. The instruction given may include the following ideas:

The natural food of an infant is its mother's milk, and too much stress cannot be placed on the necessity of nursing by the mother.

Even if the mother has but a small supply, the baby should not be weaned; the supply should be supplemented by modified milk. In the rare cases where a mother cannot nurse her baby, a physician should prescribe the food. In such a case the best subst.i.tute is cow's milk.

If cow's milk be used, it will have to be changed or "modified" to make it as far as possible like mother's milk. Cow's milk differs in the following respects: It has (1) less water and therefore more solids; (2) a larger proportion of protein and mineral compounds; (3) less sugar; (4) a different combination of fats.

Cow's milk cannot be made like mother's milk, but it is better food for a little baby if cream, milk sugar, and barley water, are added in certain proportions, varying according to the age of the child.

RECIPE FOR MODIFIED MILK

Milk 7 ounces

Milk sugar 1/2 ounce

Cream (18%) 1 ounce, if ordinary milk be used or 1/2 ounce if Jersey milk be used.

Barley water Dilute with barley water to make 20 ounces for the first two or three weeks, then reduce to 16 ounces up to about three months of age. The volume may then be reduced to 14 ounces, and at five or six months to 12 ounces.

Mixed milk, and not one cow's milk, should be used, for the reason that a better average of milk is secured from several cows than from one. The supply should be fresh and clean. To make sure of the latter, scrupulous care should be given to the cleanliness of the cows' bodies and stables, the utensils, and the clothing and hands of the milkers. If there is any doubt of the cleanliness, the milk should be pasteurized. The pasteurization greatly reduces the bacterial life in the milk by a temperature which does not change its composition and digestibility, as is the case in sterilizing it.

DIRECTIONS FOR PASTEURIZING MILK

Sterilize bottles as for canning. Nearly fill the bottles with milk and cork them with absorbent cotton which has been sterilized (by being baked a delicate brown). Place the bottles on a rest in a deep kettle and surround them with cold water as high as the milk. Heat the water gradually to 155 degrees Fahrenheit, or until tiny bubbles show in the milk next the gla.s.s. Remove the kettle and contents to where the temperature of the milk will remain the same for half an hour. Then cool the milk quickly by putting the bottles first in lukewarm water and then in cold water. Keep in a cool place and do not remove the cotton until ready to use. Pasteurized milk should not be kept more than a couple of days.

The utmost care and cleanliness should be observed in preparing the infant's food. All utensils which come in contact with the food should be sterilized each time they are used. Bottles with rubber tubes should _never_ be used, as they cannot be thoroughly cleaned. The bottle should be plain and graduated without a neck, and the nipple should admit of being turned inside out.

CARE OF BOTTLES