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Show i DRY VEGETABLES FOR WINTER USE May Be Used in Cooking in About Same Manner as Fresh Varieties Are Employed. GOOD MIXTURES FOR SOUPS Housekeeper Should Remember That Only Vegetables That Absorb Water and Cook at Egual Rates Can Bs Combined. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) Various dried or evaporated vegetables vege-tables may be used In cookery In most of the ways In which fresh materials are employed. They may find their widest usefulness, however, in soup mixtures or In the preparation of the ever popular old-fashioned vegetable boiled dinner. Drying permits the serving of any favorite vegetable combination at any and all seasons of the year. For those who wish to make a vegetable vege-table mixture that will have the maximum max-imum food value and at the same time be as nearly as possible a complete or balanced ration, the formulas used In making evaporated soup mixtures for the British armies may serve as guides. One of these mixtures contains con-tains 20 per cent each of potatoes, turnips and peas, 17 per cent each of carrots and beans, and 6 per cent of onions. In another, the combination combina-tion Is 37 per cent of potatoes, 19 per cent each of carrots and turnips, 10 per cent each of onions and cabbage, and 2 per cent each of beans and peas. Differ From Prepared Product. The dried vegetable soup mixtures on sale differ principally from these f' 1 " ' ' Cookstove Drier Will Dry Vegetables Quickly and Successfully. formulas In having In most Instances a larger percentage of potato, In the absence of beans and peas, and In having various minor additions, such as beets, celery, radishes and tomatoes. toma-toes. In making up combinations of dried vegetables, the housekeeper should remember re-member that the mixture must subsequently subse-quently be soaked and cooked as a unit, and only vegetables that absorb water and cook at approximately squal rates can be successfully combined com-bined In a dry condition. Such materials mate-rials as the root vegetables, cabbage, celery, tomatoes and onions behnve alike both In their absorption of water and In cooking, according to specialists special-ists of the United States Department of Agriculture. Any desired combination com-bination can be made from them. Dried corn and mature peas and beans absorb water very much more slowly and must be cooked from two to three times as long as materials In the list Just given. For this reason they cannot be mixed with other vegetables before soaking. Instead, they should be separated, soaked, and partly cooked. Then the other vegetables vege-tables desired In the mixture, after previous soaking, may be added and the whole cooked until done. How to Dry Vegetables. Practically all vegetables, after being be-ing sliced or otherwise made ready for the drier, should be blanched from one to three minutes In boiling water or steam before drying. They should then be drained and spread In a very thin layer on the shelves of the drier. From time to time the trays should be withdrawn and the contents carefully care-fully stirred so the product will dry evenly. "When thoroughly dry the product should be removed from the drier and placed In a dark airy room free from Insects. Stir occasionally during the several days It Is left there to cure. Then heat carefully again for a few minutes and store In tin cans, heavy pasteboard boxes, or paraffined bags. Cover tightly to exclude Insects and store In a room which Is warm and dry. |