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Show ECONOMY IN FRUITS THROUGH USE OF DRIED FORMS, BY MRS. M. B. MILLER In Studying the comparative value of fruits, dietitians have found that while fruits are an expensive source of portein, they should be commonly used the year, around for their flavor and hygienic reasons rather than their real nutritive value. Ten cents on tan average will purchase fully as much energy when spent for fresh fruits and more when spent for dried fruits than for most of the food except ex-cept the cereals and dried beans or peas. So It Is apparent that fruits are reasonably cheap sources of energy en-ergy and arc well, suited on grounds of eoonomy for combination in reasonable rea-sonable quanlty with cheap portein foods as furnish a well balanced ration. ra-tion. Fruit juices and fresh fruits are about twice as expensive as the fl ri Of) f nrill In mni!f r..,-.r. nry.t nnnnstt- ally so this year throughout Utah. Dried fruits require the addition of very little sugar, thus another reason rea-son for the use nt the present price of sugar. But being cheap, dried fruits have received as unappetizing reputation thru careless preparation and cooking by eating houses and institutions. When properly handled dried fruits easily rival any other cooked fruit as to flavor, appearance and nutritive value, much easier handled in the dry form tnan bottled fruits and being so low priced will be found a pleasant change in any household. house-hold. On the market, dried fruits are graded as to size and color. The fancy package is seldom to be preferred pre-ferred to a good grade of bulk or box fruit by the careful buyer. Both may bo wormy unless fresh from driers or carefully stored. It might be said that the package form is often selected select-ed from larger and whole fruit thereby there-by furnishing a luxury to the table. If the housewife will store her dried fruits in cloth sacks, she can keep the fruit more free from worm atack ihan the grocer on his shelves, and so will find added savings in purchasing by box to obtain the lower price. Any fruit must be free from insect eggs and this is only assured by purchase when fresh from the driers when they were sterilized. Pranes are graded as to size and the larger prune, yield less stone and more pulp for the money. The cores need to be removed from most forms of dried apples. Seeded raisins come only In box form. The loose form of raisins served with nuts, form as nourishing a desert as anyone requires. re-quires. No one can hope of anything approaching ap-proaching an appetizing dish, unless one is willing to wash the fruit' thoroly and soak it long enough for the evaporated water to be completely complete-ly replaced. The best way to wash any dried fruit is to place the fruit in a large pan, stir and rub them together, to-gether, then lift into another pan, repeating re-peating the process until the water is perfectly clear. They should be completely covered with fresh water and soak no less than twenty-four hours. After such treatment, any dried fruit may be cooked by simmering simmer-ing until soit and canned" against futuro need. The housewives of Utah have so enjoyed the luxury of fresh fruits that the following recipes for dried fruits may be found suggestive: STEWED FRUITS. Prunes, apricots, and apples are all treated in the samo way. Wash thoroly and soak until plumb. Cook In the water in which they soaked until soft. A long slow cooking is the best process; tho use of the double boiler Is to be commended. Sweeten to taste and cook fruit five minutes longer. Slices a lemon arc sometimes cooked with tho fruit to give variety. DRIED FRUIT SALAD. Any of the dried fruits after being cooked may be used as a foundation for a salad. Chopped nuts and lemon juice to taBte should be added before serving with the salad dressing. Peanuts Pea-nuts give an appetizing change. Cottage Cot-tage cheese may be used with chopped chop-ped nuts to stuff tho phunes after the stone has been removed. PRUNE PIE. 2 cups milk, l cup cooked prunes chopper or cut, yolk 2 eggs, 1-4 teaspoon tea-spoon salt, 1-2 teaspoon lemon juice. Cook prunes with milk twenty-minutes in top of double boiler. Strain and rub three sieve, then add beaten yolks and salt. Bake same as custard cust-ard pie. Use whitqs of eggs for a meringue or cover the top, when cool, with whipped cream. ANOTHER PRUNE PIE. 1-2 lb. prunes, 1-2 cup sugar, l tablespoon table-spoon lemon juice 1 1-2 teaspoon butter, but-ter, 1-2 tablespoon corn starch. After cooking prunes, remove, stones, cut In quarters and mix with sugar and lemon, juice. Reduce liquor to about tw0 tablespoons, bine a plate with pie crust, cover with prunes, pour over liquor, dot over with butter and dredge with flour. Put on an upper crust and bake in a moderate oven. PRUNE MARMALADE 3 lbs. prune, 3 oranges, 2 lemons, 1 lb. pecan nuts. Wash, soak and cook prunes. Remove Re-move from fire, stir in broken nut are to be finely shaved-skin and all Just as one would do in making-orange making-orange marmalade. Add an equal amount of water to sliced fruit and soak over night. Next day combine prunes and lemon-orange" mixture and boil five minutes, then measure tlie frui and add an equal amounts of sugar! Return to fire and' cook until it stiffens on a cool saucer. Remove Re-move from fire, stir In broken nut meats and pour into sterilized "glass. Constant watching will be needed to prevent burning. MRS. M. B. MILLER. Willard, Utah. |