Armour's Monthly Cook Book, Volume 2, No. 12, October 1913

Nobody knows but Mother."

Keep a small market basket handy. In it place the things to be taken upstairs when you are going up and when you are making the beds and dusting, the things which are to be brought down.

"Make your head save your heels." Think, in making trips to pantry, cellar or icebox if you cannot both take things and bring others on the same trip.

Keep a chair or revolving stool in the kitchen and whenever possible sit down to work. Vegetable paring, cake beating and even washing and ironing may be done sitting.

Have a method in your work. Occasionally take time to sit down and think over the day's work, and remember how many unnecessary steps you took yesterday.

Have your kitchen shelves arranged to suit your own height, so that there is no unnecessary straining to reach up or bending over to reach one set too low.

Supplying the Meat Flavor

There are many meat dishes very nourishing and wholesome which are total failures because of their lack of flavor. This lack of flavor seriously impairs their value in nutriment. A little Armour's Extract of Beef will in every case provide that touch of flavor which appeals to the palate and finds ready response from the digestive juices of the stomach. This extract is very highly concentrated, so that only a little is required.

RICE SOUP

Dissolve one teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef in one quart of water, add one half cup of cooked rice, and a tablespoon of onion juice. Add one teaspoon of celery seed and cover closely. Simmer ten minutes and just before serving add one fourth cup of sweet cream or a tablespoon of butter. If too thick, add a little boiling water or milk. – MRS. W. V. COPELAND, 227 N. Lake Street, Topeka, Kans.

SPINACH AND SAUCE

After spinach has boiled for twenty minutes in salt water, drain it and serve with this sauce: Dissolve one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef in a cup of hot water, add two tablespoons of butter, break in two eggs and use half teaspoon of lemon juice. Stir constantly and cook for a few minutes. – MRS. W. I. COLE, Punta Gorda, Fla.

TOMATO ASPIC JELLY

One fourth teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef, one can of Veribest Tomato Soup, one half package of gelatine, three hard-boiled eggs, and chopped olives. Heat the soup with an equal amount of water. Soak the gelatine in half cup of cold water and dissolve in the soup. Add Extract of Beef dissolved in a little water. Let cool. Add chopped hard boiled eggs and olives. If there is cold chicken at hand, a half cup of chicken chopped will improve the jelly. Pour into mold and put on ice. Serve with mayonnaise on lettuce leaves. – MRS. R. M. BRUMBY, Anona, Fla.

STUFFED TOMATOES

Remove seeds and centers from six tomatoes. Chop three green peppers and one onion and fry in butter until the onions begin to brown. Add a small lump of butter, some chopped nuts and dried bread crumbs, salt and pepper to season, and one third cup of hot water in which one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef has been dissolved. Put the tomatoes in baking pan and fill with this mixture. Sprinkle crumbs over tops and bake fifteen minutes. – MRS. L. C. STUMP, 444 N. Denver Ave., Kansas City, Mo.

BREAD OMELET

Cut one cup of stale bread into tiny bits, beat the yolks of two eggs, add a pint of milk and the crumbs. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef. Let stand ten minutes, and then sauté in Armour's Simon Pure Leaf Lard until a nice brown. Add the whites whipped just a moment before taking from the fire. – ELLA R. STAHL, Roundup, Mont.

FRIED ONIONS

Into a small amount of hot butter slice six good-sized green onions, tops and all. Cook until wilted, add a little water and boil until it has evaporated. Scramble in a spoonful of Armour's Beef Extract, three eggs, pepper and salt to taste. Cook until creamy and serve hot. – MRS. OLLIE H. THOMAS, Mansfield, Ark.

MUSHROOM SAUCE

Use the liquor from one can of mushrooms and enough water to make one cupful. Chop the mushrooms, add one teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef, and slightly thicken with flour blended with water. Cook six minutes and serve with broiled steak. – GRACE M. SEARS.

PEA SOUP

One can of peas, one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef, two tablespoons of butter, one tablespoon of flour, one teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper, one half teaspoon of sugar, one quart of milk or half milk and half cream. Rinse the peas, add some water and boil until soft, then rub through a colander. Add Armour's Extract of Beef to hot water and peas, making one quart in all. Melt the butter and add the flour, then gradually the hot soup. Cook until smooth, add the seasoning, and the milk and cream last. – KATHERINE SORLIE, Buxton, N. Dak.

CORN SOUP

Cook in two tablespoons of butter one onion and one sprig of parsley (cut fine) for five minutes. Add one cup of chopped corn and a cup of hot water in which has been dissolved one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef. Cook fifteen minutes. Add salt, pepper, one cup of milk, and bind with two tablespoons of flour and butter blended. Serve with toasted croutons. – MISS AMANDA STEVENS, South Lee, N. H.

JELLIED BOUILLON SALAD

Make a clear bouillon, using one teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef to one pint of hot water. Dissolve one spoon of powdered gelatine and stir into the hot liquid. Stir in a few button mushrooms sliced, or some cold veal. Add the pulp of one orange, having it peeled, sliced and torn in sections. When cool turn into cups or molds moistened with cold water. Stir and divide the material about equal in each cup. Set on ice to harden. Slice firm tomatoes and lay one each on lettuce leaf. Turn the bouillon molds onto these and place a large spoon of dressing over each. – MRS. SADETTE HARRINGTON, Elkhorn, Wis.

EGG SANDWICHES

Mash six hard-boiled eggs very fine, adding pepper, salt and a small lump of butter. Mix with one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef dissolved in a tablespoon of hot water, and one third cup of mayonnaise dressing. Add one cup of finely chopped pecans or peanuts. Mix well and serve between fresh crackers and thin slices of bread. – NELLIE TONEY, 215 West Church St., Greenwood, Miss.

POTATO PUFFS

Bake four large potatoes and put them through potato ricer. Season with butter, salt and white pepper and add one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef. Beat into this the stiffly beaten white of one egg. Mold this well and roll out on molding board. Cut into cakes and place on buttered sheet. Bake in hot oven until a golden brown. Serve on platter with meat, garnished with cress or parsley. MISS S. MAY KIMBALL, 7 Tahanto St., Concord, N. H.

WILTED LETTUCE SALAD

Wash two heads of lettuce and lay them on ice until wanted, then cut in small bits and lay in salad dish, adding salt. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil and pour over the lettuce. To one half cup of white wine vinegar add one teaspoon of sugar, one half teaspoon of Armour's Extract of Beef, one tablespoon of mayonnaise dressing. Pour over the lettuce and garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs. – LOUISE MALLOY, 464 Bayou St., Batesville, Ark.

Armour's Star Ham – for half a century the best

Home Dressmaking

This is an age of good ready made clothes and it is also an age of clever amateur dressmaking. With excellent patterns which may be easily handled there is no reason why the woman who can sew should not make her own clothes, and have smart clothes at a reasonable price – that is, provided she has the time to give to sewing.

Before starting a dress – even before buying – make a tour of the shops and see for yourself what is being worn with a keen eye for the little details which lift a gown from the home made to the professional class. If you live far from town and can not go to the shops look through the magazines which make a feature of dress and study what is best suited to your particular style and requirements. Study materials and buy economically, which means paying a little more if necessary rather than have shoddy goods.

Good patterns are essential and these usually have full directions as to the manner of using. It is a very good plan to have a pattern drafted to your own measure but if you have not this take some finished garment which is satisfactory (unless there is someone at hand to take the measures that a person cannot very well take for herself) and measure the lengths in different places such as front, back and under lengths on a blouse and the width across both back and front where it is broadest. Write these down and proceed to take the same measures on the pattern to be used. In taking measures be sure to take a correct position or it will be impossible to get correct measures and you cannot hope for success if this – the initial step – is taken wrongly. For instance, stand erect with the chest raised and the abdomen held in and you will find in taking the width measures across to where the arms and body join the armhole will be straight and even looking instead of pointing in and out in places.

Make sure of your measures before starting to apply your pattern to the cloth. A careful study of this will save many irreparable mistakes later.

Halloween

The date of this oldtime celebration is always October 31st, the crucial moment 12 o'clock. To be sure, the original observance of All Hallows Eve has been considerably distorted during the course of years but the fun it affords the young folks in its present manner of keeping cannot be gainsaid and needs no changing. Halloween is the night when a magic spell enthrals the earth. Witches, bogies, brownies and elves are all abroad to use their power. Superstition proves true, witchery is recognized and the future may be read in a hundred and one ways.

No occasion gives more opportunity of enjoyment and no party is gayer than a Halloween party.

It is not necessary to spend a great deal of money in giving a Halloween party. With a little time, some suitable paper and a pair of sharp scissors the witches, pumpkin faces, cats and bats, which are the distinctive features of this decoration, may be easily made at home. Yellow, red and black are the colors and the most fascinating crepe paper can be had for a few cents. This is the best material to use, as it lends itself so well to all sorts of schemes.

Not only is it made in plain colors which may be decorated at will but for every festival and occasion there are special designs which make the work of decoration very easy indeed.

For Halloween there is a design of witches with brooms, or cats and bats in black on a yellow ground. This is ready to be laid on the table as a cover or around the room in the effect of a frieze. There are napkins to match and a crepe paper rope to finish the edge.

A weird effect of lighting is obtained by making lantern boxes from any discarded boxes which may be in the house. Cover them with crepe paper, cut eyes, nose, ears and mouth, paste colored tissue paper behind the features and set a lighted candle inside.

The wise owl must not be forgotten in the Halloween decorations. Grey paper is best for him. Paste the edges of a square piece of grey crepe paper together lengthwise of the grain and gather in at the bottom. Stuff this bag with soft paper or cotton and gather again some distance from the top. Shape the top into ears and make two rosettes with black centers for eyes. A beak of black stiff paper protrudes between the eyes. Mount the owl on a branch by sewing with heavy black thread in a way to resemble claws.

Make witches' brooms by tying slashed paper tied on any old sticks or brooms to give the effect.

How to Clean It