bread, each about half an inch thick and three
inches square, and give us iron besides. Served with milk, it will make a
well-balanced meal. When we add a little fruit to give zest and some crisp
corn bread to contrast with the soft mush, we have a meal in which we may
take a just pride, _provided the oatmeal is properly cooked_.

A good dish of oatmeal is as creditable a product as a good loaf of bread.
It cannot be made without taking pains to get the right proportions of
meal, water, and salt, and to cook thoroughly, which means at least four
hours in a double boiler, over night in a fireless cooker, or half an hour
at twenty pounds in a pressure cooker. Half-cooked oatmeal is most
unwholesome, as well as unpalatable. It is part of our patriotic duty not
to give so useful a food a bad reputation.

The man who does hard physical labor, especially in the open air, may
complain that the oatmeal breakfast does not "stay by" him. This is
because it digests rapidly. What he needs is a little fat stirred into the
mush before it is sent to the table, or butter as well as milk and sugar
served with it. If one must economize, the cereal breakfast should always
be the rule. It is impossible in any other way to provide for a family
adequately on a small sum, especially where there are growing children.

Next to oatmeal, hominy is one of the cheapest breakfast foods. It has
less flavor and is improved by the addition of a few dates cut into
quarters or some small stewed seedless raisins, which also add the iron
which hominy lacks. For the adults of the family the staying qualities of
hominy and cornmeal can be increased by cutting the molded mush in slices
and frying till a crisp crust is formed. This can be obtained more easily
if the cereals are cooked in a mixture of milk and water instead of water
alone. The milk supplements the cereal as acceptably as in a dish of mush
and milk. Cornmeal needs even more cooking than oatmeal to develop an
agreeable flavor. It can be improved by the addition of an equal amount of
farina or cream of wheat.

Cereals for dinner are acceptable substitutes for such vegetables as
potatoes, both for economy and for variety. The whole grains, rice,
barley, and hominy, lend themselves best to such use. Try a dish of
creamed salmon with a border of barley; one of hominy surrounded by fried
apples; or a bowl of rice heaped with bananas baked to a turn and removed
from their skins just before serving,