The Laurel Health Cookery: A Collection of Practical Suggestions and Recipes for the Preparation of Non-Flesh Foods in Palatable and Attractive Ways

pain and distress.... Sometimes this distress seems to be due to eating peanuts which are roasted until they are very brown.” --_Mary Hinman Abel, Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 121, U.S. Department of Agriculture._ =Nut Meal= Nut meal is made the same as nut butter except that the nuts are ground fewer times through the finest cutter of the mill, or once only through the nut butter cutter loosely adjusted. Either cooked or raw peanuts may be used, but a cooked peanut meal is very desirable. The nuts may be cooked, dried and ground, or cooked without water, after grinding, the same as steamed nut butter. When one has no mill, meal of many kinds of nuts may be made in the following manner: Pound a few at a time in a small strong muslin bag; sift them through a wire strainer and return the coarse pieces to the bag again with the next portion. Be sure that not the smallest particle of shell is left with the meats. A dear friend of mine used to keep jars of different nut meals prepared in this way on hand long before any manufactured ones were on the market. One writer says: “The children enjoy cracking the nuts and picking out the meats, and it is a short task to prepare a cupful.” Cooked nuts and some raw ones may be rubbed through the colander for meal. Nut meals are used for shortening pie crust, crackers and sticks; and all except peanut, are delightful sprinkled over stewed fruits or breakfast foods. =Nut Butter for Bread= Nut butters (except raw peanut) may be used on bread as they are ground; but are usually stirred up with water to an agreeable butter-like consistency, and salt added. Strained tomato may be used instead of water for a change. This is especially nice for sandwiches. With peanut butter made from boiled or steamed nuts it has a flavor similar to cheese. Nut butter is more attractive for the table when pressed through a pastry tube in roses on to individual dishes. Use a cloth (not rubber) pastry bag.