Soda and acid both act on gluten and tend to make it tender, so cakes made with sour milk or buttermilk will be more tender than those made with water or sweet milk. One scant teaspoonful of soda is necessary to neutralize a cup of buttermilk or milk of the same sourness as buttermilk. An excess of soda gives the product an unpleasant flavor and, if present in too large a quantity, is injurious as well. Sour evaporated milk is very useful in cookery. Dilute it as when sweet and add the necessary amount of soda to the product in which it is to be used. Muffins, griddle cakes and biscuits are better made with sour milk than with sweet milk. Every bit of sour evaporated milk may be used in this way. Evaporated milk does not sour quickly because of the thorough sterilization in heating to the temperature necessary for evaporation. A quality grade of evaporated milk will keep after being open some four days before souring in warm weather and over a week in cold weather. Foods made with sour milk are characterized by a particular softness of texture. _Use Armour’s “Simon Pure” Leaf Lard or Vegetole for particular pastry making_ CEREALS AND FRUITS Cereals are economical, contain unusually good proportions of necessary food ingredients with small proportion of refuse, are readily prepared for the table, palatable, digestible, compact, and easily preserved without deterioration. Rolled oats is perhaps the best-known of the cereals and lends itself to the greatest variety of dishes, aside from its popular use as a breakfast food. Corn flakes are manufactured of the best pure white corn, thoroughly toasted and ready to serve. Wheat flakes are the whole wheat berry, flaked and toasted. Macaroni, spaghetti, and egg noodles are made from Durum wheat semolina, ground fine. Eggs are added to the cereal for noodles. Hominy grits and whole hominy are favorite American breakfast cereals and combine well with other foods as the main dish for the meal. Among the staple food products, rice is one of the least expensive and should appear frequently on the family bill of fare. Thorough cooking is the secret of the tasty and easily digested dish of cereal. Cereals in bread, muffins, cookies, cakes, croquettes, and in casseroles with cheese, fish, or left-over meat; in the baking dish with a slice of ham, or with a vegetable, they give variety to the menu and make the preparation of the everyday dishes more interesting. TABLE FOR COOKING CEREALS