Meals for Young Cooks

By Winnifred and Ann Jardine

Supper Menu

Sunburst Fruit Plate
Honey and Whipped Cream Dressing
Hot Ham Bunwiches
Tomato Soup

Tips for Young Cooks

Some fruit should be eaten every day. In fact, it’s a good idea to eat some fruit with every meal. Different fruits provide a variety of nutrients that our bodies need.

We should eat one citrus fruit every day because such fruits provide the vitamin C necessary for our bodies to fight off infection. Since vitamin C can’t be stored in the body, it is important that we eat a grapefruit, lemon, lime, or an orange each day. Strawberries and cantaloupe are also good sources of vitamin C, as are broccoli, cabbage, and tomatoes.

Fruits are excellent for snacking or for desserts. They are sweet and delicious and much more nutritious than candy, cake, pie, or soda water.

Before eating or preparing fruit for a meal, here are a few tips to remember:

1. Wash fruit well so that all dust and chemicals from spraying are washed off.

2. Whenever possible eat the skins of fruit, for there is extra food value in the skin.

3. Do not cut up fruit a long time before eating it because air and light destroy its vitamin C.

4. When fruits such as apples, bananas, fresh peaches, and pears are cut, the surfaces darken quickly unless they are dipped in orange, lemon, or pineapple juice.

Hot Ham Bunwiches

1/2 pound ground ham

1/2 pound (2 cups) grated cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish or 2 chopped sweet pickles

2 tablespoons mayonnaise or salad dressing

5 sliced hamburger buns

1. Combine ham, cheese, pickles, and salad dressing.

2. Spread both halves of each hamburger bun generously with the mixture.

3. Arrange halves on baking sheet (spread side up) and bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sunburst Fruit Plate

1 (20 ounces) can pineapple chunks

2 (11 ounces) cans mandarin oranges

2 large red apples, washed

3 large bananas

large, washed lettuce leaves

large bunch of grapes

1 (16 ounces) carton small curd cottage cheese

1. Early in the day, chill fruit.

2. When it’s time to prepare salad, open cans of fruit and drain well, saving pineapple juice. Cut apples in fourths and cut out cores, but do not peel. Then cut each apple quarter into thirds and dip pieces in drained pineapple juice.

3. Peel bananas, cut into pieces, and dip in pineapple juice.

4. Separate grapes into little bunches and arrange each kind of fruit on leaf-covered plate to look like spokes of a wheel. A mound of cottage cheese in the center forms the “hub” of the wheel. Serve with honey and whipped cream dressing.

Honey and Whipped Cream Dressing

1/2 cup honey

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 cup whipping cream

1. Early in the day beat honey in a small bowl until it becomes foamy. Stir in lime juice and chill in refrigerator.

2. An hour before serving, whip cream until stiff, then fold in honey. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Tomato Soup

2 (10 1/2 ounces) cans condensed cream of tomato soup

3 cups milk

1. Open and empty cans of soup into medium-size saucepan, stirring with wooden spoon. Then gradually add milk and stir until blended.

2. Heat just until boiling and serve as a beverage in mugs.

Illustrated by Pat Machin