Season and climate have a bearing on the foods needed as well as on their economic use. In cold weather more of the fuel foods are used (fats and oils, starches and sugars). Cereals even in puddings and soups are welcome in December. Note the Esquimo on his diet of whale blubber and the dweller in the tropics with his banana and other fruits handy! The steam-heated American, well clad and exercising but little out-of-doors, needs little more food in winter than in summer. But even in summer the ration must be balanced; you need all kinds of food, but should cut down on the fuel foods a little, eat more fresh vegetables and fruit and less meat. The wholesome cereals are still needed for balance.
Personal peculiarities have a right to consideration. The woman who knows how to make the simple, wholesome foods palatable is greater than she who forces “what they ought to have” on the family, willy nilly. Such a simple and easily digested food as white of egg is poison to some, and strawberries cause discomfort to others. Even a matter of taste may be met by substituting one food for another, if it is done wisely, without cheating the body of necessities.
The ages of the family group and the size of the purse; taste and the amount of time needed for preparation for the table, will affect the form in which these foods will be served, but any woman can vary these items to suit her own conditions. These menus obviously are not made for very young children, but represent[ 65 ]
