818-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 3,1985
Buying Children’s
Clothing
You can often tell what kind of
morning I am experiencing by the
amount of clothing that has been
taken from the closet, tried on and
left rejected on the bed! The other
morning, I was completely dressed
and in the car when I decided that I
just didn’t feel comfortable with
what 1 had on. I dashed back into
the house for another try at war
drobe selection.
While I may be an extreme
example, clothing really does
affect us and the way we feel.
Different items of clothing are
chosen for comfort, coolness, or a
certain look. Some items in my
wardrobe make me feel more
cheerful or self-confident. We
probably all have favorite items
that we wear often for one reason
or another.
A challenge awaits every
shopper who is being beckoned by
the advertisements to do “back to
school” clothing shopping. On a
practical side, you may con
centrate on matters such as fit,
quality, price, and care
requirements. These are all very
important. But clothing choices
will also play a part in a school
child’s self-esteem. I remember
each fall buying a new pair of
school shoes. As I walked out our
dusty farm lane, the new shoes
supplied a fresh sense of con
fidence in starting a new school
year.
Clothing also provides school age
children with a sense of ownership.
Choosing, taking care of, and
combining garments to make
outfits allows a child to experience
the pleasures and the respon
sibilities of ownership. School-age
children have very definite
opinions about the clothing they
like. I remember being very
anxious to make my own clothing
choices. Helping to select clothing
also assists in developing skills in
decision-making and shopping.
I have fond memories of a day of
school chopping with my mother.
Usually each of us got a turn to go
Freeze pur mm
YORK - Packaged mixed
frozen vegetables in supermarkets
come in a variety of combinations,
and those with broccoli and
cauliflower generally command
the highest price.
These vegetable combinations
are not only pleasing to the eye but
appeal to the tastes of many
families. So, it’s not surprising that
many home freeze owners want to
freeze their own vegetable com
binations.
It’s easy to do. The essential
ingredient for individually quick
freezing vegetables at home,
sometimes called tray freezing, is
patience.
Following are some general
directions:
• Decide on the mix. Most
commercially frozen products
combine 3 to 4 different
vegetables.
By Michelle S. Rodgers
Berks Extension
Home Economist
shopping and often had lunch out
on shopping day. Here are a few
tips to make your shopping trip
more fun for everyone:
• Measure children before
shopping. That way you will know
what size is likely to fit best.
• Make a list together of clothing
needed for school, play, and
special occasions. Check last
year’s wardrobe for useable items.
• Take your list along so you can
target your efforts.
• Let your child express opinions
about colors and styles; children
are alert to what other children are
wearing, and are more apt to enjoy
clothing that looks like that of their
friends.
• Select a few items, any of
which would fit into the childs
wardrobe; then let the child select
from these to practice decision
making skills. Be generous with
praise when the child selects
clothing. This reinforces positive
feelings in making choices.
• When you get home, review the
clothing you bought and show the
child how nice it looks with other
clothing. Discuss which outfits are
for school and for play.
I remember that our school
shopping trip was not over when
we returned home. Last year’s
wardrobe items that still fit were
brought out of the closet and the
new items were arranged to show
the many mix and match
possibilities. The shopping trip was
complete after my father had a
chance to see the new purchases
and express his approval.
Clothing is important to each one
of us. Planning and selecting a
satisfactory wardrobe does not
have to involve a lot of new pur
chases. A few good purchases will
be more economical and easier to
care for. Besides, if there are too
many items to choose from, there
are more decisions to make in the
morning before the school bus
arrives. It’s good that I don’t have
to meet a school bus any longer. I’d
probably miss it because I was
back inside changing my war
drobe!
nixed vegetables
• Prepare vegetables for
freezing.
• Cut, slice or dice vegetables
into appropriate sized pieces.
• Blanch, chill and drain.
• Spread vegetables on a tray
making sure pieces do not touch
one another.
• Place tray in rapid freeze
section of the freezer. It pieces are
small, vegetables will freeze in 1 to
2 hours.
• Package and label mixed
vegetables. Store at 0 degrees or
lower in home freezer.
This method is also excellent for
freezing onion and pepper discs,
rings or strips. Store in large
freezer bags or other resealable
containers. Remove only the
number of items you need for
casseroles and other dishes.
Reseal bags and return to the
freezer immediately.
Know your beef
BY SUZANNE KEENE
LANCASTER Have you ever
been overwhelmed by indecision at
the supermarket meat counter? Do
all those neatly labeled packages
of meat lined up for your in
spection make you wonder if
you’re really a vegetarian at
heart?
The meat counter doesn’t have to
be the end of you or your budget.
When armed with knowledge of the
different cuts of meat and methods
for preparing them, you can
conquer your fears of the meat
counter and bring home a wide
variety of meats to suit your needs
and budget.
To help Lancaster County cooks
better understand purchasing and
preparing meats, Extension intern
Duff George and Lancaster County
Extension home economist Doris
Thomas conducted a meats
workshop at the Farm and Home
Center Tuesday.
Under the law, George ex
plained, all meat must pass in
spection for wholesomeness. This
guarantees the consumer that all
meat at the counter is from healthy
animals that were slaughtered
under sanitary conditions and is
s
basics when shopping end cooking
suitable for consumption.
While this is reassuring, you
probably would like to get the best
quality meat for your money.
Quality, in meat, refers to
palatabihty of the lean, including
tenderness, juciness and flavor,
George defined.
When meats are graded, it’s
easier for the consumer to make an
educated decision. USDA grading
is an option open to packers, but is
not required by law. Firms opting
to have their meat graded pay
trained specialists employed by
USDA to evaluate their meat.
The top three quality grades for
beef are prime, choice and good,
with choice being the most
abundant grade available, George
explained. These grades are
usually available in retail stores
and come from young, well-fed
animals usually less than two
years old.
The quality grade takes into
account marbling, the flecks of
white fat throughout the lean;
texture, the firmness of the muscle
fibers; and color.
Prime beef contains the most
marbling and is generally sold in
fine restaurants, while choice
grade contains sufficient marbling
for good taste, but is less expensive
than prime. Beef with a good grade
is still lower priced and has less
marbling than choice. It is good
eating and just as nutritious as
other grades but is less tender,
George noted.
Once you know the grade, you’ll
want to take a closer look at the
individual piece of meat you are
considering. In beef, the color of
the lean should be bright to deep
red and should have small flecks of
fat or marbling throughout. The fat
covering should be Vz to one inch
thick and should be chalky white in
color, George said.
“The less tender cuts of beef are
in the areas that contain more
muscles,” George explained. The
chuck and the round are less
tender than the rib and the loin, he
continued.
The filet or tenderloin steak is
one of the tenderest cuts of beef
with just one muscle present. This
cut is one of the most expensive
because is of limited quantity in
the animal, he noted.
If you’re still confused about
which cut to buy, you can rely on
the label on the meat. Many retail
stores have adopted a meat
labeling program for all red meats
that will tell you the kind of meat
beef, pork, lamb or veal, the
wholesale cut chuck, rib, loin or
round, and the retail cut such as
blade roast, round steak or short
ribs.
When purchasing ground beef,
you usually have three varieties to
select from, Lancaster Extension
home economist Doris Thomas
explained. Hamburger is ground
beef that contains not less than 70
(Turn to Pageßl9)