Small bits of stale bread may be slowly dried in the oven until crisp and brittle, then ground in a meat chopper or rolled. These bread crumbs should be kept in a covered glass jar and may be used for frying croquettes, etc.

Larger pieces of stale bread may be eaten with soup in place of crackers, or used to make croutons for soup (croutons are little squares of bread fried in fat. They are usually served with pea, bean and creamed soups).

Small pieces and broken slices of stale bread may be used for stuffing, for griddle cakes, bread omelet and puddings.

Bread Muffins

Cover a quart of bits of bread that have been broken apart, with one pint of milk; soak for fifteen minutes, then with a spoon beat until you have a smooth paste; add the yolks of three eggs, a tablespoon of melted drippings and one cup of flour that has been sifted with a heaping teaspoon of baking-powder. Mix in carefully the well-beaten whites of the eggs, and bake in muffin-pans in a quick oven about twenty minutes.

Bread Croquettes

Rub sufficient stale bread to make one quart of crumbs; add four tablespoons of sugar, a half cup of cleaned currants, or any fruit that you have left over, and a grating of nutmeg; sprinkle a teaspoon of vanilla over this and add sufficient beaten eggs (about three) to moisten the crumbs. Form into small cylinder-shaped croquettes, dip in egg and roll in bread crumbs and fry in smoking hot deep fat. Serve hot with sugar syrup.

Bread Omelet

See page 18.

Bread Cereal

Dry bread in the oven until crisp and brown. Roll on board, or put through meat grinder, having crumbs coarse. Serve warm as a breakfast food with milk or cream.

Bread Sticks

Remove crusts from any slices of stale bread and cut in strips about five inches long and one-half inch wide. Fry in smoking hot deep fat. These can be served with cheese instead of crackers.

Bread Pudding

3 eggs

2 cups bread crumbs 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup raisins

2 tablespoons butter 1 quart milk 1/2 teaspoon salt Little nutmeg

Scald milk. Add butter and bread crumbs. Beat eggs light and add with salt and spice to bread mixture. Bake in moderate oven about an hour.

Brown Betty

Place alternate layers of chopped apples and stale bread crumbs in buttered baking-dish, having crumbs on bottom. Add cinnamon and sugar to each layer of apples, using more sugar if apples are sour. The top layer should be buttered bread crumbs. Bake in moderate oven until crumbs are brown.

Bread Griddle Cakes (With Sour Milk)

Use equal quantities of sour milk and small broken pieces of bread. Mix and let stand, covered, overnight. When ready to use, put through colander. For each pint of mixture use one egg, one teaspoon of soda, one teaspoon of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and about 3/4 of a cup of sifted flour. It is always well to bake a small cake first, that any lack in ingredients may be remedied at once. An extra yolk or small amount of uncooked egg may be added if at hand. Bake on hot griddle.

Fried Bread

To an egg, well beaten, add one cup of milk, or a little water. Dip pieces of stale bread in this and then fry them in butter or drippings.