“Here is what I call one of the most economical cuts—if you can get your butcher to make it for you. Some do not handle it. It’s the ninth and tenth ribs, boned, known as the inside and outside roll roast, tender as porterhouse steak, solid meat, no waste, at twenty-five cents a pound. Five pounds of this are equal in nutritive and cash value to eight pounds of the usual rib roast.”
Mrs. Larry’s pencil fairly flew.
“Here is the most economical cut for a large family. The cross rib at twenty-one cents a pound. Average weight fourteen pounds. But be sure you get the best grade of beef if you try this cut. If it weighs less than fourteen pounds, you are getting poor quality of beef. Note the fat, creamy yellow, not a bit of dead white.
“Now, have your butcher cut off two steaks first—Saturday night’s dinner! The next piece makes a fine pot roast for Sunday and Monday, and the balance a big pot of soup stock. From the pot roast you will have some cold meat for hash.”
“Suppose you want just those two juicy steaks,” suggested a well-dressed woman near the platform.
“Well, see that the butcher cuts them off the right end,” readily replied the butcher.
“But,” exclaimed Claire, as the result of watching her mother’s household management, “suppose you order by telephone—”
The butcher and his helper looked at each other and grinned. As one voice, the other women cried, “Oh, don’t do it!”
“Never buy meat by telephone,” emphasized Mrs. Heath, the national president, “go to market—it pays.”
Claire was blushing furiously. Of course, everybody would guess that she was unmarried and inexperienced. In reality, her question was already forgotten. The audience was absorbed in watching the butcher carving the hind quarter of the beef.