Chapter X: Front Matter (10)

I once knew a lovely and accomplished young lady, accustomed to every indulgence, who, on her marriage, removed several hundred miles from her parents, to reside in the country, where servants were difficult to procure. This delicate and sensitive young creature was much distressed by her ignorance of almost every thing connected with housekeeping; and after suffering repeated mortifications, concluded to learn to do the work herself; and when this dearly bought knowledge was acquired, she was able to teach her ignorant servants; and resolved, if ever she had daughters, to use every means in her power to teach them.

When a prudent wife is made acquainted with the circumstances of her husband, she will endeavor strictly to keep within their bounds; always remembering that losses and events, over which he has no control, may occur and greatly reduce his income. And how will it assist her to bear a reverse of fortune, if she has acted with discretion; it will strengthen the wife to encourage and cheer her partner, and enable him to struggle through difficulties which were thought insurmountable. Happiness will not forsake such a family though they lose almost every thing, the peace which is the result of a good conscience will remain; this will strengthen them to begin anew, and the Divine blessing will attend such efforts.

A few Remarks to Encourage Young Housekeepers in their First Attempts.

As bread is the most important article of food, one of your first attempts should be to make a few loaves of good bread and rolls, of the most simple kind. Bread rolls are very easily made. If you succeed tolerably, it will encourage you to try again. When you make cakes, begin with the simple kinds; plain jumbles or cakes that you can roll out, or crisp ginger-bread. Sponge cake is easier than those that have butter in them; I have known young persons succeed very well with it. Bread rusk is also easily made, or a few plain pies. Do not trust the baking to an ignorant person, but superintend it yourself. Sometimes baking in a stove, is protracted by the dampness of the wood. Before you bake, have dry wood prepared. Watch the time; it is a good plan to have a clock near the kitchen. Do not have too many things on hand at once; but perfect yourself in the knowledge of a few important dishes. If you make good yeast you will be more certain of good bread, light cakes and rolls. To cook a steak nicely, is also important; and with a dish of potatoes well cooked, a dish of cold slaw and an apple pie, or a little stewed fruit, will make a good plain dinner.

When your family is small, you can have something nice every day, without cooking much. Veal cutlets, and mutton chops, are easy to cook, and may be prepared in a short time. If you have a fowl, and boil it, you can save the soup, and warm it over for the next day. A cold roast fowl may be hashed. On days that you have cold meat, a batter pudding, or plain rice pudding, is easily prepared.

If you wish to have an early breakfast, make every preparation that you can, over night; set the table, have the relish cut, ready to cook, or to warm over--and cold bread may be sliced, and wrapped in a cloth to keep it moist. Coffee should be ground, and dry fuel, and water at hand. With these preparations, breakfast may be ready in half an hour from the time the fire is made. If you have warm corn bread, or rolls, it will require more time; but if you have them made up over night, and put in a cool place, they will not sour, and can soon be baked. Maryland biscuit are very convenient, as they are always ready, and will keep good a week. I have found it a great advantage to set the table over night, particularly if you have a separate room to eat in; although it takes but a short time, every minute is important in the morning.

Where the mistress washes the breakfast things, and puts them in their proper places, and counts the spoons, and other articles, she can see when any thing is missing. A mop is useful for glass and china; keep a pan, or a small tub, for the purpose of holding the water, which should not be too hot. If tea things are put in very hot water, it will be apt to crack them or they will look smeared. Put a little soap in the water, wash the glass first, then the silver, then the cups and saucers, and lastly, the plates and knives and forks. If spoons have been used with eggs, put them to soak immediately, to prevent their turning dark. Have a common waiter for the pan to stand in and on it drain your tea things. Spoons when used with care, require polishing but seldom, as it wears the silver away. Dinner dishes should be washed first in moderately warm water and soap, rinsed in hot water, and drained before wiping. Put every thing in its proper place, and inspect your pantry and cellar frequently. Sometimes things are forgotten, for want of attention, until they are spoiled. Air the cellar frequently; do not let refuse vegetables accumulate, or any thing that would be likely to cause sickness.

You should provide coarse towels of different kinds, for china and glass, and for the dinner dishes, also knife cloths, have them marked and kept in their proper places. Some persons have their towels washed out every day, but it is better to save them for the weekly wash. If towels are thrown aside damp, they are liable to mildew. You should keep dusters of several kinds. Old silk handkerchiefs, are best for highly polished furniture, or an old barege veil answers a good purpose. For common purposes, a square of coarse muslin, or check is suitable. You should keep one floor cloth for chambers, and one for the kitchen. Keep brooms for different purposes; always use a soft one for carpets, as soon as they wear stiff, they will do for the kitchen, or pavements. Pouring a little hot water on a broom, softens it for carpets. You may save tea leaves, to sprinkle over your carpet, when you give a thorough sweeping, this will brighten it, and occasionally to wipe it over, with a cloth, that has been wrung out of hot water cleanses it, of course, this is only required for carpets in constant use.

It is of great importance to health, that sleeping apartments should be well aired and swept. If you sleep in an apartment, where there has been fire during the day, it should be well aired before going to bed, or if the room is close, have a little air admitted, so as not to blow on persons that are asleep. A window that will lower from the top is an advantage. Beds should be well aired before they are made, take the clothes off, and leave them at least an hour. In pleasant weather, you may keep chamber windows hoisted, for several hours, and even in cold weather, the windows may be kept up a short time, and if on any occasion, you may be obliged to have the beds made without airing, turn the clothes half way down, and leave them for several hours. Some persons have cheap calico covers, to spread over beds, while the room is swept, this is a good plan, on account of the dust. Bolster and pillow tucks wear better, if you have a check case basted on, this should be changed, washed and starched occasionally. It is a good plan also to have check covers for matresses and feather beds, but the covers should not be kept on beds that are not in use, lest they should be liable to moth. In winter a blanket should be put next a bed that is not often slept in, or for a delicate person, and be particularly careful, that sheets are dry before they are put away.

In summer it is most healthy to have your chamber floor bare, and have it washed occasionally. It is important to examine your clothes, after they come from the wash, and see that they are perfectly dry before they are put away.

CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS.

A few flowers and plants, when properly taken care of, are ornamental to the windows of a parlor, or sitting room; and will repay the care that is bestowed on them. Begin with a few that are easy to cultivate, and you will probably succeed. Persons that are fond of flowers, and have collected a number, are generally willing to give their young friends a few plants; and where we succeed in raising a fine plant from a slip, or cutting, we value it more than one that has been purchased at a green-house. Geraniums, cactus', wax plants, cape and catalonian jessamines, and some others, are easily cultivated in a parlor. Roses, camelias, and azaleas bloom best in a moderate temperature, as the heat of a parlor (unless very large) dries the buds, and prevents their coming to perfection. I have known these to bloom beautifully in a room that was very slightly heated--either over one in which there was fire, or in an apartment next a stove room. If the weather is very cold, they should be removed to a warmer room, until it moderates. The windows that are open to the south are best. When the blossoms have matured, you can bring them to the parlor; but if there is much heat, they will not remain perfect so long as in a moderate room.

Roses are sometimes troubled with insects, which should be brushed off with a feather, and the plants washed with a decoction of tobacco, (not too strong,) they will not bloom when thus infested. There is another insect that fastens itself to the bark of lemon trees, and other plants; frequent washing with soap suds and brushing the sterns, removes it, and some times wash the leaves with a sponge, when the weather is too cold to put them out of doors. Setting them out in a warm rain, or watering them well all over the foliage, is very reviving to plants. Be careful to have pieces of old broken earthen-ware at the bottom of each pot, to drain them, or the plants will not thrive. The earth should be sometimes removed, and an occasional re-potting, is an advantage; being careful not to disturb the roots. A mixture of charcoal and sand, and rich earth of more than one kind is thought best. Earth fresh from the woods is good for pot-plants, as well as borders, but should always be mixed with a stronger soil. Roses that are planted round a house, should have a deep and rich soil made for them, and they will then bloom beautifully all the season.

Pot plants should in summer be placed in a situation where they wilt not be exposed to intense heat. Some persons place their pots in the earth on the north side of the house; others keep them in a porch where they can get some sun. They require much more water in summer. The wax plant blooms beautifully in summer, and should be kept in a sheltered situation, not exposed to the wind; it should have a strong frame of wood and wire to run on, well secured in a tub or box. Hyacinths and crocuses should be planted in pots, boxes, or small tubs, in rich earth, in October or November; a small painted tub is very suitable, and will hold a dozen hyacinths, and as many crocus roots. The most beautiful I ever saw in a window, were planted in this way, by keeping some in the sun, and others in the shade you can have a succession of blooms, they are also pretty in root glasses, but this plan will exhaust the roots. After blooming in the house, they should be planted in the garden. The same roots will not answer the next year for parlor culture, they increase very fast in the garden by proper care.

There is something refining to the mind in the cultivation of flowers, either in a garden or in pots. Many hours that would be weary or lonely, are thus pleasantly occupied, and the mind refreshed.

I now take leave of the reader, with a sincere desire, that these remarks may be of use, and that the receipts which I have been at some pains in compiling and arranging, may be acceptable.

INDEX

A.

Accidents--poisons taken by mistake, remedies for, Acid, to restore Colors, &c., Acts of Kindness, to Encourage Children in, Adhesive Plaster, Ague, Cure for, Alamode, Beef, Almond Cake, Almond Cream, Almonds, to Blanch. Apple Butter, Apples, Baked, Apple and Bread Pudding, Apples, Crab, to Preserve, Apple Custard, Apple Dumplings, Apple Float, Apple Fritters, Apple Jelly, Apple Marmalade, Apples, Pine, Apples, to Preserve, Apples, Pine, Syrup, Apple Pudding, Apples, to Stew for Pies, Apple Water, Apricots, preserved, Arrow-root, Arrow root Pudding, Asparagus,

B.

Bacon--to Cure, Bacon, Dumplings, Bacon Fraise, Baking in a Brick-oven, Baking in a Dutch-oven, Baking in a Stove, Balloon Pudding, Balls, Force Meat, Balsam-apple, &c., Bannock, Corn, Bark Tincture, Bath, Mustard, Bathing, Batter Pudding, Barley Panada, Barley Water, Batter Bread with Yeast, Batter, a Loaf of Muffin, Beans, Green, for Winter use, Beans, Lima, Beans, String, Bean Soup, Beds, Feather, Bedsteads, Cleaning, Bee, Sting of a, Beef Alamode, Beef, Curing, Beef, Dried, Beef Kidney, to Fry, Beef Pudding, Baked, Beef Shin Soup, Beef Spiced in Irish style, Beef Steak Pie, Beef Steak Pudding, Beef Steak, Beef Tea, Beef, Fried, Beef, Roasted, Beef, Pickle for two Rounds, Beef, Pork, or Mutton Cured, Beef, Stewed, for the Sick, Beef, Stuffed, Round of, Beef's Feet, Beef's Heart, Baked, Beef's Tongue, to Boil, Beer, Harvest, Beer, Molasses, Beer, Porter, Beer, Spruce, Beer, to make two Gallons, Beets, Berries, Spice Wood, Biles, Cure for, Bilious Colic, Birds' West Pudding, Biscuit, Dyspepsy, Biscuit, Light, Biscuit, Maryland, Biscuit, Naples, Biscuit, Quick, Biscuit, Salaeratus, Biscuit, Tea, Bitters, Wine, Brittania Ware, Black Cake, Black Currant Jelly, Black Walnuts, to Pickle, Blackberries, to Preserve, Blackberry Cordial, Blackberry Flummery, Blackberry Wine, Blacking for Boots and Shoes, Blacking for Morocco Shoes, Blancmange of Jelly, Blancmange of Moss, Blancmange, Blancmange, Calf's Foot, for the Sick, Blankets, Blister Ointment, Blue, to Color Cotton, Boiling Fresh Meat, Boiling Puddings, Bologna Sausage, Boots and Shoes, to make Water-proof, Brain Cakes, Brains and Tongue, Brandy, Lemon, Brandy, Peaches in, Brandy, Rose, Brass, to Clean, Brazil Wood Dye, Bread and Apple Pudding, Bread Batter Cakes, Bread of Indian Meal, remarks on making, Bread Pudding, Bread Rolls, Bread Rusk, Bread, Bread, Batter, with Yeast, Bread, Corn Meal, Bread, Dyspepsy, Bread, Graham, Bread, Indian, Bread, Light, Bread, Mixed, Brick Oven Directions, Brick Oven, to Bake in, Broth, Mutton and Veal, Brown Mixture for a Cough, Brown, to Color, Bruises, Buckwheat Cakes, Bunions, Bunns, Burns and Scalds, Butler, Butter for Winter Use, Butter, a Pickle for, Butter to Keep a Length of Time, Butter-milk, Batter Cakes, Butter, Drawn,