Chapter II (1)

Scotch Woodcock
Crackers
Oysters or Clams, creamed
Lettuce Sandwiches
Cheese Fondu
Coffee

For a chafing-dish supper there should be no more guests than can group themselves comfortably about the dining-room table. As a rule, the dishes that are prepared are not of the variety that one can eat readily from a plate balanced on the knee, or in the hand. If the main table be not large enough to permit of all being seated about it, there may be smaller tables for the “overflow.” If one chafing-dish is too small to prepare as much as the appetites of the eaters crave, there may be one at each end of the table, and there should be an expert in charge of each.

The table may be simply set—either bare, or covered with a plain cloth. Flowers are out of place in the middle of it, as interfering with the free view of the chafing-dish by the guests. For it makes no difference how often one has seen a dish cooked, there is always curiosity to see it done once more. About the chafing-dish are placed all the paraphernalia that attend upon that kind of cookery—the condiments, the utensils, the spoons, forks, knives, measuring cups and the like. In chafing-dish cookery nothing can wait, and everything that by any chance can be needed must be there in advance.

Let no one be so deluded by any amount of theoretical knowledge as to venture to make a maiden essay at chafing-dish cookery in the presence of a company of guests. There should always be a rehearsal beforehand. Nowhere else is stage fright more imminent. Nowhere else has it more disastrous possibilities.

If feasible there should be a servant at hand with a supply of hot dishes. All the other work of cooking and waiting may be performed by the hostess and her guests. The occasion should be most informal. Persons who can not unbend readily should never go to chafing-dish parties. They will find themselves much out of place. To those who are fond of easy laughter and simple fun and a good deal of nonsense, and whose digestions—this is chiefest of all—are in good working order, there are few social relaxations that are pleasanter than a chafing-dish “affair.”

Some recipes which may be cooked in a chafing-dish

[References are to pages.]

Scrambled eggs (79)
Mince of tongue and eggs (81)
Mince of ham and eggs (81)
Eggs and tomatoes (85)
Olla podrida omelet (86)
Corn omelet (448)
Scrambled eggs with cheese (86)
Rice omelet (86)
Fish omelet (87)
Ham omelet (87)
Minced eggs (88)
Creamed oysters (145)
Oyster stew (148)
Curried oysters (149)
Lobster à la Newburg (154, 347)
Creamed lobster (154)
Curry of lobster (154)
Deviled lobster (155)
Crabs and champignons (156)
Buttered shrimps (157)
Curried shrimps (157)
Shrimps and eggs (158)
Maryland terrapin (158)
Curry of salmon (162)
Pigs in blankets (151)
Broiled oysters (146)
Panned oysters (149)
Oyster omelet (83)
Creamed clams (152)
Sardine eggs (160)
Creamed codfish (104)
A “pick up” of fish (164)
A “toss up” of veal (172)
Broiled mushrooms (135, 459)
Stewed kidneys (119)
Creamed potatoes (473)
Cream toast (76)
Anchovy croutons (161)
Sautés oysters (152)
Cheese omelet (85)
Creamed chicken (125, 196)
Curried chicken (172)
Broiled chicken (124, 407)
Creamed sweetbreads (122)
Frizzled beef and eggs (180)
Nonpareil Welsh rarebit (202)
Cream cheese golden buck (202)
Oysters with mushrooms (150)

FAMILIAR TALK

COMMON SENSE AND “ETIQUETTE”

A bright young fellow told the anecdote at a dinner party. I borrow it for the occasion.

A self-making man in process of manufacture, dined with a more sophisticated friend at a city restaurant. When the soup was brought on, the S. M. M. prepared for business by laying a slice of bread on the cloth, and troweling it with butter. His host, who had been requested by the guest to “coach him a little in city ways,” said mildly:

“That isn’t quite the thing, old man! Break off a bit of bread and butter it, as you wish to eat it.”

“All right!” said the other, “I want to know about the latest touches.”

His next solecism was to fish up a bit of meat from the dish with his own fork, and his friend again set him right. Blunder No. 3 was putting his knife into his mouth; No. 4 was cutting up his salad; No. 5, sandwiching cheese between two crackers and crunching it noisily; No. 6 was creaming black coffee.

“I say!” he broke in at this point, still good-humoredly, “what do you call all these fool rules you’ve been telling me? I s’pose a fellow ought to know something about them. But they come hard, at first.”

“I suppose,” said the mentor, somewhat nonplussed, “that they may all be classed under the head of table etiquette.”

“Et-er-ket!” slowly and thoughtfully. “Well, I say, old fellow—there ain’t many that has got on to it yet—is there?” Resisting the temptation to dwell upon the many who never “get on to it,” let us look for the commonsensible basis of certain minor social usages which are accepted as matters of course by well-bred people, and contemned by the boorish and ignorant as “fool rules” that hamper personal liberty.

Few conventionalities are arbitrary. Most of them are reasonable, many so just as to be binding upon the lovers of decency and order, not to say healthfulness.

To carry food to the mouth with the knife-blade is awkward, and if the knife have an edge, unsafe. If I were at the point of death, I should laugh and blush together at the memory of the commotion excited in a London family hotel last year by the exclamation of an American tourist who jumped up from the dinner-table and clapped his napkin to his mouth with—“Waiter! Never put a sharp knife at my place again! I have cut my mouth badly! It might have done serious harm!”

The rule against touching fish with a knife dates back to a time when steel knives were in general use. Steel imparts an unpleasant taste to the more delicate kinds of cooked fish. Hence, the custom of leaving the knife beside the plate, and using the fork alone during the fish course.

A like rule obtains with regard to salads. To cut is to bruise the tender esculents, and to injure the flavor. The leaves of lettuce should be torn apart in preparing it for the table, with as little handling as possible, and eaten as soon as the salad is dressed. Other salads—as beets, celery, etc., are cut up and ready for eating when sent to table. To use the knife upon them is a reflection upon cook and host.

To butter a whole slice of bread at once—especially when it is laid on the table in order to do it—is slovenly, wasteful and awkward. If eaten as a whole, one must gnaw or nibble at it, and to cut it after it is buttered is neither neat nor convenient.

The fashion of finger-bowl and napkin would seem to commend itself to everybody as eminently cleanly and comfortable. Yet there are still well-to-do people who sneer at the idea of “doing one’s washing at the table.”

The by-law obeyed by the transient guest who lays his napkin carelessly on the table when the meal is over, instead of folding it, is easily understood. To fold it implies that it may be used again before it is washed.

“Mr. Blank has no napkin, James!” said a hostess of the _nouveau riche_ order, to her butler.

“I beg pardon!” interposed the guest, lifting a corner of the napkin from his knee that she might see her mistake. “I have one.”

“Ah!” with an apologetic smile. “I saw that you did not have it _on_!”

To tuck the napkin into the collar, or pin it around the neck before attacking one’s food may be a wise precaution if one has never learned to convey it to the mouth without dropping or dripping it. Gentlemen are supposed to have put away bibs with other childish things. The suggestion of putting a napkin “on” is not agreeable. The place for the useful bit of fine linen is on the knee or lap, out of sight of fellow-eaters.

Black coffee in after-dinner coffee cups is a digestive agent—a gastronomic expletive—not a beverage. To cream it is to pervert its meaning, and to defeat the end for which it is served. It is well known that the addition of cream or milk to coffee causes a chemical change in both ingredients. To some stomachs creamed coffee, or _café au lait_, is poisonous. Clear black coffee is a tonic, and agrees with everybody.

To toss off a glass of water as soon as one sits down to a meal is an infringement of table-etiquette. Those who recognize the fact do not always bethink themselves of the reason lying back of the “fool rule.” To fill the stomach with iced water is to check the process of digestion temporarily. To add to the water a plateful of hot soup is to disgust the diaphragm by a load of lukewarm liquid, very like the dish-water in the pan of an untidy scullion.

I might go on, _ad infinitum_, multiplying instances of what are sneered at by the untaught and unthinking slaves of their own prejudices as foolish and useless limitations to a man’s right to eat, drink and make merry after his own fashion. Which—I may observe—is usually the fashion of the beasts that perish.

Enough has been said to give credit to the sagacity and humanity of those who set the pace for our better classes—better in so far as they conserve the best interests of the race, and lend countenance to all that is kindly, wholesome and comely.

“CANNED GOODS”

CANNED FRUITS

I clip from a family paper an item linking ancient and modern housewifery:

“It is a singular fact that we are indebted to Pompeii for the great industry of canned fruits. Years ago, when the excavations were just beginning, a party of Americans found, in what had been the pantry of a house, many jars of preserved figs. One was opened, and its contents were fresh and good. Investigation showed that the figs had been put into the jar in a heated state; an aperture had been left for the steam to escape and then sealed with wax. The hint was taken, and the next year fruit-canning was introduced in the United States.”

There is no reason why canned fruits which have kept one year should not keep for a hundred years in a dark place. The light acts chemically upon the contents. If not properly canned they will spoil within a few weeks. Hence, no preliminary which will make this, the heaviest work of the summer, thorough, yet as easy as possible, should be neglected.

Granite or porcelain lined kettles, with bales and lips for convenience in pouring, and which are free from all blemish or break in the glazing, are almost essential for this work. They should be broad, that considerable surface may be exposed to the heat, and deep enough to prevent boiling over.

A small, sharp-pointed knife for paring; also, an old silver-plated knife ground to a fine edge, will be found convenient for articles which a steel knife might discolor.

Wooden spoons, a wire spoon, large and small silver spoons, scales, a hair sieve, an agate-iron colander, a wooden masher, a fruit press, coarse and fine cheese-cloth, and fine cotton and wool flannel, are almost essential to the sort of work I have indicated.

Quart and pint glass jars, with large tops, are the best for general use. See that the glass covers are free from nicks, the spring, or clamp, in perfect order, and that the rubbers are new and free from cracks. A few jars of the two-quart size will not be amiss if you plan to can large fruit whole.

Use the best granulated sugar, and “agate-nickel-steel” or porcelain-lined ware as kettles.

Canned tart apples

Peel and quarter firm apples, throwing them into cold water as you do so. Weigh the fruit and allow two pounds of granulated sugar to eight pounds of apples. Put the apples into a preserving-kettle, pour over them barely enough cold water to cover them, and let them cook gently until tender. While these are cooking, make a syrup by mixing the sugar with water (allowing a cupful of water to each pound of sugar) and bringing to a boil. Cook for four minutes, then lift the tender apples from the water, lay them gently in the syrup, simmer for a minute, and while very hot, put into self-sealing jars. These apples make excellent pies.

Canned sweet apples

Core campfield, or “pound sweets,” or other sweet apples, dropping them in water as you do this. When all are ready, pack in heated glass cans. Have at hand a syrup made by mixing a cupful of sugar with a cupful of water, allowing this quantity to every two-quart can. Boil hard fifteen minutes, adding the juice of half a lemon for every two cups of sugar. Roll the cans in hot water before putting in the apples; fill at once with the boiling syrup, and set in a bake-pan of hot water, then in a good oven. When the syrup is again at the boiling point, seal immediately.

Larger apples may be put up in this way by coring and quartering. They are delicious eaten with cream.

Canned apple sauce

Cut up tart apples without paring, leaving out the cores. Put over the fire with a cupful of water in the bottom of a large kettle to prevent burning, and cook soft. Rub through a colander to get rid of the peel, reheat to the boiling point, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar to each pint of the sauce, stirring it over the fire; fill the jars to overflowing and seal while boiling-hot. It will keep well for years, and be most acceptable when apples are scarce.

Canned seckel pears

Peel the pears, dropping them into cold water as you do so, to prevent their turning dark. To every two quarts of fruit allow a quart of water and a half-pound of granulated sugar. Bring the sugar and water to a boil, and when bubbling lay the pears in this syrup. Boil until the fruit can be pierced with a straw. Pack the hot fruit in air-tight cans, fill to overflowing with the boiling syrup and seal.

Canned pears, unpeeled

Wash and core large, firm pears in cold water, put into a kettle, cover with cold water, and simmer gently until tender, but not until they begin to break or crumble. Remove from the fire and spread in pans to cool. Make a syrup of a pound of sugar to four pounds of the fruit and a quart of water, and boil for five minutes, then add the juice of two lemons. Pack the pears carefully into jars, fill the jars to overflowing with the scalding liquid, and seal.

Canned peaches

Peel, stone and halve the peaches, dropping them into cold water as you do so. Allow a cupful of sugar to four quarts of fruit. Pour a cupful of water into the bottom of a preserving-kettle, put in a layer of peaches, sprinkle with sugar, add more peaches and more sugar until all the fruit is used. Bring slowly to a boil, and do not cook for more than fifteen minutes. Can and seal immediately, boiling-hot.

Canned plums

To six quarts of plums allow a cupful, each, of sugar and water. Wipe the plums and prick each with a needle. Put the sugar and water into a porcelain kettle, and lay the plums in this. Bring slowly to a boil and cook for five minutes. Put the plums into jars and fill these to overflowing with the boiling liquid. Seal at once.

Canned green gages

Prick each plum in two places with a darning-needle. To every pound of fruit allow a half-pound of sugar and a half cupful of water. Bring the sugar and water to a boil, lay the plums in this, and simmer for five minutes. Pack the plums in jars, fill with boiling syrup and seal.

Canned cherries

To every pound of washed and stemmed Morello cherries allow a half-pound of sugar. Put the sugar over the fire with enough water to dissolve it, and boil to a thin syrup. As the scum rises to the top of the liquid, remove it. Turn the cherries into the boiling liquid, and cook for five minutes. Remove the cherries from the kettle, pack into pint jars, fill with the boiling syrup, and fit on air-tight lids.

These cherries may be used in filling baked pastry-shells, and thus form delicious tarts.

Canned rhubarb

Rhubarb may be canned the same as cherries, cut in inch lengths without peeling; allow three-fourths of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Scald quickly, fill jars and seal.

Canned raspberries (1)

To each quart of raspberries allow a half teacupful of water and a half-pound of granulated sugar. Cover the berries with the sugar, and let them stand for an hour. Put berries and sugar over the fire with the water, bring to a hard boil, then can.

Canned blackberries

Measure your berries and allow a heaping tablespoonful of sugar to each quart of fruit. Put the berries on alone, and bring slowly to the boiling point, and if there is any surplus juice, dip this out before adding the sugar. Boil the berries and sugar for fifteen minutes and can quickly, filling each can to overflowing.

Canned strawberries

Weigh the berries, and to every pound of fruit allow a quarter-pound of granulated sugar. Put sugar and berries in an earthen jar, and stand for an hour. Turn into a preserving-kettle, add a pinch of alum, and simmer slowly for fifteen minutes. Dip out the superfluous juice. Fill the jars to overflowing with the fruit, and seal immediately.

Canned raspberries (2)

Follow the last recipe in every particular.

Canned gooseberries

Make a syrup with one pound of white sugar to each pound of fruit, stew them till quite clear and until the syrup becomes thick, but do not let them be mashed. Do not cover the pan while stewing.

Canned quinces

Pare, and cut into quarters, dropping into cold water as you do this, to preserve the color. Weigh the fruit and allow three-fourths as much sugar. Cook the quinces gently in boiling water until soft, skim out the fruit, add the sugar to this water, skim well and boil till clear. Return the quinces to the syrup till heated through, drain and put into jars. Boil the syrup ten minutes longer, strain it into the jars, fill to overflowing, and seal as usual.

CANNED VEGETABLES

Some housewives hold that when canned vegetables may be bought for the low price at which they now stand, it is mistaken economy to attempt to “put up” such articles at home. But there are two sides to this question. In the first place there are small country places where it is next to impossible to buy many kinds of canned vegetables, and the dwellers in such localities must, of necessity, do their own canning. A still greater consideration is the fact that vegetables preserved in tin cans are not as delicate in flavor as those put up in glass. Imported peas, beans, etc., may be purchased in glass jars, but these are so expensive as to be beyond the reach of the economical housewife. Let her then supply herself with a number of wide-mouthed glass jars with properly fitting rubber rings and tops, and she may snap her fingers at importers and domestic grocers.

Tomatoes, canned whole (No. 1)

This is a delicate process, but the result amply repays one for her pains.

Stew small tomatoes tender and squeeze from them every drop of juice. Strain this juice through a flannel jelly-bag, without squeezing the bag. Season, and set aside until needed. With a thin-bladed, sharp knife remove the cores from the center of large, firm, smooth tomatoes. Lay the tomatoes, side by side, in a deep bake-pan, and pour cold water around them until it covers them entirely. Set in a moderate oven where the contents will heat gradually, and cover closely. When the water begins to boil, the pan may be removed, and the tomatoes carefully taken up. Put them very gently into large-mouthed quart jars. Bring the strained juice to a boil, skim well, fill the jars to overflowing with this, and screw on the tops.

These tomatoes may be stuffed and baked in the winter, and will be found to be as fine in flavor as the fresh vegetables. Tiny “egg tomatoes” may be canned in the same way, without removing the cores, and form a dainty garnish for such dishes as beef _à la jardinière_.

Tomatoes, canned whole (No. 2)

Select firm, ripe tomatoes; immerse in boiling water for a few minutes and slip off the skins. Have ready a large kettle of boiling water. Into this put enough tomatoes to fill just one jar. It takes about six tomatoes to fill a jar. Cover and allow them to remain eight minutes. Pack into a hot jar, fill up with boiling water and seal at once. They keep well and taste almost like fresh ones.

Canned stewed tomatoes

Scald the tomatoes and remove the skins, laying the vegetables in a colander, that the juice may drip away. Put into a porcelain-lined kettle and bring to a boil. Stew for fifteen minutes, pour off any superfluous liquor, season with salt, and pour the tomatoes, boiling-hot, into the cans. Seal immediately.

Canned corn

One of the most difficult vegetables to can is sweet corn, and I would advise the housewife not to run the risk of throwing time and labor away upon the attempt to preserve this vegetable. I, myself, have observed the utmost care in canning corn, only to find, after the lapse of a few weeks, that the vegetable had begun to ferment and was uneatable. It may, however, be safely canned with tomatoes, and thus prepared, makes a delicious scallop and a pleasant addition to vegetable soups and to stews.

Canned corn and tomatoes

Boil two dozen ears of ripe corn until the kernels are tender. Remove from the fire and, while still hot, cut the corn from the cob with a short knife. Peel two dozen ripe tomatoes, and chop into small bits. Mix the corn and tomatoes together, salt to taste, and put over the fire in a porcelain-lined kettle. Bring to a hard boil, cook for a minute and pour at once into quart jars. Seal immediately.

Potted corn

Boil the ears of corn for ten minutes after the boil begins. Remove from the water and cut all the kernels from the cobs. Put a layer of the corn in the bottom of a jar, and cover thickly with a layer of salt. Put in another stratum of corn, then more salt, until the jar is full—having the top layer of salt. Pour over all melted lard, and when this is cool, cover closely with paraffin-paper fitted over the top of the jar. Keep in a cool room until wanted. This corn must be soaked for six or eight hours before using. It will then be fresh and sweet.

Canned asparagus

Into an asparagus boiler put salted water, and when it boils hard lay the asparagus in it. Boil until tender, but not broken and soft. Lift out carefully, stand on end (with the tops up) in fruit-jars, fill the jars to overflowing with the boiling water, and seal immediately. Be sure that tops and rubbers are in good condition, and keep this delicate vegetable in a cool, dark, dry place.

Canned beets (No. 1)

Take early beets that have grown quickly, cook and peel as for immediate use, slice and pack in fruit jars. Be sure that rubbers and tops are in excellent order. Boil good cider vinegar that is not too strong, adding pepper and salt to taste, and a tablespoonful of sugar. While boiling, pour over the packed beets in the jars, fill to overflowing, and immediately screw down the tops tight. Wrap in brown paper and put in a very dark place. They keep well, and are superior to beets bought later in the season.

Canned beets (No. 2)

Prepare the beets as for immediate use. Leave on two or three inches of top to prevent bleeding; also be very careful not to cut or break the skin. Boil, and when done (which should be done in one-half or three-quarters of an hour) pour off the hot water, and replace with cold. Let the beets cool in the water, so that you can handle them. While the beets are cooling, put into an agate or porcelain kettle enough vinegar for the quantity that you are preparing. Add two cupfuls of granulated sugar to a quart of the vinegar, with pepper and salt to taste. Slice the cool beets, put them into the hot vinegar, let them remain on the fire until heated through, then put into air-tight jars.

Canned string beans

Remove all the strings from both sides of the beans. Cut the beans into inch lengths and cover with water. Boil until tender, but not soft. Season with salt and pepper. Take the beans from the pot with a perforated spoon, and put them in jars standing in a pan of hot water. Boil up and skim the liquor remaining in the kettle, and fill the jars to the brims with this. Seal at once.

Canned lima beans

Shell, cook for fifteen minutes in boiling water slightly salted. Then proceed as with string beans.

“HANDY” HOUSEHOLD HINTS

Southern recipe for whitewash

Boil one pound of rice in five gallons of water until soft and broken. Strain and rub the rice through a colander back into the water, and while it is still boiling stir into it one peck of best lime, with a pound of salt. Boil up once and apply hot.

It makes a glossy and durable covering for wood and walls.

How to clean kid gloves

Lay them upon a folded towel and pull straight. Have ready several pieces of fine, soft old flannel. Dip one in skim-milk, rub upon sweet soap—or old castile—and wash the gloves, working toward the finger-tips. As soon as the flannel becomes soiled, throw it into warm water and soak, and take a clean bit. Go all over both sides of each glove in this way until the flannel brings away no more dirt. Wash off with clean flannel wrung out in the milk with no soap. Lay between the folds of a clean towel and leave until next day. The gloves will look unsightly enough, but put them on your hands and they will resume their original color, and, if the work has been done well, will look almost like new.

A rose jar (potpourri)

Gather rose petals when the roses are in their richest bloom, but not when the dew is on them, and pack in a jar in layers two inches deep, sprinkling about two tablespoonfuls of fine, dry salt upon each layer. Continue this until the jar is full, adding fresh petals and salt daily. Keep in a dark, dry cool place. A week after the last relay is gathered turn out the salted petals upon a broad platter, mix and toss together until the mass is loosened. Then incorporate thoroughly with the formula given below; pack in a clean jar, cover lightly and set away to “ripen.” It will be ready for rose jars, etc., in a fortnight, and, if kept covered, will be good and fragrant for twenty years.

Formula—Violet powder, one-half ounce; orris root, one ounce; rose powder, one-half ounce; heliotrope powder, one-half ounce; mace, one-half teaspoonful; cinnamon, one-quarter teaspoonful; cloves, one-half teaspoonful; oil of roses, four drops; oil chiris, ten drops; oil melissne, twenty drops; oil eucalyptus, twenty drops; bergamot, ten drops; alcohol, two drachms.

A rose pillow

If you wish to fill a pillow with rose leaves alone, spread the petals in the shade, but on a sunny day, and dry thoroughly before stuffing the pillow. Then scatter a tablespoonful of powdered orris root among them, and sprinkle with ten drops of _real_ attar of roses. The inferior qualities will not hold the fragrance. Make the inner cover of glazed cambric, the outer of silk or satin, decorated to suit your fancy.

Heat marks on tables

Hot plates frequently disfigure tables by leaving on them a cloudy, white stain. This could be avoided if a mat were always placed between the hot plate and the table. The same with hot water jugs, etc. To remove the heat stains rub on a few drops of sweet oil, and afterwards polish with spirits of wine and a soft cloth.

Or hold a hot iron a few inches above the spot until the wood regains color. Polish with a cloth wrung out in kerosene.

If the spot be small, surround it with a muffin-ring, and let the hot iron rest on it a moment. It will confine the heat and rest the hand.

Match marks

Marks that have been made on paint with matches can be removed by rubbing first, with a slice of lemon, then with whiting, and washing with soap and water.

Library paste

Wet up a cupful of best flour with cold water until you can stir it easily; have on the fire a generous pint of boiling water and add the flour paste, spoonful by spoonful, to it, stirring all the time. Should it thicken too much, add more boiling water. Cook thus for ten minutes. Take it off and beat in a teaspoonful of carbolic acid. When cold put it into a wide-mouthed bottle, through the cork of which a paste brush is thrust. If you dislike the odor of carbolic acid, use salicylic acid in the same quantity, and add ten drops of oil of cinnamon.

To remove the high-water mark from porcelain wash-bowls and bath-tubs

Wet a flannel cloth with kerosene oil and thoroughly rub the tub; wash with scalding water, pouring some washing-soda dissolved therein; dry thoroughly, and the tub will have a beautiful polish.

TO “TENDER” TOUGH MEAT

Beefsteak

Hang it as long as it can be left with safety, washing over with vinegar every day. Take it down then, wipe with a clean, dry cloth, lay upon a dish and pour over it four or five spoonfuls of salad oil and the juice of a large lemon. Set in a cold place for several hours, turn it over and over, that it may soak up every drop of oil and lemon, and leave it for some hours longer. If it is for breakfast, do this over night. If for supper or a late dinner, begin the preparation in the early morning. Ten or twelve hours are better than four or five.

When you are ready to cook the steak, hold it up for a minute to let the surplus oil drip from it, but do not wipe it. It will be more juicy for the oil bath. Broil quickly over clear coals, turning several times.

A tough roasting piece

Hang it in a cool cellar or meat safe up to the last point of prudence, washing it every day with vinegar. If you suspect a “high” odor, wash it with soda and water, rubbing every part of it with a clean whisk or brush; then go all over it with vinegar or lemon juice before setting it down to roast. Baste frequently.

SOME USEFUL THINGS WE THROW AWAY

Bread dust

Two or three times a week spread the accumulated scraps upon a tin plate, or in a baking-pan, and set in a moderate oven until perfectly dry. Soft or “soggy” bits are good for nothing and interfere with the work. If, by chance or intention, the bread is slightly browned, keep it apart from that which remains white. A glass jar for each kind is a good idea.

While the dried bits are still warm, lay upon a kneading-board and crush to powder with the rolling-pin. Do this thoroughly for the “dust,” leaving no gritty particles. Keep in a closed jar in a dry place. It is invaluable for breading croquettes, fried fish, chops, etc. Roll the article to be breaded, first in beaten egg, then in the bread dust, to which have been added a little salt and pepper.

Dripping

Save fat odds and ends of cooked meats, and skim every particle of the congealed grease from the top of gravies, soups and the liquor in which ham and other large pieces of meat are boiled.

Bring slowly to a gentle simmer over the fire, and strain, without rubbing, through a fine soup-sieve, or a bit of mosquito-netting. When firm it is better for frying than any fat you can buy, unless it be pure cottolene.

Mutton and lamb fat

Must be excluded from the “trying-out” pan. At its purest state it gives an unpleasant taste to anything cooked in it. Melt it in a saucepan; when hot, add a little boiling water with a pinch of salt to cause the dregs to settle; heat five minutes without boiling, strain, but do not stir or squeeze, into small molds, such as egg-cups. When hard you will have a better cosmetic than cold cream and an invaluable salve for chapped hands and lips.

Broken crackers

Spread upon a flat platter and leave in a moderate oven until dried, but not colored. Let them cool in a dry place; crush fine with the rolling-pin and keep in a glass jar for breading chops, croquettes, etc., and for scalloping oysters, meat and other of the many made dishes that add character and variety to every-day fare.

Bones of cooked meat

Not those left on the plates after meals. They are the lawful perquisites of fowls and dogs. Bones cleaned by the carver, or the wise housemother, in the preparation of minces and stews and salads, should be laid in a spare dish, cracked through, while fresh, and put over the fire with a quart of cold water for every pound of bones, a carrot, a turnip, two tomatoes, an onion, a stalk or so of celery, all cut into dice, and boiled slowly until reduced to half the original quantity of liquid. Cool in the pot, skim and strain, and you have a tolerable “stock,” useful for a great number of dishes.

Rice water

Always boil rice in plenty of water. When the grains are soft, but not broken, drain in a colander over a bowl, and not into the sink. Rice water contains more nourishment than the cooked cereal itself. Set aside for some hours and you have a jelly which will add value to your soup stock, or may be boiled down still further, sweetened slightly and flavored with rose-water or vanilla; lastly, left in the ice or in cold place to form in a mold. Eaten with sugar and cream, it is a pleasant dessert. Beaten into a plain custard it is even better. It can also be used for thickening white sauces or gravies.

Testing a broom

When buying a broom test it by pressing the edge against the floor. If the straws bristle out and bend, the broom is a poor one. They should remain in a solid, firm mass.

To clean brass

Clean it with pulverized pumice-stone, wet with household ammonia, applying this paste first, and polishing the brass when this has dried, using for this purpose chamois skin.

Wring out a flannel cloth in kerosene, rub upon Putz-Pomade, clean the brasses and polish with old linen.

To clean a white fur rag

First, beat out all the dust and hang in the wind for some hours. Then lay it on the floor of a room you seldom use and fill it with dried flour. Rub it into the rug as you would suds, rubbing between your hands, and working with your fingers down to the roots of the fur. Cover with a clean cloth and leave all night with the flour in it. Next day take out of doors, shake out the flour, hang on a line and whip on the wrong side until every particle of flour is dislodged.

Powdered chalk may be used instead of the flour, but if any is left in the rug the alkali may injure the fur.

A few things kerosene will do

For ants, saturate rags with kerosene, and hang or lay these near their runs, and they will quickly disappear.

Kerosene is a household necessity at cleaning-time. For cleaning painted and varnished woodwork, painted walls, varnished floors, bathtubs and marble washstands it is unsurpassed. For tubs and marble, apply with a woolen cloth, then wash with soap and water. For woodwork and walls use clean cloths, changing as soon as soiled. A few drops in the water when washing windows and mirrors will give them a beautiful polish.

To clean white silk

If one desires snowy whiteness, silk should never be allowed to become badly soiled; that is, so that the silk is yellowed. Dust the garment and wash in rather warm (not scalding hot) water with Ivory soap. Rinse well, the last water being quite blue. Hang up and allow to get just dry enough to press nicely with a warm iron. If this is followed out, I know that white silk will stay white. Care must be taken with the blue water not to have it too blue, and yet blue enough to help the silk retain the “new” shade.

Should silk merely need sponging no iron should touch the surface. If rolled while damp on a broomstick, it will dry in a day or so. When there are grease spots, apply the time-honored remedy, powdered magnesia, to the wrong side under a cold pressure; then, after some hours, rub off, and if not wholly cleansed, apply again.

To clean yellow lace

If you desire to keep the lace yellow, pour enough gasoline into an earthen crock to cover the lace, shake it about in the liquid, rubbing soiled spots gently between your hands; immerse it fully in the liquid, cover the crock and leave the lace in the gasoline for five or six hours. Squeeze and shake it then, and leave it in the open air. When quite dry lay it on a clean cloth, spread over a board or table, and dampen slightly. Pull into shape with your fingers while it is damp. If the lace be wide, baste it to a thick, dampened cloth, setting a stitch in every scallop and figure. Cover with a thin, damp cloth, and press with a warm iron.

To clean Battenberg embroidery

First make a suds of warm water (not hot) with a bland, white soap; wash the pieces, and if very much soiled, rub a little soap on the Battenberg on the wrong side, then rinse thoroughly, but do not blue. Wring out, put between two folds of soft cloth and pat with the hands. Hang in a shady place for a while to take most of the moisture out.

Spread a sheet on the floor and take your pieces, one at a time. First, pin the linen from the corners, as you would a curtain, where the Battenberg joins the linen. When you have the linen perfectly smooth, begin on lace, and pull out well so as to get the same shape as when new; put plenty of pins in, so that the edges will be well shaped. This will take you a little longer than if ironed, but the iron takes all color out of embroidery, and it never does Battenberg well. When you have your piece all pinned down, take your fingers and smooth down the flowers while wet; they will look like new.

To clean black lace

If it be real lace you can treat it at home with reasonable hope of success.

Boil a black kid glove in a quart of water until you have reduced the liquid by one-third. Squeeze the glove and throw it away. When you can bear your hand comfortably in the water dip and shake the lace in it up and down a dozen times. Shake off the wet and squeeze the lace in a soft towel. Do not wring it. While wet, begin to pull the lace straight with the tips of your fingers, getting every mesh and bit of the edge into the right shape. It must be in order and still damp when laid upon the ironing-cloth. Spread a piece of old cambric or linen, or, better still, a piece of clean tissue paper over it, and iron on the right side; then, and harder, on the wrong, to bring out the pattern.

Hang in the sun or in any hot, dry place to dry quickly. Roll upon a card or a thin board to preserve the smoothness.

To dry-clean white lace

Wash in flour. Rub the flour in as you would soap; let the lace lie for some time and then shake it out. If it be not quite clean, repeat the process, which will make it look like new.

To get rid of bed-bugs

To get rid of “red rovers” (or bed-bugs) simply apply a good, thick coat of varnish to all lurking places.

OR

Get a clean oil-can, fill it with gasoline and inject into all cracks and crannies where they can possibly hide. Shut the room up for some hours to give the gasoline a fair chance to do its work.

To get rid of rats and mice

Smear the entrance of their holes with liquid tar, and spray the holes as far as a bellows will carry it with powdered, unslaked lime;

OR

After the holes are located, fill them deeply with absorbent cotton; moisten with formaldehyde; the holes are then quickly cemented with plaster of paris. Then let the neighbors do the worrying.

For mange in cats

Mix vaseline with a drop of two or diluted carbolic acid, as put up in the drug stores as an antiseptic and healing salve. A very little placed on the affected part and a clean linen rag tied around it will heal the skin and cause a new growth of fur.

To draw thread in linen

To draw thread for hem-stitching make a good lather of soap and water, and brush this over the linen where threads are to be drawn, using a shaving or other soft brush. Let it dry, and they will pull quite easily.

To clean decanters

Never use shot, for there is danger of its causing lead poisoning. Instead, try the effect of a little soapy water and some fine sand. Shake the decanter till the glass is clean and then rinse with fresh water, finally with alcohol.

To clean hardwood furniture

Make a solution of two heaping tablespoonfuls of sal soda to a quart of warm water, put it on with a tooth-brush well soaped, the place being immediately rinsed with cold water and dried with a soft cloth.

Afterward the wood should be rubbed with a mixture of two-thirds raw oil and one-third turpentine with a little salt.

The secret of success lies in cleaning only a small piece at a time and in doing the work rapidly.

Cement for lining an aquarium

Take white lead, such as you buy in a keg, thicken with as little of the oil as possible, and mix some dry red lead with it. Put in just enough burnt umber to make it the color of black walnut, a little Japan drier and a very little varnish. Paint the edges of the glass and let it dry, or this will not stick. After cementing the aquarium, let it stand two weeks to harden before putting water in it.

Washing fluid for removing stains

You can take all the red laundry marks out of a linen by using the following washing fluid. It will also take rust, ink and mildew out without leaving a trace:

Five pounds washing-soda, one gallon of cold water, put to a boil. While boiling add one pound of chloride of lime and stir well; set aside to settle; strain through a cloth and cork up in a jug. Put your soiled clothes in ten quarts of water, or enough to cover them, with two handfuls of chipped soap and one pint of the jugged fluid. Let them boil, raising them up once in a while with the clothes-stick. If the marks do not disappear, add a little more of the fluid, but not too much, or it will eat into the clothes.

To kill an evil odor

Dried orange-peel, allowed to smolder on a piece of red-hot iron, or on an old shovel, will kill any bad odor in a room and leave a fragrant one behind.

To clean oil paintings

Cut a raw potato in half, rub quickly over the surface of an oil painting, after which polish with a silk handkerchief to remove dust or dirt.

To keep leather from cracking

Add a drop or two of neat’s-foot oil to the shoe-blacking to prevent the leather from cracking. It is also fine to use on damp boots or shoes.

How to keep palms

If you want your palms to thrive in an ordinary sitting-room, sponge the leaves once a week with lukewarm water, to which a little milk has been added. Then stand the plant for two hours in lukewarm water deep enough to completely cover the pot. This is the proper way to water palms.

One way to remove iron rust

One method of taking iron mold out of linen is to hold the spots over a pitcher of boiling water and rub them with the juice of sorrel and salt, and then, when the cloth is thoroughly wet, to dip it quickly in lye and wash at once.

To clean a light cloth gown

Lay the gown on a table, spread out smoothly and cover with powdered fuller’s earth shaken through a sieve. Hang, without shaking, in a dark closet for twenty-four hours; then shake and brush in the open air.

To get rid of plant-lice

Put the plants into a closet from which you have cleared everything else, and set on the floor a pan containing refuse broken tobacco. Light the tobacco, and shut the closet up for five or six hours. Soak the earth in the pots with tobacco tea, made by pouring boiling water upon the tobacco stems and letting it cool. You can brush up the tiny insects by the hundred. To make sure they will not come to life, burn all you sweep up.

To take dry ink out of a carpet

Rub into the spot as much thick buttermilk, made into a paste with table salt, as the place will hold. This may tone down the inkiness. Cover the wet paste with paper to exclude light and dust, and leave it alone for six hours. Wash, then, with household ammonia and warm water; rub dry, and make a second application of salt and buttermilk, covering as before.

To get rid of the smell of paint

To remove the smell of paint from a room leave in it over night a pail of water with three or four sliced raw onions in it. Shut the door, and in the morning the paint smell will have gone, the onions and water absorbing it.

To clean gold thread

Tarnished gold embroidery may be cleansed by dipping a brush in pulverized burnt alum, then brushing the embroidery thoroughly.

To polish patent leather

To polish patent leather remove every particle of dust, and apply a mixture of one part linseed oil to two parts cream. It should be well mixed and applied with a flannel. Rub the leather well with a soft, dry cloth.

To clean linoleum

If the linoleum be wiped first with a cloth dipped in warm water, and wrung as dry as possible, then wiped over with skimmed milk once a week, the colors will be lightened, and the varnish, which protects the colors, will be longer preserved. Soften obstinate spots with a little linseed oil. If the whole floor is treated once a month with linseed oil, using as little as possible, and rubbing all superfluous oil off, it will wear longer and the color will be brighter. If the varnish is entirely removed in any part, a mixture of one part lac varnish and three parts oil will restore it.

To renew cane-seat chairs

Cane chair seats that have sagged may be tightened by washing in _hot_ soapsuds and leaving to dry in the open air.

How to keep patent-leather shoes

Put them on, and as soon as they are warmed by the natural heat of the foot, rub with the palm of the hand until you are sensible that the moisture of the skin is lubricating the leather. Five minutes spent in this way whenever you wear the shoes will keep them in good order. About once a week put three drops of neat’s-foot oil into your hand, hold it until blood-warm, and rub it thoroughly into the leather. Cold weather induces cracking in patent leather. Gentle warmth prevents it.

To clean russet shoes

Russet shoes may be kept clean and bright by rubbing them with a slice of banana and polishing with a cloth.

To clean black cloth

Use warm water and alcohol in the proportion of about one or two tablespoonfuls of alcohol to a pint of water; goods sponged with it and pressed will look like new. Alcohol is not harmful to any goods, but ammonia will leave certain colors streaked unless evenly distributed. Alcohol is excellent for cleaning and brightening jet trimming.

To remove grease spots from cloth

Get at the back of the spots; _i. e._, the wrong side of the stuff, and rub into each spot as much powdered French chalk as it will hold. Leave it all night. Then lay soft blotting or tissue paper over the chalk and press with a warm iron, changing the paper as the grease “draws” through. Brush out the chalk, and the spot should have disappeared, unless a trace remains on the right side of something, which is not grease, but adherent dust. Sponge this with household ammonia.

To take out mildew

Make a thick paste of table salt and buttermilk, and cover the mildew with it. Lay in the hot sun for a day, renewing the paste at the end of four hours. If obstinate, repeat next day. Should a trace of the stain remain, cyanide of potassium will eradicate it. Moisten the spot with water, rub in the powder and lay in the sun for four hours, moistening the place twice in this time. Then wash at once with pure water. You can get the cyanide of potassium from the drug store. It is a deadly poison, if taken internally.

How to dry-clean a lace curtain

Pin a sheet snugly to the carpet, and pin the curtain smoothly to the sheet. Go all over it with flour you have dried in the oven, rubbing it into the lace with what is known as a “complexion brush” until the whole surface is coated and the curtain will hold no more. Throw a sheet over all and leave for twenty-four hours. At the end of this time unpin the curtain, lift carefully, shake out the flour and hang in the outer air and sunshine (the day must be dry) to let the flour blow out of it. Lastly, lay it upon the ironing-table, wrong side up, cover with clean cheese-cloth, or thin muslin slightly dampened, and press firmly with a warm, not a hot, iron.

Powdered starch may be used instead of flour. Curtains treated carefully in this way will look almost as fresh as when new.

A trio of useful hints

Perfumed olive oil sprinkled on library shelves will prevent mold on books.

Mud stains can be removed from black cloth by rubbing them with a raw potato.

The juice of a raw onion applied to the sting of an insect will remove the poison.

How to add to one’s stature

If you will take simple stretching exercises two or three times a day for a year your height will increase. Rising on toes and stretching the tips of the fingers as far toward the ceiling as they will go, and sweeping hands over front, touching tips of fingers or palm of hand to floor, keeping both knees straight, are excellent exercises if one would grow.

A skin tonic

A bag made of cheese-cloth, doubled and filled with bran, a teaspoonful of orris root and a half cake of Castile soap, chopped fine, makes an excellent skin tonic for the bath. After using it for several weeks the skin will be smooth, firm and white.

How to care for the hands

When the hands are stained by fruit or vegetables, remove the stains before the hands come in contact with soap or soapy water. Remove the stains with an acid, such as lemon, vinegar or sour milk, then wash in clear water.

When using soap and water for any purpose, rinse off all the soap before wiping the hands. Always wipe the hands perfectly dry. Do not change soaps if you can avoid it, and always use a good soap.

To soften and whiten the hands