GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



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OUR FOOD PAGE 



Stancy Puerden 



LJ 



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DID you ever 

 grow so tir- 

 ed of plan- 

 ning and cook- 

 ing three meals 

 a day that you 

 felt like telling 

 your family 

 that you simply 

 could not pre- 

 pare another meal, that you never wished 

 to see the inside of a kitchen again, that 

 this eternally recurring three meals a day 

 took all the joj out of existence? A woman 

 who would deny such thoughts, after keep- 

 ing house 15 or 20 years, is either a saint or 

 not a truth-teller. I shall have to admit 

 that altho ordinarily I enjoy housekeeping, 

 particularly the cooking end of it, there are 

 periods when it seems like mere drudgery, 

 consuming so much time and strength that 

 could be spent profitably and pleasantly in 

 hundreds of other ways. If this is true of 

 a domestically inclined woman, what must 

 be the prevailing state of mind of the wom- 

 an who has no love for cooking or kitchen 

 work at any time? 



When a woman loses enthusiasm for her 

 work she needs rest and change, of course. 

 Just here, let me remark that if more hus- 

 bands realized the housekeeper's need of 

 change of scene and work there would be 

 fewer women who say "they just hate 

 housework. ' ' 



It also tends to keep up a woman's en- 

 thusiasm for her work to read an interest- 

 ing article on household management, food 

 values, or cookery. In my own ease it 

 makes little difference whether I agree with 

 what the author says. Beading of other 

 women 's ideas stimulates one 's mind to 

 work out original helps and short cuts, and 

 a page of attractive recipes lures one into 

 the kitchen. 



Another thing which keeps up a house- 

 keeper's enthusiasm for kitchen work is 

 something new in the way of equipment, 

 even if it is nothing more than a nest of 

 convenient mixing bowls, new muffin pans, 

 or even a good, sharp paring knife. 



Several months ago I told you about a 

 tiny room or breakfast alcove, designed to 

 save the housekeeper's steps. This month 

 I am going to tell you about a convenient 

 and inexpensive little kitchen. For years 

 I have longed to work in a kitchen where 

 everything needed in cooking hung in plain 

 sight at just the convenient height; but our 

 kitchen, built some 20 years ago, is the con- 

 ventional sort with all equipment hidden be- 

 hind cupboard doors, and I lacked the nerve 

 to have it all torn out and made over. 



Early this summer, when we bought a cot- 

 tage on the banks of a pretty little lake a 

 few miles from our home, I made up my 

 mind to try that little kitchen of my 

 dreams. The cottage was kitchenless, as 

 the former owners had taken all their meals 

 at a hotel. We therefore put in a partition, 



TUI 



October, 1919 



dividing one 

 large bedroom 

 into two rooms, 

 each about 8 

 feet wide by 

 101/2 feet long, 

 using the corner 

 room for our kit- 

 chen. Between 

 this and the liv- 

 ing room was a tiny room which had been 

 used as a lavatory and which we use for our 

 refrigerator. A small closet also opens from 

 the kitchen, and we added a very small 

 screened porch, enclosing one end to make a 

 small storeroom for such foods as are not 

 kept in the refrigerator. This arrangement 

 also affords me a chance to try a dining- 

 roomless house, as we eat in one end of the 

 living room, dropping the leaves of the din- 

 ing table and pushing it back against the 

 wall behind a screen when not in use. 



To return to the kitchen, which I fre- 

 quently do actually as well as on paper, no- 

 tice the compact and convenient arrange- 

 ment of refrigerator, cabinet table, sink, gas 

 range, and storeroom; but the most conven- 

 ient part of all, the shelves', being above 

 the table, sink, and range, cannot be shown 

 in the plan, so I shall have to describe them. 

 The cabinet table, being directly in front 

 of a window, has plenty of light and air. It 

 contains bins for sugar and flour and draw- 

 ers for cutlery and towels. At the right, be- 

 tween the door of the refrigerator room and 

 the window, at a height of 4 feet, 6 inches, 

 is a shelf, 2 feet long by 6 inches wide. On 

 this are flavoring extracts, spices and condi- 

 ments, cornstarch, soda, baking powder, co- 

 coa, and dry yeast. From a row of little 

 brass hooks at the edge of the shelf hang 

 a glass measuring cup, aluminum measuring 

 cup, measuring spoon, mixing spoon, egg 

 beater, biscuit cutter, cooky cutter, cheese 

 grater, and lemon squeezer. As the ice box 

 with shortening and milk is so close at hand 

 I can mix practically anything without tak- 

 ing more than two or three steps, and a high 

 stool being kept under the sink, I can work 

 sitting if I choose. And on account of the 

 view of the trees and green grass from the 

 window it is much pleasanter to work at this 

 cheap little cabinet table than at the regu- 

 lation cabinet with upright cupboards, and 

 just as convenient. 



At the left of the window casing, over 

 the sink and drain board and clear to the 

 end of the room extends another six-inch 

 shelf at the same height as the first-mention- 

 ed shelf, and ten inches above this shelf is 

 another one, ten inches wide. This shelf ex- 

 tends not only to the end of the room, but 

 around the corner and across the end back 

 of the gas range to the outer door. The up- 

 per shelf holds mixing bowls, milk pans, 

 baking pans of assorted shapes and sizes, 

 cooking utensils, bread mixer, etc.; and on 

 the part back of the little gas' range are 

 kept package breakfast foods which should 



