"24 



G L E A N I N C4 S IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1919 



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^~OUR FOOD PAGE 



Stancy Puerden 



•HEN I 

 was a very 

 small girl 

 every self - re- 

 specting family 

 had a ' 'parlor, ' ' 

 an awe-inspiring- 

 room which was 

 not designed for 

 daily family use 



but was kept sacred for company. The most 

 expensive furniture, carpets, and draperies 

 which the family could afford were in the 

 l)arlor; and the room, unheated in winter ex- 

 cept for festal occasions, was kept closed 

 from the rest of the house, with the shades 

 prudently lowered for fear of fading wall pa- 

 per or floor covering. And that floor cover- 

 ing was generally Brussels carpeting, cover- 

 ing the whole floor and tacked down firmly 

 at the baseboard, to be removed semiannual- 

 13^ amid scenes of great activity and con- 

 fusion, beaten and cleaned and then relaid. 

 I wonder if our children of today ever even 

 heard of a carpet stretcher. 



Can't you just close your eyes, you who 

 are old enough, and see one of those old 

 parlors with its high ceiling, its marble-top- 

 ped tables, its photograph album, its grand 

 ' ' whatnot, ' ' its wax flowers under a glass 

 globe, its coal grate with a marble mantel, 

 and horrors! its framed funeral wreath? 

 Justice and the fact that my mother gen- 

 erally reads these articles compel me to state 

 that she was never guilty of that last-named 

 atrocity in household decoration, but I saw 

 one somewhere, long, long ago, and it made 

 such an impression on my childish mind that 

 I remember it to this day. 



The room next in importance to the parlor 

 was the sitting rocm, a cheerful room more 

 nearly corresponding to the modern living 

 room; then came the dining room and then 

 the kitchen. These rooms were apt to be 

 furnished with what was left over or handed 

 down from the parlor. In other words, the 

 best was kept for making an impression on 

 one's neighbors or friends; and the family 

 used the more poorly furnished rooms, in- 

 cluding the back stairs, if there were any. 



In these days the tendency seems to be to 

 build smaller houses with fewer rooms, to 

 center the family life in one large living 

 room with a generous fireplace, and to use 

 the best we have for the family and not re- 

 serve it for guests. And we modern house- 

 keepers realize how important it is to have 

 an attractive, cheerful place in which to 

 serve our meals, whether it is a dining room, 

 a part of the living room, or a dining alcove. 

 We likewise take pride in having immacu- 

 late bathrooms with just as good fixtures as 

 the family purse will justify. 



Just at this point my legal adviser, (hus- 

 band, not lawyer) came along, picked up the 

 first sheet, fresh from the typewriter, read 

 it and remarked, ' ' Your page is coming on 

 all right, Stancy, but I fail to see how you 

 can twist it into a food article." 



Now I will just leave it to the readers; 



^^^^^^^^ 



lU 



you could see I 

 was on my way 

 to the kitchen 

 all the t i m e , 

 couldn't you '? 

 W h en }■ o u e n - 

 gage a modern 

 cook she prompt- 

 ly stipulates 

 that she have 

 the use of the front door, piano, etc. Well, 

 I am modern, too, and I reserve the right to 

 approach the kitchen from the front of the 

 house or in any other way I please. 



As I was about to remark when interrupt- 

 ed, nothing pleases me more than the great 

 interest which is being shown in kitchens, 

 kitchen plans, kitchen furniture, kitchen 

 utensils and conveniences, and ways to make 

 the kitchen attractive. It is really astonish- 

 ing how many articles have appeared on the 

 ideal kitchen in recent household publica- 

 tions, and while these articles differ in many 

 ways they all agree on two points; namely, 

 its furnishings should be so planned as to 

 save steps in preparing meals, and it should 

 be comfortable and pleasing to the worker. 

 Isn 't it true that the increasing interest 

 in model kitchens is due, in no small degree, 

 to the fact that on account of the domestic- 

 help shortage we housekeepers must spend 

 more of our time in the kitchen than here- 

 tofore? For some years past most of the 

 girls who have been willing to do house- 

 work have not been the sort who appreciate 

 dainty kitchen furnishings or were willing 

 to take proper care of them. 



Last month I described to you my little 

 cottage kitchen. For some time I have been 

 doing things to our kitchen here in town, 

 but I am not ready to take you with me into 

 it yet. Maybe, some day I shall do so by 

 way of plans and pictures. 



This month I wish to tell you of a time- 

 saver which I lacked space to mention last 

 month. 



If you ask the average housekeeper which 

 part of her housework she finds the most irk- 

 some, ten to one she will mention dishwash- 

 ing. This is probably not so much that it is 

 disagreeable work, for it is not if one has 

 plenty of hot and cold soft water and time. 

 But that is the rub; it is the appalling 

 amount of time consumed in washing all 

 the dishes used by a good-sized family who 

 enjoy their three meals a day. Sometimes 

 it actually puts me in an ill humor to read 

 an article telling how to serve a many- 

 course dinner with useless service plates at 

 the beginning and a complete change of 

 china and silver for each course. 



Before we went to our cottage in August, 

 knowing we would have more company than 

 at home, I purchased a dish drier which was 

 comparatively inexpensive and proved to be 

 very practical, altho simple in construction. 

 This drier consists of a cylinder of heavy 

 tin, 1.5 inches in diameter by 13i/^ inches 

 high. The bottom is of heavy wire netting, 

 about 4 meshes to the inch, and is reinforced 



