30 



fashioned brick oven is the best, as it retains its heut longer 

 :and more evenly than a stove. But with a little practice, the 

 improved modern stove answers a very good purpose. 



What constitutes good bread, and hoAV should it be made ? 

 Bread, to be healthful and palatable, should be porous or light, 

 nnd baked sufficiently, so that it shall not be doughy, neither 

 dry and liard. AVe are not giving a scientific article, and shall 

 say nothing of the chemistry of bread-making. A few plain 

 hints will be sufficient for the wise. But few have almost uni- 

 formly good bread upon tlieir tables, either from carelessness 

 or lack of skill, fhe woman Avho always has sour bread is easi- 

 ly found ; while the one who has it very often belongs to the 

 majority. One housekeeper uses potatoes, making the loaf look 

 white and spongy, but leaving a taste of acidity. Another Avill 

 use nothing but new milk, giving a nice look and good taste 

 while new, but soon becoming stale and unhealthy. Others, 

 Avith no particular mode and less care, mix their ingredients and 

 bake with haste, taking great credit if they have a good loaf, 

 if not charge it to the flour or oven, and make the best of it. 

 To insure healthy, palatable bread, care should be taken in se- 

 lecting materials combining them, managing the raising or 

 sponge, and baking properly. It should be made so that it Avill 

 not dry up too quick, as health and economy both demand that 

 it stand twenty-four hours before being eaten. It may be 

 sweet, yet heavy and injurious ; or it may be sour, and yet look 

 well, or be nearly perfect in other respects and yet so salt as to 

 render it obnoxious to most tastes, as was the case with some 

 otherwise splendid loaves presented for premium at our fair. 

 The following directions for making bread, by a lady who has 

 had thirty years experience we deem worthy of a trial by every 

 lady in this vicinity. 



"At night take lukewarm water and stir in flour, with a cup 

 of yeast, and a teaspoonful of salt, and set it to rise. It will 

 be light in the morning, then stir in fresh flour until it is al- 

 most dough. After a time it Avill be very light, then knead it 

 into as much flour as you want to use, working it into one mass 



