200 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Apkil 



KITCHEN FUKNITUBE— SINK AND 

 UTENSILS. 



Never have dark furniture for a kitchen. It 

 shows the dust much more than light, and requires 

 double the care. Never have extra shelves, man- 

 tels, etc., pointed dark, if you can jnTvent it. If 

 it is your misfortune to have dark paint and fur- 

 niture, Avipe it onco in a few days with a damp 

 dusting cloth, and have it varnished often. 



Have your sink in a convenient place, but never 

 under a window, if yoa can avoid it, as much work 

 is caused by greasy dishwater spattering upon the 

 window, as it necessarily must. Back of your sink 

 nail up a piece of paper, pretty if you choose, and 

 have it nicely varnished, and then you can, with a 

 wet cloth, remove all the spots that would soon 

 spoil the room-paper. If you are so fortunate as 

 to have a sink-room, have it papered and then var- 

 nished well all over, as fly-tracks and every spot 

 can be wiped off. The sink should be lined with 

 zinc, nailed only around the edges, as nails upon 

 the bottom rust and wear through, allowing water 

 to run under the zinc, thereby causing the boards 

 to rot. 



Good zinc can be kept nice and bright, by scour- 

 ing once in a week or two with sand, and rubbing 

 all over once or twice a day with soft soap, scald- 

 ing and wiping dry. 



At one side have a shelf to keep your water-pail 

 on, which always, day and night, keep covered ; 

 an uncovered water-pail is a slack thing. Nailed 

 upon the back side of the sink, have a little box, 

 perforated through the bottom, to keep hard soap 

 in, and, if you have no better place, your Castile 

 soap also, and a piece of pumico-stone, to re- 

 move stains from your hands. Your soft soap keep 

 under the sink, which I take for granted is boarded 

 up, with a door, where you put your pots and ket- 

 tles, board to scour knives upon, sand, etc., and 

 which place should be kept as neat as your sitting- 

 room. Just over the sink have a narrow shelf, with 

 holes through it, to set your common tumblers 

 upon, when washed and rinsed, that they may drain 

 and dry ; thus saving the time and labor of wiping 

 them all with a dry cloth. 



At the other end of the sink have a narrow strip 

 nailed up, to set your kettle-cricket on ; of these, 

 you should have two, one to set your kettles on, 

 when washing and cleaning them, and which 

 should be licpt under the sink, in some odd nook ; 

 the other should be smaller, and only be used to 

 set the tea kettle, etc., on when filling, and there- 

 fore must be ke])t handy and clean ; so if you 

 should be sick with the headache, pain in your 

 side, or any little trifling thing, and should ask 

 your kind husband to fill the tea-kettle, he would 

 take the cricket down to set it on, instead of set- 

 ting it in the sink — thus causing you more labor 

 than he saves ; which he would be sure to do, were 

 the cricket under the sink, or so black and nasty, 

 he could not touch it without soiling his hands. 



And last but not least, have a light rack made, 

 of strips of wood an inch wide, an eighth of an 

 inch thick, and a foot long, nailed over one anoth- 

 er, making your rack a foot square, with both sides 

 alike, to put in your sink to turn dishes upon 

 while washing ; thus keeping them from touching 

 the sink; Avhich is liable to be greasy and diity, and 

 draining them so they will wipe easily. 



You may think, fair reader, that it takes con- 

 siderabie'^to furnish a sink to suit my taste ; but 



every one of these things are around my sink, and 

 not one would I dispense with, neither will you, 

 after having once seen how convenient they are. — 

 Sarah B. Saavyeb, in Ohio Cultivator. 



DOMESTIC KECEIPTS. 



Rich Rice Pudding. — Pick and wash a quar- 

 ter of a pound of rice ; put it on in cold water, 

 and let it boil five minutes, then strain the water 

 off" and put the rice on in as much new milk as it 

 will require to boil it quite soft, with a good pinch 

 of salt ; stir it frequently to prevent it burning ; 

 when done, put it into a large basin to cool. Beat 

 up six eggs, a pint of milk and sugar to your 

 taste ; it should be rather too sweet when you 

 make it, as the sweetness goes off" in the baking ; 

 add also five or six bitter almonds blanched and 

 crushed, with plenty of lemon peel chopped very 

 fine ; mix all well together, then stir it into the 

 rice, taking care to mix it thoroughly, so that 

 there be no lumps. Butter your dish and pour in 

 your mixture ; then shred about two ounces of 

 beef suet as finely as possible all over the top ; 

 grate over that half a nutmeg, and bake it half an 

 hour in a moderate oven. 



Potted Beef. — The coarser, tougher parts of 

 beef, as the neck-piece, etc., which usually sell quite 

 cheap, may, by a little cook-science, be made pal- 

 atable and even delicious. We have tried the fol- 

 lowing and can recommend it. Boil the meat ini- 

 til tender, chop it fine, and pound it Avith a pestle 

 until the fibres are well separated. Salt and pep- 

 per it to the taste, and add cloves, allspice, or cin- 

 namon, as may be desirable, also a little sugar. 

 The quantity depends upon the cook's palate. 

 Pack it tightly in earthen jars or bowls, and pour 

 over it a thin layer of melted butter. It will keep 

 a long time. When cold, slice it very thin and eat 

 cold with bread and butter. It makes a nice rel- 

 ish for lunch or tea. 



Mince Pie without ^Ieat. — Chop three pounds 

 of suet very fine, and throe pounds of apples, 

 (cored and pared,) wasli and dry three pounds of 

 currants, stone and chop one pound of jar raisins, 

 beat and sift one pound of loaf sugar, cut twelve 

 ounces of candied orange peel very fine, and six 

 ounces of citron ; mix all well together Avith a 

 quarter of an ounce of nutmeg, half a quarter of 

 an ounce of cinnamon, six or eight cloves, and 

 half a pint of French brandy ; cover it close, and 

 keep it for use. 



FnuiT Cake without Eggs. — One cup of mo- 

 lasses, one cup of brown sugar, one cup of butter, 

 heat together sufficiently to melt the butter, two 

 teaspoonfuls of cloves, two of cinnamon, one of 

 nutmeg, "one coflTeecupful of raisins, (with or Avith- 

 out currants,) citron ; then add one teaspoonful 

 of soda dissolved in hot Avater ; one cup of sour 

 milk or buttermilk, and one quart of flour ; bake 

 one hour. 



To Save Frozen House Plants. — Wlien 

 plants are found to have been frozen during the 

 night, they should not be removed to a Avarra 

 place, but on the contrary, they should be dipped 

 in cold Avater, and set in some cool place Avhere 

 they will not freeze, and also in the dark. They 

 will then have a chance to recover, if not complete- 

 ly dead. 



