Labor-Saving Kitchen Utensils 



By Mary H. Northend, Massachusetts 



TN GETTING the best results in the 

 -'■ house out of products, adequate tools 

 and appliances are no little factor. The 

 average kitchen, 'on the other hand, 

 is content to get along in a sort of pre- 

 historic manner with make-shift arrange- 

 ments when, with a very little searching, 

 a labor-saving device that would give 

 better results more quickly could be easily 

 picked up. Even in so simple a thing as 

 mahing potatoes, for instance, a pronged 

 tool will turn out a light, homogeneous 

 mass, whereas a heavy crusher will almost 

 inevitably leave unmashed lurnps. It would 

 seem to be quite unreasonable to go to 

 great trouble in growing fine vegetables 

 and raising the standard of quality in the 

 product of the garden all the time, and 

 then by careless handling or inadequate 

 tools in the house to sacrifice all the ad- 

 vantage which has thus been gained. 



The dish washer is an article which will 

 not, perhaps, be appreciated by all, but 

 which means true economy of time in a 

 large family. The dishes are placed in 

 the large tin pan with soap or powder, 

 and hot water is poured over them. Then 

 the rubber hose is attached to the cold 

 water faucet, and the flow of water 

 causes the dasher to revolve, making a 

 fine suds in the pan. It will be seen that 

 the cold water does not wash the dishes, 

 but is merely the motive power used. 

 When the dishes are thoroughly cleansed, 

 the soapy water is run off through the 

 opening, and clean hot water is substituted. 



After rinsing, the water is again drained 

 off and the cover placed on the pan to 

 allow the dishes to dry. 



Butter making is something of a lost 

 art to-day, but many housewives are 

 reviving it in order to be certain that they 

 are getting the pure article. The process 

 requires about one minute's turning of 

 the churn handle and a little kneading 

 of the mass to extract the butter-milk. 

 The thermometer is for the purpose of 

 determining the temperature of the cream, 

 which should be from sixty to sixty-three 

 degrees. In addition to the making of 

 butter this churn may be used for whip- 

 ping cream, for making icings for cake, 

 ice cream, pancake batter, mayonnaise 

 or French salad dressings, sauces and 

 many other concoctions. It is easily 

 taken apart and cleansed by rinsing 

 with boiling water, and the fact that its 

 several parts are of glass, porcelain and 

 heavily nickelled metal makes it a most 

 sanitary utensil. For the average family 

 a quart size is large enough. 



Another useful article to be used in 

 making mayonnaise dressing is the egg- 

 beater with funnel attached. There is 

 a screw on the edge of the funnel which 

 regulates the flow of oil into the bowl. 

 Anyone who is in the habit of making 

 mayonnaise knows what a tedious pro- 

 cess it is to pour the oil slowly enough and 

 to stir at the same time. Another inven- 

 tion is a funnel, strainer attached, which 

 will be found useful when liquids are to be 

 strained into a small-necked receptacle. 



A circular grater with holes in three 

 sizes is another utensil the convenience of 



which comes through combination. Use 

 the part with the smallest holes when a 

 fine grating is desired, such as nutmeg, 

 the larger holes for grating such things as 

 lemon or orange peel, and the third part 

 would be found useful when a very coarse 

 grating is needed, as, for instance, cheese 

 or bread crumbs. 



Many little articles for the kitchen are 

 made of aluminum, and among these 

 there is a new measuring spoon, or really 

 four spoons in one, the largest size being 

 equal to a tablespoon, the others corres- 

 ponding to dessert-spoon, teaspoon and 

 half-teaspoon sizes. When not in use 

 these may be folded up, and not occupy 

 any more space than one spoon. 



Very attractive for little birthday or 

 afternoon tea cakes is this little initial 

 aluminum cake mould. These come in all 

 letters, a dozen of one letter being packed 

 in a box. 



There may be some housekeepers who 

 scorn to use any pie plates but the earthen 

 ones to which they have become accus- 

 tomed, but the best of earthen plates is 

 bound, after a while, to become cracked 

 and greasy and unfit for use. Moreover, 

 some women will confess to a difficulty 

 in having a thoroughly baked under 

 crust without burning the rest of the pie. 

 This wire pie plate will overcome that 

 difficulty. The under crust should be 

 rolled somewhat thicker than for the 

 ordinary plate and laid on lightly without 

 pressing into the wire. Wires running 

 across the bottom of the plate are bent 

 to raise it from the bottom of the oven so 

 that an even heat reaches all parts of 



An egg-beater, with a funnel for oil attached, for making 

 mayonnaise. Also a funnel and strainer combiQed 



One can wash dishes in this contrivance Three eggs may be poached in this pan at the same time 

 without wetting ones hands with no danger of breaking the yolks 



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