March, 1911 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



91 



tough they may be dipped in boiling 

 water before chopping. Fried parsley 

 is quickly done in deep fat, no preparation 

 further than cleaning and drying being 

 necessary. Dried parsley is convenient 

 when fresh is not available. To dry 

 parsley, plunge in boiling water to fix 

 the color, then dry without excessive heat, 

 and rub through a coarse strainer. 



Horseradish (like cress) owes its 

 pungency to a minute portion — one part 

 in 2,000 — of a sulphurized oil. So pene- 

 trating is this flavor that it is often an 

 unpleasant task to put the hard root in 

 usable shape by grating it — '- the volatile 

 juices getting into one's eyes. The same 

 quality probably induces a flow of the 

 digestive fluids and thus digestion is 

 aided. 



Horseradish sometimes is powdered 

 and dried, but is more satisfactory if 

 kept in vinegar. Even then it is liable 

 to darken if exposed to the air. Because 

 of its intensity, horseradish sauce is 

 usually made by adding a small portion 

 of the grated root and vinegar to a bland 

 and harmless mixture of bread or cracker 

 crumbs and cream. It is added to the 

 ordinary white or cream sauce in the 

 proportion of about one-fourth cup of the 

 grated root to one cup of sauce. Often 

 it is combined with a bread sauce or a 

 Hollandaise sauce. The bottled horse- 

 radish may be used in this way, most of 

 the vinegar being drained off. 



Again the grated horseradish and a small 

 amount of vinegar are often combined with 

 heavy cream. These may be warmed to- 

 gether and, if necessary, slightly thickened 

 with cracker dust. 



To serve with cold boiled beef, either 

 salt or fresh, a horseradish sauce may 

 be made with thick whipped cream 

 and served cold like mayonnaise or sauce 

 tartare. 



Sandwiches often are made appetizing 

 by adding some of these pungent roots 

 or herbs to creamed butter or a may- 

 onnaise dressing which is then spread 

 on the bread. Either mint or horseradish 

 is especially acceptable in the sandwich 

 filling. 



Washing Chamois Gloves 



"X^/'HEN I wash my chamois gloves I 

 * * never put them on my hands but 

 just scrub them together in warm, soapy 

 water. I rinse in clean, warm water and 

 hang them up to dry away from the steam 

 heat, which shrinks them. When nearly 

 dry, I rub them between my hands to keep 

 them from getting very stiff. When thor- 

 oughly dry they are as soft and pliable as 

 when new. Mary Brown. 



[Editor's Note. — It is our aim to make this 

 department as helpful as possible, and in order to 

 do so we ask our readers to tell us of any practical 

 time- or labor-saving experiment they have carried 

 through in their household duties. Anything to 

 do with the interior of the house will be acceptable, 

 and we shall be pleased to send a check for what- 

 ever we publish.] 



Housekeeping Discoveries 



FINGER bowls should be brought in 

 with the dessert. Place the bowl on a 

 doilie in the plate which is to be used for 

 the dessert. Each person then removes 

 the bowl, setting it above and at the left 

 of his plate after placing the doilie so the 

 bowl may be set on it. Bringing in the 

 finger bowl at this time makes one less 

 move in the serving of the meal. 



In cutting hard butter first dip a silver 

 knife into very hot water. The hot knife 

 blade melts the butter just enough to 

 make the cutting easy and clean. This 

 method, of course, is used only when the 

 butter is cut into small pieces before serv- 

 ing. Perfect little squares of butter may 

 be thus cut. 



Here is a little plan I tried; perhaps 

 you would like to use the suggestion. I 

 had a dark blue dress and nothing to trim 

 it with. I bethought myself of some old 

 ecru lace. It was a rather heavy lace and 

 were it blue would look well on my blue 

 woolen goods. So I bought some blue dye 

 and experimented until I had the right 

 shade to match the blue of my material. 

 This, of course, took more time than 

 money. I recommend this method as 

 a very practical one for using up old 

 lace and making it just match the material 

 you happen to have. 



If your dining table is small and the 

 guests numerous, serve the meat and 

 vegetables from a side table. Then the 

 dining table is uncrowded throughout the 

 entire meal. Press the boys of the family 

 into this service of attending to the side 

 table. The lad of twelve can and will 

 serve as deftly and gracefully as any 

 French maid. Let them have a share 

 in the household entertaining and every 

 day work, too. 



A good cloth for the tea table is a run- 

 ner made of crash towelling stenciled at 

 the ends. For a rarebit cloth use a stencil 

 of little bunnies. Make doilies to match. 



All butter taken from the plates after 

 meal time should be scraped into a cup kept 

 for that purpose. This butter cup is then 

 drawn upon for the butter used in cooking. 

 How much better this is than making up 

 the table-left-over-butter into butter balls 

 for a second using. 



A Unique Dining Table 



NO ONE objects to converting the 

 living-room into a dining-room for 

 just the short time it takes to eat. But 

 almost everyone objects to being constantly 

 reminded of this combination arrangement 

 by the visible sign of the dining table. Of 

 course, if one can have sliding doors and 

 movable partitions in his house the case 

 is well settled. But all of us are not so 

 fortunate as this. So the following plan 



is suggested as a possible solution for some 

 people's troubles along these lines. 



Have a large settle made out of cheap, 

 soft wood. The back is made so that it 

 can be tipped up. It then rests on the 

 heavy broad arms of the settle. So there 

 is formed an ample table surface from the 

 once broad back of the settle. 



The wood may be stained any color 

 which harmonizes with the color scheme 

 of the living-room. This settle in itself 

 is an ornament to the room. It serves 

 two purposes — first, that of adding to the 

 general effect of the room, and second that 

 of being a whole dining-room table. 



This settle-table idea is not only a good 

 one for those living in restricted quarters, 

 but it is an equally good one for summer 

 cottages. Often a table of any size placed 

 on the piazza takes too much room. But 

 a settle placed against the house would 

 take little of the extra free space on the 

 piazza. Such a convertible settle increases 

 the seating capacity and in the twinkling 

 of an eye makes the table so needed for 

 serving tea, breakfast or luncheon. 



Repairing a Piazza 



COME time ago the flooring on my 

 ^ veranda showed signs of decay. 

 Upon examination it was found that the 

 supports underneath were more or less 

 rotted. When the carpenter estimated the 

 job at fifty dollars I asked for time to 

 think it over! 



The supports were two-inch planking, 

 decayed on the top for about an inch or 

 two, but beneath that they were perfectly 

 sound. The carpenter's proposition was 

 to rip out everything and put in new plank- 

 ing throughout. After thinking for some 

 time and inspecting the stock of odds and 

 ends in my cellar I decided to do my own 

 repairing. I had about one hundred and 

 fifty feet of 2-inch plank which I cut into 

 suitable lengths and, where needed, I 

 spiked them to the partly rotted supports 

 that were under the piazza. I cut 

 out all the decayed parts and then 

 painted both the old surfaces and the new 

 with white lead. I renailed the flooring 

 to the new boards and my piazza is good 

 for at least ten years more at an expense 

 of probably $2.50 instead of $50! 



Massachusetts. Percival Moore. 



These piazza supports rotted and weakened the 

 flooring. Part of it was removed and 3-inch planks 

 were nailed to the old stringers 



