112 
May, 188*. 
/ORCHRRDfel GRRDE 
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Spring Food. 
The month of May opens a new regime 
throughout the household. Although, ac- 
cording to the calendar, spring is already 
two- thirds gone. the wintry winds have only 
just ceased to blow and thick clothing has 
not long been discarded. Spring food is now 
almost as necessary as are spring clothes. 
Oysters are no longer in favor, except among 
people living on the coast, but the shad 
kindly enters our rivers to console us for the 
lack of the justly popular shell-fish. The 
hearty dishes which have been so healthful 
and popular during the winter must now 
be replaced by lighter, more delicate and 
more Summer-y food. 
Those living in cities and near the large 
markets have no difficulty in obtaining a 
variety of fresh vegetab'es; but for the ma- 
jority of country people in the early part 
of this month, few green things are to 
be had. How especially do we need to learn 
from the French the art of making the most 
of what we have. Last year's vegetables, 
which are still in use. should be washed and 
left to stand in cold water several hours be- 
fore using. Potatoes should be served in 
unusual wavs, for most people have begun 
to tire of them and yet are not willing to 
have them banished from the table alto- 
gether. 
Horseradish, parsley, pie-plant, dande- 
lions and asparagus ought to be found in 
every country yard, and it must be a poor 
house-keeper whose May table is not ren- 
dered more attractive by their presence. 
Asparagus. 
There is not a daintier nor more attrac- 
tive vegetable than asparagus when proper- 
ly cooked and served. It is best when cook- 
ed soon after cutting, and hence every fam- 
ily-garden ought to contain an asparagus 
lied. Such a bed, properly cared for, propa- 
gates itself indefinitely, and is a source of 
thanksgiving to the housekeeper every 
spring, for the juicy stalks appear just 
when she finds it most difficult to have a 
pleasing variety on her table. 
It may lie used for soup or salad, served 
with cream, or drawn butter. A universal- 
ly popular method of cooking is as follows: 
Cut off the tough ends, wash clean and 
tie in bundles with the heads all one 
way, then plunge in boiling water with 
a teaspoon ful of salt. The tender, juicy 
stalks gathered in one’s own garden w ill cook 
in twenty minutes or half an hour, while 
that bought in the market will often require 
ten or fifteen minutes longer. It should be 
quite tender but not allowed to boil to 
pieces. Toast bread and dip it quickly in 
the water in which the asparagus was boiled, 
and lay it in the serving dish. Place the 
asparagus on the toast, remove the strings 
and pour drawn butter over it. 
A recently published list of articles of 
food which may be taken in the fingers, in- 
cluded asparagus; but those who wish to 
follow this freak of fashion must omit the 
drawn butter in serving. 
Ho u to Cook Dandelions. 
The dandelion, properly cooked, is a most 
excellent appetizer and so wholesome that 
it deserves a wider popularity. 
The ordinary variety, which grows wild 
in every yard, can be made into a very at- 
tractive dish, but the looking over and 
washing of its fine leaves is so great a task 
that the improved cultivated variety is de- 
cidedly preferable. When thoroughly clean- 
ed, place in cold, salted water, and let it 
come slowly to a boil. After five or ten 
minutes, pour off this water and add more 
cold. When this boils, again change the 
water, and the bitter taste disliked by many 
will disappear, while the characteristic 
flavor is retained. Boil until tender, then 
drain through a cullender and chop in a 
wooden bowl. Put it in a saucepan with a 
small piece of butter, pepper and salt. Stir 
over the fire for a few minutes, then serve 
in a covered vegetable dish. 
Cooked in this way, it is liked by the most 
fastidious and by some preferred to spinach. 
Common-sense Clothing for Children. 
This is perhaps the happiest month of the 
year for children, for the air is warm and 
the ground is so dry that it is safe for all — 
even the baby — to play out-aoors all day 
long. The world to them seems new and 
wholly beautiful as it awakes after its long 
rest and clothes itself with beauty. Even 
the long days seem short, when there are so 
many pleasures to be enjoyed. 
During the winter months, some country 
mothers may have been disposed to envy 
the city children, for whom the dry pave- 
ments made a daily airing possible. But 
now the tallies are turned. It seems almost 
pitiful to think of the daintily dressed boys 
and girls taking the same walks in May that 
they did in December, while their happy 
country cousins revel in out-door play of all 
kinds with an utter disregard of clothes. 
Happy the children whose mothers have 
not a passion for keeping them “dressed 
up;” but who think more of health than 
finery. A sensible mother, of my acquain- 
tance, has for her children what she calls 
“play suits,” made of light flannel in style 
somewhat similar to a bathing suit. As 
early as possible in the spring she “turns 
them loose” and they dig in the sand, make 
mud pies or gardens, or watch the birds 
and insects about them, as they please. A 
'healthier, happier set of children it would 
be hard to find, while their knowledge of 
natural history is far beyond that of others 
of the same age. 
Children ought not to be obliged to think 
of their clothes; and, for perfect freedom in 
their sports, they need strong, plainly made 
suits. Remember this, mothers, as you 
plan your children’s summer wardrobes, 
and be sure that each chdd lias at least one 
“common-sense” suit. — M. C. Rankin. 
Him* on Hou»e Cleaning. 
Every housekeeper probably thinks she 
knows all she wants to, and more too, about 
housecleaning, but it would not seem like 
spring if we did not give her a few injunc- 
tions on the subject, — that there is nothing 
better for cleaning painted or white walls 
than a soft flannel cloth wrung tightly from 
warm water, then dipped lightly in marble 
sand. A little ammonia in the water also 
helps to make the dirt disappear with ease; 
that musty floors, after all movable dirt is 
scrubbed off them, can be sweetened by 
dipping an old broom in a hot solution of 
chloride of lime, and scrubbing it into 
them. That waste pipes must not be for- 
gotten; plug them up and fill them over 
night with liquid potash lye of 36' ,> strength, 
enough to fill the “trap,” a bent portion of 
the pipe just below the outlet. It will re- 
quire about a pint for a wash-stand, and a 
quart for a bath-tub and kitchen sink. Do 
not let any water run through them till 
morning: during the night the lye will con- 
vert the offal in the pipe into soft soap, and 
the first current of water in the morning 
will remove it entirely and leave the pipe 
clean as new. It does not con-ode the pipes 
as strong acids do. 
The carpets will show more plainly that 
you have cleaned house if they are wiped 
over after shaking or sweeping with a 
sponge or flannel cloth dipped in ammonia 
and water, while the mattings may be wiped 
off with salt water. 
A Timely Suggestion. 
A useful present for a friend about to 
cross the ocean would be a pillow for the 
back of the steamer chair. The rest is very 
grateful for a sea-sick head, and if made 
rather large it will keep away the penetrat- 
ing wind from the back of the neck and 
head, and may save an attack of neuralgia. 
It should have straps of elastic or else of 
cord to fasten it to the chair. It can be 
covered plainly with cretonne or turkey 
red, or with pongee or silisia outlined in de- 
signs. An appropriate one would be a flock 
of sea gulls, and -‘Bon Voyage,” or an an- 
chor and chain. 
A Vine-Clad Window. 
A window-garden box can be easily made, 
and fastened to the outside of any window, 
so as to bean ornament throughout the sum- 
mer, and when frost comes the box may be 
changed to the inside, and by adding a few 
plants for any that may have exhausted 
themselves, be a thing of beauty, and a joy 
all through the winter An ordinary box 
that is as long as the window is wide, about 
a foot wide and deep will answer. It may 
be strengthened by tacking strips of tin cut 
two inches wide and bent at right angles, so 
they will fit closely into the inside corners. 
The bottom rests on the window ledge, and 
is held in place by a hook on the underside, 
