30 
Febp.uary, 1890. 
ORCHARD 
CARDEN 
Leaks in tlie Kitchen. 
Mrs. Rorer, president of the Philadelphia 
Cooking School says: “In cooking, always 
scrape every dish clean. In some kitchens 
enough is wasted to support one person. ” 
To the uninitiated, this must seem very 
strange ; but every housekeeper, out of her 
own experience, can testify to the difficulty 
of teaching servant-girls the simplest lessons 
in economy. It takes time to be particular 
about little tilings, and although it pays in 
the end, the average “girl” is too short 
sighted to see it. When she makes a cake, 
butter is left sticking to the side of the cup 
in which it was measured, some of the 
egg remains in the shell and more in the 
bowl; while the amount of dough which 
fails to getinto the oven, carefully scraped 
would fill a patty pan and make a cake 
quite large enough for one person. What 
is true of cake-making will be found true 
every where else. One or two potatoes are 
left in the oven to become charcoal, soap is 
left in the dish-water, the fire is mis-man- 
aged, and ashes are tin-own out unsifted. 
It is 1 -here a little and there a little,” till 
at the end of the year many dollars worth 
of good materials have been wasted. 
A lady, who does her own housework, 
even though not naturally economical, 
usually trains herself to habits of saving ; 
but to teach an ignorant Irish girl is so 
difficult a task that few persist in it. One 
great trouble is that the girls do not realize 
the costliness of the materials which they 
use so lavishly. Accustomed to have every- 
thing at hand, without any expense on their 
part, often without any knowledge of the 
price of different articles, they naturally 
grow very careless. If the girl were spend- 
ing her own money, she would, in most 
cases be more careful. Hence some house- 
keepers have tried the plan of explaining to 
thegirLs all items of expense, showing them 
just where they are wasteful and how they 
might economize, and then offering to give 
them the amount they shall save by more 
careful management. Although it is an 
undeniable fact that the majority of the 
uneducated poor are not anxious to trouble 
themselves about the small economies of 
life and a complete reform is too much to 
expect, nevertheless most girls will improve 
if they find it worth while. Fcr their sakes 
as well as our own, we should begin instruc- 
tions in economy the very day that a new- 
comer arrives in our kitchen, and keep 
them up so long as she is under our roof. 
Some day the girl will marry and have a 
home of her own, and we shall be largely 
responsible for the way in which that home 
is managed. 
Nowadays many efforts are made to im- 
prove the condition of the poor ; and there 
are women who spend a great deal of time 
working for kitchen-gardens, maternity 
hospitals, and orphan asylums, while the 
girls in their own kitchens are wholly 
neglected. Every woman who employs a 
servant girl has constant opportunities to 
influence, help and elevate her, and through 
her, many others. But she needs great 
wisdom and patience and that judicious- 
ness which we call tact. Object lessons 
are often the best kind. Let her happen 
into the kitchen just as a cake is put into the 
oven; if she scrapes out what is left in the 
bowl and bakes it, with some pleasant re- 
mark as, “It wouldn’t do to waste such a 
nice cake as that, would it, Mary?”, ten to one 
the girl will be ashamed and next time there 
will be nothing left in the bowl. Often- 
times a lesson may be taught in this way, 
where six weeks of talk and good advice 
would accomplish nothing. “Eternal vig- 
ilance is the price of liberty,” for a house- 
keeper as well as a nation. 
Be Social. 
Gloomy and disagreeable though it often 
is, with raw, chilly winds, sleet and snow, 
yet February has its advantages. It is a 
breathing time for the housekeeper, when 
the winter work is all done, and it is yet too 
early to begin house cleaning. On this ac- 
count, it is a good time to remember one’s 
social obligations and enliven the dullness 
of long evenings by little companies. 
Large parties and elaborate entertain- 
ments call for a great expenditure of time 
and money, and do not always tend to in- 
crease the social feeling and neighborliness 
which should be the object of all such 
gatherings. Hence small companies, with 
simple refreshments are much better, and 
we are glad to note their increasing popula- 
rity. Five o’clock teas have been enjoyed 
for several seasons and still hold their own, 
so that they may now be regarded as a set- 
tled feature of social life. The methods of 
conducting these teas may be as varions 
as the hostesses who give them; but 
they are often very informal and without 
elaborate and costly refreshments. 
The oftener people meet together, with- 
out much formality, for the enjoyment 
of each other’s society, the better; so let us 
each do our part to keep the ball rolling. 
Healtli Hints. 
Physicians say that the reason there is so 
much illness in February and March is, not 
that because the weather is colder or the 
variations in the temperature greater than a t 
other times, but because people shut them- 
selves up in the house so much more. 
Most of us are regular about meals ; many, 
about hours for sleep, but very few are 
systematic in regard to exercise. 
Of course in bad weather, one must wrap 
up more carefully and notstay out so long; 
hence when only a ten minutes’ walk is 
necessary, some people think the trouble of 
putting on and taking off wraps greater 
than the benefit gained. They forget that 
the system needs fresh air and exercise 
I every day, whether the sun shines or not: 
and that sitting all day in overheated rooms 
will naturally end in colds, catarrh, throat 
or lung disorders. Be cautious about ex- 
posure, but tone your system with, at least, 
a whiff of fresh air daily. — M. C. Rankin’. 
A Handy Food Warmer. 
It is often the case, even in well regulat- 
ed families, that all of its members cannot 
come to their meals at the same time, owing 
to the demands of business, and the late 
Fig. 235. 
comers are apt either to have their food 
served cold or dried up in the oven. The 
best prevention of this is to have what the 
French callja bain marie, or a home-made im- 
itation of one which would be readily sug- 
gested by the illustration, Fig. 235. It is 
simply a large tin pan which should be 
partly filled with boiling water and kept 
very hot, but not boiling, while the food 
will keep in perfect condition in the covered 
saucepans. _ 
A Decorative Easel. 
A very pretty rustic easel may be made 
of corn stalks. Select straight ones from 
the middle of 
the sheaf where 
they are not 
weather beaten, 
and fasten to- 
gether as shown 
in the illustra- 
tion, Fig.236. Or 
the top may be 
separated by a 
cross-piece, as 
at the bottom, 
and the blos- 
Fig. 236. soms left on the 
top, if they are perfect. The appearance is 
much like that of the bamboo easels now 
fashionable. 
Indian Pudding;. 
This reciepe for baked corn meal pudding 
was given by one of the best housekeepers 
we know. Stir gradually three gills of 
yellow c orn meal into a quart of boiling 
milk, add half a pint of molasses and a 
teaspoonful of salt. Scald thoroughly and 
add two tablespoonfuls of powdered ginger. 
Into a buttered earthen pan pour a quart of 
cold milk and a half a pound of chopped 
beef suet, stir well into the scalded meal 
and bake in a moderate oven for five hours. 
Make a sauce by beating to a cream a fourth 
of a cup of butter. Then beat in a cup of 
powdered sugar and,oneat a time, the whites 
of two eggs. Beat until light and frothy, 
add a teaspoonful of vanilla and beat again. 
Heap on a dish, grate over a little nutmeg 
and stand in a cold place till used. 
