An  Inquiring  Mind. 
BECAUSE  we  knew  it  would  be  just  what  would 
interest  them  most,  Rural  New-Yorker  readers 
have  been  allowed  several  peeps  behind  the  curtain  in 
the  Housekeeping  Department.  And  now  comes  one, 
like  Oliver  Twist,  with  an  itching  desire  for  “  more.” 
Miss  Clara  Jones,  encouraged,  perhaps,  by  that  $5 
prize,  wants  to  know — yes,  positively,  wants  to  know 
whether  the  Chief  Cook  is  “  so  busy  with  her  cookery 
that  she  neglects  her  editorial  duties !”  Miss  Jones 
thinks  it  was  not  fair  to  Miss  Bray  ton  to  withold  the 
latter’s  article  so  long. 
Miss  Jones  is  a  teacher,  and  presumably  knows  little 
of  housewifery.  Were  she  initiated,  she  would  know 
that  there  are  Times  when  the  best  of  housekeepers 
hesitates  to  bring  the  bald  details  of  her  work  before 
the  inquiring  and  criticising  public. 
Of  the  courtesy  of  this  critic,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
speak.  It  is  quite  true,  however,  that  an  editor  of  a 
department  can  usually  do  his  work  quite  as  well  as 
his  subscribers  could  do  it  for  him.  But  since  oiir 
friend’s  consideration  is  for  a  rival  and  there  is  a  grain 
of  justice  in  her  comment  we  may  say  this  :  Miss  Bray- 
ton’s  article  was  sent  in  with  others,  immediately  after 
the  prize  three.  But  even  school  teachers  must  know 
how  hard  it  is,  at  times,  to  fit  a  No.  7  foot  into  a  No.  4 
shoe.  Miss  B’s  article  happened  in  this  case  to  be  a 
No.  7,  and  it  just  wouldn't  go  into  a  No.  5  column. 
Hence  another  took  its  place  :  when  our  columns 
become  more  elastic,  we  shall  doubtless  have  less 
trouble  along  these  lines. 
It  is  a  real  pleasure  to  us  to  note  that  a  majority  of 
the  letters  now  coming  in  speak  of  especial  interest  in 
the  prize  series.  Perhaps  nothing  which  we  could  give 
would  be  found  so  interesting  as  these  articles  from 
the  homes  upon  topics  which  touch,  or  may  touch 
every  home. 
Points  of  Success  in  General  Canning. 
TWO  weeks  ago,  two  neighbors  were  comparing 
notes  on  canned  fruit.  One  reportedthat  not  a 
single  can  put  up  last  year  had  spoiled  ;  the  other  de¬ 
plored  her  unusual  ill  luck,  half  her  peaches,  nearly 
all  her  plums,  and  many  cans  of  other  fruits  having 
fermented.  Now,  what  is  the  reason  why  two  reason¬ 
ably  good  housekeepers,  who  suppose  themselves  to  be 
following  practically  the  same  methods,  can  obtain 
such  opposite  results  ?  There  is  nothing  at  all  difficult 
or  secret  about  canning  fruits.  The  few  necessary 
points  are  simple  in  the  extreme. 
Good  fruit  and  good  sugar,  of  course  ;  fruit  that  is  so 
soft  that  it  contains  a  large  surplus  of  water,  or  so 
overripe  that  fermentation  has  already  set  in  may  be 
pardoned  for  getting  spoiled ;  and  the  cook  cannot  be 
blamed,  except  for  using  fruit  which  cannot  help  being 
spoiled.  The  next  point  is  the  application  of  sufficient 
heat  to  drive  out  the  air  ;  after  this,  effort  is  to  be 
directed  toward  keeping  it  out.  This  is  attained  by 
filling  the  cans  to  overflowing  with  fruit  and  syrup. 
The  fruit  may  be  allowed  an  instant  to  steam  and 
settle,  and  then  the  cover  is  to  be  put  on  and  screwed 
on  at  once. 
The  probability  is  that  the  difficulty  usually  lies 
with  the  rubber  ring.  If  this  is  too  small,  it  will 
stretch  a  little  ;  but,  if  too  large,  nothing  can  make  it 
fit.  Sometimes  the  rubbers  harden  with  use  ;  some¬ 
times  they  soften.  With  the  porcelain-lined  top,  they 
sometimes  stretch  and  push  out  of  place  at  one  point, 
when  of  course  the  can  does  not  seal.  Again,  with  the 
two-piece  top,  the  metal  ring  may  become  bruised  so 
that  it  does  not  screw  far  enough  to  press  upon  the 
cover.  All  these  points  must  be  watched,  and,  if  one 
would  be  sure  that  all  is  right,  it  is  but  a  simple  mat¬ 
ter,  after  the  fruit  is  cold,  to  remove  the  ring  and  lift 
the  can  by  the  cover.  If  the  cover  does  not  leave  the 
jar,  all  is  secure,  and  the  fruit  may  be  put  away  in  a 
dark  closet  with  a  serene  mind.  A  boot  box  will  make 
a  practicable  closet,  if  no  other  is  available  ;  or,  failing 
other  methods  of  excluding  light,  each  can  may  be 
placed  in  a  paper  bag. 
The  plan  of  cooking  the  fruit  in  a  boiler  with  a 
wooden  frame  at  the  bottom,  is  a  good  one,  if  the  fruit 
comes  in  large  quantities,  so  that  many  cans  can  be 
cooked  at  once.  It  consists  in  filling  the  cans  with 
fruit,  filling  the  spaces  with  a  previously  prepared 
syrup,  and  placing  the  cans,  covered  up  to  the  shoulder, 
in  cold  or  lukewarm  water,  where  they  remain  until 
the  water  has  boiled  from  15  to  30  minutes.  The  jars 
are  then  removed,  filled  to  the  brim  -with  hot  reserved 
syrup,  and  sealed  at  once.  The  time  required  for 
boiling,  and  the  amount  of  sugar  vary  according  to  the 
ideas  of  the  cook. 
A  variation  of  the  boiler  plan,  alluded  to  last  year,  in 
The  R.  N.-Y.,  and  tried  in  The  R.  N.-Y.  kitchen  upon 
plums  and  peaches,  is  very  desirable  when  successful, 
although  possibly  many  housewives  would  attempt 
it  w'ith  fear  of  failure.  It  consists  in  placing  the  cans 
of  raw  fruit  and  hot  syrup  in  a  boiler  of  boiling  water, 
screwing  the  covers  to  place,  and  leaving  them  there 
until  cold,  with  no  boiling  at  all.  A  slight  variation 
of  this  is  to  place  the  cans  in  lukewarm  water,  heat 
until  it  merely  reaches  the  boiling  point,  then  seal,  but 
do  not  remove  from  the  water  until  cold.  This  was 
tried  with  complete  success  with  softer  fruits;  plums 
had  a  delightful  flavor,  but  were  slightly  hard.  All 
kept  perfectly. 
Two  “  thoroughly  reliable  ”  tables  of  amounts  of 
sugar  to  be  used  with  various  fruits,  lie  before  us. 
One  gives  6  ounces,  the  other  10  ounces,  for  a  quart 
jar  of  cherries;  for  strawberries  one  gives  8  ounces, 
the  other  10  ounces;  for  raspberries,  one  gives  8  ounces, 
the  other  half  as  much.  We  might  give  this: 
Red  raspberries,  street  cherries,  peaches,  elderberries .  <>  oz. 
Black  raspberries,  strawberries,  pears,  whortleberries .  8  oz. 
Quinces,  sour  cherries,  blackberries .  10  oz. 
Gooseberries,  currants,  cranberries .  12  oz. 
But  as  a  commentary  on  this  table,  we  should  add: 
“  sweeten  to  taste.” 
Home  Influence  vs.  School  Influence. 
HELPING  the  district  school  is  as  far  removed  from 
the  thoughts  of  many  parents  as  the  north  pole 
is  from  the  equator,  and  if  one  should  insinuate  that 
such  was  their  duty,  their  reply  would  be,  “What  do 
we  hire  a  teacher  for  ?  ”  After  the  teacher  has  been 
hired,  all  responsibility  ceases.  If  the  teacher  fails 
to  succeed  in  improving  the  children  mentally,  mor¬ 
ally  and  spiritually,  “  she1  isn't  fit  for  the  position,” 
and  the  parents  express  their  opinion  of  her  lack  of 
education,  government  or  morals  in  the  home  circle,  in 
the  presence  of  her  pupils,  in  unguarded  language,  not 
realizing  that  if  their  children  fail  to  improve  under 
her  instruction,  it  is  more  their  fault  than  the  teacher’s. 
Refraining  from  criticising  the  school  teacher  in  the 
presence  of  her  pupils  is  an  advantage  to  the  children 
as  well  as  a  great  help  to  the  teacher. 
The  children  instinctively  imitate  their  elders,  and 
a  boy  who  is  taught  to  be  gentlemanly  and  honest  at 
home  seldom  stoops  at  school  to  the  petty  acts  which 
a  boy  whose  home  influence  is  not  what  it  should  be, 
deems  smart  and  manly — a  sign  of  his  independence — 
while  a  girl  who  is  impertinent  and  disagreeable  at 
home  is  usually  so  at  school.  Parents  should  be  thank¬ 
ful  that  oftentimes  the  children  are  wiser  than  them¬ 
selves,  and  are  ashamed  to  let  the  outside  world  see  by 
their  behavior  what  their  home  life  is.  They  scorn  to 
reproduce  the  disagreeable  scenes  of  that  life  even  at 
school,  and  oftentimes  the  teacher  wonders  how  such 
a  sweet  flower  could  bloom  amid  such  environment. 
Parents  should  not  shift  the  whole  responsibility  of 
their  children’s  education  on  the  teacher.  She  may  be 
able  to  take  charge  of  their  secular  education,  but  their 
moral  education  should  rest  almost  wholly  with  the 
parents;  but,  alas  !  many  times  it  does  not,  and  the 
teacher  must  try  her  best  to  undo  the  work  of  the 
parents  in  that  line.  How  many  times  a  teacher  has 
pupils  under  her  care  who  are  no  more  fit  to  be  trusted 
with  the  children  of  other  parents  than  a  wolf  among 
a  flock  of  lambs,  and,  if  the  lambs  suffer  from  the 
effects  of  such  contamination,  who  is  to  be  blamed  but 
the  long-suffering  teacher  ?  It  needs  a  strong  home 
influence  back  of  the  teacher  to  keep  one  wolf  from 
destroying  the  whole  flock  of  lambs.  It  is  like  turning 
a  State’s  prison  convict  loose  among  innocent  children 
whose  characters  are  unformed,  expecting  the  effect 
of  such  a  person’s  influence  to  be  g-ood.  As  long  as  the 
present  laws  exist,  compelling  people  of  all  classes  to 
send  their  children  to  our  public  schools,  the  district 
school  teacher  will  have  to  cope  with  all  kinds  of 
children  and,  on  the  average,  the  result  will  doubtless 
be  that  tne  bad  children  will  gain  a  little  good,  the 
good  children  will  acquire  a  great  deal  that  is  bad,  and 
the  parents  will  unjustly  consider  the  misfortune  the 
fault  of  the  teacher,  whereas  in  truth  it  is  really  due 
to  the  children  with  whom  their  children  associate  day 
after  day. 
Another  thing  of  which  parents  often  complain  is, 
that  the  school-children  are  quarrelsome.  Now  if,  as 
is  often  the  case,  the  parents  in  that  district  are 
quarrelsome  and  many  families  barely  are  on  speaking 
terms  with  each  other,  and  the  children  of  one  family 
are  treated  to  daily  dishes  of  scandal  by  their  parents 
about  another  family,  what  wonder  that  when  those 
children  meet  at  school  they  frequently  twit  each 
other  with  facts  which  one's  father  told  about  the 
other’s,  or  one’s  mother  said  about  the  other's,  and 
various  are  the  quarrels  in  consequence. 
When  those  parents  in  talking  of  school-matters 
with  the  teacher  regret  that  the  children  in  that  dis¬ 
trict  are  so  quarrelsome,  and  give  her  to  understand 
that  it  is  her  fault  and  that  she  should  be  able  to  rem¬ 
edy  the  evil,  she  feels  like  telling  them  plainly  that  if 
the  parents  of  the  children  would  cease  quarreling 
and  criticising  each  other,  the  children  would  have 
nothing  to  quarrel  about.  If  the  fathers  and  mothers 
are  friendly  the  children  are  usually  friendly  too. 
A  great  responsibility  rests  on  the  district  school¬ 
teachers,  but  a  greater  rests  with  the  parents  of  the 
school-children,  and  without  their  support  and  co¬ 
operation  the  best  of  teachers  cannot  make  a  school 
successful.  When  the  parents  realize  this  fact  per¬ 
haps  they  will  appreciate  the  district  school-teacher 
more  and  themselves  less.  Alice  e.  pinnky. 
A  Cool  Reception. 
THE  time  is  fast  approaching  when  the  warm 
weather  will  make  us  long  for  cool  desserts  and 
lunches  instead  of  the  more  substantial  dainties  which 
winter  made  pleasing.  A  plate  of  selected  straw¬ 
berries  with  powdered  sugar  in  which  to  dip  them  is 
food  fit  for  the  gods,  for  they  combine  beauty  in  shape 
and  coloring,  unequaled  fragrance  and  a  flavor  which 
appeals  to  nearly  every  palate.  One  is  led  to  echo  the 
thought  of  the  old  writer  that  no  doubt  God  might 
have  made  a  more  perfect  fruit,  but  “  doubtless  He 
never  did.”  All  the  small  fruits  must  be  absolutely 
fresh  and  well  ripened,  and  none  but  the  finest  should 
be  brought  to  the  table  in  the  natural  state.  Those 
which  are  one-sided  or  not  quite  perfect,  if  well 
ripened,  may  be  used  for  ice  cream  or  water  ices. 
Strawberry  Ice  Cream.— Express  the  juice  from 
one  quart  of  ripe  strawberries,  sweeten  it  to  taste  and 
set  it  on  ice.  Take  two  quarts  of  rich,  sweet  cream, 
and  one  pound  of  pulverized  sugar.  Mix  and  put  into 
a  double  boiler  on  the  stove.  When  hot  stir  in  three 
well-beaten  eggs.  Remove  from  the  fire  and  cool. 
Put  this  custard  in  an  ice-cream  freezer,  leaving  room 
for  the  fruit  juice.  Freeze  until  stiff,  but  not  solid, 
then  stir  in  the  strawberry  juice  and  mix  thoroughly. 
Strawberry  Ice  is  made  by  mixing  an  equal  meas¬ 
ure  of  strawberry  juice  and  water,  sweetened  to  taste: 
add  a  little  tartaric  acid,  a  piece  the  size  of  a  Lima 
bean  is  enough  for  two  quarts  of  the  ice,  and  freeze. 
The  juice  of  raspberries  and  currants,  mixed,  without 
the  tartaric  acid,  makes  a  delicious,  refreshing  water 
ice. 
Orange  Ice  Cream. — A  delicious  cream  may  be 
made  by  making  a  rich  custard  with  three  cupfuls  of 
sweet  cream,  12  ounces  of  sugar  and  the  yolks  of  eight 
eggs.  When  cool  add  the  juice  of  six  sweet  oranges 
and  enough  of  the  extract  of  orange  to  flavor.  If  de¬ 
sired  the  yellow  rind  of  the  orange  may  be  put  into 
the  cream  in  place  of  the  orange  extract  while  heating 
and  then  removed. 
Water  Ices  made  from  orange  and  lemon  juice  in 
the  proportion  of  two  to  one  are  very  nice;  of  course  an 
equal  measure  of  cold  water  is  added  to  the  juice  and 
it  is  sweetened  to  taste  before  freezing. 
Cherry  Pudding. — There  are  many  puddings  which 
are  not  frozen  but  which  are  served  cold  and  are  es¬ 
pecially  suited  to  hot  weather.  Here  is  one.  The  in¬ 
gredients  required  are  a  quart  of  cherries  stoned  and 
drained,  one-half  cupful  of  powdered  sugar,  two  table¬ 
spoonfuls  of  corn  starch,  one  tablespoonful  of  melted 
butter,  one  pint  of  milk,  whites  of  five  eggs  and 
yolks  of  three.  Scald  the  milk  and  stir  in  the  corn¬ 
starch,  previously  wet  up  with  cold  milk.  When  the 
mixture  begins  to  thicken,  take  from  the  stove  and  add 
the  butter.  When  lukewarm  whip  in  the  beaten 
yolks  until  very  light.  Put  the  cherries  in  the  bottom 
of  the  pudding  dish,  stew  with  sugar  and  pour  over 
the  creamy  compound.  Bake  for  10  minutes  in  a  quick 
oven:  make  a  meringue  from  the  whites  of  the  eggs 
and  a  little  powdered  sugar,  flavor  very  delicately  with 
bitter  almond  and  spread  over  the  pudding.  Return 
to  the  oven  till  just  tinged  with  brown.  Serve  cold 
with  cream  and  sugar.  This  pudding  is  equally  nice 
made  with  berries,  peaches  or  nice  tart  apples.  Canned 
fruit  may  also  be  used  if  the  syrup  is  drained  off 
carefully. 
Cream  Pudding.— Soak  half  a  box  of  gelatine  for 
an  hour  in  a  cup  of  warm  water.  Boil  one  pint  of 
creamy  milk  with  four  tablespoonfuls  of  sugar,  and 
add  the  gelatine  while  boiling.  Remove  from  the  fire 
and  stir  in  the  well-beaten  yolks  of  four  eggs.  Flavor 
to  taste.  While  it  is  cooling,  whip  a  pint  of  rich 
cream  until  very  light.  Beat  the  gelatine  mixture 
until  nearly  cold,  then  beat  in  the  whipped  cream  and 
pour  into  molds  which  have  been  wet  in  cold  water. 
Set  in  the  ice  box  until  needed.  This  pudding  may  be 
var'ed  by  the  addition  of  fruit  juice,  or  a  part  may  be 
colored  with  fruit  juice  and  the  mold  filled  with  al¬ 
ternate  layers  of  colored  and  uncolored  cream. 
