Notes  from  Mrs.  Rorer’s  Lectures. 
RICE,  boiled  in  plenty  of  water,  and  never  stirred 
after  the  first  moment,  will  not  stick.  Have 
faith,  and  try  it. 
butter  is  the  poorest  greasing  material;  butter  makes 
your  cake  stick,  because  it  burns  easily. 
Ten  per  cent  of  flour  or  corn  starch  is  necessary  for 
a  filler  for  all  baking  powders,  else  the  soda  and 
cream-of-tartar  act  upon  and  neutralize  each  other. 
All  cooking  schools,  except  those  of  New  York,  use 
Cleveland’s  baking  Powder,  as  do  all  those  schools 
which  profess  to  teach  hygienic  cookery. 
Ammonia  is  good  for  scouring  purposes,  but  I  don’t 
want  it  in  my  stomach. 
I  was  born  in  Virginia,  where  they  use  light  breads 
universally  for  breakfast,  and  where,  as  a  rule,  they 
do  not  suffer  from  indigestion.  Light  and  wholesome 
hot  breads  with  egg,  are  not  worse  than  yeast  breads. 
I  have  known  18  eggs  to  be  used  in  making  a  break- 
fastcake — delicious  but  unattainable  in  the  cities  where 
eggs  must  be  paid  for  at  city  rates. 
Knowing  the  correct  proportions  of  thickening  to 
mixing,  anything  else  desired  can  be  added.  I  know 
that  cupful  of  flour  will  thicken  one  cupful  of 
milk.  Then  I  can  add  egg,  butter,  rice,  anything  at 
will,  so  long  as  I  do  not  disturb  these  proportions. 
I  never  saw  a  woman  who  liked  the  kitchen.  Men 
love  the  kitchen  and  love  to  cook ;  it  is  because 
they  love  to  eat.  One  must  like  to  eat  or  she  will 
never  like  to  cook. 
If  you  add  baking  powder  to  the  flour,  you  must  use 
a  larger  quantity  than  when  adding  it  dry  to  the  bat¬ 
ter.  In  the  latter  method  you  get  precisely  the  same 
result  with  a  smaller  quant:ty,  thus  economizing  both 
labor  and  powder. 
One  who  honestly  follows  recipes  will  never  become 
a  cook  ;  she  must  learn  principles. 
Salt  toughens  the  fiber  of  the  white  of  egg,  so*that 
the  cells  hold  air  more  readily,  hence  it  beats  to 
foam  more  quickly. 
Hard  Wear  Vs.  Hardware. 
A  CONSCIENCE  GOWN. 
IFTEEN  dollars  in  my  inside  pocket,”  I  re¬ 
marked  complacently  to  mj’self.  That  meant 
a  new  dress.  For  some  days  the  subject  of  dress  had 
been  obtruding  itself  unpleasantly  upon  me.  My  stock 
had  become  reduced,  by  the  retirement  of  my  blue,  to 
one  solitary  brown  dress.  A  gray  flannel  skirt  and 
two  silk  waists  had  carried  me  through  the  summer, 
but  now  the  fall  winds  began  to  insinuate  that  it  might 
be  well  to  look  after  my  wardrobe.  The  $15  had  ac¬ 
cumulated  just  in  time. 
It  was  that  night  my  home  letter  came.  The  same 
fall  winds  had  been  whistling  around  the  home  nest 
in  a  most  impertinent  manner,  suggesting  that  the 
sitting-room  stove  had  served  many  years,  and  was 
growing  very  decrepit.  Didn’t  I  wish  I  could  send 
them  a  new  one  !  And  I  had  $15  in  my  inside  pocket ! 
After  I  had  meditated  about  15  minutes,  I  rose  sud¬ 
denly. 
“  Dorothy,”  I  said  to  myself,  “  what’s  the  use  of  hav¬ 
ing  brains  if  you  don’t  use  ’em  ?  ” 
I  took  down  the  old  blue  dress  and  looked  it  over.  I 
had  regretfully  laid  it  away  in  the  spring  with  a  sigh 
over  its  vanished  glory,  for  it  had  always  been  a  favor¬ 
ite.  How  attached  we  do  grow  to  some  of  our  old 
gowns  !  If  my  wits  were  as  sharp  as  my  elbows,  I 
shouldn’t  have  to  worry  over  clothes.  The  sleeves 
were  most  uncompromisingly  ragged.  If  it  had  been 
the  under  side  of  the  sleeve  that  had  been  worn  out,  I 
could  have  put  in  a  new  under  part ;  but  it  was  those 
elbows  :  they  had  thrust  themselves  right  through  the 
upper  side  of  the  sleeve,  so  that  patch  or  darn  was  im¬ 
possible. 
—  I  meditated  a  long  time  over  those  sleeves.  At  least 
I  cut  them  off  square  a  little  below  the  elbow  and 
slashed  the  edges  in  little  square  Vandykes ;  these  I 
turned  up  on  the  underside,  so  that  it  reached  just  to 
the  elbow  and  fell  on  the  lower  part  of  the  sleeve. 
Then  I  made  new  half  sleeves  and  fastened  in,  the  van- 
dyked  edge  of  the  old  sleeves  covering  the  top  of  the 
new  one.  I  made  new  cuffs  and  collars,  re-lined  the 
old  lapels  with  new  canvas,  carefully  darned  two  tiny 
holes,  put  in  new  steels,  sewed  all  the  buttons  on 
tightly  and  finished  all  the  edges  with  a  row  of  narrow 
trimming  braid,  also  sewing  it  about  the  edges  of  the 
tiny,  inch-square  Vandykes  on  the  sleeves. 
The  skirt  I  had  washed.  Then  I  ripped  the  straight 
fold  with  which  it  was  trimmed  and  turned  it  down  to 
lengthen  the  skirt,  which  had  shrunk  until  it  was 
about  two  inches  shorter  than  the  lining.  I  bound  the 
bottom  with  fresh  velvet  and  sewed  three  rows  of  the 
mrrow  braid  about  the  skirt  to  hide  the  slightly  faded 
streak  that  showed  where  the  facing  had  been  re¬ 
moved.  A  good  pressing  finished  the  work. 
It  was  many  days  before  it  was  all  done,  because  I 
had  only  a  fragment  of  time  each  day,  after  getting 
home  from  the  office.  But  after  it  was  done,  to  the 
last  stitch,  I  held  it  up  exultingly,  and  jingled  those 
15  dollars !  Then  I  began  to  pore  over  catalogues, 
and  opened  a  correspondence  with  a  hardware  firm  in 
a  city  that  stands  over  against  the  home  nest.  I 
haunted  the  windows  of  hardware  shops  by  day  and  by 
night;  such  visions  of  handsome  stores,  big  and  little 
marched  past  me  in  stately  rows  ! 
At  last  my  selection  was  made,  and  one  noon  I 
marched  triumphantly  down  the  street  to  mail  my  let¬ 
ter..  A  newsboy  happened  to  be  standing  by,  and  as 
I  dropped  my  letter  into  the  box  I  smiled  at  him  so 
ecstatically  that  he  began  to  whoop  and  executed  a 
handspring  to  conceal  his  emotion.  And  I  am  wearing 
my  beautiful  new  dress  this  very  minute. 
DOROTHY  DEANE. 
Chautauqua  Work  in  the  Farm  House. 
ATOPIC  far  from  new,  yet  which  is  doubtless 
known  to  many  only  by  name,  is  thus  intro¬ 
duced  by  one  of  our  “  Open  Eyes”  contributors  : 
I  wish  you  would  give  us  a  talk  on  the  Chautauqa  reading  circle 
course.  Do  you  think  It  too  much  for  a  farmer’s  wife  to  undertake? 
My  husband  does,  but  I've  long  had  It  In  mind  and  I  hate  to  give  It  up. 
Then  I  hate  to  take  $7  out  of  our  common  fund  to  spend  on  one  of  my 
own  experiments.  So  I  still  seem  far  from  realizing  my  desires.  Dear 
me!  how  big  $7  seems. 
It  so  happened  that  the  very  day  on  which  this 
letter  came  to  The  R.  N.-Y.  office,  a  certain  local 
circle  held  its  first  meeting  for  the  year.  The  pro¬ 
gramme  for  the  evening  was  a  voluntary  one,  each 
member  bringing  something  to  entertain  or  to  instruct 
the  others.  One  who  had  been  to  the  Chautauqua 
Assembly  gave  bits  of  description  and  answi  red  all 
questions  that  w7ere  asked  concerning  the  place,  and 
the  meetings.  Another  laid  the  above  letter  before 
the  circle,  and  asked  for  practical  suggestions.  The 
interest  was  intense,  and  the  first  quick  response  was 
from  a  bright,  eager  girl :  “  I  wonder  if  she  would  be 
willing  to  borrow  my  last  year’s  books  ?  I  would  be 
so  glad  to  loan  them  to  her.”  Could  anything  be  more 
practically  helpful  ?  Some  of  the  members  said  the 
reading  would  be  more  than  a  very  busy  woman  could 
compass ;  those,  however,  who  are  doing  the  best 
regular  work  agreed  that  it  would  be  comfortably 
within  her  power  if  she  could  be  reasonably  sure  of 
the  asked  for  40  minutes  a  day.  This  question,  then, 
she  must  decide  for  herself. 
We  think  there  is  a  common  misapprehension  as  to 
the  amount  of  reading.  The  Chautauquan  is  a  large 
magazine,  containing  much  excellent  matter  in  many 
lines  of  interest ;  but  the  reading  required  for  the 
course,  includes  only  some  10  or  12  selected  articles  in 
each  number,  few  of  which  are  much  beyond  three 
pages  in  length.  The  books  are  six  in  number,  usually 
four  ordinary  12  mos  ,  with  two  smaller  volumes.  The 
books  are  $5  ;  the  magazine  $2  ;  but  a  discount  of  10 
per  cent  can  be  had  wherever  five  sets  are  taken.  As 
to  borrowing  the  reading  matter,  it  is  not  so  well  to 
do  so,  as  one  would  be  behind  the  others,  and  interest 
would  not  be  so  easily  kept  up.  But  where  there  is  no 
circle,  it  would  make  little  difference,  and  although 
the  plan  is  not  encouraged  at  headquarters,  we  know 
personally  that  diplomas  have  been  given  when  it 
took  the  reader  a  year  to  “  make  up  ”  the  studies  of 
the  class  to  which  she  was  supposed  to  belong.  The 
rules  are  not  cast-iron,  simply  because  the  course  was 
designed  for  those  who  would  presumably  be  so  inter¬ 
ested  in  self-advancement  that  they  would  do  their 
best.  Last  year  being  the  American  year,  its  studies 
fit  this  year  admirably. 
The  Chautauqua  course  is  by  no  means  equal  to  a 
college  course;  but  we  believe  it  to  be  the  next  best 
thing  for  those  who  have  missed  the  latter;  sometimes 
it  paves  the  way  for  it.  We  believe  the  ideal  circle, 
in  one  light,  to  be  composed  of  the  family,  if  there  are 
children  old  enough  to  enjoy  it.  Leave  the  husband 
out  of  this  plan?  Our  questioner  will  regret  it  during 
all  her  future  if  she  does  this.  And  we  know  of  one 
mother  whose  care  for  her  daughter’s  missed  advan¬ 
tages,  even  after  that  daughter  was  married,  led  her 
to  coax  daughter  and  son-in-law  into  a  compact  to 
do  the  circle  work  together  with  her.  The  ad¬ 
vantages  are  the  endless  benefits  which  knowledge 
attained  by  faithful  work  always  brings,  and  one 
who  has  taken  the  course  can  never  again  be  the 
same  person  as  before  beginning  it  ;  the  interests 
which  it  opens  on  all  sides  cannot  be  numbered  ; 
often  these  are  of  more  value  to  the  individual  for 
the  future  than  all  the  rest.  No  one  but  he  who 
is  constantly  learning  can  have  any  appreciation  as  to 
how  knowledge  gives  the  key  to  door  after  door,  makes 
one  master  of  circumstance  after  circumstance. 
Look  about  you,  one  and  all  !  So  far  as  our  own 
experience  goes,  the  Chautauquans  of  every  farm 
neighborhood  are  the  superior  people  of  the  neigh¬ 
borhood.  Does  not  this  tell  the  story?  We  feel  that 
we  have  no  words  strong  enough  to  urge  those  who 
are  looking  longingly  for  advancement,  to  use  every 
opportunity,  large  or  small,  which  presents  itself. 
A  Word  from  One  Who  Loves  to  Cook. 
I  ALWAYS  can  a  good  supply  of  fall  apples,  and  find 
them  very  useful  for  pies,  sauce  and  puddings 
during  the  winter  and  spring.  I  have  four  gem  pans, 
each  of  a  different  shape,  and  make  use  of  them 
in  succession.  We  plan  to  use  different  flours  for 
each  meal,  rarely  making  the  same  sort  of  bread  for 
two  consecutive  meals.  Cooking  toothsome  dishes 
has  not  added  to  the  cost  in  our  family,  and  has 
helped  to  make  home  happy ;  and,  as  the  chief  cook 
loves  to  cook,  it  seems  to  take  no  more  time  to  prepare 
the  food  in  an  attractive  way  than  it  would  to  use  a 
few  set  rules  week  in  and  week  out.  I  give  a  few  easy 
recipes  used  in  our  home  with  good  results. 
Cream  Pie. — Whites  of  three  eggs  beaten  light,  four 
tablespoonfuls  of  white  sugar,  one  teaspoonful  of  any 
flavoring,  salt,  one  pint  sweet  thin  cream ;  mix  well 
and  bake  in  two  crusts.  Cook  about  the  same  length 
of  time  as  a  custard  pie. 
Frumity. — One-half  cupful  of  rice  cooked  up  soft, 
one  quart  of  milk,  salt ;  sweeten  to  taste  with  mo¬ 
lasses  ;  thicken  with  three  tablespoonfuls  of  flour ; 
season  with  one  tablespoon  of  allspice.  Cook  until 
the  flour  is  thoroughly  done.  Serve  hot.  Use  milk  to 
thin,  if  too  thick,  and  eat  with  crackers. 
Buns. — One  cupful  of  yeast,  one  cupful  of  sweet 
milk,  one-half  cupful  of  white  sugar,  flour  enough  for 
a  batter.  Let  rise  over  night.  In  the  morning  add 
one-half  cupful  of  sugar,  one-half  cupful  of  melted 
butter,  one-half  teaspoonful  allspice,  one-half  cupful 
of  floured  currants,  flour  enough  for  biscuits.  Let 
rise  again,  make  into  biscuit,  and  let  rise  once  more. 
Bake  in  quick  oven,  glazing  with  white  of  egg. 
Brown  Bread. — Two  cupfuls  of  sour  milk,  one  tea¬ 
spoonful  of  soda,  one-half  cupful  of  molasses,  two- 
thirds  quart  of  water.  Use  twice  as  much  Indian 
meal  as  rye,  and  make  quite  thin,  steaming  three 
hours. 
Cheese  Eggs. — Toast  round  slices  of  bread  without 
crust,  butter  well,  pour  over  them  cheese  melted  in 
one-third  cupful  of  creamy  milk,  slightly  salted  ;  just 
before  taking  from  the  fire  stir  in  quickly  one  well- 
beaten  egg  yolk.  Serve  very  hot  with  a  poached  egg 
on  the  top. 
Apple  Pudding. — One  cupful  of  sugar,  one  cupful  of 
sweet  milk,  one-half  cupful  of  butter,  two  egg  a,  one 
cupful  of  flour  and  chopped  raisins,  six  chopped  apples. 
Bake  two  hours  in  a  moderate  oven.  Serve  with  sauce. 
It  will  make  pies  more  flaky  if  you  pump  cold  water 
on  the  top,  just  before  placing  them  in  the  oven. 
Sugar  sprinkled  on  the  tops  of  squash  pies  will  make 
them  brown  more  quickly.  Never  serve  a  custard,  or 
foods  of  like  nature,  with  a  spoon  dinner ;  use  some 
more  solid  pudding,  or  pie,  saving  the  lighter  desserts 
for  the  more  solid  dinners  blanch  c.  allen. 
It  is  an  old-fashion  notion  that  medi 
cine  has  to  taste  bad  to  do  any  good. 
Scott’s  Emulsion  is  cod-liver  oil  with 
its  fish-fat  taste  lost — nothing  is  lost  but 
the  taste. 
This  is  more  than  a  matter  of  comfort. 
Agreeable  taste  is  always  a  help  to  di¬ 
gestion.  A  sickening  taste  is  always  a 
hindrance.  There  is  only  harm  in  taking 
cod-liver  oil  unless  you  digest  it.  Avoid 
the  taste. 
Scott  &  Bowne,  Chemists,  132  South  5th  Avenue,  New  York. 
Your  druggist  keeps  Scott’s  Emulsion  of  cod-liver  oil— all  druggists 
everywhere  do  tl 
