Women Make the 
H “" Woman And The Home. 
Homes Make the 
Nation. 
PASSING INTERESTS. 
W E hope the girls will make special note of what one 
of our Rural daughters, “ Prudence Primrose,” 
says about the mothers, in this issue. 
* * * 
A correspondent of an exchange says that there ought to 
be a law to prevent women from ironing in the Dog Days. 
But what of their husbands’ shirts? Must the heads of the 
families be kept in the back-ground through the Dog Days, 
from being unpresentable? 
* * * 
Mbs. S. T. Rorer, principal of the Philadelphia Cooking 
School, is authority for the statement that string beans are 
the easiest of all vegetables to can. She directs that they 
be merely put into boiling water, cooked rapidly for 15 
minutes, and put up precisely as small fruits, filling the 
cans to overflowing. Both fruits and vegetables keep bet¬ 
ter in the dark than where it is light, and cans may be 
wrapped in paper bags, if no other method of securing the 
desired condition seems feasible. 
* * * 
Queen Victoria is getting very gay, of late, for an old 
lady of more than 70 years. During the last few weeks 
she has had the excitement of the marriage of her grand¬ 
daughter, the Princess Doutse (daughter of Princess 
Helena) whom she had married in England directly under 
her own supervision; the visit of the hot-headed young 
German Emperor, with its attendant pageants, and the 
marriage of her god daughter, Miss Ponsonby. The lat¬ 
ter’s nuptials were the first outside the royal family, it is 
said, that the Queen has attended*since the death of her 
husband, Prince Albert. 
* * * 
Especially interesting just at present is Miss Irene Coit, 
who has passed the examination for entrance to Yale Col¬ 
lege, yet who will not be admitted to its privileges. One 
of the dailies makes merry over the affair by presenting a 
cartoon showing a Yale professor standing on the college 
piazza and waving this too aspiring young woman away, 
pointing her to a wooden form in the distance draped in 
the essential trousers, and saying to her that those are the 
only certificate that will admit her. It is said that a 
woman did once pass through the law school, by means of 
some technical loop-hole which was promptly closed after 
When Mrs. Ewing says, as she is reported to have done 
in a late lecture at Cuautauqua, that, although the women 
say it is too hard work kneading bread, “ this is one of the 
biggest lies ever inflicted on a credulous public,” she 
arrays the women of the country solidly against her. If a 
man had so coarsely made such a false statement, it would 
not have been so much wonder ; but a woman—and that 
woman Mrs. Ewing I We can scarcely believe it to have 
emanated from her. It may be true that “good bread is 
the greatest need of the nineteenth centurybut that 
kneading that bread is one of the hardest tasks that falls 
to the housewife, thousands of weary women can testify 
from bi-weekly experience through many painfully toil¬ 
some years. 
* * * 
If one desires to make a collection of the pictures of the 
famous women of the day, the Business Woman’s Journal 
offers a strong inducement to subscribe. One of the regu¬ 
lar features is the use of such pictures in its pages, and as 
those pages are of fine, heavy, super-calendered paper, the 
cuts show up beautifully. Mrs. LofgEen, a prominent Fin¬ 
nish woman, and Miss Alice Fletcher, a worker among the 
Indians, are given in the July number. There are also two 
fine groups representing Indian boys and girls before 
entering Carlisle School, and the same ones four months 
thereafter. All who like to keep abreast of the times, on 
the Woman Question will enjoy this magazine. It is edited 
by Miss Mary L. Seymour, a successful New York busi¬ 
ness woman. _ 
POINTS ABOUT STEAMED FOODS, WITH A FEW 
RECIPES. 
I N accordance with the principle laid down a few weeks 
ago, that if one cannot reciprocate a favor, she can at 
least, in memory of it, pass it over to another, I will try 
to answer the request for recipes for steamed dishes. I 
think I am especially fitted to do this, as I may be called a 
“crank” upon the subject, for with us everything possi¬ 
ble is steamed, instead of being boiled, as well as some 
things that are usually baked by other cooks. 
Yet it seems futile to speak of recipes for steamed foods, 
after all, as the preparation of them is exactly the same 
as though they were to be boiled or baked. The great 
point in favor of steaming, rather than boiling, is that 
foods thus cooked retain their juices so much better. 
Pumpkin for pies, summer squash, and other vegetables 
of this class, can thus be cooked so as to retain their sweet¬ 
ness and flavor, without the troublesome process of boil¬ 
ing until dry, during which they are so apt to become 
scorched. 
With the point above referred to in mind, the cook may 
readily judge for herself as to what vegetables may prefer¬ 
ably be steamed. Strong potatoes, cauliflower, and the 
like are much better boiled in a generous quantity of 
water, but good potatoes, those which are not in the least 
bitter, are nicer steamed, especially after they have be¬ 
come so mealy as to boil to pieces during the process of 
cooking. 
One standard farmers’ dish, which I think is oftenest 
baked, but which we steam, invariably, is that modified 
form of apple-dumpling known under various names, 
which came to us first as “Brother Jonathan.” It con¬ 
sists simply of a layer of apples placed in a broad, rather 
flat dish, and covered with a layer of crnst, the latter being 
usually but a simple buscuit or short-cake dough rolled 
to about one inch in thickness before being put in place. 
The water must, of course, be boiling before any article is 
placed in the steamer. All fruit puddings of this class, 
usually boiled as “ roly-polys,” are far better steamed, 
and they need only to be rolled into shape and laid at in¬ 
tervals on a plate, and placed thus in the steamer. 
A few weeks ago I decided to try, for the first time, a 
fig pudding, for which I had often seen recipes. I foolishly 
ordered the figs before I looked up a recipe, and found that 
every available recipe stated four hours boiling to be a 
necessity. This was too extravagant for me, as, using an 
oil-stove, I am so much in debt to my grocer every time I 
do an extra hour’s cooking. The pudding project lan¬ 
guished; the figs disappeared, one or two at a time, the re¬ 
maining ones became too dry for cake, and I began t think 
I would better have made the pudding. Finally, I be¬ 
thought me to try what a shorter period of cooking would 
do for a fig pudding made with ordinary crust. I first 
stewed the figs in a little water, for 10 minutes, as they 
were so dry, then made the usual crust for roly-polys. 
True to my principle of finding the easiest way to do every 
task, (if there is a good easy way) I mixed this crust thus : 
First sift one pint of flour, wherein has been mixed one 
heaping teaspoonful of baking powder and a half teaspoon¬ 
ful of salt into a round-bottomed bowl. Next stir in, 
quickly, with a spoon, sufficient milk or water to make a 
dough about as stiff as can possibly be stirred, but stir 
only enough to incorporate the flour with the mixing. 
On a hot plate I distributed spoonfuls of this dough plactd 
a fig on each, and on each fig a second spoonful of dough. 
The plate was then returned to the steamer, and the pud¬ 
ding cooked an hour. It was, without exception, the best 
pudding of its class that we have ever eaten: and it was 
just as good the second day as the first. For reheating 
any variety of food, nothing is equal to steaming, which is 
an excellent point in its favor. 
Dumplings for all sorts of pot pies are made after the 
above baking powder recipe, and, though not put in the 
steamer, are practically steamed. I aim to have, half an 
hour before meal time, enough water in the meat kettle to 
allow the pieces to rise quite well above it, and am careful 
to lay the dumplings on the projections of meat. This is 
done with a spoon, as above. The dumplings are Invari¬ 
ably of superior quality—sweet and fldky. I think that 
many cooks fail with dumplings because they let them 
sink into the water. Cooking after they are done is also 
fatal to their lightness. A half hour is ample time. 
An excellent and healthful molasses pudding, one that 
children will be fond of, has the following ingredients: 
one cupful of Graham flour, and half as much wheat flour; 
one-half cupful each of molasses and sweet milk; one- 
fourth cupful of melted butter; one egg; salt and nutmeg 
to taste. A light-weight earthen dish is preferable to cook 
this in, as tin sometimes imparts an unpleasant flavor. Of 
course it takes a little longer to cook in an earthen dish. 
It will swell about half in bulk, and is to be steamed until 
bits will tear off in flakes, usually an hour with this quan¬ 
tity. It is well to place the dish in the steamer at first, 
that it may be hot to receive the pudding. 
I find that all our efforts against that butcher have been 
in vain I I have met him thre tim?s this season, in various 
periodicals repeating his story of ho v it makes him sick to 
see a woman cook a steak. Poor martyr 1 lina hadlky. 
GOOD CUCUMBER PICKLES. 
O the correspondent who asks for a recipe for pickles 
such as are sold in the grocery stores In kegs and 
bottles, we must say that we do not have access to any in¬ 
formation regarding the process, such processes usually 
being kept secret by the manufacturers. 
Unless it is desired to put the pickles up for sale, our 
friend will find that the following simple recipe insures 
a product equal to any pickle that can be bought, in all 
except the green color which our grandmothers used to 
secure by the nine days’ soaking in a brass vessel, and 
which in modern methods is no doubt obtained by the use 
of some deleterious addition. 
The tiny cucumbers are preferred by modern house¬ 
wives, chiefly because they look more dainty, and it is the 
fashion to use them. They are first washed, removing the 
black specks from tne surface, and are dropped into a gran¬ 
ite kettle containing a brine made in the proportion of half 
a teacupful of salt to four quarts of water. Tne kettle is 
then set on the back of the stove, and the brine is brought 
gradually just to the boiling point, when it is removed 
and left to stand 24 hours. 
To two quarts of vinegar are added about an ounce of 
whole spices (those bought ready mixed being preferred) 
and a handful of green nasturtium seeds. Tne pickles are 
brought to the boiling point, as before, and are then pack¬ 
ed closely in cans, filling to the brim with vinegar. A 
horse-radish leaf folded and laid on the top of each can is a 
good addition, and if all directions are caref lly followed, 
and the vinegar is first-class, the pickles will keep in crocks 
covered first with horse-radish leaves, then with a close 
cover. Some add alum to obtain crispness, and the state¬ 
ment is made that if grape leaves are scalded with the 
pickles they will be bright in color. We have not tried 
it, however, and thus cannot confirm the statement. A 
still simpler method which makes excellent, though not 
attractive looking pickles, is to pack them directly in the 
cans after washing, and add cold vinegar, with salt and 
broken spices. These will be good after a month. Nas¬ 
turtium seeds are always a good addition to cucumber 
pickles, and add to the probability of their keeping well. 
The vinegar Is, however, the greatest help, or hindrance, 
according to its quality. More pickles spoil through the 
use of poor vinegar than from any other cause. Nothing 
but good, pure cider vinegar is fit for cucumber pickles. 
The almost universal cider barrel should bespeak the 
equally common barrel of prime vinegar, but there seems 
often to be a hiatus somewhere between the two. 
From the Housekeeper we copy the following : Bottled 
Green Pickles —Put 100 small, fresh cucumbers in salt 
an water; let them stand three days. Boll 10 minutes in 
half a gallon of good vinegar, one ounce each of mustard 
seed, j uniper berries and celery seed, a dozen green peppers, 
two pounds of brown sugar and a small lump of alum. 
Pour the vinegar while hot over the pickles for six morn¬ 
ings, heating each time: mix a quarter of a pound of mus¬ 
tard with the vinegar. Put the pickles in bottles and seal 
while hot. _ 
Our Economy Column. 
H OUSEHOLD economy, oh R.N.-Y. housewife! means 
perfection; perfection of planning to save that 
which is most valuable, time; perfection in doing work 
so well that there need be no waste of materials; care- 
takiDg to make sure that everything offered for sale is first- 
class, and really worth the highest price. 
We had only a few apples, and they were too imperfect 
to be put in the cellar, so we made our winter supply of 
mince meat early in the fall and canned it. At the vine¬ 
yards one could buy grapes trimmed from the bunches 
for packing for 10 cents per basket of nine pounds. These, 
properly prepared, make delicious preserves, and are as 
cheap as they are good. 
We economized in the matter of eggs by packing a sup¬ 
ply for winter late in the fall, when they were cheap and 
abundant; and by selling the winter-laid eggs when prices 
were high. 
We save from $5 to $8 worth of paper rags every year, 
thus furnishing the kitchen tinware, milk pans and arti¬ 
cles of that kind. 
Do you know that really beautiful carpets are made of 
rags, all cut “ hit-and miss,” using two colors of warp and 
weaving in “ basket pattern ? ” Do you know that you 
can save from three to five cents on every pound of coffee 
by roasting It at home ? Do you know, dear housewife, 
that the best of all economies is to provide your household 
with plenty of good reading matter, arranging exchanges 
with neighbors, if necessary, thus informing yourself In 
all the modern methods of doing work of every kind, of 
current prices, etc , and fitting yourself to practice that 
most admirable art, household economy ? M. 
I pity a woman standing or sitting over ruffles and tucks 
doing so much unnecessary labor to gratify vain pride and 
love for show. My idea is that plain garments are more 
becoming, and as the clothing does not make the person, 
let us adhere to this idea, and we will not look old before 
our time. It is every mother’s duty to preserve her per¬ 
sonal charms, and very little money is necessary in order 
to dress becomingly. * * * The Rural New-Yorker 
is up to the times in every particular, and if farmers 
would practice its timely suggestions there would be less 
grumbling that the farm doesn’t pay; it pays in just so 
far as the farmer makes It pay, and he should be the 
happiest, best-natured man in the world. MRS. M. H. N. 
I roast beef, chickens, turkey, in fact, every kind of meat 
in a covered baking tin; it saves time and basting and the 
meat is much better, not being so dry. In baking pies I 
put in the bottom crust, then the filling; the top crust I 
cut by the bottom of a pie tin, so that it will be smaller 
than the pie. Then I make holes in the top crust and lay it 
on the pie, leaving an air space all around; such pies can 
be baked quite fast and will not boil out. * * * We 
keep our sausage just as long as we choose; some in brine 
and some smoked. The hams are rubbed with pepper, 
rolled in paper and put in cloth sacks starched in strong 
brine and dried till stiff; nothing will touch them thus 
prepared. MRS. E. H. 
What does friction mean ? I went to Webster but it 
didn’t help me out. I scratched my head until I evolved 
the brilliant (?) idea that maybe it meant quarrels and 
law suits. If so, economize on them to the fullest. If any 
people become obnoxiously familiar, freeze them down. If 
they want to quarrel, don’t speak to them—it takes two to 
quarrel. If they are determined on law, go to the best 
honest lawyer you know and then abide by his decision. 
If he says settle the matter, do so on the best terms you 
can get. ___ 
Harper’s Baza.r is authority for the statement that 
a grandniece of Barbara Frietchie, Miss Nellie Blessing 
Eyster, is president of the Woman’s Press Association 
of the Pacific coast. 
