MISS PARLOA’S IDEAS. 
HE platform of the gorgeous Madison Square 
Garden Concert Hall—magnificent in its wealth 
of decoration, damask-hung, electric-lighted, its velvet- 
cushioned seats a luxury of comfort—was crowded 
with the 60 performers of Seidl’s grand orchestra. At 
the wave of the baton the music came soft and lulling 
upon the senses, or mad and merry. But at mid-after¬ 
noon, presto! at the last wave of the baton, the 
orchestra disappeared, the music racks closed and 
vanished, and a pretty maid and a dainty gas stove 
appeared. An oil-cloth covered table, butter, measur¬ 
ing cups, plates, beaters and a mysterious black bottle 
rose from parts unknown, while a shining sauce-pan 
took its stand upon the stove. A moment later a 
ruddy and somewhat stout figure came forward, and 
Miss Parloa began her demonstrative lecture. 
The three articles made during the two hours given 
to the lecture, were ice cream, escalloped oysters and 
potato soup. A vote was taken as to the last—should 
it be rich or plain ?—when it was found that a major¬ 
ity of the audience preferred that the soup given be 
the plain one. 
It is not found, as a rule, that the ingredients in the 
cookery of these platform lecturers differ greatly from 
those in ordinary use among good cooks. Indeed, they 
strive as a rule, to give those hints and recipes that 
will be of greatest use among the majority of middle- 
class people. Usually the points of helpfulness come 
from a careful observation of the methods of manipu¬ 
lating and putting materials together. It is our pur¬ 
pose to leave further mention of Miss Parloa’s beliefs 
as to ice cream until warmer weather shall make the 
topic a more generally grateful one. 
Plain Potato Soup. —One quart of milk, six large 
potatoes, one stalk of celery, one onion, one tablespoon¬ 
ful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of salt, pepper. 
Miss Parloa began her talk on potato soup, by asking 
somewhat quizzically, how long the women of the 
audience would boil a potato, hinting that even in so 
simple a matter as this, there is lamentable ignorance 
among a large majority of cooks. Most of the women 
present were afraid to venture a reply. 
“Fifteen minutes after they commence boiling,” 
said one more venturesome than the rest. 
“Twenty minutes,” half questioningly asserted an¬ 
other. 
The lecturer still looked quizzical. 
“ Depends on the variety of potato ” said one who 
meant to leave margin to be right in any case. 
“ I steam them,” said one, still more sure of being 
right. 
Miss Parloa finally asserted that if water thoroughly 
boiling were used, 30 minutes by the clock would be 
the correct time for boiling any and every variety of 
large, even-sized potatoes. One minute more would 
render them less perfect. She spoke of a prominent 
caterer who once asked her how to keep potatoes in 
respectable condition for serving for any length of 
time after they were cooked. This was the hardest 
problem of his profession. Miss Parloa would solve 
this problem by draining the potatoes the instant they 
were done, placing them on the back part of the range, 
and covering them with a folded towel of such texture 
that the steam would pass through it, while it had 
body enough to retain the heat. She explained the 
too common appearance upon our tables of ill-cooked, 
water-soaked potatoes by saying that while a potato 
would not be injured by lying in water for an in¬ 
definite time before cooking (except by fermentation) 
the change produced by cooking made it precisely 
like a sponge. If it were not drained as soon as 
cooked, it took up water as a sponge, and became 
heavy after the same manner. Dumplings were also 
instanced as of similar texture when cooked. Poor 
dumplings were so usually, because spoiled by over¬ 
cooking. The lecturer’s rule for dumplings cut to size 
of baking powder can cover, was 15 minutes for cook¬ 
ing. Salt should be added to rice and potatoes after 
15 minutes’ cooking—one tablespoonful for every dozen 
potatoes. They must not boil hard, lest they crumble. 
But to the soup: when the potatoes are put on to boil, 
put the celery, onion and milk over the fire in a double 
boiler, mash the potatoes when done, the instant the 
water is poured off, being careful to mash and beat 
at the same time. Add the seasoned milk gradually; 
rub through a fine sieve, then return to the stove for 
five minutes, adding butter, salt and pepper. Some 
cream greatly improves it, if it can be had, and a tea¬ 
spoonful of parsley added sometimes gives variety, if 
the soup is used frequently. As to amount of onion, 
potatoes and milk will bear a great deal. 
Escalloped Oysters.— These may be made ready 
for the oven in the morning, for use at any meal during 
the day. The lecturer pronounced the choice between 
bread crumbs and crackers a mere matter of taste. 
Bread should be dried and grated if used. The recipe 
used by Miss Parloa is as follows: 
For a dish that holds three pints, generous measure, 
use one solid quart of oysters, half a pint of cracker 
crumbs, three rounded tablespoonfuls and a half of 
butter, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, and one- 
third of a teaspoonful of pepper. 
Put one-third of the oysters in the bottom of the 
dish, taking them up always with a fork, that there 
may not be too much liquor. Sprinkle half a teaspoon¬ 
ful of salt and one-third of the pepper on these. Now 
dot with one tablespoonful of the butter. Spread a 
generous half cupful of the cracker crumbs over this, 
and spread the remainder of the oysters on the cracker 
crumbs. Sprinkle with the rest of the salt and pepper, 
and dot with a tablesponful and a half of butter. 
Spread the remainder of the cracker over these 
oysters. Now dot with a tablespoonful of butter, and 
sprinkle with the oyster liquor. Bake in a hot oven 
for half an hour. 
If the flavor be liked, a suspicion of nutmeg may be 
used. Unless this dish is liked very moist, only enough 
liquor to thoroughly moisten the surface crumbs is to 
be used. It is desirable that the scallop be baked to 
have a crisp crust, but if a shallow vessel contains it, 
15 minutes is sufficient time to allow for cooking. It 
may not be amiss to add that, whether for stew or 
otherwise, overcooking always ruins a dish of oysters. 
LANGUAGE STUDIES IN THE HOME. 
HE value of more than one language is so great 
that, although far from schools where languages 
are taught, we are studying German at home. One or 
two of us knew “ a little German,” so with a diction¬ 
ary and some German and English books, we are 
acquiring a very good knowledge of it. At breakfast 
we speak only German ; this teaches the little ones 
and keeps the older ones in practice. 
The children are also taught the names of the furni¬ 
ture, animals, parts of their bodies in German as 
well as in English. Every summer a friend who 
teaches German in a city school comes for a few weeks, 
and often at Christmas. Talking with her helps out 
on pronunciation. We find it an excellent plan. 
A friend who wished for her children a larger vocabu¬ 
lary, began taking French lessons; indeed, the father 
and mother took a lesson together once a week, even 
going five miles to town for the purpose. Then they 
use the same plan we have adopted for teaching the 
children. They are fortunate in having for a teacher 
the wife of a professional man in town who, knowing 
their circumstances, is lenient as to hours, and often 
drives out to the farm for tea or an evening, so that 
the French lesson is very pleasant for all concerned. 
As in our case, a slight knowledge of French was 
acquired by the father and mother in school, before 
their marriage, but such a start is not necessary. 
MRS. e. e. s. 
(It may not always be languages, but we are in 
closest sympathy with the spirit here displayed. It is 
the fashion in some places to sneer at a “ smattering” 
of anything. But every acquisition, no matter how 
small, may be made a distinct help to better things. 
One never knows where these acquirements will 
help.— Ed.) 
COMMENT AND QUESTION. 
EVERAL things in a recent Rural cause an arrest 
of thought Josephine Starr says : “No thinking 
woman or just man will deny that the care and re¬ 
sponsibility of children are very unjustly divided be¬ 
tween the two sexes.” As we approach nearer and 
nearer to the time when “two heads in council,” as well 
as “ two beside the hearth,” will be the rule, this fact 
becomes more apparent. Are not both parents equally 
interested in the mental, moral, and physical develop¬ 
ment of their children ? And are not both equally re¬ 
sponsible ? Why, then, should the duty, which is a 
privilege as well, of caring for children during the 
formative period of their lives be given over by com¬ 
mon consent to the mother ? 
To compass a remedy one must begin at the begin¬ 
ning. Don’t give the little girl a doll, and her brother 
a cart or tool-chest, and tell each that this is the 
proper division of playthings. Why should the mater¬ 
nal instinct be thus developed any more than the 
paternal ? 
Another writer asks, “ Why don’t we walk”?—mean¬ 
ing farm-house women. We are not yet educated up 
to thinking a daily walk as essential to health as our 
dinners, nor do many housekeepers think they can 
afford the time or strength from home duties. But 
when the mail is to be brought from the store at the 
cross-roads half a mile or even a mile away (till we 
get free mail delivery), or small errands are to be 
done in the neighborhood, why cannot Jennie or the 
house-mother have that chance for a walk, instead of 
Johnnie or the “ gude mon,” and let the latter make 
beds, or skim milk, or get tea, or mind the baby ? 
Johnnie hates house-work ? So does Jennie in nine 
cases out of ten; but she does it all the same. Cold 
weather ? Bad roads ? Why, with warm wraps, well 
“ reefed” skirts, and stout boots, the farm woman will 
not be harmed half as much by a tramp over rough 
roads in cold weather as by this persistent indoor life 
and work. Both sexes will be the better for such 
change of work—the feminine in improved health and 
spirits, the masculine in better appreciation of 
woman’s work (so-called), and the faculty of “ doing 
for themselves” when necessity occurs ; for even in 
the best regulated families the house-mother will 
sometimes fall ill, and “ help” is each year less attain¬ 
able in farm-house kitchens. 
E. P. McC. and Esther—bless ’em!—know how to 
feed their babies. If only America had more such wise 
mothers to lay foundations for sound physical health 
at maturity, by regular and wholesome food during 
childhood! 
“ Woman and The Home,” has no question box, but 
I would like to ask a question or two: Are we more 
generous than some of our friends who “ do business 
in town,” or only more stupid? For instance, they 
send to our farm, scores of times in a year, for “butter¬ 
milk to bake with,” or “a few early apples to stew,” 
or a “ nice pumpkin for pies,” without thought of pay¬ 
ment by giver or receiver, but if we go to them for a 
couple of yards of gingham for an apron, or for a 
butter pail, or to get our harness mended, we are al¬ 
ways charged full price. 
Another question: Why do pictures of domestic 
bliss (of our great “middle class”) almost always rep¬ 
resent the head of the family with a book or news¬ 
paper, and his mate with knitting or sewing in hand ? 
JANET MCKERWIN. 
NEW THINGS WITH THE NEW YEAR. 
IIE year’s close brings sad reflections even to the 
busy housewife. What an every-day verse that 
is in the book, “ We have left undone those things we 
ought to have done and done those things we ought 
not to have done.” But ever advancing with the age, 
we begin anew the year and take courage. 
The days lengthen: there is a freshness in every¬ 
thing : old things have passed away. Let us have 
something new in the kitchen, if only a broom or 
dust-pan. Get new dish mops, some labor-saving 
machine, something to give an added interest to the 
work. Let a plant be in the kitchen ; it is wonderful 
how it enjoys the steam and moist heat. A little box 
of ivy well grown, nailed to the wall, will climb and 
grow there to be a thing of beauty. And when the 
children begin school, let them have new pens and 
copy-books ; something practical and tangible to help 
their interest in their work. 
The old year has passed away with its joys and 
sorrows, its pains of bereavement, its suffering and its 
pleasures. We must take the year at the beginning if 
we want to make the best of it and keep on after the 
time when New Year’s resolves have become an old 
story. The world has lost some of its noblest men 
during the past year, and each community is doubtless 
the poorer for some precious life that will be missed. 
Hail and farewell ! So life’s dim seasons pass away. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
The casting out of the devil of disease 
was once a sign of authority. 
Now we take a little more time about 
it and cast out devils by thousands—we 
do it by knowledge. 
Is not a man who is taken possession 
of by the germ of consumption possessed 
of a devil ? 
A little book on careful living and 
Scott’s Emulsion of cod-liver oil will tell 
you how to exorcise him if it can be done. 
Free. 
Scott & Bownk, Chemists, 132 South 5th Avenue, New York. 
Your druggist keeps Soott’i Emulsion of cod-Uver oil—all druggists 
everywhere de. ft. 
