THE PRIZE CONTEST AWARDS. 
W E have received 109 manuscripts 
in the Best-Teacher ” contest. 
In 07 of them, the best teacher was a 
woman ; in 38, a man ; four writers dis¬ 
cussed the subject in a general way, and 
mentioned neither sex. The prizes have 
been awarded as follows, and the prize 
articles will be published next week : 
First Prize. —Mrs. J. W. Scott, Ohio. 
Second Prize. —Mrs. Lyman E. Chapman,Michigan. 
Third Prize. —J. M. Robbins, Connecticut. 
Fourth Prize. —Mrs. F. A. Hayes, Washington. 
A COOKING LECTURE. 
RECIPES WITH THE REASONS WHY. 
Part V. 
T HE fish has been put into this frying 
basket, and the fat is hot, so I 
shall let it down into the hot fat. It 
needs to be let down rather slowly at 
fiist, because otherwise it will cool the 
fat too much. I am using the same fat 
that 1 used yesterday, cottolene. The 
same fat, after 1 have cooked the fish in 
it, may be used for doughnuts ; when 
you think of it, the reason is very plain. 
This fish is so well covered with the 
coating of egg and crumbs, that the fat 
will not take the flavor from the fish, 
and then if the fat is clarified by cooking 
slices of potato in it, it will be quite 
sweet again. 
Question.—H ow long do you cook the 
fish ? 
Answer. —Until it is a good brown on 
the outside. I think fish is often over¬ 
cooked. It is a very delicate meat, and 
requires very little cooking ; it simply 
needs to be left in long enough to cook 
the albumen of the fish ; the fiber does 
not need the long cooking that meat 
does. When it is well browned on the 
outside, pieces of this size will be done. 
Q.—1 notice that you put your cro¬ 
quettes yesterday, and your fish to-day, 
on brown paper. Will you explain why 
you do that ? 
A.—It does away with the particles of 
fat that will settle on the outside. I 
claim that there is not a particle of fat 
inside the egg coating, but some fat will 
drain off. Doughnuts are better to be 
drained on brown paper or in a colander. 
They should be put in something that 
will allow the fat to drain off, or that 
will absorb it as the paper does. 
The next on the programme is tomato 
sauce. This will be very nice to serve 
with the fish ; it is also very good with 
mutton chops. To make the quantity 
that will be sufficient for one serving, 
use one-half can of tomatoes, two cloves, 
two pepper corns, a bay leaf, two sprigs 
of parsley, and one cup of water. 
Q.—What is a bay leaf ? 
A.—It is the leaf of the bay tree ; it 
is the same leaf from which bay rum is 
made, and it gives a nice flavor in soups 
and sauces of various kinds. It may be 
procured generally at a drug store. If 
the druggist says he has none, ask if he 
has any of the leaves in which licorice 
is packed ; they are the same thing. Of 
course, in this sauce, as in all kinds of 
sauces and soups that are seasoned with 
so many spices, part of them may be 
omitted. Instead of using the pepper 
corns, one may use ground pepper, and 
omit the bay leaves. Do not chop the 
parsley, because we cook it for the flavor, 
and strain it all out, just as we do the 
bay leaves. 
Q.—How long do you bake bread ? 
A.—From 40 to (50 minutes for a loaf. 
Q.—Do you think it improves the bread 
to cover it when it comes out of the 
oven ? 
A.—I do not think it does any special 
good. The crust may be a little softer 
if it is covered, but 1 think it tends to 
make the steam settle back, and make 
the bread soggy. In bread made with 
milk, the crust will be soft, and, of 
course, shortening makes it more tender. 
Q.—Dow do you know when bread is 
done ? 
A.—I like to bake bread by the hour, 
from 40 to (50 minutes ; 40 minutes is 
very short unless the loaf is small. I 
would rather bake it an hour, and be 
sure that it is done ; it makes very little 
difference if the loaf is small; that is, a 
loaf half as large would need more than 
half the time to bake. 
Q.—How long should it be in before it 
commences to brown? 
A.—I like to have it brown in the first 
20 minutes, surely. I would have no 
objection to having it brown in 15 
minutes, and then the heat of the oven 
may be lessened, and the baking fin¬ 
ished at that temperatui-e. If the bread 
does not brown within the time men¬ 
tioned, it does not rise so perfectly. 
Q.—Do you approve of putting several 
loaves in one tin ? 
A.—I do not, decidedly. In the first 
place, the loaves are not as nice shape ; 
in the second place, they dry more after 
they are broken apart, and in the third 
place, they do not cook so well as though 
baked in separate tins. The bakers are 
recognizing that, and now many of them 
bake their bread in separate tins. They 
are, I hope, catering to a demand to 
have yeast bread especially, more thor¬ 
oughly baked. That is one reason why 
Vienna bread is more healthful than 
ordinary baker’s bread. The loaves do 
not come in contact with the tin except 
on the bottom ; they are browned all 
around, and are small in circumference, 
so that the heat goes clear to the center, 
and they are 
very thorough¬ 
ly baked. Lard --— ■— ' I- 
is all right to - 
grease tins 
with,but a very 
nice thing is a " .- 
nice clear beef j 
dripping,which 
is also good for »^ u ‘ j 1 iTnrniFiTnrunim ii: 
any use except, MY™, 
possibly, nice lid Vj|\_ 
cake. I do not 
know of any fc 
purer or nicer uyJT 
grease to use 
^ -i A FOLDING WASI 
for general pur¬ 
poses, than pure 
beef drippings made by getting beef suet 
and cooking it by itself, without any wa¬ 
ter, in the oven, until it is clear of the 
scraps, and then straining it; if there is 
any question at all about the sweetness 
of the fat, clarify it by cooking slices of 
potato in it. Corned beef dripping is 
not so sweet, but may be clarified with 
potato, so as to be almost equal to the 
unsalted beef fat. 
Q.—Do you butter your crust after it 
is taken from the oven ? 
A.—I generally do not, but there is no 
objection to doing so if it is liked. Some 
brush the crust with water before it is 
put into the oven, to make it brown bet¬ 
ter ; but all of these things may be done 
or not, as preferred. 
I wish to finish this tomato sauce. We 
have had the tomatoes cooking, and now 
I will put in this saucepan one table¬ 
spoonful of butter and one tablespoon¬ 
ful of chopped onion, and cook them 
until the onion is yellow. When it lias 
turned yellow in the butter, I will add 
one tablespoonful of corn starch, or a 
heaping tablespoonful of flour. This 
flour and butter thickening should be 
stirred into the tomatoes, and the whole 
strained, and the sauce will be done. 
This should not be cooked in tin : any¬ 
thing so acid as tomatoes, should never 
touch tin. Cook in granite or aluminium. 
The tomatoes are canned in a tin can, 
and are sealed tightly from the air, and 
they should be emptied as soon as they 
are opened, as, in fact, should any 
canned fruits, but especially tomatoes, 
A FOLDING WASH BENCH. Fig. 146 
and similar acid fruits, because, while 
the acid does not act on the poisons of 
the tin so long as they are shut in from 
the air, as soon as the air gets in, the 
acid of the tomato commences to act on 
the tin. If you remember that, you will 
understand why fruits and vegetables 
should be turned immediately from the 
can as soon as they are opened. Prob¬ 
ably more cases of poison from canned 
goods have occurred from allowing the 
material to stand in the can after it is 
opened, than from faulty canning. As 
long as they are perfectly air-tight, there 
is no danger. Another point that may 
be made in regard to canned goods, is 
that they always have a fresher taste if 
they are turned from the can an hour 
or so before you wish to use them. 
Being shut from the air as long as they 
are, gives them a flat taste which the 
contact with the air will remove. 
HEALTH PRESERVERS. 
D R. RICHARDSON once said, “If we 
could get wives, mothers and 
daughters to learn the habit of all that 
tends to health, we would soon have an 
easy victory, and doctors would almost 
cease to be known. Health would be a 
recognized necessity practiced by every¬ 
body.” 
A great mistake with young' and inex¬ 
perienced mothers, is in calling a phy¬ 
sician every time the baby has the colic, 
or Johnny falls down stairs. Instead of 
studying- the languages, as do a large 
number of our girls, some time should be 
devoted to 
5 health and hy¬ 
giene. In some 
countries, phy- 
dM sicians are em- 
l\y ployed by the 
Pj] year to keep 
iphj their patients 
rH well, instead of 
getting them 
\ well when they 
^ are sick. 
Iff • ‘ Look at the 
y /_ death rate of 
“ children under 
five years of 
[BENCH. Fig. 146. y 
age, and then 
ask whether 
there is not need of our girls and women 
studying how to keep their families well. 
Many a girl marries out of the school¬ 
room, knowing little of housekeeping, 
and nothing of the care of children. 
When I look around and see the young 
mothers in their helplessness and ignor¬ 
ance my heart goes out to them, and I 
wish that we might have a school for 
mothers started in every city where 
young and old could hear lectures on 
the subjects so important. A good nurse 
means even more than a skillful phy¬ 
sician, and the mother who is strong- and 
steady nerved, who reads and studies on 
all subjects pertaining to health, is doing- 
more for her children than any one 
knows. 
Two mothers of my acquaintance who 
have each reared four children, all 
of whom have reached manhood and 
womanhood, have never called in a physi¬ 
cian to treat them. Not only have they 
carried them safely through the childish 
diseases, but scarlet fever and diphtheria 
as well. Few mothers have the confi¬ 
dence in themselves to do this, but this 
may be cultivated to a great degree. 
Those who are properly dressed, and 
who live regularly and simply, are less 
likely to contract diseases, and when 
they do, will usually have them lightly. 
Simple remedies, if taken in the start, 
will often break up fever or pneumonia. 
Why not organize mothers’ clubs, and 
take up a course of reading, with lectures 
by some prominent woman physician or 
nurse ? carrie may" ashton. 
A FOLDING WASHBENCH. 
T HE ordinary solid washbench is 
more or less in the way every 
day in the week except on washdays. 
There are patent affairs that fold up, 
and can be hung up on a nail. They 
must be bought. The one here figured 
may be made in the home workshop, 
and may be folded into a small compass 
when not in use. Fig. 146 fully shows 
the construction, so that further de¬ 
scription is not needed. a. h. d. 
“WOMAN’S RIGHTS.” 
S O the “Chief Cook” does not agree 
with Dr. Parkhurst in his ideas on 
“Andromaniacs,”and thinks “most often 
the rattle-brained member of the matri¬ 
monial team is the bride.” Now is the 
woman really looked upon as the “less 
important part of humanity” ? Long¬ 
fellow says: 
As unto the bow the cord is, 
So unto man is woman, 
Useless each without the other. 
In this grand country of ours, woman 
receives homage, respect and position. 
What American would exchange her lot 
with a German woman who has the 
right of suffrage ! A lady while travel¬ 
ing a short distance in that country 
alone, was constantly laughed at and 
made fun of by the railway officials of 
whom she made inquiries, as they would 
ask, “Wo ist Ilir Mann?” Note the 
difference in America ; another lady 
traveled alone from New Jersey to Cali¬ 
fornia, going and returning by different 
routes, receiving only kindest courtesy 
“ because she was a woman.” 
Recently, while canvassing for voters 
at a town school election, a woman made 
this remark: “ I asked my husband 
whether it would do any good for me to 
vote; would I better do it?” Just im¬ 
agine a man asking his wife whether he 
should vote ! He might kindly give her 
his decisions, but as for asking advice— 
oh, never ! Doubtless the men intend to 
be kind, but surely they will not burden 
us with what is their duty. To be sure, 
they often make such a muddle of poli¬ 
tics that it is no wonder they wish to 
shift part of their responsibility on to 
the other sex. But just think what 
duties fall to the lot of the average 
woman now ! She must know how to 
keep house artistically, with dainty 
touches in furnishing both house and 
table, take her place in society and en¬ 
tertain well; be up in all the “fads,” 
at least know what they are ; read the 
standard books and periodicals; have 
an idea of current events; belong to 
numerous organizations, and be able to 
preside, or read or write a paper for the 
same ; lend a hand in sickness ; help the 
poor, attend to church duties, while she 
also sees that her children are trained 
in manners and morals, and dressed ac¬ 
cording to the weather, besides doing 
the greater part of the family sewing 
and mending. Then if she have an ac¬ 
complishment, such as music, painting 
or writing, where can she find time or 
strength to run this republic ? Two 
women were discussing the suffrage 
question not long since, when one said 
to the other, “You would have so much 
more time to look into the merits of the 
candidates for an election than your hus¬ 
band does.” “I think not,” was the re¬ 
ply ; “I do all my own housework, am 
milliner, dressmaker, tailor, barber, 
cook, laundry maid, buttermaker, paper- 
hanger, besides other duties ‘ too num¬ 
erous to mention;’how could I do more?” 
There is one phase of the “ rights ” 
question which the men are slow to 
grant us, and one that we deserve, 
which, if granted, would make us equal, 
indeed. A woman doing man’s work, 
equally well, should receive the same 
wages as a man ; however, we must not 
