PRIZES! PRIZES!! 
E have concluded to delay the 
offer we had in mind for this 
week, and let the conditions of this con¬ 
test remain the same as previous ones. 
We are having - , just now, very convinc¬ 
ing - evidence that the hot weather is 
here to stay for a while. Whether there 
be more work or not during - the hot 
period, flagging - spirits make the neces¬ 
sary tasks seem greater. Many who 
would be interested in a contest with 
more elaborate conditions, would, per¬ 
haps, be unable to give it their attention 
during the busy season. 
S3, $2, 
prizes will be given for the best, second 
best and third best articles on the sub¬ 
ject given below. For the next in merit, 
a year’s subscription to The It. N -Y. 
All manuscripts will be retained by us. 
Manuscripts must reach us before Aug¬ 
ust 31. 
WHICH? 
When one parent of a family is in any 
way a bad example for the children, 
which is the better course for the other 
parent to pursue : To make no complaint 
or criticism of the wrong-doer, and trust 
that a good example and teaching will 
offset the bad influence ; or to be loyal 
to truth and warn the children against 
bad habits, even when it necessitates 
condemning their father or mother ? 
Give the reasons why you consider the 
one course better, and your objections to 
the other. 
* 
As usual, we prefer knowledge gained 
from experience, to theory ; at the same 
time, persons who are close observers of 
human nature, often have a stock of 
knowledge greatly exceeding their ex¬ 
perience. It has been said that we learn 
more from failure than success ; and we 
often find that the experienced person's 
advice is valuable in telling what not to 
do. So experience does not always serve 
to illustrate the success of the experi¬ 
enced person’s views. Condense what 
you have to say, and save the editor the 
rouble. 
A COOKING LECTURE. 
RECIPES WITH THE REASONS WIIY, 
Fart VII. 
REAKFAST MUFFINS are made 
with sour milk. 1 presume that on 
a farm more sour milk is used than sweet 
milk, and 1 know that soda is one of the 
favorite raising materials. For these 
muffins, 1 shall use 1)4 cupful of sifted 
flour, and in this case 1 shall use Graham. 
You can make this recipe of Graham, 
white flour, or corn meal, using in the 
latter case, one cupful of corn meal and 
one-half cupful of wheat flour. 
Question. —I)o you sift the Graham 
flour ? 
Answer. —I do sometimes. The reason 
for sifting it lies in the indigestibility 
of the bran that is in the flour, and that 
depends on the proportion of the bran. 
Ordinarily, I do not think that it needs 
sifting, except to mix it with the baking 
powder. I prefer to put baking powder 
into a floor mixture by sifting it with 
the flour. One of these frying baskets is 
a good thing to use in sifting Graham 
flour, in order to mix the baking 
powder with it, as it is coarser than the 
regular flour sieve. One object in sift¬ 
ing white flour, is to make it lighter, but 
the Graham flour does not pack as the 
white flour does, because of its being so 
much coarser. These gems may also be 
made of gluten flour, or whole-wheat 
flour, in the same proportions. Add to 
the 1)4 cupful of sifted flour, one tea¬ 
spoonful of sugar, and one-half tea- 
spoonful of salt. This amount of sweet¬ 
ening is needed with wheat flour. Gluten 
gems may be made very nicely without 
any sugar at'all. With white flour or 
corn meal, add the last thing a table¬ 
spoonful of melted butter, but with Gra¬ 
ham the butter is not needed The Gra¬ 
ham has more of the richness of the 
wheat, and a trifle more fat, I presume, 
than the white flour. 
Having mixed this sugar, flour and salt 
thoroughly, I shall now beat the egg. 
For this recipe, use one egg, one cupful 
of sour milk, one-half teaspoonful of 
soda, dissolved in a tablespoonful of cold 
water. There are many ways of putting 
soda into flour mixtures. It may be dis¬ 
solved in milk, or in hot water, or mixed 
with the flour, but I prefer cold water. 
The proportions which I use are one- 
half teaspoonful of soda to a cupful of 
sour milk. If using molasses in the 
mixture, I use a whole teaspoonful of 
soda to a cupful of molasses. The soda 
is to be a level teaspoonful. 
Q.—Do you ever use buttermilk in 
place of sour milk ? 
A.—Yes, and in that case no butter is 
needed in the muffins, or at least very 
little. This mixture is put together in 
the same way that we put together 
almost all batters, mixing the milk and 
egg in one dish, the flour and dry in¬ 
gredients in another, and when they are 
thoroughly mixed putting them together. 
If melted butter be added, it is to be 
added the last thing after the wet and 
dry ingredients are mixed. In making 
these muffins or gems in an iron gem 
pan, it must, of course, be heated. In 
making them in tin, this is not necessary, 
because the tiu heats so quickly. The 
object is to have the mixture begin to 
rise as soon as it goes into the oven. 
Cottage Pudding.—Put in the sieve two 
scant cupfuls of bread flour, and in this 
put two teaspoonfuls of baking - powder. 
Use baking powder in proportion to the 
flour, instead of the liquid, as with soda. 
For a cupful of flour, use a teaspoonful 
of baking powder—scanting the amount 
of baking powder if a large amount of 
flour be used ; that is, for one single 
cupful you will need a whole rounding 
spoonful, but for two cupfuls, you 
should scant the baking powder a little, 
for three cupfuls a little more, and for 
four cupfuls you need only three tea¬ 
spoonfuls. This flour and baking powder 
and also the salt I sift together several 
times so as to mix them thoroughly. If 
the baking powder be thoroughly mixed 
with the flour, it will rise in every part 
just alike, provided, of < ourse, that the 
heat of the oven is even. 
I have in this bowT an egg, w'liich I 
shall beat, and add to it one cupful of 
sugar, one cupful of milk, three table¬ 
spoonfuls of melted butter, two cupfuls 
of sifted flour—heaping full if pastry 
flour be used, and scanting them a little 
if bread flour be used—two teaspoonfuls 
of baking powder, and one-half tea¬ 
spoonful of salt, the whole sifted to¬ 
gether. The butter may be added with 
the egg and sugar, or at the last. If it 
be put in with the sugar and egg, be sure 
that it is not very hot, or it will cook the 
egg. This pudding is very good made 
with one tablespoonful of melted butter 
instead of three. It will bake in about 
20 or 30 minutes. 
For the lemon sauce, I shall mix a cup 
ful of sugar with three tablespoonfuls of 
corn starch, add two cupfuls of boiling 
water, and let it cook eight minutes. 
While it is cooking, 1 shall grate the 
rind and squeeze the juice from one 
lemon. In grating the rind, grate only 
the yellow part, allowing none of the 
white to get in, as it will cause a bitter 
flavor. I shall put into this dish for the 
sauce, the grated rind and the juice of 
the lemon, and one tablespoonful of but¬ 
ter. The mixture of corn starch, sugar 
and water, after it is cooked, I will pour 
hot on to the butter and the lemon juice. 
Do not cook the lemon juice and the 
rind in the sauce, because it is likely to 
taste bitter if it is cooked. Other flavors 
may be used instead of the lemon, but I 
do not especially like the extracts in a 
hot sauce. One might use, as is very 
frequently done, a tablespoonful of good 
vinegar, and add a little nutmeg. 
Q.—Do you ever heat the knife for cut¬ 
ting anything hot ? 
A.—Yes, sometimes, but I have not 
found that it was so very advantageous, 
and I always object to heating a good 
knife. 
ROBIN’S " FOR GETTER Y." 
ODIN’S round, little face shone with 
pride. “ Mamma,” he said, “ Teach¬ 
er says I’ve got a ’markable remember. 
She told me so to-day in the ’rithmetic 
class, ’cause I ’membered the three-times 
table, a-runnin’. Aint you dreadf’ly 
pleased, mamma ? ” 
Mamma smiled brightly. “ To be sure 
I am ! ” she said. She patted Robin’s 
curly bang, and laid a kiss right under 
it, between his eyes. “ Your great- 
grandina used to say, Robin, that a good 
’remember, as you call it, was worth its 
weight in gold. It saves so many acci¬ 
dents and mistakes for people.” 
The grocer came with the bundles, and 
Robin watched mamma untie them and 
put the things all away. She took the 
shiny little oil can and set it under the 
great tank the man had just brought 
home, full. A little stream of oil tinkled 
down into the can. Just then mamma 
heard Miss Baby crying. “ I must run,” 
she said ; “ Will you watch the oil, Robin 
dear, and when the can is full, shut the 
little faucet off quick—so ? ” 
“ O, yes ; 1 11 see to it, mamma,” Robin 
answered cheerfully. He sat down on 
the bushel basket, tipped upside down, 
and watched the little running stream, 
all ready to hop up and shut it off at the 
right minute. How nice it sounded— 
like a little dancing tune ! 
“Robin! Robin! Robin!” That was 
Joey Pembroke. 
“ Oh ! ” Robin suddenly exclaimed, 
“ He’s got his lop-over-eared rabbit to 
show me ! He said he'd bring it.” And, 
away flew Robin, while the little dance 
tune went on playing, and the shiny, 
little can kept growing fuller and fuller. 
By and by it ran over and a little oily 
river spread itself all over the laundry 
floor. Almost an hour later, Robin tried 
to help mamma wipe it up. His face 
was very sober and ashamed, indeed. 
“ O, mamma,” he moaned regretfully, 
“I guess my teacher said it wrong—it’s 
a ’markable foryettery I’ve got! ” a. ii. h. 
BUTTONS THA T STAY ON. 
UST why a large number of women 
continue to sew buttons on gar¬ 
ments that have to go through the laun¬ 
dry, is a question that a great many 
would like to see answered, says the 
New York Ledger. A good many years 
ago, a number of far-seeing ones made 
up their minds that there must be a 
deadly enmity somewhere between the 
flatirons and buttons; therefore, they 
have been dispensed with wherever it is 
possible. Shirt-waists, night dresses, 
corset covers, and corset waists have 
been provided with two sets of button¬ 
holes and studs, and corset waists 
especially, with buttons attached to 
little tapes that allow ironing - without 
tearing off these necessary appendages. 
Children’s clothes are furnished with 
stout studs, and these are sewed to a 
bit of braid or tape. The back of the 
stud is placed exactly in the middle of 
the tape, which is wide enough to fold 
over and meet around the post. The 
edges are then sewed over and over 
with a strong thread ; with a little care 
the casing will be so tight that the post 
will break before the stud will tear out. 
A space about an inch longer than that 
required from buttonhole to buttonhole 
is left, then another stud is fastened in 
the same way. The tops of the studs 
are then put through the belt of the 
little one’s shirt-waist or blouse. Upon 
these the skirt or trousers may be but¬ 
toned. There is no tearing off or losing 
of buttons, and it is very rare, indeed, 
that the garments become detached un¬ 
less the buttonholes are too large. 
In shirt waists, the tape arrangement 
is of equal value, and that, too, in more 
ways than one. In soft materials, studs 
frequently slip out, and valuable ones 
are lost. The collar buttons and the 
several smaller ones down the front may 
all be attached to the same strip. Of 
course sleeve buttons have their own 
attachment, but it is not a bad plan to 
have a bit of ribbon knotted around the 
post and tied to the under side of the 
cuff by a loop provided for that purpose. 
In a word, ordinary buttons on all 
washable goods are not only unneces¬ 
sary, but a waste of time. It takes but 
a little while to make the extra^set of 
buttonholes, and then a great deal of 
trouble is at an end. White studs re¬ 
sembling linen may be bought, and there 
are in market any number of inexpensive 
plated buttons, as well as those of pearl 
and agate, any of which will answer 
the purpose, and, if properly secured as 
described, will last for a long time. 
A HOMEMADE DEVICE. 
CONVENIENT little tool to have 
hanging near the kitchen sink, is 
made from a brace taken from an old 
umbrella frame with a bit of sponge 
fastened upon one end. The sponge, 
which should be, when damp, about the 
size of an English walnut, may be sewed 
securely in place with a thread and 
needle because of the eye in the end of 
the brace. If the brace, which is, of 
course, U-shaped at its other end, be 
broken from its place in the frame with¬ 
out removing the rivet, it will hang con¬ 
veniently upon a small nail; but a bit of 
wire twisted in makes a handy ring for 
hanging. Numerous and unexpected 
uses will be found for this tool. With it 
bottles may be thoroughly washed on 
the inside and vases, which without 
extra care become discolored and foul 
inside, may by its aid be kept sweet and 
clean. p. p. 
SOME SUMMER DISHES. 
NE of The It. N.-Y. editors seems 
to be partial to beans. The" fol¬ 
lowing recipe is for his benefit, and is 
a dish rather more suited to warm 
weather than the heavier baked pork 
and beans. Parboil the beans with a tea¬ 
spoonful of saleratus to each quart. 
Pour them into a colander to drain, and 
rinse both beans and kettle with boiling 
water. Return them to the kettle, cover 
with cold water, boil, and add boiling 
water from time to time until they are 
thoroughly cooked. Add salt. I usually 
cook enough for several meals for my 
family, and prepare for the table a few 
at a time. Brown a tablespoon ful of 
flour and a half teacupful of butter in a 
spider, into which stir the beans, and 
when well mixed and heated, sprinkle 
with pepper and serve. 
Another new, old-fashioned dish is 
made as follows, and is, to my taste, the 
best of its kind : Place one cupful of 
molasses, one-half cupful of butter, one 
tablespoonful of ginger and a pinch of 
salt on the stove. When nearly boiling, 
remove from the fire, stir in flour till as 
thick as pancakes. Add one-lialf cupful 
of sour milk and one teaspoonful of sal¬ 
eratus, and stir in flour until as thick as 
soft cookies. Spat out on a tin, and bake 
15 minutes. 
Here are some quickly-made tart crusts; 
