8c6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 26 
Woman and 
The Home. 
FROM DAY TO DAY. 
A Kansas man recently separated from 
his four-months’ bride, because she de¬ 
clined to prepare breakfast for him, 
and he pathetically declares that, fre¬ 
quently, he had nothing 1 to e;.t but bread- 
and-molasses. Those shipwrecked sailors 
who recently arrived in New York, after 
subsisting’ for 23 days upon microscopic 
rations of raw fish, would doubtless re- 
g-ard bread-and-molasses as a luxurious 
diet, but it hardly appears adapted to 
the needs of the average man. The epi¬ 
sode in question causes one to wonder 
what means of moral suasion that Kan¬ 
sas man adopted, before telling his 
troubles to an unsympathetic world. 
* 
It is reported that the Sultan of Mus¬ 
cat, while making a recent tour of his 
possessions, saw and coveted a house be¬ 
longing to a widow, so he ordered the 
woman out, preparatory to converting 
her domicile into a military guardhouse. 
The widow, however, flatly refused to 
obey the Sultan’s orders ; moreover, she 
hired 10 men, armed them with Martini 
rifles, established them as a garrison, 
and then invited the Sultan to meet her 
personally in mortal combat. This 
obliging offer was declined, and the 
Amazonian widow still holds the fort. 
This little incident appears to hold sev¬ 
eral morals; in the meantime, if the 
ruler of Muscat is wise, he will offer 
that widow a government position with¬ 
out worrying about a civil service ex¬ 
amination. 
* 
A recent addition to the list of canned 
goods is chicken tamale. This luxury, 
whose origin dates from Mexico, does 
not seem to be very well known in the 
East, but is sold by street venders in Chi¬ 
cago and other western cities, where it 
ranks, in public estimation, with the 
dubious Frankfurter sausage. A writer 
in the Atlantic Monthly describes hot 
tamale as a molten, pepper-sauced 
chicken croquette, covered with a coat 
of Indian meal and an overcoat of corn 
husk, and steamed in a portable boiler— 
the result being a diabolical combina¬ 
tion that tastes like a bonfire.” We can¬ 
not imagine that canned tamale will 
ever be a very popular viand. 
* 
The New York Federation of Women’s 
Clubs, during their recent meeting in 
this city, started one subject which will 
not fail in its effect upon future gather¬ 
ings, so far as the public attitude is 
concerned. They discussed, with all 
seriousness (and some acrimony), the 
question whether it was permissible for 
a trained nurse to be pretty, and decided, 
apparently, that a good-looking nurse is 
a source of danger ! They debated the 
danger of pretty nurses in the home, 
and one speaker added to the humor of 
the situation by urging the need for a 
higher (and homelier) type of woman¬ 
hood among nurses. Said she, solemnly, 
“These nurses go into our hospitals to 
study. Oh, my friends, so do our sons 
go into the hospitals as internes, and 
we want to have women there who will 
not lead our sons astray.” At this point, 
one woman in the audience flounced out 
indignantly, observing that if the poor 
sons in hospitals wait for trained nurses 
to corrupt their morals, they will surely 
go spotless to their graves. 
* 
We did not think it possible, at this 
stage of the world’s progress, for any 
woman above the intellectual level of a 
hen to consider the matter of good looks 
5 
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tions with $4; and we will ad¬ 
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now get the paper from the time 
subscription is received until 
January 1, 1900. 
in connection with any profession which 
calls for skill, training, intellect and 
character. The physical accident which 
makes her personally attractive has 
nothing whatever to do with her work. 
We may try to overlook the slur upon 
nurses as a body, offered by this absurd 
discussion, since it implies that uncome¬ 
liness is the only safeguard against levity 
of conduct, and look upon it merely in 
its relation to working women as a 
whole. Do these women critics, who 
are, apparently, fenced in by the safe¬ 
guards of comfort and ease, believe that 
working women, whose professional 
duties throw them in contact with men, 
are only virtuous and circumspect when 
they have no temptation to be otherwise? 
Furthermore, are all the men these club 
women know so wavering in mind that 
casual association with any reasonably 
pretty woman will cause their alleged 
affections to stray to the most recent 
charmer ? If the women who have held 
up to public view their microscopic minds 
in this discusssion were compelled to go 
out into the working world, we feel sure 
that their point of view would change 
rapidly. In the meantime, they give 
irreverent man the chance to make over 
all his threadbare jokes about the ill- 
natured gossip of women’s tea parties, 
and fit them upon modern women’s clubs. 
And, shocking to relate, even the sub¬ 
stitution of cross-eyed, humpbacked, 
pockmarked and generally illfavored 
females in place of our comely and bright- 
HOMEMADE DOUBLE BOILER. Fig. 367. 
eyed nurses could not be regarded as a 
complete safeguard. Several of the most 
fascinating women we have ever met 
were the reverse of pretty, and it is very 
often the case that a woman regarded as 
a beauty by her feminine friends is 
viewed with scant admiration by men. 
EXTEMPORIZING A DOUBLE BOILER. 
Fig. 367 shows an easy and cheap 
method of making a double boiler out of 
materials at hand. Three tin dishes, of 
two-quart size, and a thin disk of tin, 
sheet iron or of wood, put together in 
the way suggested, make a double boiler 
that will work very satisfactorily. If 
the disk is cut from a thin board, three- 
eighths inch thick is sufficient; the cost 
will be nothing at all. For many kinds 
of cooking a double boiler is almost im¬ 
perative, and with this easy method of 
securing one, its absence from the list 
of kitchen utensils is not necessary on 
the score of cost. d. 
TWO HOLIDAY DINNERS. 
The two different dinners described 
are suited to the average family, one a 
little more elaborate than the other : 
First Dinner. —Cream of celery soup ; 
bread ; roast duck ; glazed sweet pota¬ 
toes ; mashed turnips ; cranberry jelly ; 
cider ; olives ; grape catsup ; pumpkin 
pie ; cranberry tart; cheese ; wafers ; 
coffee. 
Cream of Celery Soup.—One head of 
celery ; one pint of water, one pint of 
milk, one tablespoonful of chopped 
onion, one tablespoonful of butter, one 
tablespoonful of flour, one - half tea¬ 
spoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspoon¬ 
ful of pepper. Wash the celery, and 
cut into half - inch pieces. Cook in 
one pint of salted water until very 
tender; mash in the water in which it 
has been cooked. Place the milk and 
onion in a double boiler, cook 10 min¬ 
utes, and add the celery. Rub all through 
a strainer, and return to the fire. Melt the 
butter in a saucepan, add the flour, and 
stir until smooth, but not browned. Add 
gradually the celery mixture to this, and 
cook five minutes. Season, and strain 
into a hot covered dish. Serve very hot. 
Roast Duck.—Pick, singe and remove 
the entrails, oil bag and pinions. The 
wings and legs are sometimes removed. 
Cleanse carefully, and fill with a moist 
stuffing of seasoned bread crumbs (hot 
water is sometimes used to swell the 
crumbs), and one tablespoonful of butter. 
Truss and dredge with salt, pepper and 
a little flour. Place on a rack in a pan, 
and pour about one cupful of boiling 
water into the pan. Cook in a moderately 
hot oven about two hours, basting often, 
and dredge slightly with flour each time 
after basting. After cooking one hour, 
change the water in the pan, and put in 
fresh. Turn the bird often that it may 
cook evenly. About half an hour before 
it is done, add two tablespoonfuls of but¬ 
ter to two of hot water, and baste the 
bird till a golden brown. Remove some 
of the fat from the pan, brown it, add 
one tablespoonful of flour and one pint 
of stock or hot water. Season to taste, 
strain and serve. The liver and heart 
may be cooked, chopped fine, and added 
to the gravy. Serve very hot. 
Glazed Sweet Potatoes.—Select pota¬ 
toes of uniform size, and cut into long, 
oval shape. Parboil till tender. Mix 
two tablespoonfuls of sugar with IK of 
butter, and melt this in one-half cupful 
of hot water. Arrange the potatoes in 
a shallow pan, and moisten thoroughly 
with the mixture. Place them in the 
oven, and baste frequently until they are 
covered with a rich, golden brown glaze. 
They are very sightly, and blend nicely 
with the other parts of the dinner. 
Cranberry Jelly.—Three pints of cran¬ 
berries, three cupfuls of granulated 
sugar, and IK cupful of hot water. 
After the fruit begins to boil, cook 15 
minutes, and press through a sieve. 
Cover while cooking. 
Cranberry Tart.—Line a deep pie-pan 
with flaky pie crust, cover with paraffin 
paper, fill with bread cut in dice to keep 
the paper in place, and bake. Lift out 
the paper, and pour the cranberry jelly 
mixture into it while hot. Serve very 
cold. Use the bread baked in the crust 
in the soup. 
Pumpkin Pie.— IK cupful of stewed 
and sifted pumpkin (dry), one cupful of 
hot milk, K cupful of sugar, K tea¬ 
spoonful of salt, K teaspoonful each of 
ginger and cinnamon, and one egg 
slightly beaten. Mix in the order given. 
Line a pie-plate with a rich pie paste, 
and bake in a slow oven. 
Grape Catsup.—Use % as much sugar 
as grape juice, and spices to taste. Boil 
20 minutes, skim and bottle. Nice with 
meats. 
Second Dinner. —Amber soup, crou¬ 
tons ; chicken pie; mashed potatoes; 
noodles and cheese; squash; stewed 
cranberries ; olives; fruit; mince pie ; fig 
pudding, lemon sauce; cheese ; coffee ; 
wafers; nuts and raisins. 
Amber Soup.—Four pounds of meat 
and bone, two quarts water, one large 
onion, K of a small carrot, K of a turnip, 
six cloves, 10 pepper-corns, one bunch 
herbs, three bay leaves, one piece of 
celery, soy or caramel (burnt sugar), salt 
to taste. Soak the meat in the cold 
water for an hour, after it has been cut 
into small pieces. Cook six or seven 
hours, allowing it to bubble gently. 
Then add vegetables finely chopped, sea¬ 
soning and soy or caramel. Cook one 
hour longer, strain and cool. When 
ready to use, remove the cakes of fat 
from the top. To one quart of stock, 
add the white of one egg, mix well, 
stirring all the while till hot. Keep 
very hot until the liquid is perfectly 
clear beneath the scum when not stir¬ 
ring, then strain. Several pieces of 
lemon rind may be heated in the stock 
if desired. 
Chicken Pie.—Clean, disjoint and par¬ 
boil the chickens until tender. Remove 
the largest bones; thicken the liquor 
and season to taste. Butter a shallow 
baking-dish, and place a rim of rich 
pastry around the side of the dish. Fill 
the dish with the chicken, with the 
bones pointing toward the center. Cover 
with the sauce, and if desired richer, 
add small pieces of butter, and cover 
with pie crust. Bake one hour in a mod¬ 
erately heated oven. 
Noodles and Cheese.—Two eggs and as 
much flour as they will hold. Mix well 
with the hands. Roll very thin, and let 
stand one hour in the sun or near the 
fire. Cut in fine strips, and cook in 
boiling salted water until tender (about 
10 minutes). Drain in a colander. 
Sauce: 2K tablespoonfuls butter, IK 
tablespoonful flour, K teaspoonful salt, 
pepper to taste, one cupful milk, % cup¬ 
ful grated cheese. Melt the butter, add 
flour, and stir until perfectly smooth. 
Then add gradually the milk and season¬ 
ing. Add the cheese last, and cook until 
the cheese is melted. Butter a pudding 
dish, fill two-thirds full of the cooked 
noodles, cover with the sauce, then with 
buttered crumbs. Place in a hot oven 
until the crumbs are browned. 
Stewed Cranberries.—Use one-half as 
much sugar as cranberries, and one-half 
as much water as sugar. Cover and boil 
10 minutes without stirring. Remove 
the scum and turn into a dish to cool. 
The berries will be tender, but can be 
strained if desired. 
Fig Pudding.—Five cupfuls flour, two 
teaspoonfuls each of baking powder, 
cinnamon and ginger, K teaspoonful 
each of salt, cloves and mace. Mix well. 
Add one cupful of chopped beef suet (it 
will chop better if parboiled) and one 
cupful of chopped figs, rubbing them 
well through the prepared flour, then 
add one cupful sweet milk, one cupful 
molasses, and three well-beaten eggs. 
Stir well, pour into a well-buttered pud¬ 
ding mold, and steam three hours. Serve 
with sauce. 
Lemon Sauce.—Mix one cupful granu¬ 
lated sugar, one tablespoonful flour, and 
one teaspoonful grated lemon peel to¬ 
gether. Add one cupful boiling water, 
and simmer five minutes. Remove from 
the fire and add lemon juice to taste. 
Squash.—Cut Winter squash into small 
cubes, place in a baking pan, dust with 
salt and pepper, and place a small piece 
of butter on each piece. Bake in a slow 
oven until soft, being careful not to 
burn. E. F. MCDERMOTT. 
4 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦<♦♦♦♦♦♦«♦♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
I We Will Give 
j One Thousand 
Dollars 
To the agent sending 
us the largest list of 
subscribers up to April 
15, 1899; $500 to the 
next largest, and so on. 
500 of our agents will 
share in the distribution 
of $11,500, besides re¬ 
ceiving a good commis¬ 
sion for all work done. 
Send for particulars. 
The Curtis Publishing Company 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
