110 
Hearties’ floral i^ia£iaet imtl J^iutorml BHEome iiaamjiuTtiofv. 
YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS. 
“ Well, Nellie, I have come for you to tell me all 
you know. Are you prepared?” exclaimed my young 
friend, Annie C--, as she entered my sanctum one 
sunny afternoon, tossing her hat on the table and 
seating herself with a whirl on a low stool at my feet. 
“That may not take me long,” I replied, smiling. 
“But what subject would you have me ventilate my 
wisdom on first?” 
“Oh! it’s something to eat I want to know 
about.” “Here I am, only eighteen, married, with 
a husband to please. And I know just nothing 
at all about pleasing his palate. I had helped mother 
some while I was going to school; but that did not 
amount to much, and I was married so soon after 
graduating I could spend little time on housekeeping 
arts. But, of course, I thought everything would 
come right; supposed instinct would tell me how 
much coffee to put in the pot. It does not seem as if 
we had had a decent meal since we went to house¬ 
keeping. I can’t run home and ask mother, and I 
am just sick and tired of my experiments. Charley 
boarded with your mother so long he has come to 
quotingher, instead of his own mother, that husbands 
proverbially holl up to their wives for example. So 
I have come here hoping her mantle has fallen on 
you. In the first place, my bread is poor, indeed. 
You know our village does not afford a baker, and I 
have tried all the receipts I could find for yeast-mak¬ 
ing. Have boiled hops and potatoes, and have de¬ 
cocted any quantity of messes supposed to have a 
lightening effect; but, in spite of all, my bread is 
execrable. Charley says your mother made the best 
bread he ever ate, and he don’t believe she used yeast 
at all. And I want to know how, if possible. And— 
would you.believe it?—I can’t even make decent pie 
crust; and my cookies—oh! oh!! oh!!! Then Charley 
quotes some ginger cookies he used to get at your 
house, that were perfection.” 
“ Oh! well, if that is all you want, I can give you 
the required information.” I agree with your hus 
band perfectly about that bread. I don’t like yeast 
bread half as well. But the milk-rising, as it is 
called, is more difficult to make. That is, it requires 
more care while rising. But as to how. Take a lit¬ 
tle less than a pint of water, as warm as you can bear 
your finger—just cool enough to scald the flour. Add 
a lump of soda as large as a pea; a few spoonfuls of 
milk, if you have it. Stir in flour to make a mod¬ 
erately stiff baltor and set in a warm place. If your 
flour is good, they will be light in five or six hours. 
Then take a pint of warm water, with a lump of soda 
as before, pour about half of this into the center of 
a pan of flour, stir up a thin batter; then add a small 
teacupful of boiling water, stir rapidly; then pour in 
the rest of the warm water, and finally the rising 
But be sure your batter is not hot enough to scald them 
at all. Stir as thick as you can with a spoon, leaving 
flour under and around the sponge. Also cover about 
a half inch deep with flour, and set in a warm place 
as bifore. It will be ready to mix in about an hour. 
Do not knead too hard, and place in tins to rise again. 
When light, bake in a brisk oven. The oven must 
be j ust right, and this you can only tell by experience. 
A moderate-sized loaf ought to bake about forty 
minutes. Some flour makes better bread if mixed 
with part milk. Milk will make your bread a little 
whiter. Do not salt it, as it makes it hard and causes 
it to gel dry sooner. I find it much easier to get rid 
of dry bread of this kind, as there is no flavor of 
yeast about it when made into pudding or toast. I 
make an inexpensive pudding, that we all like well. 
Take about a pint of crumbled bread, a little more 
than a quart of milk. Sweeten to taste. I think two 
tablespoonfuls enough. Two eggs, well beaten, salt 
a very little, flavor with cinnamon or nutmeg, add 
raisins, butter your pudding-dish, and bake slowly an 
hour and a half. D) not fill your dish full, as it 
swells while baking. Does not require any sauce. 
PIECRUST. 
I use equal quantities of lard and water. Rub the 
lard cold into the flour. Then add cold water. A 
teacupful of each is sufficient for three pies. M ; x 
hard as quickly as possible, and bake immediately in 
an oven as hot as possible and not burn. 
COOKIES. 
Two cups of white sugar, one of butter, one of but¬ 
termilk, one te ispoonful heaped of soda, two eggs. 
Mix as soft as possible to roll and cut nicely. Bake 
in a hot oven. 
GINGER COOKIES. 
One egg, one cup of brown sugar, one cup of 
molasses (New Orleans the best), one cup of short¬ 
ening, not necessarily butter, i cup of buttermilk, 
one and a half teaspoonfuls of soda, one teaspoonful 
of ginger. Mix stiff and bike in a hot oven. 
Watch your fire closely, and you will soon learn to 
temper it to the needs of the dough. Success de¬ 
pends almost as much on having the oven just right 
as on anyihing else. The dough may be perfect and 
your cake or biscuit a failure because your oven was 
a little too hot or too cold. You will find experience 
a great help with all receipts; but that will come in 
time. 
HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. 
Why is it that nearty everybody puts up their toma¬ 
toes in tin, instead of glass? It is believed by many 
that they cannot be kept in glass. This is certainly a 
mistake, as we have canned in glass for some years, 
and experience no trouble in keeping them and do 
think it is the cheapest and most wholesome way. 
The principal features to be observed in canning in 
glass arc as follows: Temper your cans well. Close 
the doors of your cook-stove and set the cans on the 
stove-plate and pour in warm water, gradually increas¬ 
ing the quantity and the heat of the water until you 
can pour it in boiling hot. 
Heat your tomatoes in a porcelain kettle. (This is 
the handiest and most convenient kettle for all can¬ 
ning operations.) When ready for the cams, empty 
the hot water out and turn up to drain, and then 
fill. , , 
If you are short of cans, you can boil down the to¬ 
matoes considerably, and they will require little more 
than a good heating when served. 
When the can is full, wipe off carefully, and adjust 
the gum and top, screwing the latter at intervals. 
Next day store in a cool, dark place, and you can keep 
them the year round. I think this is one reason why 
some people lose so much of their fruit. I have sel¬ 
dom lost a can of fruit in hundreds of quarts canned 
every year. 
After canning, it is well to examine the cans several 
times, at intervals of a week, as it often happens, even 
in new cans, that there are flaws. Or sometimes a seed 
gets under the gum and lets the air have vent, which 
will cause the fruit to work or ferment and spoil. 
This is readily seen by bubbles rising to the top. It 
can be saved by reheating. We now can all our fruit 
without sugar; so that, if any happens to spoil, noth¬ 
ing but the fruit is lost. We always open the cans and 
sugar the fruit a few hours before using. 
By constant use the can-lids become incrusted. This 
can easily be removed by washing in a solution of sal- 
soda. 
To have tomatoes like fresh ones sliced in vinegar 
the year round, slice nice ripe tomatoes and place in 
your cans, and let them come to a boil in a water-bath 
(stand cans on sticks in the bath), and then seal. Serve 
in sweetened vinegar, with pepper and salt. 
An excellent pickle for winter use is made as follows: 
Slice green tomatoes and onions. Put in a stone ves¬ 
sel alternate layers of onions and tomatoes until full 
(pressing down occasionally). 
If a good-sized vessel, put on top 1 pound of brown 
sugar, 3^ ounce cloves, ounce cinnamon, and J4 
ounce allspice. Set on the stove and heat gradually 
until it comes to a boil. When cool, put away. 
TO CLEAN ENGRAVINGS. 
It frequently happens that fine engravings, despite 
the care taken of them, will in some unaccountable 
manner become stained and dirty to such an extent as 
to seriously impair their beauty. To those of our 
readers who own engravings that have been injured in 
this way a simple recipe for cleaning them will prove 
of value. Put the engraving on a smooth board and 
cover it with a thin layer of common salt, finely pul¬ 
verized; then squeeze lemon-juice upon the salt until a 
considerable portion of it is dissolved. After every 
part of the picture has been subjected to .his treat¬ 
ment, elevate one end of the board, so that it will form 
an angle of about forty-five degrees with the horizon. 
From a tea-kettle or other suitable vessel pour on the 
engraving boiling water, until the salt and lemon-juice 
bo all washed off. The engraving will then be per¬ 
fectly clean and free from stain. It must be dried on 
the board, or on some smooth surface, gradually. If 
dried by the fire or sun, it will be tinged with a dingy 
yellowish color. 
Hoarseness or Tickling in the Throat.— 
Take a small quantity of dry pulverized borax, place 
it on the tongue, and let it slowly dissolve and run 
down the throat. It is also good to keep the throat 
moist at night and prevent coughing. 
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