^PEr Radies’ S'l oral fiaEinet mu*l Pictorial 3H£ame Samjiamoii. 
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MY KITCHEN, 
I have read the household experiences of so many 
that I wish to send my experience in the kitchen to 
the kind readers of The Cabinet, hoping that my 
failures may cause young girls to learn to adorn 
the kitchen as well as the drawing-room, and my 
successes to encourage young housekeepers who 
have been so unfortunate as not to learn to cook, to 
persevere. I v 7 as raised in a luxuriant Southern 
home, and of course never thought of learning to do 
such arduous labor as cooking. This idea has been 
quite a mistake in the South. When I was married, 
Mr. G- and I began keeping house under the 
most happy auspices. Everything w r ent on without 
any trouble until two years after our marriage, when 
our good old colored cook left us. She must go live 
with her children. With a good heart I determined 
to cook dinner; I knew whatever mistake I made my 
kind husband would forgive. I gathered my vegeta¬ 
bles, and was busying myself about the kitchen when 
Mr. G-- came and delivered the pleasant news of 
a visitor for dinner. What could I do ? I felt I 
should fail in everything. My vegetables were put 
on with some ham to boil. The griddle had its place 
on the stove, and down I put some bread before the 
griddle was hot, and of course I could not turn it. 
My bread was ruined ; and what is a Southern dinner 
worth without corn-bread? Well, I next tried a 
rice-pudding, and thought I would boil enough to 
have a nice dish of rice for dinner. So I filled 'my 
porcelain boiler nearly full of rice, and it began to 
boil, and I began to dip out, and dipped until I had fill¬ 
ed every empty dish in the closet. Over with the rice, 
I smiled at the dinner-pot, because I felt so sure of 
some nice cabbage, beans, and ham ; but on lifting 
the lid I found everything burnt brown—another dish 
spoiled, just because I did not know how much water 
to put in the pot. Really I was discouraged; but it 
was growing late and something must be done. I 
concluded to have a fry dinner, and thought I was 
doing quite well. Our guest and family were seated 
at the table, and I was on the point of making known 
that I had cooked dinner—my first meal—when, tast¬ 
ing the biscuits, I found them without salt. On 
drinking my coffee it was quite dreggy, so I explain¬ 
ed to our guest that we had a new and ignorant cook; 
gave them some nice sweet milk and cake I had on 
hand. It is useless to describe how chagrined I 
was. I w r as fully determined that such mistakes 
should not always be made by me. 
Mr. G-was from the North, i-eared and educat¬ 
ed there, so was willing that I should learn to cook. 
He was going North to spend a part of his summer 
vacation, and I was to go to my mother’s to stay 
until his return. While there I went to the kitchen 
every day, notwithstanding my mother’s and sis¬ 
ter’s protestations, and learned, under old Aunt Han¬ 
nah’s superior guidance, to cook. I felt so glad of the 
knowledge that, with my younger sister, I hurried 
home to make preparations for my husband’s return. 
He wrote me when to expect him, and he wrote 
that bis younger brother and wife would accompany 
him ; they were on a bridal tour through the Southern 
States. My little sister had become as enthusiastic 
as I was over the useful art of cooking. So we put 
everything in readiness in the house ; then to the 
kitchen we hied, and such cakes, pies, custards, 
and puddings we made, and such baked turkey, 
smothered chicken, roast beef, and everything nice 
we could think of! Not one failure did we make. 
Our company arrived. Among the party was our 
guest of my first dinner. Mr. G-very proudly 
told the joke of the young, ignorant cook, because he 
appreciated so much the improvement made in the 
short time, and thinks with me that every house¬ 
keeper should know how to cook. Mrs. D. G. G. 
A SERMON TO GIRLS ON COOKING. 
Cookixg-ce asses have been popular among fash¬ 
ionable young ladies of late years; but there is no 
cooking-class which quite equals in its opportunity 
for excellent information that which you may find at 
home. Presuming that I am talking to a girl who 
has just left school, I advise you to make use of your 
leisure in taking lessons from your mother. There 
is an absolutely splendid feeling of independence in 
knowing liow to make perfectly light, sweet, substan¬ 
tial bread. Then try your hand at biscuits, muffins, 
corn-bread, toast, and all the different forms into 
which breadstuff’s may be blended. Toast seems a 
simple thing enough, but is frequently so ill made 
that it does not deserve the name. Gruel, a neces¬ 
sity of the sick-room, is often a hopeless mystery to 
women who have no idea of how it is evolved from 
the raw material. After you have mastered the 
bread question, try meats and vegetables. 
Any bright girl who can comprehend an equation, 
or formulate a syllogism, can overcome the difficul¬ 
ties which beset her when learning to cook. Lucent 
syrups, golden cakes, delicately-browned bread, 
quivering jellies, melting creams, and the whole set 
of material things glorified, because made for love’s 
sake and for the good of one’s dear ones, are fit ex¬ 
pressions for any woman. The charm of this accom¬ 
plishment lies in the fact that it imparts to its owner 
a gratifying sense of power ; it bestows on her, too, 
the power of blessing and resting those she loves 
best. Wherever the cook goes she takes her wel¬ 
come along. One may tire of the sweetest singing, 
of the loveliest poetry, of the finest painting, and of 
the most witty conversation, but of cooking never. 
Yet I would be sorry to have you contented to be 
only a cook, only a domestic machine. That is not 
my meaning or intention. Be artist, poet, inventor, 
and well-bred woman; be the most and the best that 
you can, and add, as a matter of course, ability to 
keep house well and to do all that good housekeeping 
includes.— 8. 8. Times. 
ANCIENT RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN PIE. 
The honor of originating the pumpkin pie, it 
seems, does not belong to the people of New Eng¬ 
land. Of this the Atlantic Monthly gives the fol 
lowing statements. But even as to things supposed 
to be peculiarly American there is no little error, as 
I have heretofore pointed out, and the appearance of 
Indian pudding in Mr. Bartlett’s dictionary reminds 
me that one of the things generally supposed to be 
of American and of peculiarly New England origin 
is not so; this is nothing less than pumpkin pie. 
The housewives of New England brought the know¬ 
ledge of pumpkin pie with them from the old home. 
Here is a recipe for making it, from a cook-book pub¬ 
lished in London more than two hundred years ago: 
“ To Make a Pumpion Pye. —Take about half 
a pound of Pumpion and slice it, a handful of Time, a 
little Rosemary, Parsley, and sweet Marjoram slipped 
off the stalks, and chop them smal; then take Cin¬ 
namon, Nutmeg, Pepper, and six Cloves, and beat 
them ; take ten Eggs and beat them ; then mix them 
and beat them altogether, and put in as much sugar 
as you think fit; then fry them like a frois; after it 
is fried let it stand till it be cold; then fill your pye; 
take sliced Apples thin round wayes and lay a row 
of the Froize and layer of Apples with currants be¬ 
twixt the layer while your pye is fitted, and put in a 
good deal of sweet butter before you close it; when 
the pye is baked, take six yelks of Eggs, some white 
wine or Yergis, and make a Caudle of this, but not 
too thick; cut up the lid and put it in ; stir them 
well together whilst the Eggs and pumpions be not 
perceived, and so serve it up.” 
A Mustard-Plaster. —How many people are 
there who really know how to make a mustard-plas¬ 
ter? Not one in a hundred at the most, perhaps; 
and yet mustard-plasters are used in every family, 
and physicians prescribe their application. The ordi¬ 
nary way is to mix the mustard with water, temper¬ 
ing it with a little flour. Such a plaster as this 
makes is abominable. Before it has half done its 
work it begins to blister the patient, and leaves him 
finally with a flayed, painful spot, after producing far 
less effect in a beneficial way than was intended. 
Now, a mustard-plaster should never blister at all. 
If a blister is wanted, there are other plasters far 
better than mustard-plasters. Then use no water, 
but mix the mustard with the white of an egg, and 
the result will be a plaster that will “ draw ” perfect¬ 
ly, but will not produce a blister on the skin of an in¬ 
fant, no matter how long it is allowed to remain on 
the part. 
Snow Custard. —Beat 8 eggs, leaving out the 
whites of 4; add to them 1 quart of milk and 5 
ounces of sugar; have a shallow pan of hot water 
in the oven, set the dish into it, and bake till the 
custard is thick; then take it out and set it away to 
cool; beat the remaining whites very light, add 
pound of sugar gradually and a tea-spoonful of 
lemon-juice. When the custard is cold lay the 
whites over the top in heaps, but do not let them 
touch. 
To Pickle Fruit. The following excellent mode 
is practised in many families : To each peck of fruit 
allow four pounds of sugar, a pint of sharp vinegar, 
and spice to taste; boil the vinegar and sugar together 
for a few minutes, then drop in the fruit and boil un¬ 
til moderately soft; when done pour the vinegar over 
them and let them stand until cold before covering. 
Plums, peaches, pears, etc., can be done in this way. 
