oral iScifiuiet Pictorial 
ome 
iQmpa/nion. 
DOMESTIC ITEMS. 
I have been a constant reader of the Cabinet from 
its first number. We there read of beautiful flowers to 
gladden the hearts of all with their never-failing 
sources of interest, of pretty arrangements to beautify 
apartments otherwise homely, of dainty receipts to 
tempt the appetite, of quaint sayings, and bits of mer¬ 
riment for the young; but I do not remember having 
seen any mention of some articles which I regard as a 
great blessing to those who have much of their own 
household duties to perform. I allude to the Union 
Kerosene Stove, and its light and convenient articles 
for cooking, and to the patented Warren’s cooker. 
In summer, when the heat enervates terribly, and all 
cooking is a great trial, these articles are invaluable. 
1 do not intend to delude any housekeeper with the 
too often seen remark, without much trouble or 
fatigue, for all household work must be attended with 
some of these. But I do affirm from five years’ ex¬ 
perience with the stove, and some mouths with the 
cooker, that far less fatigue, far less soiling of hands and 
garments, far less heat, is endured in the use of these 
articles, than with any stove for wood or coal. 
For the benefit of young housekeepers, I will give 
my experience : I have met with so much trouble in get¬ 
ting bread properly baked that I determined to get a 
four-burner kerosene stove and patent baker. I was 
delighted with the perfect manner in which bread, bis¬ 
cuits, cakes, potatoes, and meats and poultry, could he 
cooked. It is essential to be certain that the lamp he 
properly filled, and the wicks nicely cut; avoid a 
draught on the stove, and do not raise the wicks too 
high or they will smoke and spoil your cooking. Note 
the time it took to hake your first loaf of bread, and 
after that you need but put your bread in, and sit down 
to your sewing, or go to your other duties, without 
fear. For quite a large loaf, I find an hour is the 
usual time; it is thoroughly baked and very nice. 
I was so well pleased with my first purchase that 
after that I added to my articles a tea-kettle, sauce-pan, 
preserve-kettle, waffle-iron, coffee-roaster, broiler, etc.; 
all of which I find very satisfactory. There is also an 
iron-heater, which is useful; but with tins my experi¬ 
ence is less than with the other articles. The coffee- 
roaster is very quick and satisfactory in the perform¬ 
ance of its duties. I now have two stoves in daily use 
in a small pantry, and would on no account he without 
them. In sickness these stoves are very convenient and 
useful. I use the cooker on one of these, stoves; ham, 
corned beef or pork, and fish, are much finer cooked in 
it than in any other way. I prefer the baker, myself, 
for meats or poultry that is to he roasted, hut many 
prefer the cooker. The steamer for vegetables is ex¬ 
cellent. Beets, beans, corn, cabbage, pumpkin, 
squash, potatoes, and peas, I have cooked without 
loss of flavor. The water used in the lower vessel to 
create the steam is ready for you to wash up your 
utensils after cooking. 
There is one mistake, though; the makers of the 
cooker affirm in their notice of its merits that no odors 
of cooking can he perceived; this is not so; but I 
do not'think it is quite as much so as in other modes. 
A ham cooked in this way is far superior to one boiled 
in water; and to those who must look closely into the 
economy of the kitchen, it is a great saving ; for from 
each ham so cooked a good deal of pure essence and 
lard is obtained, which is lost when boiled in water. 
This is very useful iu preparing many other dishes. 
The great advantage of not having to watch the 
articles while cooking can only he appreciated by those 
who know how trying it. is to have sewing work and 
dinner both to accomplish in a given time ; to see ii 
the fire is burning, the pot not boiling over, the bread 
or meat not scorching, etc. Who that must do this 
daily work does not know its trials, and how difficult 
to sew under such circumstances. But by using these 
utensils and timing them you can close the door upon 
your cooking and sit iu peace in another room until 
the time is up. 
I think, as a general rule, it requires a loUgertime to 
cook meats and vegetables than the printed directions 
sent out with the cooker mentions. Perhaps my using 
it on a kerosene stove may he the reason. I am not 
prepared to say, if used on any other, if this would he 
the case. If these few notes assist any young house¬ 
keeper, who has not found it easy at a moment’s notice 
to find a Bridget or a Dinah, I shall he pleased. With 
these articles we have felt independent of the whims of 
the too often pretended helps of the present time. 
M. M. M. 
SOME IDEAS TO SET YOU THINKING. 
“ Brevity is the soul of wit,” and all I intend to even 
attempt in this paper is just to give you some few 
ideas to set you thinking, and mayhap at some more 
favorable moment I shall give you some hits of my ex¬ 
perience in this noble calling—housekeeping. It is a 
noble calling if we will only make it so, and bring all 
our energies to hear upon our work. 
But, to begin ; firstly, as some speakers will persist 
in saying: save steps; how many unnecessary steps 
many a housewife takes, never thinking of how she 
could save her time and strength by a little head- 
work and devising ways to save steps. If you go for 
a dish to lift the meat on, he sure to get every plate and 
disli you will need iu lifting dinner, taking all at one 
load, thereby saving many steps; if you go to the 
pantry to sift meal or flour, grind the coffee while 
there; when the things are to fetch from the cellar, 
bring as many as possible at one load, and in many a 
little way like this we can manage to save ourselves 
trouble, time and steps, thus doing more work with 
only half the worry. 
Secondly, he economical; save all the scraps of 
bread, cold meat, potatoes, etc., and work them into 
desirable shapes for another meal; for instance, I 
shall tell you of two dishes we have had to-day, com¬ 
posed of scraps; the first we call Brown Betty.: 
crumb two tea-cups of stale bread, have ready two 
tea-cups of good tart apples chopped fine, butter your 
pudding dish, -and place a good layer of the crumbs on 
the bottom of it, then a layer of the apples, sprinkling 
them with sugar, and seasoning to taste, then another 
layer of crumbs, and another of apples, sugar and sea¬ 
soning, and half a cup of water, then more crumbs, 
place in a warm oven, turn a plate over it, and let it 
hake one hour; serve with pudding sauce. The other 
we call Potato Scone: take cold mashed potatoes, 
add a little cream, some salt and pepper, mix well, 
and place in a conical shape on a well-buttered dish, 
put in the oven, and let hake until a light brown. 
So many scraps are thrown away that would work 
over so nicely, and it makes me feel had for the ex¬ 
perience of the housewife when I see such things go 
to the swill-pail, or worse still, thrown on the yard ; I 
long to give them some of my planp, hut it wont, do 
to talk too much, especially to people who think them¬ 
selves as wise as you, and when I go to such houses I 
have to remember that I have “ two eyes and only one 
tongue,” therefore look, hut hold my tongue. 
And another hint. Young housekeepers should try 
to he neat; for what is more provoking than to have 
to come home to a slovenly house and a slovenly wife, 
with tattered, soiled, and draggled dress, unkempt hair, 
and no collar; what would he more apt to cool a 
loving husband’s affection than this same thing? 
Try to keep everything about the house bright and 
shining, spotless and pure; mind you, I say try, for 
how well we know that if there are little fingers to 
mark the walls, scratch the furniture, tarnish the win¬ 
dows, and get into everything generally; how well we 
know, I say, what a next to impossible task it seems 
to the worn mother to keep it anyway hut cluttered 
up and everything at sixes and sevens; show the 
children how papa wants things, and they will he 
more careful. Teach the household that there is a 
place for everything, and that everything must he in 
its place. Try to snatch a minute or two to brighten 
up before husband comes in, and see if you are not 
well repaid by a loving smile, if nothing more demon¬ 
strative. Ah, well, I know of a young wife and mother 
that is content to let things go as they will or can ; 
she has two little ones, and nothing hut her little light 
housework to do, hut she seems to he ever on the 
worry, always fretful and flurried, hut still never get¬ 
ting anything accomplished. How I pity her hus¬ 
band; he must get almost discouraged ! 
We always get breakfast over soou as possible, and 
then to the real work of the day. At night we set the 
breakfast table, grind coffee, get flour and meat in, 
ready for cooking; or, if we want chicken, kill it and 
have ready, just for frying, and then we soon finish the 
next morning, having nothing much to do. My space 
is all gone, so I must quit; may he I will write you 
again ere long. Carrie Lee. 
To Make Tough Beef Tender. —Put into the pot 
a trifle more water than will be finally needed. Set 
into the top of the cooking-pot a closely-fitting tin 
pail or pan, and fill it with cold water. If this gets 
boiling hot, dip out some and add hold water from 
time to time. Boil the meat until it gets so tender 
that the hones will droji out, even if it takes five or 
ten hours. The steam and aroma or flavor of the meat 
will he condensed on the bottom of the covering pan or 
pail of water and drop hack, and thus he retained. 
When thoroughly done, remove the cover and slowly 
simmer down thick enough to jelly when cold. Dip 
out the meat, remove the hones, place it in a pan, pour 
over it the boiled liquid, lay over it a large plate or 
inverted tin platter, and put on fifteen to thirty pounds’ 
weight. When cold it wall cut into nice slices, and if 
lean and fat or white meat he mixed it will he beauti¬ 
fully marbled. The juice will jelly and compact it 
firmly together, and you- will have nice juicy meat, 
good for breakfast, dinner or supper, and so tender that 
poor teeth can masticate it. 
Cleaning Stoves.— Stove lustre, when mixed with 
turpentine and applied in the usual manner, is blacker, 
more glossy, and more durable than when mixed with 
any other liquid. The turpentine prevents rust, and 
when put on an old rusty stove will make it looks as 
well as new. 
To Cement Wood to Glass. —Make a solution of 
isinglass in acetic acid so thick as to he solid when 
cold. Heat this and apply it. This had been tested 
by fastening the end of a glass tube to pine wood; the 
wood gave way sooner than the cement. 
Croup. —A lady correspondent, of the Maine Farmer 
says the following is an effective remedy for croup: 
“ Half a teaspoonful of pulverized alum in a little 
molasses. It is a simple remedy, almost always at 
hand, and one which seldom fails to give relief. If it 
should, repeat it after one hour.” 
