fire is not too hot, nor too low—that your oven is not too hot, nor
too cold—that your bread is not too much raised, nor too little; that
your mixtures have not too much, nor too little of any particular
ingredient.—It is _care, care, watch, watch_, that alone can secure
the art of cooking well. And there are few persons whose business it
is to cook, who view their duty on this subject in a proper light. To
illustrate my meaning, I will give an example. The domestic of a family
in which I have resided, was remarkable for always having good bread,
at all seasons, even when the hot weather spoiled all other yeast but
hers.
And such light, such sweet, such beautiful looking bread rarely is
seen. Now the amount of pleasure and comfort given to this family by
this one thing, few would appreciate. The master of the house always
seemed to rejoice at every new baking, in seeing his family so well
supplied. His wife always seemed pleased when her husband, children,
and visitors praised the bread, and every member of the family, at
every meal, felt a sort of satisfaction every time they looked at the
bread plate. Now multiply these comfortable feelings at each meal, by
the number of all the family, and then by the number of meals in a
year, and what a large amount of enjoyment was thus made, simply by
taking care always to have good bread! Change this bread to merely
tolerable bread, and how much enjoyment would be lost!—Turn it to heavy
and sour bread, and then how much discomfort would take the place of
enjoyment!
Now is it not God who gives us all the common comforts of life, and
do we not thank and praise him for them? And is it not worthy the aim
of his creatures to follow his example, in contributing to the daily
enjoyment of a family? And ought we not to dignify and ennoble all the
common cares of life, by regarding ourselves, as co-workers with God in
providing for the comfort and enjoyment of his creatures?
This view of the subject teaches us the true meaning of the direction:
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or _whatever_ ye do, do all _to
the glory of God_.” Now the glory of God consists in that _perfect
benevolence_ of his character, which leads him always to find pleasure
in providing for the comfort, and caring for the happiness of his
creatures. And the more happiness is made, the more his glory is
promoted. And the more we labour to promote the comfort and enjoyment
of others, the more we are becoming like him, and are promoting his
glory. Thus, in the humblest of all positions, every one of us can do
something to add to the stock of happiness, which exhibits the glory of
God, as the author of all being, and the source of all enjoyment.
Now it is much to be lamented, that people should fancy that there are
some particular ways of doing good, that are especially acceptable to
God. This is not so. It is the _temper of mind_, that God looks at and
approves, and not the particular thing done.—A woman may go about and
visit the poor, and give money to send education and the gospel to
others, with very little self-denial, and perhaps from the mere love of
the credit thus gained. And in this case, in God’s sight, the offering
is of little value. But the domestic, who in her humblest employments,
goes about trying to do every thing in the best manner, aiming thus to
serve God, by promoting the comfort of his creatures—she is the one who
receives his approving smile—she is the one who, _whatever_ she does,
is doing all “for the glory of God.” I wish all who read this would
thus regard their daily pursuits in the kitchen, and then they will not
feel, as too many in humble circumstances are apt to do, that they have
no way in which they can serve God, or do much good in the world. None
of us can tell who does the most, or the least good. God appoints each
one of us our lot, and requires all to do what they can, to complete
the great sum of enjoyment, which He designs to secure. And the great
thing for each to aim at is, not to have _some great thing_ to do, but
to possess that benevolent and submissive temper of mind that will
rejoice _to do_ good, wherever God appoints the place.
In the first of Corinthians, you will find a chapter in which
“_charity_” is described. Now when the Bible was translated from
the Greek 200 years ago, this word “charity” meant what the word
_benevolence_ means now, and we should so understand it. In this
chapter you find it thus written: “And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I
have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity,
(that is, _benevolence_,) I am nothing. And though I bestow _all my
goods to feed the poor_, and though I give my body to be burned, and
have not charity—it profiteth me nothing.”
Now this is the very thing I have been explaining. A person may be the
most learned person in the world, and may give all he has to feed the
poor, and even suffer martyrdom for the sake of religion, and yet be
destitute of that temper of _true benevolence_ that makes him like God.
All these _great things_ may be done from a mere love of show, or the
desire of applause, and then they are nothing in the sight of God.
But that patient, humble, kind, gentle, benevolent _temper of mind_,
that loves to serve God and do good to man, in all circumstances, and
at all times, this is precious in the sight of God. And this temper of
mind can be cherished and exhibited, as much in the kitchen as it can
in the pulpit.—It can be shown, as much in providing food for a family,
as it can in those schemes of benevolence which send missionaries and
Bibles to heathen lands.
And though it is the duty of all Christians to feel an interest in the
spread of that blessed religion, which brings so much hope and comfort
to us, and though we ought all of us to contribute something from our
stock for this merciful and heavenly object, yet we ought to feel that
this is only _one_ way of showing our benevolent feelings, and that we
can have but a few chances of this kind in a year. But it is in _every
day life_ that we can _all the time_ be showing forth the temper of
benevolence. And here it is that Jesus Christ looks to see, whether
or not, we are gaining that self-denying, benevolent, and submissive
spirit, that alone can prepare us for His heavenly kingdom.
I will now point out some particulars in your every day duties, that
demand special attention.
There is no one article of cooking, that is so important as _good
bread_, for this is the chief dependence for food in most families, and
the health of a family very much depends upon it. Poor bread is always
unhealthy. There are three things that are requisite to secure good
bread, viz. _good flour_, _good yeast_, and _good care_. The best kind
of flour has a very white or a yellowish tinge, and the poorest looks
as if ashes were mixed with it. Good flour too packs closely, and does
not fly about easily. _Grown_ flour makes bread that _runs_, and will
not rise well. It is best always to try flour in one or two batches,
before getting a whole barrel.
Many persons secure good yeast the year round, by making yeast cakes.
There are others who have tried them and do not like them. These are
made by mixing Indian meal in a quart or two of the best yeast, till it
is thick enough to work up into round cakes about three quarters of an
inch thick, and two or three inches in diameter. These are dried in the
sun, or what is better, in a drying wind. They are then kept in a bag,
in a place where it is not damp, and where they will not freeze.
In using them, take one cake for a large batch of bread, and soak it in
milk and water through the night, and then use it like common yeast.
This yeast is good for hot weather when yeast spoils so often. The best
time for making yeast cakes is in May and October, and they will keep
six months or more. Success all depends on having the best of yeast for
making the cakes.
Those who have most success in making bread, are very particular in
heating their oven exactly right. For this purpose they have oven
wood kept in a pile by itself, and the sticks of nearly equal size.
They then find out by trial, how many sticks heat the oven just right.
Afterwards, they always use this number, and thus they are saved from
much watching, and from many mistakes in baking.
Great care is needful also to put the bread in at just the _right
time_. If the bread does not stand to rise long enough, it is too
solid, either for health, or pleasure in eating. If it stands too long,
it loses much of its sweetness, even if it does not become sour. A
great deal of light and nice looking bread is not good, because it has
lost its sweetness by being raised too much. The exactly right notch
can only be found by trying, and after a while a cook will learn to
know by the _looks_ of the dough when it is just right.
Always smell of the dough, and if there is the least sourness, knead
some dissolved pearlash in, and it will remove it. Nothing is worse
than sour bread, and it can always be remedied by pearlash. To discover
sourness, open a place suddenly, and smell quickly before the gas
escapes.
The following is the mode of making yeast and bread, practised by the
domestic I have lived with, who makes as good bread as I ever saw.
For _yeast_, take a handful of hops, boil them in two quarts of water
twenty minutes, strain off and mix in about three pints of flour,
together with half a pint of distillery yeast, or a pint and a half of
homemade yeast. Some molasses or sugar added, hides the bitter taste of
the yeast, that sometimes is perceived in bread.
For _bread_, take a peck of flour, sift it, make a hole in the centre,
and put in half a pint of distillery yeast, or nearly a pint of
homemade yeast. Then wet up the flour with _warm milk_. The bread must
then be kneaded for half an hour, until it is so thick and well mixed
as to cleave from the hands without sticking at all. Raise it till it
has cracks on the top and looks light and feathery. If sour at all,
knead in a great spoonful of pearlash dissolved in a teacupful of milk.
When the bread is baked, set the loaves on their ends, so that the
bottom may not steam, and cover it with a cloth. Some persons dampen
the cloth to make the crust soft. Some persons put salt in bread,
others do not. When bread is not wet with milk it needs salt, and a bit
of butter is also an improvement.
In _cooking vegetables_, much depends upon boiling them the right
length of time. This is especially the case with potatoes, which next
after bread are the most important item in family cooking. Success in
boiling potatoes well, depends almost entirely on taking them out of
the water _just as soon as they are done_ so as to be soft. If they
remain after this point, they become water soaked. Therefore select the
potatoes all nearly of one size, and try them often with a fork. As
soon as it runs in easily, pour off the water, and hang them where they
will be kept hot, keeping the cover off, to let off the steam. Even
when potatoes are cooked in steam, they become water soaked, if they
are kept steaming after they are cooked.
A very nice way to cook potatoes for a morning dish, is to pare them
raw, and cut them in thin slices into a small quantity of boiling
water, so that when they are cooked, most of the water will be
evaporated. Then salt them and add some cream. If no cream is at hand,
use some butter. Cold boiled potatoes are very nice cut in slices, and
fried on a griddle in drippings. The common way of roasting potatoes is
improved by peeling them when raw, and then roasting them in a Dutch
oven or cooking stove. It gives the outside a fine crisp, of which many
are fond.
In boiling all vegetables, first put salt in the water, say a great
spoonful to a gallon. It is important to select all of a similar size
that all may cook alike. Never let your pot stop boiling till they are
done, as it makes them water soaked.
The following may serve as some guide as to time for boiling. Potatoes
require from half to three quarters of an hour, according to the size.
Cabbage requires from an hour and a half to two hours; turnips one
hour; carrots one hour; if quite old still more time; parsnips one hour
and a half; squash, when cut up, half an hour; pumpkins cut up one
hour; green corn one hour; beets from two to three hours; Lima beans
one hour; peas three quarters of an hour; if old, sugar and a little
pearlash improve them; onions three quarters of an hour; asparagus half
an hour; rice three quarters of an hour, pour off the water in _thirty_
minutes and add some milk, and be sure and salt it enough. Hommony
requires two quarts of water to one quart of hommony, and it must be
boiled five hours. Eggs require three minutes when there are few eggs
and much water, and four or five minutes when there are many eggs and
little water. Eggs cook, in a tin boiler, in five or six minutes after
the boiling water is poured on them, if the boiler is first scalded.
Vegetables boil much sooner when young and tender, and judgment must be
used in varying time. Always try all vegetables with a fork to see when
they are done.
Coffee should boil not more than ten minutes. In making tea, first
scald the teapot, then put in one teaspoonful of tea for each person,
and be sure that the water boils when poured on. Tea is injured by
standing long to draw.
In preparing vegetables for the table, always have the dishes to
receive them warmed, and never let any water remain in the bottom of
the dish, and always wipe the edge of the dish clean with a damp cloth
before carrying it to the table. Always contrive to have vegetables hot
when carried to the table. If potatoes are old and watery, peel them
before boiling; the moment they are done, pour off the water and hang
them to dry a few minutes. Then empty them into a clean brown towel and
shake them about in it. This makes them dry and mealy, as the towel
absorbs much moisture from them. Potatoes are improved by mashing,
putting in milk and butter and then baking them. Turnips when old and
not sweet, are very much improved by mashing and squeezing the water
out, and then adding a little white sugar. Be sure and squeeze the
water thoroughly out of cabbage. Put your vegetables in nice order in
the dishes, and set them on the table in a regular way.
In regard to cooking meats, very much depends, in roasting, on the
size of the fire, on the heat of the weather, and on whether the meat
is fresh killed or not; for meat cooks faster in warm than in cold
weather, and fresh killed meat is longer cooking than meat that has
been kept. Of course much depends on the care and judgment of a cook,
but as some calculation must be made beforehand, as to how much time
each article will require, the following may be of service as a guide.
Boil a chicken twenty-five minutes; a hen forty minutes; a small turkey
an hour and a half; a large one two hours; a leg of mutton of nine lbs.
two hours and a half; a neck two hours; a piece of lamb weighing five
lbs. two hours; a half round of salt beef three hours; pickled pork,
soak six hours, and boil a piece weighing seven or eight lbs. three
hours and a half. Boil two pounds of bacon one hour and a half. To cook
ham, soak it through the night, then put it in cold water, heat it
slowly for an hour, then let it simmer gently four or five hours, if it
weighs as much as fifteen pounds. Soak tongues over night, put them in
cold water and boil them slowly four or five hours. Try with a fork to
see when they are done.
All boiling of meats should be done by _simmering_, for a galloping
boil takes out both sweetness and tenderness. Leaving cooked meat in
the water lessens its flavour and sweetness.
_Roasting_ may be regulated somewhat by the following directions. Roast
a sirloin of fifteen lbs. three hours and a half. Ribs of beef the same.
_Mutton_ is very much improved by long keeping, and all meat is better
when not fresh killed. Roast a leg of mutton of eight lbs. two hours;
_the chine_, or _saddle_ weighing ten lbs. two and a half hours; a
shoulder of seven lbs. one and a half hours; a loin, one and three
quarter hours; the breast one hour and fifteen minutes; a leg and part
of the loin weighing fifteen lbs. three and a half.
_Veal._ Roast the fillet weighing sixteen lbs. five hours; a stuffed
loin three hours; a shoulder three hours; a neck two hours; the breast
two hours.
_Lamb._ Hind quarter of eight lbs. one and three quarter hours; fore
quarter of ten lbs. two hours; a leg of five lbs. one and a half hours;
a shoulder one hour; ribs one and a quarter; neck one hour; breast
three quarters of an hour.
_Pork._ Leg of eight lbs. three hours; sparerib of nine lbs. three
hours; a thin sparerib one and a quarter; a loin of five lbs. two
hours. A three weeks old pig one and three quarter hours.
_Fowls._ A turkey—let it warm for half an hour, then roast a large
one three hours, a middle size two hours; a small one, one and a half
hours. A large hen one and a quarter hours; a middle size hen one hour;
small chicken forty minutes. A goose, from one and a half, to one and
three quarters.
A duck from one half to three quarters of an hour. The more you baste
in roasting the more you improve the flavour of the meat.
In _broiling_, cut the slices three quarters of an inch thick. If cut
thicker they brown too much before the inside is cooked. Broiling is
best, done quick, and eaten soon.
A cook has great opportunities for practising economy. For this end
she should visit the cellar and pantry every day, to see that all the
food is safely preserved, and that all spoilt articles are removed.
She should save all small bits of butter, all drippings that can be
used in cooking, and all grease that can be used for soap. She should
preserve all good bits of bread, which can, when dry, be boiled in
water or milk, to eat with butter and sugar—a favourite dish for
children. Dry bread is also good for rusk puddings, and for stuffings.
Always use the dry bread before it becomes mouldy.
A cook also should practise economy in the use of fuel. Domestics are
very apt to burn out far more fuel than is needful to keep themselves
comfortable, or to do the cooking properly. This is very wrong, for
we have no right to waste even our own things, far less to waste what
belongs to another.
Remember that when our Saviour had power, by one word, to supply five
thousand with bread, still he commanded his disciples, “Gather up the
fragments, that nothing be lost.” This was done for the instruction
of all who have the charge of food, or any of the bounties of his
providence. Remember then, that in taking care of fragments of food you
are following the example of him who thinks nothing is too small for
his care and attention. In hot weather be careful always to cover meat
from the flies. In preserving fresh meat, cut out all kernels, and fill
the holes with salt, then rub salt all over. Always keep cheese covered
closely. Cake, bread and cheese are best kept in tin boxes with tight
covers.
The grand maxim for kitchen work, as well as all other work is, “A
place for every thing, and every thing in its place.” Much is gained
by forming a habit of putting up things and cleaning things as fast as
they are used. You will see some domestics get a kitchen in fine order,
and in a couple of hours every thing will be in disorder again. This is
because, when they make a slop they do not wipe it, when they dirty the
hearth they do not sweep it, when they use articles they never put them
in their places. Instead of this a neat and orderly person not only
puts things in order, but _keeps_ them so.
I have heard some housekeepers express the opinion that it was out of
the question to get a domestic that was neat and orderly, and yet good
tempered. It seems to be taken for granted that neat habits and a
sharp temper go together.
Now this is owing to the fact, that when persons are neat and orderly,
it troubles them far more than it does untidy persons, to have any
matters of theirs disarranged, and so they gradually acquire a habit of
fretting, or scolding.
This ought to be carefully avoided, and I hope all who read this will
try and see if there cannot be _at least a few_, who can be neat,
orderly, and yet good tempered domestics, so that it will not be said
of them, as I have often heard of others, “Yes, she is very neat and
orderly, but her temper is as sharp as a steel-trap.”
LETTER XVII.
On setting tables. Washing and ironing, and other house work.
My Friends:
Those who are good housekeepers are generally very desirous to have
their tables set neatly, and in a proper manner. Few things are
more annoying to such persons, than to see the table set askew, the
table cloth tumbled and put on awry, the knives, tumblers, plates,
and dishes put on without any order; the pitchers soiled outside
and in, the butter pitched on the plate without any care, the bread
cut with a mixture of junks and thin slices and thrown on the plate
carelessly, and all other matters in similar disorder. Nothing will
give more satisfaction to employers than carefulness and order in this
particular. The following rules will serve as a guide in this duty.
_Rules for setting Tables._
1. Lay the table rug _square_ with the room; the _right side up_, and
smooth and even.
2. Set the table square with the room, and see that the leaves and
legs are properly fixed, so that all will stand firm, and then put on
the table cloth smooth and even, so that the creases will run straight
across the table.
3. _For breakfast and tea_, set the waiter on _square_, put the cups
and saucers in front, and the sugar and slop bowls, and cream cup the
back side. Put a sugar spoon, or tongs, by the sugar bowl. Then set the
plates around the table at regular distances with a knife in front, and
a napkin on one side and a cup mat the back side of it. Put mats for
dishes of food in a regular manner, and set these dishes on, square and
orderly. Set the tea or coffee either on the waiter, or on a mat at the
right hand.
4. _For dinner_, set the caster exactly in the middle of the table, and
put the salts at two oblique corners of the table between two large
spoons crossed. If more spoons are needed lay them each side the
caster. Lay the salt spoons across the salt dishes, and the mustard
spoon beside its cup. Place the knives and forks at regular distances,
so that the knife will be at the right hand and the fork at the left.
Place a tumbler and napkin so that they will be at the right hand side
of each plate. In cool weather, set the plates to warm till dinner is
ready. Place the two largest mats opposite the master and mistress of
the family, and the others in regular order. Put the two principal
dishes on these largest mats. Set the bread on a side table, or with a
fork lay a piece on the napkin by each plate.
_On clearing Tables._
Always wipe the salt spoons and lay them beside the salt dishes in the
cupboard. Also cleanse the mustard spoon. Fold the napkins neatly and
lay them up in good order. When all the dishes are removed, fold up the
table cloth so that it shall double in the same creases as were ironed
in, and lay it away smoothly.
_On waiting at Table._
Always have a clean apron on, and your hands clean, and your hair in
order, when waiting on table. Stand on the left side of the lady of the
house, and always go to the left side of a person waited on.
In removing covers, be careful to turn them wrong side up before
bearing them away, so as not to spill the steam on the table cloth, or
on the dresses of those at table. In pouring out water, never fill the
tumbler higher than an inch from the top. It is not considered good
manners when waiting on table, to address persons at table, or join in
the conversation at all, unless you are addressed by persons at the
table.
_On Washing and Ironing._
Success in washing well, depends very much on the abundant use of
water, and it is very important to employers, who are anxious to have
their clothes well washed, that they provide easy modes of getting
water and of heating it. In the work of mine on Domestic Economy,
which I have before alluded to, is a plan by which, at a trifling
expense, water can be raised, conducted about, and heated with far less
labor than is commonly used.
_Common mode of Washing._