The grease should be such as has been well taken care of, viz., tried
before it became wormy or mouldy. The potash should be about the color
of pumice-stone. That which is red, makes dark soap, unfit for washing
clothes. Cut up the grease into pieces of two or three ounces, put
it into a tight barrel with the potash; then pour in two pailfuls of
rain or spring water. The soap will be soonest made by heating the
water, but it is just as sure to be good if made with cold water. Add
a pailful of soft water every day, until the barrel is half full, and
stir it well each day. A long stick with a cross piece at the lower
end, is convenient for the purpose. When the barrel is half full, add
no more water for a week or ten days, but continue to stir it daily.
After that, add a pailful a day, until the barrel is full. It is the
best way to keep soap three or four months before beginning to use it.
It spends more economically, and is less sharp to the hands. When half
of it has been used, put two pails of soft water to the rest, and stir
it up well, from the bottom. The lower half of a barrel of home-made
soap is always the strongest. Soft soap, made with clean grease and
good potash is of a light nankeen color, and is better for washing
flannels and white clothes than any other.
It is good economy to make soap, and it is so little work to make it
with potash, and the result is so sure, that no one need to be deterred
from it by the fear of trouble or ill-success.
=To make Soap with Ashes.=
The following method of making soap with ashes has been tried and
proved good.
Provide a leach cask, that is, one that is large at the top, and small
at the bottom. If this is not readily obtained, procure a hogshead that
will not leak, have the head taken out at one end, and set it, propped
forward a little, upon logs placed right and left, and high enough
from the ground to set a pail under the front side. There should be a
hole in the bottom, close to the front, with a tight plug in it. Lay
in two or three bricks around the plug hole, and across them some bits
of board, so as to reserve a space, and keep the ashes from packing
close against the plug hole,--also several bricks here and there over
the bottom with straw or brush laid on them. Then have the ashes put in
and pressed down, till the hogshead is very full. Scoop a hollow in the
centre in which to pour the water, and then fill it with cold _soft_
water, until it will absorb no more. The next day, see if the water
has settled away, if so, add more. When it is full, cover it up. After
three weeks, draw off the ley, and put it into the soap barrel. Then
pour into it twenty pounds of grease, of all kinds, tried and rough,
ham skins, and scraps, boiling hot. Stir it very thoroughly, and every
day. Have the hogshead filled again, and after three or four weeks draw
off the ley, which will, this time, be comparatively weak; fill up
the soap barrel, and continue to stir it daily for a week or two. The
first ley being very strong will completely eat up even the coarsest of
the grease, and after three or four months you will have a barrel of
excellent soap, fit for use.
In order to have strong ley the ashes should be of good wood. Walnut
and maple ashes are best for the purpose. If you wish to make the soap
immediately, the water for filling the leach should be nearly boiling,
and it can be drawn off the next day.
Leached ashes are useful to spread upon grass.
THE CARE OF MILK, AND MAKING BUTTER.
No branch of household economy brings a better reward than the making
of butter; and to one who takes an interest in domestic employments, it
soon becomes a pleasant occupation.
The following instructions are derived from the personal experience of
one of the most skilful dairy-women in New England; and by observing
them, the youthful house-keeper, hitherto unpractised in such
mysteries, will have the pleasure of furnishing her table with the
finest butter, the work of her own hands.
The first requisite is to have a good cow. One that has high hips,
short fore-legs and a large udder is to be preferred. The cream-colored
and the mouse-colored cows generally give a large quantity and of rich
quality. Her feeding should be faithfully attended to. She should have
a good pasture not far distant, or if this is impracticable, care must
be taken that she is not made to run--a piece of mischief frequently
practised. Give her a teacupful of salt once a week. Feed her once
a day with the waste from the kitchen, adding to it about a pint of
Indian meal. Give her the skimmed milk not wanted in the family. If
she does not readily drink it, teach her by keeping her a few days
without an ample supply of water. Take care that nothing is given her
which will injure the taste of the milk, such as turnips and parsnips.
Carrots are a fine vegetable for cows. Have her milked by a person
who understands the process, or she will not give it freely, and will
soon become dry. But the most abundant supply of the richest milk will
avail little, unless all the articles used in the care of it are kept
in perfect order. They should not be used for other purposes. Keep a
cloth for washing them only, and never wash them in the same water with
other dishes. After washing, every article, and the cloth with which
they are washed, must be scalded. Wash off thoroughly all the milk from
the pans, pail, strainer, churn, dasher, skimmer, spoons, &c., before
scalding them. If milk remains in them when scalded, the butter will be
injured, as may be supposed, from the fact that a cloth strainer, if
scalded a few times with milk in it, becomes yellow, and as stiff as if
it were starched.
To scald them the water must actually boil. Have a kettle of a size to
admit the pail and pans, and plunge all the articles into it; as, if
the water is only poured on, the edges of the pan and the ears of the
pail will not always be well scalded.
If a cloth strainer is used, it should be of thin, coarse linen. A
basin having a fine wire strainer is used by many persons. Tin pails
and pans are better than wood and earthen; because tin is more easily
kept sweet than wood, and the glazing upon brown earthen pans is
sometimes decomposed by sour milk.[17] Large wooden churns, worked by
dogs trained to the business, are used in large dairies; but those who
keep one or two cows only, will find a stone-ware churn best. No other
is so easily kept sweet. For keeping the cream, never use tin, but
always stone, cream-colored or fire-proof ware. For working butter,
keep a wooden bowl and ladle. This last article is seldom found in New
England, but always in the State of New York. Every butter-maker should
have it, as the warmth of the hand detracts from the sweetness of the
butter.
[17] About two years since four men, while making hay in a warm day,
drank buttermilk which had been kept in a jar of potter's ware, and
every one died immediately.
Have the milk closet on the coolest side of the house, or in the
dryest and coolest part of the cellar, and with a window in it covered
with wire-net or slats. Good butter cannot be made without a free
circulation of fresh air. Allow no drops of cream or milk to remain a
day on the shelves. Every inch of such a closet must be kept perfectly
clean.
Strain the milk as soon as it is brought in, and set it immediately in
its place. To remove milk after the cream has begun to rise, prevents
its rising freely. For the same reason the smallest quantity should not
be taken from a pan set for raising cream; therefore all that is wanted
for the day's use, must be set apart from the other pans. Those who
have ice through the summer, have a valuable aid in making good butter.
A piece as large as a peach, should be put into a pan containing three
quarts of milk, as soon as it is placed in the closet. The milk will
not sour as soon, and of course will afford more cream. Skim the cream
as soon as the milk has become _loppord_, which will, in hot weather,
be in about thirty hours. To do this, first pass the fore-finger round
the edge of the pan; (this is better than to use the skimmer, because
there is a hard, wiry edge of cream adhering to the pan, which if taken
off will injure the butter;) then take off the cream, clear as possible
from the milk.
In very hot weather, especially in August, which is the least favorable
month for making butter, a heaping spoonful of salt should be put into
a pailful of milk, after the portion for the ordinary family uses is
taken out; and at all seasons, fine salt should be put into the cream
from day to day, as it is gathered. The effect of this is excellent, in
keeping it sweet and giving a rich flavor to the butter.
The finest butter is made where the number of cows renders it necessary
to churn every day. The custom of churning once a week is not to be
tolerated. Cream that is kept seven days, unless it be in the coldest
weather, cannot be made into good butter. If you keep but one cow,
churn twice a week; and in dog-days, three times. Do it in the cool of
the morning. If the weather is warm, set the churn into a tub of cold
water; add ice if you have it, and put a piece also into the churn. Air
is necessary to make butter _come_; therefore, if the cream flies out
of the opening around the dasher, do not put any thing round to prevent
it. When the butter has come, continue the strokes of the dasher a few
minutes to separate all the little particles from the butter-milk. This
done, take it out into the wooden bowl with a ladle or skimmer. The
bowl and ladle should have boiling water poured on them when you first
begin to churn. After a few minutes it should be poured off, and cold
water be poured on them, and they should stand till you are ready to
use them. This is to prevent the butter from sticking to them.
Work the butter with the ladle, until the buttermilk ceases to come
out; then sprinkle it with clean sifted salt, as that which was put
into the cream will not be enough; work it in well, and taste it to see
if more should be added. Observation and experience must teach you how
much to use. Mould the butter with the ladle into balls or lumps of any
form you prefer; put it into a covered jar or tureen and set it in the
ice-house or cellar.
Butter is sweetest to be worked but once, and if all which you make is
used from week to week, it is sufficient, provided it comes hard; if
it is soft at first, it must be worked again the next morning. That
which is to be laid down for future use, or to be kept two or three
weeks, must be worked again after a day or two, and every particle of
buttermilk got out. Never work butter a third time.
From October to June, the best method of raising cream is to set the
pans for twelve hours in the milk closet, and then for five hours on
a stove, or a furnace having embers in it, where the milk will become
hot, _but not scald_; then return it to the closet, and after it is
cold, take off the cream, draining it very clear from the milk. Much
more cream will be obtained in this, than in the ordinary method; and
at least a quarter more butter will be secured from the same quantity
of milk. It also comes very quick--ten minutes' churning being often
sufficient. This is the method practised in Devonshire, England; and
the _clotted cream_, as it is there called, is carried up to the London
market; for it is not only good for butter, but also for coffee and
other uses. Care must be taken that the milk is not made too hot. If it
becomes so hot as almost to scald, the cream will have little skinny
flakes in it, which will be visible in the butter.
=A good Brine for keeping Butter.=
To two quarts of water, put one of clean fine salt, a pound of loaf
or crushed sugar, and a teaspoonful of saltpetre. When it has stood an
hour, in order that the salt and sugar may dissolve, strain it through
a flannel bag, and pour it over the butter. Less salt may be enough.
The object is to have as much as the water will take up.
=To keep Butter sweet a Year.=
Take care that the butter is made in the best manner, and the
buttermilk entirely worked out of it. Lay it in a white-oak firkin.
Make a strong brine of salt and water, and put it into another and
larger firkin, and set the one containing the butter into the one in
which the brine is. Let the brine come up very near to the top of the
butter firkin. Lay on the top of the butter a white bag with fine salt
in it, cover it close, and then put on the cover of the outside firkin.
ON MAKING CHEESE.
The articles used in making cheese should be kept sweet and clean as
in making butter. They should be scalded daily, and never be set away
until perfectly dry. The conveniences wanted are a large pine tub,
painted white inside; a cheese basket and a ladder, on which to set the
basket over the tub; two cheese-hoops, large or small, according to the
size of the dairy; two large square strainers of thin coarse linen; two
circular boards called _followers_; and a brass kettle large enough to
hold several pails of milk. Presses used are of various constructions.
The most convenient one has a lever and weight; and for making very
large cheeses, a windlass should be attached to the end of the lever.
=To make Cheese.=
Strain the night's milk into the tub; in the morning stir in the cream
(if you want rich cheese do not let any of it be taken off), and put a
part of the milk over a clear fire, in the brass kettle. Heat it enough
to make the milk which is still in the tub quite warm, but not hot;
pour it back into the tub, and strain in the morning's milk. Put in a
spoonful or two of rennet, stir it well, and let it stand half an hour
undisturbed. If the curd does not form well by that time put in more
rennet.
_To prepare rennet._ This is the stomach of a calf; and it is often the
case that a piece of curd (the last milk eaten by the calf) is found in
it. See if there is any thing inside which should be removed, and then
return the curd to its place, in the rennet; it is the best part of it.
Soak the rennet in a quart of water, then salt it and hang it up to dry
where the flies will not find it; keep the water in a jar or bottle.
There is a great difference in the strength of rennets; some will make
a thousand weight of cheese, while others will scarcely make fifty.
Experience alone will teach exactly how much to use.
When the curd is well formed, cut it in squares, making the knife go
down to the bottom of the tub at every stroke; let it stand fifteen
minutes for the whey to separate. Then break it up very gently, putting
the hand down through all parts. It should be done gently, or some of
the milk will be lost in the whey. This causes white whey; the greener
the whey, the richer the cheese. Lay the strainer on the top of the
curd, and dip off the whey that presses up through, until you have
dipped about a third of it. Put this immediately over the fire to heat.
When hot, but not boiling, pour it back upon the curd and then break
up the curd small, and as quickly as possible, with your hand; then
lay the strainer into the cheese basket, and pour the curd into it to
drain. When this is done, return it to the tub, salt it, put it again
into the strainer, and then into the cheese-hoop. Do not twist up the
strainer, but lay it over smooth; lay a follower upon it, put it into
the press, and press it tight. Let it remain two days, and increase the
pressure four or five times meanwhile, turning the cheese over each
time. If you make cheese every day, you will need two presses.
After this, turn the cheese out upon a shelf, in a dark closet or
room, secure from flies. Rub every day the side that has lain upon the
shelf, and turn it over. Rub it _all over_ with butter often. These
things must be done for six months. Butter made of _whey-cream_, is
generally used for this purpose. If cheese is rich, a strip of new
American cotton, as wide as the thickness of the cheese, should be
sewed tight around it, when first taken from the press. Without this,
it would soon melt out of shape. During the season, when flies are
about, rub cheese now and then with butter sprinkled with cayenne
pepper.
FOOD AND DRINKS FOR THE SICK, AND FOR INFANTS.
=Beef Tea.=
Cut a piece of lean, juicy beef into pieces an inch square, put them
into a wide-mouthed bottle and cork it tight. Set the bottle into a
kettle of cold water and boil it an hour and a half. This mode of
making beef tea concentrates the nourishment more than any other.
=Another= (furnished by a physician).
Take a piece of beef cut from the round; take off every particle of
fat, then cut it into pieces about an inch square and put into cold
water, in the proportion of a pint to the pound. After standing half
or three quarters of an hour, set it on the fire and boil it slowly
several hours. If the water boils away, add more cold water, so that
there will be a pint of tea for every pound of beef. Strain it, add
salt, and black pepper also if the case allows it.
=Another Way.=
Choose a lean and juicy piece of beef, the size of your hand; take off
all the fat; broil it only three or four minutes, on very hot coals.
Lay it in a porringer or bowl, sprinkle it with salt, and pour upon it
two or three gills of boiling water; then cut it into small pieces, as
it lies in the water. Cover it close, and let it stand where it will
keep hot but not boil. It is fit for use in half an hour, and does well
where such nourishment is wanted immediately.
This is more agreeable to the taste than tea made by either of the two
preceding rules, but it is not as good for a patient who is so sick as
to take but very little nourishment at once.
=Chicken Broth.=
If the weather is warm, use but half a chicken to make broth for one
person. If it is cool take a whole one, as the broth will keep several
days. Pull off the skin (because there is a good deal of oil in it)
and allow two quarts of water for a chicken. Skim it in the neatest
manner when it begins to boil. Put in a large spoonful of rice, and a
teaspoonful of salt, and boil it slowly two hours. If onion and parsley
are to be added, cut them fine; put in the onion when the broth has
boiled an hour, and the parsley five minutes before it is served.
It is the best way to boil the chicken the day before it is wanted, and
the next day take off the fat, add the rice, &c., and boil it another
hour.
=Chicken Tea.=
Take a leg and thigh of a chicken, lay it into a pint of cold water,
and set it on the fire till it boils up long enough for you to skim it.
Put in a little salt.
=Chicken Panada.=
Boil a young chicken half an hour in a quart of water. Then remove the
skin, cut off the white meat, and when cold, put it into a mortar with
a spoonful or two of the water in which it was boiled, and pound it to
a paste. Season it with salt, and a very little nutmeg; add a little
more of the water, and boil it up three or four minutes. It should be
of such a consistency that it can be drank, though rather thick.
The bones which remain may be returned to the water in which the
chicken was boiled; and with the addition of rice, a good broth be made
of it.
=Calf's foot Broth.=
Boil two feet in three quarts of water, until it is wasted to three
pints. Strain it, and set it aside in a cool place. When cold, take off
the fat. Heat a little at a time as it is wanted, and add salt, nutmeg,
and, if approved, a spoonful of good wine.
=Wine Whey.=
To a pint of milk put two glasses of wine; mix it, and let it stand
twelve minutes, then strain it through a muslin bag or a very fine
sieve. Sweeten it with loaf sugar.
If it is necessary to have the whey weaker, put a little hot water to
the milk.
=Barley Water.=
Boil an ounce of pearl barley a few minutes to cleanse it, pour off the
water, and put a quart of cold water and a little salt to it. Simmer it
an hour.
=Arrow-root.=
The best kinds of arrow-root are the Jamaica and Bermuda.
Wet a large teaspoonful in a little cold water, with half a teaspoonful
of salt; pour on it half a pint of boiling water, stirring it very
fast. Then set it where it will just boil up for one minute. Sweeten
it, and add milk if it is allowed. For a drink, make it very thin, and
put in lemon juice and sugar.
=Pearl Sago, and Tapioca.=
The directions, page 82 are appropriate for the preparation of these
articles for invalids.
=Milk Porridge.=
Put to half a pint of boiling water, two teaspoonfuls of flour wet
smooth in cold water, and add salt. Then put in half a pint of milk,
stir it well, and let it boil up again. Vary the proportions of milk
and water as the case requires. Made wholly with milk it is a very
hearty dish.
=Oatmeal Gruel.=
Put two large spoonfuls of oatmeal, wet in cold water, into three pints
of boiling water; boil it gently half an hour, skim it, add a little
salt, sugar, and nutmeg. If raisins are also used, a large teacupful
stoned, will be enough. But gruel with raisins should be boiled longer
than without.
=Ground Rice Gruel.=
Rub a heaping teaspoonful of ground rice in a small quantity of cold
water, and stir it into half a pint of boiling water; add a little
salt, and let it boil up half a minute. If milk is allowed, it is an
improvement to make the gruel with equal parts of milk and water.
=Indian Meal Gruel.=
This is made in the same way as the ground rice, but requires much
longer boiling. It should never be boiled less than half an hour, and
an hour is much better. The white froth that rises upon the top should
never be skimmed off, as it is the most nutritious part of the gruel.
Nutmeg, sugar, and a spoonful of cream may be added, if approved.
=Panada.=
Set a saucepan with three gills of water upon the fire, add one glass
of white wine, a little loaf sugar, and a very little nutmeg, and
grated lemon. Meanwhile, grate some white bread, and the moment the
mixture boils, put in the bread, keeping it still on the fire. Let it
boil fast, and when of a thickness just to allow of drinking it, set it
off.
=A Nutritious Jelly.=
Take of rice, sago, pearl barley, and hartshorn shavings, each an
ounce; add three pints of water, simmer it till reduced to one, and
then strain it. When cold, it will be a jelly, to be given dissolved in
broth, milk, or wine, as directed by the physician.
=Caudle.=
Into a pint of thin rice gruel put, while it is boiling hot, a mixture
made of the yolk of an egg, beaten well with sugar, a large spoonful of
cold water, a glass of wine, and some nutmeg. It should be stirred in
by degrees.
=Rennet Whey.=
Wash a piece of rennet an inch or two square, and lay it into half a
gill of warm water for an hour. Warm a pint of milk, but do not make it
hot; put it into a shallow dish, and stir the rennet-water into it. Let
it stand undisturbed half an hour, then cut it across many times with
a knife, and after an hour pour off the whey. Let the dish then remain
several hours undisturbed, and more whey will be formed.
In cases of great debility of the stomach, consequent upon
inflammation, or attended with it, rennet whey will be retained when
every thing else is rejected, and may be given, a teaspoonful at the
time, very often, in order to prepare the stomach to receive and retain
nourishment.
=Apple Tea.=
Roast sour apples and pour boiling water upon them. Let them stand till
the water is cold.
=Another.=
Pare and slice thin three or four pleasant sour apples, pour a pint
of boiling water on them, and boil them six or eight minutes. Let
them stand till they are cold, then pour or strain off the water, and
sweeten it a little, unless the invalid prefers it without. It is a
refreshing drink.
=A Refreshing Draught in a Fever.=
Wash a few sprigs of sage, burnet, balm, and sorrel, and put them into
a jug with half a sliced lemon. Pour in three pints of boiling water,
sweeten it, and stop it close.
=Crust Coffee.=
Take a large crust of bread; brown is to be preferred, but Graham bread
will answer. Dry it in the toaster, and at last almost burn both sides;
lay it in a saucepan and pour boiling water on it; boil it up a minute
or two, and then strain off the coffee; return it to the saucepan with
a little milk or cream, and boil it up again. It should be made strong
enough to look like real coffee, of which it is a very good imitation
when well made.
=Toast Water.=
Toast a crust of white bread very brown without burning it, and put it
into cold water. After an hour, the water will be a refreshing drink;
and it is sometimes grateful to the stomach when no other can be taken.
=Herb Drinks.=
Herb drinks should be made with boiling water in an earthen pitcher or
tea-pot, and be drank after standing a few minutes without boiling.
Long steeping makes them insipid and disagreeable.
All food and drink for the sick should be prepared with careful
attention and perfect neatness, and should be served in as inviting a
manner as possible. The appetite of an invalid is excited or checked by
things that escape the observation of a person in health.
=Food for a Young Infant.=