quantity and kind of food which is put into the body is unquestionably
the greatest factor in maintaining a proper balance between its waste
and repair, its income and outgo of energy, it is necessary to take a
common-sense view of all the circumstances of each individual case: to
make sure that there is no organ of the body whose functions are
improperly performed; to avoid alike the temptation, on the one hand,
to decreased activity, and, on the other, the tendency to
over-exertion; to lead a well-balanced and hygienic life; and to
practise, not only with regard to the pleasures of the table, but in
everything that pertains to both physical and mental health, that wise
choice and accustomed self control that are the mark of the highest
type of humanity.
* * * * *
When thou dost tell another's jest, therein
Omit the oaths, which true wit cannot need:
Pick out of tales the mirth, but not the sin.
He pares his apple that will cleanly feed.
--_George Herbert._
HOME IDEAS
AND
ECONOMIES
Contributions to this department will be gladly received. Accepted
items will be paid for at reasonable rates.
A Handy Laundry Bag
A convenient laundry bag for use in each sleeping apartment is easily
made of a square piece of stout material of desired size, hemmed round
the edge, and having a two-inch strap of the material securely sewed
to each corner.
When the four straps are slipped over a closet hook, a handy bag is
formed, easily accessible at four different places, and easily emptied
of every article by simply dropping one of the corners. Such bags are
pretty, made in colors to correspond with the room in which they are
used. When desiring to carry the soiled clothes to the laundry in the
receptacle in which they are gathered, these square bags will be found
much easier to handle than the long ones.
Assisting Memory
One of the great helps in my housekeeping is a small blackboard on my
kitchen wall.
Any special plan, anything about the house that I discover requires
attention, or any list of materials desired, are noted on this board.
I then dismiss the matter from my mind. Each morning I look it over
carefully, erasing anything that has been disposed of or passed by,
place on it any new record necessary, and note the special duties of
the day or week. In this way I am reminded of the many duties of my
housekeeping without being unduly burdened with them.
If more conscientious housewives would try this plan, I think there
would be fewer nervous women. It is the carrying of the multitudinous
duties of housekeeping in the memory long before they are actually
performed that proves so burdensome.
An Improvised Coat Closet
In a house having no hall or place to hang the coats and hats in
common use, I recently saw a very clever improvised closet. The frame
was made of wood and stained oak; it was about five feet high, and
fitted into a corner back of the dining-room door, being about four
feet across the front and three feet deep. Over this frame green
burlap was tacked smoothly with fancy brass-headed nails. The entire
front opened out like a door. The top was covered to make it
dust-proof, and a piece of stout canvas formed the floor. Around the
inside stout cleats were attached to the framework, into which hooks
were placed for the clothing.
In another house similarly restricted one corner of the dining-room
was made equally convenient, but not so well protected from the dust,
by placing on the wall several racks for the clothing. To hide this a
large screen was placed about it, also having hooks upon the back.
Neither arrangement in any way disfigured the room, and a great deal
of running up and down stairs was saved. A. M. A.
Pickles Without Heat
Pack sound, clean vegetables in a stone jar, a layer of vegetables and
salt; do not be sparing with the salt. Let these remain at least two
days. Rinse _well_ in cold water. Press out carefully all the water.
Cover with vinegar, let stand over night, then press this vinegar out.
Put the vegetables in a jar and pour over it the following: Two quarts
good cider vinegar, three pounds brown sugar (light), a good handful,
each, of whole cloves and cinnamon bark, one-half pound celery seed,
one-half ounce tumeric, one-eighth pound ground mustard, one-half
pound white mustard seed. Dissolve sugar, mustard and tumeric well,
pour over vegetables, let stand over a week before beginning to eat.
Cabbage, onions and cucumbers are the vegetables used. Be sure the
cabbage is white and firm; split the cucumbers and slice the onions.
This is not heated or cooked.
Be sure the seasoned vinegar covers the vegetables. S. J. E.
* * * * *
I find lard pails very convenient receptacles for dry supplies like
rice, beans, etc. I choose those whose covers come off easily, and
paste paper, on which the name of the contents is written, on each
one. The pails are so much easier to handle than the glass jars, and
they are also less apt to become broken.
Many people do not seem to know of the effectiveness of banana skins
in cleaning tan leather suit cases and similar articles. Rub the
leather well with the inside of the skin, then wipe off any excess of
moisture with a dry cloth, finishing with a good polishing with the
same.
I had read of kerosene being a splendid remedy for burns, but had
never tried it. A short time ago, however, I found the soda can empty
when most needed, and had to resort to the kerosene. On immersing my
finger in the liquid, so that the burned portion was submerged, I
found the pain quickly disappeared. Not a sign of a blister arose, and
the burn healed much more quickly than those treated in the other way
had done. Now we use kerosene exclusively for this purpose.
C. F. S.
* * * * *
In these days of high prices, when home-makers are striving to feed
their families well, at as low cost as possible, it is often the
saving of little things that keeps down the provision bill. One should
know how to combine left overs so they may realize the best results
both in the amount of money saved and the amount of nourishment given.
Save the liquor in which a ham has been cooked. The fat from the top
may be used for sautéing potatoes or pressed sliced cereals, or with
scrambled eggs, and lends a delicious flavor when so used. The cooled
liquor forms a "jelly" rich in extractives. There are frequently
pieces of bread left that are in good condition. These pieces of
bread, also left-over buttered toast, may be used to thicken pea soup;
and the bone from the ham, cracked so that the marrow may slip out,
and also the "jelly" from the cold ham liquor may be used to flavor
the soup. If the ham is very salt, care must be taken not to add too
much "jelly." It is best to add the "jelly" about one-half an hour
before the soup is done.
* * * * *
Some exquisite centerpieces from outdoor flowers are made of marsh
marigolds and ferns, or buttercups and ferns, in cut glass or carved
Parian marble; of violets, purple and white, in a silver bowl, and
apple blossoms, in polished copper.
Following is a dessert recipe much enjoyed in my own family:
Rhubarb Sponge
Clean and cut in one-half inch pieces one pound of rose rhubarb. Do
not remove the skin. Stew until quite tender in one-fourth a cup of
boiling water, just enough to start the steam. Soften one ounce of
granulated gelatine in one-third a cup of cold water. Strain the
cooked rhubarb, pressing out all the juice, and add enough boiling
water, if necessary, to make three cups. Mix one and three-fourths
cups of sugar and one-half a teaspoonful of ground ginger. Stir in the
rhubarb juice, and add to the gelatine, stirring until the gelatine
and sugar are dissolved. Add the grated rind and strained juice of one
lemon and set the mixture to chill. When it begins to thicken, add the
stiff-beaten whites of three eggs and beat till stiff. Mold. Serve
with beaten and sweetened cream. Cut nuts or macaroon crumbs may be
passed with this dessert. M. T. R.
* * * * *
Tempting a Delicate Child to Eat
Every mother knows how hard it is to get children to eat at times,
especially when they first begin to take solid foods, or when they are
convalescent, while there are some children who seem to have a natural
and persistent aversion toward whatever is nourishing and particularly
good for them. Mothers are sometimes at their wits' end to know what
to prepare, and almost sick with discouragement when wholesome,
necessary foods are persistently refused.
Sometimes a little ingenuity and an appeal to the child's imagination
or eye will induce him to eat a good-sized meal when, at first, he
rejected everything.
There are many simple ways of doing this, and the mother will find any
number of her own by experimenting.
It is an old custom to cut a slice of bread into slips, naming them
for members of the family or friends, but it is a procedure which
seems to fascinate most little ones and make the bread more palatable.
They get so interested in the various characters, represented by the
slips of bread, that it disappears before they realize it.
Slices of bread and butter can be cut into various shapes, such as
diamonds, squares, circles, etc., also to represent animals, dogs,
cats and horses. The shapes may be crude and mystifying to behold, but
children are not critical, and generally accept these representations
with approval and credulity.
Often quite a good-sized meal can be coaxed down by putting it into
the doll's dishes, filling the tiny cups with milk and putting little
squares of bread on the small plates. One child was known to eat a
good-sized meal in this way when he absolutely refused the food in
other form.
Another way is to provide a pretty china plate with a picture on it,
and tell the child to eat the contents so that he will see the
picture.
Sometimes an interesting story can be told--with the proviso that the
child "eat his dinner" or the mother will not tell the story. He will
get interested in the story and forget how much he is eating until it
is all gone.
One little boy persistently refused rice, which the physician had
ordered for him and his mother had tried in every way to make him eat.
One day she conceived the idea of forming the rice into a small mound
like an Eskimo hut, smoothing it around to make it an exact
reproduction. On the top she placed a small square of butter, which
she called the chimney. It happened that the little boy had been much
interested in pictures of Eskimo children and their homes, and it
appealed to his imagination at once. The mother then buttered a slice
of bread and cut it into strips--some large and some small--which she
called the family who lived in the hut--father, mother, girls, boys
and baby. For this she had the satisfaction of seeing the little
fellow eat two good slices of bread and the whole saucer of rice--a
thing he had never done before--and with enjoyment.
These are but a few devices. Any mother can supplement them with
successful ones of her own, and she will find that by the use of a
little imagination and ingenuity a child can be tempted to eat almost
any kind of desirable and necessary food, and enjoy it. A. G. M.
* * * * *
In order to preserve weathered oak furniture and keep it fresh, rub it
with floor wax, Johnston's or some other wax for hard floors. Do this
once or twice a year.
* * * * *
Instead of throwing away the flour left after rolling meat for frying,
save it and use again for similar purpose.
* * * * *
Cut a groove around the handle of the broom about three inches from
the end. Make a cap with a draw string of some dark soft material and
fasten this over the end of the broom. Then when the end of the broom
rests against the wall there will be no marred places on the walls.
This idea is especially good where one has white walls.
J. R. W.
* * * * *
There is nothing that equals the boiled icing, and by boiling the
sugar and water without stirring until it spins threads when run off a
spoon or fork, then turning this syrup on the whites of the eggs,
which have been whipped dry, then beaten until cold, one will have a
delicious covering.
Menu for Church Supper
Given in May, but suitable for other months--about 200 covers.
Cold Tongue
Creamed Potatoes
Lobster Salad
Rolls
Jelly
Coffee
Pineapple Ice
Cake
Cost of materials:
8 cans tongue @ $0.62½ $5.00
100 lbs. lobster @ .16 16.00
1½ doz. lettuce @ .90 1.35
Salad Dressing:
2 cans oil $1.80
2 qts. milk .16
Box mustard .30
1 qt. vinegar .07
2 doz. eggs .64 2.97
½ bushel potatoes
400 rolls 3.34
4 lbs. coffee 1.52
2 qts. cream 1.20
1 can milk .60
6 eggs .16 3.48
20 glasses jelly donated.
Pineapple Ice, 4½ gal.:
12 cans pineapple 2.40
6 lemons .10
Sugar .65 ?
Freezing 2.50
Dipping 1.00 6.65
Served only 150
1 box domino sugar $0.48
1 can milk for potatoes .60
2 lbs. flour .10
1 lb. crackers (scant) .13
Parsley .10
5 lbs. print butter 2.10
1½ lbs. tub butter .52
Ice .15
Help 7.00
22 loaves cake (2 left), donated.
Laundry 3.00
Express .25
Soap, etc. .20
---- 14.63
------
$53.42
Recipe for Pineapple Ice
12 cans of grated pineapple
6 quarts of water
6 quarts of sugar
6 lemons
Boil the water and sugar fifteen minutes, add the pineapple, let boil
five minutes; when cold strain, add lemon juice and freeze as usual.
B. N. W.
Goin' to School
By Laura R. Talbot
At a progressive porch party the young women sharpened their wits with
the following:
I
ALPHABET
"If an alphabetical servility must still be
urged." --_Milton._
1. A river in Scotland.
2. A printer's measure.
3. Owned by the Chinaman.
_Answers_
1. D (Dee).
2. M (em).
3. Q (queue).
II
GEOGRAPHY
"In despite o' geography."
--_Butler._
FIND THE ISLANDS
1. Eat a ---- when you are hungry.
2. The cat caught my ----.
3. Jack had a ---- pony given him.
_Answers_
1. Sandwich.
2. Canary.
3. Shetland.
III
GRAMMAR
"Who climbs the grammar tree distinctly knows
Where noun and verb and participle grows."
--_Dryden._
1. What the convicted prisoner receives.
2. What does the cat have?
3. Four-sevenths of a flower is what part
of speech?
_Answers_
1. Sentence.
2. Clause (claws).
3. Verb-ena.
IV
PHYSIOLOGY
"For of the soule the bodie forme doth take;
For soule is forme, and doth the bodie make."
--_Spenser._
1. What humorist is a vital organ?
2. What is sometimes found in a closet?
3. What did Adam lose?
_Answers_
1. Heart (Harte).
2. Skeleton.
3. Rib.
The "scholars" were now dismissed for fifteen minutes' recess, while
EDUCATOR CRACKERS were served. An old-fashioned hand bell called them
to order.
V
ARITHMETIC
"This endless addition of numbers."
--_Locke._
1. Think of a number,
Double it,
Add ten,
Divide by two,
Add five,
Multiply by four,
Subtract forty,
Divide by number first thought of,
Add nineteen,
And what do you have?
2. Not round and part of a plant.
3. Subtract nine from six.
_Answers_
1. Twenty-three.
2. Square root.
3. S SIX
IX
----
S
VI
HISTORY
"For aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history."
--_Shakespeare._
1. What fruit do we always find in history?
2. What fowls are associated with the
Pilgrim Fathers?
3. What happened to America in 1492?
_Answers_
1. Dates.
2. Plymouth Rocks.
3. Discovered.
VII
CURRENT EVENTS
"For 'tis a chronicle of day by day."
--_Shakespeare._
1. What large gun is often heard in Washington?
2. What kitchen divinity has been declared
a fraud?
3. What European ruler was interested
in "The Congo"?
_Answers_
1. Cannon (Joseph G.).
2. Cook (Dr. Frederick.)
3. King Leopold.
Refreshments were next served in school lunch boxes. Candy, in boxes
representing books, was given as prizes.
QUERIES
AND
ANSWERS
This department is for the benefit and free use of our subscribers.
Questions relating to recipes, and those pertaining to culinary
science and domestic economics in general, will be cheerfully answered
by the editor. Communications for this department must reach us before
the first of the month preceding that in which the answers are
expected to appear. In letters requesting answers by mail, please
enclose addressed and stamped envelope. For menus remit $1.00. Address
queries to Janet M. Hill, editor BOSTON COOKING-SCHOOL MAGAZINE, 372
Boylston Street, Boston, Mass.
In answer to inquiry 1590 I send my recipe which I have used for
years.
Blitz Kuchen
7 round tablespoonfuls
butter
7 heaping teaspoonfuls
sugar
A heaping pint of
flour
Pinch of baking
powder
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
Grated rind of 1
lemon
¼ pound chopped almonds
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
Ground cinnamon to
taste
Butter and sugar are stirred to a cream. Add eggs without beating
same, lemon and salt; stir well, then add flour mixed with baking
powder; mix well and spread very thin on buttered tins. Sprinkle
before baking with the almonds and two tablespoonfuls sugar mixed with
the cinnamon. Bake in moderately hot oven to a medium brown. Cut in
diamond shapes immediately on taking from the oven and while on tins.
Remove quickly from tins.
MRS. WM. WINTER
* * * * *
Your correspondent, who presents Query No. 1590, in the April
magazine, has the German incorrect in her question. The recipe called
for is undoubtedly Blitz Kuchen or Quick Coffee Cake. I enclose my
recipe, which makes a delicious cake.
Blitz Kuchen
½ a cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder
1½ cups of flour
½ a teaspoonful of salt
1 cup of milk
2 eggs
4 tablespoonfuls of
crushed nuts
Sift sugar, baking powder, flour and salt into bowl. Add butter, and
work into dry ingredients as in making pie crust. Beat eggs and add
with milk. Add enough more flour to make a rather stiff batter. Spread
about one-half inch deep in buttered pans. Sprinkle top with
granulated sugar and nuts. Bake about one-half hour in moderate oven.
ANNE C. RANKIN,
_Supt. Dom. Science Wausau Pub. Schools_.
* * * * *
QUERY 1623.--"Recipe for a very rich Chocolate Ice Cream. A cream
eaten lately, which we wish to duplicate, was almost as dark in color
and as rich as a chocolate sauce or chocolate frosting."
Rich, Dark-Colored Chocolate Ice Cream
Melt six ounces of chocolate over hot water (in a double boiler), add
one cup of sugar and half a cup of boiling water and stir and cook
directly over the fire until smooth and boiling. Scald three cups of
milk; stir into the milk two tablespoonfuls of flour smoothed with
milk to pour; stir until the milk thickens, then add the chocolate
mixture; cover and let cook fifteen minutes. Beat the yolks of three
or four eggs; add half a teaspoonful of salt and one-fourth a cup of
sugar; beat again and stir into the hot mixture; stir until the egg is
cooked a little; add one cup of rich cream and strain into the can of
the freezer. When cold add one tablespoonful and a half of vanilla
extract and freeze as usual.
* * * * *
QUERY 1624.--"Please publish a Time Table for cooking different
vegetables, and for cooking meats, both well and rare done. Under
meats, include fowl, game and fish, well done."
Time Table for Cooking Vegetables
Asparagus 20 to 25 minutes
Beans, String or Shell 1 to 3 hours
Beets, new 1 to 2 hours
Beets, old 4 to 6 hours
Beet Greens 1 hour or longer
Brussels Sprouts 15 to 20 minutes
Cabbage 30 to 80 minutes
Carrots 1 hour or longer
Cauliflower 20 to 30 minutes
Celery 2 hours or longer
Corn 5 to 15 minutes (actual boiling)
Macaroni 20 to 60 minutes
Onions 45 minutes to 2 hours
Oyster Plant 45 to 60 minutes
Parsnips 30 to 45 minutes
Peas about 20 minutes
Potatoes, white 20 to 30 minutes
Potatoes, sweet 15 to 25 minutes
Rice 20 to 30 minutes
Squash 20 to 30 minutes
Spinach 15 to 20 minutes
Tomatoes, stewed 15 to 20 minutes
Turnips 30 to 45 minutes
Coffee 3 to 5 minutes
Time Table for Baking Meat and Fish
Beef, ribs or loin, rare, per pound 8 to 10 minutes
Beef, ribs or loin, well done, per pound 12 to 16 minutes
Beef, ribs, rolled, rare 12 to 15 minutes
Beef, ribs, rolled, well done 15 to 18 minutes
Beef, fillet, rare 20 to 30 minutes (hot oven)
Beef, fillet, well done 1 hour
Mutton, leg, rare, per pound 10 minutes
Mutton, leg, well done, per pound 14 minutes
Mutton, forequarter, stuffed, per pound 15 to 25 minutes
Lamb, well done, per pound 15 to 20 minutes
Veal, well done, per pound 18 to 22 minutes
Pork, well done, per pound 20 minutes
Venison, rare, per pound 10 minutes
Chicken, per pound 15 to 20 minutes
Turkey, 8 to 10 pounds 3 hours
Goose, 8 to 10 pounds 2 hours or more
Duck, domestic 1 hour or more
Duck, wild 15 to 30 minutes (very hot oven)
Grouse about 30 minutes
Small Birds 15 to 20 minutes
Pigeons, potted or en casserole 3 to 6 hours
Ham 4 to 6 hours
Fish, whole 45 minutes or longer
Small Fish and Fillets about 20 minutes
Baked Beans with Pork 6 to 8 hours
Time Table for Broiling Meat and Fish
Steak, 1 inch thick 4 to 10 minutes
Steak, 1½ inches thick 8 to 15 minutes
Lamb or Mutton Chops 6 to 10 minutes
Spring Chicken 20 to 30 minutes
Squabs 10 to 12 minutes
Shad, Bluefish, etc. 15 to 30 minutes
Slices of Fish 12 to 15 minutes
Small Fish 5 to 12 minutes
Boiling Meat and Fish
Fresh Beef 4 to 6 hours
Corned Beef, rib or flank 4 to 7 hours
Corned Beef, fancy brisket 5 to 8 hours
Corned Tongue 3 to 4 hours
Leg or Shoulder of Mutton 3½ to 5 hours
Leg or Shoulder of Lamb 2 to 3 hours
Turkey, per pound 15 to 18 minutes
Fowl, 4 to 5 pounds 2 to 4 hours
Chicken, 3 pounds 1 to 1½ hours
Ham 4 to 6 hours
Lobster 25 to 30 minutes
Codfish and Haddock, per pound 6 minutes
Halibut, whole or thick piece, per pound 15 minutes
Salmon, whole or thick piece 10 to 15 minutes
Clams and Oysters 3 to 5 minutes
* * * * *
QUERY 1625.--"Recipe for Tomato Aspic for salads and a well-seasoned
Cream of Corn Soup."
Tomato (Aspic?) Jelly
Let two cups of canned tomato, a sprig of summer savory, sprig of
parsley, a slice of onion, half a stalk of celery, and a piece of
green or red pepper pod simmer together fifteen or twenty minutes,
then strain the whole through a fine sieve; add one-fourth a two-ounce
package of gelatine, softened in one-fourth a cup of cold water, and
salt as needed, and turn into molds to harden.
Tomato Jelly, Macedoine Style, for Salad
1-1/2 cups of canned tomato
1 slice of onion
1/8 a clove of garlic
1/4 a pepper pod
1/2 a teaspoonful of salt
1/4 a "soup bag"
1/3 a package of gelatine
1/3 a cup of cold water
1/2 a cup of cooked string beans
3 olives
1 teaspoonful of capers
1 truffle
Cooked yolks of 2 eggs
Let the first six ingredients simmer, together, about fifteen minutes,
then add the gelatine that has been softened in the cold water; stir
over ice water until the mixture begins to thicken, then add the beans
and olives, cut in fine bits, the capers, the truffle or its
equivalent in trimmings, chopped fine, the yolks sifted, or the
equivalent of the yolks in chopped chicken tongue or ham. Mix
thoroughly and turn into molds. Serve with lettuce and mayonnaise
dressing.
Tomato Aspic
To a pint of rich and highly-flavored beef, chicken or veal broth add
a cup of cooked tomatoes, with salt and pepper as needed, also
one-third a package of gelatine softened in one-third a cup of cold
water and the crushed shells and slightly beaten whites of two eggs;
stir constantly over the fire till boiling; let boil three minutes;
then draw to a cooler place to settle; skim and strain through a
napkin wrung out of boiling water; turn into molds and let chill.
Good Flavored Cream of Corn Soup
A good flavored corn soup may be made of two parts milk flavored with
a little onion and parsley, thickened with flour and one part corn
purée; but a richer flavored soup results when chicken or veal broth
is combined with the milk and a little cream, half to a whole cup to
two quarts of soup is used.
Recipe for Cream of Corn Soup
Score the kernels in each row with a sharp knife and with the back of
the knife press out all of the pulp. Melt three (level) tablespoonfuls
of butter, in it cook two slices of onion and two branches of parsley
until the onion is softened and yellowed; add three tablespoonfuls of
flour, a dash of black pepper and half a teaspoonful of salt; stir and
cook until frothy, then add three cups of milk and stir until boiling;
add the corn pulp and let boil five minutes. Add more seasoning if
needed. Vary by the use of broth or cream.
* * * * *
QUERY 1626.--"Recipe for a very appetizing dish consisting of a
poached egg set above a round of toast and another of ham with a
yellow sauce over the whole. Also a recipe for Sponge Cake for Jelly
Roll. One given in the magazine was a failure."
Eggs Benedict