Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1895 — HOVSEHOLD DEPARTMENT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOVSEHOLD DEPARTMENT

A Sponge in the Kitchen. A good deal of dusting around coal stoves and open fires may be done to advantage with a damp sponge. An experienced housekeeper uses a largo, coarse sponge, once devoted to washing carriages. Throw it into a pail of warm water, and add a teaspoonful of ammonia. Squeeze it out as dry as possible and pass it quickly and lightly over the plain fnruiture, the paint the zinc, the corners of the carpets, the oilcloth, etc., rinsing out occasionally. It will remove every bit of dirt, and not merely disperse It into the room, as a cloth or feather duster too often does, and leave a bright, shining, clear surface that is very gratifying. While you have the pail in hand you will find it easy to wipe off finger marks or traces of that grime which seems to come, no one knows how, in winter. You give a cleansing touch here and there to doors, cupboard shelves, or tables, with very little loss of time, and without any of that deliberate effort required for regular cleaning. Potatoes Vlennuise. 801 l eight peeled potatoes with one tablespoonful of salt in one quart of water; when done drain and press through a potato press; mix with one even teaspoonful of salt, one-half even teaspoonful of pepper, two ounces of butter, the yolks of three eggs, onehalf gill of cream, and four ounces of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well, and form the mixture into round balls the size of an egg. Sprinkle some flour on a pastry board, roll the potatoes into long shapes, thick in the center and pointed at the ends; brush them ovei with beaten egg; make two slanting Incisions on top of each, lay them in a buttered pan, brush over again with egg, and bake to a fine golden color in a hot qven. To Make Fowl Tender. If you will try the following method of procedure you will be able to make the toughest fowl palatable. Truss it carefully, and put it on, with sufficient water to cover it Well, and let it stew (not boil) gently, but steadily, for six or eight hours, according to Its age. Then set it aside until next day, when you cau cook it as you sec fit, as though it were an ordinary raw fowl. All depends upon the gentleness of the first stewing, and, if that is done carefully, you will find you have a delicious dish. Tomato Preserves. Take the sound yellow variety as soon as ripe; scald and peel; to seven pounds of tomatoes add seven pounds of white sugar, and let them stand over night Take the tomatoes out of the sugar and boil the syrup, removing the scum; put iu the tomatoes, and boil slowly fifteen or twenty minutes; remove the fruit again, and boil until tho syrup thickens. On cooling, put tho fruit in jars; put a few slices of lemon in each jar, and pour the syrup over them. These are very nice.

Stewed Cabbage. Cut up a cabbage as for cold slaw. 801 lln water twenty minutes. Then drain thoroughly and barely cover with rich milk. Cover close and boll till tender, which will not require many minutes. Add a palatable seasoning of butter, pepper and salt, and when ready to serve add the yolk of a beaten egg mixed with a few spoonfuls of rich cream. Rolls. One pint of boiling milk, one tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of sugar, half a cupful of soft yeast, and flour to make a soft sponge. Let it rise over night, then knead hard; let it rise again and roll out; cut with a biscuit cutter and fold oVer. Useful Household Hints. Lamp chimneys must never be washed. Dampen a cloth in alcohol and rub them clear in half the time. Salads are at all times valuable as cooling, refreshing food, and are besides excellent food for promoting sleep. Grass stains should be rubbed with molasses thoroughly, and then washed out as usual. Another treatment Is to rub with alcohol and then wash in water. A common cause of failure in making fancy bread and rolls is mixing tho dough too stiff. It should be soft enough to be easily worked without being In the least sticky. In summer digestion needs to be vigorous, and to insure this end people ought to avoid as much as they can the use of foods which digest In the Intestines,, to which class bread and potatoes belong. Washing soda moistened to a paste will brighten tins quickly, and a teaspoonful added to a tablespoonful of Spanish whiting will make a paste that will clean marble if it is allowed to dry there. When the burners become clogged and sticky lay them in a small pot, cover with vinegar and add a tablGspoonful of salt; let them boil an hour or two. They wilf come out as fresh and clean as ever. It is said that a new potato grated finely and then used instead of soap to wash with is good. The juice of tho potato, raw, of course, contains some principle that acts quickly and beneficially on the skin. Salad dressing does not often require the cook stove to prepare it, since oil, vinegar; cream and eggs may be used. The taste and sentiment of every individual may be considered by varying the form of service to any conceivable extent. A good receipt for orange water ice is: One quart water, one pound sugar, the outer rind of one and the juice of three or four oranges. Strain into a can and .pack in ice and salt around it, and freeze and scrape it down until it is sufficiently frozen. Pulverized potash, which soon becomes sticky when exposed to the air, should be put in all the rat holes about the house. Some persons find ai mixture of* equal parts of cayenne pepper and Scotch snuff sprinkled well into the holes, to be still more efficacious.