Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 249, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1919 — The KITCHEN CABINET [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The KITCHEN CABINET

“Oh, suns and skies and clouds of June And days of June together, Ye canpot rival for one hour October's bright blue weather.” —Helen Hunt Jackson. HINTS FOR THE HOMEMAKER. A useful article for the kitchen is a small microscope. One may be in-

“ formed as to the condltion of many things which do not show up to I the natural eye. Dates, I figs, raisins, as well as ined with a stronger lens than that of the eye. Such foods may be re- • turned at once when • found to be unfit.

A rubber plant should be washed with milk once or twice a month. This will keep the leaves glossy and handsome. Save the discarded tooth-brushes and old underwear for cleaning and polishing sliver. A clean, dry brush Is the best kind of a cleaner to brush the whiting from chased silver. Use the soft underwear for the hard rubbing, and finish the polishing with a chamois skin. , - j If silver is rubbed after a soapy bath, with a chamois skin, once a week, the hard cleaning will not need to be done so often. The French way of making tough meat tender is one worth remembering: Lay the steak in a marinade of three tabiespoonfuls of olive oil and one and one-half of vinegar; let stand four hours on Ice, turning frequently to be sure that both sides are treated then’ broil as usual. /“ When cooking n pudding ’either by steam or in boiling water,, take care to replenish the water by boiling water, or the pudding will fall or be soggy. A cut lemon dipped in salt or bathbrick makes a fine cleaner for copper or brass. It is also good to remove stains from the coffee and tea pots. A nice laundry bag may be made of two bordered towels, using a drawstring at the top. For holding scraps and pieces, a circular bag, which may be laid out flat on the floor will be found convenient, as then any bundltr can be- -quickly -founds A good tonic which may be brewed at home is sassafras tea. This is an old remedy used by our grandmothers, and one which is perfectly reliable. Steep a small handful of sassafras root by covering with a quart of boiling water. Strain and drink half a cupful night and morning. It purifies the blood and acts as a~tonfc.

Take~the bright shell from Ita home on - the lea, ■-i Wherever it goes 'twill sing of the sea; So take the fond heart from the home and the hearth, ’Twill sing of the loved to the ends of the earth. AN EVERYDAY LUNCHEON. If the weather is cool, a bowl of nice steaming hot soup is always a good

beginning for a luncheon; then a broiled whitefish, with creamed pota toes; a n a pple Wafl;~ "prepared celery, a few nuts and a good salad

dressingthen a simple dessert, like musk melon, peaches and cream with a cooky, or a small spopge cake with a dish of sliced bananas. A good dish which will make a main dish and Is very filling Is: Codfish Chowder. —Cut in dice a quarter of a pound of salt pork; fry until brownrMhen add three to six sliced onions; stir and cook until lightcolored ; add twice the amount of sliced potatoes, and water to cover; cook until the vegetables are soft, then add a half-pound of shredded and parboiled codfish, a half-dozen milk crackers which have been softened by pouring boiling water over them, a quart of milk and salt and pepper to taste. Serve In bowls, very hot, with a cracker on top of each. Fresh fish may be used In'this chowder. Add the fish, cooked until tepder, or it may be added about twenty minutes before the dish Is ready to serve. Too long cooking of the fish will make it tasteless. Corn and Rice Muffins.—Take two cupfuls of buttermilk, one cupful of cornmeal, one teaspoonful of soda, a pinch of salt, half a cupful of cream and half a cupful of boiled rice. Mash the rice; add a pinch of salt, and the cream, an egg well beaten and the buttermilk mixed with the soda, then the meal. Bake in buttered muffin tins in a quick oven. Banana Puffs.— Take one cupful pf sugar, a tablespoonful of butter, one cupful of flour, a teaspoonful of baking powder, three well beaten, eggs and milk to make a drop batter—-about a quarter of a cupful. Mix and stir in three sliced bananas and fill buttered custard cups; steam one hour and serve with a lemon sauce. Lemon Sauce.—Take half a cupful of sugar, the juice and rind of a lemon, • tablespoonful of butter and a quarter of a cupful of water; cook until soft, adding an egg, well beaten, by pouring the cooked mixture over the egg, stirring constantly.. Serve hot.

I shall be happier than you and calmer, if my doubt is greater and nobler than your faith; if it has probed more deeply into my soul, traversed wider horizons, if there are more things it has solved.—Maeterlinck. FOOD FOR COOLER WEATHER. Fall has brought back the oyster from his salty vacation, and bow

comes the game that makes these In the- epicure’s calendar. Simpllcity is the keynote in cookery these days; there is not a game bird or

fish that will be improved in flavor by stuffing, or the addition of many seasonings. The charm of any dish is to keep its characteristic flavor, accentuating it, not covering it with seasonings. The old-fashioned method of stuffing all kinds of fowl and game is no longer considered desirable by the best diners. Duck may be improved by the addition of an onion, a bunch of celery or, as some Southern cooks do, put an oyster in a small bird before broiling or baking. Wild game that lacks fat is sometimes wrapped in slices of bacon, fastening them with toothpicks if the bird is small, or placing a slice over the breast of a large bird. For the small birds a nicely toasted square of bread is the best pedestal on which to place the tiny morsel of deficiousness. —The toast should always be well buttered and soft, with the crusts removed. Water cress is one of the nicest of garnishes, and a salad of sliced oranges on water cress served w‘jth, French dressing is the salad par excellence to serve with duck. - Those acquainted with only the cultivated mushroom do not realize the rare flavor of the field variety. They are found in abundance until the frost comes to kill them. It is better to buy them in the market, gathered by some one who is reliable, than to risk being poisoned. The field mushroom is delightful -wh err simply cooked la a 1 itrl e tnitter, - with salt and pepper for seasoningsome like a bit of cream; then serve JJiem on toast. -•Mushrooms make a"*better supper dish than an earlier meal, as they require little as an accompaniment and are much better enjoyed than when confused with the many items of a more elaborate repast.

- love the emell of applet when they’re— ■ gettin’ streaky red, And I love the smell that crinkles from an old-time posy bed; The earthy spice of new plowed fields Is e’en almost sublime, But there ain’t no smell that ekals the smell of picklin’ time.” PICKLING TIME. Don’t fall to put up a small jar of the good old watermelon pickles, for there Is nothing

quite- like them, If you care for that kind of pickles. Water m e I o n Pickles.—Peel the rfnd andcut- tn one and one-half-inch slices; let stand over night in salt

water.. Make a sirup of four pounds of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon, one teaspoonful of ground cloves and two quarts of vinegar. Tie the spices in a bag. Pour the hot sirup over the drained melon rind ; let stand 24 hours. Reheat the sirup four mornings, then cover for winter use. Tomatoes Canned.—Take one gallon of wat&r, one cupful of Salt, and bring to"the boiling point, then drqp in whole tomatoes, previously peeled, and cook until well scalded through. Place in cans, using a skimmer to drain off thebrine. The juice of the tomatoes will make liquid enough to cover them, and the brine may be used for any number of tomatoes. Nut Conserve. —Take two. pints of grape juice, two pounds of sugar, four oranges sliced thin, the juice and grated rind of a lemon, one and one-third pounds of chopped raisins, two-thirds of,a pound of chopped walnuts, onefourth of a pound of chopped filberts. Dissolve the sugar In the juice, add the other ingredients and simmer for one hour, or until a thick marmalade Is formed. Pickled Onions. —Select small sllverskinffeff onions; put them im a brine, after peeling carefully. Let stand three days in a brine that will float an egg. Drain and place in a jar, first a layer of onions three Inches deep, then a layer of horseradish, a sprinkling of clnnrtnion, cloves and cayenne or, better, chopped red pepper; repeat until the jar is full. Cover with vinegar, brought to the boiling point; add one cupful of brown sugar to a quart of the vinegar.' Pour hot over the onions, and seal.