Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1874 — USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE.

Minute Sponge Cake —Beat three eggs two minutes; add one cup of flour, arid one teaspoonfu) of cream of-tartar; beat one minute; add half a cup of cold water with a teaspoonfur of soda and a spoonful of extract of lemon; beat one minute; add one cup of flour; beat one minute. Kettle Scraper.—Daisy Eyebright tells in the Country Gentleman how to make a useful article for scraping saucepans and iron kettles, so as to save one’s finger nails, which are the means generally employed for the purpose. She says any tinman can cut a piece of sheet iron about t tvo inches wide and two and a half inches long. It should be made in the form of a square, with three sides left straight and the other one cut off at each corner so as to make angles, which, coming in contact with particles adhering to the kettles, will remove them. A smart boy can make one out of any old bit of iron. Cure for Earache.—Children are sometimes afflicted with earache to an alarming extent, and there is sometimes a difficulty in obtaining an effectual remedy for the disorder. A writer in the Household says that she takes a piece of salt pork, say an inch or more long and half an inch square; cut down one end to fit the ear, and insert it, taking care to have the piece too large to slip in. Tie a hardkerchief to keep it in place, if the child will allow it. She also uses pork for sore throat, croup and lung colds. Cut slices half an inch thick, dip in warm water, sprinkle on a little pepper, and sew on a flannel. She has used pork for earache especially, and always found it to give instant relief. How to Cook Potatoes.—Peel and either boil or steam two pounds of potatoes till they fall to pieces ; if boiled drain the water from them, and let them stand by the side of the fire, with the lid off, for five minutes, to let the steam evaporate; add a lump of butter about the size of small egg, or more if wished, and when this has melted, break up the potatoes as small as possible with a fork; and tlien_ mash with a wooden spoon, adding milk by degrees till they are the proper consistency. Turn into the dish, and smooth them with a spoon. If liked, they may be put in the oven for a few minutes to brown. Salt will, of course, have been put in while they were boiling. Pepper is sometimes added, but this is a matter of taste. Late Chickens for Summer Eggs.—ll is<quite usual for many poultry raisers to save the earliest broods for layers the next Beason. This is all right so far as late w’inter and early spring eggs are concerned. One of the principal reasons, however, why farmers do not have a continuance of eggs during the summer is that they do not save late broods of chickens for successive-laying of eggs. We al way s •'save some, both from the earliest clutches and also from the late ones, even so late as August, by which we have eggs all through the hot weather. Try it and note the results. You will not be disappointed. —Young hens do not make so good mothers as older ones and we should not allow them to sft until they had laid eggs one season. If not allowed to sit, they will soon recommence laying, and by having some two-year old pullets for sitting you will find your profits largely increased thereby.— Western Hural. Rapid Pickling of Meat.—The following is an English recipe: Put the meat in a mixture of sixteen ounces salt, one half ounce saltpeter, and one ounce sugar, so that all parts may be completely salted : then wrap closely in a piece of cotton cloth previously well scalded and dried, and place in a porcelain or other vessel. The cloth is essential with small pieces, to retain the brine formed in contact with the meat. After about sixteen hours, however, some brine will drain off into the bottom of the vessel, and it will be necessary then to turn the meat, still wrapped up, daily. A piece Of six pounds, treated in this way for six weeks, then unwrapped and boiled, will be found quite palatable and sufficiently pickled. For larger quantities the cloth may be dispensed with, since the brine formed will be sufficient to cover the mass, provided the pieces are closely packed, and :any unavoidable cavities filled with stories. . . ' '