Part 53

The dismay of the housewife over the destruction of her brittle treasures dates far back of the poetical precision who makes her ability to be “mistress of herself though china fall,” the test of breeding. I suspect, if the truth were known, we should learn that the potsherd, picked up from the ash-heap by hapless, skin-smitten Job, marked an evil day in the calendar of his shrewish wife and the unlucky servant through whose carelessness pot, or cup, or platter came to grief. Furthermore, that the broken utensil belonged to a set that could not be matched in any china-shop in the length and breadth of Uz.

I read, yesterday, in one of the “Be-thrifty-and-you-will-be-prosperous” essays, that are as rusty needles in the thick of the thumb of the woman of experience, an anecdote of a notable manager who still uses the same “snow-drop figure” napery affected by her mother and her grandmother before her, and the same pattern of china and cut-glass that set forth their tables. Hence—the hateful “Hence” that breaks off the needle-point in the flesh!—“she has no difficulty in matching worn-out and fractured articles of household use.” Queen Victoria had a similar fad. When the chair and sofas of Windsor got shabby they were spirited away, one by one, without her knowledge (presumably), and recovered with stuff of the same design and color, artistically dimmed and frayed so as to resemble the old exactly. Queens can afford to have expensive and almost impossible whims. The drawback to imitation of Mrs. Guelph’s and Mrs. Notable’s sentimental economics is that crockery, glass and linen merchants do not carry dead stock. When a pattern becomes unfashionable it disappears from the market. The moral and exasperating “Hence” should have a corollary in the shape of a card, telling us where Mrs. Notable finds benevolent tradesmen who replenish her stores with snow-drop damask and fifty-year-old designs in “fragiles.”

A friend writes to me of the death of her colored butler, after twenty-three years’ service in her family.

“He was not particularly bright or brisk,” she says, “and had some grave faults. But he did not break or chip one piece of glass or china while he was with us. Do you wonder that we mourn him?”

Considered as a means of grace and of daily discipline in the fine order of breeding indicated by our poet, our waitress—whatever her race, age, or previous condition of sovereignty—leaves little to the liveliest imagination. She “blazes” her trail through our households by nicks, cracks, breaks and “crazed” glazing.

There is a hill near Rome composed entirely of broken pottery. The modern housekeeper does not enter into the social speculations of archæologists as to its origin and history. Women loved china in those older days as fondly as we love it. Perhaps—for it was an age of idols, many and curious—they set it among their household goods. At any rate, when it was shattered, they gave it decent burial. If the dust-heaps and ash-barrels of Christian America were made to give up the like relics deposited in guilty haste and secrecy within their unhallowed depths the woeful pile would dwarf the Tower of Babel by comparison, and represent as many tears as any national cemetery.

In view of the frail constitution of our well-beloved china, we ought not to set our hearts upon it any more than we ought to love our babies, whose tenure upon life is more slight than spider’s silk. One and all, we _do_ set our affections, and feast our eyes, and pamper our souls’ desires upon the adornments of buffet and china-closet. Tea, coffee and chocolate are more delicious when sipped from Sevres and Limoges; our sensitive finger-tips recoil from the blunt edges of pressed glass. To set stone china and thick tumblers before tired and hungry John would insult one who deserves the best of everything.

Since, then, we must, in justice to him and to ourselves, have fine china and glass, and our waitress’s tumultuous voyagings among them will strew back yards and vacant lots with the worthless flotsam and jetsam of what was dear and precious, what shall be done? To the housekeeper whose time has not a prohibitive monetary value, my advice is simple and direct: _Have_ choice china—the choicest you can afford—_and take care of it yourself_.

SOME CULINARY TERMS

“Aspic”—Meat jelly.

“Au Gratin”—Dishes covered with crumbs and browned.

“Au Naturel”—Plain, simple. Potatoes cooked in their jackets are “au naturel.”

“Barbecue”—To roast any animal whole, usually in the open air.

“Bisque”—Soups made thick with mince and crumbs.

“Blanch”—To parboil, to scald vegetables, nuts, etc., in order to remove the skin.

“Blanquette”—Any white meat warmed in a white sauce, thickened with eggs.

“Bouillon”—A clear broth.

“Bouquet”—A sprig of each of the herbs used in seasoning, rolled up in a spray of parsley and tied securely.

“Café au lait”—Coffee boiled with milk.

“Café noir”—Black coffee.

“Camembert”—A brand of fancy cheese.

“Canapé”—Usually toast with cheese or potted meat spread upon it. Sometimes made of pastry.

“Cannelon”—Meat stuffed, rolled up and roasted or braised.

“Capers”—Unopened buds of a low trailing shrub grown in southern Europe. Pickled and used in sauces.

“Capon”—A chicken castrated for the sake of improving the quality of the flesh.

“Caramel”—A syrup of burnt sugar, used for flavoring custards, etc., and for coloring soups.

“Casserole”—A covered dish in which meat is cooked; sometimes applied to forms of pastry, rice or macaroni filled with meat.

“Champignons”—French mushrooms.

“Charlotte”—A preparation of cream or fruit, formed in a mold, lined with fruit or cake.

“Chervil”—The leaf of a European plant used as a salad.

“Chillies”—Red peppers.

“Chives”—An herb allied to the onion family.

“Chutney”—A hot acid sauce made from apples, raisins, tomatoes, cayenne, ginger, garlic, shalots, lemons, vinegar, salt and sugar.

“Comfitures”—Preserves.

“Compote”—Fruit stewed in syrup.

“Consommé”—Clear soup.

“Cream sugar and butter”—Is to rub the sugar into the butter until they are well incorporated, then beat light and smooth.

“Creole, A la”—With tomatoes.

“Croquettes”—A savory mince of meat, or fowl, or fish, or mashed potatoes, rice or other vegetables, made into shapes and fried in deep fat.

“Croustade”—A kind of patty made of bread or prepared rice.

“Croutons”—Bread dice fried.

“Crumpet”—Raised muffins baked on a griddle.

“Curries”—Stews of meat or fish, seasoned with curry powder and served with rice.

“De Brie”—A brand of fancy cheese.

“Demitasse”—A small cup; term usually applied to after-dinner coffee.

“Deviled”—Seasoned hotly.

“Eclair”—Pastry or cake filled with cream.

“En Coquille”—Served in shells.

“Endive”—A plant of the composite family used as a salad.

“Entrées”—Small made dishes served between courses at dinner.

“Entrements”—Second course side dishes, including vegetables, eggs and sweets.

“Farcie”—Stuffed.

“Fillets”—Long thin pieces of meat or fish, generally rolled and tied.

“Fines herbes”—Minced parsley, etc.

“Finnan Haddock”—Haddock smoked and dried.

“Fondant”—Melting. Boiled sugar, the basis of French candy.

“Fondu”—A preparation of melted cheese.

“French dressing”—A simple salad dressing of oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sometimes mustard.

“Galantine”—Meat, boned, stuffed, rolled and boiled, always served cold.

“Glacé”—Iced.

“Glaze”—Stock boiled down to a thin paste.

“Grilled”—Broiled.

“Gruyére”—A brand of fancy cheese.

“Hors d’œuvres”—Relishes.

“Jardinière”—A mixed preparation of vegetables stewed in their own sauce; a garnish of vegetables.

“Julienne”—A clear soup with shredded vegetables.

“Koumiss”—Milk fermented with yeast.

“Lardoon”—The piece of salt pork used in larding.

“Lentils”—A variety of the bean tribe used in soups, etc.

“Marrons”—Chestnuts.

“Mayonnaise”—A salad dressing made of oil, the yolks of eggs, vinegar or lemon juice, salt and cayenne.

“Menu”—Bill-of-fare.

“Meringue”—The white of eggs whipped to a standing froth with powdered sugar.

“Mousse”—Ice cream made from whipped cream.

“Noodles”—Dough, cut into strips or other shapes, dried and then dropped into soup.

“Nougat”—Almond candy.

“Paprika”—Hungarian sweet red pepper.

“Pâté”—Some preparation of pastry, usually a small pie. Hence “patty-pans.”

“Pâté de foie gras”—Small pie filled with fat goose liver.

“Pièce de résistance”—Principal dish at a meal.

“Pilau”—East Indian or Turkish dish of meat and rice.

“Pimento”—Jamaica pepper.

“Pimolas”—Small olives stuffed with pimento—_i. e._, sweet red pepper.

“Piquante”—Sharply flavored, as “sauce piquante,” a highly seasoned sauce.

“Pistachio”—A pale greenish nut resembling the almond.

“Polenta”—An Italian mush made of Indian meal, or of ground chestnuts.

“Potage”—A family soup.

“Potpourri”—A highly seasoned stew of divers materials—meat, spices, vegetables and the like; a Spanish dish.

“Purée”—Vegetables or cereals cooked and rubbed through a sieve to make a thick soup.

“Ragout”—Stewed meat in rich gravy.

“Ramakins”—A preparation of cheese and puff paste or toast, baked or browned.

“Rechauffé”—Anything warmed over.

“Rissoles”—Minced meat, made into rolls covered with pastry or rice, and fried.

“Rissotto”—Rice and cheese cooked together; an Italian dish.

“Roquefort”—A brand of fancy cheese.

“Rôti”—Roasted.

“Roulade”—Meat stuffed, skewered into a roll and cooked.

“Roux”—Butter and flour cooked together and stirred in a smooth cream. A white roux is made with uncooked flour; a brown, with flour that has been browned by stirring it upon a tin plate over the fire.

“Salmi”—A warmed-over dish of game, well seasoned.

“Sauté”—To fry lightly in hot fat or butter, not deep enough to cover the thing cooked.

“Scalpion”—A mince of poultry, ham, and other meats used for entrées, or it may be a mixture of fruits in a flavored syrup.

“Scones”—Scotch cakes of flour and meal.

“Shalot”—A variety of onion.

“Sorbet”—Frozen punch.

“Soubise”—A sort of onion sauce eaten with meat

“Soufflé”—A “trifle” pudding, beaten almost as light as froth, then baked quickly.

“Stock”—The essence extracted from meat.

“Supreme”—White cream gravy made of chicken.

“Tarragon”—An herb the leaves of which are used for seasoning and in flavoring vinegar.

“Tartare”—As a “sauce tartare”—tart, acid.

“Timbale”—A small pie or pudding baked in a mold and turned out while hot.

“To braise meat”—Cook in a covered pan in the oven with stock, minced vegetables, and peas, beans, etc., whole, and with savory herbs.

“To Marinate”—To cover with lemon juice or vinegar and oil, or with spiced vinegar.

“Truffles”—A species of fungi growing in clusters some inches below the surface of the ground. Used in seasoning and for a garnish.

“Tutti-frutti”—A mixture of fruits.

“Veloute”—A smooth white sauce.

“Vol-au-vent”—Light puff pastry baked in a mold and filled with chicken, sweetbreads or other delicate viand.

“Zwieback”—Bread baked twice.

FOR READY REFERENCE

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

It is so much easier to measure ingredients than to weigh them that the housewife saves time and work by acquainting herself with certain equivalent measures and weights. Without burdening her memory with a dry array of items and figures, I have collected here certain details to which she can refer quickly and confidently.

“One cupful” of flour, milk, etc., means half a pint.

Two scant cupfuls of packed butter make one pound.

Two and a half even cupfuls of powdered sugar are one pound.

Two cupfuls (one pint) of water or milk make one pound.

Three even cupfuls of Indian meal make one pound.

Four even cupfuls of dry flour make one pound.

Two cupfuls (one pint) of water or milk make one pound.

Ten eggs of ordinary size make one pound.

Two cupfuls of minced beef, packed closely, make one pound.

A gill of liquid is half a cupful.

One heaping tablespoonful of granulated sugar is one ounce.

Two heaping tablespoonfuls of flour make one ounce.

Two heaping tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar make one ounce.

Two heaping tablespoonfuls of ground coffee make one ounce.

One tablespoonful of milk, vinegar or brandy make one-half ounce.

The juice of an ordinary lemon is about a tablespoonful. A breakfast cupful of bread-crumbs well pressed in equals about four ounces. Very finely chopped suet, slightly heaped up, weighs about the same. A heaped breakfast cupful of brown sugar represents half a pound, and stoned raisins well pressed in weigh about the same.

TIME-TABLE

Baking and roasting

FISH AND MEATS

Baked beans with pork 6 to 8 hours. Beef, fillet, rare 20 to 30 minutes. Beef ribs or loin, well done, per pound 12 to 16 minutes. Beef ribs, or loin, rare, per pound 8 to 10 minutes. Chicken, per pound 15 minutes or more. Duck, domestic 1 hour or more. Duck, wild 12 minutes per pound. Fish, whole, as bluefish, salmon, etc. 10 minutes per pound. Goose, 8 to 10 pounds 2 hours or more. Grouse 25 to 30 minutes. Ham 15 minutes per pound. Lamb, well done, per pound 15 to 18 minutes. Liver, whole 12 minutes per pound. Mutton, leg, well done, per pound 15 minutes or more. Mutton, leg, rare, per pound 10 minutes. Mutton, saddle, rare, without flank, per pound 9 minutes. Mutton shoulder, stuffed, per pound 15 to 25 minutes. Partridge 35 to 40 minutes. Pork, well done, per pound 20 minutes. Small fish and fillets 20 to 30 minutes. Turkey, 8 to 10 pounds 12 minutes per pound. Veal, well done, per pound 18 to 20 minutes. Venison, rare, per pound 10 minutes.

Boiling

MEATS

Chicken 1 to 1½ hours. Corned beef (rib or flank) 4 to 6 hours, according to size. Corned beef (fancy brisket) 5 to 8 hours. Corned tongue 3 to 4 hours. Fowl, 4 to 5 pounds 15 minutes per pound, if tender. Fresh beef 4 to 6 hours. Ham 4 to 6 hours. Mutton 15 minutes per pound. Turkey, per pound 15 to 18 minutes.

FISH

Clams and oysters 3 to 5 minutes. Codfish and haddock, per pound 10 minutes. Bass and bluefish, per pound 10 minutes. Halibut, whole or thick piece, per pound 15 minutes. Lobster 30 to 40 minutes. Salmon, whole or thick piece, per pound 10 to 20 minutes. Small fish 6 to 8 minutes.

Broiling

Bacon 4 to 8 minutes. Lamb, or mutton chops 8 to 10 minutes. Liver 4 to 8 minutes. Quail 10 to 15 minutes. Quail in paper cases 10 to 12 minutes. Steak, 1 inch thick 8 to 12 minutes. Steak, 1½ inch thick 9 to 15 minutes. Shad, bluefish, etc. 15 to 30 minutes. Slices of fish 12 to 15 minutes. Small fish, trout, etc. 8 to 12 minutes. Spring chicken 20 minutes. Squabs 10 to 15 minutes.

Frying

Bacon fried in its own fat 2 to 3 minutes. Chops, breaded 8 to 10 minutes. Doughnuts and fritters 3 to 5 minutes. Fillets of fish 4 to 6 minutes. Potatoes 2 to 5 minutes.

Boiling vegetables

Asparagus 20 to 25 minutes. Beans, string 1 to 2 hours. Beans, Lima 30 to 40 minutes. Beets, new 45 minutes to one hour. Beets, old 4 to 6 hours. Brussels sprouts 15 to 25 minutes. Cabbage 30 to 80 minutes. Carrots (old) 1 hour or more. Cauliflower 20 to 30 minutes. Celery 20 to 30 minutes. Corn 10 to 20 minutes. Macaroni 20 to 50 minutes. Onions 45 minutes to 2 hours. Oyster-plant 45 to 60 minutes. Parsnips 30 to 45 minutes. Peas 20 to 50 minutes. Potatoes, white 20 to 30 minutes. Potatoes, sweet 15 to 25 minutes. Rice 20 to 30 minutes. Squash 20 to 30 minutes. Spinach 20 to 30 minutes. Tomatoes, stewed 15 to 20 minutes. Turnips 30 to 45 minutes.

Steaming

Brown bread 3 hours. Puddings, one quart or more 2 to 3 hours. Rice 45 to 60 minutes.

Baking of bread, cakes, custards and pudding

Fruit cake 2 to 3 hours. Layer cake 15 to 20 minutes. Loaf bread 40 to 60 minutes. Muffins, baking-powder 20 to 25 minutes. Muffins, yeast about 30 minutes. Pie crust 30 to 45 minutes. Plain loaf cake 30 to 90 minutes. Potatoes 30 to 45 minutes. Rolls, biscuit 10 to 30 minutes. Scalloped and au gratin dishes 10 to 20 minutes, according to size. Sponge cake, loaf 45 to 60 minutes, according to size. Timbales about 20 minutes.

The instructions given above must be modified by circumstances: the age and quality of meat, vegetables and fish, the size of loaves and so forth. It is not possible to make out a table which shall be absolutely accurate. Experience is the one trustworthy teacher.

INDEX

After-Dinner Coffee, 653.

Afternoon receptions, menus for, 608, 609.

Afternoon tea, 604. dainties for, 610. formal, menus for, 608, 609. informal, menus for, 606, 607.

Agate-nickel-steel ware, advantages of, 138, 242.

Alaska bake, 586, 587.

Ale, ginger, frappé, 616.

Alma’s drop cakes, 287.

Almond cake, 271. cookies, German, 286. filling, 281. macaroons, 284. roulettes, 547.

Almonds, burnt, creamed, 599. French cream, 597. salted, 612.

Ammonia, antidote for, 712. use in kitchen, 10, 11.

Anchovies au lit, 161.

Anchovy bars, 223. crackers, toasted, 206. croutons, 161. sandwiches, 220. sauce, 355. toast, 76, 161, 206, 223.

Angel cake, 270.

Anise cakes, 291.

Antidotes for poisons, 712.

Ants, to get rid of, 698, 716.

Apple and celery salad, 232. and cress salad, 238. and nut salad, 232. and tapioca pudding, baked, 529. biscuits, raised, 56. butter, 621. cake, 261. grandmother’s, 263. dumplings, 549. fritters, 545.

Apple jelly, 632. meringue pie, 510. pudding, 537. pie, sliced apple, 509. creamed sweet, 510. pudding, bird’s nest, 540. boiled, 519. Brown Betty, 532. steamed, 518. puff, 541. sauce, 619. canned, 686. cold, 242. for meat, 358. hot, green apples, 242. omelet (baked), 247. pie, creamed, 510. snow, 561. soufflé pudding, 541. tea, 662.

Apples and bacon, 111. and peaches, dried, 244. and sausages, 113. baked, sweet, 243. canned, 685. care of, 6. for breakfast, 39. for dessert, 577. mock casserole of chicken, 196. steamed, 618. stewed, 243, 617.

Apricot fritters, 546. pudding, 525. sauce, 553.

Arrowroot blanc mange, 563.

Arsenic, antidote for, 712.

Artichoke soup, 331.

Artichokes, Italian boiled, 431. fried, 431. with sauce tartare, 431. Jerusalem, baked, 430. boiled, 430.

Asparagus, à la vinaigrette, 429.

Asparagus and shrimp salad, 237. baked, 428. boiled, 427. time for cooking, 727. canned, 691. creamed, 429. loaf, 429. on toast, 427. salad, 237. soup, cream of, 321. substitute for, poke stalks, 467. tips, cachés, 428. tops, scrambled eggs with, 86.

Aspic, defined, 719. tomato, 235. and shrimp salad, 227.

Au gratin, defined, 719. dishes, time for baking, 728.

Au naturel, defined, 719.

Auntie’s cookies, 285.

Aunt Nelly’s gingerbread, 282.

Bacon and Apples, 111. and liver, 122. and oysters (pigs in blankets), 151. and polenta, 111. and sweet peppers, 112. and tomatoes, 135. and veal cutlets, 127. broiled, time for cooking, 726. how to slice and fry, 110. time for cooking, 726.

Baked beans and pork, 212, 433, 434. and tomatoes, 212. Boston, 212. time for baking, 725. with tomato sauce, 434.

Baked Charlotte, 537.

Baked puddings, apple and tapioca, 529. meringue, 537. puff, 541. souffle, 541. baked Charlotte, 537. banana soufflé, 544. bird’s nest, 540. blackberry, 531. bread and fig, 535. and milk, 538. old-fashioned, 536. soufflé, 543. bread-crumb, 535, 538. Brown Betty, 532. cherry, 531. chocolate, 537. soufflé, 544. cocoanut soufflés, 542. cornstarch, 538. cottage, 535. raspberry, 531. cracker, 540. date and bread, 536. fig and bread, 535. fruit, 529. German, 533. Indian, 534. lemon soufflé, 543. orange, 530. sauce for, 531. soufflé, 543. peach batter, 530. canned, 533. scallop, 536. pineapple, 529. plum, 530. Polly’s, 539. poor man’s, 533. prune, 528. soufflé, 543. queen of, 536. raspberry cottage, 531. rhubarb, 532. soufflé, 542. rice custard, 532. soufflé, 542. with eggs, 539. without eggs, 539. sago, 541. squash, 538. sweet omelet soufflé, 542. tapioca and apple, 529. and raisin, 530. time for baking, 727. See also, Boiled Puddings; Puddings; Steamed puddings; Soufflés.

Baking bread, cakes, custards and puddings, time for, 727. fish and meats, time for, 725.

Baking-soda. See Soda.