Chapter 14

When feather beds become soiled or heavy, they may be made clean and light by being treated in the following manner: Rub them over with a stiff brush, dipped in hot soap-suds. When clean, lay them on a shed, or any other clean place, where the rain will fall on them. When thoroughly soaked, let them dry in a hot sun for six or seven successive days, shaking them up well, and turning them over each day. They should be covered over with a thick cloth during the night; if exposed to the night air, they will become damp, and mildew. This way of washing the bed ticking and feathers, makes them very fresh and light, and is much easier than the old-fashioned way of emptying the beds, and washing the feathers separately, while it answers quite as well. Care must be taken to dry the bed perfectly, before sleeping on it. Hair mattresses that have become hard and dirty, can be made nearly as good as new by ripping them, washing the ticking, and picking the hair free from bunches, and keeping it in a dry, airy place, several days. Whenever the ticking gets dry, fill it lightly with the hair, and tack it together.

426. _To cleanse Vials and Pie Plates._

Bottles and vials that have had medicine in them, may be cleansed by putting ashes in each one, and immersing them in a pot of cold water, then heating the water gradually, until it boils. When they have boiled in it an hour, take it from the fire, and let them remain in it till cold; then wash them in soap-suds, and rinse them in fair water till clear. Pie plates that have been used much for baking, are apt to impart an unpleasant taste to the pies, which is owing to the lard and butter of the crust soaking into them, and becoming rancid. It may be removed by putting them in a brass kettle, with ashes and cool water, and boiling them in it an hour.

427. _To temper Earthen-ware._

Earthen-ware that is used to bake in, will be less liable to crack from the heat if put, before they are used, into a vessel, with sufficient cold water to cover them, then heated in it gradually, till the water boils. When the vessel is taken from the fire, the ware should remain in until cold.

428. _To temper New Ovens and Iron-ware._

New ovens, before they are baked in, should have a fire kept up in them half a day. As soon as the wood is removed, put up the lid of the oven. It should not be used for baking until it has been heated the second time. If not treated in this manner, it will never retain the heat well. New flat irons should be heated half a day before they are used, in order to retain heat well. Iron cooking utensils, when new, will be less liable to crack if heated gradually five or six hours, and then cooled slowly, before being used to cook in. Cold water should never be turned into hot iron utensils, as it will crack them by cooling the surface too suddenly.

429. _To polish Brass, Britannia, and Silver Utensils._

Rotten stone, mixed with a little spirit, is the best thing to clean brass with: rotten stone and oil does very well. They should be polished with dry rotten stone, and a dry cloth. Hot vinegar and milk makes brass look nice--it should be rinsed off, wiped dry, and rubbed over with chalk, to kill the acid, and give the brass a polish. Brass looks very nice cleaned in this manner, and will keep clean a long time, provided all the acid is killed--if not, they will turn very soon. When brass utensils are not in use, they should be thoroughly cleaned with rotten stone and oil, and wrapped up tight to exclude the air. Whiting or chalk is good to polish silver. If the silver is spotted, wet the chalk, (which should be powdered,) rub it on the silver, and let it remain until dry; then rub it off with a clean dry cloth. When chalk will not remove spots, hot ashes will. Britannia-ware should be rubbed with a flannel rag dipped in sweet or linseed oil, if spotted, then washed in soap-suds, and wiped dry. To give it a polish, rub it over with dry powdered chalk or whiting, using a clean dry rag.

430. _To remove or keep Rust from Cutlery._

Bristol brick is good to remove rust, and give a polish to steel utensils. It should be powdered fine, and rubbed on dry, with a woollen cloth. Knives should be rubbed on a board, with a thick leather covered over it, and fastened down tight. The brick should be dry, and powdered fine, and the knives should not be wet after cleaning, but merely wiped, with a dry clean cloth. To make the handles smooth, wipe them with a cloth that is a little damp, being careful not to touch the blades, as it will tarnish them. Knives look very nice cleaned in this manner, and the edge will keep sharp. Ivory-handled knives should never have the handles put into hot water, as it will turn them yellow. If, through misuse, they turn yellow, rub them with sand paper. When Bristol brick will not remove rust from steel, rub the spots with sand paper or emery, or else rub on sweet oil, and let it remain a day; then rub it off with powdered quicklime. To keep steel utensils (that are not in constant use) from contracting rust, clean them thoroughly with Bristol brick, wipe them on a perfectly dry cloth, and rub them over with sweet oil, and cover them with brown paper, so as to exclude the air. Knives and forks should be wrapped up in brown paper, each one by itself.

431. _Preservatives against the ravages of Moths._

Moths are very apt to eat woollen and fur garments early in the summer. To keep them from the garments, take them late in the spring, when not worn, and put them in a chest, with considerable camphor gum. Cedar chips, or tobacco leaves, are also good for this purpose. When moths get into garments, the best thing to destroy them is to hang the garments in a closet, and make a strong smoke of tobacco leaves under them. In order to do it, have a pan of live coals in the closet, and sprinkle on the tobacco leaves.

432. _To destroy Cockroaches, Ants, and other household Vermin._

Hellebore, rubbed over with molasses, and put round the places that cockroaches frequent, is a very effectual poison for them. Arsenic, spread on bread and butter, and placed round rat or mouse holes, will soon put a stop to their ravages. Quicksilver and the white of an egg, beat together, and laid with a feather round the crevices of the bedsteads and the sacking, is very effectual in destroying bugs in them. To kill flies, when so numerous as to be troublesome, keep cobalt, wet with spirit, in a large shallow plate. The spirit will attract the flies, and the cobalt will kill them very soon. Black pepper is said to be good to destroy them--it should be mixed, so as to be very strong, with a little cream and sugar. Great care is necessary in using the above poisons, where there are any children, as they are so apt to eat any thing that comes in their way, and these poisons will prove as fatal to them as to vermin, (excepting the pepper.) The flour of sulphur is said to be good to drive ants away, if sprinkled round the places that they frequent. Sage is also good. Weak brine will kill worms in gravel walks, if kept moist with it a week in the spring, and three or four days in the fall.

COMMON SIMPLE DYES.

433. _To Dye Black._

Allow a pound of logwood to each pound of goods that are to be dyed. Soak it over night in soft water, then boil it an hour, and strain the water in which it is boiled. For each pound of logwood, dissolve an ounce of blue vitriol in lukewarm water sufficient to wet the goods. Dip the goods in--when saturated with it, turn the whole into the logwood dye. If the goods are cotton, set the vessel on the fire, and let the goods boil ten or fifteen minutes, stirring them constantly to prevent their spotting. Silk and woollen goods should not be boiled in the dye-stuff, but it should be kept at a scalding heat for twenty minutes. Drain the goods without wringing, and hang them in a dry, shady place, where they will have the air. When dry, set the color by, put them into scalding hot water, that has salt in it, in the proportion of a tea-cup full to three gallons of the water. Let the goods remain in it till cold; then hang them where they will dry; (they should not be wrung.) Boiling hot suds is the best thing to set the color of black silk--let it remain in it till cold. Soaking black-dyed goods in sour milk, is also good to set the color.

434. _Green and Blue Dye, for Silks and Woollens._

For green dye, take a pound of oil of vitriol, and turn it upon half an ounce of Spanish indigo, that has been reduced to a fine powder. Stir them well together, then add a lump of pearl ash, of the size of a pea--as soon as the fermentation ceases, bottle it--the dye will be fit for use the next day. Chemic blue is made in the same manner, only using half the quantity of vitriol. For woollen goods, the East indigo will answer as well as the Spanish, and comes much lower. This dye will not answer for cotton goods, as the vitriol rots the threads. Wash the articles that are to be dyed till perfectly clean, and free from color. If you cannot extract the color by rubbing it in hot suds, boil it out--rinse it in soft water, till entirely free from soap, as the soap will ruin the dye. To dye a pale color, put to each quart of soft warm water that is to be used for the dye, ten drops of the above composition--if you wish a deep color, more will be necessary. Put in the articles without crowding, and let them remain in it till of a good color--the dye-stuff should be kept warm--take the articles out without wringing, drain as much of the dye out of them as possible, then hang them to dry in a shady, airy place. They should be dyed when the weather is dry--if not dried quick, they will not look nice. When perfectly dry, wash them in lukewarm suds, to keep the vitriol from injuring the texture of the cloth. If you wish for a lively bright green, mix a little of the above composition with yellow dye.

435. _Yellow Dyes._

To dye a buff color, boil equal parts of arnotto and common potash, in soft clear water. When dissolved, take it from the fire; when cool, put in the goods, which should previously be washed free from spots, and color; set them on a moderate fire, where they will keep hot, till the goods are of the shade you wish. To dye salmon and orange color, tie arnotto in a bag, and soak it in warm soft soap suds, till it becomes soft, so that you can squeeze enough of it through the bag to make the suds a deep yellow--put in the articles, which should be clean, and free from color; boil them till of the shade you wish. There should be enough of the dye to cover the goods--stir them while boiling, to keep them from spotting. This dye will make a salmon or orange color, according to the strength of it, and the time the goods remain in. Drain them out of the dye, and dry them quick, in the shade--when dry, wash them in soft soap suds. Goods dyed in this manner should never be rinsed in clear water. Peach leaves, fustic, and saffron, all make a good straw or lemon color, according to the strength of the dye. They should be steeped in soft fair water, in an earthen or tin vessel, and then strained, and the dye set with alum, and a little gum arabic dissolved in the dye, if you wish to stiffen the article. When the dye-stuff is strained, steep the articles in it.

436. _Red Dyes._

Madder makes a good durable red, but not a brilliant color. To make a dye of it, allow for half a pound of it three ounces of alum, and one of cream of tartar, and six gallons of water. This proportion of ingredients will make sufficient dye for six or seven pounds of goods. Heat half of the water scalding hot, in a clean brass kettle, then put in the alum and cream of tartar, and let it dissolve. When the water boils, stir the alum and tartar up in it, put in the goods, and let them boil a couple of hours; then rinse them in fair water--empty the kettle, and put in three gallons of water, and the madder; rub it fine in the water, then put in the goods, and set them where they will keep scalding hot for an hour, without boiling--stir them constantly. When they have been scalding an hour, increase the fire till they boil. Let them boil five minutes; then drain them out of the dye, and rinse them, without wringing, in fair water, and hang them in the shade, where they will dry. To dye a fine crimson, take for each pound of goods two and a half ounces of alum, an ounce and a half of white tartar--put them in a brass kettle, with sufficient fair water to cover your goods; set it where it will boil briskly for several minutes; then put in the goods, which should be washed clean, and rinsed in fair water. When the goods have boiled half an hour, take them out, without wringing, and hang it where it will cool all over alike, without drying; empty out the alum and tartar water, put fresh water in the kettle, and for each pound of goods to be dyed, put in an ounce of cochineal, powdered fine. Set the kettle on the fire, and let the water boil fifteen or twenty minutes; then put in sufficient cold water to make it lukewarm, put in the goods, and boil them an hour and a quarter--take them out without wringing, and dry them in a shady place. The blossoms of the Balm of Gilead, steeped with fair water in a vessel, then strained, will dye silk a pretty red color. The silk should be washed clean, and free from color, then rinsed in fair water, and boiled in the strained dye, with a small piece of alum. To dye a fine delicate pink, use a carmine saucer--the directions for dyeing come with the saucers. It is too expensive a dye for bulky goods, but for faded fancy shawls and ribbons, it is quite worth the while to use it, as it gives a beautiful shade of pink.

437. _Slate-Colored Dye._

To make a good dark slate color, boil sugar-loaf paper with vinegar, in an iron utensil--put in alum to set the color. Tea grounds, set with copperas, makes a good slate color. To produce a light slate color, boil white maple bark in clear water, with a little alum--the bark should be boiled in a brass utensil. The dye for slate color should be strained before the goods are put into it. They should be boiled in it, and then hung where they will drain and dry.

438. _Soap from Scraps._

Dissolve eighteen pounds of potash in three pailsful of water; then add to it twenty-five pounds of grease, and boil it over a slow fire for a couple of hours. Turn it into a barrel, and fill it up with water.

439. _Cold Soap._

Heat twenty-six pounds of strained grease. When melted, mix it with four pailsful of lye, made of twenty pounds of white potash. Let the whole stand in the sun, stirring it frequently. In the course of a week, fill the barrel with weak lye. This method of making soap is much easier than to make a lye of your ashes, while it is as cheap, if you sell your ashes to the soap-boiler.

440. _Hard Soap._

Dissolve twenty weight of white potash in three pailsful of water. Heat twenty pounds of strained grease, then mix it with the dissolved potash, and boil them together till the whole becomes a thick jelly, which is ascertained by taking a little of it out to get cold. Take it from the fire, stir in cold water till it grows thin, then put to each pailful of soap a pint of blown salt--stir it in well. The succeeding day, separate it from the lye, and heat it over a slow fire. Let it boil a quarter of an hour, then take it from the fire. If you wish to have it a yellow color, put in a little palm oil, and turn it out into wooden vessels. When cold, separate it again from the lye, and cut, it in bars--let them remain in the sun several days to dry.

441. _Windsor and Castile Soap._

To make the celebrated Windsor soap, nothing more is necessary than to slice the best white soap as thin as possible, and melt it over a slow fire. Take it from the fire when melted, and when it is just lukewarm, add enough of the oil of caraway to scent it. If any other fragrant oil is liked better, if may be substituted. Turn it into moulds, and let it remain in a dry situation for five or six days. To make Castile soap, boil common soft soap in lamp oil three hours and a half.

442. _Bayberry, or Myrtle Soap._

Dissolve two pounds and a quarter of white potash in five quarts of water, then mix it with ten pounds of myrtle wax, or bayberry tallow. Boil the whole over a slow fire, till it turns to soap, then add a tea-cup of cold water--let it boil ten minutes longer--at the end of that time turn it into tin moulds, or pans, and let them remain a week or ten days to dry, then turn them out of the moulds. If you wish to have the soap scented, stir into it any essential oil that has an agreeable smell, just before you turn it into the moulds. This kind of soap is excellent for shaving, and chapped hands--it is also good for eruptions on the face. It will be fit for use in the course of three or four weeks after it is made, but it is better for being kept ten or twelve months.

THE WHOLE ART OF CARVING.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

The carving knife should be light, of middling size, and of a fine edge. _Strength_ is less required than _skill_ in the manner of using it; and to facilitate this, the butcher should be directed to divide the _joints_ of the bones of all carcass joints of mutton, lamb, and veal, (such as neck, breast, and loin,) which then may easily be cut into thin slices, attached to the bones. If the whole of the meat belonging to each bone should be too thick, a small slice may be taken off between every two bones.

The more fleshy joints (as fillets of veal, leg or saddle of mutton, and beef,) are to be helped in thin slices, neatly cut, and smooth. Observe to let the knife pass down to the bone in the mutton and beef joints.

The dish should not be too far off the carver, as it gives an awkward appearance, and makes the task more difficult. Attention is to be paid to help every one to a part of such articles as are considered best.

In helping fish, take care not to break the flakes, which in cod and very fresh salmon are large, and contribute much to the beauty of its appearance. A fish knife not being sharp, divides it best. Help a part of the roe, milt, or liver, to each person. The heads of carp, part of those of cod and salmon, sounds of cod, and fins of turbot, are likewise esteemed niceties, and are to be attended to accordingly.

In cutting up any wild fowl, duck, goose, or turkey, for a large party, if you cut the slices down from pinion to pinion, without making wings, there will be more handsome pieces.

1. _Sirloin of Beef._

This may be begun at either end, or by cutting in the middle. It is usual to inquire whether the outside or inside is preferred. For the outside, the slice should be cut down to the bones, and the same with every following helping. Slice the inside likewise, and give with each piece some of the soft fat. The inside, done in the following manner, is excellent: Have ready some shalot vinegar, boiling hot; mince the meat large, and a good deal of the fat; sprinkle it with salt, and pour the vinegar and the gravy on it. Help with a spoon as quick as possible, on hot plates.

2. _Aitch or Edgebone of Beef._

Cut off a slice, an inch thick, all the length from _a_ to _b_, and then help. The soft fat, which resembles marrow, lies at the back of the bone, below _d_--the firm fat must be cut in horizontal slices at the edge of the meat, _c_. The skewer used in keeping the meat together while boiling, is shown at _a_, which should be drawn out before served up; or, if necessary to leave it in, place instead one of silver.

3. _Shoulder of Mutton._

This is a very good joint, and by many preferred to the leg; for, if properly roasted, it abounds in gravy, and produces many nice bits. The figure annexed represents it as laid in the dish, with its back uppermost. It should first be cut in the hollow part, in the direction _a_, _b_, and the knife passed deep to the bone. The best part of the fat lies on the outer edge, and it is to be cut out in thin slices, in the direction _f_. If many are at the table, and the hollow part cut in the line _a_, _b_, is eaten, some very good and delicate slices may be cut out on each side the ridge of the blade bone, in the direction _c_, _d_. The line between these two dotted lines is that in the direction of which the edge or ridge of the blade bone lies, and cannot be cut across. It is necessary to wind writing paper around the shank, as in the leg, provided you wish to handle it. The lower side of the shoulder has two cuts abounding in gravy. The part in the direction _i_, _k_, is lean; the other, _g_, _h_, is very fat.

4. _Knuckle of Veal._

A knuckle of veal cuts in neat slices only in one direction, viz.: from _a_ to _b_. The line _d_, _c_, divides two bones, which it is necessary to separate in order to get at the best marrowy fat portion--also cut asunder the knuckle bones.

5. _Roasted Breast of Veal._

Cut to the left on the first line _d_, _c_; then cross from _c_ to the most distant _a_. The lines _a_, _d_, _a_, _d_, &c., represent the directions in which the brisket, or gristly part should be divided; _d_, _c_, show the course of the ribs, and _e_ is the sweetbread.

6. _A Spare Rib._

Cut out first a slice from the fleshy portion, following the line _a_, _b_. This will give a due proportion of fat and lean. After this part is taken away, the bone lying in the direction _d_, _b_, _c_, should be separated, breaking it off at the joint, _c_.

7. _Saddle of Mutton._

Cut long thin slices from the tail to the end, viz.: from _a_ to _b_, beginning close to the back bone. If a large joint, the slice may be divided. Cut some fat from the sides.

8. _Pig._

The cook usually divides the body before it is sent to the table, and garnishes the dish with the jaws and ears. The first thing is to separate the shoulder from the carcass on one side, and then the leg, according to the direction given by the dotted line _a_, _b_, _c_. The ribs are then to be divided into about two helpings, and an ear or jaw presented with them, and plenty of sauce. The joints may either be divided into two each, or pieces may be cut from them. The ribs are reckoned the finest part, but some people prefer the neck, and between the shoulders.

9. _Half a Calf's Head, boiled._

Be careful and get a young one, as they look much handsomer served up, and besides are more tender. First cut in the direction _c_, _b_. The throat bread is considered the choicest part; it lies in the fleshy portion, near the termination of the jaw-bone, and the line _c_, _d_, shows the direction to cut into it. On the under part of the lower jaw there is some very nice meat; and about the ear, _g_, some fat rather gristly, but highly esteemed. The part near the neck is very inferior. Sometimes the bone in the line _f_, _e_, is cut off, but this is a coarse part. The sweet tooth is quite a delicacy--it lies back of all the rest, and, in a young calf, is easily extracted with the knife. Many like the eye, which you must cut out with the point of your knife, and divide in two. Under the head is the palate, which is reckoned a nicety.

10. _Leg of Mutton._