pieces of furniture, which perhaps cost more and yet
are not so useful. In such a warm climate as this, where
for six months in the year our one desire is to keep cool,
it must certainly be worth while to secure a simple and
inexpensive article which will help us to attain this object.
Looking at the matter from the Domestic Economy point
of view, we shall certainly decide at once in favour of the
purchase. Housekeepers, both young and experienced,
know how much food has to be thrown away because it will
THE ICE CHEST. 257
not keep sweet for even a few hours in the hot season.
All this waste is at an end if there is ice about, as it will
keep perishable food cool and pleasant and ready for a
second meal. Many odds and ends of vegetables, fish, and
meat can be turned into a dainty salad with the ice chest
which must have been thrown away without it. Thus the
expense, not only of the ice, but also of the chest, is soon
saved, to say nothing of the pleasure and enjoyment of the
said salad, which one would so infinitely rather have had
than the chops and steaks so universally served. Delicious
little breakfast dishes can be concocted over night from the
remains of fish and meat served at tea and put down into
the ice all night. These are cooked in a few minutes in
the morning, and form such a pleasant change to the stand-
ing dish of eggs and bacon ; and how proud a good house-
keeper will feel when her little dishes are enjoyed, and she
knows that they have cost nothing! — for the food would not
have kept, and must therefore have been thrown away if
she had not possessed an ice chest. This is only one in-
stance of what may be accomplished, but in the daily
routine of work many more will be found. Think, for a
moment, of the state of the butter without ice on a hot
day. Who does not dread the sight of the liquid or greasy
fat usually seen in the butter-dish, and what a remote
chance there is of enjoying a slice of bread and butter with
bread as hard and diy as a brickbat, and butter running to
oil ? Put both into a refrigerator and note the difference.
Look at it, also, from the hygienic standpoint. Most people,
save the very strong and robust, lose their appetite during
the hot season, and therefore feel languid and weak. Give
them dry bread and liquid butter, and they can't touch a
morsel ; but with fresh bread, hard butter, and some dainty
tit-bit, kept in the ice also, placed before them, a good
meal is often enjoyed. Again, in cases of illness ice becomes
S. 1003, B
258 THE AST OF LIVING IN AUSTRALIA.
at once a necessity ; and if it is at liand in the house and
ready for use much time and trouble will be saved, and
suffering too, as the poor invalid waits with what patience
he can for the relief which is so often brought with ice.
Page 170
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
pieces of furniture, which perhaps cost more and yet are not so useful. In such a warm climate as this, where for six months in the year our one desire is to keep cool, it must certainly be worth while to secure a simple and inexpensive article which will help us to attain this object. Looking at the matter from the Domestic Economy point of view, we shall certainly decide at once in favour of the purchase. Housekeepers, both young and experienced, know how much food has to be thrown away because it will
THE ICE CHEST. 257
not keep sweet for even a few hours in the hot season. All this waste is at an end if there is ice about, as it will keep perishable food cool and pleasant and ready for a second meal. Many odds and ends of vegetables, fish, and meat can be turned into a dainty salad with the ice chest which must have been thrown away without it. Thus the expense, not only of the ice, but also of the chest, is soon saved, to say nothing of the pleasure and enjoyment of the said salad, which one would so infinitely rather have had than the chops and steaks so universally served. Delicious little breakfast dishes can be concocted over night from the remains of fish and meat served at tea and put down into the ice all night. These are cooked in a few minutes in the morning, and form such a pleasant change to the standing dish of eggs and bacon ; and how proud a good housekeeper will feel when her little dishes are enjoyed, and she knows that they have cost nothing! — for the food would not have kept, and must therefore have been thrown away if she had not possessed an ice chest. This is only one instance of what may be accomplished, but in the daily routine of work many more will be found. Think, for a moment, of the state of the butter without ice on a hot day. Who does not dread the sight of the liquid or greasy fat usually seen in the butter-dish, and what a remote chance there is of enjoying a slice of bread and butter with bread as hard and dry as a brickbat, and butter running to oil ? Put both into a refrigerator and note the difference. Look at it, also, from the hygienic standpoint. Most people, save the very strong and robust, lose their appetite during the hot season, and therefore feel languid and weak. Give them dry bread and liquid butter, and they can't touch a morsel ; but with fresh bread, hard butter, and some dainty tit-bit, kept in the ice also, placed before them, a good meal is often enjoyed. Again, in cases of illness ice becomes
S. 1003, B
at once a necessity ; and if it is at liand in the house and ready for use much time and trouble will be saved, and suffering too, as the poor invalid waits with what patience he can for the relief which is so often brought with ice.