Original White House Cookbook

A Good Way to Clean Mica in a stove that has become blackened with smoke, is to take it out, and thoroughly wash it with vinegar. If the black does not come off at once, let it soak a little. To Banish Rats from the Premises, use pounded glass mixed with dry corn meal, placed within their reach. Sprinkling cayenne pepper in their holes will also banish them. Chloride of lime is an infallible remedy, spread around where they come, and thrown into their holes ; it should be renewed once in two weeks. Tar is also a good remedy. To Prevent the Odor of Boiling Ham or Cabbage : — Throw red pepper pods or a few bits of charcoal into the pan they are cooking in. To Brighten Gilt Frames: — Take sufficient flour of sulphur to give a golden tinge to about one and one-half pints of water^’^i.nd in this boil four or flve bruised onions, or garlic, which will answer the same purpose. Strain off the liquid, and with it, when cold, wash with a soft brush any gilding which requires restoring, and when dry, it will come out as bright as new work. All cooking utensils, including iron-ware, should be washed outside and inside in hot, soapy water ; rinsed in clean, hot water, wiped dry with a dry towel ; a soapy or greasy dish-cloth should never be used for the purpose. A cake of sapolio should be kept in every kitchen, to be used freely on all dishes that require scouring and cleansing. All tins that have become discolored can be made as bright and clean as new by the use of sapolio ; also shines dishes, and, in fact, almost all articles that require any scouring. Purchased at all groceries. One of the most useful articles ever used in the kitchen. ITEMS. TOILET REQPES, ★ ★ ★ COLOGNE WATER, (Superior.) OIL of lavender two drachms, oil of rosemary one drachm and a half, orange, lemon and bergamot, one drachm each of the oil ; also two drachms of the essence of musk, attar of rose ' ten drops, and a pint of proof spirit. Shake all together thoroughly three times a day for a week. JOCKEY CLUB BOUQUET. Mix one pint extract of rose, one pint extract of tuberose, half a pint of extract of cassia, four ounces extract of Jasmine, and three ounces tincture of civet. Filter the mixture. ROSE-WATER. Preferable to the distilled for a perfume, or for culinary purposes : Attar of rose, twelve drops ; rub it up with half an ounce of white sugar and two drachms carbonate magnesia ; then add gradually one quart of water and two ounces of proof spirit, and filter through paper. BAY RUM. French proof spirit one gallon, extract bay six ounces. Mix and color with caramel; needs no filtering. LAVENDER WATER. Oil of lavender two ounces, orris root half an ounce, spirits of wine one pint. Mix and keep two or three weeks. It may then be strained through two thicknesses of blotting-paper and is ready for use. CREAM OF LILIES. Best white castor oil ; pour in a little strong solution of sal tartar in water, and shake it until it looks thick and white. Perfume with lavender. (549) CREAM OF ROSES. Olive oil one pound, attar of roses fifty drops, oil of rosemary twenty-five drops ; mix, and color it with alkanet root. COLD CREAM. Melt one ounce oil of almonds, half ounce spermaceti, one drachm white wax, and then add two ounces of rose-water, and stir it constantly until cold. LIP-SALVE.