Buckeye cookery

Opinions as to what constitutes good bread differ, perhaps, as much as tastes and opinions concerning any thing else, but all will © agree that bread, to, be good, ought to be light, sweet—that is, free from any perceptible acid or yeasty taste—flaky, granular or not /— lable to become a doughy mass, and as white as the grade of flour __ used will allow. If members of the family have delicate digestive powers, they will not use new bread, and therefore must have as will keep with little change of texture and none of nes: | taste, for several days. To obtain these qualities in bread, use the best flour, as in families where no bread is wasted, the best is cheap- The good old Genesee Valley white winter wheat, of/ Western New York, makes a flour unsurpassed in quality. The Michigan, the same, but the Minnesota hard spring wheat ‘new process” flour is the equal of the best, and is so much superior in strength — that one-eighth less is used in all recipes for bread and cake. The eommon or ‘‘straight” brands are used by the great majority of - families, and from all of them good, uniform au palatable bread / He en TE Ee la aN BREAD-MAKING. Housekeepers always select flour by. They usually take some tried brand, or select on the recommendation of their fur- --nisher. No rule can be given by which an inexperienced person can _ mi determine the grade of flour with accuracy, but a few hints will _ enable any one to know what not to buy. Good flour adheresto _ the hand, and, when pressed, shows the imprint of the lines of the = grain. Its tint is cream white. Never buy that which has a blue- | _ white tinge. Poor flour is not adhesive, may be blown about easily, and sometimes has a dingy look, as though mixed with ashes. Flour should be bought in quantities corresponding to the number in the family, that it may not become damaged by long keeping. Ina family of five, a barrel, or even a half-barrel sack of flour, is excellent when first bought, will become much deteriorated before ere out ~ being used up. A small family should always buy in twenty-five Be pound, or at largest, fifty pound sacks. Flour should be kept dry, y cool and entirely beyond the reach of marauders, big or little, especially the latter, for the infinitesimal meal moth is far more to be dreaded than rats or mice. Therefore every receptacle of flour - should be thoroughly and frequently cleansed, to guard against animal as well as vegetable parasites. A single speck of mold, coming _ from old or damp flour in an obscure corner of the flour-box, will Jeaven the whole as rapidly and strongly as ten times its weight in ~ yeast. In no event should flour be used without being sifted. =| _ Bread-making seems a simple process enough, but it requires a oe delicate care and watchfulness, and a thorough knowledge of all oh the contingencies of the process, dependent on the different qualities - of flour, and the varying kinds and conditions of yeast, and the change of seasons; the process which raises bread successfully in _ winter making it sour in summer. ‘There are many littfe things in , _ bread-making which require accurate observation, and, while valuable recipes and well-defined methods in detail are invaluable aids, | nothing but experience will secure the name merited by so few, though earnestly coveted by ore practical, sensible housekeeper— _ _ an excellent bread-maker.” Three things are indispensable to ~ guecess: good flour, good yeast, and watchful care. Never use flour without sifting ; and a large tin or wooden pail with a tight- . fitting cover, kept full of sifted flour, will be found a great conven- | BREAD-MAKIN a. Sais: All kinds of ffsne and meal, except iuckewheat and Guan and Graham, too, when coarse—need sifting, and all, like wheat pa should be bought in small quantitics, as they become damp and musty by long standing. 3 THe YEAST. ~ bts