Every-day dishes and every-day work

into a kettle, and pour in four quarts of clean, shelled field corn, white varieties preferable. Boil till the hulls will rub off. Skim the corn out of the lye water, and put it into a tub of fresh cold water. To remove the hulls, scrub the corn well with a clean stiff brush-broom kept for the purpose, changing the water often. Put through half a dozen or more waters, and then take the corn out by handfuls, rubbing each well between the hands to loosen the remaining hulls, and drop again into clear water. Pick out all hulls. Cleanse the corn through several more waters if it is to be dried and kept before using. Well-hulled corn is often found in the market. If preferred, a tablespoonful of carbonate of soda with water sufficient to cover the corn may be used in which to boil the corn, in place of the prepared lye. To Cook : If it is to be cooked at once, it should be parboiled in clear water twice, and then put into new water and cooked several hours, or until tender. It should be nearly or quite dry when done. It may be served with milk or cream. Coarse Hominy. — For coarse hominy, use four parts of water or milk and water to one of grain. It is best steamed or cooked in a double boiler, though it may be boiled in a kettle over a slow fire. The only objection to the latter method is the need of frequent stirring to prevent sticking, which breaks and mashes the hominy. From four to five hours' slow cooking will be necessary, unless the grain has been previously soaked ; then about one hour less will be required. Fine Hominy, or Grits. — This preparation is cooked in the same manner as the foregoing, three and one half or four parts of water being used to one of the grain. Four or five hours will be necessary for cooking the unsoaked grits. RICE. Rice needs to be thoroughly washed to remove the earthy taste it is so apt to have. A good way to do this is to put it into a colander, in a deep pan of water. Rub the rice well with the hands, lifting the colander in and out of the water, and changing the water until it is clear ; then drain. In this way the grit is deposited in the water, and the rice left thoroughly clean. Dry in the oven before using. Boiled Rice. — Rice to be boiled in the ordinary manner requires two quarts of boiling water to one cupful of rice. It should be boiled rapidly until tender, then drained at once, and set in a moderate oven to become dry. Picking over and lifting lightly occasionally with a fork will make it more flaky and dry. Care must be taken, however, not to mash the rice grains. Steamed Rice. — Soak a cup of rice in one and a fourth cups of water for an hour, then add a cup of milk, turn into an earthen dish suitable for serving it in, and place in a steamcooker or in a covered steamer over a kettle of boiling water, and steam for an hour. It should be stirred with a fork occasionally, for the first ten or fifteen minutes.