FoodNetArchive

The household (of the Detroit free press)

1886

Page 167

Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Scour your rolling-pin and paste-board as soon after using as pos- sible, but without soap, or any gritty substance, such as sand or brick- dust ; put them away perfectly dry. Scour your pickle and preserve jars after they are emptied ; dry and put them away in a dry place. Wipe your bread and cheese-pan out daily with a dry cloth, and scald them once a week. Scald your salt-pan when out of use, and dry it thoroughly. Scour the lid well by which it is covered when in use. Mind and put all things in their proper places, and then you will easily find them when they are wanted. You must not poke things out of sight instead of cleaning them, and such things as onions, garlick, etc., must not be cut with the same knife as is used in cutting meat, bread, butter, etc. Milk must not be put in a vessel used for greasy purposes, nor must clear liquids, such as water, etc., be put into vessels which have been used for milk, and not 188 HOUSE-KEEPING. washed ; in short, no vessel must be used for any purpose for which it is not appropriated. You must not suffer any kind of food to become cold in any metal vessel, not even in well-tinned iron saucepans, etc., for they will impart a more or less unpleasant flavor to it. Above all things, you must not let liquid food, or in fact any other, remain in brass or copper vessels after it is cooked. The rust of copper or brass is absolutely poisonous, and this will always be produced by moisture and exposure to the air. Do not throw away the fat which, when cold, accumulates on the top of liquors in which fresh or salt meat has been boiled ; such as marrow- bones, or any other clean bones from which food may be extracted in the way of soup, broth or stock, or in any other way. Do not do the dirty work at a table set apart for cleanly preparations. Take care to have plenty of kitchen cloths, and mark them so that a duster may not be mistaken for a towel, or a knife cloth for a duster. Keep your boiler and stewpans perfectly clean, and free from rust and dust. Never employ any knives, spoons, dishes, cups, or any articles in the kitchen, which belong to the dining room. Spoons are sure to get scratched, and a knife used for preparing an onion, takes up its flavor, which two or three cleanings will not entirely take away. Take great care to prevent all preparations which are delicate in their nature, such as custards, blanc mange, dressed milks, etc., from burning, to which they are very liable. The surest way to effectually hinder this, is to boil them in an outside vessel filled with water. SERVICEABLE SUGGESTIONS. Kerosene will make the tin tea-kettle as new. Saturate a woolen rag, and rub with it. It will also remove stains from clean varnished furniture. To clean tinware : Damp a cloth and dip in common soda, and rub the ware briskly, after which wipe dry. Any blackened ware can be made to look as good as new. After a stove has once been thoroughly blacked, it can be kept look- ing well for a long time by rubbing it with a newspaper every morning. Lamp chimneys can be washed easily by holding them over the nose of the tea-kettle when the kettle is boiling furiously. This will make them beautifully clear. .Of course they must be wiped with a clean cloth.