Before the butter is taken out into the bowl see that the bowl has
been thoroughly scalded, which water let stand in the bowl five min-
utes before using. Pour out and rub both bottom and sides with coarse
salt, to prevent the butter from sticking. Rinse thoroughly, and fill
with cold water to cool. Use the best of dairy salt for the butter, in
the proportion of a half ounce of salt to a pound of butter, if for table
use; if for packing, three-fourths of an ounce of salt will not be more
than sufficient. After salting, cover with cotton cloth wet in salt and
water : set in the cellar until morning, when give it a second working
over to get the remainder of the buttermilk out, else the butter will
become rancid.
If the butter is to be put up in rolls, dip a cheese cloth in salt and
water and put round each roll ; if in jars put a layer of salt at the bot-
tom of each jar ; pack down the butter tightly ; put a layer of salt on
top ; then a wet cloth ; then more salt, and it will keep splendidly. If
put in a crock in layers, first put in a layer of butter — all that is in that
churning — then lay a cloth wet in brine over it, and leave it until ready
to put in the next churning ; then remove the cloth, put in the butter,
pressing it down firmly, and lay the cloth over it again, and so on until
the jar or crock is filled. When the butter is cut it will come out in
layers, the same as it was packed. If packed in tubs (ash are the best,
don't pack in pine, or it will taste of the wood), soak the tub for twelve
hours in strong brine, put in a layer of salt in the tub and then pack in
the butter. Fill in the same way as the crocks (above described) are
filled, and finish by laying over the butter a cotton cloth (from which
the sizing has been washed), soaked in strong brine ; nail up the tub
and set away until ready for use.
40 THE DINING ROOM.
THE DINING ROOM.
ARRANGING THE TABLE.
The neatness and taste with which a dinner table is arranged add
greatly to the comfort of dinner. Excessive display at a private dinner
table is not in good taste, and renders the feast uncomfortable. Huge
edifices of plated ware, gigantic bouquets, and lofty sugar castles have
given way to dainty bouquets in fragile cut glasses, and low banks of
mosses and ferns. One of the greatest errors is the uncomfortable
placing of the straight table. The general character of a dinner must
be more or less informal. If the room is large enough, a table in
horseshoe form should be used. The T form of table is sometimes
used, and this can be improved when the lower portion of a T is
extended parallel with the upper portion, like an H. Guests are more
at ease, and, without crowding, everybody is in proximity with his
neighbor.
All strange contortions of linen, where napkins are folded and
crumpled into plaits and fans, should be forbidden. These are only
used in hotels and restaurants. The marking of napkins with large
monograms of red, or any color, should also be avoided. If any gar-
nishing is attempted, a few sprigs of parsley, celery, fine lettuce, or
slices of lemon may be used. Very much of this ornamentation is
considered vulgar. The use of the large castor is also dying out. In
France the castor is seldom put on the table, but simply a vinegar and
oil cruet.
Page 35
Presented as published in 1886. 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
Before the butter is taken out into the bowl see that the bowl has been thoroughly scalded, which water let stand in the bowl five minutes before using. Pour out and rub both bottom and sides with coarse salt, to prevent the butter from sticking. Rinse thoroughly, and fill with cold water to cool. Use the best of dairy salt for the butter, in the proportion of a half ounce of salt to a pound of butter, if for table use; if for packing, three-fourths of an ounce of salt will not be more than sufficient. After salting, cover with cotton cloth wet in salt and water : set in the cellar until morning, when give it a second working over to get the remainder of the buttermilk out, else the butter will become rancid.
If the butter is to be put up in rolls, dip a cheese cloth in salt and water and put round each roll ; if in jars put a layer of salt at the bottom of each jar ; pack down the butter tightly ; put a layer of salt on top ; then a wet cloth ; then more salt, and it will keep splendidly. If put in a crock in layers, first put in a layer of butter — all that is in that churning — then lay a cloth wet in brine over it, and leave it until ready to put in the next churning ; then remove the cloth, put in the butter, pressing it down firmly, and lay the cloth over it again, and so on until the jar or crock is filled. When the butter is cut it will come out in layers, the same as it was packed. If packed in tubs (ash are the best, don't pack in pine, or it will taste of the wood), soak the tub for twelve hours in strong brine, put in a layer of salt in the tub and then pack in the butter. Fill in the same way as the crocks (above described) are filled, and finish by laying over the butter a cotton cloth (from which the sizing has been washed), soaked in strong brine ; nail up the tub and set away until ready for use.
ARRANGING THE TABLE.
The neatness and taste with which a dinner table is arranged add greatly to the comfort of dinner. Excessive display at a private dinner table is not in good taste, and renders the feast uncomfortable. Huge edifices of plated ware, gigantic bouquets, and lofty sugar castles have given way to dainty bouquets in fragile cut glasses, and low banks of mosses and ferns. One of the greatest errors is the uncomfortable placing of the straight table. The general character of a dinner must be more or less informal. If the room is large enough, a table in horseshoe form should be used. The T form of table is sometimes used, and this can be improved when the lower portion of a T is extended parallel with the upper portion, like an H. Guests are more at ease, and, without crowding, everybody is in proximity with his neighbor.
All strange contortions of linen, where napkins are folded and crumpled into plaits and fans, should be forbidden. These are only used in hotels and restaurants. The marking of napkins with large monograms of red, or any color, should also be avoided. If any garnishing is attempted, a few sprigs of parsley, celery, fine lettuce, or slices of lemon may be used. Very much of this ornamentation is considered vulgar. The use of the large castor is also dying out. In France the castor is seldom put on the table, but simply a vinegar and oil cruet.