FoodNetArchive

The Pattern cook-book

1890

Page 10

Presented as published in 1890. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
after the dinner work is out of the way being obviously the most convenient. The drain pipe of the sink should be carefully cleansed once every ten days with washing soda. To prepare a cleansing agent for this purpose, pour three quarts of boiling water on a pound of washing soda, and when the latter is dissolved, bottle for use. Pour a pint of this liquid down the drain-pipe when it needs purifying; the soda unites with the grease and keeps the pipe free from deposits. Tinware, granite-ware and frying pans will need fre- quent scouring, and nothing is of greater comfort in the kitchen for this work than a generous supply of Sapolio. Bristol brick may be used for this purpose, but scarcely with as admirable results for the labor expended. Woodenware that has been washed should never be dried before the fire, as the wood will warp and crack when thus exposed to the heat. Steel knives should be bright- ened with Sapolio. The refrigerator should be carefully cleansed throughout once a week and a wire run through the drain pipe to dislodge anything that may have dropped into it. It is very unwise to have this pipe con- nected with the sewer or the drain of the house, as such an arrangetnent offers a constant menace to the health of the household. The range or stove should be cleaned once a fortnight, all the flues being swept out, the top of the oven brushed oiT, and the stove pipe sharply tapped to loosen any soot that may have formed. Above all, the kitchen should be plentifully supplied wath towels. There should be three kinds : some of crash for the hands, which can be made to go over a roller ; some of soft crash for dishes and kitchen implements gen- erallv : and some of unbleached cotton for use about the 30 THE PATTERN COOK-BOOK. range in lifiing hot utensils. Tliese cotton towels are much more convenient than the padded holders com- monly in use, as they can be easily washed, and the heated dishes can be handled much more safely with them. UTENSILS NEEDED. The young housekeeper will, we believe, gladly receive some advice in the matter of choosing the uten- sils needed to produce a well-furnished kitchen. In buy- ing tinware (and, indeed, any article for equipping this part of the house) it is economy to purchase the best in the beginning. It is a well-known fact to experienced housekeepers that American wares for the kitchen are not nearly so durable as English. Of course, the latter cost more here, but if, when furnishing the kitchen, a little more money be expended in this way, it will never be regretted, since the best wares last fully twice as long as those of poorer quality. A superior quality of tinware will last a life-time, while the cheap varieties will scarcely survive a year's usage. The best lin has a smooth and rather dull-looking surface and keeps its shape until worn out ; its surface will stand great heat without becoming rough, but when the poorer tin is thus exposed, the coating melts, producing a rough surface that is difficult to clean, and to which the food clings until it burns. The utensils should all be made of XX tin, and the bread and cake pans, when not made of iron, should be of the XXXX quality. The surface of the iron-ware for the kitchen becomes smoother with use, but iron utensils of poor quality are a great annoyance and can never be relied upon to attain THE KITCHEN. 3 [