The New England Cook Book Part 17

49. _To temper Earthen Ware._

Earthen ware that is used to cook in, is less liable to crack from the heat, by being put before they are used into cold water and heated gradually till the water boils, then taken from the fire and left in the water until cold.

50. _Preservatives against the Ravages of Moths._

To prevent woolen and fur articles of dress, from getting moth eaten when you have done wearing them, put them in a chest with cedar chips, camphor gum or tobacco leaves.

51. _To drive away various kinds of Household Vermin._

A little quicksilver and white of an egg beat together and put in the crevices of bedsteads, with a feather, is the most effectual bed bug poison. A solution of vitriol is also a good thing rubbed on walls that are infested by them. h.e.l.lebore with mola.s.ses rubbed on it, is an excellent thing to kill c.o.c.kroaches, and put round the places that they are in the habit of frequenting. a.r.s.enic spread on bread and b.u.t.ter, and placed round in rat holes, will put a stop to their ravages very speedily. Great care is necessary in using all these poisons where there are children, as they are equally as fatal to human beings as vermin.

The flower of sulphur sprinkled round places that ants frequent, will drive them away. Half a tea spoonful of black pepper, one of sugar and a table spoonful of cream mixed and kept on a plate, in a room where flies are troublesome will soon cause them to disappear. Weak brine will kill worms in gravel walks. They should be kept moist with it a week, in the spring, and three or four days in the fall.

52. _To keep Meat in hot Weather._

Cover it with bran, and keep it where there is a free circulation of air, away from the flies. A wire safe is an excellent thing to preserve meat from spoiling.

53. _To Prevent polished Cutlery from rusting._

Knives, snuffers and other steel articles, are apt to rust when not cleaned frequently. To prevent it wrap them tight in coa.r.s.e brown paper, when not in use. Knives and forks should be perfectly free from spots and well polished when not in use. They should also be wrapped up, each one by itself, so as to exclude the air.

54. _To melt Fat for Shortening._

The fat of all kinds of meat, excepting mutton and hams, makes good shortening. Roast meat drippings and the liquor that meat is boiled in, should stand until cold to have the fat harden so that it can be taken off easily. Cut your sc.r.a.ps of fat into small pieces, and melt them slowly without burning, together with the fat from your drippings. When melted, strain it and let it remain until nearly cold, then pour in a little cold water. When the fat forms into a hard cake, take it up and sc.r.a.pe off the sediment that adheres to the under side, melt it again and when lukewarm sprinkle in a little salt. The dregs of fat are good for soap grease. This shortening answers all the various purposes of lard very well, excepting in the warmest weather. In using it for pies it is necessary to use considerable b.u.t.ter with it. The fat of meat should not be suffered to lie more than a week in winter without melting, and in summer not more than two or three days. Mutton fat and the fat of beef, if melted into hard cakes, will fetch a good price at the tallow chandler's. It is much more economical for housekeepers to put down their own pork, than to buy it already salted. The leaves and thin pieces that are not good for salting, should be cut into small bits and melted, then strained through a cullender with a cloth laid in it, as soon as it begins to thicken sprinkle in a tea cup of salt, to twenty or thirty weight of the lard; stir it in well, then set it away in a cool place. Some people have an idea that pork sc.r.a.ps must be fried till very brown in order to be preserved good the year round, but it is not necessary if salt is put in.

55. _To preserve Eggs fresh a Year._

Mix a handful of unslacked lime with the same quant.i.ty of salt, two or three gallons of water. If eggs that are perfectly fresh are put in this mixture, they will keep good a year in it, provided none are cracked.

56. _To preserve Cream for long Voyages._

Take cream that is fresh and rich, and mix it with half its weight of powdered white sugar, stir the whole well together, and preserve it in bottles corked very tight. In this state it is ready to mix with tea and coffee.

57. _Subst.i.tute for Milk and Cream in Tea or Coffee._

Beat the white of a fresh egg in a bowl, and turn on to it gradually boiling tea or coffee. It is difficult to distinguish the taste from rich cream.

58. _To Cure b.u.t.ter._

Take two parts of the best common salt, one part of sugar and one of saltpetre, blend the whole well together. Mix one ounce of this composition well with every sixteen ounces of the b.u.t.ter. Close it up tight in kegs, cover it with an oiled paper, and let it remain untouched for a month. b.u.t.ter cured in this manner is very nice, and will keep good eight or nine months, if not exposed to the air.

59. _To make salt b.u.t.ter Fresh._

Put four pounds of salt b.u.t.ter into a churn, with four quarts of new milk and a small portion of annatto. Churn them together, take out the b.u.t.ter in the course of an hour, and treat it like fresh b.u.t.ter, working in the usual quant.i.ty of salt; a little white sugar improves it. This is said to be equal to fresh b.u.t.ter in every respect. The salt may be got out of a small quant.i.ty at a time, by working it over in fresh water, changing the water several times.

60. _To take Rankness from a small quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter._

Take a quant.i.ty that is to be made use of, put it into a bowl filled with boiling water with a little saleratus in it, let it remain until cold, then take it off carefully and work it over with a little salt. By this method it is separated from the grosser particles.

61. _Windsor Soap._

To make this celebrated soap for shaving and was.h.i.+ng the hands, nothing more is necessary than to slice the best white soap as thin as possible and melt it over a slow fire. When melted take it up, when lukewarm scent it with the oil of caraway or any other oil that is more agreeable, then turn it into moulds and let it remain in a dry situation several days. It will then be fit for use.

62. _To make Bayberry or Myrtle Soap._

To a pound of bayberry tallow, put a pint of potash lye, strong enough to bear up an egg. Boil them together till it becomes soap. Then put in half a tea cup of cold water, let it boil several minutes longer. Take it off, and when partly cooled put in a few drops of the essence of wintergreen, pour it into moulds and let it remain several days. This soap is good for shaving, and is an excellent thing for chapped hands and eruptions on the face.

63. _Cold Soap._

To twenty pounds of white potash put ten of grease, previously melted and strained. Mix it well together with a pailful of cold water, let it remain several days, then stir in several more pailsful of cold water.

Continue to pour in cold water at intervals of two or three days, stirring it up well each time. As soon as the water begins to thin it, it is time to leave off adding it. This method of making soap is much easier than any other, while it is equally cheap and good. If you have not land to enrich with your ashes they can be disposed of to advantage at the soap boiler's.

THE END.