Prepare everything in good time so that there need be no flurry at the last moment. A knife with a handle different from those in common use should be kept for peeling onions, to prevent any flavour from them being imparted to anything else. To cool a hot dish quickly, place the dish in a vessel full of cold salt water, and it will cool rapidly. Boiling hot liquid may be safely poured into a glass jar or tumbler, by first putting a metal spoon in it; but care must be taken that no draught of cold air strikes the vessel whilst hot. A small box filled with lime and placed on a shelf in a damp closet will absorb dampness, and keep the air in the closet dry and sweet. Never send potatoes to the table in a covered dish. They will re-absorb their own moisture and become sodden. In selecting flour, look to the colour : if it is white with a straw-coloured tint, it is good ; if it is white with a bluish shade, or with black specks, do not purchase it. Next, examine its adhesiveness. Wet and knead a little of it between the fingers; if it works soft and sticky, it is poor : squeeze some tightly in the hand ; if it retains the shape given by the pressure, it is good. Milk which has turned a little may be rendered fit for use again by stirring in a little soda. When the grate is cracked, take wood ashes and salt in equal proportions, reduce them to a paste with cold water and fill in the cracks when the stove is cool, and it will soon harden. A basin of salt should always be found near the sink, as EULES AND HINTS FOR THE KlTCllEi^ 15 salt removes egg stains and tea stains from china cups and dishes. A small piece of charcoal placed in the pot when boiling greens and cauliflowers, helps to prevent any disagreeable smell. Dust of Lebanon sprinkled on the stove also re- moves unpleasant odours. Tough meat can be made tender by placing it a few minutes in vinegar. To preserve meat. — When ice is not easily procured, meat, game, poultry, and fish can be kept perfectly fresh for several days, by being hung in a draught, and kept free from damp. As soon as there is the slightest faintness in the smell of meat, scald it in boiling water for ten minutes, then wipe and sponge it, tie it up in a meat- cloth, and hang it up again. With poultry and game, take out the entrails and fill up the space with crushed soft paper covered with frigiline ; tie each bird in a clean cloth, and put them into an earthenware pan well covered down. This is for plucked birds. When in their feathers let them hang by their heads in a draught. Small birds may be kept fresh by packing in boxes filled with millet seed. To keep frozen meat. — When the thawing commences, the juices of meat dribble away, leaving the solid portion in a limp condition ; but these fluids may be preserved in it by hanging the knuckle end downwards as it thaws. To tell the age of eggs. — Dissolve two ounces of salt in a pint of water. If a new-laid egg is placed in the liquid thus obtained, it will descend to the bottom and stay there. One laid on the previous day will float a short distance from the bottom. An egg three days old will swim half-way down the vessel. And an older one still will float on the top, and will project more and more above the surface as its age increases.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Prepare everything in good time so that there need be no flurry at the last moment. A knife with a handle different from those in common use should be kept for peeling onions, to prevent any flavour from them being imparted to anything else. To cool a hot dish quickly, place the dish in a vessel full of cold salt water, and it will cool rapidly. Boiling hot liquid may be safely poured into a glass jar or tumbler, by first putting a metal spoon in it; but care must be taken that no draught of cold air strikes the vessel whilst hot. A small box filled with lime and placed on a shelf in a damp closet will absorb dampness, and keep the air in the closet dry and sweet. Never send potatoes to the table in a covered dish. They will re-absorb their own moisture and become sodden. In selecting flour, look to the colour : if it is white with a straw-coloured tint, it is good ; if it is white with a bluish shade, or with black specks, do not purchase it. Next, examine its adhesiveness. Wet and knead a little of it between the fingers; if it works soft and sticky, it is poor : squeeze some tightly in the hand ; if it retains the shape given by the pressure, it is good. Milk which has turned a little may be rendered fit for use again by stirring in a little soda. When the grate is cracked, take wood ashes and salt in equal proportions, reduce them to a paste with cold water and fill in the cracks when the stove is cool, and it will soon harden. A basin of salt should always be found near the sink, as EULES AND HINTS FOR THE KITCHEN salt removes egg stains and tea stains from china cups and dishes. A small piece of charcoal placed in the pot when boiling greens and cauliflowers, helps to prevent any disagreeable smell. Dust of Lebanon sprinkled on the stove also removes unpleasant odours. Tough meat can be made tender by placing it a few minutes in vinegar. To preserve meat. — When ice is not easily procured, meat, game, poultry, and fish can be kept perfectly fresh for several days, by being hung in a draught, and kept free from damp. As soon as there is the slightest faintness in the smell of meat, scald it in boiling water for ten minutes, then wipe and sponge it, tie it up in a meatcloth, and hang it up again. With poultry and game, take out the entrails and fill up the space with crushed soft paper covered with frigiline ; tie each bird in a clean cloth, and put them into an earthenware pan well covered down. This is for plucked birds. When in their feathers let them hang by their heads in a draught. Small birds may be kept fresh by packing in boxes filled with millet seed. To keep frozen meat. — When the thawing commences, the juices of meat dribble away, leaving the solid portion in a limp condition ; but these fluids may be preserved in it by hanging the knuckle end downwards as it thaws. To tell the age of eggs. — Dissolve two ounces of salt in a pint of water. If a new-laid egg is placed in the liquid thus obtained, it will descend to the bottom and stay there. One laid on the previous day will float a short distance from the bottom. An egg three days old will swim half-way down the vessel. And an older one still will float on the top, and will project more and more above the surface as its age increases.

The housewife's referee