Buckeye cookery

When filled lay over the butter a cotton cloth (from which the sizing has been washed) soaked in strong brine, nail up the tub, and set away in a clean, cool place until ready to sell. In packing for family use, work into rolls, lay in large stone crocks, cover with brine strong enough to float an egg (one pint of salt to a gallon of water), in which a level tea-spoon of saltpetre and a pound of white sugar to each two gallons have been added; over it place a cotton cloth and a weight to keep the butter under the brine, and tie a paper over the top of crock. Or, pack in a stone jar, pressing it solid with a wooden pestle, cover with a cloth wet in brine, and sprinkle over it salt an inch thick. More sugar may be added to the brine without injury; if butter is to be kept a long time it isa good rule to always make brine so strong that salt will lie at the bottom of the jar. Some boil and skim the brine and when cold, pour it over the butter. When ready to pack the next churning, remove the cloth with the salt carefully, rinsing off with water any that may have been scattered in uncovering it, pack butter as before, replace cloth with salt over it, and repeat until jar is filled to within two inches of the top, cover all with cloth, add salt to the top of crock, tie paper over the top, and set in a cool place. In removing for use each churning comes out by itself. ; | | ee pe Mth Sy \ 5 rt be ov Yannt ee ARTS ee A eer ewe BM un hee nuas Dlg, ae gb When inviting friends to visits of a week or more, try to fix the time for the visit to begin the day after the ironing is done. The girl feels a weight off her mind, has time to cook the meals better, and is a much more willing attendant upon guests. Do not have beefsteak for dinner on washing or ironing days—arrange to have something roasted in the oven, or else have cold meat also. Do not have fried or broiled fish. The smell sticks, and the clothes will not be sweet; besides the broiler and frying-pan take longer to clean. As for vegetables, do not have spinach, pease, string-beans, or apple-sauce. All these good things take time to prepare, and can be avoided as well as not. Have baked white and sweet potatoes, macaroni, boiled rice, parsnips, sweet corn, stewed tomatoes, any canned vegetables in winter. For dessert, baked apples and cream, bread-pudding, or something easily prepared. When removed from the person, clothing, if damp, should be dried to prevent mildew, and articles which are to be starched should be mended before _ placing in the clothes-basket. Monday is the washing day with all good housekeepers. The old-fashioned programme for a washing is as follows: Use good soft water if it can be had. If not, soften a barrel-full of well-water by pouring into it water in which half a peck or more of hard wood ashes have been boiled, together with the ashes themselves. When enough has been added to produce the desired effect, the water takes on a curdled appearance, and soon settles perfectly clear. If milky, more ashes and lye must be added as before, care being taken not to add more than is necessary ~~ to clear the water, or it will affect the hands unpleasantly. On the other hand, if too little is put in, the clothes will turn yellow. Gather up all clothes which are ready on Saturday night, and the rest as they are taken off; separate the fine from the coarse, and the less soiled from the dirtier. Scald all table linen and articles which have coffee, fruit, or other stains which would be “‘set’”’ by hot suds, by pouring over them hot water from