Most utensils should be made of XX tin; at least XXX tin, if not XXXX, should be used for bread and cake pans when they are not made of sheet-iron. Tin boxes in which KITCHEN FURNISHING. 33 groceries are kept need not be of this quality of tin. Such boxes as are made for cracker-manufacturers would cost no more than the wooden buckets. One can nearly always get them through one's grocer. It is a simple matter to paint the labels on them. - These can be used in the storeroom for the articles enumerated in the list on page 22. There should be kept in the pantry two tin boxes for bread, fresh and stale ; two for sugar, powdered and granulated; and one for each kind of meal. For the daily or weekly supplies for the pantry there is nothing better than glass preserving- jars. In these can be kept rice, beans, split peas, tapioca, sago, barley, ver- micelli, roasted coffee, etc. A glance at the row of jars, and one sees at once the article required, — a great sav- Soup-digester. Ham -boiler. ing of time and thought. Then, too, the housekeeper can ascertain each morning, without opening the jars, which need replenishing. This plan of keeping groceries in sight is of the greatest advantage. A soup-digester, which is used in making soup, is not a necessity, but is of great value in the kitchen. If not made so tight that all the steam is kept in, one might as well use an ordinary kettle. There is a little opening in the cover, which lets the steam escape in case there should be hard boiling. Soup-digesters are made in this country, and cost about one-third less than the English ; but so far they have not been made steam-tight, 3 34 MISS PARLOA'S KITCHEN COMPANION. and are of no greater value than an ordinary kettle with a good cover. Those imported from England are well made. A fish-kettle is almost a necessity, and is not very ex- pensive. It is long, -but light, and has a perforated tray with handles, which fits loosely into the kettle. The fish rests on this tray while cooking, and when done is lifted from the water and drained on the tray. An oval sheet-iron ham-boiler is cheap and light, and can be used for boiling a ham, turkey, a small fish, or a cut of a large fish, like halibut or salmon. It has a perforated tray, like the fish-boiler. The waffle-iron is one of the things that should be of the best quality, as the work of cooking waffles is hot and hard at any time ; and when the iron is too shallow, or is in a frame that lifts it too high from Waffle-iron. the fire, or when it does not fit perfectly over the opening in the stove, it causes a great deal of annoyance. Griswold's American waffle- irons are the most satisfactory. They are comparatively new. Nearly every family has griddle-cakes at least one or two mornings in the week in cold weather, and the question of what kind of griddle to use is often de- bated. One made of soapstone, when properly handled, is to most people very satisfactory. The advantage is, KITCHEN FURNISHING. 35

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Most utensils should be made of XX tin; at least XXX tin, if not XXXX, should be used for bread and cake pans when they are not made of sheet-iron. Tin boxes in which groceries are kept need not be of this quality of tin. Such boxes as are made for cracker-manufacturers would cost no more than the wooden buckets. One can nearly always get them through one's grocer. It is a simple matter to paint the labels on them. - These can be used in the storeroom for the articles enumerated in the list on page 22. There should be kept in the pantry two tin boxes for bread, fresh and stale ; two for sugar, powdered and granulated; and one for each kind of meal. For the daily or weekly supplies for the pantry there is nothing better than glass preserving- jars. In these can be kept rice, beans, split peas, tapioca, sago, barley, vermicelli, roasted coffee, etc. A glance at the row of jars, and one sees at once the article required, — a great sav- [illustration: Soup-digester. Ham-boiler.] ing of time and thought. Then, too, the housekeeper can ascertain each morning, without opening the jars, which need replenishing. This plan of keeping groceries in sight is of the greatest advantage. A soup-digester, which is used in making soup, is not a necessity, but is of great value in the kitchen. If not made so tight that all the steam is kept in, one might as well use an ordinary kettle. There is a little opening in the cover, which lets the steam escape in case there should be hard boiling. Soup-digesters are made in this country, and cost about one-third less than the English ; but so far they have not been made steam-tight, and are of no greater value than an ordinary kettle with a good cover. Those imported from England are well made. A fish-kettle is almost a necessity, and is not very expensive. It is long, -but light, and has a perforated tray with handles, which fits loosely into the kettle. The fish rests on this tray while cooking, and when done is lifted from the water and drained on the tray. An oval sheet-iron ham-boiler is cheap and light, and can be used for boiling a ham, turkey, a small fish, or a cut of a large fish, like halibut or salmon. It has a perforated tray, like the fish-boiler. The waffle-iron is one of the things that should be of the best quality, as the work of cooking waffles is hot and hard at any time ; and when the iron is too shallow, or is in a frame that lifts it too high from Waffle-iron. the fire, or when it does not fit perfectly over the opening in the stove, it causes a great deal of annoyance. Griswold's American waffleirons are the most satisfactory. They are comparatively new. Nearly every family has griddle-cakes at least one or two mornings in the week in cold weather, and the question of what kind of griddle to use is often debated. One made of soapstone, when properly handled, is to most people very satisfactory. The advantage is,

Miss Parloa's kitchen companion