Part 55

_Bouillon:_--A clear soup, stronger than broth, yet not so strong as _consommé_, which is "reduced" soup.

_Braisé:_--Meat cooked in a closely covered stewpan, so that it retains its own flavor and those of the vegetables and flavorings put with it.

_Brioche:_--A very rich, unsweetened French cake made with yeast.

_Cannelon:_--Stuffed rolled-up meat.

_Consommé:_--Clear soup or bouillon boiled down till very rich, _i.e._ consumed.

_Croquettes:_--A savory mince of fish or fowl, made with sauce into shapes, and fried.

_Croustades:_--Fried forms of bread to serve minces or other meats upon.

_Entrée:_--A small dish, usually served between the courses at dinner.

_Fondue:_--A light preparation of melted cheese.

_Fondant:_--Sugar boiled and beaten to a creamy paste.

_Hollandaise Sauce:_--A rich sauce, something like hot mayonnaise.

_Matelote:_--A rich fish stew, with wine.

_Mayonnaise:_--A rich salad dressing.

_Meringue:_--Sugar and white of egg beaten to sauce.

_Marmade:_--A liquor of spices, vinegar, etc., in which fish or meats are steeped before cooking.

_Miroton:_--Cold meat warmed in various ways, and dished in circular form.

_Purse:_--This name is given to very thick soups, the ingredients for thickening which have been rubbed through a sieve.

_Poulette Sauce:_--A bechamel sauce, to which white wine and sometimes eggs are added.

_Ragout:_--A rich, brown stew, with mushrooms, vegetables, etc.

_Piquante:_--A sauce of several flavors, acid predominating.

_Quenelles_:--Forcemeat with bread, yolks of eggs highly seasoned, and formed with a spoon to an oval shape; then poached and used either as a dish by themselves, or to garnish.

_Remoulade:_--A salad dressing differing from mayonnaise, in that the eggs are hard boiled and rubbed in a mortar with mustard, herbs, etc.

_Rissole:_--Rich mince of meat or fish rolled in thin pastry and fried.

_Roux:_--A cooked mixture of butter and flour, for thickening soups and stews.

_Salmi:_--A rich stew of game, cut up and dressed, when half roasted.

_Sauter:_--To toss meat, etc., over the fire, in a little fat.

_Soufflé:_--A very light, much whipped-up pudding or omelette.

_Timbale:_--A sort of pie in a mold.

_Vol au vents:_--Patties of very light puff paste, made without a dish or mold, and filled with meat or preserves, etc.

_Catherine Owen, in Good Housekeeping._

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ARTICLES REQUIRED FOR THE KITCHEN.

The following list will show what articles are necessary for the kitchen, and will be quite an aid to young housekeepers when about commencing to furnish the utensils needed in the kitchen department, and may prove useful to many.

3 Sweeping brooms and 1 dust-pan. 1 Whisk broom. 1 Bread box. 2 Cake boxes. 1 Large flour box. 1 Dredging box. 1 Large-sized tin pepper box. 1 Spice box containing smaller spice boxes. 2 Cake pans, two sizes. 4 Bread pans. 2 Square biscuit pans. 1 Apple corer. 1 Lemon squeezer. 1 Meat cleaver. 3 Kitchen knives and forks. 1 Large kitchen fork and 4 kitchen spoons, two sizes. 1 Wooden spoon for cake making. 1 Large bread knife. 1 Griddle cake turner, also 1 griddle. 1 Potato masher. 1 Meat board. 1 Dozen patty pans; and the same number of tartlet pans. 1 Large tin pail and 1 wooden pail. 2 Small tin pails. 1 Set of tin basins. 1 Set of tin measures. 1 Wooden butter ladle. 1 Tin skimmer. 1 Tin steamer. 2 Dippers, two sizes. 2 Funnels, two sizes. 1 Set of jelly cake tins. 4 Pie pans. 3 Pudding molds, one for boiling, two for baking, two sizes. 2 Dish pans, two sizes. 2 Cake or biscuit cutters, two sizes. 2 Graters, one large and one small. 1 Coffee canister. 1 Tea canister. 1 Tin or granite-ware teapot. 1 Tin or granite-ware coffeepot. 4 Milk pans, 1 milk strainer. 1 Dozen iron gem pans or muffin rings. 1 Coarse gravy strainer, 1 fine strainer. 1 Colander. 1 Flour sifter. 2 Scoops, one for flour, one for sugar. 2 Jelly molds, two sizes. 1 Can opener, 1 egg beater. 1 Cork screw. 1 Chopping-knife. 2 Wooden chopping-bowls, two sizes. 1 Meat saw. 2 Large earthen bowls. 4 Stone jars. 1 Coffee mill. 1 Candlestick. 2 Market baskets, two sizes. 1 Clock. 1 Ash bucket. 1 Gridiron. 2 Frying pans or spiders, two sizes. 4 Flat-irons, 2 number 8 and 2 number 6. 2 Dripping pans, two sizes. 3 Iron kettles, porcelain lined if possible. 1 Corn beef or fish kettle. 1 Tea-kettle. 2 Granite-ware stewpans, two sizes. 1 Wire toaster. 1 Double kettle for cooking custards, grains, etc. 2 Sugar boxes, one for coarse and one for fine sugar. 1 Waffle iron. 1 Step ladder. 1 Stove, 1 coal shovel. 1 Pair of scales. 2 Coal hods or buckets. 1 Kitchen table, 2 kitchen chairs. 1 Large clothes basket. 1 Wash boiler, 1 wash board. 8 Dozen clothes pins. 1 Large nail hammer and one small tack hammer. 1 Bean pot. 1 Clothes wringer.

An ingenious housewife will manage to do with less conveniences, but these articles, if they can be purchased in the commencement of housekeeping, will save time and labor, making the preparation of food more easy--and it is always economy in the end to get the best material in all wares, as, for instance, the double plate tin will last for years, whereas the poor kind has to be replaced in a short time; the low-priced earthenware is soon broken up, whereas the strong stoneware, costing but a trifle more, lasts almost a lifetime.

In relation to the economy and management of the kitchen, I might suggest that the most essential thing is cleanliness in cooking, and also cleanliness with your person as well as in the keeping of the kitchen.

The hands of the cook should be always thoroughly cleansed before touching or handling anything pertaining to the cooking. Next there should never be anything wasted or thrown away that can be turned to account, either for your own family or some family in poor circumstances. Bread that has become hard can be used for toasting, or for stuffing and pudding. In warm weather any gravies or soups that are left from the preceding day should be boiled up and poured into clean pans. This is particularly necessary where vegetables have been added to the preparation, as it then so soon turns sour. In cooler weather, every other day will be often enough to warm up these things. In cooking, clear as you go; that is to say, do not allow a host of basins, plates, spoons, and other utensils, to accumulate on the dressers and tables whilst you are engaged in preparing the dinner. By a little management and forethought, much confusion may be saved in this way. It is as easy to put a thing in its place when it is done with, as it is to keep continually moving it to find room for fresh requisites. For instance, after making a pudding, the flour-tub, paste-board, and rolling-pin, should be put away, and any basins, spoons, etc., should be neatly packed up near the sink, to be washed when the proper time arrives. Neatness, order and method should be always observed.

Never let your stock of spices, salt, seasoning, herbs, etc., dwindle down so low that some day, in the midst of preparing a large dinner, you find yourself minus a very important ingredient, thereby causing much confusion and annoyance.

After you have washed your saucepans, fish-kettle, etc., stand them before the fire for a few minutes to get thoroughly dry inside, before putting them away. They should then be kept in a dry place, in order that they may escape the deteriorating influence of rust, and thereby be quickly destroyed. Never leave saucepans dirty from one day's use to be cleaned the next; it is slovenly and untidy.

Do not be afraid of hot water in washing up dishes and dirty cooking utensils. As these are essentially greasy, luke-warm water cannot possibly have the effect of cleansing them effectually. Do not be chary also of changing and renewing the water occasionally. You will thus save yourself much time and labor in the long run.

Keep a cake of sapolio always on hand in the kitchen--always convenient for rubbing off stains from earthenware, tin, glass, in fact, almost everything but silver; it is a cheap and valuable article, and can be purchased at nearly every grocery in the United States.

DYEING OR COLORING.

GENERAL REMARKS.

Everything should be clean. The goods should be scoured in soap and the soap rinsed out. They are often steeped in soap lye over night. Dip them into water just before putting them into preparations, to prevent spotting. Soft water should be used, _sufficient to cover the goods well; this is always understood where quantity is not mentioned_. When goods are dyed, air them; then rinse well, and hang up to dry. Do not wring silk or merino dresses when scouring or dyeing them. If cotton goods are to be dyed a light color, they should first be bleached.

SILKS.

_Black:_--Make a weak lye as for black or woolens; work goods in bichromate of potash a little below boiling heat, then dip in the log-wood in the same way; if colored in blue vitriol dye, use about the same heat.

_Orange:_--For one pound goods, annotto one pound, soda one pound; repeat as desired.

_Green--Very Handsome:_--For one pound goods, yellow oak bark eight ounces; boil one-half hour; turn off the liquor from bark and add alum six ounces; let it stand until cold; while making this, color goods in blue dye-tub a light blue, dry and wash, dip in alum and bark dye. If it does not take well, warm the dye a little.

_Purple:_--For one pound goods. First obtain a light blue, by dipping in home-made dye-tub; then dry; dip in alum four ounces, with water to cover, when little warm. If color is not full enough add chemic.

_Yellow:_--For one pound goods, alum three ounces, sugar of lead three-fourths ounce; immerse goods in solution over night; take out, drain, and make a new lye with fustic one pound; dip until the required color is obtained.

_Crimson:_--For one pound goods, alum three ounces; dip at hand heat one hour; take out and drain while making new dye by boiling ten minutes, cochineal three ounces, bruised nutgalls two ounces and cream of tartar one-fourth ounce, in one pail of water; when little cool, begin to dip, raising heat to boil; dip one hour; wash and dry.

_Sky Blue on Silk or Cotton--Very Beautiful:_--Give goods as much color from a solution of blue vitriol two ounces, to water one gallon, as it will take up in dipping fifteen minutes; then run it through lime water. This will make a beautiful and durable sky blue.

_Brown on Silk or Cotton--Very Beautiful:_--After obtaining a blue color as above, run goods through a solution of prussiate of potash one ounce, to water one gallon.

_Light Blue:_--For cold water one gallon, dissolve alum one-half tablespoonful, in hot water one teacupful, and add to it; then add chemic, one teaspoonful at a time to obtain the desired color--the more chemic the darker the color.

WOOLEN GOODS.

_Chrome Black--Best in Use:_--For five pounds of goods, blue vitriol six ounces; boil a few minutes, then dip the goods three-fourths of an hour, airing often; take out the goods, make a dye with three pounds of log-wood, boil one-half hour; dip three-fourths of an hour, air goods, and dip three-fourths of an hour more. Wash in strong suds. This will not fade by exposure to sun.

_Wine Color:_--For five pounds of goods, camwood two pounds; boil fifteen minutes and dip the goods one-half hour; boil again and dip one-half hour then darken with blue vitriol one and one-half ounces; if not dark enough, add copperas one-half ounce.

_Scarlet--Very Fine:_--For one pound of goods, cream of tartar one-half ounce, cochineal, well pulverized, one half ounce, muriate of tin two and one-half ounces; boil up the dye and enter the goods; work them briskly for ten or fifteen minutes, then boil one and one-half hours, stirring goods slowly while boiling. Wash in clear water and dry in the shade.

_Pink:_--For three pounds of goods, alum three ounces; boil and dip the goods one hour, then add to the dye, cream of tartar four ounces, cochineal, well pulverized, one ounce; boil well and dip the goods while boiling until the color suits.

_Blue--Quick Process:_--For two pounds of goods, alum five ounces, cream of tartar three ounces; boil goods in this one hour, then put them into warm water which has more or less extract of indigo in it, according to the depth of color desired, and boil again until it suits, adding more of the blue if needed.

_Madder Red:_--To each pound of goods, alum five ounces, red or cream of tartar one ounce. Put in the goods and bring the kettle to a boil for one-half hour; then air them and boil one-half hour longer; empty the kettle and fill with clean water; put in bran one peck; make it milk-warm, and let it stand until the bran rises; then skim off the bran and put in one-half pound madder; put in the goods and heat slowly until it boils and is done. Wash in strong suds.

_Green:_--For each pound of goods, fustic one pound, with alum three and one-half ounces; steep until strength is out, and soak the goods therein until a good yellow is obtained, then remove the chips, and add extract of indigo or chemic, one tablespoonful at a time, until color suits.

_Snuff Brown, Dark:_--For five pounds of goods, camwood one pound; boil it fifteen minutes; then dip the goods three-fourths of an hour; take them out and add to the dye two and one-half pounds fustic; boil ten minutes, and dip the goods three-fourths of an hour; then add blue vitriol one ounce, copperas four ounces; dip again one-half hour. If not dark enough add more copperas.

_Another Method--Any Shade:_--Boil the goods in a mordant of alum two parts, copperas three parts; then rinse them through a bath of madder. The tint depends on the relative proportions of the copperas and alum; the more copperas, the darker the dye; joint weight of both should not be more than one-eighth of weight of goods. Mixtures of reds and yellows with blues and blacks, or simple dyes, will make any shade.

_Orange:_--For five pounds of goods, muriate of tin six tablespoonfuls, argol four ounces; boil and dip one hour and add again to the dye one teacupful of madder; dip again one-half hour. Cochineal, about two ounces, in place of madder, makes a much brighter color.

_Purple:_--For each pound of goods, two ounces of cudbear; rinse the goods well in soap-suds, then dissolve cudbear in hot suds--not quite boiling, and soak the goods until of required color. The color is brightened by rinsing in alum water.

_Yellow--Rich:_--Work five pounds of goods one-half hour in a boiling bath with three ounces bichromate of potassa and two ounces alum; lift and expose till well cooled and drained; then work one-half hour in another bath with five pounds of fustic. Wash out and dry.

_Crimson:_--Work for one hour in a bath with one pound cochineal paste, six ounces of dry cochineal, one pound of tartar, one pint of protochloride of tin. Wash out and dry.

_Salmon:_--For each pound of goods, one-fourth pound of annotto, one-fourth pound of soap; rinse the goods well in warm water, put them into mixture and boil one-half hour. Shade will be according to the amount of annotto.

_Dove and Slate Colors of All Shades:_--Boil in an iron vessel a teacupful of black tea with a teaspoonful of copperas and sufficient water. Dilute till you get the shade wanted.

COTTON GOODS.

_Black:_--For five pounds of goods, boil them in a decoction of three pounds of sumach one-half hour and steep twelve hours; dip in lime-water one-half hour; take out and let them drip one hour, run them through the lime-water again fifteen minutes. Make a new dye with two and one-half pounds log-wood (boiled one hour) and dip again three hours; add bichromate potash two ounces, to the log-wood dye and dip one hour. Wash in clear, cold water and dry in the shade. Only process for permanent black.

_Sky Blue:_--For three pounds of goods, blue vitriol four ounces; boil a few minutes, then dip the goods three hours; then pass them through a strong lime-water. A _beautiful_ brown can be obtained by next putting the goods through a solution of prussiate of potash.

_Green:_--Dip the goods in home-made blue; dye until blue enough is obtained to make the green as dark as required; take out, dry and rinse a little. Make a dye with fustic three pounds, of log-wood three ounces, to each pound of goods, by boiling dye one hour; when cooled so as to bear the hand put in the goods, move briskly a few minutes, and let lie one hour; take out and thoroughly drain; dissolve and add to the dye for each pound of cotton, blue vitriol one-half ounce, and dip another hour. Wring out and let dry in the shade. By adding or diminishing the log-wood and fustic any shade may be had.

_Yellow:_--For five pounds of goods, seven ounces of sugar of lead; dip the goods two hours; make a new dye with bichromate of potash four ounces; dip until the color suits; wring out and dry. If not yellow enough, repeat.

_Orange:_--For five pounds of goods, sugar of lead four ounces; boil a few minutes; when a little cool, put in the goods; dip for two hours; wring out; make a new dye with bichromate potash eight ounces, madder two ounces; dip until it suits; if color is too red, take a small sample and dip into lime-water and choose between them.

_Red:_--Muriate of tin two-thirds of a teacupful; add water to cover the goods; raise to boiling heat; put in the goods one hour, stir often; take out, empty the kettle, put in clean water with nic-wood one pound; steep one-half hour at hand heat; then put in the goods and increase the heat one hour--not boiling. Air the goods and dip them one hour as before. Wash without soap.

SMALL POINTS ON TABLE ETIQUETTE.

Delicacy of manner at table stamps both man and woman, for one can, at a glance, discern whether a person has been trained to eat well--_i.e._ to hold the knife and fork properly, to eat without the slightest sound of the lips, to drink quietly, to use the napkin rightly, to make no noise with any of the implements of the table, and last, but not least, to eat slowly and masticate the food thoroughly. All these points should be most carefully taught to children, and then they will always feel at their ease at the grandest tables in the land. There is no position where the innate refinement of a person is more fully exhibited than at the table, and nowhere that those who have not been trained in table etiquette feel more keenly their deficiencies. The knife should never be used to carry food to the mouth, but only to cut it up into small mouthfuls; then place it upon the plate at one side, and take the fork in the right hand, and eat all the food with it. When both have been used finally, they should be laid diagonally across the plate, with both handles toward the right hand; this is understood by well-trained waiters to be the signal for removing them, together with the plate.

Be careful to keep the mouth shut closely while masticating the food. It is the opening of the lips which causes the smacking which seems very disgusting. Chew your food well, but do it silently, and be careful to take small mouthfuls. The knife can be used to cut the meat finely, as large pieces of meat are not healthful, and appear very indelicate. At many tables, two, three or more knives and forks are placed on the table, the knives at the right hand of the plate, the forks at the left,--a knife and a fork for each course, so that there need be no replacing of them after the breakfast and dinner is served. The smaller ones, which are for game, dessert, or for hot cakes at breakfast, can be tucked under the edges of the plate, and the large ones, for the meat and vegetables, are placed outside of them. Be very careful not to clatter your knives and forks upon your plates, but use them without noise. When passing the plate for a second helping, lay them together at one side of the plate, with handles to the right. When you are helped to anything, _do not_ wait until the rest of the company are provided, as it is not considered good breeding. Soup is always served for the first course, and it should be eaten with dessert spoons, and taken from the sides, not the tips, of them, without any sound of the lips, and not sucked into the mouth audibly from the ends of the spoon. Bread should not be broken into soup or gravy. Never ask to be helped to soup a second time. The hostess may ask you to take a second plate, but you will politely decline. Fish chowder, which is served in soup plates, is said to be an exception which proves this rule, and when eating of that it is correct to take a second plateful if desired.

Another generally neglected obligation is that of spreading butter on one's bread as it lies in one's plate, or but slightly lifted at one end of the plate; it is very frequently buttered in the air, bitten in gouges, and still held in the face and eyes of the table with the marks of the teeth on it; This is certainly not altogether pleasant, and it is better to cut it, a bit at a time, after buttering it, and put piece by piece in the mouth with one's finger and thumb. Never help yourself to butter, or any other food with your own knife or fork. It is not considered good taste to mix food on the same plate. Salt must be left on the side of the plate and never on the tablecloth.

Let us mention a few things concerning the eating of which there is sometimes doubt. A cream-cake and anything of similar nature should be eaten with knife and fork, never bitten. Asparagus--which should be always served on bread or toast so as to absorb superfluous moisture--may be taken from the finger and thumb; if it is fit to be set before you the whole of it may be eaten. Pastry should be broken and eaten with a fork, never cut with a knife. Raw oysters should be eaten with a fork, also fish. Peas and beans, as we all know, require the fork only; however food that cannot be held with a fork should be eaten with a spoon. Potatoes, if mashed, should be mashed with the fork. Green corn should be eaten from the cob; but it must be held with a single hand.

Celery, cresses, olives, radishes, and relishes of that kind are, of course, to be eaten with the fingers; the salt should be laid upon one's plate, not upon the cloth. Fish is to be eaten with the fork, without the assistance of the knife; a bit of bread in the left hand sometimes helps one to master a refractory morsel. Fresh fruit should be eaten with a silver-bladed knife, especially pears, apples, etc.