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THE YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER'S FRIEND.
THE YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER'S FRIEND.
BY MRS. CORNELIUS. REVISED AND ENLARGED. BOSTON: BROWN, TAGGARD AND CHASE. 1859. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1859, by M. H. CORNELIUS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. CAMBRIDGE: ALLEN AND FARNHAM, ELECTROTYPERS AND PRINTERS....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
In preparing this little volume, my aim has been to furnish to young housekeepers the best aid that a book can give in the departments of which it treats. No printed guide can perfectly supply the place of that experience which is gained by early and habitual attention to domestic concerns. But the directions here given are designed to be so minute, and of so practical a character, that the observance of them shall prevent very many of the perplexities which most young people suffer during their
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PREFACE
PREFACE
TO THE REVISED EDITION. My aim in the revision of this little book has been to make the arrangement of the receipts and of the index more convenient, the directions more simple and clear, and the entire collection more select and reliable. In place of some of the old receipts many choice new ones are substituted, which, so far as I know, have not been in print before. All of them have been attested by experience, either my own, or of friends in whose judgment in such matters I have entire confid
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COUNSELS AND SUGGESTIONS.
COUNSELS AND SUGGESTIONS.
Good housekeeping compatible with intellectual culture.—Persevering attention rewarded.—Effects of unhealthy diet.—Responsibleness of women.—Application of the principles of religion to the duties of domestic life. A symmetrical education is extremely rare in this country. Nothing is more common than to see young ladies, whose intellectual attainments are of a high order, profoundly ignorant of the duties which all acknowledge to belong peculiarly to women. Consequently many have to learn, after
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Style of living.—Consistency.—Economy.—Neatness.—Habits of regular attention to family concerns.—Perplexing days.—Company.—Arrangement of family work for a week.—First instructions to domestics.—Patience.—Good temper.—Observance of the Golden Rule.—Self-government when accidents happen.—Sunday privileges. Consider in the outset what mode of living best befits your station, resources, and obligations to others; and so adjust your plan that consistency [1] and appropriateness shall appear througho
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OVENS, BREAD, &c.
OVENS, BREAD, &c.
Ovens—and how to heat them. Stoves and cooking-ranges have so generally taken the place of brick ovens, that the following directions, which were appropriate when this book was first published, will seldom be of use now. Yet, as they may sometimes be needed, they are suffered to remain. It is impossible to give minute directions as to the management of the various kinds of baking apparatus now in use. A few experiments will enable a person of good judgment to succeed with any of them. A few sugg
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GRIDDLE CAKES.
GRIDDLE CAKES.
White Flour. To a quart of milk, put four eggs, a little salt, a large spoonful of butter, melted into the milk, a small gill of yeast, and flour enough to make a batter about as thick as for buckwheat cakes. Some persons eat them with a sauce made of butter, sugar, water, and nutmeg. Made in the morning they will be light for tea. Butter-milk, or Sour milk. Make a thin batter with a quart of sour, or butter-milk, white flour, a spoonful of fine Indian meal, a teaspoonful of salt, another of sal
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FRUIT CAKES.
FRUIT CAKES.
Wedding. Five pounds each of flour, butter, and sugar, six of raisins, twelve of currants, two of citron, fifty eggs, half a pint of good Malaga wine, three ounces of nutmegs, three of cinnamon, one and a half of mace. Bake in three large pans four hours. Another. Three pounds each of flour, butter, and sugar, six of currants, six of raisins, an ounce each of nutmegs and cinnamon, half an ounce of clove, a pound of citron, the grated peel of two lemons, half a gill each of brandy and rose-water,
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RAISED CAKES.
RAISED CAKES.
Commencement. Four pounds of flour, two and a half of sugar, two of butter, a small quart of milk, half a pint of wine, eight eggs, two gills of yeast, two nutmegs, two teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, one of clove, or a little mace. Make up the flour, yeast, and milk, exactly like bread, and when fully light, add the other ingredients, and put it into deep pans. If the weather is cool, let it stand till the next day. When it is again very light, add one pound of currants and two of raisins; and bake t
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CUP CAKES.
CUP CAKES.
[The cup used as a measure for the receipts in this book is not the tea-table china cup, but the common large earthen teacup, except where a small one is specified; and the teaspoon used is neither the largest or smallest, but the medium sized.] Howard. To ten cups of flour, put six of sugar, three of butter, three of sour milk (a little warm), eight eggs, a glass of wine, a large teaspoonful of saleratus, a nutmeg, a pound of currants, a pound of raisins. Tunbridge. Four cups and a half of flou
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SPONGE CAKES.
SPONGE CAKES.
The goodness of all delicate cake, but specially of sponge, depends very much upon its being made with fresh eggs. There are several ways of making this cake which all result well. For those who choose not to be cheated of eggs by the use of cream of tartar, two excellent receipts, and two different methods of mixing, are given. Two receipts for making it by measure are added, each of them perfect, if made right, and the last one requiring the least possible time and labor. For the old-fashioned
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VARIOUS KINDS OF CAKE.
VARIOUS KINDS OF CAKE.
Queen's. One pound of flour, one of sugar, half a pound of butter (that which has lain in a jar of rose-leaves is best), five eggs, a gill of wine, a gill of cream, a nutmeg, half a teaspoonful of saleratus, two pounds of currants, or chopped raisins. Stir the butter and sugar to a cream, beat the whites and yolks of the eggs separately, and after they and the flour are also mixed with it, warm the cream and wine together, and add them, then the saleratus, and last the fruit. Frost it, or sift f
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CREAM CAKES, COOKIES, WAFERS, KISSES, JUMBLES, GINGERBREAD, ETC.
CREAM CAKES, COOKIES, WAFERS, KISSES, JUMBLES, GINGERBREAD, ETC.
[The eggs for these articles, except for the wafers, need not be broken separately, but yolks and whites may be added without beating, after the sugar and butter have been stirred. When all has been well beaten together eight or ten minutes, add part of the flour, then the saleratus and spice or ginger; and then place the pan upon a table, and work in flour enough to enable you to handle it without its sticking. Dough for cookies or gingerbread, is much more easily and neatly rolled out and stam
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FRIED CAKES.
FRIED CAKES.
On Frying Cakes. [To have fried cakes good, it is necessary that the fat should be of the right heat. When it is hot enough, it will cease to bubble, and be perfectly still. It is best to try it with a little bit of the cake to be fried. If the heat is right, the dough will rise in a few seconds to the top, and occasion a bubbling in the fat; it will swell, and the under-side quickly become brown. It should then be turned over. Cakes should be turned two or three times. The time necessary to fry
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PIES.
PIES.
Of Stewed Apple. Stew the apple with water enough to prevent its burning; sweeten and flavor it to your taste, and, while it is hot, add butter in the proportion of a dessert spoonful to a quart of apple. The spices most appropriate are nutmeg and lemon, cinnamon and orange. Two kinds are enough; one does very well. When you have laid the under crust in the plate, roll out the upper one, so that it may be laid on the moment the apple is put in, as the under crust will be clammy if the pie is not
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PUDDINGS WITHOUT EGGS.
PUDDINGS WITHOUT EGGS.
Berry. To a quart of washed whortleberries, put a pint of flour in which you have put a small teaspoonful of salt. Add a very little water. That which is upon the berries will be nearly enough. Boil it two hours in a cloth tied close, allowing no room to swell. To be eaten with melted sauce. Another. A pint of berries, a pint of flour, a pint of sour milk, a teaspoonful of salt, and one of saleratus. Boil it two hours. All boiled fruit puddings should be turned often in the pot, to prevent the f
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DUMPLINGS, FLUMMERIES, AND OTHER INEXPENSIVE ARTICLES FOR DESSERT.
DUMPLINGS, FLUMMERIES, AND OTHER INEXPENSIVE ARTICLES FOR DESSERT.
Apple Dumplings (boiled). The best and most healthful crust for them is made like cream tartar biscuit, or with potatoes, according to the directions under the head of Pastry . It is better to make one or two large dumplings, than many small ones; because in drawing up the crust, there must necessarily be folds which, when boiled, are thick; and thus, in small dumplings, the proportion of crust to apple, is too great. Make a large crust and let the middle be nearly a third of an inch thick; but
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SWEET DISHES.
SWEET DISHES.
[In making blanc-mange, custards, ice-creams, &c., do not boil the milk in a sauce-pan, but set it, in a tin pail, into a kettle of boiling water. The milk does not rise, when boiled thus, as it does in a sauce-pan, but when the top is covered with foam, it boils enough. In making ice cream, it is an improvement to churn the cream until it becomes frothy, before adding the other ingredients.] Apple Island. Stew apple enough to make a quart, strain it through a sieve, sweeten it with fine
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FRUIT ICES.
FRUIT ICES.
Apricot. Pare, stone, and scald twelve ripe apricots; then bruise them in a marble mortar. Then stir half a pound of fine sugar into a pint of cream; add the apricots and strain through a hair sieve. Freeze and put it into moulds. Peaches would be a good substitute for the apricots, using, if they are large, nine, instead of twelve. Strawberry or Raspberry. Bruise a pint of raspberries, or strawberries, with two large spoonfuls of fine sugar; add a quart of cream, and strain through a sieve, and
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TO PRESERVE FRUIT AND MAKE JELLIES.
TO PRESERVE FRUIT AND MAKE JELLIES.
A kettle should be kept on purpose. Brass, if very bright, will do. If acid fruit is preserved in a brass kettle which is not bright, it becomes poisonous. Bell-metal is better than brass, and the iron ware lined with porcelain, best of all. The chief art in making nice preserves, and such as will keep, consists in the proper preparation of the syrup, and in boiling them just long enough . English housekeepers think it necessary to do them very slowly, and they boil their sweetmeats almost all d
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BAKED AND STEWED FRUITS.
BAKED AND STEWED FRUITS.
These are economical, excellent, and healthy; and it is well worth while for every family possessing only a plot of ground large enough for two trees, to set out a pear and sweet apple tree. Steamed Sweet Apples. Wash and wipe a pailful of sweet apples; put them into a porcelain kettle, with cold water enough to come half-way toward the top, cover them and boil them slowly as possible an hour. Then try them with a fork, and turn down the upper side of those which lie on the top. If they are cons
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HOW TO SELECT AND TAKE CARE OF BEEF, MUTTON, LAMB, VEAL, AND PORK.
HOW TO SELECT AND TAKE CARE OF BEEF, MUTTON, LAMB, VEAL, AND PORK.
Ox beef is the best; next to this the flesh of an heifer; and both are in perfection during the first three months of the year. Choose that, the lean of which is red and of a fine grain, and the fat of which is white. [10] In cold weather, if you have a large family, it is good economy to buy a quarter. The hind quarter is considered best. Have the butcher cut it up. Pack the roasting pieces, which you do not want soon, in a barrel of snow, and set it where it will not melt. It is not necessary
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STOCK FOR GRAVIES AND SOUPS.
STOCK FOR GRAVIES AND SOUPS.
Wash a leg or shin of beef very clean, crack the bone in two or three places, put with it any trimmings you may have of meat or fowls, such as gizzards, necks, &c.; cover them with cold water in a stew-pan that shuts close. The moment it begins to simmer, skim it carefully till it boils up. Then add half a pint of cold water, which will make the remaining scum rise, and skim it again and again, till no more appears, and the broth looks perfectly clear. Then put in a moderate sized carrot
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ON ROASTING MEAT.
ON ROASTING MEAT.
If meat is to be roasted before the fire, allow a quarter of an hour for the cooking of every pound in warm weather, and in winter twenty minutes. Flour it well, and put two or three gills of water in the roaster. Put the bony side to the fire first, and do not place it very near. If meat is scorched in the beginning, it cannot be roasted through afterwards, without burning. Turn it often, and when all parts are slightly cooked, place it nearer the fire. When about half done, flour it again. Bas
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ON BOILING MEAT.
ON BOILING MEAT.
It is a common impression that boiled meat requires very little attention; and probably one reason why many persons dislike it, may be, that it is seldom so carefully cooked as roast meat. If proper attention can be secured, meat should not be boiled in a cloth. But if the pot is not likely to be thoroughly skimmed, it is best to use one. All kinds of meat are best put over the fire in cold water, in the proportion of a quart to every pound of meat. The fibres are thus gradually dilated, and the
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DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING GRAVIES.
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING GRAVIES.
Many young housekeepers who succeed well in most kinds of cooking, are a long time in finding out how to make good gravy. To have it free from fat is the most important thing. For a small family it is not necessary to prepare stock. The water in which fresh meat, a tongue, or piece of beef slightly salted, has been boiled, should be saved for this purpose, and for use in various economical dishes. In cold weather it will keep a good while, and in warm weather, several days in a refrigerator. The
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STUFFING OR DRESSING OF VARIOUS KINDS.
STUFFING OR DRESSING OF VARIOUS KINDS.
For a fillet of veal, a turkey, chickens, partridges, and pigeons, take light bread enough to make three gills of fine crumbs. Cut off the crust and lay by itself in just enough boiling water to soften it. Rub the soft part into fine crumbs between your hands; put in a teaspoonful of salt, one or two of powdered sweet marjoram, a little pepper, and a piece of butter half as large as an egg; add the softened crusts, and mix the whole together very thoroughly. If it is not moist enough, add a spoo
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VEGETABLES AND SAUCES APPROPRIATE TO DIFFERENT MEATS.
VEGETABLES AND SAUCES APPROPRIATE TO DIFFERENT MEATS.
Potatoes are good with all meats. With fowls they are nicest mashed. Sweet potatoes are most appropriate with roast meat, as also are onions, winter squash, cucumbers, and asparagus. Carrots, parsnips, turnips, greens, and cabbage are eaten with boiled meat; and corn, beets, peas, and beans are appropriate to either boiled or roasted meat. Mashed turnip is good with roasted pork, and with boiled meats. Tomatoes are good with every kind of meat, but specially so with roasts. Apple-sauce with roas
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DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING MEATS.
DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING MEATS.
To Roast Beef. See the directions for roasting meat . Beef Steak. The best slices are cut from the rump, or through the sirloin. The round is seldom tender enough, and is very good cooked in other ways. Do not cut your slices very thick. Have the gridiron perfectly clean. Set it over moderately hot coals at first, and turn the steaks in less than a minute. Turn them repeatedly. If the fat makes a blaze under the gridiron, put it out by sprinkling fine salt on it. Steaks will broil in about seven
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TO LAY MEAT AND POULTRY ON THE DISH FOR THE TABLE.
TO LAY MEAT AND POULTRY ON THE DISH FOR THE TABLE.
Lay a sirloin of beef with the tenderloin down, and the thick end towards the left hand of the person who carves. A loin of veal or a quarter of lamb, with the thick edge toward the carver, and the inside uppermost. A leg of veal, with the inside up, and the thick end toward the right hand. A leg of mutton or lamb in the same way. A fore quarter of lamb or a breast of veal, with the outside up, and the thick edge toward the carver. A ham, with the outside up, and the thick end toward the right h
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TO SELECT POULTRY AND PREPARE IT FOR BEING COOKED.
TO SELECT POULTRY AND PREPARE IT FOR BEING COOKED.
A young turkey has a smooth leg, and a soft bill, and if fresh, the eyes will be bright, and the feet moist. Old turkeys have scaly, stiff feet. Young fowls have a tender skin, smooth legs, and the breast bone readily yields to the pressure of the finger. The best are those that have yellow legs. The feet and legs of old fowls look as if they had seen hard service in the world. Young ducks feel tender under the wing, and the web of the foot is transparent. The best are thick and hard on the brea
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SOUPS.
SOUPS.
Soup is economical food, and by a little attention may be made good with very small materials. It should never be made of meat that has been kept too long. If meat is old, or has become tainted in the least, the defect is peculiarly offensive in soup. All meat and bones for soup should be boiled a long time, and set aside until the next day in order that the fat may be entirely removed. Then add the vegetables, rice, and herbs, and boil it from an hour to an hour and a half. The water in which f
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EGGS.
EGGS.
Boiled. New laid eggs require half a minute longer to cook than others. The fresher they are the better, and the more healthful. Eggs over a week old should never be boiled; they will do to fry. Put them into water that boils, but not furiously, as it will crack them. If you like them very soft, boil them three minutes. If you wish the yolk hard, boil them five minutes. To be served with salad, they should be boiled twelve minutes. Fried. After you have fried ham, drop in the eggs one at a time.
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DIRECTIONS RESPECTING FISH.
DIRECTIONS RESPECTING FISH.
Purchase those which have just been caught. Of this you can judge by their being hard under the pressure of the finger. Fish lose their best flavor soon, and a few hours make a wide difference in the taste of some sorts. Cod are best in cold weather. Mackerel are best in August, September, and October. Halibut, in May and June. Oysters are good from September to April; but are not very good or healthy from the first of May to the last of August. Lobsters are best at the season when oysters are n
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TOMATOES.
TOMATOES.
Stewed. Scald them in order to remove the skins. Cut them up and put them into a saucepan, with a little salt, a bit of butter, and some fine crumbs of bread or pounded cracker. Let them stew gently an hour; if you like them sweet, add sugar ten minutes before serving. Baked. Butter a dish, and when you have skinned the tomatoes lay them in it, whole. Sprinkle salt and sugar over them, and then fine crumbs of bread or pounded cracker. Bake them forty minutes in a dish in which they may be put up
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ON COOKING VEGETABLES.
ON COOKING VEGETABLES.
After being well washed, they should be laid in water, excepting corn and peas, which should be husked and shelled with clean hands, and not washed, as some of the sweetness is thereby extracted. Put all kinds, except peas and beans, into boiling water, with a little salt in it. Hard water spoils peas, and is not good for any vegetables; a very little saleratus or soda will rectify it. Peas are much best when first gathered, and they should not be shelled long before boiling. If they are old, a
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PICKLES.
PICKLES.
Pickles should never be kept in potter's ware, as arsenic and other poisonous substances are used in the glazing; and this is sometimes decomposed by vinegar. Whole families have been poisoned in this way; and where fatal effects do not follow, a deleterious influence may be operating upon the health, from this cause, when it is not suspected. Pickles should be made with cider vinegar. Cucumbers. Wash and drain them in a sieve, but take care not to break the little prickles upon them, as the eff
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TEA, COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, COCOA, ETC.
TEA, COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, COCOA, ETC.
Tea. See that the water boils. Scald the pot, and put in a teaspoonful for each person. Upon green tea, pour a little water, and allow it to stand two or three minutes where it will keep hot; then fill the pot from the teakettle. Green tea should never be boiled, and it is rendered dead by being steeped long. Of black tea the same measure is used; the pot being filled up at first, and set immediately upon the stove, just long enough to boil up once. Water should be added to the teapot from the t
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CONVENIENT COMMON DISHES, AND WAYS OF USING REMNANTS.
CONVENIENT COMMON DISHES, AND WAYS OF USING REMNANTS.
Baked Pork and Beans. For a family of six or seven, take a quart of white beans, wash them in several waters, and put them into two or three quarts over night. In the morning (when it will be easier to cull out the bad ones, than before they were soaked), pick them over, and boil them until they begin to crack open; then put them into a brown pan, such as are made for the purpose. Pour upon them enough of the water they were boiled in almost to cover them. Cut the rind of about a pound of salt p
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THE CARE OF MILK, AND MAKING BUTTER.
THE CARE OF MILK, AND MAKING BUTTER.
No branch of household economy brings a better reward than the making of butter; and to one who takes an interest in domestic employments, it soon becomes a pleasant occupation. The following instructions are derived from the personal experience of one of the most skilful dairy-women in New England; and by observing them, the youthful house-keeper, hitherto unpractised in such mysteries, will have the pleasure of furnishing her table with the finest butter, the work of her own hands. The first r
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ON MAKING CHEESE.
ON MAKING CHEESE.
The articles used in making cheese should be kept sweet and clean as in making butter. They should be scalded daily, and never be set away until perfectly dry. The conveniences wanted are a large pine tub, painted white inside; a cheese basket and a ladder, on which to set the basket over the tub; two cheese-hoops, large or small, according to the size of the dairy; two large square strainers of thin coarse linen; two circular boards called followers ; and a brass kettle large enough to hold sev
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FOOD AND DRINKS FOR THE SICK, AND FOR INFANTS.
FOOD AND DRINKS FOR THE SICK, AND FOR INFANTS.
Beef Tea. Cut a piece of lean, juicy beef into pieces an inch square, put them into a wide-mouthed bottle and cork it tight. Set the bottle into a kettle of cold water and boil it an hour and a half. This mode of making beef tea concentrates the nourishment more than any other. Another (furnished by a physician). Take a piece of beef cut from the round; take off every particle of fat, then cut it into pieces about an inch square and put into cold water, in the proportion of a pint to the pound.
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MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS AND DIRECTIONS.
MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS AND DIRECTIONS.
Lemon Syrup. One pound of loaf or crushed sugar to every half pint of lemon juice. Let it stand twenty-four hours, or till the sugar is dissolved, stirring it very often with a silver spoon. When dissolved, wring a flannel bag very dry in hot water, strain the syrup, and bottle it. This will keep almost any length of time. Another without lemons. Put six pounds of white sugar to three pints of water, and boil five minutes. Have ready the beaten white of an egg mixed with half a pint of water, an
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DIRECTIONS ABOUT WASHING, &c.
DIRECTIONS ABOUT WASHING, &c.
The design of these directions is to assist the inexperienced; to teach those who are unacquainted with the business of washing, how to do it, and those who can afford to employ others, how to direct them; and also to discover where the fault lies when it is not done well. As I write only for the uninitiated, I shall be excused for being very minute; and for giving some preliminary hints, needed only by learners. For the family wash, good water, and good soap are indispensable. Rain, river, or s
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