CHAPTER XI. The Kitchen. T should be the airiest, brightest and most inviting room in the whole house. Here the meals are prepared; here the laundry work goes on; here, if there be no servant, the mother has her own domain, and spends most of her time. Wherever else there is getting along by makeshifts in the kitchen let the provision for convenience be ample. A good range with a good draught, plenty of pots and pans, spiders, spoons, cups and dishes and bowls, will greatly add to the ease of doing the work. The sink should be provided with a large drain pipe. If the water has been brought into the house, the difficulty of preparing food will be lessened, and work will be accomplished with less labor than when water must be carried in buckets full from a spring or well outside. Then the careful housekeeper will see that her stove or range is always bright, that it is cleaned every morning, and the ashes removed before the new fire is made, and she will always keep a quantity of hot water in the kettle. Says Christine Terhune Herrick, spe aking of the kitchen closet: "The least used articles should occupy the upper shelves. Tin pails and pans, bowls and cups, should be turned upside down when not in use, to prevent the accumulation of dust. Heavy kettles and saucepans, broilers and fryingpans, should be in a pot closet by themselves. Everything that can be hung up should have its own particular nail. Cake-turners, iron spoons, skimmers, graters, strainers, funnels, egg-beaters, tin cups and dippers, should swing from nails or little brass screw-hooks fastened in the door-posts, or in the edges of the shelves. There should be, if possible, a drawer, where should be kept the knife-box, corkscrew, apple-corer, pastry-jagger, larding-needles, can-opener, skewers, and all the small articles that are liable to be mislaid." The same admirable writer has given in her volume, "Housekeeping Made Easy," a full list of articles needed by her who would have her kitchen thoroughly supplied with tools for every occasion. They are a formidable array, but many of us can manage with less, and it is interesting to see what we may have if we choose to supply ourselves fully: One spice box, One Dover egg-beater, Two jelly moulds, Six kitchen plates, Six kitchen cups and saucers, Two large stoneware platters, One perforated skimmer, One double boiler, One teakettle, One teapot, One coffee-pot, Knife and fork box, Scrubbing brush, Broom, One one-quart saucepan, agate-ware or porcelain-lined, One frying-pan, One soup-kettle, agate-ware or porce lain-lined, One four-quart tin pail, One two-quart tin pail, One one-quart tin pail, One graduated quart measure, One half-pint tin cup, One cake-turrer, One corkscrew, One pastry-jagger, One wash-basin, One towel-roller, One six-quart seamless milk pan, One four-quart seamless milk pan, One plain pudding mould, One two-quart pitcher, One four-quart pitcher, Four yellow mixing bowls, assorted sizes, One split spoon, Six kitchen knives, One bread-knife, One meat-knife, One small knife for peeling potatoes, cutting the meat from bones, etc., One larding-needle, One soup-strainer, One hair-wire gravy-strainer, One colander, One wire dishcloth, One can-opener, One apple-corer, One large funnel, One small funnel, One cake-box, One fish broiler, One toaster, One vegetable grater, One nutmeg grater, Dredging boxes for salt, pepper and flour, Three pie-plates, One lemon-squeezer, One floor mop, One dish mop, One small meat-board, One rolling-pin, "In the well-regulated house the sinks, wash-bowls and faucets should receive attention at least once a week. When practicable, all drain-pipes should be flushed daily with hot water, if possible, but when that is out of the question, with an abundance of cold. The human body parts with a great deal of greasy matter in the course of its ablutions, and this is apt to form a deposit on the lining of the waste-pipes that will in time clog them seriously if it is allowed to remain. An excellent compound of potash is sold by druggists and grocers for the especial purpose of cleansing waste-pipes. The same work may be accomplished nearly as successfully by a strong solution of washing soda and by household ammonia. Copperas water, an ex cellent disinfectant, should be used in connection with these other preparations. "The marble bowls and slabs must receive a hebdomadal scrubbing, in addition to the wiping off that should be a daily occurrence. Pumice-stone, sapolio, or scourene serves here as upon faucets. On the marble it may be applied with a cloth or a small stiff brush, but for the faucets, stoppers, chains and other plated finishings the brush is preferable, as it carries the soap better into the chinks and interstices. One such scouring as this in a week will keep these platings bright, if it is supplemented by a wiping off with hot water and a rub with a flannel or chamois-skin each morning. IN THE KITCHEN. "Lamps, andirons, fenders and fire-irons demand their quota of attention, nor should doorplate, knobs and hinges be neglected." Our habits of luxury in town life and our relegation of kitchen work to the Lired maid, have robbed us of much of the pleasure we used to have in simpler days. But I am sure there are still sunny kitchens in which the cat purrs by the fire, while the brisk mistress steps to and fro, dcing her baking and ironing her sweet smelling linen, fragrant with the purest air and the blessing of the light. There the boy studies his Latin grammar and adds up his sums, and the girl tells how she went to the head in spelling, and how the teacher asked her to be class monitor for the day. The dear grandfather pottering about the garden and the barn comes to the kitchen to rest, and to smoke his meditative pipe. The sweet old grandmother sits in the pleasant window with the long gray sock she is knitting, and the baby plays on the floor, or sleeps in the cradle which stands in the darkest corner. Here, in the best of cooking-schools, the daughter learns housewifely management, here the bone and sinew of the land are nourished, here our patriotic American citizens are bred up to stand sturdily for God and their country. The kitchen is the heart of the home, and the mother is queen of the kitchen. |