The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1879-06-19
HOUSEKEEPING IN SUMMER.
The Good yVife's Perplc1ities-Diet for the
Dog Days-Flies and Fresh Air.

w
souls of housekeepers. Perhaps it was
so in our grandmothers' days, when
canned fruits and vegetables were un-
known, and the prudent housewife, was
forced in summer, like the mt ana the
bee, to lay "up stores of sweetness for
use in winter hours :. stores which, if
not large, were likely to run low before
the kitchen garden came, again INTO
bearing. But now, with the grocer at
our backs ready "for q compensation,
to supply us with every known fruit and
vegetable all the year round, she VINO
has money or credit may spread her
table bountifully in all seasons, with
small forethought of her own, and the
dog days are those in which she is most
prone to exclaim wearily: II wish peo-
pie did not have to eat!" Appetites are
capricious; dinner eaten heartily one day
will be scarcely touched the next, and
though every one has a feeling OF
emptiness, few persons are actually
hungry. Provisions cooked one day are
kept to the next only by the free use OF
ice, and even then are apt to taste of the
ice chest. Thus the economy practiced
at King Arthur's court, where "what
they could not eat that day the queen
next morning fried" becomes an i'm
possible virtue. and the anxious house
wife stands perplexed between the Scylla
of niggardliness and the Charybdis OF
waste. Nature, however, is always a
law unto herself, and he who in warm
weather eats much meat is apt to pay
for it by a dulled brain and a general
feeling Of uncomfortable heaviness. In
all warm countries the laboring classes
eat but sparingly of animal food. Ihe
East Indian coolie subsists almost wholly
on rice: the West Indian grows fat upon
bananas and oranges, and the hardy
Arab of the desert conquered a world on
diet of dates and barley. Milk and
fruits, bread and vegetables, are cooling
and healthy diet for the dog days.
and may be freely INDUCED in. And
since in hot weather the kitchen is a
modified purgatory, and preparing
deserts becomes a ,penance, we nave
cause to congratulate ourselves on the
delicious deserts which nature brings to
us for the gathering. Strawberries,
raspberries, blackberries and peaches
all these come to the table without the
smell of fire having passed upon them,
and eaten with cream are dish to set
before king" So also in the country,
where fruit and milk abound, ice-cream,
that most delicious Of deserts, costs
almost nothing. Given pailful of ice
and five-minute freezer, the rich milk,
or still better, cream, has but to be
mixed with the crushed fruit, sweetened
and let to freeze itself. Covered with m
old blanket or piece of carpeting the pro-
cess of congealing will 60 on slowly but
surely, with small aid from you, even if
your freezer be but tin bucket-only
| in this case you must stir the cream with
a knife two or three times while freezing
to prevent the formation of crystals Of
ti,.e in the freezer. -
Sos psesy Bsayy shSla e%p of
ca or glass Of milk, dish of oatmeal, a
soft boiled egg, with fresh fruit and cold
bread, which need not, however, be
stale, are far better preparations for the
labors of the day than fapjacks and
fried bacon washed down with abun-
dance of hot coffee. When the Greek
athletes were in training for the Olym.
| plan games they were forbidden animal
food altogether, and won their races on
diet of bread and fruit. In later days
| Newton was the most abstemious OF
men, and the architect of the Crystal
Palace. SirCharles Fox, ascribed his
ability to undergo the severe strain OF
his almost incessant labor for days on
| his drawing, to his temperate habits
and daily plunge bath. Such instances
| might be multiplied indefinitely, but 1t
is scarcely worth while.
Every housekeeper knows what a
nuisance flies are in summer. Two
weapons are powerful against them,
| cleanliness and darkness. Therefore the
dining-room should be kept dark be-
tween meals, and care should be taken
| to sweep every crum from, table and
floor. But it will not do simply to shut
up the room; shutting up the flies IN 1t.
| Close every window and door but one,
anG through that drive the flies out.
| This is not so hard as it may seem upon
paper, and practice makes perfect here
as in all else. We have known house,
keeper who was so expert that she had
only to wave her broom and the flies
| dutifully swarmed out as they saw the
standard raised in air. Fly-nets for the
windows are comfortable appendages
for living and sleeping-rooms. Bought
ready-made they are somewhat ,eX-
pensive; made at home they cost only
trife. Have the carpenter-or If some
one in the family knows how to handle
tools, let him-make frame Of inch
wide lath, fitting the window frame.
| On this stretch mosquito netting-dark
green is best-and fasten with t,cks to
the laths. The same netting over n
frame of reeds, Of osiers, or wires from
an old hoopskirt make serviceable cake
and butter covers. Bend one hoop into
round of the size wanted, then on this
faSten two semi-circular hoops, crossing
each other at right angles in the center
above the bottom hoop. This forms the
frame, which, if Of wire, should be
wrapped with worsted; on this the net
ting is sewed, and a button on the top
serves as a handle.
Air every sleeping-room Thoroughly
every morning, and, if possible, let IN the
sun to shine on the beds and bed-clothcs.
Often Mt night, when the heat is we'll
nigh unbearable, wet cloth hung in the
window over the blind will cool the
room rs if a shower had fallen, and every
one knows how water poured on the
pavement in front of the door will
freshen the hot, dry air. This principle
| OF Cne reOuCLlOn OF temperature ny cFap-
Grafton is capable of much practical ap-
plication. In India and other tropical
countries, where ice is almost unknown,
the natives cool their drinking water Ky
suspending earthen jars filled with it in
4 brisk current of air, which process is
said to cool it thoroughly and rapidly.
So, also, when ice is unattainable, but
ter may be kept firm and sweet by set
ting the bowl containing it in shallow
vessel of water and covering with nap
kin, the ends of which are well inn
mersed in the water in the bottom dish.
A wet handkerchief or sponge worn in