Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-10-09
A Lesson in French Economy.

1--WE Americans are an extravagant pso-
pie. Our land Is wide for its population,
and brings forth. or can bring forth so
much more than Its Inhabitants consume,
that We know nothing OF the saving and
careful economy OF people OF the Old
Worlds States. Lavish abundance OF
common things surrouud our ancestors
and they used II lsvishly. We inherited
the prodigal habit; but row our cities and
some OF our districts have a croxded pop
ulation and want ia the result OF waste.
With us 4 poor iaborer's family will spend
more and waste more than family in mid
die station Ia Italy, Germany or France;
our middle classes spend aud waste what
would appali Frenchman OF fortune, in
fact. We seem To lack the very means and
methods Of saving. which are open 10 al
Ia the Old World; we dcspise saving we
call careful economy pcuGriou a
woman ~ap looks well to the ways OF her
household here i styled 'stiagv;' abroad
she ia good honsekeeper doing her legiti-
mate duty. Take our way OF making
coHse; large Guaatity OF ground COTE IS
mixed up with an egg or half an egg as
the case may be, and this i empiiel Into
a coffee pot Of boiling water, AMI very pos
sibly IL Is allowed 10 go on boiling. pour
Ia. steam out OF the spout. The size of the
pot has very little reference TO the number
Of ihe family otter breakfast from piut to
three p,nts OF coffee remain over; It NAV
be- thrown out. or II may he boiled over
next morning, Abroad. the French pot
rules the day; X is A pot made with two
stores of about equal SIZE. The lower one
must hold as many cups a. the family are
Ike 10 use. The upper story has two lne
filters. The ground coffre. about halt a.
much as needed for the other style OF max
M, j. put in the upper and coarscr filter.
and slowly over it IL poured water sufil-
Client To nearly MI the lower pot. when II
shall have worked is way through the see
oni due iiitcr. No egg. no mixing oi auy
Kind j. used. The spout aud the top have
air-tight caps the coffee j. thus hcrmeti-
.-,i.-i -~,,,' a, ass.es 4.-,r A..
wise bolt Ia ten minutes the coffee j. all
In The lower pot, with every particle OF
strength from the grounds carried with IL
aud all the aroma held in Itself and not
diiiused throu gh the house. Not particle
OF grounds reaches the lower pot yeu take
the cap from the spout, and clear bright
stream OF coffee goes into your cup. Boil
those grounds atterward and there 4, no
color Or strength 10 be found 10 them. All
the coffee i used each day; there is none
70 throw away. and French pots Do not
take kindly - the iniqusty OF coffee boiled
over"
But" said Helen. suppose an un-
expected guest is al the tabl.?'
~ our frenchman meets the ditiiculIy by
letting some member OF the family quietly
20 without, or, what Il better. filling up
the grown peoples cups and then pouring
a little NOR" boiling water IN the pot, and
giving the juveniles the weaker drink; or
lie makes hts orIs sinai pot ~ coffee proper
ttonatsly stronger, and pours little boil
iug water In each cup. He Will manage
some way rather than have coffee To throw
out The foreign housewife does not think
Il mean 10 count heads. and then count
her potatoes and eggs. She knows wheth
rr her family takes one or two apiece Of
each, ani she cooks accordingly; she j.
wise 10 leave proper margin OF one or
t~a 10 case OF somebody's extra appetite.
She does not feel embarrassed, II her son
calls for third egg. calmly 10 remark that
there sre no more cooked; and she knows
tha, with his proper quota Of eggs and 9th
or food, he can complete Ms meal on bread
and butter, She would feel much more
embarrassed at having food to throw
away"
And then" said Miriam, suppose some
ones appetite fails, or does not increase to
that margin OF one or two:'
suppose that one egg Is len, or one
potato. Here. Bridget, or the housewife
herself. says. one Is not worth Keeping
and throws them into the swil-tub. The
French housewife is not tempted by that
unhappy Institution always yzwning at
hand. On the contrary. suppose the egg
is soft-bolled. She drops II into a tih cup,
and makes 1t hard-bolled at once One
hard-boIled egg chopped fine is what she
needs in composing a salad. and the French
housekeeper is wise In behalf of good
health, OF good taste, and of the beauty and
variety OF her table. TO have salads innum-
erable-as many kinds OF salads a. Bottom
had OF wigs. There Is The egg-the salad
shall grace the tea-,able or, there is the one
potato. Your French housewife knows
the value OF soup; she does not make a
huge soup. aud expect her family to dine
upon II; she does not have her soup al
ways OF one kind-she var,e- th' Kind; and
she has small dish OF soup as a prelude
TO her dinner; here she serves health aud
variety. The potato nicely cut in wedges
shall be one of the ingredients OF her soup.
The beginning Of her soup is generally Of
bones. She has stone jar, and the bones
are usually trimmed closely out Of the un-
cooked meat. spriukled with salt and pep
per, and put 10 this jar, over which cloth
is tied. and il kept In very cool place
Almost every day, with few bones and a
variety as TO other ing redients, she will
concoct wonderful soup-a white soup,
a brown soup, clear soup, a vegetable
soup-and the spoonful of beans or peas,
the few slices Of tomato, the remnant OF
the rice or the macaroni. shall not be ig
ANONYMOUSLY cast out, but the soup shall
be as Is most convenient to the stock on
hand, and all these fragments, neatly kept,
are to go therein. The French are not re-
marksbly religious, but they do follow the
monition: gather up the fragment that
nothing be lost In one OF our families,
suppose that we have a cup Of milk left
from breakfast; in our closet is slice or
two Of sponge or cup cake, small saucer
| Of Jelly or preserves. In the American
| hou sehod the milk is frequently thrown
| out or one of the children ia bidden to
! drink il up Biddy adds the preserve or
| Jelly to her own breakfast, so she can have
! the saucer to wash" The cake Is given
| the children as an interlude TO meals, to
spoil their appetites. Lo, the foreign
housewife! The cup Of milk. with an egg,
| a little Touring and trifie OF thckening,
turns to custard; the cake Is cut in thin
| pieces. spread with the conserve and laid
| In Q white pudding dish? the custard is
poured over IL; 1t goes for ten minutes into
the oven; the white Of another egg is, with
! little sugar, converted into 3 meringue.
and spread on top; now the yolk OF the
secoud egg 10 beaten with little cream OF
milk. and sugar and spice, into sauce, Of
Instead Of the cream, . little hoWs-made