Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-02-26
THE HOUSEHOLD.
DOMESTIC ECONOMY AND HOME DEcoRA.
TON AND FURNISHING
The Parlor, Kitchen, Store-room, Studio
Library, Nursery, Sewing room,
Garden and Poultry Yard,

Library, Nursery, Sewing room,
Garden and Poultry Yard
CHOCOLATE. cup of coffee will give
warmth for certain period, cup OF tea
will inspirit to renewed effort, and cup OF
cocoa give sufficient nourishment TOR sew
eral hours. Cocoa, or rather the cacao
bean. is a very valuable food, and will, as
time progresses, become more general
among the larger classes its composition
contains the nourishing elements OF gluten,
the heating properties OF fat, with the
stimulating addition of salts and ACIDS.
The peculiar principle which characterlzes
this bean most is theobromine, which has
an exhilarating tendency, and contains the
four principal ingredients OF all matter
carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.
The cacao bean is the kernel OF tropical
fruit. and when extracted from the pulp,
dried and crushed under pressure, makes
up a powder that forms the basis OF choco-
late. There are many different modes OF
preparation, and the one we wish to BRING
before our readers to-day Is novel IN It's
composition. Chocolate has mostly been
sold in solid tablets, either sweetened or
unsweetened These tablets had to be
dissolved with boiling wateror milk, accord
inc to taste. A newidea has been carried out
by an American gentleman, and Its pro-
duct is called Mack's milk chocolate,
teaspoonful of which furnishes, with the
addition of boiling water, complete cup
of chocolate. Several forms OF chocolate
do not contain all the fat that Is IN the
bean, and reduce its ingredients to Ger
tain condition, while the above-named
chocolate keeps the elements OF the bean
intact. and so manipulates its fatty portions
that it can be easily amalganiated with
milk and sugar, be favored with vanilla,
and by being mixed with little boiling
water, forms a very delicious beverage.
The chocolate is made of the finest South
American cocoa and pure Orange county
milk, sweetened with sugar entirely una
dulterated. 1t appears to us that the way
of combining the fatty substance OF the
bean and the milk is the artistic test OF this
manufacture, and that its nourishing prop
critics must be enhanced by this. Its rich
volume can, therefore, also make the sub
stance more economic, because teaspoon.
full of the mixture will make cup OF
chocolate, and costs two or two and hall
cents. This price brings the article to the
door of large classes, and we should be
glad to know that we have introduced
comforting beverage to those daily tollers
who have often to 90 without warm food
during the entire day.
How TO CHOOSE A HAM.-Many good
housewife mas been often puzzled . how to
choose ham," The following simple di-
rections may be of service to assist those
in the dilemma l. Never buy ham SIM
ply because it is offered at lew price. No
really tirst-class ham is apt to be sold at
very low figure. 2. Never select ham
which is too lean. Although the fat is
considered by many to be so much waste,
still 81 fat ham" always furnishes tender,
Juicy and fine favored meat, while lean
nam is very often tough and dry when
cooked. The Joint should be well rounded
and plump, rather than thin and fat. The
skin should be thin and pfiable. 3. Choose
freshly-cured hams Wines improve by
age hams do not The more recently
the Joint has come from the cur
ing cask (other things being equall,
the better it will please when cooked.
Formerly the years supply was packed IN
the winter, and after smoking, must needs
be 60 canvassed" or bagged" to preserve
it against the ravages of flies, and IN this
shape carried to meet the demand In the
summer and fall. This necessarily resulted
| in a considerable loss of the juices OF the
meat by evaporation, while the surface OF
the flesh gradually became densely covered
with mildew, which often gave mouldy
! flavor to the entire ham. This has now
been entirely obviated by such improve
ments in curing by ice, that hams of the very
finest quality are prepared even IN the hot
test weather. and so the market affords
BUYERS new cured hams for every day IN
the year. 4. AS regards the size of ham
that should depend very much on what you
wish to do with it. A whole ham always
boils more satisfactorily than piece. For
broiling or frying ham of not less thanl2
pounds should be selected. One from IA
to l6 pounds is preferable.
TIDIES.-The new chair tides are tides
no longer, but from their immense size, are
known as chair backs. They are the shape
and size of towels, and in some instances,
are long enough to come well down on the
chair seat. They are OF all materials
crash, cloth sateen, plush and satin en-
broidered or hand painted, with strips OF
antique guipure on each side OF the satin
center. a pretty chair back may be made
of olive green or garnet cloth, with strips
of black velvet two inches wide set on
vertical lines with space between the
width of the velvet ribbon. Point Russo
stitches ornament the velvet stripes and
tassel fringe in the color of the chair back
is set on the ends. Others have a single
wide band of plush down the center or
across one end, and very effective chair
back is of olive green cloth, with artistic en-
broidery in silk of cranes and water-reeds,
People who have coat-of-a arms, or even
the shadow of shade of right to one, en-
broider it on such chair backs, high up IN
the Ieft-hand corner, where it will show
over the shoulder of anyone sitting in the
chair This is the correct thing, but to put
it in the middle would be to expose the
most lamentable igorance.