The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-04-12
COOKERY OF OTHER DAT
Reforms in the Kitchen
That Have Made Life
Less Laborious to
Women.
THE ERA OF THE DUTCH OVEN.
How the Food Of the Good Old Days
Was Not What 1t Is Cracked Up
to Be-A Few Observations on
the Servant Girl Problem.

the Servant Girl Problem.
There is a great deal of plaintive and
pathetic regret expressed at times over
the degeneracy of the kitchen, regret
that the present generation cannot trans
port itself back to the Colonial days--or
even a much less remote perioa-aad
view with reverent eyes and watering
mouth the kitchens, the cookery and the
dinner tables of our grandrnothers.
Were this cosmic revolution possible Of
achievement, there is not the romotest
possibility but that the modern American
housewife would yearn to return at once
to the soups and salads and entrees, but
not the servants, Of 1891.
The life of the ordinary American
woman fifty years ago was one Of unend-
ing drudgery: IL not it was at best a life
of perpetual annoyance and struggle with
rude and inadequate utensils of domestic
service. Those who remember the old
Dutch ovens and great fire places, with
glowing back logs and yawning chin
neys, will likewise remember the great,
low rooted kitchens. one third of who Sc
floor was made of brick to catch the
sparks from the roaring fires. and above
all the flushed hot faces that bent above
these fires when cooking the daily meals
And what mealsl There are men and
women who look iongingly back to those
days; who, boast lovingly of mothers
mlnce pies and cookies, and the roast tur-
KEY, whose aroma has been lost to them
forever And yet IL put to the crucial
test they would come back, of their own
accord, to these days of rare beefsteak,
reed birds on toast, sauces, mayonnaise
dressings and clarets, and wonder after
all what they ever saw In the unvarying
routine of corned beef and cabbage, fried
ham for breakfast, and the assorted array
of homemade fruit buffers and cucunl-
Der pickles in other days.
As for the other part, compare the
kitchen of today and It's indispensable
adjuncts with the meagre array of pots
and skillets that adorned the kitchens of
half century ago. The reform IN this
direction has been wonderful ia a gem
GRAFTON. A hardwood floor, with few
cheap rugs; range that keeps half
dozen dishes warm while cooking
another halt-dozen, without discomfort
to the COOK; the handy pantry. porcelain
kettles, granite kitchen ware, hot water
| tanks, meat grinders. egg beaters and
all the other array Of modern improve
ments.
Our list of food has also immensely in
creased. We eat more fresh meats and
more fruit We are not restricted to the
| fruits OF the summer seasons but the
tropics furnish thousands of shiploads of
oranges, bananas and grapes in the late
| fall ana mi6winter. Our cereals include
new and choice preparations from oats,
| barley, wheat, corn and rice; our vegeta-
| bles include the tomato, sweet potato,
celery aud egg plant, that found no place
In the kitchen of our grandmothers. The
1 multiplication OF railroad communica-
| tion has brought new and, in the old days
| practically unknown, varieties of sea
| food to grace our tables ana tickle our
| palates. The ranchman in the valleys of
Arizona enjoys his fresh oyster stew, with
zest as hearty as that of q Baltimorean
or Philadelphian with the Chesapeake
oyster bed at their doors.
One thing which remains unreformed,
or which demands reformation, for 1t is q
sin of recent, peculiar and indigen Gus
growth in American households, is that
of wastefulness. The garbage can is the
curse Of American households. It co n
sumes millions of dollars every year. The
people of any one of the smaller princi-
palities of Europe could be fed in COM
fort and abundance upon the unneces-
sary waste In our kitchens. Even in the
humblest homes, where the pinching
fingers of want are felt at times. the
the waste in their periods of prosperity is
as great in proportion as it is in the homes
of wealth where the careless cook thin ks
nothing of tossing stale loaf daily into
garbage can. 1t is pure, unadulter-
ated carelessness. 1t is a waste that means
decrease of wealth.
There IS less time spent now in the pre-
paration of food than ever before. not
withstanding the fact that the list Of
foods has increased and methods of cook
ing entirely revolutionixed The result
of this can be seen in higher plane of in
telligence among the wives and daugh-
tiers of the present generation. They have
more time to devote to education and
self-culture.
The question of s'heIp" is a sadly per-
picking one, yet there can be a partial
solution furnished for the many sins and
shortcomings laid at the door of our Brid-
gets and Chloes. It is In the disposition.
almost general, to throw the burden and
direction of affairs in the kitchen upon
the aforesaid Bridget or Chloe. The in
evitable end is evident; the help, very
soon runs the house or the mistress IS
compelled to run her kitchen satellite out
OF the house. Greater consideration for
the feelings and strength of our servants:
an unceasing oversight Of their duties.
and an occasional word of kindly encou r.
agement, will do more towards settling
the servant problem than anything else
that can at present be suggested.