The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-09-17
SOME HOUSEHOLD LEAKS
Needless Waste of Money, Time and
Energy in a Good Many
Homes.
The First Prevalent Error Is in
the Wrong Selection of
Food.
In tho Second Place, Good Materials Are
Quite Often Spoiled by Inn
proper Cooking.

Mrs. Ewing's lecture on Leaks In TIL
American Household" delivered at Chau
tauqua, may be termed one of the most val
liable contributions ever written on this i'm
portant subject. She spoke as follows:
What are these leaks? Evidently if w
were to take them all in we could not Civ,
special attention to any one of them, a
there arc so many. There are three to whicl
/ would like to call FOUR attention. Th,
first is waste of material in the avcrag,
American home, which means a waste o
money; the second is tho great waste o.
lime, which is just as precious as money
Ind the third great leak is the waste of en-,
ergy, comfort, labor. Now you see in re
feiring to these important leaks | say moth
ing about the immense waste OF health, of
pleasure and the tremendous waste of hap
pincss which Is incident and follows as Il
matter OF necessity upon the other leaks or
wastes.
| generally find that the best house
keepers with whom | am acquainted agree
with me in the estimate that one-half of
all the food materials that go into our
kitchens is wasted. A great deal of it il
worse han wasted when by improper cook
cry it is put intoindigestible form, that not
only does not nourish, but that gives the
eater dyspepsia. 1t would be less waste if
that material were thrown at once into the
slop bucket, where much of it goes. A lit
tie study of the matter will enable us to
cut down greatly our meat bills and other
bills.
The first cause of the waste is the igno-
rance of how properly to prepare the food
SO as to save the nutrition. Let me illus
trate: An ignorant cook will take q rich,
juicy beefsteak and by al intperfect.method
of cooking she will let drip into the fire
the juice. BY an imperfect method of
cooking she will dry it up thoroughly, and
will put the thing dry, useless and indi-
gestible on the table, really as regards nu-
triton not worth half what it should have
been. She will serve the roast in the same
way. There is a good deal of waste in mar
keting, in selecting tho wrong cuts and
then selecting the wrong method of cook
ing. Many a joint of meat which would
have been perfectly satisfactory if it had
been praised, stewed OR boiled is rendered
quite worthless by roasting or broiling. L
speak Of meats because they are among the
most expensive articles of food.
Then there is a great deal of waste in
tduced by the purchase of too large uuanti-
ties. Now that is very general. The left
f.. overs" in our homes are a great deal more
h they should be. But the loss would
not be so great if the average cook knew
how to utilize the left overs" and knew.
how to render them and rehash them and
make them into hashes and croquets and
deviled dishes and serve them in salads.
Then there is another source of waste. 1t
is in the cook or housekeeper on whoever
does the ordering Of the meal.
This waste occurs in their grouping to-
gether foods that are not suited to each
other, and which the people do not eat to-
gether and relish, and not only in their
grouping too great a supply and too great
q variety, but also in their ordering such
Things as 90 not associate themselves to-
gether tremendously or cannot be SO asso-
ciated.
Now, there is an opportunity for the
"ldesG study and the deepest research lust
In TINS item or line of investigation OF suit
ability of food materials. For instance. in
making out a bill of fare for a dinner every
housekeeper or cook ought to give the mat
ter thought and study. She should, think.
decide flrst'When she is going to order a din
ner for the home for every day-it is more
"A a family live well every day
than that u swell dinner be superbly gotten
is that the way an average honse-
keeper looks at the subject? am afraid
not always. l need not remind you that
che average housekeeFers of whom we ere
are not the ones who attend lee
lures to lind out what these leaks are.
lney are those WAC do not consider the
natter at all, and yet thtSs are the great
mass Of American houseioepers. the women
Who are training tho future legislators and
governors of the country.
In preparing the bill of fare think every
.lonsekeeper should arrange about IS Of
hem, at least Is dinners for each season of
he year. OF course tho dinners have 10
AIRY in summer aud autumn and winter
spring. Now ii every houstheepcr
Il careful study Of IL or Is dipnrre
'llis OF fare, with Il view of making such
for these dinners as would be h2r-
noniAing, that would settle the bills of
are to q great extent for luncheon or ten
ana also Tor breakfast. And every house.
would find it an immense g9yiug of
anne II annoyance if she she would take
matter into careful consideration
These l. or rs dinners should be unlike
each other. Now, il You We're to ~jnaun,r
rate those dinners, II they were unlike 5Ne
would NOT feel that they wore cef-
ing the same things day after dav. And ifI
be true that human beings are OF such
complex and varied organism thar thov re-
luire u wide range on dicr, the pronrr
mount Of nourishment is provided wien
'Ae bill Of fare is changed every Lay. ii lis /.
act now. 1t provides the same Vegetables
very day, only with a change OF one or two
meats.