The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-08-23
Some Mornings at the Fair.

some MORNINGS al the FAIR.
1t was a room in the Woman's Build
ing, mistakenly called model kitchen,
On the platform stood a motherly look
ing woman, wearing a black dress with
broad white linen cuffs and collar, and
long white linen apron. She was Civ
ing bread lesson to an audience of
probably two hundred. As she worked
she talked, and many were the words
of wisdom that were sprinked in this
bread lesson. The following rule was
given: To one pint of wetting of equal
parts of milk and water, add one yeast
cake, dissolved IN couple of table,
spoonfuls of cold water. If you have
not sweet milk, use condensed milk.
one-quarter of pint diluted by water
enough to make half pint, and then
fill the pint measure with water, all of
which has been brought to the degree
known as lukewarm. The wetting, to
which had been added the dissolved
yeast cake, was in basin of blue and
white enameled ware; into it, with
tin scoop, from basin of sfted -four
at her left, the teacher poured the flour,
and mixed with flat wooden spoon
until it was of such consistency that it
could be handled with perfect ease.
When this point was reached, the
dough was emptied on to bre ad board
and kneaded with the back of the hands
not the ingers-very lightly; the
process would be better described by
the word pulled, or stretched, than
kneaded. The teacher said that what
bread dough needed was stretching;
that the hard kneading of the old New
England days was not good for the
bread. The bread was kneaded until
it could be handled with perfect free
dom without using -four, no dough ad.
herring to either board or hands. When
this point was reached, the bread was
put into the basin, which had been
creased, and covered with light linen
towel. 1t was to rise three hours, or
until it had risen to twice the quantity
of dough first put into the basin. 1t
dropped from this basin, after having
risen the required length of time, leav-
ing it perfectly clear and clean. 1t was
then cut into different lengths, some of
them forming just long loaves, such as
are known as the Vienna bread; some
of it twisted into finer rolls, and some of
it into what we might know as twist
loaves. This was then placed in Pc
culiar tins, or iron scoops one might
call them, without ends, and lightly
brushed with melted butter. The sew.
eral sized pieces of dough, after having
lisen one hour, were put into the ovens
which was heated to $50 degrees, and
baked twenty, thirty, and fifty minutes,
according to the size.
Among the things said by the lee.
turer during her process of bread
making were these: "When women
give as much time to the preparation
of foods as men do to the making OF
labor-saviDg inventions, we shall be
the best-fed nation in the world.'
"More women break down through
waste of effort than through Legitimate
work "-and she gave practical dem
onstration of this by showing how
some women knead bread, and ther
showed the proper method of kneadin!
bread. She claimed that every woman
knows that in the middle classes-tha
is, in that class of people in our coun
try where the women do their owl
housework, or part of 1.-THE womel
use up their strength and bring OF
ShAOhiN 'AoSeNoNS ny lptlhS W Ill
heavy pieces of furniture or by workin,
beyond their strength and after the
are exhausted. 1t is wasted, not legiti
mate, effort that is the cause of los
of vitality in most cases. " when W
love our work." said the speaker, e"
ceases to be drudgery." She protested
as she removed Light, crisp loaf fror
the oven, against the practice of cover
ing bread after it is baked. She sal
that to be perfect it should be la
across pan, and, if possible, in draf
between Two open windows, or an ope
door aud window. She had in he
audience the wives of millionaires an
the wives of workingmen, as well a
fifty men, some of whom showed HOY
important the subject was to them
Not the least valuable part of the dem
onstration was the perfect neatness c
the lecturer; a glass finger-bowl stoo'
on the table, and it added greatly to tn
daintiness of the whole process to hav
this serve for rinsing the hands, and
showed a conservation of force; n
steps were wasted in going to sink o
basin.-Mary Wills, IN Outlook.