The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-07-30
THE HOME.
Early Picking.

Pickles are prepared by first soaking
in strong brine then draining, drying
and pouring hot spiced vinegar over
them. liable Talk advises for half
bushel of pickles, in this case little
cucum bers or gherkins, the proportion
for brine is one pint of coarse salt to
six quarts of water. 1t should be boiled,
SKINNED and turned boiling hot upon
the pickles. Gherkins must be wiped
well before putting in the brine.
Put the gherkins in the brine and let
them remain a week. When ready to
pickle, take one teaspoonful of powdered
alum to every quart of water, using the
same amount of water to the amount
of cucumh beers as in making the brine.
Dissolve the alum in the water, cold, then
place alternate layers of grapevine leaves
and the cucumbers rinsed from the brine
in the picking kettle. Pour the alum
water over them and allow it come to a
scalding point. Let them stand closely
covered on the back of the stove for two
hours, then drain and put in ice water.
Prepare the vinegar pickle as follows:
For every quart OF vinegar take two tea
spoonIuls OF cinnamon, two teaspoonfuls
of cloves, one teaspoonful of mace, one
teaspoonful of celery seed, few pieces
of horse radish, one ounce of mustard
seed, one saltspoonful of black pepper,
pinch of red pepper and a cup of sugar
Mix the spices together dry, wet them
to paste with little vinegar, lay in
gather into bag. Heat the vinegar to
boiling point, put in the spices and sugar
and boil for Is minutes. Drain the
pickles, put them in the jar and pour
the spiced vinegar, boiling hot over
them. An easier method. but one which
is not SO certain to preserve the color of
the gherkins, is to prepare in brine, as
directed, drain from the brine and cover
with cold water. Spice the vinegar, let it
come to boiling point, put in the pickles
and let them remain long enough to be
scaled. Skim from the vinegar, put
them in jars, add to the vinegar one teas
poonful powdered alum for every two
quarts, and when the alum is dissolved
pour hot over the pickles.
For Stout Women.
That woman whose hips and stomach
are all out of proportion to the rest OF
her body-and owing to the common
habit of wearing ill-itting corsets this
condition may be found among about
nine-tenths of women-nust be very
careful about the hang of her skirt, for
on it depends much of the appearance
of her gown. Ifyou are woman of this
build, you must be sure to have your
skirt measure taken in front as well as
behind and you must allow from the
waist line to the floor, with an inch ex-
ira for seams. Then no matter what the
fashion may be, the front and side
breadths must be gored enough to make
the skirt hang free and not wrinkle over
the hips.
In the back take your length as you
did from the front; you will find if you
have measured properly that you are at
least two inches shorter in the back than
you are in front, because of the ungrace-
full way that you stand. Make that dress
skirt shorter in the back if Won want if
to hang even all around. II Won cut in
the same length as the pattern for
scientifically built people directs. Won
will spoil the set of the skirts.
After you have got your skirt on the
belt, sew big hook on the inside of the
belt exactly in the middle of the back,
and hook it in your corset lace at the
belt line, and you will find that the skirt
will not sag. If you wear waist like
the skirt, have an inside belt to the
bodice, with an eye on that to hook the
skirt to.
If you areEverv stout have narrow