The record-union., 1897-06-27

Some of the newer varieties of the
domestic fowl for the table have White
legs and a white skin. They are tender
and delicious. Select dry-picked chlck-
ems with firm flesh, and smooth legs,
that are not blue looking. To judge the
age of a fowl bend the lower part OF
the breastbone. If soft and pliable un-
der the thumb, the chicken is young IL
hard and thick, it is old. Spring chlck-
ems should be selected for frying and
panning, and full grown fowls for soup
salads, fricasseing and roasting.
Chemists protest against the preju-
dice held by most housekeepers TO-
wards cottonseed oil. They claim it to
,be very unjust. Such oil is pronounced
wholesome and having good food value
by some of the most careful scientists,
and its use is preferable to that OF
much of the lard in the market The
oil of a. seed is certainly cleaner in its
association as well as actually than
that of an animal.
A caterer told a patron not long ago
that he made icing by mixing together
equal parts of unbeaten whites or eggs
and water stirring in confecuoners
sugar (not the ordinary powdered su-
gar) till of the proper consistency. II
it hardens on the cake, the dish may
be set over hot water for moment.
The best fiavoring to use is the juice
of a lemon, as the acid serves to keep
the icing soft.
A very fine cream salad dressing is
made with the yolks of three hard
boiled eggs, rubbed smooth with one
tablespoonful of olive oil. Add tara
gon vinegar to taste, and then beat in
slowly one cup of cream which has
been whipped stiff and dry.
An original way of making pie-crust
has been evolved by one woman who
always attends to this part of the cook
ing herself, and will not trust it to any
servant Her family are all fond of
puff-paste, but the work of making
it is so great and so peculiar in its
details that it cannot possibly be often
undertaken by a busy woman who has
not the time for fussing required. So
this particular cook made up a very
fair substitute for the fiaky crust, and
yet not so much bother as the ordinary
recipe for family pies most in use.
She mixes one pint of flour with halt
a pint of lard by chopping the latter in
with the chopping knife till it looks
like fine dust. OF course her utensils
are all cold, and she does this in cool
place. as far as she can get from the
kitchen range. She then adds one tea
spoonful of baking powder well though
lightly stirred in. This is followed by
enough ice water to make not very
soft dough. 1t is turned out, handling
as little as possible, on a Toured board,
and bits of butter stuck over the dough
pnce rolled out. This is then lightly
made into a long roll with the finger
tips, and again pressed out with the
rolling pin. More bits of butter are
added and the roll again made. Three
times is enough for the process, and
then it is best to set the dough away
inside the refrigerator, never, as Cath
crime Owen, the cooking teacher, used
to advise, upon the ice itself, for an
hour or two. The proportion of but
ter used in all is one-quarter pint to
the pint of flour The crust may now
be rolled into shape and baked. It
makes a fiaky, rich and delicious tart
although, as will be noticed, it is econo-
mical, comparatively little butter en-
5ering into its composition. This same
will not use the suet or cotton seed sub
stitutes for the latter at all in piecrust,
admirable as they prove for other pur-
poses. She says that they make a
tough crust, which hers certainly is
not.
Every housekeeper should provide
rhamois skin gloves for cleaning VIM
dows. There is no danger of streaks
upon the glass if this is done, and the
labor is much facilitated and lessened.
At a luncheon recently given the
whole surface of the square table was
covered with asparagus fern in dia-
monds of about eight inches from point
TO point, crossing and recrossing to
form an exact square, leaving a border
about fourteen inches for the plates
glasses, etc. This network was made
by fastening the vine at regular inter-
walls with minute safety pins to one
side of the cloth, and carefully keeping
true diagonal lines to the opposite side
after the manner of an old latticed VIM
Epw. Through it marguerites, full
blown flowers, and many buds We're
Thickly strewn, so placed as to raise
their heads clearly, and having the
most starry, youthful look of gayety
such as flowers have in a meadow, and
yet dainty air which was we'll suited
TO the young guests.
One may learn something even from
the despised tramp. A member of the
fraternity of wanderers came to an
area door the other morning with a re-
quest for food which he delivered to
maid on her way to the back yard with
an armful of mats. He asked if he
might do this work in payment for
breakfast, and when he had thus by
an offer of such recompense as he could
give established a claim to decent
treatment, he went on with a bit of
advice: I'm a carpet-weaver by
trade" he said, land l know how rugs
should be taken care of. Did you ever
hear that an old piece of rubber hose
such as you use to water the garden.
is the best thing to beat them with ?''
The maid had never heard of this, but
experiment proved that the weaver
tramp was right.
A cool1ing-school teacher directs her
class in cooking not to stuff a fowl for
roasting according to any Of the ordi-
nary recipes which call for warm wat
er with the crumbs, and which make
sort of poultice most Objectionable to
many tastes. Instead, she tells the