The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-10-25
BAKING POWDER SECRETS.
Some Of the Things Which Every Good
Housekeeper Should Know.

Some Of the Things Which Every Good
Housekeeper Should Know.
"Our grandmothers did without bak-
ing powder and were not sensible OF
any difficulty in preparing quick
dough, writes Ella Morris Kretschmar
in The Woman's Home Companion.
"But one wonders if results were not
Oftentimes crude because of the nice
care necessary in using soda. In fact,
there are certain legends respecting
greenish yellow or spotted biscuit at
which the present generation of house
keepers smile, thanks to baking pow
der. Soda, an alkali very injurious to
the stomach, should never be used with
out an acid to render it neutral salt,
as cream of tartar, muriatic acid or
sour milk, and the proportion must be
exact or the mixture will be either acid
Or alkaline.
Pure baking powders are simply a
mixture of bicarbonate of soda and
cream Of tartar in their proper proper
lions, with perhaps twice their com
bined weight of rice -four, cornstarch
or plain -four to insure their keeping.
If really pure, they cannot be called in
furious, the danger lying in the use of
powders having impure ingredients, of
which quantities are doubtless sold
daily. So sensible have housekeepers
become Of these authorizations that many
are going back to the use Of soda and
cream of tartar, the use of which as in
Dictated, requires both intelligence and
care If one is dependent upon the
average cook a standard baking powder
is the safest reliance.
In the making of quick coughs (by
use either of baking powder or soda and
cream of tartar) there are two points
not given in any cookbook, so far as the
writer knows, which add greatly to per-
lection in results. To make such dough
proceed as follows:
Into one quart of -four (measured
before sitting put level teaspoonful
of salt and 2 heaping teaspoonfuls of
baking powder, or a level teaspoon
full of soda and 2 rounding ones of
cream of tartar, mix thoroughly with
the hands and then sift twice. Next
add heaping tablespoonful of butter
or butter and lard mixed, rub up
lightly with the hands and again put
through the sieve, pressing the last
heavier part through with the fingers or
hand Now toss the mixture lightly
about as when first putting in the bak-
ing powder, and it will be found that
the shortening is distributed with per-
feet evenness through the flour Have
ready scant pint Of sweet milk in a
mixing bowl and into this put half of
the flour. Beat hard for few minutes,
when the mixture will be as smooth as
satin. Add rapidly the rest of the -four,
roll out quickly, cut (if for biscuit) and
bake at once in rather hot oven.
''Some fours require more wetting
than others, but the rule for guidance
is "a dough as soft as can be handled.
A little -four more or less will not
spoil the general result if other direc-
lions are carefully followed "
Philadelphia Doorways.
Such doorways have their histories
unquestionably, but they are lost in the
dust of the past. Who designed the
well proportioned panels, who fashioned
the brass knocker and whose taste de-
vised the simple decorations will never
be divulged. The owner has likewise
passed into oblivion, leaving only the
speechless door behind to awaken the
curiosity and stimulate the emulation
of newer generations.
If the Germantown doorways were
plain almost to severity, those in the
city proper were often more decorated
with the various beautiful devices Of
the colonial period Among these the
fanlight was almost universally en-
ployed, and besides adding an orna-
mental appearance to the exterior fur
nished often the high light for the hall
within.
In designing it is we'll for decorator
to know when to stop and to have the
courage to do so. This virtue the post
Revolutionary architect possessed to a
marked degree, as is exemplified in the
doorway described The fanlight sup
ported by two square columns, the mer-
est suggestion of carving and short
wreath over the door were all that was
essential to make an attractive entrance,
therefore, having done this much, he
dared to stop, although many plain sur
faces remained upon which his skill
might well have been displayed
House Beautiful. "