The Portland daily press., 1899-01-13
THE HOME.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MACHINE
SEWERS,

accumulated, then lot the house sewer
select day Of damp. moist atmosphere,
or even one of rain. for her task, secure
that she will be able TO turn of one long
seam after another. without any Of that
swapping of the thread. at the same time
so trying to the patience and so injurious
TO the appearance OF the work.
For, as with the laoe-makers, who are
obliged to work in damp rooms lest the
delicate threads they weave may break
and spoil the precious web. the moist air
of the rainy day renders the thread of the
machine supple and elastic, and better
able to bear any tension without break
ing
1t would really be n saving of time and
temper If the house sewer would lay aside
such work tor suitable weather. day In
summer when the warm air is saturated
with moisture, or one in winter when
fog and thsw render exercise out-of-doors
unpleasant, for then the thread Of the
sewing machine is on Its best behavior.
A current of air or the breeze from an
open window will cause the thread to
break, even though the barometer Is be.
low ''chauge" and the little color baro'
meter has gone from blue to viole &;
neither should the machine stand near
the fire or the radiator.
A correct eye is everything In doing ma
chine-work well. but there are few
common sense points that may be told
without waiting to learn by exeperience.
For instance, you can stitch more evenly
on the right of the presser foot, with the
bulk Of material lying to the left, than
the other way. The tendency OF the feed
or teeth. is to throw the work somewha at
of. as we'll as on, and the stitching Is
better guided on this side.
When you are stitching seam, with
one piece bias and one straight, let the
bias side come mex. the feed-that Is, be
on the under side. This Is especially I'm.
portant in thin materials Naturally the
feed takes up the side TO 1t little faster.
When the bias. or crossway, side Is to 1t,
the machine feeds" all right. But II
the straight edge is toward it there will
be pucker.
We nse so many machines now In our
daily life that we may make one word Of
caution serve for sewers, as well as Tor
the faithful sewing machine: Keep 1t
well oiled. and ready, and use 1t evenly
and kindly. -Harper's Bazaar
VARIETY OF TOAST.
In the first place the toast should not be
made until 1t can be served Immediately:
then 1t should be given the undivided at
tention of the one whose duty II is to pre-
pare 1t, writes Julia d. Cowles in the
Observer. 1t should be toasted a golden
rrown. all over the slice, and not just In
the middle. If piece of toast is burned
in one part 1t will never be as good, no
matter how carefully the burned portion
may be scraped. Therefore. watch your
toast and do not try to do other things at
the same time.
The toast should be buttered while II is
hot, and the buttering should not be done
by an impressionist, but should be strict
ly in accordance with the principles of
the realistic school. How many times we
have eaten toast that had dab of butter
here and there, or where the butter was
spread literally in the centre OF the slice,
having the crusts dry and tasteless. The
inpressionist may paint good picture,
but he should not be allowed to butter
tire toast
pwhile plain buttered toast may be just
what we want to serve with certain other
dishes, it is we'll sometimes to add a
poached egg to each slice before sending
to table.
MIX toast, when properly made, is q
very accepta BILE breakfast dish. The bread
for this should be as carefully Drowned
as for the buttered tonst. Have ready a
skillet with u good supply of milk, to
which has been added liberal spoonful
of butter and salt to taste. Let the milk
reach the boiling point, and then dip the
slices of toast in the milk just long
anpnUh n snffan each Saryp IN n COvpFan
dish. pouring over the toast the remain
ing milk. The main points to be observed
in making this dish are to have the milk
seasoned just right, and to have the milk
boiling in every case before the slice Is
dipped.
Cream toast is made just as milk toast
is. except that the bread is not toasted.
Fresh bread will not do for this; the
bread must be several days old. Then II
the seasoning is right and the milk boil
ing, the toast will be found very nice
indeed, with coffee
French toast is made by dipping bread
that is not too fresh into milk which has
had an egg beaten up in 1t and salt
added. The bread is then to be fried II
delicate brown in a frying pan or upon
griddle. This toast is very acceptable
with coffee. or it may be served with
jelly.
Meat toasts are hesTtier than any of the
proceeding, and furnish a most sarisfac-
tory method of using bits of meat that
have been lett from dinner. The bread is
first to be toasted and then dipped In
boiling water which has teen seasoned
with butter and salt just long enough to
soften the crust. Prepare the meat by
first Kidding it of all particles of gristie
and, for most kinds of meat of fat
TIE quality of the toast depends largely
upon the care with which this Is done.
Next, chop the meat rather fine and place
in the trying pan with little stock or
gravy. Add water and season with but
ter, pepper and salt. When the whole is
well heated, thicken, and pour over the
slices of toast.
delicious egg toast has the bread pre-
pared as just described for meat toast.
Before dipping the slices of toast the eggs
and milk should be made ready, in the
following manner: Boil half-dozen eggs
for ten minutes, SO that they will be
quite hard. Place pint of milk in a
granite iron pan, and when hot thicken
with flour mixed with little cold milk.
Season with salt and butter. After the
toast has been dipped, pour over it the
thjckened milk, adding the boiled eggs