Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-29
Care Of Household stores.

Apples, potatoes, turnips,a carrots, |
beets. etc, if stored in bins oE4barrels,l
should be picked over every week.
The defective should be thrown away,
and. if there be any sign of sweating,
the good should be spread out on the
floor for a day or two to dry before
they are repacked. Fruit should be
handled with care. Bruises are in
cipient decay.
Particularly fine fruit-apples and
pears-should be wrapped, each sepa-
rately in soft, imprinted paper and,
when packed, covered with fine, dry
sand. Thus protected they will keep
plump and sweet for months, and need
no overhauling meanwhile.
When practicable, keep vegetables in
large quantities elsewhere than in the
cellar under your dwelling. Putrefying
roots, cabbages and apples were respon-
sible for much of the winter and spring
diseases that puzzled our forefathers
and mothers. Even now 4nany farm
house reeks with cellar smells" as
subtle and dangerous aFkewer gas.
Keep eggs in d = cool place, yet not
where they will be liable TO freeze
If you store them in large quantities,
AS an additional precauti0n, grease the
shells and pour melted lard upon the
| topmost layer of salt.
Dried beans and peas should be kept
| in wooden or tin boxes with close tops.
Have canisters with tight lids for
coffee and tea, and kept them shut
Coffee loses strength and flavor when
| exposed to the air. Tea sOftens and
| mOuldS.
In buying crackers, give the prefer
| ence to those packed in tin cases. If
they come in paper boxes, set these in
tin receptacles or in stone crooks with
snugly fitting tops. Never throw
away a tin cracker box. 1t is always
| useful
After cheese is cut. wrap in tinfoil
or in soft (unprinted) paper and keep
| in tin or stone ware.
| Crusts, bits of toast. broken crackers
| and stale slices or bread should be kept
| in the kitchen closet until perfectly
| dry then set in a moderate over for
| an hour before crushing with 4 rolling
| pin. Keep these crumbs in Il glass jar
with a close top. They are invaluable
| for breading chops and croquettes, and
for scallops
Brown flour by the quantity. and
when COOL put into glass jars ready for
use.
Salt cakes and hardens in damp
weather. Store it in your WarmC st
and dryest pantry In very v t
weather mix a little cornstarch With
that you put into the table san
cellars
Flour cannot be kept too dry. DOE
can Indian meal, and all kinds of sugar.
| Pulverized sugar is as susceptible t.
| humidity as salt. Tin boxes arc aAsp-
| lutely necessary for keepiE| il
| tolerably free from Jumps.
| Spices, pepper and dried herbs Llu It
also be shut up closely. and never be
| kept in open receptacles Some braLGs
of baking powder actually effervesce
! when exposed for days at a time 4
| the open air All are injured seriously
| by such exposure.
| For all these staples and ingredients
have closely fitting lids--and keep
| them on.
Store dried fruits in stone jars with
covers; canned fruits and pickles in
| glass jars: tumblers of jelly and mar
| malade should be kept in the darN
| The light acts chemically upon the
contents. If your storeroom be light,
wrap jars and tumblers in thick pap-r
| tied on with strings.
AS soon as meat comes home from
market remove'every bit Of the brown
| paper enveloping it. and lay upon a
| clean dish near the ice-never upon it.
Fish does not suffer from contact win
| ice. Meat does, becoming fiabby and
viscd. If your refrigerator is 50 ar
ranged that YOU can hang the meat
up that the air can get at all sides of
| it, it will keep far better than when
| laid on a platter