Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-01-30

~ question: Are there three
"A or four teaspoonfuls in one
i 4 tablespoonful? The true
standard teaspoonful equals
so drops liquid. or 60 grains dry
measure, apothecary's weight. The 60
drops or grains make one apothe-
Cary's dram and four drains make one
standard tablespoonful, which equals
one-half an ounce. either apotheCary $
or avordupois. Therefore. correctly,
four teaspoonfuls equal one table
spoonful and the old silver teaspoons
of our great grandmothers measure
this quantity very accurately, but our
present-day teaspoons have grow n
bigger, have become impatient of re-
strictiou to the prescribed 60 drops.
Three of some of them will now fill a
tablespoon and there seems to be no
definite standard for their size as
there used to be. The remedy for this
uncertainty is to use the standard
sets of measuring spoons which are
sold at the present time and which
are made in accordance with the old
and more correct measurement. To
use these will prevent many a spoiled
recipe.
Why Il Rolled COnec Bitter:
This fault may be due to the cook
Who boilS the coffee too long, or the
fault may be due to the brand of cof
fes used. which may contain too large
proportion of the bitter kinds. Per
haps II is due to the water used,
which may be too soft. Neither over
soft nor too hard water will ever
make good coffee or tea, but if you
have water of just an average hard
ness, and if you do not boil your COT
fee too long and still find that it is
bitter, we will give you d chefs Sc
cret for making surprising coffee,
which is 70 add one-fourth teaspoon
full of salt TO every pint of water used
in making your coffee. This will give
r. bland, smooth taste that you will
get in no other way.
To make drip coffee. scald the coffee
pot and see that il IS thoroughly
heated. Grind the coffee to a fine
powder Have the water boiling, but
use it At its first boil. Put the coffee
IN the percolator. and pour the water
on the upper sieve. When there Is
much coffee to be made, ii takes some
time for the percolation and in order
10 have the coffee hot it is best to
stand the pot in hot water during the
process Drip coffee, TO be at its best,
must be served at once.
Calculating Troubles.
When making angel cake You will
md that the cake will curl up at the
sides. that is, the outer edges, when
too great heat is supplied at first, SO
that the outSides rise too fast for the
inside part, and then, being without
support, they fall or curl over. Angel
cake is coarse-teXtured sometimes
from too high a temperature when
baking, but more frequently from the
kind of heater used to whip the egg
whites. Some heaters make a loose,
light, fluffy grain that swells up the
1,
than is desirable for a good cake.
Fruit cake loses weight IN baking
o the extent Of about one to two
ounces in pound. The loss of weight
will be less If the cake is steamed
before baking. The loss will also be
less in large cakes and more in pro-
portion In small cakes where a
greater surface is exposed to evap-
Grafton. An ordinary bread pan of
small size is good to bake a two
pound fruit cake in, and a small cir
cular cake pan is good to use for the
one-pound size.
There is a way to prevent the cur
ding of froSting made with brown
sugar and milk. In dark brown sugar
there remains enough of the formic
acid contained in nolasses TO cur
die milk If the two are heated to-
gether and there is a large proper
tion of sugar to small proportion
of milk. This curdling often disap-
pears with vigorous beating, but a
very small amount of baking soda
added will neutralize the acidity and
the milk will not curdle.
You can make shredded cocoanut
stick to little cakes by the following
method. Brush over the tops of the
little cakes with a sugar strip, and
then dip the cakes in the shredded
cocoanut and shake off all that won't
stay firm. Make the strip by boiling
A cupful of sugar In one-half a cup
full of water until ii makes a good,
strong hair. but any thick, sweet
strip from canned or preserved fruit
may be used, and the flavor issHne.
Better Pies.
To make good pie crust. put into a
bowl one Cupful of lard and two
thirds of a Cupful of boiling water.
Measure into a -four sitter three cup
fuls of -four, one teaspoonful of salt
and one teaspoonful of baking pow
der. Sift this into a bowl Of hot water
and melted lard, and stir with a spoon
until stiff dough is made. Set away
TO cool Never use while hot, as it is
100 oily. Keep in a cool place. This
dough will keep for while and viii