HOUSEKEEPING MADE EASY.

A WORD TO HOUSEKEEPERS.

It is not beneath the dignity of any woman, be her attainments what they may, to acquaint herself with all the neces sary arrangements of a household; for it cannot be beneath her dignity to learn any thing which contributes to the comfort and happiness of those around her. Home is the especial province of woman, and it should be her delight to feel that she has the power of administering to the wants and pleasures of her circle. There may be occupations more cogenial to her taste than the management of a household, but if she systemizes her time, and comprehends what she is about, she may almost always find leisure to gratify herself as well as others. The trouble of superintending her kitchen is comparatively small when she once thoroughly understands what is to be done. That she may comprehend this, and always have a guide at hand, the present volume has been carefully prepared. It is designed for the use of very young housekeepers as well as for that of the more experienced. By its aid the head of every family will find the situation she fills rendered easy and agreeable; and should her education be deficient on household subjects, with the assistance of the receipts and directions which have been collected in this work, the error may be readily repaired.

In the preparation of those receipts economy has been strictly regarded. It requires some skill to know how to live well with small means, and but little less to know how to live well at all. Of both of these arts many females in our enlightened country are deplorably ignorant. We have called this a deficiency in education, and we consider it almost as great a one as if they had not been taught to write grammatically, or to read with fluency. It is the earnest desire of the author of this book that it may prove especially of service to the class of persons just mentioned.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

It is absolutely necessary for every family to be furnished with a pair of scales. It is also advisable for them to have wooden measures.

One gallon

Two gallons

Four gallons
Eight gallons

half a peck.

About seventy-five drops of any thin liquid will fill a common sized tea-spoon.

Four table-spoonfuls, or half a gill, will fill a common wineglass.

Four wine glasses will fill a half-pint, or common tumbler, or a large coffee-cup.

Ten eggs generally weigh one pound before they are broken. A table-spoonful of salt is generally about one ounce.

A FEW HINTS ON THE REGULATION OF TIME IN

COOKERY.

MUTTON.-A leg of 8lbs. will require two hours and a half. A chine or saddle, of 10 or 11lbs., two hours and a half. A shoulder of 7lbs., one hour and a half. A loin of 7lbs., one hour and three quarters. A neck and breast, about the same time as a loin.

BEEF. The sirloin of 15lbs., from three hours and threequarters to four hours. Ribs of Beef from 15 to 20lbs., will take three hours to three hours and a half.

VEAL. A fillet from 12 to 16lbs. will take from four to five hours at a good fire. A loin, upon the average, will take three hours. A shoulder, from three hours to three hours and a half. A neck, two hours. A breast, from an hour and a half to two hours.

LAMB-Hind-quarter of 8lbs. will take from an hour and three-quarters to two hours. Fore-quarter of 10lbs., about two hours. Leg of 5lbs., from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. Shoulder or breast, with a quick fire, an hour.

PORK.-A leg of 8lbs. will require about three hours. Griskin, an hour and a half. A spare-rib of 8 or 9lbs. will take from two hours and a half to three hours to roast it thoroughly. A bald spare-rib of 8lbs., an hour and a quarter. A loin of 5lbs., if very fat, from two hours to two hours and a half. A suckingpig of three weeks old, about an hour and a half.

POULTRY.-A very large turkey will require about three hours; one of 10lbs., two hours. A small one, an hour and a half.

A full-grown fowl, an hour and a quarter; a moderate one, an hour.

A pullet, from half an hour to forty minutes.

A goose, full-grown, from an hour and a half to two hours. A green goose, forty minutes.

A duck, full size, from thirty to fifty minutes.

VENISON. A buck haunch which weighs from 20 to 25lbs. will take about four hours and a half roasting. One from 12 to 18lbs. will take three hours and a quarter.

SOUPS.

Use soft water in making soup. A little less than a quart of water is sufficient for a pound of meat. Soups made of fresh neats are best, but tolerably palatable soup may be made of the remnants of cold meat especially if it contains many bones. Soup may be kept two or three days and reboiled. The fat should always be skimmed from soup. The seasoning should be of salt with a little pepper if it is liked; soup is more wholesome without the latter ingredient.

Soup should generally be boiled several hours. When the dinner is too late, all day is not too long for it to simmer over the fire.

BEEF OR MUTTON SOUP.-Boil very gently in a closely covered saucepan, four quarts of water, with two table-spoonfuls of sifted bread raspings, three pounds of beef cut in small pieces, or the same quantity of mutton chops taken from the middle of the neck; season with pepper and salt, add two turnips, two carrots, two onions, and one head of celery, all cut small; let it stew with these ingredients four hours, when it will be ready

to serve.

MOCK TURTLE, OR CALF'S HEAD SOUP.-Boil the head until perfectly tender-then take it out, strain the liquor, and set it away until the next day-then skim off the fat, cut up the meat together with the lights, and put it into the liquor, put it on the fire, and season it with salt, pepper, cloves, and mace-add onions and sweet herbs, if you like-stew it gently for half an hour. Just before you take it up, add half a pint of white wine. For the balls, chop lean veal fine, with a little salt pork, add the brains, and season it with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, sweet herbs or curry powder, make it up into balls about the size of half an egg, boil part in the soup, and fry the remainder, and put them in a dish by themselves.

OYSTER SOUP.-Make your stock of liquor to the quantity of two quarts with any sort of fish the place affords; put one pint of oysters into a saucepan, strain the liquor, stew them five minutes in their own liquor; then pound the hard parts of the oyster in a mortar with the yolks of three hard eggs, mix them with some of the soup, then lay them with the remainder of the oysters and liquor in a saucepan, with nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Let them boil a quarter of an hour, when they will be done.

NEW ENGLAND CHOWDER.-Have a good haddock, cod, or any other solid fish, cut it in pieces three inches square, put a pound of fat salt pork in strips into the pot, set it on hot coals, and fry out the oil. Take out the pork, and put in a layer of fish, over that a layer of onions in slices, then a layer of fish with slips of fat salt pork, then another layer of onions, and so on alternately until your fish is consumed. Mix some flour with as much water as will fill the pot; season with black pepper and salt to your taste, and boil it for half an hour. Have ready some crackers soaked in water till they are a little softened; throw them into your chowder five minutes before you take it up. Serve in a tureen.

CLAM SOUP.--Having put your Clams into a pot of boiling water to make them open easily, take them from the shells, carefully saving the liquor. To the liquor of a quart of opened clams, allow three quarts of water. Mix the water with the liquor of the clams, and put it into a large pot with a knuckle of veal, the bone of which should be chopped in four places. When it has simmered slowly for four hours, put in a large bunch of sweet herbs, a beaten nutmeg, a tea-spoonful of mace, and a table-spoonful of whole pepper, but no salt, as the salt of the clam liquor will be sufficient. Stew it slowly an hour longer, and then strain it. When you have returned the liquor to the pot, add a quarter of a pound of butter divided into four bits,

and each bit rolled in flour. Then put in the clams, (having cut them in pieces,) and let it boil fifteen minutes. Send it to table with toasted bread in it cut into dice.

TOMATO SOUP.-Wash, scrape, and cut small the red part of three large carrots, three heads of celery, four large onions, and two large turnips, put them into a saucepan, with a table-spoonful of butter, and half a pound of lean new ham; let them stew very gently for an hour, then add three quarts of brown gravy soup, and some whole black pepper, with eight or ten ripe tomatoes; let it boil an hour and a half, and pulp it through a sieve; serve it with fried bread cut in dice.

VERMICELLI SOUP.-The day before it is required, make four quarts of good stock, and boil in it one carrot, one turnip, four onions, one or two parsley roots, three blades of mace, salt, and some white pepper; strain it, and, before using, take off all the fat; boil in some of the liquor the crumb of three French rolls till soft enough to mash smooth; boil the soup and stir well in the mashed rolls; boil it for a quarter of an hour, and, before serving, add the yolks of two eggs beaten with three tablespoonfuls of cream; boil in water two or three ounces of vermicelli for fifteen or twenty minutes, strain and put it into the tureen, and pour the soup upon it.

MACARONI SOUP.-Make a good stock with a knuckle of veal, a little sweet majoram, parsley, some salt, white pepper, three blades of mace, and two or three onions; strain and boil it. Break in small bits a quarter of a pound of macaroni, and gently simmer it in milk and water till it be swelled and is tender; strain it, and add it to the soup, which thicken with two tablespoonfuls of flour, mixed in half a pint of cream, and stirred gradually into the soup. Boil it a few minutes before serving.

them

PEA SOUP.-If you make your soup of dry peas, soak them over night in a warm place, using a quart of water to each quart of the peas. Early the next morning boil them an hour. Boil with them a tea-spoonful of saleratus, eight or ten minutes, then take them out of the water they were soaking in, put into fresh water, with a pound of salt pork, and boil it till the peas are soft, which will be in the course of three or four hours. Green peas for soup require no soaking, and boiling only long enough to have the pork get thoroughly cooked, which will be in the course of an hour.

SOUP A LA JULIENNE, OR VEGETABLE.-Make a gravy soup and strain it before you put in the vegetables. Cut some turnips and