A Treatise on Domestic Economy Part 23

CHAPTER x.x.x.

ON THE CARE OF BREAKFAST AND DINING-ROOMS.

An eating-room should have in it a large closet, with drawers and shelves, in which should be kept all the articles used at meals. This, if possible, should communicate with the kitchen, by a sliding window, or by a door, and have in it a window, and also a small sink, made of marble or lined with zinc, which will be a great convenience for washing nice articles. If there be a dumb-waiter, it is best to have it connected with such a closet. It may be so contrived, that, when it is down, it shall form part of the closet floor.

A table-rug, or crumb-cloth, is useful to save carpets from injury.

Bocking, or baize, is best. Always spread the same side up, or the carpet will be soiled by the rug. Table-mats are needful, to prevent injury to the table from the warm dishes. Teacup-mats, or small plates, are useful to save the table-cloths from dripping tea or coffee.

b.u.t.ter-knives, for the b.u.t.ter-plate, and salt-spoons, for salt-dishes, are designed to prevent those disgusting marks which are made, when persons use their own knives, to take salt or b.u.t.ter. A sugar-spoon should be kept in or by the sugar-dish, for the same purpose.

Table-napkins, of diaper, are often laid by each person's plate, for use during the meal, to save the tablecloth and pocket-handkerchief. To preserve the same napkin for the same person, each member of the family has a given number, and the napkins are numbered to correspond, or else are slipped into ivory rings, which are numbered. A stranger has a clean one, at each meal. Tablecloths should be well starched, and ironed on the right side, and always, when taken off, folded in the ironed creases. _Doilies_ are colored napkins, which, when fruit is offered, should always be furnished, to prevent a person from staining a nice handkerchief, or permitting the fruit-juice to dry on the fingers.

Casters and salt-stands should be put in order, every morning, when washing the breakfast things. Always, if possible, provide _fine_ and _dry_ table-salt, as many persons are much disgusted with that which is dark, damp, and coa.r.s.e. Be careful to keep salad-oil closely corked, or it will grow rancid. Never leave the salt-spoons in the salt, nor the mustard-spoon in the mustard, as they are thereby injured. Wipe them, immediately after the meal.

For table-furniture, French china is deemed the nicest, but it is liable to the objection of having plates, so made, that salt, b.u.t.ter, and similar articles, will not lodge on the edge, but slip into the centre.

Select knives and forks, which have weights in the handles, so that, when laid down, they will not touch the table. Those with rivetted handles last longer than any others. Horn handles (except buckhorn) are very poor. The best are cheapest in the end. Knives should be sharpened once a month, unless they are kept sharp by the mode of scouring.

_On Setting Tables._

Neat housekeepers observe the manner in which a table is set more than any thing else; and to a person of good taste, few things are more annoying, than to see the table placed askew; the tablecloth soiled, rumpled, and put on awry; the plates, knives, and dishes thrown about, without any order; the pitchers soiled on the outside, and sometimes within; the tumblers dim; the caster out of order; the b.u.t.ter pitched on the plate, without any symmetry; the salt coa.r.s.e, damp, and dark; the bread cut in a mixture of junks and slices; the dishes of food set on at random, and without mats; the knives dark or rusty, and their handles greasy; the tea-furniture all out of order, and every thing in similar style. And yet, many of these negligences will be met with, at the tables of persons who call themselves well bred, and who have wealth enough to make much outside show. One reason for this, is, the great difficulty of finding domestics, who will attend to these things in a proper manner, and who, after they have been repeatedly instructed, will not neglect nor forget what has been said to them. The writer has known cases, where much has been gained by placing the following rules in plain sight, in the place where the articles for setting tables are kept.

_Rules for setting a Table._

1. Lay the rug square with the room, and also smooth and even; then set the table also square with the room, and see that the _legs_ are in the right position to support the leaves.

2. Lay the tablecloth square with the table, _right side up_, smooth, and even.

3. Put on the teatray (for breakfast or tea) square with the table; set the cups and saucers at the front side of the teatray, and the sugar, slop-bowls, and cream-cup, at the back side. Lay the sugar-spoon or tongs on the sugar-bowl.

4. Lay the plates around the table, at equal intervals, and the knives and forks at regular distances, each in the same particular manner, with a cup-mat, or cup-plate, to each, and a napkin at the right side of each person.

5. If meat be used, set the caster and salt-cellars in the centre of the table; then lay mats for the dishes, and place the carving-knife and fork and steel by the master of the house. Set the b.u.t.ter on two plates, one on either side, with a b.u.t.ter-knife by each.

6. Set the tea or coffee-pot on a mat, at the right hand of the teatray, (if there be not room upon it.) Then place the chairs around the table, and call the family.

_For Dinner._

1. Place the rug, table, tablecloth, plates, knives and forks, and napkins, as before directed, with a tumbler by each plate. In cold weather, set the plates where they will be warmed.

2. Put the caster in the centre, and the salt-stands at two oblique corners, of the table, the latter between two large spoons crossed. If more spoons be needed, lay them on each side of the caster, crossed. Set the pitcher on a mat, either at a side-table, or, when there is no waiter, on the dining-table. Water looks best in gla.s.s decanters.

3. Set the bread on the table, when there is no waiter. Some take a fork, and lay a piece on the napkin or tumbler by each plate. Others keep it in a tray, covered with a white napkin to keep off flies. Bread for dinner is often cut in small junks, and not in slices.

4. Set the princ.i.p.al dish before the master of the house, and the other dishes in a regular manner. Put the carving-knife, fork, and steel, by the princ.i.p.al dish, and also a knife-rest, if one be used.

5. Put a small knife and fork by the pickles, and also by any other dishes which need them. Then place the chairs.

_On Waiting at Table._

A domestic, who waits on the table, should be required to keep the hair and hands in neat order, and have on a clean ap.r.o.n. A small teatray should be used to carry cups and plates. The waiter should announce the meal (when ready) to the mistress of the family, then stand by the eating-room door, till all are in, then close the door, and step to the left side of the lady of the house. When all are seated, the waiter should remove the covers, taking care first to invert them, so as not to drop the steam on the tablecloth or guests. In presenting articles, go to the left side of the person. In pouring water never entirely fill the tumbler. The waiter should notice when bread or water is wanting, and hand it without being called. When plates are changed, be careful not to drop knives or forks. Brush off crumbs, with a crumb-brush, into a small waiter.

When there is no domestic waiter, a light table should be set at the left side of the mistress of the house, on which the bread, water, and other articles not in immediate use, can be placed.

_On Carving and Helping at Table._

It is considered an accomplishment for a lady to know how to carve well, at her own table. It is not proper to stand in carving. The carving-knife should be sharp and thin. To carve fowls, (which should always be laid with the breast uppermost,) place the fork in the breast, and take off the wings and legs without turning the fowl; then cut out the merry thought, cut slices from the breast, take out the collar bone, cut off the side pieces, and then cut the carca.s.s in two. Divide the joints in the leg of a turkey.

In helping the guests, when no choice is expressed, give a piece of both the white and dark meat, with some of the stuffing. Inquire whether the guest will be helped to each kind of vegetable, and put the gravy on the plate, and not on any article of food.

In carving a sirloin, cut thin slices from the side next to you, (it must be put on the dish with the tenderloin underneath;) then turn it, and cut from the tenderloin Help the guest to both kinds.

In carving a leg of mutton, or a ham, begin by cutting across the middle, to the bone. Cut a tongue across, and not lengthwise, and help from the middle part.

Carve a forequarter of lamb, by separating the shoulder from the ribs, and then dividing the ribs. To carve a loin of veal, begin at the smaller end and separate the ribs. Help each one to a piece of the kidney and its fat. Carve pork and mutton in the same way.

To carve a fillet of veal, begin at the top, and help to the stuffing with each slice. In a breast of veal, separate the breast and brisket, and then cut them up, asking which part is preferred. In carving a pig, it is customary to divide it, and take off the head, before it comes to the table; as, to many persons, the head is very revolting. Cut off the limbs, and divide the ribs. In carving venison, make a deep incision down to the bone, to let out the juices; then turn the broad end of the haunch towards you, cutting deep, in thin slices. For a saddle of venison, cut from the tail towards the other end, on each side, in thin slices. Warm plates are very necessary, with venison and mutton, and in Winter, are desirable for all meats.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

ON THE CARE OF CHAMBERS AND BEDROOMS.

Every mistress of a family should see, not only that all sleeping-rooms in her house _can be_ well ventilated at night, but that they actually are so. Where there is no open fireplace to admit the pure air from the exterior, a door should be left open into an entry, or room where fresh air is admitted; or else a small opening should be made in a window, taking care not to allow a draught of air to cross the bed. The debility of childhood, the la.s.situde of domestics, and the ill-health of families, are often caused by neglecting to provide a supply of pure air. Straw matting is best for a chamber carpet, and strips of woollen carpeting may be laid by the side of the bed. Where chambers have no closets, a _wardrobe_ is indispensable. This is a moveable closet, with doors, divided, by a perpendicular part.i.tion, into two apartments. In one division, rows of hooks are placed, on which to hang dresses. The other division is fitted up with shelves, for other uses. Some are made with drawers at the bottom for shoes, and such like articles. A low square box, set on casters, with a cushion on the top, and a drawer on one side to put shoes in, is a great convenience in dressing the feet.

An old champaigne basket, fitted up with a cushion on the lid, and a valance fastened to it to cover the sides, can be used for the same purpose.

A comfortable couch, for chambers and sitting-rooms, can be made by a common carpenter, at a small expense. Have a frame made (like the annexed engraving, Fig. 38,) of common stuff, six feet long, twenty-eight inches wide, and twelve inches high. It must be made thus low, because the casters and cushions will raise it several inches. Have the sloping side-piece, _a_, and head-piece, _b_, sawed out of a board; nail brown linen on them, and stuff them with soft hay or hair. Let these be screwed to the frame, and covered with furniture patch. Then let slats be nailed across the bottom, as at _c_, _c_, four inches apart. This will cost two or three dollars. Then make a thick cushion, of hay or straw, with side strips, like a mattress, and lay this for the under-cushion. To put over this, make a thinner cushion, of hair, cover it with furniture-calico, and fasten to it a valance reaching to the floor. Then make two square pillows, and cover them with calico, like the rest. Both the cushions should be st.i.tched through like mattresses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 38.]

The writer has seen a couch of this kind, in a common parlor, which cost less than eight dollars, was much admired, and was a constant comfort to the feeble mother, as well as many other members of the family.

Another convenience, for a room where sewing is done in Summer, is a fancy-jar, set in one corner, to receive clippings, and any other rubbish. It can be covered with prints, or paintings, and varnished; and then looks very prettily.

The trunks in a chamber can be improved in looks and comfort, by making cushions of the same size and shape, stuffed with hay and covered with chintz, with a frill reaching nearly to the floor.

Every bedchamber should have a washstand, bowl, pitcher, and tumbler, with a washbucket under the stand, to receive slops. A light screen, made like a clothes-frame, and covered with paper or chintz, should be furnished for bedrooms occupied by two persons, so that ablutions can be performed in privacy. It can be ornamented, so as to look well anywhere.

A little frame, or towel-horse, by the washstand, on which to dry towels, is a convenience. A washstand should be furnished with a sponge or washcloth, and a small towel, for wiping the basin after using it.

This should be hung on the washstand or towel-horse, for constant use. A soap-dish, and a dish for toothbrushes, are neat and convenient, and each person should be furnished with two towels; one for the feet, and one for other purposes.

It is in good taste to have the curtains, bedquilt, valance, and window-curtains, of similar materials. In making featherbeds, side-pieces should be put in, like those of mattresses, and the bed should be well filled, so that a person will not be buried in a hollow, which is not healthful, save in extremely cold weather. Featherbeds should never be used, except in cold weather. At other times, a thin mattress of hair, cotton and moss, or straw, should be put over them. A simple strip of broad straw matting, spread over a featherbed, answers the same purpose. Nothing is more debilitating, than, in warm weather, to sleep with a featherbed pressing round the greater part of the body.

Pillows stuffed with papers an inch square, are good for Summer, especially for young children, whose heads should be kept cool. The cheapest and best covering of a bed, for Winter, is a _cotton comforter_, made to contain three or four pounds of cotton, laid in batts or sheets, between covers tacked together at regular intervals.