Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers Part 35

To use this filter pour the water through the tube, (which should be open at the top like a funnel;) the water runs to the bottom, and filters upward, leaving all the impurities at the bottom.

The pure water is drawn off from the top of the barrel by means of a spile or faucet.

To Keep Water Cool in Summer, when you have not Ice.

Where you live at a distance from water, and wish to keep it cool, put a large stone vessel in the coldest place you can find; fill it with water, cover it with a towel and wrap a wet cloth around it; this will keep it cool for some hours, which is a comfort in warm weather.

To Purify Water.

To put a small lump of lime into your water-cask is useful. Agitating and exposing it to the air, will help to keep it fresh.

Strain muddy water through a sieve, in which a cloth or sponge, (or a layer of fine sand or charcoal,) has been placed.

Hard water may be softened and rendered suitable for washing, by adding to every twelve gallons of water, about a quarter of a pound of sal soda.

Gum Arabic Paste.

Pulverize in a mortar an ounce of gum arabic, pour on boiling water and stir it till dissolved; do not put too much water. If you wish to keep this paste any length of time, put it in a wide-mouthed phial, and pour alcohol over it; keep it corked, and as you use it, you may thin it with water if required; put it on with a feather or brush.

Preserving Kettles.

Bell-metal, copper and bra.s.s kettles require very nice cleaning immediately before they are used, or it will endanger your health.

Vinegar with salt or ashes should be used; save the vinegar that is left in the pickle jars for this purpose.

To Clean Knives and Forks.

In some families the knives are a great care to the housekeeper, but by proper management it is rendered easy. After using them, they should be wiped with a cloth, dipped in warm water, then wiped dry, (the handles should never be put in hot water,) then polish them with Bristol or Bath brick, which, with the rubbing cloths, should be kept in a small box, with a strip of leather nailed on one edge, on which to polish them after they are rubbed with the brick.

Knives that are not in daily use should be wrapped in raw cotton and then in paper, and if kept in a dry place will not be liable to rust.

To Clean Teeth. _With Remarks on Fixing the Habit, &c._

Pulverized charcoal mixed with honey, is very good to cleanse teeth, and make them white. A little Peruvian bark put in a phial with lime water is excellent to use occasionally by those that have offensive teeth; and tincture of myrrh mixed with a little water, may be used with advantage, to harden the gums. A little Peruvian bark put in the teeth just before going to bed, and washed out in the morning, is an excellent preservative of teeth. It is very important for parents to insist on children cleaning their teeth, at least, it is well for them to begin before they lose their first set, as it makes them last longer, and fixes the habit, which is of great importance.

To Clean Kid Gloves.

Take a piece of flannel; moisten it with a little milk; rub it on a cake of mild soap, and apply it to the soiled spots on the gloves; as soon as the dirt is removed, rub the spot with a dry piece of flannel, and dry them on the hands. Care must be taken that the gloves are not made too wet, or they will have a wrinkled appearance. Dark gloves that are worn in winter, should be exposed to the sun for about a quarter of an hour in the spring, before putting them away, or they will be liable to spot.

To Clean Papered Walls.

Cut the crust off of stale bread very thick, and rub the walls carefully from top to bottom, in a straight line, using a fresh piece of bread as soon as it looks much soiled.

To Take Old Putty from Window Gla.s.s.

Warm an iron, and rub it on the gla.s.s opposite the putty; this melts the oil, and you may easily remove the putty.

Cutting Gla.s.s for Mending Windows.

If you want to cut gla.s.s for mending windows, and have no diamond, dip a piece of cotton twine into turpentine, and stretch it tightly across the gla.s.s where you wish to break it; then set the string on fire, and after it is burned, break the gla.s.s while it is warm.

SIMPLE REMEDIES.

The following remedies are for diseases which occur in almost every family, and have been proved to be useful in a number of instances. As most old housekeepers have their favorite recipes, it is for the young and inexperienced these are particularly intended, and may be used with safety, when a physician is not at hand.

Remarks upon a Deeply Seated Cough.

It is very important to begin in time with a cold. Consumption is sometimes prevented by very simple remedies. To put Burgundy pitch plasters on the breast and back of the neck, often has a good effect; they should be re-spread frequently, and when one part is irritated, change them to another place. Put one on your side if you have a pain there.

Flannel should be put on next the skin by all means, which, with the above simple remedies, will cure a cold, if begun with in time.

I have frequently known new flannel put on those that usually wore it, greatly to benefit a delicate person. The increased irritation of the new flannel acts on the pores of the skin and promotes circulation. Hair soles worn in the shoe, or socks made of flannel, or soft buckskin worn under the stockings, are very good to keep the feet warm and dry.

Persons predisposed to consumption should have nourishing food, and not eat too much at a time; they should avoid strong tea or coffee, and drink milk. Eggs, oysters, fresh fish and fowls, are very good for them.

Fruit of all kinds is useful.

They should take exercise in the air, particularly riding on horse-back, or take a short walk, but not so as to be fatigued; to work moderately in a garden, when the ground is not too damp, is good exercise for a delicate person; the smell of fresh earth, and of flowers, is beneficial to both body and mind. After taking exercise, a gla.s.s of lemonade is very refreshing, and promotes appet.i.te.

If there should be perspiration at night, change the sheets and pillow-cases frequently, and the under garments; air the chamber and bed-clothes every day; if the weather is too damp to raise the windows, shake up the bed, and leave it unmade half of the day, and put it out in the sun occasionally.

By all means avoid strong medicine, or any thing that has a tendency to weaken the body.

Sometimes blisters are used with very good effect; also, rubbing the breast and back with camphor or spirits, or with a piece of dry flannel.

Taking anodyne drops, particularly laudanum, should be avoided, if possible; they may still the cough during the night, but it will come on with increased violence in the morning; they weaken the stomach, increase the fever, and sometimes cause delirium.

Everything that tends to excite or irritate the mind, should be kept from them. It is very important to talk cheerfully to sick persons, particularly if confined to their chamber, which can be done without lightness or trifling.

If they see gloomy faces around them, it has a very disheartening effect; and, if the mind sinks, such is its intimate connection with the body, that it is hard to raise it.

I have known persons by judicious management to live for many years, after it was thought they were in a deep decline, by avoiding weakening medicines, taking exercise on horse-back and on foot, and never indulging in a full meal.

Sometimes such persons have very good appet.i.tes, and it is a satisfaction to their friends to see them eat heartily; but they should eat something frequently, rather than over-load the stomach too much.

When they come in hungry from a ride, to beat up an egg with a tea-spoonful of wine, and a little sugar and nutmeg put in a tumbler with some milk, and taken with a cracker or biscuit, or a piece of thin toast broken up in it, has a very strengthening effect.

Persons are seldom benefitted by a strict diet, but it is sometimes enforced till they lose their appet.i.te and cannot eat.