SENT POSTPAID ON RECEIPT OF 25 CENTS. <0^<^K $0<$^ A HELP TO YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS. BY A PRACTICAL COOK. addrp:ss publisher of pet cook book, BOX 50, MELROSE, MASS. THE / ET C0nions, and six peppers. Add a cup of vinegar, a cup of mustard seed, I tea-spoonful each of cloves and allspice, and a tea-spoonful of salt. >tew slowly one hour. 30 THE PET COOK BOOK. Pickled Cucumbers. Select small cucumbers, soak them in cold water one night, drain and pour over hot brine (made by boiling one-half pint of salt in one gallon of water), let them stand twenty-four hours, drain and rinse in cold water, drain dry and pour over scalding vinegar. For half a peck of cucumbers add to the vinegar while heating two ounces of alum and one ounce each of whole cloves, allspice, and mustard. Canned Tomatoes. Pour boiling water over ripe tomatoes, peel the skins off, cut them up, and put them over a hot fire to cook. As soon as they get to boiling they will be done enough to can. If you wish to use them within a few weeks they may be put in self-sealing jars ; but if for winter use they must be hermetically sealed in tin cans. Hop Yeast. Pare and boil half a dozen potatoes in a quart of water. Throw aside the potatoes and use the water for the yeast. Steep a few hops and add half a cup of the liquid, a table-spoonful of sugar, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Cool, and add half a cup of fresh yeast. Bottle tight. Dutch Cheese. Take sour milk before it becomes stale, pour into it boiling water enough to make it warm but not hot. Let it stand a few minutes, then strain and squeeze all the water out through a cloth. Salt the curd to taste and press it under a weight several hours. To keep Eggs for winter use. To one pint of salt and one pint of lime add four gallons of boiling water. When cold put it in stone jars or something that will not absorb the liquid. Vessels of wood or brown earthen ware will not do. Drop the eggs in whenever you have them fresh, (they should not be over two or three days old), keep them covered, in a cool place, and they will keep fresh for a year. • MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS. 31 To keep Cranberries. Cover them with cold water, adding a cup of fine salt to a pail full of water. To keep Butter. Cover it with brine as salt as it can be made. Boil the salt and water, use coarse salt, and put in more than will dissolve, so that some will be left in the bottom of the vessel. Cool and strain through a cloth. Put a weight on the butter and keep it covered with the brine, and it will be as sweet at the end of a year as when it is put down. To make Sealing Wax for bottles. Take half a pound of rosin, a quarter of a pound of beeswax, and a stick of red sealing wax. Melt all together. To clean Kid Gloves. Put the gloves on the hands, saturate a piece of white flannel with Naptha, and wet them all over, rubbing the soiled parts until they are clean. Expose them to the air twenty-four hours and they will look as good as new. Wash for Canker in the Mouth. Compound tincture of Peruvian Bark, three ounces ; Tincture of Myrrh, four ounces ; Chloride of Soda, one ounce ; Rose water, one ounce ; one pint of soft water. To keep the hands smooth in cold weather. Keep at hand a small vessel of equal parts of vinegar and milk, and after having the hands in soap suds, wash them in a little of the mixture. Rub it well into the skin, then rinse in cold water. It counteracts the bad effects of soap. Salve for cold sores and burns. Take equal parts of rosin, beeswax and lard, and simmer them to- gether. If when cool it is too hard, melt it again and add sufficient lard to make it as soft as you desire. 32 THE PET COOK BOOK. • Cold Cream. Take half a pound of beef marrow, two table-spoonfuls of fresh lard, simmer together, strain and cool. Then add a tea-spoonful each of Oil of Bergamot and Rose and beat it to a froth. This is very useful for chapped hands, cold sores, etc. To remove spots in Carpets. To remove grease spots, make a thick paste of starch and water and G'>read it on the spot. Let it remain until it is perfectly dry then brush it off. If the grease is not all removed the first time repeat the process. To remove ink spots, before the ink has become dry wash with vinegar, using fresh cloths and fresh vinegar repeatedly until the ink is all out, then rinse in clear water. To sweep Carpets. Wet several sheets of coarse brown paper, tear in pieces and strew it over the carpet, then use a wet broom, rinsing it as often as it becomes soiled, but be careful and shake all the water out of it each time. By this method you will avoid raising the dust. To wash Blankets. To two pails of water add half a pound of hard soap cut in thin slices, and boil it until it is all dissolved. Wash the blankets in the suds after it is cool enough and use no more soap. Rinse in two waters and hang in the sun to dry. General rules for Washing. Put the clothes on to boil in cold water, let them heat graaually and boil fifteen minutes, using soap enough to make a strong suds. Rinse them in two waters, clear water first and blue water last. Colored flan- nels should not be scalded, and they will retain their color longer if dried in the house. To restore Velvet. Moisten the under side of the velvet with a sponge, secure a hot flat iron with the face, uppermost, and draw the velvet back and forth across it with the. under side next to the iron until the imperfections disappear. UBRARY OF CONGRESS 1 TRRftRY OF CONGRESS HHI