%'mmiim I mmu OF CONGRESS, li |LI\1TE!) STATES OF AMERICA. | y FAMILY DIRECTORY: OR, FORTY YEARS' EXPERIENCE OF A PRACTICAL HOUSEKEEPER; WITH MANY VALUABLE HINTS ON HEALTH, FARMING, GARDENIN(}, FRUITS AND FLOWERS, jiuj SELECTED FROM THE BEST AUTHORS, BY Mes. AIS^ 0. OOX. -'' Vv^smnfi^^^ - COLUMBUS, O. FEINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 1867. ^t'^^ ^\<\ c • Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1867, By Mrs. ANN C. COX, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio. KEVINS & MYEES, PRINTEES, COLUMBUS, O. TO THE YOUNG LADIES OF THE UNITED STATES THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, WITH THE SINCERE WISH THAT ITS CONTENTS MAT ENABLE THEM " To guide the House witli prudent care, "With judgment wise to spend, and spare ; And make their husbands bless the day, They gave their liberty away." ISTTRODUOTIOlf. Having from my youth a disposition to experiment and test whatever seemed desirable and plausible in house- keeping, I accumulated a large number of receipts, which, after testing, I preserved for future reference. The health and comfort of a family depend greatly on well-cooked and properly seasoned food, and regularity in eating, and are often destroyed for the want of it. There are already many books on the subject of cookery and house-keeping, yet few, if any of them, have been prepared and published from the experience of practical house-keepers; and many of them contain so many things not within the reach of persons in moderate circumstances, that they are laid aside as useless. Another objection to most cook books is the vast num- her of receipts given in one department: for instance, cakes and puddings, (some having over fifty) that it per- plexes young house-keepers, and they do not know which to choose. This I have avoided, giving only a few rich and a few plain, varying the material of which they are made as much as possible. This DiKECTORY contains the best known receipts for curing hams, beef and tongues, articles often rendered unwholesome and unpalatable for the want of this knowl- edge. It also contains reliable receipts for making grape, currant, blackberry and elderberry wines, the latter being ' considered one of the most desirable medicinal stimulants. VI INTRODUCTORY. It also contains a number of cheap receipts for coloring, whereby a handy house-keeper can color faded worsted curtains, curtain linings, lawns and ribbons, and make them look new. This DmECTORY will be found of great service to ama- teur farmers and gardeners, and persons improving subur- ban residences, showing them how and when to plant fruit trees, shrubbery and flowers ; how much can be planted on an acre, what kind of soil is adapted to the various kinds of fruit, the proper location for an orchard and vineyard, and how to prepare the ground for plant- ing ; also, how and when to bud and graft ; how old trees can be made fruitful, and how large trees can be removed with safety; also, directions for planting gooseberries, currants, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. The directions and receipts given under the Medical head, for the treatment and cure of many diseases com- mon in this country, (particularly of children) will be found of great value to persons living in the country re- mote from a physician, and often save life if promptly attended to. It will also direct how-to prevent, and how to treat cholera, and the best known remedies for it; selected carefully from the experience and directions of the best physicians in our own and in foreign countries. Every family should possess these directions and reme- dies, as it is neglect of first symptoms that makes this disease so fatal. It also tells you how to treat persons drowned, stunned by lightning, frozen, cutting an artery, bleeding at the nose or lungs, burns, swallowing of poison, or an overdose of laudanum ; besides many other things too numerous to mention, but very important to the welfare of a family. It shows, also, every citizen or farmer, how they can have a house or barn at a cost of from three to six hundred ' INTRODUCTORY. Vli dollars, (according to size). It is a stigma upon the American character, that so many of our citizens are without a homestead. In some of our States it has been necessary to possess a certain amount of property in order to have the privilege of the elective franchise, and were I a legislator, I would favor the passage of such a law, as a stimulus to industry and economy. There are but few who, with these qualities, could not soon have a dwelling of their own, such as is described in this Directory. Any mechanic or laboring man could build himself a home for the rent he pays yearly. And an acre of ground, judi- ciously planted, will furnish all the fruit, vegetables and berries any family could consume. I do not presume, in this brief Directory, to teach old and experienced house-keepers, or to tell all I know my- self, or all I deem worthy of being known, about house- keeping. My object is to give to the uninitiated a simple foundation to build on in the outset of life, leaving them ample scope to learn and experiment for themselves. And I trust they will carefully preserve all valuable informa- tion gained; and then, after forty years, should they meet with a reverse of fortune, by publishing their expe- rience, they may benefit the young, and secure for them- selves a competence. The contents of this Directory will not be arranged in alphabetical order, but for convenience«and saving of time, each department will be arranged under its appropriate heading, and everything pertaining to that department given in its proper connection. It would be well for each member of the family, while resting or waiting for their meals, to make themselves familiar with the information given, and be reaSy to act promptly in case of accidents. It will be readily perceived, that the receipts given in the "Cooks' Department" are intended for a good sized Vlll INTRODUCTORY. family. House-keepers can regulate tlie quantity to suit the size and appetites of their families. [Having a good appetite myself, and not having been educated in a French school^ I have no receipts for prepar- ing dishes from " pigeon's wings."] I may have erred in giving receipts that are too econom- ical to suit the taste of some, but it is easy to add to them, if desired richer, without injury. The earnest solicitation of many inexperienced house- keepers has induced me to publish that which was orig- inally intended only for the benefit of my own family ; and I feel confident that if the instruction given is judi- ciously carried out, this Directory will be regarded as a family blessing, and save many a family jar, A. C. C. CONTENTS. Bread and Cakes — page. Yeast, to make 1 Bread 1 Brown bread 1 Soda biscuit 2 Hard " 2 Sponge" .' 2 Cream cakes 2 Waffles, or griddle cakes 3 Buckwheat cakes ^ 3 Corn cake 3 Corn griddle cakes 3 Dry bread 3 White, or Bride's Cake 3 White Mountain Cake 4 Surprise Cake 4 Sponge '* 4 Fruit " 4 Cake without eggs 4 Bachelor's Loaf 4 Doughnuts 5 Cymbals 5 Ginger-snaps 5 Sponge ginger-bread 5 Icing for cakes 5 Meringues 6 Beautiful ornament for summer parties 6 Good pastry 7 Paste puffs 7 Pees— Mince 7 Pumpkin 7 Lemon 7 Tomato, green 8 Elderberry ^ 8 Puddings — Rose-colored, or Sunday pudding 8 Delightful 9 Custard 9 Suet, or plum 9 Corn-starch 9 Prince Albert, or Jbread 9 Boiled custard 9 Apple custard 10 Sauces for Puddings — Nos. J,2,3,4 10 X CONTENTS. Desserts for Tea or Dinner — Blanc mange 10 Rice jelly 11 Ice cream 11 Italian cream Jl Custard, frozen 11 Meats — Boiled fowls 12 ham 12 tongue 12 salmon 12 Corned beef 12 impromptu 12 Beef steak, to broil 13 Pork steak, fry 13 Veal cutlet 13 Salt ham, to fry 13 Hash 13 Meat cakes 13 Chicken salad 13 Oysters — Fried, scolloped, stewed 14 Chicken Pie 15 Soups— Bean 15 Beef 15 Chicken, or noodle 16 Vegetables — to cook — Corn 16 Tomatoes 16 Asparagus 16 Salsify ..'.'.'...'.'.'...'.'.... 17 Corn oysters 17 Cold slaw 17 Hominy 17 Eggs— To fry 18 To poach 18 Sausage— To make 1° Lard- To render 1° Coffee — Best substitute 18 Pickle— For hams 1^ beef 19 tongues • 1^ butter j^ cucumbers - - 1" CONTENTS. XI Corn— ' To dry 19 To cook 20 Lima Beans — To dry 20 Canning Fruits, etc. — Peaches 20 Fruit canners' receipt 20 Spiced peaches 20 Quinces — . 21 Jellies — Apple 21 Quince 21 Currant 21 Jams 22 Citron preserves « 22 To clarify sugar for preserving - 22 Apple Butter 22 Tomato Butter 23 Peach Marmalade 23 To Seal Large Jars 23 Catsups — Tomato 23 Cucumber 23 Tomato, canned 24 Pickles — Tomato 24 Onion 24 Damson 24 Pepper 24 Cabbage 25 Cucumber 25 Vinegar — Family 25 Cider 25 Summer Drinks — Cherry vinegar 25 Raspberry vinegar 26 Ginger beer 26 Domestic Wines — Elderberry 26 Currant 26 Blackberry 27 Grape 27 HOUSE-KEEPERS' DEPARTMENT. Coloring — Yellow, green, scarlet, pink 28 Orange, black, chemic-blue 29 Family dyes 29 Xll CONTENTS. Miscellaneous — Paint, to clean 30 Carpets, to clean 30 Oil paintings, to clean 30 Oil blinds, to clean 30 To preserve eggs 30 To remove panes of glass 30 To drive nails in hardwood 30 To extract paint from cloth 30 To examine w ells 30 Black calico 31 To wash calico 31 To soften hard water 31 To make soap 31 Furniture polish 31 Ants 31 Flower Garden — Mildew on roses 32 Plants in winter 32 Tulips 32 Pruning trees 32 Farmers' and gardeners' table 33 Gardening — To plant tomatoes 33 peas 33 melons 33 extra early peas 34 sweet potatoes 34 Irish " 34 sun-flowers 34 A Piece of Land — An acre of ground 34 Insects on vegetables 34 Coal tar 34 To dry fruit 35 Cider, to keep sweet 35 How TO Plant Fruit Trees— Apple, pear, cherry 36 Peach, plum, quince, grapes 37 Gooseberries and currants 37 Raspberries 38 Strawberries 33 Blackberries 39 Grafting and Budding — Grafting wax 39 Old fruit trees 39 Curculio 40 Peach borer 40 Mulching 40 Worth knowing 40 Farming — Grass and grain 41 Clover as manure 41 CONTENTS. Xii/ Farming — Continued. Manuring wheat - 41 Kelative value of pork and corn 41 Cooked food for cows 42 Root crops 42 Butter 42 Hay for cows in summer 42 Fattening fowls 42 Poultry for market 43 Fattening cattle on hay 43 Time to cut timber 43 Scratching up corn 43 To measure corn in crib 43 Buckwheat, to raise 43 What makes a bushel 44 Diseases of Animals — Trembles in cattle 44 Horses, fatigued 44 Hog cholera 44 Bots in horses 44 Colic in horses 44 Scratches in horses 44 Heaves " 45 Houses and Barns — Whitewash for out-buildings 45 MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. Cholera — How to prevent 46 How to treat 47 Remedies 51-52 Accidents — Drowned persons 52 Swimming 53 Frozen or stupified with cold 53 Stunned by lightning 53 Persons on fire 53 Burns or scalds 54 Cutting an artery 54 Antidotes for poison 54 Hydrophobia and snake bites 54 Sprains ,- 54 Ear ache, cancer, erysipelas, tetter, coughs 55 Rheumatism, etc. — Cough Syrup No. 1 --. 55 " No.2 55 Bronchitis 56 Asthma - 56 Bleeding at the lungs - 56 Bleeding at the nose 56 Scrofula - - - 56 Consumption 56 Inflammations 56 xiv CONTENTS. Medical Miscellany. Croup - 57 Diptheria - 57 Scarlet fever 57 Measles 57 Whooping cough 58 Sciatica, or gout of tlie hip 58 Inflammatory rheumatism 58 Liniment for rheumatism and neuralgia 58 Toe-nails 59 Cramp 59 Ringworm 59 Constipation of bowels 59 • Nervous chills - 59 Dispepsia 59 - Coal oil for sores 59 Dysentery, or flux 59-60 Felons 60 Small-pox 60 Tape-worm '. 61 Warts and corns 61 Freckles 61 Night-mare 61 Frosted feet 61 Pile salve 61 Gy mpson salve 61 Elder blossom salve 62 Sore or weak eyes 62 Miasma : 62 Debility 62 Bathing 62, Fresh air 62' Children 62 Biting the nails 63 Teeth 63 To whiten teeth 63 Inflammation of throat and lungs 63 Night sweats 63 Hiccups - - 63 Food for the Sick — Beef tea - 64 Panada 64 Barley water 64 Apple water 64 Isinglass jelly , 64 Toast • 64 Baked rice 64 Pickled pork - -. 65 Farina 65 Diet 65 CONTENTS. XV ADDENDA. Marbled cake 66 Jelly cake 66 Coffee cake .•.. 66 Floating island 67 To preserve strawberries 67 Wheat flour blanc mange 67 Philadelphia ice cream 67 Lemon sherbert 67 French rolls 68 Sour dough 68 Boiled Indian pudding 68 Loaf pudding .>-.. 68 Pudding bag 68 Bursted apple 69 Apples whole 69 Apple meringue 69 Apple pudding, in crust 69 To stew pears 69 Cranberry sauce 70 Baked custard 70 Cinnamon rolls 70 Cobblers 70 Boiled rice 70 Arrowroot for children 70 Blackberry syrup 71 Omelet 71 Codfish balls 71 Sandwiches 71 To fry fresh fish 72 • boiledfish 72 bakefish 72 saltfish 72 smoked halibut 72 To stew chicken 72 fry chicken •. 73 cook liver 73 stew a beef heart *. 73 Oyster sauce -. 73 To make and fry mush 73 Potatoes — To fry, mash, boil or bake 74 Drawn butter. .' 74 Parsley 74 Celery sauce ~ 74 Stuffing or dressing 74 Piccalilla, or mixed pickle 75 Pepper sauce 75 Universal pickle - - 75 Pickle tomatoes 76 Keep apples or pears 76 Sweet potatoes .-. 76 Straw matting - 77 Silver and plated ware ..*. 77 Fainting 77 Croup 77 XVI CONTENTS. Bug poison - 77 Remove marks from a table 77 Ink stains 78 Keep hams in summer 78 Renovate black silk 78 velvet 78 Cement for tops of bottles or jars 78 Economical paint - 78 Painting a room - 79 Hair renewer 79 Beds and bedding 79 Directions about coloring 79 To prepare cotton goods for coloring 80 How to have good servants 80 COOK'S DEPARTMENT. BREAD, CAKES, Etc. To Make Yeast. — Tie a pint of hops in a thin cloth, put it in a gallon of water, with a quart of pared pota- toes, and boil one hour j strain it on a quart of flour, squeezing the hops well j then add and mash the potatoes, adding one cup each, of sugar and salt, and two table- , spoons of gingery when milk- warm, add one cup of good yeast — let it rise — stir it down several times, then cork it up tight, put it in a cool place, and you will have good yeast for a month. The same kind of yeast is best to raise a new lot. To MAKE THE BEST BREAD. — For six loavcs of bread, scald two quarts of flour, (beating out all lumps,) when milk- warm add one cup of yeast, (from above receipt) and let it rise 5 make into thin mush, two quarts of corn meal ("white is best,) boil it well and have no lumps; when the yeast has risen, add the mush, (also milk-warm) and flour enough to make a dough ; work well and bake well, and you will have the best of bread. Boiled mashed potatoes may be substituted for the mush, and the bread is as good. Add a little shortening to a piece of this dough, let it rise, and you have excellent light rolls. • Brown Bread. — ^For four loaves of bread, scald one quart of white flour, when nearly cold, add "one cup of 2 2 FAMILY DIRECTORY. yeast, when raised, add one tablespoon of salt, and a half pint of molasses, adding brown flour and warm water sufficient to make the quantity you want into a stiff bat- ter, well beaten with a spoon ; when light, pour into but- tered pans and bake well. Soda Biscuit. — To three pints of flour, take one tea- spoon of soda, and two of cream tartar, pulverize and stir well through the flour, then take a piece of butter or lard, size of an egg, and rub it well through the flour 5 wet with sweet milk until soft as can be rolled out ; bake quick. They can be made with half milk and half water, or wholly of water. Hard Biscuit. — Take four pounds of flour and rub three and a half pounds of it with four ounces of butter and two teaspoons of salt ; moisten it with milk, pound it out thin with a rolling-pin, sprinkle a little of the re- served flour over it lightly, roll it up and pound it out again, sprinkle on more of the flour 5 repeat this opera- tion till you get in all the reserved flour ; then roll it out thin, cut into cakes with a tumbler, lay them on flat, but- tered tins 5 bake in a quick oven. Sponge Biscuit. — Stir into a pint of luke-warm milk half a tea cup of melted butter, a teaspoonful of salt, half a tea cup of family, or a tablespoonful of brewer's yeast, (the latter is the best ;) add flour till it is a very stiff bat- ter. When light, drop this mixture by the large spoon- ful on to flat, buttered tins, several inches apart. Let them remain a few minutes before baking. Bake them in a quick oven till they are a light brown. Cream Cakes. — ^Mix half a pint of thick cream with the same quantity of milk, four eggs, a teaspoon of salt, and flour to render them just stiff enough to drop on but- FAMILY DIRECTORY. 3 tered tins. They should be dropped by the large spoon- ftd, several inches apart, and baked in a quick oven. Wapfles or Griddle Cakes. — One quart flour, one quart sour milk, one teaspoon salt, two tablespoons melt- ed butter, one teafepoon soda, and four eggs well beaten. Buckwheat Cakes. — Mix to a stiff paste, or batter, with warm water or milk, adding a desert spoon of salt and a cup of fresh yeast : beat thoroughly and set in warm place to rise. They can be made without yeast, by add- ing two teaspoons of cream tartar or half a cup of vine- gar and one teaspoon soda, and baked immediately. Corn Cakes. — One quart sour milk, one teaspoon sali, one tablespoon lard, one large teaspoon soda, one egg 5 beat well and bake in shallow pans. Corn Griddle Cakes. — ^Pour one pint of boiling water on one quart of meal, stir well 5 when nearly cold, add four well beaten eggs, one teaspoon of salt and one of soda ; one large spoon of flour and one of melted lard, add milk enough to make into batter ; bake on a hot grid- dle. Dry Bread. — Soak stale or sour bread in cold water, if sour, add a large spoonful of soda 5 when soft, pare off the dark crust, squeeze dry and mash fine with your hands ; then take a pint of fresh yeast, and flour enough to work into dough 5 work well and let it rise j bake well and you have a good brown bread. Bread prepared in this way is nice for bre^d puddings, or griddle cakes. White, or Brides' Cake. — Four cups white sugar, one teaspoonfiil soda, four cups flour, four teaspoonsful cream tartar, two cups butter, whites of thirteen eggs, one cup sweet milk. Flavor with lemon. 4 FAMILY DIRECTORY. White Mountain Cake. — Two and a half cups flour, one cup white sugar, half cup butter, half cup sweet milk, two eggs, one teaspoon cream tartar, and half tea- spoon soda 5 beat well and bake in moderate oven. (Best cake for material used.) Surprise Cake — One eggj one cup sugar, half cup butter, one cup sweet milk, one teaspoon soda, two tea- spoons cream tartar. Flavor with lemon and use sufficient sifted flour to make the proper consistence, and you will really be surprised to see its bulk and beauty. Sponge Cake. — Beat the yolks of ten eggs with one pound of white sugar 5 beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and stir them into the yolks and sugar, beat the whole ten or fifteen minutes, then stir in gradually three-fourths of a pound of sifted flour, with juice and grated rind of one lemon — bake. Fruit Cake. — One coffee cup butter, one of milk, three of sugar, five of flour, three pounds of currants and raisins, mixed, half pound citron, six eggs, one teaspoon soda and one of salt 5 add cloves, cinnamon, mace and nutmegs to suit taste. Let all be well beaten. Cake without Eggs. — One' cup sugar, one of butter, one of milk, two ounces currants, (or not) one teaspoon dry cream tartar, half teaspoon soda, dissolved in milk, nutmeg and flour enough to make a batter, stiff as pound cake. Bachelors' Loaf. — One cup of milk, one cup of but- ter, two cups sugar, six eggs, well beaten, flour enough to make a stiff batter, one cup yeast, well stirred in, put at once in a buttered pan, let it rise three hours, bake as bread, serve hot, eat with butter. FAMILY DIRECTOEY. 5 Doughnuts. — One cup sour cream or milk, two cups sugar, one cup butter, four eggs, one nutmeg, two tea- spoons soda, flour enough to roll, cut into any shape you please, and boil in hot lard. i Cymbals. — Take one-half pound sugar, one-fourth pound butter, two eggs, one-half nutmeg, one teaspoon soda, one half cup milk, stir the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and a little flour, stir in the milk and soda, add sufficient flour to make it stiff enough to roll out ; roll it out (in pounded white sugar) one-half an inch thick J cut with a tumbler into cakes, and bake them in flat buttered tins. Ginger Snaps. — One cup molasses, one-half cup each of sugar, butter and warm water, (the butter melted with the water,) one small teaspoon soda, (dissolved in water), two tablespoons ginger. The dough should be stiff; knead it well, and roll into sheets ; cut into round cakes, and bake in a moderate oven. Sponge Ginger Bread." — One cup sour milk, one of molasses, one-half cup of butter, two eggs, one and a half teaspoons soda, one tablespoon ginger, and flour enough to make it stiff as pound cake ; put the butter, molasses and ginger together, and make them quite warm; then add the milk, flour and soda, and bake immediately- IciNG FOR Cakes. — Take the whites of four eggs, beat to a perfect froth, and stiff, one pound of pulverized white sugar, one-half tablespoon starch, and juice of half a lemon ; sift the sugar and starch into the beaten egg, and stir well and long ; when the cake is cold lay on a coat of the frostiog; it is best not to take much pains in putting on the first coat, as little bits of the cake mix up with it, and give it a yellow appearance; but on the next day 6 FAMILY DIRECTORY. make more frosting, tlie same as the first, and apply a second coat, and it will be white, clear and beautiful ; by dipping the knife into cold water as applying, you can smooth the frosting very nicely. . Meringues. — Take the whites of six eggs, and one pound of sifted pounded white sugar j procure a board about an inch in thickness, the size of your stove oven ; cover this with foolscap or thin cartridge paper j beat the whites of eggs to a stiff froth j stir the sugar in lightly with a spoon ; do not stir it too much, as it would lose its firmness j with a dessert spoon drop the mixture on the papered board, in masses about the size of an egg, and half an inch apart j in dropping them turn the spoon over as they fall, so as to produce as round an appearance as possible j then dust them over with sifted sugar, and blow off the loose sugar from the paper j put them in a moder- ately heated oven, and bake a very light brown ; when done each piece must be carefully removed from the paper, the inside scraped out with a dessert spoon, leaving the shell about a quarter of an inch thick ; place them in order on a papered baking tin, the hollow side upwards, and put again in the oven, taking care they do not acquire any more color ; they should be dried so as to be quite crisp ; they may be put in the oven at night, when the fire is out and the heat subsided, and remain until morning, when they may be packed in a tin box and used when required. Beautiful Ornament for Summer Parties. — Take a square block of clear ice, as large as you have a dish to hold it, then place four glass salts in the dish, lay the ice upon these salts, fill the sides of the dish with ever- greens and flowers, wrap a wire or piece of cane with FAMILY DIRECTORY. 7 flowers and evergreens, make an arch over the dish each way ; this is beautiful, and cooling to the air. Good Pastry. — Take one-half a pound of butter and one-half a pound of nice lard, rub them into two pounds of flour, and mix with cold water to a stiff dough. Pie crust can be made cheaper and more wholesome by using the receipt for soda biscuit. To prevent juicy fruit from soaking into the under crust spread over it a coating of beaten egg. Paste Puffs. — Eoll out a rich paste, and cut them with a biscuit cutter ; lay them on a tin sheet ; cut a rich puff paste the same size ; cut a hole with a small wine glass, making a rim half an inch thick, and bake them until quite done. When sending them to the table fill them with preserves of any kind. PIES. Mince. — A shank, or any part of the beef, well boiled, and gristle removed, will make good pies. To every pound of chopped beef add one-fourth pound suet, one-fourth peck apples, one-half pound raisins, one- fourth pound cur- rants, one tablespoon ground cinnamon, one of cloves, and two pounds of sugar ; add sweet cider to moisten ; vinegar and water sweetened will answer; bake with good pastry. Pumpkin. — Take two quarts of fine cooked pumpkin, (winter squash or long-necked cushaw are best,) add one quart milk, one teaspoon salt, two tablespoons ginger and one of ground cinnamon or allspice, add eight well beaten eggs, sweeten to taste, and bake with bottom crust till well done. Lemon. — Three lemons, three cups sugar, six eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, and whites added 8 FAMILY DIRECTORY. last, a small lump of butter, and about one and a half pints of corn-starch thickening ; bake with bottom crust, (enough for three pies.) Tomato. — Pour boiling water on green tomatoes until you can just strip off the skin, then cut in slices and put in deep pie-plates, sprinkle sugar over each layer and a little ginger, or grated lemon peel and the juice of lemon improves it ; cover with crust, and bake slowly for about one hour. Elderberry. — ^When fruit is scarce these make a nice pie, flavored with a few slices of lemon or a few spoonsful of vinegar and nutmeg. They can be canned and kept as other fruit through the winter. I have given only a few of such pies as are not in general use, deeming the making of fruit pies so simple as not to require any receipt for their making. All that is neces- sary is to have good pastry, good fruit, and well sweetened and well baked. PUDDINGS. EosE Colored or Sunday Pudding. — Take a large cup of sago, pour over it three pints of warm water, let it stand three hours in a warm place ; then take a dozen sweet or good cooking apples, pare and core them, put in an earthen dish large enough for your pudding, add water enough to cover them, and a few sticks of cinnamon or bits of lemon peel, and sugar enough to make a thin syrup. Boil llie apples till tender and transparent, keeping them whole as possible. When done set away to cool ; when cold pour the sago over them, and bake in a moderate oven half an hour. Set away to cool. Eat cold with sweetened cream flavored with vanilla or lemon. This pudding should be made the day before using. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 9 Delightful PuDDnsra. — Take one quart of boiling milk, quarter pound each of flour and maslied potatoes, and a small lump of butter, and wlien cold add three eggs well beaten ; bake half an hour ; eat with sauce No. 3. Custard Pudding. — Stir a quart of milk gradually into half a pint of flour, mix free from lumps, add the yolks of seven eggs, well beaten, separately, with three tablespoons sugar, one teaspoon salt, half a grated nut- meg, add the whites of the eggs, beaten to a froth, just before putting in the oven ; bake three-fourths of an hour 3 eat with cream flavored with lemon, or No. 2. Suet or Plum Pudding. — Take one cup each of molasses, milk, and suet chopped fine, one teaspoon soda, dissolved in milk, three and a half cups of sifted flour, one cup chopped raisins, and one cup currants, one half tea- spoon salt. Put in a tin bucket with tight cover ; set it in a kettle of water, and boil hard five hours. It makes a good pudding without any fruit. Corn Starch Pudding. — Take four tablespoons corn starch, one quart sweet milk, and three eggs, mix the corn starch in milk enough to make a thin batter 5 boil the milk, and when scalding hot add the beaten eggs; when it thickens add the batter; stir till done; put in moulds. Eat with sweet cream, flavored with lemon or vanilla. Prince Albert or Bread Pudding. — Take half a pound each of bread crumbs, sugar and butter, six eggs, beaten separately, add a pint of milk, and juice and grated rind of one lemon, four tablespoons of any kind of pre- serves; boil one hour in a tin bucket tightly covered, immersed in boiling water. Boiled Custard. — Take four eggs to one quart of milk ; let the milk come to a scald ; then stir in the eggs, 10 FAMILY DIRECTOllY. well beaten, with a small cup of sugar, stirring till it be- gins to thicken ; flavor with nutmeg or vanilla. If liked richer, add two more eggs. This poured over stale cake or crumbed crackers makes a nice dessert. Apple Custaed. — Custard made as the above, with a few spoonsful of grated or stewed apple added, and baked with under-crust, is very nice. SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS. Ko. 1. — Cream Sauce. — Boil half a pint of cream, thicken very little, and add a lump of butter. Sweeten to taste, and when cold add one lemon rind and juice, grated or sliced, or nutmeg. No. 2. — Stir together one cup of butter and one cup of sugar, yolk of ,one egg, one teaspoon of flour j slice a lemon, and put all into a bowl or pitcher, and add half a pint of boiling water. ^0. 3. — Beat equal quantities of white sugar and but- ter to a cream, adding a little grated nutmeg, and beat all well together j put it in a cool place to harden, before using. ]S^o. 4. — Take one cup of molasses, one cup of vinegar, and half a cup of butter j simmer together and flavor with nutmeg. DESSERTS FOR TEA OR DINNER. Blanc Mange. — Take one tea-cup of Irish moss, care- fully picked and washed j add to it half a gallon of sweet milk 5 let it simmer one hour in^a porcelain vessel, stir- ring often while boiling ; add a stick of cinnamon or a little lemon or orange-peel ; strain through fine sieve or mosquito-bar j put in moulds or cups to cool j let it stand FAMILY DIRECTORY. 11 six or eight hours (better if made evening before using) ; turn out of the moulds into a large dish or preserve glass. Eat with sweetened cream, flavored with vanilla, lemon or nutmeg. This is a nice dessert for dinner, and bjptter than preserves for tea. EiCE Jelly. — Boil a quarter of a pound of rice flour with half a pound of loaf sugar in a quart of water till the Fhole becomes a glutinous mass; pour in cups to harden. Eat with sweetened cream, flavored with van- illa. Ice Cream. — To one gallon of cream take two and a half pounds of white sugar, adding a tablespoon of van- illa, or any other flavoring extract. About five pounds of ice mixed with two pounds of coarse salt to freeze this quantity. Italian Cream. — Take three pints of milk, one pack- age of Coxe's gelatine, the yolks of six eggs, six table- spoons of sugar 'j dissolve the gelatine in the milk, and when it begins to boil, stir in the beaten eggs and sugary remove it from the fire, and add extract of vanilla to flavor, stirring until cool ; pour into moulds which have been dipped in cold water. Custard, frozen, is a good substitute for ice cream. MEATS. To Stuff and Eoast Fowls, Fish, &c. — Take fine bread-crumbs — the quantity required — melt a lump of butter in a little water, and mix well, seasoning well with pepper, salt and sage, summer savory, or finely chopped onions. Examine your fowls to see that nothing im- proper is left inside ; wash weU and drain ; fill the breast with the stuffing and sew it up ; put the remainder in the 12 FAMILY DIRECTORY. body of the fowl, sew up, and tie down legs and wings. If tough, boil two hours in a small quantity of water ; then take it out, put in a pan, roast and baste well ; taste to see that it is properly seasoned. Stuffing prepared in this way will answer for veal, fish, mutton, &c. Boiled Fowls. — Old fowls are best boiled, after being stuffed. Great care should be used in cooking, not to put in too much water ; add, as you need, from a boiling kettle. Too much water makes fowls and meats insipid. Slice hard-boiled eggs in the gravy and spread over them when taken up. To Boil Ham. — A ham weighing ten pounds should boil five hours 5 larger ones in same proportion. If very salt, soak from fifteen to twenty hours, changing water. To Boil Tonoue. — K very dry and salt, soak six or eight hours before boiling. Boil from two and a half to four hours. To Boil Salt Salmon. — Let it soak over night 5 boil slowly two hours. Eat with drawn butter. Corned Beef Eolled. — Take the flank part of a quarter of beef; wash it clean ; roll it up close and tie it with wrapping-yarn tight; boil till quite tender; when cold, remove the string and cut thin, like tongue. Bony pieces or ribs boiled till the bones will pull out, and press- ed into good shape, cut thin when cold, is as good as tongue, for evening parties, and much cheaper. Impromptu Corned Beef. — To two gallons of water add one pint of salt, and boil your beef in it till tender, or till the bones will pull out ; put in a pan and press with a weight ; when cold, slice thin. This is very good, but does not look so handsome as the corned beef. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 1^ To Broil Beef Steak. — Have a clear fire. Have a pan by your side containing some melted butter, pepper and salt, into which dip your steak occasionally, sticking it through with a knife j turn often. Any steak or chop, fowl or bird, should be broiled in the same way. To Fry Pork Steak.— Fry in lard, seasoned well with salt, pepper and powdered sage. This is the best substitute for sausage. To Cook a Yeal Cutlet. — Beat two large eggs 5 add flour enough to make a batter ; salt and pepper the meat well 5 dip both sides into the batter 5 lay into a pan with plenty of hot butter or lard, pouring the balance of the batter over it ; let it cook slowly filteen or twenty minutes 5 when well browned, turn over carefully, and cook till thoroughly done. Then add a cup of cream, and simmer a few minutes. To Fry Salt Ham. — Parboil ten minutes, then fry in fresh lard. Hashes — Can be made of any kind of cold fresh meats, chopped fine, with a few slices of potatoes and onions 5 stew in a small quantity of water, with a little pepper and salt, and flour dredged over to thicken the gravy. Meat Cakes. — Take any kind of fresh cold meat, chop fine, beat two eggs in half a cup of milk, and flour enough to make a thick batter 5 add a little pepper and salt ; stir in the meat, and bake on the griddle as you would griddle cakes. Chicken Salad. — ^Boil tender a pair of fowls, skin and remove the fat, cut the meat from the bones in small pieces, split two heads of clean celery, cut in small pieces, 14 FAMILY DIRECTNRY. put chickens and celery together in a deep dish, cover, and set away ; just before it is to be eaten mash the yolks of eight hard boiled eggs, to which S;dd a small teaspoon each of salt and cayenne pepper, half a gill of mixed mustard, and half teacup of good vinegar, and a small cup of melted butter, and yolk of a raw egg, well beaten ; mix these ingredients thoroughly, stirring till quite smooth ; pour this on the chickens and celery, and mix well with a silver fork or spoon. Fried Oysters. — Put the oysters into a stew-pan with the liquor, let them stew a few minutes, then put them in a cullender and drain ; beat well four eggs, and dip the oysters, one by one, into the egg, and then into rolled crackers or corn meal ; fry in equal parts of butter and lard till light brown. K required for a large company fry them through the day ; spread on a large dish and heat in a stove when served ; can be fried without stewing* Scolloped Oysters. — Pour the oysters from the cans into a cullender over a pan to catch the juice, then take the dish you intend to cook them in and cover the bottom half an inch thick with fine, dry bread crumbs or rolled crackers j then with a fork spread the oysters regularly over this, then another half inch of crackers, then another layer of oysters, and so on till you have used all your material, finishing with crackers on top , add to the oyster juice half a cup of water, a little salt and pepper, moisten well the crackers with this liquor, adding two or three little lumps of butter to each layer, spreading all the liquor over it ; bake in a moderate oven one hour ; serve in dish in which they were cooked, hot. Stewed Oysters. — ^To a whole can take three quarts boiling water, add half a pound of butter, a dessert spoon FAMILY DIRECTORY. 15 of salt, a quarter of teaspoon of pepper, two tablespoons of flour, reduced to a fine paste in a pint of cream ; simmer five minutes. Chicken Pie. — Cut in small pieces two chickens, put them to stew in three quarts of water, and add half a dozen slices of fresh pork or ribs, (or pickled pork par- boiled a few minutes;) when about half done add a dozen pared potatoes, a tablespoon of salt and one teaspoon of pepper ; when the potatoes are about done take off the fire. In the meantime have ready enough good crust to cover the top and bottom of a large, deep pan, the bottom crust about twice as thick as pie-crust, with a cross-cut in the bottom ; then place alternately a layer of chickens, pork and potatoes, till all are in the pan ; pour on the liquor ; have enough to fill nearly to the top ; add a little more pepper and salt, if not well seasoned, and a large lump of butter ; dredge on a little flour ; slit and put on top crust ; bake in a moderate oven one hour and a half, keeping the pan filled with hot water. ; SOUPS. Bean Soup — Can be made with either beef or pork ; pickled pork is best ; pick and wash the beans early in the morning J put on the fire in cold water; let them sim- mer two hours ; then boil hard half an hour ; then skim out and add to your meat, which should be boiling in the meantime in as much water as you wish soup ; cook till thoroughly done, adding salt, pepper, and a little thick- ening. Beef Soup. — Take a shank of beef, cut in pieces, break- ing the bone to let out the marrow, boil very tender; when half done add salt, pepper, sliced onions, chopped cabbage, a few sliced turnips and potatoes ; lastly, some I 16 FAMILY DIRECTOEY. dropped dumplings, made by beating two eggs in half a pint of milk and flour enough to make a stiff batter ; drop in a spoonful at a time, and boil half an hour. Chicken or Noodle Soup. — Cut in small pieces your chicken, and add as much water as you wish soup ; add one tablespoon salt and a little pepper ; while this is boil- ing beat two eggs and add flour enough to make it into a stiff dough, and roll it out in flour as thin as possible; roll up and cut in strips as fine as twine and two inches long, and shake out to dry a little ; add these and a lump of butter to the soup, and boil half an hour. Soups should never be boiled rapidly, and all superfluous fat should be skimmed off. If the soup is not as rich as you wish, add a little thickening made of flour and water. To Cook Corn. — Cut from the cob ; avoid cutting too near it ; then scrape to get the balance of the juice ; add to the corn a pint of milk or cream, a large lump of but- ter, pepper and salt ; let it stew slowly three quarters of an hour, and you have the best corn ever eaten. Stewed Tomatoes. — Pour on them boiling water andr let them remain in it two minutes to loosen the skins, peel and put them in a stew pan, with a little salt, pepper and butter ; let them stew half an hour, then pour upon but- tered toast and serve them. Asparagus on Toast. — Cut in two parts, putting the green ends by themselves ; cook the white end half an hour before putting in the green j when well done take half a pint of water from the asparagus, add to it a little butter, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of flour without lumps; have ready a dish with several slices of toast, skim out the asparagus and pour the gravy boiling over it. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 17 VEGETABLES, EGGS, SAUSAGE, LARD, BRINES. Salsify or Oyster Plant. — Wash and scrape the salsify, boil it tender, then drain it dry and mash it j have ready bread crumbs, make the oyster plant into cakes, roll it in the crumbs, and fry them a nice brown. It is also very nice stewed tender and a gravy made with a little butter, cream and flour. Corn Oysters. — Grate young, sweet corn into a dish, and to one pint add one egg well beaten, a teacup of flour, half a gill of cream, and a teaspoon of salt, mix well to- gether. Fry it exactly like oysters, dropping it into the fat by spoonsful about the size of an oyster. Cold Slaw. — Select a white, hard head of cabbage, cut it in half and lay it in water for an hour ; when ready shave it with a cutter or sharp knife very fine 5 put half a pint of vinegar on to boil, beat up the yolk of an egg with a little salt and cayenne, pour the boiling vinegar on the yolk, stir it well and pour it over the shaved cab- bage. This is nice with roast beef. To Boil Hominy. — To be wholesome it should boil slowly from eight to ten hours ; care should be taken not to scorch it, as that spoils both color and flavor ; should be boiled in a large vessel, with plenty of water, and re- plenished with boiling water as is needful. No cold water should be put into it. When done, put in an earthen vessel, warming what you need, adding a little butter, pepper and salt. I deem the cooking of most vegetables so simple that they need no directions, except that they be well cooked and not over-salted. 3 18 FAMILY DIRECTOEY. To Fry Eggs. — ^You should always pour the fat from the pan after ham is fried, and wash it out, then return the clear fat and fry in that. To Poach Eggs. — Break eggs, one by one, in a cup, when doubtful, till you have enough ; pour gently into a shallow pan of boiling water, with a little salt, let the whites cook till they can be lifted with a spoon, put a lump of butter on your dish and take them up. To MAKE Sausages. — To twenty-five pounds of chop- ped meat, which should be one-third fat and two thirds lean, put twenty spoonfuls of sage, twenty-five of salt, ten of pepper, and four of summer savory. Eender Lard. — If you intend to render some of the side meat into lard, do it separate from the leaf lard, as it is harder to render, and should be cut finer; add a pint of water to begin, stir occasionally till thoroughly cooked, squeeze through a cullender or coarse flannel bag — be careful not to scorch 5 if put in jars, they should be sound, and heated in hot water before putting in the lard, or they will crack. Best Substitute for Coffee. — Take one pint of good molasses and one pint of water, and as much ship- stuff as this can possibly moisten, stir well and have no lumps 5 put in moderately heated stove and stir while drying, then burn as you would coffee, a dark brown, without scorching 5 take equal quantities of coffee and bran, make as usual, and you need no better coffee, if you have good cream. The whites of two eggs stirred well into the bran when nearly cold will make your coffee clear. Pickle for Haivis. — For every hundred pounds of ham, take eight pounds of salt, two ounces of saltpetre, FAMILY DIRECTORY, 19 two pounds of brown sugar, one and a quarter ounces of potash, and four gallons of water 5 rub tbe hams well with fine salt before packing, and let them remain twenty -four hours, then put them in the pickle and let them remain well covered with brine six weeks j let the meat be thor- oughly cool before salting. PiCEXE FOR Beef. — To eight gallons of water, add one quart of molasses, three pounds of sugar, four ounces salt-petre and salt enough to make it bear an egg well. This quantity is sufficient for two quarters of beef For small quantities, take a stone jar with about one gallon of water, made salt enough to bear an egg, add a cup of sugar and one teaspoon salt-petre ; keep well under the brine — will be fit for use in a week, and will keep three weeks. Tongues must be cured in the same way. Pickle or Brine for Butter. — ^Dissolve one quart fine salt, one pound white sugar, one teaspoon saltpetre, in five quarts water, strain it on the butter if packed in crocks; if in rolls, wrap in cloths. Keep well under brine and it will keep sweet for a year. Brine for Cucumber Pickles. — ^Wash the cucum- bers carefully, place them in a clean tub, barrel or jar, cover them with salt as they are packed; cover with coarse cloth or cabbage leaves, and place a weight upon them to keep them under the brine. If you wish to add more pickles, wash as before, and wash the cloth or leaves before replacing them, using more salt. They will keep in this way a year, or will be fit for use in a week by soak- ing in water till fresh. To Dry Corn. — Select corn when just fit for the table, throw it in boiling water for ten minutes, take from the water, drain and cut from the cob ; spread on large tin 20 FAMILY DIRECTORY. pans and set in the sun, or moderately heated stove to dry. When thoroughly dry, put in bags and hang it in a dry place. To Cook. — Wash and put in cold water, (not too much) let it simmer slowly for three-quarters of an^'hour, boil half an hour ; dress with butter, cream, pepper, flour and salt. Lima beans soaked over night and added to this make a fine succotash. To Dry Lima Beans. — Select when fit for table, spread in the pod in sunny, airy place, till perfectly dry, shell and bag j keep in a dry place. To cooTc, soak over night, pour off the water, cook till done, and season with butter, cream, pepper and salt. CANNING FRUITS, &C. Peaches. — ^Pare and seed good ripe peaches (not too soft) ; have ready good, sweet cans j fill them as full as possible without mashing the fruit. To each quart of fruit add a tea-cup of sugar j set the cans in a vessel of cold water 5 place the vessel on the fire and let it remain till the water boils; seal air tight while hot. Peaches canned in this way have kept good two years. All fruit may be canned in this way. Fruit-cakners' Eeceipt. — Take three and a half pounds of sugar to one gallon of water ; make it a syrup, and let it become cold ; fill the cans with fruit and pour over it the cold syrup ; set the cans in water and let it come to a boil ; boil briskly three minutes, and then seal. Spiced Peaches. — Take large clings (not soft), pare, and slit on one side ; take as much of the best vinegar as will barely cover them. To every pound of peaches add a quarter of a pound of sugar ; add also, cloves, cinna- FAMILY DIRECTORY. 21 mon, nutmegs, &c., to your taste ; boil the vinegar and spices half an hour ; pour the hot vinegar on the fruit, and let it stand covered till the next day ; then pour off and boil again same as before, for four days ; then put all into a vessel and simmer half an hour ; take out the fruit and let the syrup boil half an hour longer ; pour it on the fruit and it is done. Cherries, gooseberries, plums, apples, melon-rinds, &c., &c., can be spiced in the same way, adding a little more sugar to the more acid fruits. Look at your canned fruit every day for a week, to see that your corks are tight. CAimED Quinces. — Pare, quarter and core them ; then take the parings and cores, free from rotten specks, and boil in water enough to cover them, one hour ; strain through a jelly-bag, and add to this liquor half a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit ; put in your quinces and cook till quite soft ; seal in glass jars. Apple Jelly. — ^Wash tart apples, take out the stem and blossom 5 slice, and add just enough water to cover them ; let them boil tender j strain through a jelly-bag 5 add one pound of sugar to a pint of juice ; boil briskly till it jellies, stirring all the time ; put in glasses and cover with thick white paper. If not as thick as wished, set the glasses in the sun for a few days. Quince Jelly. — Prepare the quinces just like the apple. Currant Jelly. — Pick over the currants with care, put them in a stone jar, and set it in a kettle of boiling water ; let it boil till the fruit is very soft 5 strain through a sieve, then through a jelly -bag 5 add a pound of white sugar to every pint of juice, and boil all together five minutes 5 put in glasses and set in the sun a few days. 22 FAMILY DIRECTORY. Jams. — ^Blackberries, currants, raspberries, gooseber- ries, &c., can be made into jams by adding tliree-fourths of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and boiling till stiff. Citron Melon Preserve. — Cut in pieces the size you wish, take out the soft center and seeds, pare off the green rind and throw the pieces in cold water ; let it stand over night. On the following day, boil in water enough to cover them, twenty minutes, adding alum the size of a walnut to each gallon of water, to green them. Then soak four hours in cold water, pour off and drain ; then add three-fourths of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit ; add sliced lemon and race ginger to taste ; boil till clear. By using a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, cooking well and drying, you can have good dried citron for cake. To Clarify Sugar for Preserving. — For each pound of sugar allow half a pint of water ; for every three pounds of sugar the white of one egg. Mix when cold ; boil a few minutes and skim it j let it stand ten minutes, skim again, and strain it. Apple-Butter — ^To keep without sealing, must be made of sweet cider, boiled down one-half. This is too strong to be palatable, and a better way is to boil the cider down one-third, and seal in half-gallon jugs. If cider is scarce, a fine apple-butter can be made by boiling ten gallons of cider one-half; then add one gallon of best molasses. A mellow, sweet apple that will cook is best. To save time in making, stew your apples in cider, and skim out as fast as done, while your, cider is boiling down ; commence stirring as soon as you put in the apples j boil FAMILY DIRECTORY. 23 to a thick jelly, and put in spices, half an ounce to the gallon, to suit taste, half an hour before done. Tomato-Butter. — Take large, ripe tomatoes, wash clean, drain and slice j stew till quite tender, and strain through sieve ; add half a pound of sugar to every pint of pulp ; boil, stir, and spice as apple butter. (Many per- sons think it better.) Peach Marmalade. — Pare and seed your peaches ; to every pound of fruit add half a pound of sugar ; boil till quite stiff, stirring like apple-butter; seal in half gallon jars. To Seal Large Jars. — Take a piece of white writing paper and place it over the top of the jar, and allow two inches more than covers it. Then cut four pieces of the same size ; make a good paste with flour; have your jars scalded with hot water ; fill in your apple butter or mar- malade hot ; paste round the first piece of paper where it touches the jar, then paste the paper all over, top and sides j then paste again, until you have put on four pieces of paper, leaving the outside of the top piece unpasted. If done right it will be effectually sealed. Tomato Catsup. — Take one bushel of tomatoes, wash, slice and stew them till they are soft; squeeze them through a fine wire sieve, and add half a gallon of the best vinegar, one and a half pints of salt, two ounces of cloves, four ounces of allspice, three tablespoons of black pepper ; mix all together and boil about three hours, or till it is reduced about one-half, then bottle without straining, and seal. Cucumber Catsup. — Take half a peck of young cu- cumbers (long pickling the bestj, pare and chop fine ; to 24 FAMILY DIRECTORY. every pint add a tablespoon of salt, and let it stand over night ; in the morning drain through a coarse cloth, and add six finely chopped onions, a dessert-spoon of pepper, and as much best cider vinegar as will make it quite moist ; bottle and seal in half-pint jars. Canned Toimatoes. — Scald just enough to skin ; when skinned, put in a cullender and drain 5 put in a kettle and let them boil half an hour ; then i)ut into hot cans or jars and seal tight. All kinds of fruit, stewed and sweetened as for the table, and sealed up hot, may be kept as well as preserves. PICKLES. Pickle Toiviatoes. — As they are gathered throw them into cold vinegar ; when you have enough take them out and scald some spices tied in a bag, in good vinegar, and pour it hot over them ; a few slices of onions will improve them. Pickle Onions. — Peel and boil in milk and water ten minutes, then drain off and pour scalding spiced vinegar over them. Pickle Damsons. — To one gallon of damsons take one quart of strong vinegar and three pounds of sugar, some cloves and mace; place the damsons in a jar; boil the sugar, spices and vinegar together, and while boiling hot pour it over them ; do this four successive mornings, and on the fifth boil all together and they are ready for use. Pickle Peppers. — Carefully remove the seeds from green peppers, so as not to mangle them, soak them four days in salt and water j before pickling soak them well in FAMILY DIRECTORY. 25 fresh water, stuff tliem with chopped cabbage, seasoned with cloves, cinnamon and mace ; let the vinegar come to a boil and pour it over them. Pickle Eed Cabbage. — Take two firm heads, remove outside leaves, cut very fine and mix in half a cup of salt, tie up in a thin cloth and let it hang three hours to drain ; then put in a jar ; boil in a quart of good vinegar, three bits of race ginger, one pod red pepper, one onion, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, and pour on hot. PiCEXE Cucumbers. — Have the salt soaked out by- changing the water frequently ; to every gallon of good cider vinegar add a cup of sugar, alum the size of a hickory nut, some cayenne pepper, one ounce of cloves j let them come to a scald ; bottle, or put in stone jars. Family Yinegar. — Take five gallons of warm rain water, one gallon of molasses and two quarts of good yeast ; keep in open vessel, and in four weeks you will have good vinegar : add, to keep your supply, in the same proportion, water and molasses. Cider Yinegar. — To make cider into vinegar never have your barrel more than half full, and add to it one- fourth part of soft water j leave the bung open for free air, covered with gauze ; keep in a warm place, and where it will not freeze : two quarts of good yeast should be added to a barrel. Cherry Yinegar for Sumiher Drinks. — ^To six quarts of cherries (broken up) add two quarts of vinegar; let it stand three days ; then strain through a jelly bag, and to one pint of juice add three-quarters of a pound of white sugar ; boil twelve minutes and skim ; one gill of the above, added to a tumbler of water, makes a very pleasant drink for summer. 26 FAMILY DIRECTORY. Easpberry YmEGAR. — ^Pour one quart of vinegar on one quart of raspberries ; the next day strain it through a sieve on another quart of berries ; continue this process for five or six days. Then to every pint of juice add one pound of white sugar; put it in a jar and set it in a vessel of boiling water until it is thoroughly scalded ; then bottle for use. Blackberries, or any other acid fruit, can be used in the same way. Ginger Beer. — Take two gallons of water, two pounds of sugar, and two ounces of ginger ; boil one hour and skim ; pour into a vessel and add one sliced lemon and half an ounce of cream tartar ; when nearly cold add a cup of yeast ; when fermentation ceases bottle tight and tie down the corks. DOMESTIC WINES. Elderberry Wine. — To every gallon of ripe berries add one gallon of water ; let it stand one day, often stir- ring ; then put them in a copper kettle and boil well half an hour j take off and strain ; put the juice into the kettle a second time, and to each gallon add three and a half pounds of moist sugar ; boil it half an hour, and, within the last five minutes, add, tied in muslin, four ounces each of bruised or race ginger and allspice to every ten gallons ; then take out the spice, and when cool add a gill of good yeast to each gallon : when fermentation ceases put it into a cask or jugs, bung it down closely, and let it stand three or four months, and it is fit for bottling and use. A few damsons added give the wine the roughness of Port. This is an excellent wine for invalids. Currant Wine. — Take one part of currant juice to three parts of water, and stir in sugar until it wiU float an FAMILY DIRECTORY. 27 egg ; put it in a cask and keep the vessel full until fer- mentation ceases ; then bung it down closely 5 rack it off in February or March. Blackberry Wine. — To every gallon of fruit add three quarts of boiling water 5 let it stand twenty -four hours, stirring occasionally ; strain off the liquor into a cask, first adding two pounds of sugar to each gallon of juice ; cork tight and let it stand until the following October. Grape WrN:E. — To each gallon of bruised grapes, per- fectly ripe, add one gallon of water, and let it remain a week without stirring ; then draw off the liquor carefully, and to each gallon add three pounds of lump sugar j when fermentation ceases cork it down tight, and in six months it will be fit to bottle. HOUSEKEEPERS' DEPARTMENT. COLORING. The quantity of coloring material given below is cal- culated for two pounds of goods, except the pink, which is intended for ribbons, &c. Yellow. — Boil water enough to cover the goods, put in a half pound of curcuma, one ounce cream-tartar and three table spoons of muriate of tin. Boil the goods in this five minutes and it is done. To make orange color, boil ten minutes. Green. — Use the yellow dye 5 rinse out the yellow goods, put back the rinsing water into the dye-kettle and add half pound fustic, and three ounces alum. Boil thirty minutes j then put in two tablespoons of chemic blue ; put in the goods and let them boil five minutes. To make the goods bottle green, boil ten minutes. Scarlet. — Boil water enough to cover the goods, put in five ounces lac-dye, two ounces cream-tartar, six table- spoons of muriate of tin. Boil the goods from five to twenty-five minutes, till the color suits your fancy. Brass or tin kettles should be used. Pink, or Light Silks. — Boil water enough to cover the goods, then put in one teaspoonful of cochineal, pulver- ized, one teaspoon cream-tartar, and one teaspoon of mu- riate of tin. Boil the goods from one to ten minutes, n til the color suits. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 29 Orange. — Take three ounces of annatto, tie in a strong muslin bag, wash out the color, as you would indigo, into a kettle of strong soap suds or weak pearlash water, put in the goods, simmer and stir half an hour, rinse well and starch if needed ; dry in the shade. This process can be repeated every time the garment needs washing ; wash out a little at a time and save the bag for future use. Old sheets or faded muslins colored in this way make good curtain linings. Faded lawns and ribbons, colored in this way, look well. Black. — For three pounds of yarn or goods, take two ounces of extract of logwood, two ounces of vitriol and two ounces of madder j put the madder and logwood in a brass or copper kettle, with sufficient soft water to cover the goods well, then add to the vitriol in another vessel, sufiicient water to cover the goods j simmer and stir in the* vitriol water half an hour 5 then hang out and drain well. ^Tien your logwood and madder are thor- oughly dissolved and hot, put in your goods, stirring and lifting frequently for the air ; hang out over night in the dye, then rinse them in hard water and dry again j then scour in warm suds. Chemic Blue — how to make. — Take one ounce best pulverized indigo, put eight ounces of sulphuric acid in a pitcher, add the indigo to the acid slowly, stirring with a stick 5 let it stand two days, then bottle and it is ready for use. Don't get it on your clothing. Family Dyes, to be had at the drug stores, are valu- able for coloring ribbons and small pieces of silk. Rib-' bons should be washed in clean suds and not rinsed. You cannot color a dark color light. 30 FAMILY DIRECTORY. To Clean Paint. — Take common whiting and mix with warm water to a paste — dip a flannel cloth in this and rub the paint briskly, then wash off with clean, cold water, and your paint will retain its beauty unimpaired. To Clean Carpets. — Two tablespoonsfiil of ammonia added to a half gallon of warm water, rubbed on with a sponge, will often restore the color of carpets when taken out by acids or alkalies. Another way is to add a pint of ox-gall to two gallons of water, and use in the same way. This is enough for a large carpet, and gives it a bright, fresh look. Oil Paintings may be wiped with luke-warm water and a soft sponge, and dried with a soft cloth. Oil Blinds must be stretched out on a table, held firmly and washed quickly with mild, tepid soapsuds and wiped dry. A FRESH EGa will siuk in water. To preserve eggs in winter, grease them well, and pack them in salt, small end down. To REMOVE PANES OF GLASS, without injuring the sash, apply soft soap to the putty. In a short time it will be- come so softened as to be easily removed. To DRIVE NAILS in hard wood, dip the points in oil or grease. To EXTRACT PAINT FROM CLOTH. — When it is dried on, saturate the spot with spirits of turpentine, and let it re- main several hours, then rub it between the hands. How TO EXAMINE Wells. — Placc a looking-glass over the well in such a manner as to throw the rays of the FAMILY DIRECTORY. 31 sun to the bottom of the well, and you can see the smallest pebble. Morning and afternoon are the best times for this purpose. Neyer go into a well to clean until you have let down a lighted torch or candle. If it goes out it is unsafe. Throw in burning chunks or fresh lime, to expel the foul air. Black Calicoes, when rusty, may be restored by dipping in a weak solution of copperas-water. To WASH CALICO WITHOUT FADiNO. — lufuse three gills of salt in a gallon of water j put the calico in while hot, and leave it until cold, and in this way the colors are rendered permanent, and will not fade by subsequent washing. To SOFTEN HARD WATER. — Add toms do not have an attack j but when diarrhea does set in, no matter how slight or painless, attend to it promptly, for it is in reality the skirmishing party, and will prove fatal if not attended to. Many have committed suicide by such neglect. The attack seldom commences with vomiting; but no matter how it commences, it is sure to hold on. How TO ACT. — In case of an attack, give immediately, according to directions, the remedy you have decided to use ; then place the patient in bed, with sufficient blankets to induce gentle perspiration. If warm, it is a favorable symptom ; if not, jugs or bottles of hot water, wrapped in Hannel, must be put to the feet and sides. Eepeat and increase the dose, according to direction, every time the bowels are moved, as there is no danger of giving too much while they are moved. By no means allow the pa- tient to rise from the bed to attend to the calls of nature ; use bed pan or other appliances, as their lives may depend on the observance of this rule. They should lie as much as possible calmly and quietly on the back. Admit fresh air freely, but not on the patient, and fumigate the room frequently by a few grains of coffee on a hot shovel. If the diarrhea is not soon checked resort must be had to injections. Take a teacup of starch, as for starching linen, add to this a large teaspoonful of laudaiium ; give one-third of this every time the bowels are moved. If this does not check it add half a teaspoonful to each FAMILY DIRECTORY. 49 injection every time they are moved. Dr. Hamlin says he has saved patients after resorting to the seventh injec- tion. The diarrhea must be stopped, or the patient is lost. If there is, in addition, vomiting and cramps, there must be large mustard plasters applied to the stomach, bowels, calves of the legs and feet, and the jugs of hot water kept constantly renewed. Now is the time to give Dr. Hamlin's No. 2. Thirst. — There is gTeat thirst attending this disease, which must in no case be gratified to any extent. If ice cannot be had, you may allow them to rinse the mouth or gargle the throat with cold water. A spoonful at a time of gum arable water, or chamomile tea, as cold as it can be made, may be given. If possible, procure ice, break in small pieces, lay in a saucer, and pour over it a tea- spoonful of essence of cinnamon or peppermint 5 lift the ice with a spoon, taking up some of the water, and let it dissolve in the mouth without chewing. In this way you may give them all they want. Dr. Hall, in his Journal of Health, says he has known Asiatic cholera to be cured by using ice in this way. Collapse is simply an advanced stage of the disease, and indicates the failing of the powers of lifej but the blue color, the sunken eye, or the vanishing pulse, are no signs that the case is hopeless. Scores of such cases have recovered, and now is the time to double your dili- gence. In addition to No. 2, give a tablespoonful of brandy every half hour, rubbing the extremities briskly with hot spirits or hot flannels. These remedies will often, in an hour or two, work wonders. Diet. — ^Eice water, arrowroot, toast water, and chamo- mile tea, are the best articles for a day or two after the attack is controlled. The chamomile tea is valuable 5 50 FAMILY DIRECTORY. in restoring the tone of the stomach. After this, rice browned and well boiled and eaten with sugar and nut- meg, or cream and sugar, is a palatable and safe diet in any bowel complaint. A typhoid state will, for a few days, often follow severe cases, but seldom proves fatal. Patience and careful nursing will soon bring all right. The greatest danger arises from drinking too freely, as thirst is often intense for twenty-four hours after the diarrhea is checked. Diminishing doses of 'No. 1 should be given every four hours — say 25, 20, 15 and 10 drops, to prevent a return. A spoonful of arrowroot added to the brandy, when the patient seems weak or sinking, is very beneficial. Contagion. — Dr. Hamlin says, those who are most with it are fully convinced that it is not contagious. A physician in New York, of large experience, says it is his opinion you may sleep with impunity beside an expiring patient. Another says: Let no one be deterred from doing their duty by the silly and cowardly idea that it is contagious ; that it is always safe to do your duty, and it is always your duty to aid your fellows to the utmost ex- tent of your ability. Dr. Hamlin says, with a hand-bag containing mixture No. 1, mixture No. 2, (for vomiting, etc.,) a few pounds of ground mustard, a bottle of brandy, a paper of chamo- mile flowers, and a paper of gum arable, you are perfect- ly armed and equipped to fight this disease. Those whose business calls them from home should carry a phial of these remedies or spirits of camphor, and a few lumps of sugar in their pocket, and when any un- pleasant feeling arises, take six drops on a lump of sugar. This will generally afford great relief, and may prevent an attack. FAMILY DIRECTORY. " 51 Persons nervous about this disease should neither read nor talk about it, or allow any one to do so in their pres- ence, as they often imagine themselves sick after hearing anything on the subject. ]!!>[. B. Dr. Hamlin's remedies are worthy the highest confidence; he having witnessed their beneficial effects for many years. The compiler of this directory has im- plicit confidence in " New Orleans Remedy," from expe- rience where cholera has prevailed j and as it is very similar to Dr. Hamlin's No. 2, for severe cases, I have no hesitation in recommending it to the public as one of the very best remedies. But as I have no interest in either, except to do good, I leave every one to choose for them- selves 5 but would urge every family to have one or the other, or both, constantly on hand, and be ready for first symptoms, as in this depends your safety. Dr. Hamlin's No. 1 remedy for the incipient stages of cholera. Take equal parts of laudanum, spirits of camphor and tincture of rhubarb — thirty drops for an adult on a lump of sugar — ^repeat and increase the dose to 35, 40, 45 and 60 drops at every movement of the bowels. When the diarrhea is checked, to prevent a return, diminishing doses should be given every four hours of 25, 20, 15 and 10 drops. Dr. Hamlin's No. 2, (for vomiting, etc.) — ^Equal parts of laudanum, capsicum, tincture of ginger and tincture of cardamon seeds. Dose, 30 to 40 drops, or half a teaspoon- ful, to be increased according to the urgency of the case. In case the first dose should be thrown up, the second should stand ready to be given as soon as the vomiting has ceased. New Orleans Remedy. — Half ounce spirits camphor, half ounce oil cloves, half ounce pulverized red pepper, half ounce rhubarb, one drachm gum opium. Dissolve in 52 FAMILY DIRECTORY. four ounces HofQnan's Anodyne tincture. Dose — One teaspoonful in three tablespoonsM of sweetened water — repeat every time the bowels are moved. Dr. Eubini^s Camphor Eemedy. — It is credibly certi- fied that Dr. Eubini of Naples, has cured over five hun- dred cases of Asiatic cholera, without the loss of a single patient, in the following manner : Put the patient to bed and treat according to directions before given — adminis- tering nothing but the strongest spirits of camphor on a lump of sugar, as he says water destroys the effect of camphor. To an adult give four drops on a lump of sugar every five minutes. If the case is severe, give twenty drops every five minutes. If the patient is aged and accus- tomed to spirits, half a teaspoonfal every five minutes. As a preventive, he says: "Let those in health, living in the usual way, take five drops on a lump of sugar three times a day." !tir. B. While there is no cholera prevailing, and may be none, acquaint yourselves thoroughly with the mode of treating it. ACCIDENTS, Etc. Drowned Persons. — In taking them from the water, handle as gently as possible. Never roll on a barrel or hold up by the feet. This practice will destroy instead of restore life. If a house is near, carry immediately to it, and cut the clothing from the body, and wrap in warm blankets, and lay them on the right side, with the head slightly elevated. Then put warm bricks or jugs of hot water to the feet and back. Place the stem of a pipe or tube into one nostril, closing the other and the mouth FAMILY DIRECTORY., 53 tight; blow vigorously into the pipe, and endeavor to inflate the lungs — rub the body at the same time with hot spirits or hot water, or with the hand. Place flannels wrung from hot water on the stomach. Admit plenty of fresh air. If possible, give a warm injection. These efforts should be continued for four or five hours, as per- sons have been restored after this length of time. When they revive, give a little warm brandy and water. SwiMMma. — Be careful where you bathe, as weeds or roots may entangle your feet, and cramp overtake the best swimmers. To save yourself from being drowned when trying to save others, get behind them and catch them between the shoulder and elbow. Frozen, or Stupieied with Cold. — Take the person into a cold room, admit plenty of fresh air, rub with snow, or sponge the body with cold water, then rub with the hand or hot flannel until warmth is restored. Frozen ears and limbs^ should be handled gently, and the cold bathing continued longer than when the whole body is affected. Give warm spirits to revive, and approach the heat gradually. LiGrHTNiNG. — 'Neyev stand, during a thunder-storm, un- der a tree, near a leaden spout, iron gate or pallisade. When stunned by lightning, shower the head freely and use friction over the whole body. Persons on Fire. — To save yourself and extinguish as soon as possible, catch up the first thing you can find, woolen rug or piece of carpet, stretch wide, hold high before you, and place it round the neck in front of the person on fire, lay them down immediately and put out with water, if near, or more clothing. 54 FAMILY DIRECTOEY. BuENS on Scalds. — Cover tlie parts burned with flour or thick batter, spread on a cloth ; keep the outside wet with cold water until the pain ceases, then dress with simple cerate, linseed oil or gympson salve. If there is much inflammation, apply slippery-elm poultices. Cutting an Aetery. — ^Bandage tightly ahove the wound, to stop bleeding, close the wound and apply stick- ing plaster, or a piece of soft, wet leather, or a piece of stiff dough, and bandage tightly ; procure a physician as soon as possible. These directions attended to may save life. Antidotes foe Poisons. — ^If you have swallowed poison by mistake, or taken an over-dose of laudanum, or anything dangerous, mix and swallow immediately a des- sert spoonful of good mustard, in a tumbler of warm water. It acts speedily as an emetic, is always at hand, and may be used in any case with safety. No family should be without it, especially those living in the country. Sweet oil, melted butter or lard, or milk, or white of an eggj may also be taken with good effect. Hydeophobia and Snake Bites. — Bathe the wound constantly with spirits of hartshorn and take three or four doses a day inwardly, diluted. The hartshorn de- composes chemically, the virus, and destroys its deleteri- ous effects. Yarrow, or any bitter herb applied to the wound, and the free use of whisky, is the Indian remedy for snake bites. Hydeophobia. — ^Bathe the wound with warm vinegar and wipe dry, and pour on hydra-chloric acid. Speains. — Hops stewed in vinegar and thickened with bran or Indian meal, applied hot. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 55 Ear Ache. — Drop a few drops of laudanum and sweet oil in the ear, and close with a piece of wool or cotton. If very severe, wring a flannel cloth from hot water and apply over the ear. Sick Head-Ache, or sick stomach, is often relieved by the use of hot lemonade. Soda and magnesia are both valuable for sick or acid stomach. Cancer. — A valuable medical work says : '^ one of the best applications in this disease, is a cranberry poultice. Sheep-sorrel made into a soft pulp is considered a good substitute." Erysipelas. — Purge the bowels freely, then give twen- ty drops tincture of iron every three hours, and apply cranberry poultice as soon as the disease appears. Tetter has been cured by the clear oil off of white lead. Crude petroleum from the well, has also cured se- vere cases. COUGHS, DIPTHERIA, RHEUMATISM, Etc. Couan Syrup i^o. 1. — One ounce boneset, one ounce slippery elm, one ounce stick liquorice, one ounce flax-seed ; simmer together in three pints of water until the strength is all out ; strain carefully, and add one pint of best mo- lasses and half a pound of loaf sugar ; simmer them well together until quite thick, and when cold bottle tight. Dose for grown person, one tablespoonful three times a day, or oftener, if required. Children less. Cough Syrup Ko. 2. — Take equal parts of spignet, comfrey, elecampane, wild cherry bark, and hoarhound ; boil in three pints of water for one hour ; strain, and add two ounces of liquorice and honey, or white sugar, to make 56 FAMILY DIRECTORY. a thick syrup ; boil again half an hour, and bottle for use. This has cured persons supposed to be in consumptictn. Use morning and evening, a glass of milk warm from the cow. A gentleman who has suffered from a cough at night has experienced great relief from eating a piece of raw onion before going to bed. Bronchitis. — Mullen leaves, dried and smoked in a pipe, have cured severe cases. For hoarseness and op- pression of the lungs a few drops of tar dropped on these leaves, or on a coal and smoked, afford great relief. Asthma. — Take printing jpaper, saturate it with strong saltpetre water ,• when dry, burn slowly in your room, with doors shut, inhaling as much of the fumes as possible. This often affords great relief. Bleeding of the Lungs. — Eat salt or dissolve alum in the mouth. Bleeding at the IsTose. — A piece of ice laid upon the wrist, or cold water showered on the same. Scrofula. — Put one ounce of aquafortis in a bowl or saucer, drop into it two copper cents ; when the efferves- cence ceases add two ounces of strong vinegar ; the fluid will be a dark green color. Apply morning and evening with a soft brush. It should and will smart ; if too severe, add a little rain water. Consumption. — Persons inclined to this disease should eat as much fat meat as possible ; also use all the cream they can ; if spirits are used put them in sweetened cream. Inflammations are more readily and agreeably sub- dued with hot than with cold applications. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 57 Croup. — Every family should keep syrup of ipecac, or hive syrup, with proper directions as to quantity to pro- duce vomiting; sponge the breast and throat with cold water; then wrap in flannel. Whatever remedies are used must be promptly applied, as it admits of no delay. DiPTHERiA. — The following recipe is from a physician who says that out of one thousand cases in which it has been used, not a single patient has been lost. The treat- ment consists in thoroughly swabbing the back of the mouth and throat with a wash made thus : Table salt, two drachms ; black pepper, golden seal, nitrate of potash, alum, one drachm each ; mix and pulverize ; put into a teacup, which half fill with boiling water ; stir well ; then fill up with good vinegar ; use every half hour j then, one, two and four hours, as recovery progresses. The patient may swallow a little each time. Apply one ounce each of spirits of turpentine, sweet oil, and aqua ammonia, mixed, to the whole of the throat, and to the breast bone, every four hours, keeping flannel to the parts. Scarlet Fever. — As soon as you know it to be this, rub the whole body morning and evening with fat bacon, slowly and thoroughly ; apply to the throat a poultice of onions, fried in fat; sweet oil and honey simmered to- gether, a teaspoonful at a time, is also good ; gargle the throat, or swab with strong sage tea, with a little sal- ammonia and honey. Measles. — This disease can generally be detected by redness of the eyes, running at the nose, and a hacking cough. Care should be taken that persons with these symptoms should not take cold. Bathe the feet, avoid a current of air, give warm toddy or saffron tea. If there is much cough give freely Cough Syrup No. 1 or Jayne's Expectorant. 58 FAMILY DIRECTORY. WHOOPma Cough.— Clothe your children well, and, if in winter, put flannel next the skin ; rub the throat, breast and spine with equal parts of sweet oil and turpentine 5 give, three or four times a day, a teaspoonful of cough mixture No. 1, or Jayne's Expectorant. Sciatica, or Gout of the Hip. — This distressing disease can be cured in the following manner : Make a bag, a quarter of a yard quare, of double flannel, fill it half full of hops, then throw a gill of ground mustard into a gallon of boiliug water ; wring from this water the hop bag as hot as possible and apply to the part affected, covering with thick flannel to keep in the heat and to pre- vent the clothing from getting wet. Do this as often as it cools, until relieved ; then apply the liniment for neural- gia and rheumatism (on this page) three times a day, rubbing in well. Then take as much quinine as the sys- tem will bear, which should be directed by a physician ; keep the bowels gently open with Eochelle salts ; take a nervine to induce sleep ; avoid opiates as much as possi- ble ; time and patience will accomplish the work. Inflammatory Eheumatism. — A poultice of stewed pumpkin is said to be an infallible remedy for this disease. Change the poultice every half hour. A physician says there may possibly be some virtue in the pumpkin, but thinks any thing that will hold hot water will do as well. The hop bag prescribed for sciatica, when no pumpkins can be had, will be found a good substitute. Liniment for Eheumatism and Neuralgia. — Take two ounces each of organum, spirits turpentine and spirits of ammonia 5 one ounce each of olive oil and laudanum, and half an ounce of pulverized gum camphor ; mix thor- oughly, and apply two or three times a day. This is also an excellent remedy for sprains, etc., in horses. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 59 Toe Kails. — To prevent them from growing into the flesh, drop three or four drops of hot tallow on the nail, close to the part effected ; in paring the nails curve them in the centre. Cramp. — Get upon your feet as soon as possible; if this does not relieve, wrap the limb with a cold wet cloth. Ringworm. — Citron ointment is the best remedy for ringworm or any watery humour. Constipation of the Bowels. — Instead of active purgatives, take a dessert spoonful of flax seed in half a tumbler of water, three times a day, and use a syringe with cold water. This treatment will relieve piles. IiTervous Chills. — ^A jug of hot water, wrapped in a blanket, applied to the feet at night. Dyspepsia. — One teaspoonful of essence of cinnamon before each meal has been known to cure. Hard cider is also a valuable remedy. Coal Oil. — ^A surgeon in the army says that what water is to a wound in an inflamed state, coal oil is in a sup- purating state ; it dispels flies, expels vermin, sweetens the wound, and promotes a healthy granulation. It is also said to be a good exterminator of bed-bugs. Dysentery or Flux. — ^This disease requires different treatment from common diarrhea, and is easily distin- guished, as the passages are smaller and composed of mucous and blood. Small doses of calomel and opium, every three or four hours, as the case indicates, using at the same time injections of flax-seed or slippery elm water, cold, with from six to ten drops of laudanum added, ac- cording to age. At the same time apply to the bowels 60 FAMILY DIRECTORY. flannel cloths wrung from hot water, covering with dry cloths to keep in the heat and prevent the clothing from getting wet. To allay thirst, allow them to dissolve ice gradually in the mouth. No solid food should be eaten. Browned rice, well boiled, thickened milk, or farina eaten with cream and sugar, is the best food. The following recipe has been effectual in advanced and severe cases : Flux or Dysentery. — Take one ounce each of cara- way seed, orange peel and rhubarb, one pint brandy, shake well and let stand twelve hours. Dose for child two years old, one teaspoonful every two hours till relieved ; adult, dessert spoonful. Cure for Felon. — Take half a pint of common soft soap, and stir into it air slaked lime till it is of the consistency of putty ; make a muslin bag, fill it with this composition, and insert the finger, and a cure is certain. This is a domestic application that any house-keeper can apply promptly. The " Journal of Medicine'' gives the following remedy for felons : As soon as the parts begin to swell get the tincture of lobelia, and wrap the part affected with a cloth saturated thoroughly with the tincture, and the felon is dead. An old physician says he has known it to cure in scores of cases, and it never fails if applied in season. The remedy is easy of access, and the cost is trifling. Try it, ye sufferers. Small Pox. — To prevent the face from being marked, just before the eruption appears, rub three or four drops of croton oil on the chest ; this attracts the eruption, and prevents it from injuring the face and eyes. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 61 Tapeworm. — ^Eat freely of slippery elm bark. Pumpkin seeds are saved and sold in Syria on account -of their value in exterminating all kinds of worms. Warts and Corns can be cured by making a salve of gum arable and potasb ; soak and pare them ; apply the salve several nights, and they will soon pull out. To Eemove Freckles. — Take powdered saltpetre and apply it to the parts affected, by the finger, moistened and fepped into the powder. This is the whole proceeding. When properly done and judiciously repeated, it will re- move all the freckles from the face. Nightmare can be much relieved by going to bed supperless, or by taking half a Dover's powder on going to bed, with a jug of hot water to the feet. Frosted Feet. — Bathe with spirits of turpentine be- fore the fire ; then rub with honey. Pile Salve. — Carbonate of lead, half ounce j sulphate of morphia, fifteen grains j stramonium ointment, one ounce; olive oil, twenty drops. Mix and apply three times a day, or as occasion and pain may require. Gympson Salve. — This is valuable for sores and burns. The leaves, when green, are the best application that can be made to old, angry sores, producing suppuration and restoring a healthy condition. The leaves should be rolled and thrown into scalding water, and squeezed out like cabbage leaves, for a blister. Put them on thick and change three times a day. To make the Salve. — Gather half a peck of leaves before frost, chop fine, add to this a pound of fresh lard, 62 FAMILY DIRECTORY. stew in an earthen crock, strain and put away for use. Throw the crock away. Elder-Blossom Sal ye. — Stew the flowers in butter before it has been salted. This is a delicate healing salve for the lips, nose or hands. Sore or Weak Eyes. — Pure salt and water is a good remedy in this disease, for men, women and animals. Miasma. — To prevent fevers and ague in miasmatic localities, build a fire in the common sitting room morn- ing and evening j also avoid going out to work before breakfast. Debility. — There is nothing better as a tonic than pure spirits made very bitter with chamomile flowers. BATHTNa. — ^There is nothing more invigorating than sponging the body every morning, on rising, summer and winter, with cold or tepid water, rubbing the body dry with a coarse towel. This will effectually prevent colds. Sponging the body with tepid salt water, and rubbing dry has been known to cure the dropsy, after tapping had failed. "No one should take a cold bath when very warm, or in the heat of the day. Fresh Air. — There is nothing more conducive to health than pure air and exercise. Food does not become nutri- tive until the lungs are filled with fresh air. Contagious diseases lose half their virulence by well cleaned and ven- tilated rooms. Children. — If you would have them healthy, give them plenty of clothing, plenty of milk, plenty of sleep, plenty of air and exercise } put them to bed early and let them wake themselves. Never urge them to eat what they don't relish. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 63 BiTiNa THE ^AiLS. — Tliis habit in children should be broken up immediately, by dipping the fingers in a solu- tion of aloes, or some other disagreeable substance, as it spoils the nails and injures their health. Teeth. — Parents should see that their children's teeth are removed as soon as loose, to prevent their permanent teeth from coming in crooked. To Whiten the Teeth — Pure charcoal and honey whiten and preserve the teeth from decay, and purify the breath. «^ Inflammation of Throat and Lungs. — There is noth- ing more soothing than slippery elm water, sweetened with honey or white sugar. Add a small piece of ice and lemon. Night Sweats. — Drink cold sage tea, and rub the body with whisky and alum — an ounce to a quart. Hiccups. — This distressing, and sometimes dangerous, affection has been cured by taking occasionally a spoonful of vinegar with as much salt as it would dissolve. FOOD FOR^THE SICK. There is one thing that should never be forgotten by those who have charge of the sick, that life (and the hor- rible suffering of death by starvation) may be saved by injections of beef tea, rice soup, or thickened milk. This subject is too often overlooked by the medical faculty. Where there is swelling or paralysis of the throat, or in severe cases of diptheria, this should never be neglected. Stimulating applications to the stomach often afford great relief where there has been long fasting. 64 FAMILY DIRECTORY. Beef Tea. — Lean beef, sliced. Put a sufficient quan- tity into a porter-bottle to fill up its body, cork it loosely, and place it in a pot of cold water, attaching the neck by means of a string to the handle of the vessel. Boil this for an hour and a half or two hours j then i30ur off the liquor and skim it. ;pANADA. — White bread, one ounce j ground cinnamon, one teaspoonful j water, one pint. Boil them until well mixed, and add a little sugar and nutmeg. Wine or but- ter may be added if desirable. Barley Water. — Pearl barley, two ounces 5 boiling water, two quarts. Boil to one half, and strain. A little lemon-juice and sugar may be added to give the beverage a pleasant flavor. To be freely taken in febrile disorders. Apple W^ater. — Cut two large apples in slices, and l)Our a quart of boiling water on them ; or, pour the same amount of water on roasted apples. In two or three hours strain, and sweeten slightly. Isinglass Jelly. — Isinglass, one roll. Boil in one pint of water until it is dissolved. Strain, and add one l)int of sweet milk. Put it again over the fire, and let it boil up. Toast. — Put a lump of butter in half a pint of cream, and a tablespoontul of white sugar 5 let it come to a boil ; toast two or three slices of dry bread, and pour the cream over it. If sweetening is not liked, omit the sugar. Baked Eice. — Take half a cup of rice well washed, add to this three pints of new or sweet milk, two table- spoonsful of sugar and a little nutmeg 5 put in a deep dish and set in the oven to bake, stirring occasionally until the rice is thoroughly cooked. Eat cold. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 65 Eice browned thoroughly, without scorching, and then well boiled, and eaten with nutmeg and sugar, or cream and sugar, is a very palatable and safe food in case of bowel complaint, and is of itself a remedy. ToinATOES sliced in vinegar, with a little onion, pepper and salt, are often much relished by sick persons. Pickled Pork, parboiled and well broiled, is also palat- able to the sick. Farina, boiled in milk and eaten cold with sweetened cream, flavored with vanilla or lemon, is good for sick or well persons. Diet. — A change of diet is desirable for men and ani- mals, in order to give a relish to what they eat. Every house-keeper should vary her cooking as much as possible, as sameness destroys the appetite. Good living is as important for the growth of children as for animals ; and every farmer knows that animals starved when young seldom recover from it. Chemistry demonstrates that we should make our bread of unbolted flour, as the hull ot the wheat alone, furnishes phosphorous for the develop- ment of brain, and obviates the necessity of using cathar- tics. 6 ADDEI^DA. Marbled Cake. — For the white part, take ten eggs, one cup of butter, two cups white sugar, and one cup of milk, three cups of flour, one teaspoonful cream tartar mixed in the flour, a half teaspoonful soda dissolved in two tablespoon sful of warm water. For the dark part, the yolks of six eggs, one cup of butter, two cuj)s of brown sugar, one cup of molasses, two tablespoousful cinnamon, two tablespoousful of allspice, and two tablespoonsfal of cloves, one teasi30onful black pepper, one nutmeg, four cu|)S of flour, one teaspoonful cream tartar mixed in the flour, half teaspoonful soda dissolved in two tablespoous- ful of warm water. Beat each of these parts until thor- oughly mixed j then drop in your pan alternate spoons- ful of black and white in stripes or rings. Bake care- fully. Jelly Cake is made of any kind of cake, cup or sponge, baked very thin in pans of equal size, and jelly spread between them. You can add as many layers as you choose. Coffee Cake — yery fine. — Two cups of brown sugar, one of butter, four eggs, half a cup of molasses, one cup of strong cofl'ee; beat well together, then add half a pound of raisins, half a pound of currants, well washed and dried, one nutmeg, two teaspoonsful of cinnamon, two of cloves, one ounce of citron, cut fine; two large teaspoonsful of cream tartar, one large teasi)oonful soda, dissolved in half a cup of milk. Mix thoroughly — bake well, and you have a splendid rich cake. FAMILY DIRECTOEY. 67 Floating Island. — Beat the yolks of six eggs with the juice of four lemons — sweeten to your taste ; stir into a quart of boiling milk ; then pour into a dish. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and put on the top. To Preserve Strawberries. — This fruit is too ten- der to can and look well. The best way to keep them is to put three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Weigh your fruit, then select all the larger berries from the smaller and imperfect ones — mash the small ber- ries and add the sugar. Let them boil half an hour, then squeeze through a jelly bag, then boil again, for a few minutes and take off the scum; then add the large ber- ries, being careful not to mash them. Let them boil slowly thirty minutes, skim out carefully and spread on a large, flat dish, pouring back all the juice ; then boil the syrup and skim till reduced to a thick syrup. Put in cans or glass jars heated — pour on the hot syrup and seal. Wheat Flour Blanc Mange. — Beat up six table- spoonsful to a thin paste, with cold milk, and stir it into * a pint of boiling milk. Flavor with lemon peel or peach leaves, boil in the milk ; add a pinch of salt, and cool it in a mould. Philadelphia Ice Cream. — Two quarts of milk (cream when you have it ; j three tablespoonsful of arrowroot, the whites of eight eggs well beaten, one pound of powdered sugar. Boil the milk, thicken it with the arrowroot, add the sugar and pour the whole ui)on the eggs. If you wish it flavored with vanilla, split half a bean, and boil it in the milk. Lemon Sherbet. — Dissolve two pounds of loaf sugar in half a gallon of water ; add the juice of ten lemons ; press the lemons so as to extract not only the juice but 68 FAMILY DIRECTORY. the oil of the rind, and let the skins remain a Trhile in the water and sugar ; strain through a sieve and freeze. French Eolls, or Twists. — One quart of luke-warHi milk, one teaspoonful of salt, a large teacup of home- made yeast, or half as much brewer's yeast, flour enough to make a stiff batter ; set it to rise, and when very light work in one egg and two tablespoonsful of butter. Add flour till stiff enough to roll. Let it rise again, and when very light, roll out, cut in strips and braid it. Bake thirty minutes on buttered tins. Sour Dough. — When a batch of bread is sour, let it stand until it is very light, then work into a portion of it saleratus dissolved in warm water, enough to sweeten it, and a little shortening, and mould it into small biscuits and bake. This is very good, and many persons allow their bread to turn sour for this pur^DOse. Boiled Indian Pudding. — Three pints of milk, ten heaping table spoonsful of sifted Indian meal, half a pint of molasses, two eggs ; scald the meal with the milk, add the molasses and a teaspoonful of salt. Put in the eggs when it is cool enough not to scald them. Put in a table- spoonful of ginger. Tie in a well-floured pudding-bag, allowing three inches room for the swelling of the pud- ding. Some like a little chopped suet added to the above. Boil from four to five hours. Loaf Pudding.— When bread is too stale to eat, put a loaf in a pudding bag and boil it in salted water an hour and a half, and eat it with pudding sauce. (No. 2, on page 10.) Pudding Bag. — K puddings are boiled in bags, they should be dipped in boiling water and rubbed over with flour while hot, before putting in the pudding. A better way is to have a tin bucket with a tight fitting lid, put- FAMILY DIRECTORY. 69 ting a cloth over the bucket before putting on the lid, to absorb the steam. BuRSTED Apple. — Take tart, tender apples, pare, core, and quarter, throw them in cold water. If nearly ready for tea, put a clean skillet with a lid on the fire, with a lump of butter the size of an egg ; let it get as hot as possible without scorching; lift the apples from the water quickly, and put on the lid ; let them remain on a moderate fire until done, stirring them occasionally. Take up and cover with sugar and grated nutmeg. Apples Whole. — Pare and take out the core with an apple corer ; fill the space with sugar and butter, adding a little nutmeg or cinnamon ; bake in an earthen dish. This is very nice for tea. Apple MerinGtUE.— Pare, core and stew 10 tart apples in a very little water ; season as for a pie, and put in a fruit pie dish, into a cool oven. Beat up, meanwhile, the whites of four eggs as you would for icing, piling it on the apple like rocks, or irregular, avoiding the edge of the dish. Return it to a warm oven, and brown macaroni color. Slip all out carefully, by aid of knife or spoon, into a China dish, and serve with cream, which, if you have not, make a custard of the yellows, flavored with essence of Vanilla, &c. Apple Pudding, in Crust. — One and a half pints stewed apples, one tea-cup rich cream, quarter pound but- ter, four eggs, nutmeg, grated lemon skin, sugar to taste. Put in the butter while the apples are hot, the remainder when cool. Dried apples will do. To Stew Pears. — Wash and leave them whole ; add just enough water to cook them tender; when nearly done, add sugar enough to make a rich syrup. 70^ FAMILY DIRECTORY. Cranberry Sauce. — Pick over carefully, and wash ; add a very little water, and let them get half cooked be- fore putting in the sugar, which should be pound for pound. If wanted to take the place of preserves, put, while hot, in tea-cups or bowls. When needed, turn out on a jelly dish. Baked Custard. — Whites and yolks of five eggs, four tablespoonsful flour, one pint milk, salt j beat this light, then bake. Cinnamon Eolls. — rif you have some pastry left when making x)ies, take pieces the size of a walnut, roll out thin, and put a teasi^oonful of cinnamon, butter and sugar, well mixed, in the centre ; roll up and turn up the end slightly to keep the syrup from running out ; then bake a light brown. Cobblers are made of peaches, apples, or any kind of fruit, and are very nice. They are made by putting in twice as much fruit as for ordinary pies, the crust also a little thicker, adding a good sized lump of butter and plenty of sugar, spice to your taste, and bake in a deep dish, to keep from losing the juice. Boiled Rice. — Soak a few hours in salt and water, then boil or steam till thoroughly done. Eat with pud- ding sauce No. 2. Eice is not wholesome unless well cooked. Arrowroot for Children. — A teaspoonful added to a pint of milk, is of great value when children are raised by hand. It will often check diarrhea. Soften the arrowroot with a little water, and stir into the milk when boiling. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 71 Blackberry Syrup. — The follo\Ying is the recipe for makiug the famous blackberry syrup. !N"o family should be Nvithout it. All who try it will find it a sovereign remedy for bowel complaints : "To two quarts blackber- ry juice add half ounce each of powdered nutmeg, cinna- mon and allspice, and quarter ounce powdered cloves. Boil these together to get the strength of the spices, and to preserve the berry juice. While hot, add a pint of fourth proof pure French brandy, and sweeten with loaf sugar. Give a child two teaspoonsful three times a day, and if the disorder is not checked, add to the quantity." Omelet. — Breiik eight or ten eggs into a pan; add pepper, salt, and one spoonful cold water ; beat them up to a stiff froth ; meanwhile, put some butter in a frying- pan, and when it nearly boils put in the eggs. As it fries, take up the edges, that all may be properly done. When cooked, double it ; serve hot. Codfish Balls. — Pick up as fine as possible a tea- cup of nice white codfish. Freshen all night, or if want- ed for any other meal than breakfast, from the morning ; scald it once, and drain off the water ; chop and work it until entirely fine ; put it in a basin with water, a bit of butter the size of an egg, and two eggs ; beat it thorough- ly, and heat it until it thickens, without boiling. It should, when all is mixed, be about a quart. Have some potatoes ready j)repared and nicely mashed; work the fish and potatoes thoroughly together as above, make it in flat cakes, and brown both sides. This is a very nice dish, as all who have tried it allow. Sandwiches. — Spread nice butter over a loaf of fresh bread, then cut it with a sharp knife very thin indeed ; cut a slice of ham or dried beef, put it in the middle, roll 72 FAMILY DIRECTORY. the bread over it, and send to tlie tea-table. These are delicate and convenient for lunch or a pic-nic. To Fry Fresh Fish.— They should never be cooked until well salted for several hours — better over night. When read}' to cook, wash well and wipe dry ; pepper and roll in flour or corn meal; have i)lenty of hot fat; fry slowly a dark brown. Fish should be thoroughly cooked. Fish to Boil. — Prepare as for frying; stuff according to directions given for stuffing ; scav up carefully in a cloth ; boil from half to three quarters of an hour, accord- ing to size, adding salt to the water if not previously well salted. Dress with hard boiled eggs, sliced in drawn butter, or celery sauce. Baked Fish. — Prepare as for frying ; stuff as for boil- ing ; put a tablespoonful of lard in the pan, flour your fish and bake moderately for three-quarters of an hour. Eat with drawn butter flavored with parsley. Salt Fish. — Wash well ; then soak several hours in fresh water — if not liked very salt, soak over night. Mackerel soaked over night, then hung up to dry a few hours and -broiled, and dressed with melted butter, is very nice. Smoked Halibut, sliced like dried beef is very nice for tea, breakfast or lunch. To Stew Chicken. — Cut in small pieces, chopping the breast in two ; add just enough water to cook tender — add pepper, salt, and a lump of butter. When nearly dry, make into a smooth paste a large tablespoonful of flour, stirred into a tea-cup of cream or milk, adding a few sprigs of parsley. FAMILY DIRECTORY. 73 To Fry Chicken. — If your chickens are not very ten- der, stew in a small quantity of water twenty minutes, adding salt and pepper ; when about dry, take up your chicken and roll it in flour, then put a cup of butter or lard on a shallow pan and let it get hot ; then put in your floured chicken, turn and brown nicely. When ready to serve, take up the chicken, dredge a little flour in the pan, adding a cup of milk or cream. Let it simmer a few minutes and take up in a gravy bowl. To Cook Liver. — Slice half an inch thick ; wash and throw into scalding water a few moments ; drain, add pepper and salt and roll in flour ; have a pan ready with hot lard; fry slowly till well done, and brown; if liked with gravy, add a little milk and flour. To Stew a Beef Heart. — Cut in thin slices across the grain — add just enough water to cook done, wi.th half a dozen sliced onions, salt, pepper, and butter to season well. Let it get nearly dry, so that it will brown a little in the gravy. Mutton, pork or veal chops are very nice cooked in this way. Oyster Sauce. — Add a dozen oysters and a large lump of butter to a quart of boiling water, and a few slices of choj)ped celery ,* make into a smooth i)aste, two tablespoonsful of flour ; add this to half a pint of cream, stir in and simmer twenty minutes. To Make and Fry Mush. — Take one gallon of boiling water and a wooden spoon or stick, stir a handful of meal at a time into it, with two tablespoonsful of salt, beating out all the lumps. Mush to fry should be made quite stiff; boil over a slow fire for an hour. When thorough- ly cold, cut in slices half an inch thick, and fry brown in a few spoonsful of sweet lard. Serve hot. 74 FAMILY DIRECTORY. Potatoes to Fry. — Slice potatoes, either cooked or uncooked, very thin ; put a lump of butter, or fresh lard into a hot skillet ; if the potatoes are uncooked, let the fat get quite hot ; lift the potatoes from clean water ; add salt and pepper, and cover quickly with a lid 5 stir and cook till well done. If the potatoes are cooked, add a cup of milk or cream. Serve hot. ]\Iashed Potatoes. — Pare and boil tender, with salt epough to season them j when done, pour off the water. Add a lump of butter, mash well, then add a cup of cream well stirred through. i Bakino or Boiling Potatoes. — Their quality de- pends greatly upon not being over cooked. In boiling, they should be taken from the water as soon as they can be penetrated by a fork 5 steam dry. Drawn Butter. — Stir two teaspoonsful of flour into a quarter of a pound of butter ; add five tablespoonsful of cold water, set it into boiling water and let it melt until it begins to simmer, and it is done. Be careful to have the flour well mashed in the butter. This is a nice dressing for fish, with hard eggs chopped fine, in it. It is also fine for boiled fowls. Parsley gives a fine flavor to soups, stewed chicken, or hashed in gravy for steaks or fish. Celery Sauce. — Take a large bunch of celery, cut it fine, and boil it till soft, in a pint of water ; thicken it with butter and flour, and season it with salt, pepper and mace. Stuffing or Dressing. — Stuffing for poultry is made of bread and butter, an egg, salt, pepper, chopped parsley or thyme, mixed together; if the bread is dry, it should FAMILY DIRECTORY. 75 have a little boiling water poured on it. This dressing is suitable for fowls, fish, veal or lamb, varying the season- ing to suit the taste. Piccalilli, or Mixed Pickle. — Take anything that can be jDickled, such as onions, sliced cucumbers, cab- bage, mangoes, peppers, squashes, small green tomatoes, cauliflowers, martenoes, celery, green beans, nasturtiums, radish-pods, watermelon rinds, small green cucumbers, and Chili peppers. Lay them in salt and water, with enough turmeric to turn them yellow. Let them stand twenty -four hours, stirring frequently; then drain and dry them, and put them into the jars. To every quart of vinegar, allow a tablespoonful of mustard- seed, one of turmeric, a handful of whole black pepper, and one clove of garlic. Spice to your taste with mace, ginger, cloves, red pepper, and horseradish. Boil all but the mustard- seed in a bag in the vinegar. Let the vinegar stand till cold. Boil one dozen eggs quite hard ; mash them in enough sweet oil to make a paste; then stir it in the vinegar, which pour over the pickles. Put one handful of salt in every jar. They should stand three days, well tied up, when they will be fit for use. Pepper Sauce. — Take twenty-five peppers without seeds ; cut them pretty fine ; then take more than double the quantity of cabbage, cut like slaw ; one root horse- radish grated, one handful of salt, a heaping tablespoon- ful each of mustard-seed, ground cloves and allspice. Boil enough vinegar to cover it, and pour over boiling hot, mixing it well through. Universal Picexe. — To three quarts of vinegar, half a pound of salt, one-eighth pound of ginger, half an ounce of mace, one teaspoonful of Cayenne pepper, one ounce of 76 FAMILY DIRECTORY. mustard seed 5 boil these witli the vinegar, and when cold put into a jar. You may put in whatever green fruit or vegetables you choose, from time to time. EaG OR Plum Tomatoes. — To one gallon jar take two tablespoonfuls salt, one black pepper (whole), one cloves do., one of mustard, one red pepper the size of an egg ; mix these together and sprinkle over them, layer by layer, in the jars ; let them stand three or four days, and then pour over boiling vinegar. To Pickle Green Tomatoes.-^ Slice one peck of green tomatoes ; take one gallon of vinegar, six table- spoonfuls of whole cloves, four of allspice, two of salt, one of mace, one of Cayenne pepper j boil the vinegar and spices ten minutes ; put in the tomatoes and boil all together a quarter of an hour longer ; when cold, put in jars. There is no nicer pickle. To Keep Apples and Pears. — Put them in air-tight vessels, and place them in the cellar in a temperature be- tween 32 and 40. In this way, says the " Horticulturist," these fruits may be preserved, in perfect order for eating, all winter. Another ^Yay. — Wrapping each apple or pear in paper, answers well also. Sweet Potatoes. — These are the greatest luxury in the way of vegetables our tables can offer in winter. En- gage a gardener, in whom you have confidence, to bring them at the proper time in a proper state. Let them be put in the garret of a house which has a furnace, in bar- rels or boxes ; let them be uncovered for several days, with a circulation of air constantly kept up. At. the end of four or five days cover them with newspapers, if the FAMILY DIRECTORY. 77 boxes have no covers. I find the temperature best adapted to them is 60. We have them till they come again. Straw-MattinGt may be cleaned with a large coarse cloth dipped in salt and water, and then wiped dry 5 the salt prevents the matting from turning yellow. Silver and Plated Ware should be washed with a sponge and warm soapsuds every day after using, and wiped dry with a clean soft towel. • Fainting. — Keep the head low — apply camphor or volatile salts to the nose ; sprinkle water in the face. Give a little brandy and water. . ' Croup. — Wring a linen cloth — cotton will do, but linen is preferable — out of cold water, fold it so as to make several thicknesses, and place it upon the child's throat and chest, then fold a dry flannel and wrap carefully over it. Warm the child's feet — with hot stones if necessary — and cover with plenty of bed clothes and let it go to sleep ; you cannot i)erceive when it wakes that it has even a cold. It acts like a charm. Bug Poison. — Proof spirit one pint, camphor two ounces, oil of turpentine four ounces, corrosive sublimate one ounce ; mix. To Eemove Marks from a Table. — K a whitish mark is left on a table. by carelessly setting on a pitcher of boiling water or hot dish, pour some lamp oil on the spot, and rub it hard with a soft cloth 5 then pour on a little spirits of wine or cologne water, and rub it dry with another cloth. The white mark will thus disappear, and the table look as well as ever. 78 FAMILY DIRECTORY. Ink Stains. — Oxalic acid, or iodide of potassium will remove them. Wash immediately to prevent rotting the goods. To Keep Hams in Summer. — Take down in the spring before flifes appear ; wrap in thick brown paper ; put in boxes or barrels in a cool, dry place, or hang up in a dark, airy cellar. Watch out for rats. To Eenovate Black Silk. — Sponge on the right side with warm soapsuds and a soft black cloth, and iron on the wrong side while damp. To Eestore Yelyet. — Hold the wrong side over boil- ing water till the nap rises, then turn a hot iron upside down and draw the wrong side over till perfectly dry and smooth. Ceiment for the Tops of Bottles or Jars. — Take equal parts of rosin and brick-dust pounded fine, a lump of beeswax. Stew them together, and keep in an old tin, melting it when you want to seal your bottles or jars. To Stop Cracks in Iron Vessels. — Mix wood ashes and salt into a paste, with a little water j apply them, whether the vessels are cold or hot. Cement. — Three parts ashes, three parts clay, and one part sand, is said to make a cement as hard as marble, and impervious to water. EcoNOi^ncAL Paint. — Skim milk two quarts, fresh slacked lime eight ounces, linseed oil six ounces, white Burgundy pitch two ounces, Spanish white three pounds. The lime to be slacked in water, exposed to the air, mix- i ed in one-fourth of the milk ; the oil in which the pitch is previously dissolved, to be added a little at a time 5 FAMILY DIRECTORY. 79 then the rest of the milk, and afterwards the Spanish white. This quantity is sufficient for 27 square yards, two coats, and the expense not more than 25 cents. PAiNTma A EooM. — Get a painter to mix the quantity of paint required. Have the surface you intend painting thoroughly cleansed from grease or spots j stir the paint well, and you can proceed. There is very little labor in this, and often may be done to advantage by a woman. If much of a job is undertaken, it is needful to have oil and turpentine added. Hair Eene^ver. — Everybody should know that the best thing yet discovered for restoring gray hair to its original color, rendering it soft and pliable, is Hall's Sicilian Vegetable Hair Eenewer. Beds and Bedding. — I have seen families who seem to have most of the comforts of life, who had meager, sunken, uncomfortable beds. If straw was expensive it might be excused. Any kind of a tick, if clean, weU filled with good oat straw, makes a good bed for summer, and a fine foundation for a feather bed in winter. Many families are scant of bed-clothing because the;y sit idle and say it don't pay to piece up old calico into comforts ; while the good housewife does it, and finds these old com- forts lasting six or eight years. Directions about Coloring. — ^Always use clean por- celain, tin, brass or copper kettles ; goods always appear darker when wet. Hold up to the light and look through them. That will generally give you the true color. To be certain, you had better dry a snjall piece with a hot iron. Always try a* small piece of the same goods before you put in your garment. Have plenty of water to stir 80 FAMILY DIRECTORY. your goods in, as that will not affect the color. The goods will absorb all the dye if left in long enough. ISTever have your kettle over a very hot fire. No goods should be boiled hard ; lift and stir often with a smooth stick. Cotton goods will not color any shade of red well. Yellow, orange, brown and black are best for cottons — using the following preparation for all excepting that colored with annatto, which does not need any prepara- tion. To Prepare Cotton Goods for Coloring.— Take a handful of slacked lime, add this to two or three pails- ful of water, stir, put in the goods, handle occasionally, and in about two hours take out the goods, pour off the clear liquor from the lime into another vessel, add to this clear liquor two quarts of milk (if for a Ml dress), put back the goods into this lime water and milk, heat to hand heat, handle the goods in this one half hour, take off the fire, and let the goods steep in this one night, or four or five hours during the day, handling occasion- ally J take out, rinse lightly, hang up to dry, and when dry they are ready to dye. How TO HAVE Good Servants. — K you want attach- ed servants, be an attached mistress. Let your thought- fulness show itself in little things. Speak courteously, not curtly. Spare them trouble, and thank them for the courtesy they show to you. Be considerate, but not in- trusive. Recognize the fact that servants must have in- terests of their own, some occupation which affords a relief from the constant strain of service j and do not pry too closely into their concerns, or arrange too mi- nutely the order in which they are to get through their business. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 184 165 8 ^