More Kitchen Reading
Here are some more great gems for some good reading on old-fashioned living:
Rules for Washing Dishes:
Collect the knives, forks and spoons. Scrape the dishes, rinse the cups and
soak in cold water. Any dishes that have eggs or dough adhering to them
should first be soaked in cold water. Stack the dishes neatly where they are
to be washed; have the dishpan half full of hot soapy water, and the drainer
near. Wash the glasses first, one piece at a time and wipe instantly. Wash
the silver, and wipe at once without rinsing. Then wash the china, taking
the less soiled dishes first --- cups, saucers, pitchers, plates and so on.
Place the dishes on the drainer so that they may be scalded inside and
outside. scald with hot soapy water and wipe immediately. Glass and silver,
in fact, all kinds of dishes, look brighter and better if wiped from hot and
slightly soapy water than if clear water were used. Use a soap strainer or
keep the soap in a cup and pour the water over it. Steel knives and forks
should never be placed in the dish water. Keep them in the hand and wash the
handles with the dishcloth, wash the blades, scour if needed, then wash
again and wipe at once.
To wash bright tin ware ---
Use clean, hot soapy water with as much care as if the tin ware were silver.
Do not forget to clean the grooves and seams. Greasy iron ware should be
wiped out first with soft paper to absorb the grease, then washed in
scalding hot suds and wiped dry, not with a dishcloth but with a towel. Luke
warm or greasy water, or wet wiping towels or a dishcloth used instead of
the towel for wiping, should never, under any circumstances, be allowed in
cleaning dishes.
When all are wiped, see that your hands are dry, then put all things of a
kind together and distribute to their proper places. Wash the basin, the
dipper, the soap dish, the dishpan, and the sink with clean hot suds; then
take clean water and soap and wash the towels and dishcloths; rinse in cold
water, wring them and shake them out and thoroughly and hang them up to dry.
If towels are only slightly wet and not soiled, they must be washed just the
same, and never allowed to dry with the dishwater or rinse water in them.
When Glass Tumblers Stick Together:
If this happens, you may break them, even cut yourself, if you struggle with
them. Instead, place the bottom glass in hot water and fill the top glass
with cold water. They will separate like the black sheep and the white on
the day of judgment.
Pearls in Dishwater:
"This is from Mary Melendy's book Vivilore and which I was fortunate enough
to borrow." So wrote Grandmother Lyon in her scrapbook as an introduction to
the following:
"It is possible to find rare jewels where least expected. Dishwashing, when
made a fine art, may be relied on to furnish its share of 'pearls' in the
form of satisfaction, even to the extent of improving, rather than injuring
the hands. To find these pearls in dishwater, first have ready a
'big-headed,' long-handled dishmop; next three pans; one for suds, one for
clear hot water rinsing, one for draining, unless you have a good
drainboard. Renew both suds and rinsing water often -- after glassware;
after silver; after fine tableware; after coarse tableware; and halfway
through pots and pans.
"When the dishwashing is completed, wash the hands in warm or tepid, but not
hot water, with pure soap; rinse them in water of the same temperature, and
dry gently, rubbing them over with cornmeal after they are thoroughly clean
and dry. A dish of cornmeal for this use should stand near the sink as
convenient as the soap. Use plenty of soap, water, and dishmop and most of
the work will be taken out of your hands.' They will be in water only often
enough to soften and whiten them; and after dishwashing is just the time to
manicure the nails because the skin around them will be soft and easily
pushed back."
Corn Meal to Remove Grease:
Some housewives prefer to use crumpled pages of newspapers to get rid of
grease in pots and pans, lard bucket, and slop pail. Be sure the grease is
soft, and then toss heaping spoonful of cornmeal into vessel It does an
amazingly good clean-up job.
A large boiler of warm, soft water should always be kept over the fire, well
covered, and a hearth broom should always be handy near the fireplace.
A clock is a very important article in the kitchen, in order to secure
regularity at meals.
Less Wrestling with Pots and Pans
If you pour hot water into pots, pans, and kettles as soon as they are
emptied, they will --- by dishwashing time --- be so thoroughly soaked that
they will wash easily.
Glass Jars or Glasses, To Resist Boiling Water Cracks
They will not be cracked by heat when boiling or very hot liquids are poured
into them if you put silver spoons into them before you add hot liquids.
From: Grandmother's Household Hints --- As Good Today as Yesterday --- by
Helen Lyon Adamson
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