The Housewife's Exchange by E. E. K.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 22, 1914

The Housewife's Exchange

By E. E. K.

To Remove Mildew

To two quarts of warm water add one tablespoonful of chloride of lime and one teaspoonful of oxalic acid crystals. Stir until dissolved. Strain, and dip the mildewed garment into the solution. The stains may disappear immediately, or they may require soaking for a few moments. Put into fresh, clean water and rinse several times.

Gravies and Sauces

Gravies, sauces, and similar foods thickened with flour, are among the most common of the poorly prepared articles of the cuisine, although their proper preparation is a matter of considerable importance, since neither a thin, watery gravy nor a stiff, pastelike mixture is at all palatable. Their preparation is a very simple matter when governed by that accuracy of measurement and carefulness of details which should be exercised in the preparation of all foods.

In thickness, a properly made sauce should mask the back of the spoon; that is to say, when dipped into the mixture and lifted out, the metal of the spoon should not be visible. The proportion of material necessary to secure this requisite, is one teaspoonful of flour, rather more than level, for each half pint of water or stock. If milk be used, a trifle less flour will be needed.

For thickening soups, which should be of a much thinner consistency than gravies, one tablespoonful of flour to a quart of liquid is about the correct proportion. The flour in all cases must be first braided, or rubbed perfectly smooth in a very small amount of the liquid reserved for the purpose (salt, if any is to be used, being added to the flour before braiding with the liquid), and then carefully added to the remaining liquid, which should be at boiling temperature. It should then be continuously stirred until it has thickened. If through any negligence to observe carefully these simple details, there should appear lumps in the sauce, they should be removed before serving, by rubbing the whole through a wire strainer.

The double boiler is the utensil par excellence for the preparation of gravies and sauces, since it renders them less liable to become scorched, and facilitates even cooking.

Cream gravies for vegetables and toasts may be delicately flavored with celery, by steeping a few stalks of celery in the milk for a few minutes, and removing them with a skimmer before adding the thickening. Sauces for puddings may be similarly flavored, by steeping coconut or bits of lemon or orange rind in the milk.—E. E. K., in Home and School.