ise not my good counsel."

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS

FOR THE USE OF THE

MISTRESS OF A FAMILY.

The mistress of a family should always remember that the welfare and
good management of the house depend on the eye of the superior, and,
consequently, that nothing is too trifling for her notice, whereby waste
may be avoided.

Many families have owed their prosperity full as much to the conduct and
propriety of female arrangement, as to the knowledge and activity of the
father.

All things likely to be wanted should be in readiness,--sugars of
different qualities should be broken; currants washed, picked and dry in
a jar; spice pounded, &c. Every article should be kept in that place
best suited to it, as much waste may thereby be avoided. Vegetables
will keep best on a stone floor if the air be excluded. Dried meats,
hams, &c., the same. All sorts of seeds for puddings, rice, &c., should
be close-covered, to preserve from insects. Flour should be kept in a
cool, perfectly dry room, and the bag being tied should be changed
upside down and back every week, and well shaken. Carrots, parsnips, and
beet-roots should be kept in sand for winter use, and neither they nor
potatoes be cleared from the earth. Store onions preserve best hung up
in a dry room. Straw to lay apples on should be quite dry, to prevent a
musty taste. Tarragon gives the flavor of French cookery, and in high
gravies should be added only a short time before serving.

Basil, savory, and knotted marjoram, or London thyme, to be used when
herbs are ordered; but with discretion, as they are very pungent.

Celery seeds give the flavor of the plant to soups. Parsley should be
cut close to the stalks, and dried on tins in a very cool oven; it
preserves its flavor and color, and is very useful in winter. Artichoke
bottoms, which have been slowly dried, should be kept in paper bags, and
truffles, lemon-peel, &c., in a very dry place, ticketed.

Pickles and sweetmeats should be preserved from air: where the former
are much used, small jars of each should be taken from the stock-jar, to
prevent frequent opening.

Some of the lemons and oranges used for juice should be pared first, to
preserve the peel dry; some should be halved, and, when squeezed, the
pulp cut out, and the outsides dried for grating.

If for boiling any liquid, the first way is best. When whites of eggs
are used for jelly, or other purposes, contrive to have pudding,
custards, &c., to em