The American Frugal Housewife written by Lydia M. Child
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Lydia M. Child >> The American Frugal Housewife
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10 THE AMERICAN FRUGAL HOUSEWIFE.
by
MRS. CHILD,
Author of "Hobomok," "The Mother's Book," Editor of the "Juvenile
Miscellany," &c.
1832
DEDICATED TO
THOSE WHO ARE NOT ASHAMED OF ECONOMY.
A fat kitchen maketh a lean will.--FRANKLIN.
"Economy is a poor man's revenue; extravagance a rich man's ruin."
[Illustration: MUTTON.
1. Leg.
2. Loin, best end.
3. Do. Chump do.
4. Neck, best do.
5. Do Scrag do.
6. Shoulder.
7. Breast.
Saddle, 2 Loins.]
[Illustration: PORK.
1. The Sperib.
2. Hand.
3. Belly, or Spring.
4. Fore Loin.
5. Hind do.
6. Leg.]
[Illustration: VEAL.
1. Loin, best end
2. Do Chump do
3. Fillet.
4. Knuckle, hind.
5. Do. fore.
6. Neck, best end.
7. Do. scrag do.
8. Blade Bone.
9. Breast, best end.
10. Do. Brisket.]
[Illustration: BEEF.
Hind Quarter.
1. Sir Loin.
2. Rump.
3. Aitch Bone.
4. Buttock.
5. Mouse do.
6. Veiny piece.
7. Thick Flank.
8. Thin do.
9. Leg.
Fore Quarter.
10. Fore Rib, 5 Ribs.
11. Middle do 4 do.
12. Chuck, 3 do.
13. Shoulder, or Leg Mutton piece.
14. Brisket.
15. Clod.
16. Neck, or Sticking piece.
17. Shin.
18. Cheek.]
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
ODD SCRAPS FOR THE ECONOMICAL.
SOAP.
SIMPLE REMEDIES.
GRUEL.
EGG GRUEL.
ARROW-ROOT JELLY.
CALF'S FOOT JELLY.
TAPIOCA JELLY.
SAGO JELLY.
BEEF TEA.
WINE WHEY.
APPLE WATER.
MILK PORRIDGE.
STEWED PRUNES.
VEGETABLES.
HERBS.
CHEAP DYE-STUFFS.
MEAT CORNED, OR SALTED, HAMS, &c.
CHOICE OF MEAT.
COMMON COOKING.
VEAL.
CALF'S HEAD.
BEEF.
ALAMODE BEEF.
MUTTON AND LAMB.
PORK.
ROAST PIG.
SAUSAGES.
MINCE MEAT.
BEANS AND PEAS.
SOUSE.
TRIPE.
GRAVY.
POULTRY.
FRICASSEED CHICKEN, BROWN.
FRICASSEED CHICKEN, WHITE.
TO CURRY FOWL.
CHICKEN BROTH.
FISH.
PUDDINGS.
BAKED INDIAN PUDDING.
BOILED INDIAN PUDDING.
FLOUR OR BATTER PUDDING.
BREAD PUDDING.
RENNET PUDDING.
CUSTARD PUDDINGS.
RICE PUDDINGS.
BIRD'S NEST PUDDING.
APPLE PUDDING.
CHERRY PUDDING.
CRANBERRY PUDDING.
WHORTLEBERRY PUDDING.
PLUM PUDDING.
HASTY PUDDING.
CHEAP CUSTARDS.
COMMON PIES.
MINCE PIES.
PUMPKIN AND SQUASH PIE.
CARROT PIE.
CHERRY PIE.
WHORTLEBERRY PIE.
APPLE PIE.
CUSTARD PIE.
CRANBERRY PIE.
RHUBARB STALKS, OR PERSIAN APPLE.
PIE CRUST.
COMMON CAKES.
GINGERBREAD.
CUP CAKE.
TEA CAKE.
CIDER CAKE.
ELECTION CAKE.
SPONGE CAKE.
WEDDING CAKE.
LOAF CAKE.
CARAWAY CAKES.
DOUGH-NUTS.
PANCAKES.
FRITTERS.
SHORT CAKE.
INDIAN CAKE.
BREAD, YEAST, &c.
PRESERVES, &c.
CURRANT JELLY.
CURRANT WINE.
RASPBERRY SHRUB.
COFFEE.
CHOCOLATE.
TEA.
PICKLES.
BEER.
GENERAL MAXIMS FOR HEALTH.
HINTS TO PERSONS OF MODERATE FORTUNE
[FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE MASSACHUSETTS JOURNAL.]
FURNITURE.
EDUCATION OF DAUGHTERS.
TRAVELLING AND PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS.
PHILOSOPHY AND CONSISTENCY.
REASONS FOR HARD TIMES.
HOW TO ENDURE POVERTY.
APPENDIX
TO THE
AMERICAN FRUGAL HOUSEWIFE.
CARVING.
INDEX.
APPENDIX.
It has become necessary to change the title of this work
to the "_American_ Frugal Housewife," because there is an
_English_ work of the same name, not adapted to the wants of
this country.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all
the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of _time_,
as well as _materials_. Nothing should be thrown away so long as it
is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be;
and whatever be the size of a family, every member should be employed
either in earning or saving money.
'Time is money.' For this reason, cheap as stockings are, it is good
economy to knit them. Cotton and woollen yarn are both cheap; hose
that are knit wear twice as long as woven ones; and they can be done
at odd minutes of time, which would not be otherwise employed. Where
there are children, or aged people, it is sufficient to recommend
knitting, that it is an _employment_.
In this point of view, patchwork is good economy. It is indeed
a foolish waste of time to tear cloth into bits for the sake of
arranging it anew in fantastic figures; but a large family may be kept
out of idleness, and a few shillings saved, by thus using scraps of
gowns, curtains, &c.
In the country, where grain is raised, it is a good plan to teach
children to prepare and braid straw for their own bonnets, and their
brothers' hats.
Where turkeys and geese are kept, handsome feather fans may as well be
made by the younger members of a family, as to be bought. The sooner
children are taught to turn their faculties to some account, the
better for them and for their parents.
In this country, we are apt to let children romp away their existence,
till they get to be thirteen or fourteen. This is not well. It is not
well for the purses and patience of parents; and it has a still worse
effect on the morals and habits of the children. _Begin early_ is the
great maxim for everything in education. A child of six years old can
be made useful; and should be taught to consider every day lost in
which some little thing has not been done to assist others.
Children can very early be taught to take all the care of their own
clothes.
They can knit garters, suspenders, and stockings; they can make
patchwork and braid straw; they can make mats for the table, and mats
for the floor; they can weed the garden, and pick cranberries from the
meadow, to be carried to market.
Provided brothers and sisters go together, and are not allowed to go
with bad children, it is a great deal better for the boys and girls
on a farm to be picking blackberries at six cents a quart, than to be
wearing out their clothes in useless play. They enjoy themselves just
as well; and they are earning something to buy clothes, at the same
time they are tearing them.
It is wise to keep an exact account of all you expend--even of a
paper of pins. This answers two purposes; it makes you more careful in
spending money, and it enables your husband to judge precisely whether
his family live within his income. No false pride, or foolish ambition
to appear as well as others, should ever induce a person to live one
cent beyond the income of which he is certain. If you have two dollars
a day, let nothing but sickness induce you to spend more than nine
shillings; if you have one dollar a day, do not spend but seventy-five
cents; if you have half a dollar a day, be satisfied to spend forty
cents.
To associate with influential and genteel people with an appearance of
equality, unquestionably has its advantages; particularly where there
is a family of sons and daughters just coming upon the theatre of
life; but, like all other external advantages, these have their proper
price, and may be bought too dearly. They who never reserve a cent
of their income, with which to meet any unforeseen calamity, 'pay too
dear for the whistle,' whatever temporary benefits they may derive
from society. Self-denial, in proportion to the narrowness of your
income, will eventually be the happiest and most respectable course
for you and yours. If you are prosperous, perseverance and industry
will not fail to place you in such a situation as your ambition
covets; and if you are not prosperous, it will be well for your
children that they have not been educated to higher hopes than they
will ever realize.
If you are about to furnish a house, do not spend all your money,
be it much or little. Do not let the beauty of this thing, and the
cheapness of that, tempt you to buy unnecessary articles. Doctor
Franklin's maxim was a wise one, 'Nothing is cheap that we do not
want.' Buy merely enough to get along with at first. It is only by
experience that you can tell what will be the wants of your family. If
you spend all your money, you will find you have purchased many things
you do not want, and have no means left to get many things which you
do want. If you have enough, and more than enough, to get everything
suitable to your situation, do not think you must spend it all, merely
because you happen to have it. Begin humbly. As riches increase, it
is easy and pleasant to increase in hospitality and splendour; but
it is always painful and inconvenient to decrease. After all, these
things are viewed in their proper light by the truly judicious and
respectable. Neatness, tastefulness, and good sense, may be shown in
the management of a small household, and the arrangement of a little
furniture, as well as upon a larger scale; and these qualities are
always praised, and always treated with respect and attention. The
consideration which many purchase by living beyond their income, and
of course living upon others, is not worth the trouble it costs.
The glare there is about this false and wicked parade is deceptive;
it does not in fact procure a man valuable friends, or extensive
influence. More than that, it is wrong--morally wrong, so far as
the individual is concerned; and injurious beyond calculation to
the interests of our country. To what are the increasing beggary and
discouraged exertions of the present period owing? A multitude of
causes have no doubt tended to increase the evil; but the root of the
whole matter is the extravagance of all classes of people. We never
shall be prosperous till we make pride and vanity yield to the
dictates of honesty and prudence! We never shall be free from
embarrassment until we cease to be ashamed of industry and economy.
Let women do their share towards reformation--Let their fathers
and husbands see them happy without finery; and if their husbands
and fathers have (as is often the case) a foolish pride in seeing
them decorated, let them gently and gradually check this feeling,
by showing that they have better and surer means of commanding
respect--Let them prove, by the exertion of ingenuity and economy,
that neatness, good taste, and gentility, are attainable without great
expense.
The writer has no apology to offer for this cheap little book of
economical hints, except her deep conviction that such a book is
needed. In this case, renown is out of the question, and ridicule is a
matter of indifference.
The information conveyed is of a common kind; but it is such as the
majority of young housekeepers do not possess, and such as they
cannot obtain from cookery books. Books of this kind have usually
been written for the wealthy: I have written for the poor. I have said
nothing about _rich_ cooking; those who can afford to be epicures
will find the best of information in the 'Seventy-five Receipts.'
I have attempted to teach how money can be _saved_, not how it can
be _enjoyed_. If any persons think some of the maxims too rigidly
economical, let them inquire how the largest fortunes among us have
been made. They will find thousands and millions have been accumulated
by a scrupulous attention to sums 'infinitely more minute than sixty
cents.'
In early childhood, you lay the foundation of poverty or riches, in
the habits you give your children. Teach them to save everything,--not
for their _own_ use, for that would make them selfish--but for _some_
use. Teach them to _share_ everything with their playmates; but never
allow them to _destroy_ anything.
I once visited a family where the most exact economy was observed; yet
nothing was mean or uncomfortable. It is the character of true economy
to be as comfortable and genteel with a little, as others can be with
much. In this family, when the father brought home a package, the
older children would, of their own accord, put away the paper and
twine neatly, instead of throwing them in the fire, or tearing
them to pieces. If the little ones wanted a piece of twine to play
scratch-cradle, or spin a top, there it was, in readiness; and when
they threw it upon the floor, the older children had no need to be
told to put it again in its place.
The other day, I heard a mechanic say, 'I have a wife and two little
children; we live in a very small house; but, to save my life, I
cannot spend less than twelve hundred a year.' Another replied,
'You are not economical; I spend but eight hundred.' I thought to
myself,--'Neither of you pick up your twine and paper.' A third one,
who was present, was silent; but after they were gone, he said, 'I
keep house, and comfortably too, with a wife and children, for six
hundred a year; but I suppose they would have thought me mean, if I
had told them so.' I did not think him mean; it merely occurred to me
that his wife and children were in the habit of picking up paper and
twine.
Economy is generally despised as a low virtue, tending to make people
ungenerous and selfish. This is true of avarice; but it is not so
of economy. The man who is economical, is laying up for himself the
permanent power of being useful and generous. He who thoughtlessly
gives away ten dollars, when he owes a hundred more than he can pay,
deserves no praise,--he obeys a sudden impulse, more like instinct
than reason: it would be real charity to check this feeling; because
the good he does maybe doubtful, while the injury he does his family
and creditors is certain. True economy is a careful treasurer in the
service of benevolence; and where they are united respectability,
prosperity and peace will follow.
* * * * *
ODD SCRAPS FOR THE ECONOMICAL.
If you would avoid waste in your family, attend to the following
rules, and do not despise them because they appear so unimportant:
'many a little makes a mickle.'
Look frequently to the pails, to see that nothing is thrown to the
pigs which should have been in the grease-pot.
Look to the grease-pot, and see that nothing is there which might have
served to nourish your own family, or a poorer one.
See that the beef and pork are always _under_ brine; and that the
brine is sweet and clean.
Count towels, sheets, spoons, &c. occasionally; that those who use
them may not become careless.
See that the vegetables are neither sprouting nor decaying: if they
are so, remove them to a drier place, and spread them.
Examine preserves, to see that they are not contracting mould; and
your pickles, to see that they are not growing soft and tasteless.
As far as it is possible, have bits of bread eaten up before they
become hard. Spread those that are not eaten, and let them dry, to be
pounded for puddings, or soaked for brewis. Brewis is made of crusts
and dry pieces of bread, soaked a good while in hot milk, mashed up,
and salted, and buttered like toast. Above all, do not let crusts
accumulate in such quantities that they cannot be used. With proper
care, there is no need of losing a particle of bread, even in the
hottest weather.
Attend to all the mending in the house, once a week, if possible.
Never put out sewing. If it be impossible to do it in your own family,
hire some one into the house, and work with them.
Make your own bread and cake. Some people think it is just as cheap
to buy of the baker and confectioner; but it is not half as cheap.
True, it is more convenient; and therefore the rich are justifiable
in employing them; but those who are under the necessity of being
economical, should make convenience a secondary object. In the first
place, confectioners make their cake richer than people of moderate
income can afford to make it; in the next place, your domestic, or
yourself, may just as well employ your own time, as to pay them for
theirs.
When ivory-handled knives turn yellow, rub them with nice sand paper,
or emery; it will take off the spots, and restore their whiteness.
When a carpet is faded, I have been told that it may be restored, in
a great measure, (provided there be no grease in it,) by being dipped
into strong salt and water. I never tried this; but I know that silk
pocket handkerchiefs, and deep blue factory cotton will not fade, if
dipped in salt and water while new.
An ox's gall will set any color,--silk, cotton, or woollen. I have
seen the colors of calico, which faded at one washing, fixed by it.
Where one lives near a slaughterhouse, it is worth while to buy cheap,
fading goods, and set them in this way. The gall can be bought for a
few cents. Get out all the liquid, and cork it up in a large phial.
One large spoonful of this in a gallon of warm water is sufficient.
This is likewise excellent for taking out spots from bombazine,
bombazet, &c. After being washed in this, they look about as well as
when new. It must be thoroughly stirred into the water, and not put
upon the cloth. It is used without soap. After being washed in this,
cloth which you want to _clean_ should be washed in warm suds, without
using soap.
Tortoise shell and horn combs last much longer for having oil rubbed
into them once in a while.
Indian meal and rye meal are in danger of fermenting in summer;
particularly Indian. They should be kept in a cool place, and stirred
open to the air, once in a while. A large stone, put in the middle of
a barrel of meal, is a good thing to keep it cool.
The covering of oil-flasks, sewed together with strong thread, and
lined and bound neatly, makes useful tablemats.
A warming-pan full of coals, or a shovel of coals, held over varnished
furniture, will take out white spots. Care should be taken not to hold
the coals near enough to scorch; and the place should be rubbed with
flannel while warm.
Spots in furniture may usually be cleansed by rubbing them quick and
hard, with a flannel wet with the same thing which took out the color;
if rum, wet the cloth with rum, &c. The very best restorative for
defaced varnished furniture, is rotten-stone pulverized, and rubbed on
with linseed oil.
Sal-volatile, or hartshorn, will restore colors taken out by acid. It
may be dropped upon any garment without doing harm.
Spirits of turpentine is good to take grease-spots out of woollen
clothes; to take spots of paint, &c., from mahogany furniture; and
to cleanse white kid gloves. Cockroaches, and all vermin, have an
aversion to spirits of turpentine.
An ounce of quicksilver, beat up with the white of two eggs, and put
on with a feather, is the cleanest and surest bed-bug poison. What
is left should be thrown away: it is dangerous to have it about
the house. If the vermin are in your walls, fill up the cracks with
_verdigris_-green paint.[1]
[Footnote 1: There are two kinds of green paint; one is of no use in
destroying insects.]
Lamps will have a less disagreeable smell if you dip your wick-yarn in
strong hot vinegar, and dry it.
Those who make candles will find it a great improvement to steep the
wicks in lime-water and saltpetre, and dry them. The flame is clearer,
and the tallow will not '_run_.'
Britannia Ware should be first rubbed gently with a woollen cloth and
sweet oil; then washed in warm suds, and rubbed with soft leather and
whiting. Thus treated, it will retain its beauty to the last.
Eggs will keep almost any length of time in lime-water properly
prepared. One pint of coarse salt, and one pint of unslacked lime, to
a pailful of water. If there be too much lime, it will eat the shells
from the eggs; and if there be a single egg cracked, it will spoil
the whole. They should be covered with lime-water, and kept in a cold
place. The yolk becomes slightly red; but I have seen eggs, thus kept,
perfectly sweet and fresh at the end of three years. The cheapest
time to lay down eggs, is early in spring, and the middle and last
of September. It is bad economy to buy eggs by the dozen, as you want
them.
New iron should be very gradually heated at first. After it has become
inured to the heat, it is not as likely to crack.
It is a good plan to put new earthen ware into cold water, and let it
heat gradually, until it boils,--then cool again. Brown earthen ware,
in particular, may be toughened in this way. A handful of rye, or
wheat, bran, thrown in while it is boiling, will preserve the glazing,
so that it will not be destroyed by acid or salt.
Clean a brass kettle, before using it for cooking, with salt and
vinegar.
Skim-milk and water, with a bit of glue in it, heated scalding hot, is
excellent to restore old, rusty, black Italian crape. If clapped and
pulled dry, like nice muslin, it will look as well, or better, than
when new.
Wash-leather gloves should be washed in clean suds, scarcely warm.
The oftener carpets are shaken, the longer they wear; the dirt that
collects under them, grinds out the threads.
Do not have carpets swept any oftener than is absolutely necessary.
After dinner, sweep the crumbs into a dusting-pan with your
hearth-brush; and if you have been sewing, pick up the shreds by hand.
A carpet can be kept very neat in this way; and a broom wears it very
much.
Buy your woollen yarn in quantities from some one in the country, whom
you can trust. The thread-stores make profits upon it, of course.
It is not well to clean brass andirons, handles, &c. with vinegar.
It makes them very clean at first; but they soon spot and tarnish.
Rotten-stone and oil are proper materials for cleaning brasses. If
wiped every morning with flannel and New England rum, they will not
need to be cleaned half as often.
If you happen to live in a house which has marble fire-places, never
wash them with suds; this destroys the polish, in time. They should be
dusted; the spots taken off with a nice oiled cloth, and then rubbed
dry with a soft rag.
Feathers should be very thoroughly dried before they are used. For
this reason they should not be packed away in bags, when they are
first plucked. They should be laid lightly in a basket, or something
of that kind, and stirred up often. The garret is the best place to
dry them; because they will there be kept free from dirt and moisture;
and will be in no danger of being blown away. It is well to put the
parcels, which you may have from time to time, into the oven, after
you have removed your bread, and let them stand a day.
If feather-beds smell badly, or become heavy, from want of proper
preservation of the feathers, or from old age, empty them, and wash
the feathers thoroughly in a tub of suds; spread them in your garret
to dry, and they will be as light and as good as new.
New England rum, constantly used to wash the hair, keeps it very
clean, and free from disease, and promotes its growth a great deal
more than Macassar oil. Brandy is very strengthening to the roots of
the hair; but it has a hot, drying tendency, which N.E. rum has not.
If you wish to preserve fine teeth, always clean them thoroughly after
you have eaten your last meal at night.
Rags should never be thrown away because they are dirty. Mop-rags,
lamp-rags, &c. should be washed, dried, and put in the rag-bag. There
is no need of expending soap upon them: boil them out in dirty suds,
after you have done washing.
Linen rags should be carefully saved; for they are extremely useful in
sickness. If they have become dirty and worn by cleaning silver, &c.,
wash them, and scrape them into lint.
After old coats, pantaloons, &c. have been cut up for boys, and are no
longer capable of being converted into garments, cut them into strips,
and employ the leisure moments of children, or domestics, in sewing
and braiding them for door-mats.
If you are troubled to get soft water for washing, fill a tub or
barrel half full of ashes, and fill it up with water, so that you may
have lye whenever you want it. A gallon of strong lye put into a great
kettle of hard water will make it as soft as rain water. Some people
use pearlash, or potash; but this costs something, and is very apt to
injure the texture of the cloth.
If you have a strip of land, do not throw away suds. Both ashes and
suds are good manure for bushes and young plants.
When a white Navarino bonnet becomes soiled, rip it in pieces, and
wash it with a sponge and soft water. While it is yet damp, wash it
two or three times with a clean sponge dipped into a strong saffron
tea, nicely strained. Repeat this till the bonnet is as dark a straw
color as you wish. Press it on the wrong side with a warm iron, and it
will look like a new Leghorn.
About the last of May, or the first of June, the little millers, which
lay moth-eggs begin to appear. Therefore brush all your woollens, and
pack them away in a dark place covered with linen. Pepper, red-cedar
chips, tobacco,--indeed, almost any strong spicy smell,--is good to
keep moths out of your chests and drawers. But nothing is so good as
camphor. Sprinkle your woollens with camphorated spirit, and scatter
pieces of camphor-gum among them, and you will never be troubled with
moths. Some people buy camphor-wood trunks, for this purpose; but they
are very expensive, and the gum answers just as well.
The first young leaves of the common currant-bush, gathered as soon as
they put out, and dried on tin, can hardly be distinguished from green
tea.
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