Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/18

14 keeping him away all day. If the dinner can be in the middle of the day, so much the better, as tea is an easy meal to prepare, and there need be no greasy plates and dishes to wash afterwards. But in many households the husband takes his luncheon in town and dines late at home, and then, if no servant is kept, everything will depend on the good management of the wife.

If she makes her puddings beforehand and leaves them on the side-board ready to take the place of the previous course, she will not have to be running from the dining-room to the kitchen. All milk pudding's are best eaten cold, but boiled puddings will, of course, have to be taken up just before serving.

Two tablecloths should be enough each week where there are not many children, and where the cloth is carefully folded and pressed after each meal.

In the kitchen six tea towels and cloths for drying the china will be sufficient, and the young housekeeper should have a couple of kettle-holders and an iron-holder.

She must regulate her work so as to give each day its appointed duties.

Almost every housewife knows something worth telling for the benefit of others. It may be some trifling matter which she has discovered when experimenting, or it may be something she has thought of, and carefully worked out to her own satisfaction. How many wonderful inventions were first discovered by simple accident. The same thing happens daily in cookery: new combinations, new mixtures, unexpected properties in different things are always coming to light. For instance it was pure accident that caused the discovery of preservative qualities in coffee, and it was a careless accident that showed me what an improvement thick milk was in curry. Ladies in the bush who are in the habit of cooking regularly, either for pleasure or from necessity, are constantly finding out little hints and dodges that would be very useful to all situated in like manner, for often one runs out of certain things in the bush, and then it is either a case of discovery or inventing a substitute; or else doing without till the drays come from town. I have often thought what a good plan it would be to exchange hints with each other through some newspaper. Some years ago I belonged to a society of this kind, but it was merely among personal friends, and we exchanged recipes by letter. Anyone who discovered or invented a new dish or cake at once made it known to the others; and in this way each was benefitted by the cleverness of the whole number.