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Classic
Cook Books
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page 399
all is stored, cover with a foot, at least, of sawdust. In using ice, be careful
to cover all crevices with sawdust, as the ice will melt rapidly if exposed to
the air. The less ventilation and the more completely an ice-house is kept
closed, the better the ice will keep. The cold air which surrounds the ice, if
undisturbed by currents, has little effect on it; but if there are openings,
currents are formed and the warm air is brought in to replace the cold. This is
especially the case if the openings are low, as the cold air, being the heavier,
passes out below most readily. For this reason great care must be taken to fill
in fresh saw-dust between the walls and the mass of ice as it settles down by
its own weight and the melting of the ice. There is no advantage in having an
ice-house wholly or partly under ground, if it is constructed as directed above.
Fine chaff, or straw cut fine, may be substituted for sawdust when the latter is
difficult to obtain. Of course, the building may be constructed separately, in
which case the cost need not be more than twenty-five to fifty dollars.
TO KEEP TURNIPS.--When buried deep in the earth they will keep solid until March
or April.
TO KEEP LEMONS.--Cover with cold water, changing it every week. This makes them
more juicy.
WHITEWASH FOR CELLARS. --An ounce of carbolic acid to a gallon of whitewash will
keep from cellars the disagreeable odor which taints milk and meat. Added to
paste and mucilage, it prevents mold.
TO KEEP PARSLEY FRESH AND GREEN.--Put it in a strong boiling hot pickle of salt
and water, and keep for use. Hang up and dry in bunches, blossom downward, in a
dry attic or store-room, for use in soups, stuffing, etc.
TO KEEP CELLAR CLEAN.--Remove all vegetables as soon as they begin to decay, and
ventilate well so that the walls will not become foul. Use cloride of lime as a
disinfectant freely, after taking care to make it as neat and clean as possible.
THE TEMPERATURE.--Vegetables keep best at as low a temperature as possible
without freezing. Apples bear a very low temperature. Sweet potatoes (which keep
well packed in dry forest leaves), and squashes require a dry, warm atmosphere.
ALL KINDS OF HERBS.--Gather on a dry day, just before or while in blossom, tie
in bundles, blossom downward. When perfectly dry, wrap the medicinal ones in
paper, and keep from air. Pick off the leaves of those to be used in cooking,
pound, sift them fine, and cork up tightly in bottles.
KEEPING CABBAGES.--When the weather becomes frosty, cut them off near the head,
and carry them, with the leaves on, to a dry cellar, break off superfluous
leaves, and pack into a light cask or box, stems upward, and when nearly full
coverwith loose leaves; secure the box with a lid against rats.
TO KEEP APPLES.--Apples are usually kept on open shelves, easily accessible, so
that the decaying ones may easily be removed. They are sometimes packed in
layers of dry sand, care being taken not to let them touch each other, with good
results. When they begin to decay, pick out those which are specked, stew them
up with cider and sugar, and fill all empty self-sealing fruit-cans, and keep
the sauce for use late in the season. Or pack in dry sawdust, or any grain, as
oats, barley, etc., so that they will not touch each other; or if fruit is fine,
wrap each apple in paper and pack in boxes.
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