Part 56 (1/2)
AFTER MEAL TIME
To no other department of domestic work perhaps is so little thought given or so little science applied as to the routine work of clearing the table and was.h.i.+ng the dishes after mealtime. Any way to accomplish the object, seems to be the motto in very many households. But even for these prosaic tasks there is a best way, which, if employed, may make of an otherwise irksome service a really pleasurable one.
CLEARING THE TABLE.--First of all, put back the chairs, and brush up the crumbs from the floor, then collect all untouched foods and store them away in clean dishes; next gather the silver, place it handles upward in pitchers or other deep dishes, and pour hot water over it. For gathering the silver a compartment tray in which knives, forks, and spoons may be placed separately is important. Many of the scratches and marks on their silver ware, which housekeepers deplore, come from the careless handling together of forks, knives, and spoons. Now in a deep basin upon a tray, collect all the refuse and partly eaten foods, carefully emptying cups, gla.s.ses, finger bowls, etc., and sc.r.a.ping all dishes which contained food as clean as possible; for no crumbs or particles of food should be introduced into the dishwater. Pile the dishes as fast as cleaned upon a second tray in readiness for was.h.i.+ng.
It saves much liability of breakage in transferring from the dining room to the kitchen, if each kind of soiled dishes is packed by itself.
Wipe carefully, if not needing to be washed, and replenish all salts, granola cups, and sugar bowls before putting away. Gather the soiled napkins for the laundry, and put those clean enough to be used again in their proper places. Especial care must be taken, however, so to designate those reserved for future use that each shall receive the same again, as nothing is more disgusting to a sensitive person than to be tendered a napkin which has been used by some one else. Some form of napkin holder should be considered an essential part of the table furnis.h.i.+ng. If rings cannot be afforded, ordinary clothes pins, gilded and decorated with a bit of ribbon, make very pretty subst.i.tutes.
Brush the tablecloth, fold in its creases, also the sub-cover of canton flannel, and lay both away until again needed.
_Was.h.i.+ng the Dishes._--Plenty of hot water and clean towels are the essential requisites for expeditious and thorough dish-was.h.i.+ng. A few drops of crude ammonia added to the water will soften it and add to the l.u.s.ter of the silver and china. Soap may be used or not according to circ.u.mstances; all greasy dishes require a good strong suds. There should also be provided two dish drainers or trays, unless there is a stationary sink with tray on which to drain the dishes. For was.h.i.+ng gla.s.sware and fine china, _papier-mache_ tubs are preferable to anything else, as they are less liable to occasion breakage of the ware. If many dishes are to be washed, frequent changes of water will be necessary as the first becomes either cold or dirty. Perfectly sweet, clean dishes are not evolved from dirty dishwater. The usual order given for the was.h.i.+ng of dishes is, gla.s.ses, silver, fine china, cups, saucers, pitchers, plates and other dishes. This is, however, based upon the supposition that cups and saucers are used for beverages, and plates are soiled by the use of various greasy foods; but in families where tea and coffee and animal foods are dispensed with, and saucers are used for grains with cream dressing, the plates are often cleaner than the saucers and should be washed first.
The general rule to be followed is always to wash the dishes least soiled first, and all of one kind together. The latter item is specially important, since much of the nicking of dishes and breaking of handles from cups, covers, and pitchers is the result of piling dishes promiscuously together while was.h.i.+ng.
It is quite as easy to finish was.h.i.+ng one kind before beginning on another as to do it in any less safe and systematic way, and if wiped in the same order, it does away with the need of sorting when putting the dishes away.
If for any reason the dishes must wait for a time before being washed, the best plan is to pack them carefully into large pans, cover with warm water, and let them soak. When ready to wash them, prepare hot suds and clear water for rinsing in additional pans. Do not use too hot water, as a high temperature will break gla.s.s and ”check” the enamel of ordinary ware. The law of expansion holds good with both china and gla.s.sware, and all gla.s.s and glazed wares should be dipped into hot water in such a manner that all its surfaces may receive the heat and expand together.
All dishes used for milk should be first thoroughly rinsed in cold water before being washed in hot water or suds.
Be sure that the inside of all cups and pitchers is thoroughly clean. It is a good plan to have a mop made by fastening finger-lengths of coa.r.s.e cotton twin to a suitable handle, for was.h.i.+ng the inside of pitchers.
In cleaning forks, spoons, or cups, which have been employed in beating or eating eggs, rinse them in cold water before putting them into hot suds, as hot water cooks the egg and causes it to adhere. Common table salt is said to be excellent for removing the egg tarnish from silver.
Clean Dover egg beaters by beating a dish of cold water, or by holding under a stream of cold water from the faucet, then carefully rinse and wipe perfectly dry. Do not put the upper part of the beater into hot water, as it will remove the oil from the wheels so that they will not work easily.
Grain-boilers and mush-kettles should be allowed to cool, then filled with cold water and allowed to soak during the meal hour, when they can be easily cleaned.
Tin dishes should be washed with hot suds as soon as possible after using.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Wire Dishcloth]
For cleaning; iron pots, use soft water and soap or was.h.i.+ng-soda with a wire dishcloth or kettle sc.r.a.per. If the food adheres to the sides, fill with cold water and soak. Kettles and all dishes placed over a fire should be cleaned on the outside as well as the inside. To remove the soot, rub first with pieces of dry paper and afterward with damp paper; then wash with hot suds and a cloth. Kettles and saucepans burned on the inside may he cleaned by putting a little cold water and ashes in them and allowing them to soak on the range until the water is warm.
Porcelain-lined and granite-ware utensils stained from food burning on, may be cleaned after soaking for a time in a solution of sal-soda, which may be prepared by pouring boiling water over the soda in the proportion of two pints of water to one pound of sal-soda, and stirring until dissolved. It may be prepared in quant.i.ty and stored in a stone jar until needed.
Wash wooden ware and bread boards with cold water and sand soap. In sc.r.a.ping dough from the bread board, always sc.r.a.pe with the grain of the wood and be careful not to roughen the surface.
Steel knives and forks with ivory or wooden handles should not be put into dishwater. Hot water will expand the steel and cause the handles to crack. Wash them thoroughly with the dishcloth, scour with bath brick, and wipe dry.
All tin and iron dishes should be thoroughly dried before putting away, to prevent rusting.
If draining is considered preferable to wiping dishes, a good plan, if one has not a patent dish drainer, is to fold an old tablecloth in several thicknesses and spread upon the table. Wash the dishes carefully and rinse in hot water. Place a cup or bowl bottom upward, lay a plate on each side, then one between and above them, with two more on the outside, and so on, not permitting them to touch more than necessary.
DISHCLOTHS AND TOWELS.--No dishes or utensils can be well cared for without good, clean dishcloths and towels, and plenty of them. An excellent dishcloth may be either knit or crocheted in some solid st.i.tch of coa.r.s.e cotton yarn. Ten or twelve inches square is a good size.
Several thicknesses of cheese-cloth basted together make good dishcloths, as do also pieces of old knitted garments and Turkish toweling. If a dish mop is preferred, it may be made as follows: Cut a groove an inch from the end of a stick about a foot in length and of suitable shape for a handle; cut a ball of coa.r.s.e twine, into nine-inch lengths, and lay around the stick with the middle of the strands against the groove; wind a fine wire or cord around the twine to fasten it in the groove; then shake down the twine, so it will lie all one way like a mop, and fasten it to the handle by tying a second cord around it on the outside.
Towels for drying dishes should be of three different grades,--fine ones without lint for gla.s.s, silver, and fine china; coa.r.s.er ones for the ordinary table ware, and still another quality for pans, kettles, and other kitchen ware. The right size is a yard in length and half as wide, with the ends hemmed. As to material, fine checked linen is usually employed for gla.s.s and silver towels, and crash for ordinary dishes, for iron and tinware towels which have become somewhat worn, or a coa.r.s.e bag opened and hemmed, may be used. Old, half-worn tablecloths may be cut into excellent dish towels.