I do not know of any maxim so important in economical housekeeping as to arrange to-day what we shall have to-morrow, and as a rule, unless the weather is exceptional, to get in to-day what we want for to-morrow. There is no worse sign of mis-management than the running out just before dinner for something that "they have forgotten to send".

Of course it is not practicable in all cases, but by far the most economical form of marketing is, ready money and a basket.

I will now endeavour to give a few hints on what may be called kitchen management;and to begin with, a few words may not be out of place on:

Cleanliness

It is needless to impress upon you the importance of cooking in clean saucepans; if your own common sense does not teach you this no amount of writing will avail. The great art of saving trouble in cleaning saucepans is to avoid making them "troublesomely dirty." I will explain what I mean by the following example. You have boiled, say, a pint of milk in an enamelled saucepan to add to some stock for white soup. The milk has boiled up, and you are about to pour it into the other saucepan containing the stock. You pour it at once, putting down the saucepan to be washed up by-and-by. It will give you a lot of trouble. The bottom of the saucepan was far hotter than boiling point. It has burnt the milk left quite hard, and it will want a great deal of scrubbing with ashes or silver sand. Suppose, however, you had not been quite so much in a hurry. The milk has boiled. Take up the saucepan and put it by the side of the fire for a minute; then pour out the milk, put the saucepan under the boiler tap, rinse it, pour out the water, and wipe it with a cloth directly. It is clean, or nearly so.

In fact, always bear in mind that there is no occasion to take a saucepan off the fire and pour out its boiling contents instantly. The saucepan should be placed on the side for half a minute on the cool part; then pour out the contents and instantly put the saucepan under the boiler tap, and rinse it round. The amount of trouble this will save you is really incalculable. Try and get into the habit of it.

Another very important point in kitchen management is to:

Clear Up As You Go Along

Whatever you do, don't get yourself into a muddle, surrounded by dirty plates, dirty knives, spoons, saucepans, and the kitchen table littered all over with bottles, pots, jars, etc. When you go to a cupboard for, say a jar of rice, take out what you want, but get in the habit of putting the jar back at the time, and don't put it on the table to accumulate with other jars, etc., till there is no space left. Have a jug of hot water into which you can dip at once the knives and forks you use in cooking, so that they are clean again as soon as they are dirtied. Think beforehand how many hot plates will be required for dinner. Arrange them in piles, and see they are not dusty; get them thoroughly hot in good time. See that the cloth is laid half-an-hour at least before dinner. I have known servants fry the fish, and put it in the oven to keep hot, take down the joint, and put it in a dish before the fire, and then commence to lay the cloth. Where only one general servant is kept, if you have soup and fried fish, I should recommend the soup to be taken in before commencing to fry the fish, but everything must be got ready, and the fat hot.

Before commencing to serve dinner, as much as possible clear up the kitchen. Have everything ready at hand, such as vegetable dishes with hot water in them. See that the dish for the meat is hot, and, if there is a joint, send a little gravy in with it at starting, and have the remainder in a saucepan on the fire. Pour this into a jug hot, and pour it over the joint in time for what is known as the "second help".

A very common failing point with cooks, from want of forethought, is in:

Serving Vegetables

Vegetables, especially greens of all kinds - peas and French beans for instance - should be kept boiling till done, and then served directly. Cooks too often strain off vegetables too soon, and keep them hot, thus spoiling them. Suppose you have a dish of green peas. Calculate how long it will be before they are wanted, and allow that time. Suppose they are young green peas, they will take twenty minutes. If there is soup and fish, you must not throw the peas into boiling water till just before you take in the soup. Have ready on the kitchen table a vegetable dish with a little hot water in it. Have also ready a colander in a good-sized basin. "When you take in the joint, come back quickly into the kitchen, pour the boiling peas into the colander, empty the vegetable dish into the saucepan, turn the peas into the hot vegetable dish, put on the cover, and take them into the dining-room. How different these peas will be to those strained off perhaps five, or even ten, minutes before. Everything, however, depends on getting things arranged beforehand. In fact, what is wanted is common forethought; and in perhaps few cases is this so much required as in attention to:

The Kitchen Boiler

That is, if you are unfortunate enough to have one that requires filling by hand. It will be found that this boiler has a trick of getting empty. The only way to avoid this is to have a can of water always kept by the side, and to contract the habit of never taking water out of the boiler without filling it up. As a rule, servants, especially young ones, cannot be induced to keep the boiler filled. Threats and entreaties are alike in vain. There is but one course open, and that is to do it yourself. The most important time to fill the boiler is just before sending in dinner, because you will shortly afterwards require plenty of hot water for what is known as:

Washing-Up

And I would strongly advise you to insist upon this being done as soon as possible after dinner. When dinner draws to a close, have a tin tub filled with hot water, with a good handful of soda in it. Let the plates be scraped, and put in this at once. Wash the silver first, by washing the spoons and forks in this hot water and soda, then rinse them in some cold water, and dry them and put them by. Next the knives. Don't put the knives into hot water; but hold them by the handles, and wash the blades and wipe them: this is quite sufficient for the present. Next, the plates and dishes. Take them out one by one, wash them with an old cloth round the insides and back, and throw them into another tub of cold water; then drain them on a plate rack. Last of all, wash the saucepans. Brush the outsides first with a stiff brush, wash the insides with hot soda and water, rinse with fresh water, and dry them. Be very careful also about washing the lids, especially round the rim. If a saucepan has got at all burnt, ashes out of the grate or silver sand are very good to clean it with. Take extra care in washing any kettle that has boiled fish. A saucepan that has warmed up curry sauce also takes a lot of washing.

Glass should be washed in cold water. Avoid using a greasy tub. Glasses should be rinsed in cold water; pass the finger and thumb round the rim, then turn them upside down to drain and dry. When dry, polish them with a clean dry cloth, and finish with a clean leather before placing them on the table. Silver, if washed free from grease, and rubbed when dry with a leather, does not require being cleaned with whiting more than once a week.

Have a set of iron spoons for cooking purposes, and don't use silver-plated spoons for stirring-up saucepans. Keep your iron spoons clean as you go along, with a jug of hot water.

As a rule, servants make much more fuss about washing-up than it deserves. It is far better to get it done at once after dinner than to leave piles of dirty plates, which require far more washing after the fat has hardened upon them.

Directly you have finished washing-up, see what is left from dinner for the "stock-pot" - the gravy from the dish, the bone from the joint, one or two boiled carrots or turnips that may be left, chicken-bones, etc. If you can get a leg of mutton bone with all the meat cut off, or a beef bone, chop it up at once, and let it simmer with all the odds and ends of vegetables, sticks of celery left, onion, etc. By this means you will have some stock for tomorrow, and in no other way. (See No. 10).

Suppose a little cold meat is required for supper. A few nicely-cut slices, placed on a a dish ornamented with parsley, and perhaps a few lettuce leaves, have a far better appearance than a half-bare bone; and, by cutting off the meat, you can utilise the bone at once.

Last, but not least, let not only the kitchen be left perfectly tidy the last thing at night, but also the dining-room. If servants, coming down early in the morning, find that -the dining-room or drawing-room has been left in an awful muddle, the effect is demoralising. "The master makes the man," the mistress the maid.