To prepare three meals a day in a family of five or six members requires the constant attendance in the kitchen of at least one person, and often several people are occupied there. Even in a small family the kitchen is a much used room. Hence in the kitchen plenty of light and good ventilation are of utmost importance. The health of the family depends both directly and indirectly upon these conditions. That food absorbs odors and germs, not only in storage but also while cooking and cooling after cooking, should not be ignored. Then, first of all, let us have a light, roomy and well-ventilated kitchen.

In every kitchen furnished with a coal range there should be some means of quick cooking; this will be found economical in point of money and time. Indeed, where the coal range is not needed for heating as well as cooking, a range that affords quicker service is demanded. At the present time, in all large towns and cities, the gas range is available; this in use should be provided with a hood or flue connected with the chimney, to remove products of combustion. Experience suggests many devices in the use of a gas range, and there are appliances by which the quantity of gas consumed may be diminished.

The tile-lined ovens used in foreign lands are washed after the cooking of each article, to insure against the absorption of flavor by the next dish that is to occupy the oven, a suggestion that is worthy of notice. In planning a kitchen, a place for the refrigerator should be selected with care; its drain pipe ought not to be connected directly with the sewer. If possible, let the compartment for ice open on a piazza or, at least, out of doors. The refrigerator should be easy of access to the cook, for fine cooking demands many trips between the cooking table and ice receptacle.

Care Of Refrigerator

Three things are essential to the proper care and use of a refrigerator; cleaning the waste pipes, instant removal of anything spilled, and a full supply of ice. If the compartments in which food is kept be wiped out carefully once a week, no crumbs, drips of liquid, or particles of food left to accumulate meanwhile, these will need no other attention. Once a week let the ice supply run low, then remove the ice, wash the floor under the rack upon which the ice rests, take out trap and removable drain pipe and, with a cloth fastened to a rod or wire, clean out these with a strong solution of sal-soda. Pour the same down the remainder of the waste pipe, making sure that the pipe is cleaned as far down as it can be reached. Keep the ice compartment filled with ice. A large body of ice keeps better than a small one, and insures better circulation of air. Keep the doors closed. Set milk in closed bottles or in a compartment by itself.

Cooking Utensils

It is a positive pleasure to the workman in any calling to own and use good and appropriate tools. The truly good cook takes scrupulous care of her cooking utensils, and comes to have a real fondness for certain dishes. The supply of utensils should, however, only equal the demand, for all the good things in this world are of value to us only in so far as we can make a valid use of them.

The heavy ironware and the more expensive copper utensils, recipients of endless polish, are now improved upon, save, perhaps, in point of durability and for some special uses. There is agate ware, and a light blue ware, white inside (imported), also a lightweight steel ware and aluminoid ware. These afford ample variety for choice, and, with careful usage, the vessels may be kept in good condition for years. All may be washed, inside and out, with soapy water, rinsed in boiling water and carefully dried with a towel. If more drying be required, let stand on the shelf of the range. The agate and German wares "chip" badly under strong, dry heat. Fill all cooking dishes with water immediately after use. Sapolio, "kitchen and hand" soap and sal-soda will remove stains that adhere - except in the case of aluminoid ware. Alkalies like baking soda and sal-soda tarnish aluminoid. Also the highly polished exterior of aluminoid utensils scratches easily, and for repolishing these a paste made of sifted whiting and soapy water is more satisfactory. Rub over the surfaces with the paste, let dry, then polish with a clean, soft cloth.

Old linty dishcloths and coffee grounds, in conjunction with grease, occasion most of the calls for the plumber as far as the kitchen sink is concerned, and are a source to him of no inconsiderable revenue yearly. A fine sieve should first receive all waste water in its passage through the sink. New cloth should always be taken for dishcloths and, as soon as signs of wear appear, these may be utilized in wiping out greasy dishes, then in kindling the fire. Add dissolved soap or sal-soda (ammonia or caustic soda is better because stronger) to greasy water; these form emulsions (soaps) with the fats which pass through the pipes. Three or four times a week flush the drain with a boiling solution of sal-soda, using half a cup of sal-soda to three quarts of water.

Many housekeepers seem to think that, if the tableware be carefully washed, other dishes will do without much attention. This is an extremely erroneous idea. Every dish in which food is to be placed should receive scrupulous attention. Smooth clean dishes are always a chief requisite in good cooking, and in sauce-making they are absolutely a sine qua non. A sauce is used to give richness and flavor to that which is without these desirable elements. If the dish be not sweet and clean, or if it be rough, so that the sauce burns, or "catches on," as we say, at any point, those are the flavors carried by the sauce; for butter absorbs odors and flavors most persistently. Nor will any amount of outside flavor, that may be added, cover up those that have been, as it were, burned into the foundation of the sauce. No particle of matter remains long unchanged. Bacteria are ever at work, and if we do not wish to introduce undesirable elements into bread, cake, etc., dishes with painstaking care must be made ready to receive the ingredients that enter into the composition of these dishes.