TABLE TOPICS.
The kitchen is a chemical laboratory, in which are conducted a number of chemical processes by which our food is converted from its crudest state to condition more suitable for digestion and nutrition, and made more agreeable to the palate.—Prof. Matthew Williams.
Half the trouble between mistresses and maids arises from the disagreeable surroundings to which servants are confined. There is no place more dismal than the ordinary kitchen in city dwellings. It is half underground, ill-lighted, and unwholesome. What wonder, then, in the absence of sunlight, there is a lack of sunny temper and cheerful service? An ill-lighted kitchen is almost sure to be a dirty one, where germs will thrive and multiply. Let sanitary kitchens be provided, and we shall have more patient mistresses and more willing servants.—Sel.
A sluggish housemaid exclaimed, when scolded for the uncleanliness of her kitchen, "I'm sure the room would be clean enough if it were not for the nasty sun, which is always showing the dirty corners."—Sel.
If we would look for ready hands and willing hearts in our kitchens, we should make them pleasant and inviting for those who literally bear the "burden and heat of the day" in this department of our homes, where, emphatically, "woman's work is never done." We should no longer be satisfied to locate our kitchens in the most undesirable corner of the house. We should demand ample light,—sunshine if possible,—and justly too; for the very light itself is inspiring to the worker. It will stir up cheer and breed content in the minds of those whose lot is cast in this work-a-day room.—Sel.
Any invention on the part of the housekeeper intended to be a substitute for watchfulness, will prove a delusion and a snare.—Sel.
"The first wealth is health," says Emerson.
A knowledge of sanitary principles should be regarded as an essential part of every woman's education, and obedience to sanitary laws should be ranked, as it was in the Mosaic code, as a religious duty.—Sel.