XXIV.MARKETING.
IT is very important that every lady should understand how to select and purchase such stores as may be needed in her family. This knowledge must be acquired in girlhood. Mothers should allow their daughters to accompany them occasionally in their market expeditions, quietly explaining, as they pass from one stall to another examining the various articles needed, their reasons for rejecting or purchasing. We are all inclined to put off, from day to day, this part of our domestic instructions which our daughters greatly need; “we are too busy,” “in a great hurry,” and “can’t be hindered,” by answering the thousand whys and wherefores with which young children follow us. It is, to be sure, something of an annoyance, but very trifling compared with the pleasure our daughters will take in going with usthrough our daily rounds, if we begin this training while they are small. Let them occasionally make a few purchases themselves; give them their choice from among certain unimportant articles, and then explain the rule by which they will know how to select the best or reject the imperfect. Such lessons must begin early, or, ere we are aware, our little girl has discarded her dolls and stands by our side, a lovely woman; and before we realize this bewildering change the voice of the charmer has awaked another love in her heart, for which she leaves father and mother for a new home and new cares. Happy for us, if we have so taught her that this new yoke shall be easy and these new burdens light.
In marketing, we would not advise roaming from one store or market to another, after one has become sufficiently acquainted in a city or village to have a correct idea of the quality of the produce and the character of the vender. Until this knowledge is well acquired, it is important for one’s own security to make trial of many; but when well assured that you have gained a fair estimate of both quality and character, it is, we think, better to make most of the purchases at one place. The grocer, butcher, fish and poultry dealer will take greater interest in faithfully serving a regular customer, at reasonable rates, than one who may not buy of him again for weeks; and it certainly is a greater saving of time and trouble to purchase of one than of many. If they cannot supply your present needs, it is for their interest to send out and procure what you want; and we think they generally do this with pleasure, and with a hearty wish to give you the best.
In buyingBeef, remember that ox beef is the best. The animal should be five or six years old before it is killed, if you would have the best beef. If well fed it will be fine grained; the lean should be of a bright red color, and wellmingled with fat. If there is not a good quantity of fat running through it, the beef will be tough and not well flavored. The fat should be a rich clear white, just tinged with yellow, and firm, and the suet also. Heifer or cow beef is paler than ox beef, firmer grained, the fat a clear white, and the bones smaller, but it is not as rich or juicy. When the animal is too old or badly fed, it is of a dark red, the fat skinny and tough, and in very old beef a horny substance will be found running through the ribs. When it is pressed, if the meat rises quickly from the finger it is good; but if the finger-dent rises slowly or not at all, do not buy it; it is poor meat. The sirloin and the middle ribs are the best for roasting. If you buy a sirloin, have it cut from the “chump end,” which has a good undercut or fillet. The rump is often preferred by epicures, but being too large to roast whole, a roast is usually cut from what is called the “chump end.” Porter-house steak is the best for broiling, but not the most economical. One rib is too small for baking; it dries in cooking, and is not good economy, unless you take out the bone, roll the meat and stuff it, when it makes a nice dish for a small family.
Vealshould be small and white, the kidney well covered with fat. If the calf is over ten weeks old the meat will be coarse. The flesh should be dry and white. If coarse-grained, moist, and clammy, have nothing to do with it. The fillet, loin, and shoulder are the best for roasting. The breast, well cut and jointed, makes a fine stew or pot-pie, and is better economy than when baked or roasted. Veal is excellent to make “stock” for soups; the knuckle or the poorer parts of the neck are just as good for soup as the more expensive parts.
Muttonshould be dark colored, and have plenty of fat. The color determines the age, and age is considered a mark of excellence in mutton. It should be five or six years oldto satisfy a lover of mutton. All the joints may be roasted but the saddle, and next to that, the haunch; the leg and loin undivided are the best; chops are cut from the loin, cutlets from the leg, the best end of the neck, or thick end of the loin. The leg and neck are often boiled.
Lambshould be small, pale red, and fat. It is best roasted. The leg, when the lamb attains a good size, is excellent boiled.
Porkshould never be bought except from a butcher whose honesty you are sure of, and who knows where the pork was fattened. It is not a very healthful meat at the best, and none should be used unless corn-fed. There is much bad or diseased pork sold, and it is very dangerous food. If the flesh feels flabby or clammy to the touch, it is not good, and should not on any account be used. If there are kernels in the fat, let it alone. The fat should be hard, the lean white and fine in the grain, and the rind thin and smooth.
As soon as your meat of any kind is brought home from the butcher’s, wipe it with a clean dry cloth. If in summer you find any “fly-blows,” which is very common, cut them out at once, and no harm will be done. In the loins a long pipe runs by the bone; that should be taken out immediately, or in a few hours it will taint and spoil the whole joint. If the meat is not to be used at once, dredge it with pepper. Powdered charcoal dusted over meat will help to keep it sweet, or will remove any taint already begun. It is wise to keep charcoal on hand during warm weather; it is wonderfully efficacious in preserving meat, and, if dusted over it while hanging, it can all be washed off when you are ready to cook it. Most meat is more tender and easily digested if kept hanging some time, and charcoal is a great and reliable aid in preserving it. Lamb and veal cannot be kept as safely as beef and mutton.
In choosingFowls, bear in mind that the male bird, if young, will have a smooth leg and a short spur, eyes bright and full, feet supple. The hen may be judged by the same signs, and if these are not found, be sure the birds are stale and old.
Ducks, geese, and pigeons should have pliable feet; if stiff, they are old. In all the vent should be firm; if discolored or flabby, they are stale. This last sign should be remembered in judging of all poultry or game.
The eyes ofFishshould be bright, the gills clear red, body stiff, and smell not unpleasant,—or rather, not stale, for we imagine that fish can never be of a pleasant smell, however palatable it may be to the taste.
As far as possible, buy all stores by the quantity; if nothing else, you save the weight of paper, no small item in the course of a year; but there is always some reduction when an article is purchased at wholesale. You save the retail commission, if nothing more.
In warm weather, meats, of course, cannot be bought in large quantities, unless for a large family who are in possession of a good ice-house. Rice, tapioca, raisins, etc., are an exception to this rule, for they should never be bought in large quantities, except for boarding-houses or hotels, as they are very easily filled with insects.
A store-room should be very dry, and supplied with a good number of shelves and drawers for stores of all kinds. A thick slab should be placed across from one end to the other, so high that nothing suspended from it will hit the head in passing through it. In this it is well to have some strong hooks to hang hams, dried beef, tongues, baskets, etc. A neat step-ladder should be kept in one corner, by which you can easily reach whatever is needed. These hooks are a great convenience, not only to put away your marketing, but so many things keep better for being suspended where there can be free circulation of air; and a store-room must be wellventilated. Eggs keep well hung up in a basket, or innetsmade for that purpose. Buy your lemons in June and July, when freshest, cheapest, and most plentiful, by the box, and suspend them on these hooks in nets, and they will keep all summer.