Buy flavors, spices, etc. in small quantities, and get only the purest. The store closet should always contain macaroni, rice, fine breakfast hominy, tapioca, barley, corn-starch, arrowroot, farina, chocolate, breakfast cocoa, tea, coffee, some of the cereal preparations for mush, white and red pepper, mustard, a small supply of whole spices, such as cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, mace, allspice, and pepper; also ground cinnamon, mace, and allspice. The less ground clove one uses the better. It is well to have on hand a bunch each of dried thyme, savory, and sage, and half an ounce of bay leaves, which can be purchased at the grocer’s or druggist’s, a few packages of gelatine, and a small package of sea-moss farina, which insures a foundation for a cold dessert at short notice.
For emergencies, the store closet should always contain some canned peas, tomatoes, corn, fruit, chicken, salmon, a box of fancy crackers, some plain soda crackers, a bottle of olives, and a can of condensed milk. One need never be at a loss to prepare a good meal at short notice with this supply in reserve.
One may buy food with good judgment, and yet fail to be an economical provider because she does not take proper care of it. Perfect cleanliness is essential for the best preservation of food. The cellar, pantries, storerooms, refrigerators, and all the receptacles in which food is kept, should be frequently inspected and thoroughly cleaned. Heat and moisture tend to cause decay; therefore it is important that all foods should be surrounded with pure, cool, dry air. When it is possible, expose every closet and food receptacle to the sun and air several times a week.
All kinds of cooked food, particularly the animal foods, spoil quickly when covered closely while still warm. All soups, meat, fish, bread, etc., that are to be kept for many days or hours, should be cooled thoroughly and quickly in a current of cold air. In hot weather it is a good plan, when cooling soups, milk, or any liquid mass, to place the vessel containing the food in another of cold water,—with ice, if convenient,—and set it in a cool draught.
All meat, when not hung up, should be placed on a dish and set in a cool place. If poultry be drawn, and a few pieces of charcoal be placed in the body, it will keep longer than if hung undrawn. It must not be washed until it is to be cooked. The dryer the meat is kept the better.