Warne's model cookery and housekeeping book : containing complete instructions in household management / compiled and edited by Mary Jewry.

Do not cut thick slices of bread for toast; they should be thin, and cut off a stale loaf. Cut oft the crust edging. Do not keep tlie toast for breakfast ; serve it as soon as possible after it is done, or it will beeome tough. Never let it lie flat. Place it at once in the toast-rack, or lean two slices against each other on a plate, like the gable of a house. If a slice lies, the steam from it will prevent it from being crisp ; cut off the crusts quickly on this ac- count. Bread too stale to be eaten buttered will make good toast ; if very dry, it may be dipped into warm water before toasting it. Buttered Toast. 6. Cut thin slices the whole way round a stale loaf (it should be at least a day old), warm both sides before the fire, and toast it carefully ; have a hot plate ready to place it on when done. Put some butter cut into dice on it, first warm it before the fire and spread the butter lightly over it ; if well made, it will easily penetrate the bread. Some persons like to have a little butter put on each side of the toast. Toast a second round and lay it on the first; cut off the crusts and divide it into four quarters ; serve very hot. To Toast Muffins. 7. Pull open the sides of the muffin exactly in the centre, about half an inch in ; put the toasting-fork in it and toast it carefully. When it is done, and it should only be lightly toasted, pull it apart, lay a little butter inside, and close the muffin. Put it on a hot plate and cut it in four. If more than one is required, lay them on the first done, but do not send in a great pile of muffins, as they are better served hot. A hot-water plate with a cover,—a regular muffin plate,—should be used, and two at the most only be sent in at a time. Crumpets. 8. Do not open crumpets ; toast them oarefully and very quickly ; butter them on both sides, and serve them separately on a hot-water plate, if you have one ; if not, send them in hot and hot, as they are not nice lukewarm. Never put one crumpet on the top of the other, as the under one would become heavy. Bread. Everybody is, I believe, of opinion that home-made bread is cheaper, sweeter, and more wholesome than that bought at the baker's, utiless it is badly made. Heavy, close, bitter bread is only too well known in many households where it is home-made ; this is not economical, as it cannot nouri.'-^ the eaters as good bread docs, and it is generally speaking, wasted. Let us sec it it is not possible to teach how to make bread of all kinds, which shall be good, light, sweet, and appetizing. The oven plays an important part in this manufac- ture. A brick oven heated with wood is the right one for eeonomy. It is possible to bake bread in the iron oven attached to a range, but the author, from personal expe- rience, can assure her readers that home- made bread thus baked is more expensive than bakers’, on account of the quantity of fuel it takes to lieat the oven for bread- baking, and the necessity of making it up in small loaves, which are not economical. The brick oven is heated by faggot wood ; after it is cleared out, the door should be shut very closely for half an hour before you put in your loaves. The oven will then be thoroughly heated, and the heat will last for some time. A brick oven for baking bread should be as hot as you can bear to liold your hand in (without touching the bricks of course) whilst counting twenty ; this is an estab- lished rule in most farmhouses. Bread is longer baking in an iron oven than in a brick one. Next to the oven in importance comes the yeast. We have used, and like, both German and patent yeast ; but as many persons prefer their own, and it is always well for the house to be independent of external helps in this matter, we give a receipt for making yeast, for the goodness of which we can answer. Flour should be purchased of a miller ; it will be less likely to be adulterated than if it passed through a second hand. The best flour is generally used in gentlemen's kitchens; nevertheless, we know several county families (and one nobleman’s family) famous for excellent household bread, in which the “best seconds'’ are always used. There is no doubt that more nutrition is contained in brown bread than in white, and that the whiter the bread the less is the nourishment derived from it. Brown bread is excellent for weak digestions, and for many other reasons should be eaten alter- nately with white bread in all families; moreover, it is less adulterated than the very white bread when purchased from the baker’s. The flour of ‘' hard wheat, ” as it is called, is the most nutritious ; it is not so white as that procured from soft wheat, but has more gluten in if. Flour when kept in store should be placed in a warm dry room, as, if at all damp, it