CONTAINING NEW RECEIPTS.

ORANGE CAKE.--Take four ripe oranges, and roll them under your hand on

the table. Break up a pound of the best loaf-sugar, and on some of the

pieces rub off the yellow rind of the oranges. Then cut the oranges,

and squeeze their juice through a strainer. Powder the sugar, and mix

the orange-juice with it; reserving a little of the juice to flavour

the icing. Wash, and squeeze in a pan of cold water, a pound of the

best _fresh_ butter, till you have extracted whatever milk and salt may

have been in it, as they will impede the lightness of the cake. Cut

up the butter in the pan of sugar and orange, and stir it hard till

perfectly light, white, and creamy. Sift into a pan fourteen ounces

(two ounces less than a pound) of fine flour. Beat ten eggs till they

are as thick and smooth as a fine boiled custard. Then stir them, by

degrees, into the butter and sugar, alternately with the flour, a

little of each at a time. Continue to beat the whole very hard for

some time after all the ingredients are in; as this cake requires a

great deal of beating. Have ready a large square, shallow pan, well

buttered. Put in the mixture, and set it immediately into a brisk oven.

It must be thoroughly baked, otherwise it will be heavy, streaked,

and unfit to eat. The time of baking must of course be in proportion

to its thickness, but it requires a much longer time than pound-cake,

queen-cake, or Spanish buns. When it shrinks from the sides of the pan,

and looks as if done, try it by sticking in the middle of it, down

to the bottom, a twig from a corn-broom, or something similar. If

the twig comes out dry and clean, the cake is done; but if the twig

remains moist and clammy, let the cake remain longer in the oven. When

it is quite done, make an icing of beaten white of egg, and powdered

loaf-sugar, mixed with a spoonful or more of orange juice. Dredge

the cake with flour, then wipe off the flour and spread on the icing

thick and evenly, scoring it in large squares. Before you put it into

baskets, cut the cake into squares about the usual size of a Spanish

bun. It should be eaten fresh, being best the day it is baked.

This cake will be found very fine. It is, of course, best when oranges

are ripe and in perfection, as the orange flavour should be very high.

We recommend that at the first trial of this receipt, the batter shall

be baked in small tins, such as are used for queen-cake, or Naples

biscuit, as there will thus be less risk of its being well baked than

if done in a larger pan. When they seem to be done, one of the little

cakes can be taken out and broken open, and if more baking is found

necessary, the others can thus be continued longer in the oven. After

some experience, an orange cake may be baked, like a pound cake, in

a large tin pan with a tube in the centre; or in a turban mould, and

handsomely iced and ornamented when done. A fine orange cake will, when

cut, perfume the table.

Lemon cake may be made and baked in a similar manner, adding also a

little lemon juice to the icing.

CITRON CAKE--Cut a pound of candied citron into slips. Spread it on a

large dish. Sprinkle it thickly with sifted flour till it is entirely

white with it, tumbling the citron about with your hands till every

piece is well covered with flour. Then sift into a pan fourteen ounces

(two ounces less than a pound) of flour. Beat together in a deep pan,

till perfectly light, a pound of fresh butter cut up in a pound of

powdered loaf-sugar. Then add, by degrees, a glass of wine, a glass of

brandy, and a table-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed, and

a powdered nutmeg. Have ready twelve eggs beaten in a shallow pan till

very smooth and thick. Stir the beaten egg into the beaten butter and

sugar, alternately with the flour and citron, a little at a time of

each. Then, at the last, stir the whole very hard. Butter a large tin

pan (one with a tube in the centre will be best), put in the mixture,

set it directly in a moderate oven, and bake it at least four hours.

Put it on an inverted sieve to cool.

When the cake is cool, ice and ornament it.

Common pound cakes are now very much out of use. They are considered

old-fashioned.

BOSTON CREAM CAKES--From a quart of rich milk or cream take half a

pint, and put it into a small saucepan, with a vanilla bean, and a

stick of the best Ceylon cinnamon, broken in pieces. Cover the saucepan

closely, and let it boil till the milk is highly flavoured with the

vanilla and cinnamon. Then strain it, take out the vanilla bean, wipe

it, and put it away, as it will do for the same purpose a second time.

Mix the flavoured milk with the other pint and a half, and let it get

quite cold. Beat very light _the yolks only_ of twelve eggs, and stir

them into the milk alternately with a quarter of a pound, or more, of

powdered white sugar. Put this custard mixture into a tin pan, set it

in a Dutch oven or something similar, pour round the pan some boiling

water, enough to reach half-way up its sides, and bake the custard ten

minutes. Instead of vanilla, you may flavour the custard by boiling, in

the half pint of milk, a handful of bitter almonds or peach kernels,

blanched and broken in half, and stirring into the custard when it has

done baking, but is still hot, a wine glass of rose water. As rose

water loses most of its taste by cooking, it is best, when practicable,

to add it after the article is taken from the fire.

In the mean time let another mixture be prepared as follows. Sift

half a pound of fine flour, cut up half a pound of fresh butter in a

pint of rich milk, and set it on a stove or near the fire till the

butter is soft but not melted. Then stir it well and take it off. Beat

eight whole eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk

and butter, in turn with the flour. Take care to have this batter

very smooth, and quite free from lumps. Having beaten and stirred it

thoroughly, put it in equal portions into deep pattypans with plain

unscolloped sides, filling them but little more than half, so as

to allow space for the cakes to rise in baking. The pattypans must

be previously buttered. When the mixture is in, sprinkle powdered

loaf-sugar over the top of each. Set them immediately into a brisk

oven, and bake them about a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes. They

must be well browned. When done, take them out, and open in the side of

each (while quite hot) a slit or cut, large enough to admit a portion

of the custard that has been made for them. Put in with a spoon as much

of this custard as will amply fill the cavity or hollow in the middle

of each cake. Then close the slit nicely, by pinching and smoothing it

with your thumb and finger, and set the cakes to cool. They should be

eaten fresh. In summer they will not keep till next day unless they are

set on ice. If properly made, they will be found delicious.

CONNECTICUT LOAF CAKE.--For this cake you must prepare, the day before,

three pounds of sifted flour, two pounds of powdered white sugar, four

nutmegs, and a quarter of an ounce of mace powdered fine; two pounds

of stoned raisins, two pounds of currants, picked, washed, and dried

(or you may substitute for the currants two additional pounds of

raisins), and half a pound of citron cut large. The raisins, currants,

and citron must be spread on a large dish, and dredged thickly over

with flour, which must be mixed well among them with your hands, so as

to coat them all completely. This is to prevent their sinking in a clod

to the bottom while the cake is baking, and should always be done with

whatever fruit is used in either cakes or puddings. Put the spice into

half a pint of white wine, cover it, and let it infuse all night. Next

morning, have ready two pounds of the best fresh butter, cut small; six

eggs well beaten; a pint of warm new milk; and half a pint of fresh

strong yeast, procured, if possible, from a brewer or baker. Rub half

the butter into the flour, adding half the sugar; wet it with the milk,

and add half of the eggs, and the wine, and the yeast. Stir and mix it

thoroughly. Then cover it and set it to rise. It should be perfectly

light by evening. Then add the remainder of the butter and the sugar,

and the rest of the egg. Mix it well, and set it again to rise till

early next morning. Then add gradually the fruit, setting it again to

rise for two or three hours. When it is perfectly light for the last

time, butter a large deep pan, and put in the mixture. The oven must

first be made _very hot_, and then allowed to cool down so as to bake

rather slowly. If too hot, it will scorch and crust the cake on the

outside, so as to prevent the heat from penetrating any farther, and

the inside will then be soddened and heavy. A common-sized loaf-cake

may remain in the oven from three to four hours.

CLOVE CAKES.--Rub a pound of fresh butter (cut up) into three pounds of

sifted flour; adding, by degrees, a pound of fine brown sugar, half an

ounce of cloves ground or powdered, and sufficient West India molasses

to wet the whole into a stiff dough, mixing in at the last a small

tea-spoonful of sal-aratus dissolved in tepid water. Roll the dough

out into a sheet of paste, and cut out the cakes with a tin stamp, or

with the edge of a tumbler. Put them in buttered pans, and bake them

a quarter of an hour or more. They will continue good a long time, if

kept dry, and are excellent to take to sea.

SOFT GINGERBREAD.--Beat to a cream half a pound of fresh butter cut up

in a deep pan, among half a pound of brown sugar, and at the beginning

set near the fire to soften it a little, but not to melt it. Add two

large table-spoonfuls of ginger, a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon,

and a tea-spoonful of powdered cloves. Then stir into it, alternately,

a pint of West India molasses, and three pints of sifted flour, and six

well-beaten eggs. Lastly, dissolve a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash in

a pint of _sour_ milk, and stir it, while foaming, into the mixture.

Put it immediately into shallow square tin pans, well buttered, and

place it in an oven not too hot, or it will burn the outside, and leave

the inside raw and heavy. This cake requires long beating, and much

baking.

FINE COOKIES.--Sift into a pan five large tea-cupsful of flour, and

rub into it one tea-cup of fresh butter; add two cups of powdered

white sugar, and a handful or two of carraway seeds; wet it with an

egg well beaten, and a little rose-water. Add, at the last, a small

tea-spoonful of sal-aratus dissolved in a very little lukewarm water.

Knead the whole well. Roll it out into a sheet. Cut it into cakes with

a stamp or a tumbler edge; put them into a buttered pan, and bake them

about fifteen minutes. Instead of carraway seeds, you may use currants,

picked, washed, and dried.

INDIAN CUP CAKES.--Sift a pint and a half of yellow Indian meal, and

mix it with half a pint wheat flour. Beat two eggs very light, and

then stir them gradually into the meal, in turn with almost a quart of

_sour_ milk. If you have no sour milk from the preceding day, you can

turn some sweet milk sour by setting it in the sun. Lastly, dissolve a

tea-spoonful of sal-aratus, or a very small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash

in a little of the sour milk reserved for the purpose. The batter

must be as thick as that for a pound-cake. More Indian meal may be

necessary. Stir it at the last into the mixture, which, while foaming,

must be put into buttered cups, or little tin pans, and set immediately

into an oven, brisk but not too hot. When well baked, turn out the

cakes, and send them warm to the breakfast-table. Eat them with butter.

BRAN BATTER-CAKES.--Mix a quart of bran with a handful of wheat flour,

and a level tea-spoonful of salt. Pour in sufficient milk-warm water

to make a thick batter. Add two table-spoonfuls of brewer's yeast, or

three, if home-made; and stir it very hard. Cover it, and set it by

the fire to rise. Half an hour before you begin to bake, you may add

a salt-spoonful of soda, melted in a little warm water. Bake it like

buckwheat cakes, on a griddle.

APPLE BREAD PUDDING.--Pare, core, and slice thin, a dozen or more

fine juicy pippins, or bell-flowers, strewing among them some bits

of the yellow rind of a large lemon that has been pared very thin,

and squeezing over them the juice of the lemon. Or substitute a

tea-spoonful of essence of lemon. Cover the bottom of a large deep

dish with a thick layer of the sliced apples. Strew it thickly with

brown sugar Then scatter on a few very small bits of the best fresh

butter. Next strew over it a thin layer of grated bread-crumbs.

Afterwards another thick layer of apple, followed by sugar, butter,

and bread-crumbs as before. Continue this till you get the dish full,

finishing with a thin layer of crumbs. Put the dish into a moderate

oven, and bake the pudding well, ascertaining that the apples are

thoroughly done and as soft as marmalade. Send it to table either

hot or cold, and eat it with cream-sauce, or with butter, sugar, and

nutmeg, stirred to a cream. This pudding is in some places called by

the homely names of Brown Betty, or Pan Dowdy. It will require far

less baking, if the apples are previously stewed soft, and afterwards

mixed with the sugar and lemon. Then put it into the dish, in layers,

interspersed (as above) with bits of butter, and layers of grated

crumbs. It will be much improved by the addition of a grated nutmeg,

mixed with the apples.

APPLE CUSTARDS.--Take fine juicy apples, sufficient when stewed to fill

two soup plates. Pare, core, and slice them. Add a lump of butter,

about the size of a walnut, and the grated peel of a lemon; and stew

them with as little water as can possibly keep them from burning. They

must be stewed till they are quite soft all through, but not broken.

Then mash them well with the back of a spoon, and make them very sweet

with fine brown sugar. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, or add a

wine-glass of rose-water. When the apple is quite cold, add a grated

nutmeg, a table-spoonful of brandy, and a table-spoonful of cream,

mixed with a table-spoonful of finely-grated bread crumbs, and the

well-beaten yolk of an egg. Stir the whole very hard. Cover the bottom

and sides of two soup plates with thin puff-paste, and put a thick

paste round the edges, notching it handsomely. Then fill up with the

mixture, and bake it about half an hour. Or you may bake it in cups,

without any paste. If for cups, prepare double the above quantity of

apple and other ingredients.

Peach custards may be made in a similar manner, of fine ripe free-stone

peaches, pared, stoned, quartered, and stewed without any water. Omit

the lemon, and add two eggs.

NEW ENGLAND PUMPKIN PIE.--Take a quart of stewed pumpkin. Put it into

a sieve, and press and strain it as dry as possible. Then set it away

to get cold. Beat eight eggs very light, and stir them gradually into

the pumpkin, a little at a time, in turn with a quart of rich cream

and a pound of sugar. Mix together a quarter of an ounce of powdered

mace, two powdered nutmegs, and a table-spoonful of ground ginger, and

stir them into the other ingredients. When all is mixed, stir the whole

very hard. Cover the bottom of your pie-dishes with a thin paste, and

fill them nearly to the top with the mixture. Cut out narrow stripes

of paste with your jagging-iron, and lay them across the tops of your

pies. Bake them from an hour to an hour and a quarter. Send them to

table cool. They are best the day they are baked. Some persons prefer

them without any paste beneath, the dishes being filled entirely with

the mixture; and if they have broad edges, a border of thick puff-paste

may be laid along the edge, and handsomely notched. We think this the

best way; as paste that is baked under any mixture that has milk and

eggs in it, is liable, in consequence of the moisture, to become clammy

and heavy, and is therefore unwholesome.

WEST INDIA COCOA-NUT PUDDING.--Cut up and skin a large ripe cocoa-nut,

and grate it fine. Then put the grated cocoa-nut into a clean cloth,

and squeeze and press it till all the moisture is taken out. Spread it

on a broad tin pan, and stand it up to dry, either in the sun or before

the fire, stirring it up occasionally with your hands. When quite

dry weigh a pound of it. Beat very light sixteen eggs (omitting the

whites of four) and then beat into them, gradually, a pound of powdered

loaf-sugar, and a wine glass of rose-water. Then give the whole a hard

stirring. Put the mixture into deep dishes, and lay puff-paste round

their edges handsomely notched. Bake them about half an hour. Send them

to table cold with white sugar grated over the top.

YANKEE TEA CAKES.--Cut up half a pound of fresh butter in a pint of

milk, and warm it a little, so as to soften but not melt the butter.

Add, gradually, half a pound of powdered white sugar, in turn with

three well-beaten eggs, and a pound of sifted flour, finishing with

half a jill of strong fresh yeast. Set the mixture in a warm place to

rise. It will most probably be five hours before it is light enough

to bake, and it should therefore be made in the forenoon. When it has

risen high, and the top is covered with bubbles, butter some cups, and

bake it in them about twenty minutes. When done, turn the cakes out on

large plates; send them to table hot, and split and butter them. To

open these cakes, pull them apart with your fingers.

GELATINE JELLY.--Gelatine is used as a substitute for calves feet in

making jelly. It is prepared in light yellowish sheets, and can be

purchased at the druggists'. The chief advantage in gelatine is, that

by keeping it in the house, you can always have it ready for use, and

the jelly made with it may be commenced and finished the same day:

while, if you use calves' feet, they must be boiled the day before.

Also, you may chance to live in a place where calves' feet cannot at

all times be procured, and then a box of gelatine, always at hand,

may be found very convenient. The cost is about the same, whether the

jelly is made of calves' feet or of gelatine. That of calves' feet will

generally be the firmest, and will keep two or three days in a cold

place or when set on ice; that of gelatine, if not used on the day that

it is made, will sometimes melt and become liquid again. Its greatest

recommendations are convenience and expedition. The following receipt

for gelatine jelly will be found a very good one, if exactly followed.

Soak two ounces of gelatine, for twenty-five minutes, in as much cold

water as will cover it. Then take it out, lay it in another vessel,

pour on it two quarts of boiling water, and let it thoroughly dissolve.

Afterwards set it to cool. Having rolled them under your hand on a

table, pare off very thin the yellow rind of four lemons, and cut it

into small bits. Break up, into little pieces, two large sticks of the

best cinnamon (that of Ceylon is far preferable to any other) and a

pound of the best double refined loaf-sugar. Mix together in a large

bowl, the sugar, the lemon-rind, and the cinnamon; adding the juice of

the lemons, the beaten white of an egg, and a pint of Malaga or any

other good white wine. Add to these ingredients the dissolved gelatine,

when it is cool but not yet cold. Mix the whole very well, put it into

a porcelain kettle, or a very clean bell-metal one, and boil it fifteen

minutes. Then pour it warm into a white flannel jelly-bag, and let it

drip into a large glass bowl. On no account squeeze or press the bag,

or the jelly will be dull and cloudy. After it has congealed in the

bowl, set it on ice; but the sooner it goes to table the better. A warm

damp day is unfavourable for making any sort of jelly.

You may flavour it with four or five oranges instead of lemons.

If you are averse to using wine in the jelly, substitute a pound of the

best raisins, stemmed (but not seeded or stoned) and boiled whole with

the other ingredients.

BISCUIT ICE CREAM.--This is the _biscuit glacé_ so popular in France.

Take some pieces of broken loaf-sugar, and rub off on them the yellow

rind of four lemons, or oranges. Then pulverize the sugar, and mix

it with half a pound of loaf-sugar already powdered, and moistened

with the juice of the lemons. Beat six eggs very light, and stir them

gradually into a quart of cream, in turn with the sugar and lemon. Have

ready some stale Naples biscuit or square sponge cakes grated very

fine, and stir them gradually into the mixture, in sufficient quantity

to make a thick batter, which must be beaten till perfectly smooth and

free from lumps. Put it into a porcelain stew-pan, and give it one

boil up, stirring it nearly all the time. Then put it into a freezer,

and freeze it in the usual manner. Afterwards transfer it to a pyramid

mould, and freeze it a second time for half an hour or more. When quite

frozen, take it out of the mould upon a glass or china dish.

Instead of lemon or orange, you may flavour it with a vanilla bean

boiled slowly in half a pint of cream, and then strained out, before

you mix it with the other cream.

MACCAROON ICE CREAM.--From a quart of cream take half a pint, and

boil in it slowly two ounces of bitter almonds, or peach kernels,

previously blanched and broken up. Then, when it is highly flavoured

with the almonds, strain the half pint and mix it with the remaining

pint and a half of cream, to which add, by degrees, six eggs previously

beaten till very light, and half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar.

Crumble a sufficient quantity of the best almond maccaroons to make a

thick batter when stirred gradually into the mixture of cream, sugar,

and eggs, which must be beaten till perfectly smooth. Give it a boil,

stirring it well while boiling. Then put it into a freezer, and freeze

it as usual. Afterward transfer it to a pyramid mould and freeze it

again. It will be found very fine if properly made.

ORANGE WATER ICE.--To four pounds of the best double refined

loaf-sugar, allow a quart of water, and four dozen large ripe

deep-coloured oranges. Having rolled the oranges on the table under

your hand to increase the quantity of juice, wash and wipe them dry.

Take pieces of the sugar and rub them on half the oranges till you have

taken off on the sugar their yellow rind or zest. Then put that sugar

with the remainder into a porcelain kettle, and pour on it a quart of

water into which has been beaten the white of one egg. When the sugar

is quite melted, set the kettle on the fire, and boil and skim it till

the scum ceases to rise, and the orange-zest is entirely dissolved.

Then stir in gradually the juice of the oranges, and when all is in,

take it directly off the fire, lest the flavour of the juice should be

weakened by boiling. Let it cool, stirring it well. Lastly, put it into

a freezer surrounded by pounded ice and salt, and stir it hard for the

first ten minutes. Take off the lid and repeat the stirring every five

minutes till the freezing is accomplished. Turn it out into a glass

bowl; having first washed off the ice and salt from the outside of the

freezer, lest some of it should chance to get into the inside. Serve it

on saucers.

After it has congealed in the freezer, you may transfer it to a pyramid

or pine-apple mould, and freeze it a second time, which will require

half an hour or more. Of course, while in the mould, it must remain

undisturbed. Before you turn it out, hold round the outside of the

mould a cloth dipped in cold water.

LEMON-WATER ICE.--May be made in the above manner, only that you must

allow an additional pound of sugar, and use the zest or yellow rind of

_all_ the lemons.

STRAWBERRY-WATER ICE.--To each pound of loaf-sugar allow half a pint

of water, and three quarts of ripe strawberries. Having broken up the

sugar, put it into a preserving-kettle, and pour on it the water in the

above proportion. To make the syrup very clear, you may allow to each

pint of water half the white of an egg beaten into the water. When the

sugar has melted, and been well stirred in the water, put the kettle

over the fire, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise. Have

ready the strawberry juice, having put the strawberries into a linen

bag, and squeezed the liquid into a deep pan. As soon as you take the

kettle of syrup from the fire, stir into it the strawberry juice. Then

put it into a freezer, surrounded with ice broken small, and mixed

with salt; twirl it round by the handles for ten minutes, and then let

it freeze, frequently stirring it hard. When done, turn it out into

a glass bowl, and serve it on saucers. Or you may give it a second

freezing in a pyramid mould.

RASPBERRY-WATER ICE.--Is made exactly as above. You may heighten the

colour of these ices by adding to the juice a little cochineal, which

it is very convenient to keep in the house ready prepared. To do

this, mix together an ounce of cochineal (pounded to a fine powder),

a quarter of an ounce of powdered alum, and a quarter of an ounce of

cream of tartar, adding a salt-spoonful of pearl-ash, and three ounces

of powdered loaf-sugar. Boil them all together for ten minutes or more.

Then pat the mixture into a clean new bottle, cork it tightly, and stir

a little of it into any liquid you wish to colour of a fine red. With

this you may give a red colour to calves' feet jelly, or blancmange, or

to icing for cakes.

GRAPE-WATER ICE--Is made as above, first mashing the grapes with a

wooden beetle, before you put them into the bag for squeezing the

juice. Currants for water ice must also be mashed before squeezing in

the bag.

PINE-APPLE WATER ICE.--Having pared and sliced a sufficient number of

very ripe pine-apples, cut the slices into small bits, put them into a

deep dish or a tureen, sprinkle among them powdered loaf-sugar, cover

them and let them set several hours in a cool place. Then have ready

a syrup made of loaf-sugar, dissolved in a little water (allowing to

every two pounds of sugar a pint of water beaten with half the white

of an egg), and boiled and skimmed till quite clear. Get as much

pine-apple juice as you can, by squeezing through a sieve the bits of

pine-apple (after they have stood some hours in the tureen), measure

it, and to each pint of the boiled syrup allow a pint of juice. Mix

them together while the syrup is warm from the fire. Then put it into a

freezer, and proceed in the usual manner.

PEACH-WATER ICE.--Take soft, ripe, juicy, freestone peaches, pare them,

stone them, and cut them in pieces. Put the pieces into a linen bag

and squeeze the juice into a deep pan. Crack the stones, scald and

blanch the kernels, break them in half, and, having made a syrup as

in the above receipts, allowing half a pint of water to each pound

of loaf-sugar, boil the kernels in the syrup, taking them out when

the syrup is done. This infusion of the kernels will add greatly to

the flavour. Then measure the peach-juice, allowing a pint of it to

each pint of syrup, and mix them together while the syrup is hot. Then

freeze it.

A FINE CHARLOTTE RUSSE.--For this purpose you must have a circular or

drum-shaped tin mould, or a pair or more of them. The mould should be

without a bottom. They can be procured at a tin-store, and are useful

for other purposes. The day before you want the Charlotte russe, make a

stiff plain jelly by boiling a set of calves' feet (four) in a gallon

of water till the meat drops from the bone. It should boil slowly till

the liquid is reduced to less than two quarts. Then, having strained

it, measure into a pan three pints of the liquid, cover it, and set it

away to congeal. Next morning, it should be a solid cake, from which

you must carefully scrape off all the fat and sediment. Boil a vanilla

bean in half a pint of milk, till the milk is very highly flavoured

with the vanilla. Then strain it, and set it away to get cold. Take

three pints of rich cream, put it into a shallow pan, set it on ice,

and beat it to a stiff froth with rods or a whisk; or churn it to a

foam with a little tin churn. Next, add to the cream the vanilla milk,

and beat both together. Melt the jelly in a pan over the fire. Beat

very light the yolks of six eggs, and then stir gradually into the

beaten egg half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Next, add, by degrees,

the melted jelly to the egg and sugar, stirring very hard. Keep the

vessel sitting on ice, and continue stirring till the mixture is firm

enough to retain the mark of the spoon. Then stir in the cream as

quickly as possible. Have ready the tin mould, lined with the long

thin cakes called lady-fingers, or finger biscuits, brushed over with

beaten white of egg. They must be laid closely across each other on the

bottom of a dish, and be so arranged as to stand up in a circle round

the sides of the mould, each wrapping a little over the other. Then

carefully put in the mixture, and cover the top with lady-fingers laid

closely across. After the whole is nicely arranged, set it on ice till

wanted. When you wish to turn out the Charlotte russe, (which must be

done with great care,) wrap round the outside of the mould a coarse

towel dipped in cold water, and lift it off from the charlotte.

Instead of lady-fingers you may use sponge-cake for the shape or form.

Cut two circular slices from a large sponge-cake, one for the bottom,

and one for the top of the charlotte, and for the wall or sides arrange

tall, square slices of the cake, all of them standing up so as to wrap

a little over each other. All the cake must be glazed with beaten white

of egg.

A still easier way is to make an almond sponge-cake, and bake it in

a drum-shaped mould or pan, or an oval one with straight or upright

sides. When cold, cut off the top in one thin slice, and carefully

cut out or hollow the middle, so as to make a space to contain the

mixture of the charlotte, leaving bottom and sides standing. They must

be left thin. Then, when the mixture is ready and quite cold, fill up

the cake with it. It must be set on a china or glass dish, and kept

on ice till wanted. It will require no turning out; and there is no

risk of its breaking. The pieces that come out of the almond-cake when

it is hollowed to receive the charlotte mixture, can be used for some

other purpose, for instance, to mix with other cakes in a basket, or to

dissolve at the bottom of a trifle.

COFFEE CUSTARD--For this purpose the coffee should be cold drawn. Take

a large half pint of fresh ground coffee, which should be of the best

quality, and roasted that day. Put it into a grecque or French coffee

pot, such as are made with strainers inside, and have a second cover

below the lid. Lay the coffee on the upper strainer, pour on it half a

pint of _cold_ water, and press it down with the inner cover. Put on

the outer or top-lid of the coffee-pot, and stop the mouth of the spout

with a roll or wad of soft white paper, or with a closely-fitting cork,

to prevent any of the aroma escaping.

When the coffee liquid has all filtered down through both the upper and

lower strainers, pour it off into a bowl, and return it to the upper

strainer to filter down a second time. It will then be beautifully

clear, and very strong, notwithstanding that it has been made with cold

water.

Have ready a custard-mixture made of eight well-beaten eggs, stirred

gradually into a pint of cold rich milk or cream; and three or four

table-spoonfuls of powdered loaf-sugar. Stir the cold liquid coffee

gradually into it. Put it into cups. Set them in an iron oven or

bake-pan with boiling water round them, reaching rather more than

half-way up the sides of the cups. Bake them ten minutes or more. Then

set them on ice, and send them to table quite cold.

PRESERVED LIMES, OR SMALL LEMONS.--Take limes, or small lemons that

are quite ripe, and all about the same size. With a sharp penknife

scoop a hole at the stalk end of each, and loosen the pulp all around

the inside, taking care not to break or cut through the rind. In doing

this, hold the lime over a bowl, and having extracted all the pulp and

juice, (saving them in the bowl,) boil the empty limes half an hour or

more in alum-water, till the rinds look clear and nearly transparent.

Then drain them, and lay them for several hours in cold water, changing

the water nearly every hour. At night, having changed the water once

more, let the limes remain in it till next day, by which time all taste

of the alum should be removed; but if it is not, give them a boil in

some weak ginger tea. If you wish them very green, line the sides and

bottom of a preserving-kettle with fresh vine-leaves, placed very

thickly, put in the limes, and pour on as much clear cold water as will

cover them, (spring or pump-water is best,) and fill up with a very

thick layer of vine-leaves. Boil them slowly an hour or more. If they

are not sufficiently green, repeat the process with fresh vine-leaves

and fresh water. They must boil till a twig can pierce them.

After the limes have been greened, give the kettle a complete washing;

or take another and proceed to make the syrup. Having weighed the

limes, allow to every pound of them a pound of the best double refined

loaf-sugar, and half a pint of very clear water. Break up the sugar

and put it into the kettle. Then pour on to it the water, which must

previously be mixed with some beaten white of egg, allowing the white

of one egg to three pounds of sugar. Let the sugar dissolve in the

water before you set it over the fire, stirring it well. Boil and

skim the sugar, and when the scum ceases to rise, put in the limes,

adding the juice that was saved from them, and which must first be

strained from the pulp, seeds, &c. Boil the limes in the syrup till

they are very tender and transparent. Then take them out carefully, and

spread them on flat dishes. Put the syrup into a tureen, and leave it

uncovered for two days.

In the mean time prepare a jelly for filling the limes. Get several

dozen of fine ripe lemons. Roll them under your hand on the table,

to increase the juice; cut them in half, and squeeze them through a

strainer into a pitcher. To each pint of the juice allow a pound and

a quarter of the best double refined loaf-sugar. Put the sugar, mixed

with the lemon-juice, into a preserving-kettle, and when they are

melted set it over the fire, and boil and skim it till it becomes a

thick, firm jelly, which it should in twenty minutes. Try if it will

congeal by taking out a little in a spoon, and placing it in the open

air. If it congeals immediately, it is sufficiently done. If boiled too

long it will liquefy, and will not congeal again without the assistance

of isinglass. When the jelly is done, put it at once into a large bowl,

and leave it uncovered.

The lemon-jelly, the syrup and the limes, being thoroughly done, and

all grown cold, finish by filling the limes with the jelly; putting

them, with the open part downwards, into wide-mouthed glass jars, and

gently pouring on them the syrup. Cover the jars closely, and paste

strong paper over the covers. Or seal the corks.

Very small, thin-skinned, ripe oranges, preserved in this manner, and

filled with orange-jelly, are delicious.

If, instead of having it liquid, you wish the syrup to crystallize or

candy round the fruit, put no water to the sugar, but boil it slowly a

long time, with the juice only, clarified by beaten white of egg mixed

with the sugar in the proportion of one white to three pounds.

Before squeezing out the juice of the lemons intended to make the

jelly, it will be well to pare off very thin the yellow rind; cut it

into bits, and put it into a bottle of white wine or brandy, where it

will keep soft and fresh, and the infusion will make a fine flavouring

for cakes, puddings, &c. The rind of lemons should never be thrown

away, as it is useful for so many nice purposes. Apple-sauce and

apple-pies should always be flavoured with lemon-peel.

PINE-APPLE MARMALADE.--Take the largest, ripest, and most perfect

pine-apples. Pare them, and cut out whatever blemishes you may find.

Weigh each pine-apple, balancing the other scale with an equal

quantity of the best double refined loaf-sugar, finely powdered.

Grate the pine-apples on a large dish, omitting the hard core in

the centre of each. Put the grated pine-apples and the sugar into a

preserving-kettle, mixing them thoroughly. Set it over a moderate fire,

and boil and skim it well, at times stirring it up from the bottom.

After the scum has ceased to appear, still stir, till the marmalade is

done, which will generally be in half an hour after it has come to a

boil; but if not clear, bright, and smooth in that time, continue to

boil it longer. When done, put it into a tureen, and cover it closely,

while it is growing cold. Afterwards, remove it into tumblers, covering

the top of each with double white tissue-paper, cut round so as exactly

to fit the inside. Lay this paper closely on the marmalade, and press

it down round the edges. Then paste on covers of thick paper.

This preparation of pine-apples is far superior to the usual method

of preserving it in slices. It will be found very fine for filling

tart-shells, and for jelly-cake.

ORANGE DROPS.--Squeeze through a strainer the juice of a dozen or more

ripe oranges. Have ready some of the best double refined loaf-sugar,

powdered as fine as possible, and sifted. Mix gradually the sugar with

the juice, till it is so thick you can scarcely stir it. Put it into a

porcelain skillet. Set it on hot coals, or over a moderate fire, and

stir it hard with a wooden spoon for five minutes after it begins to

boil. Then take it off the fire, and with a silver spoon or the point

of a broad knife, drop portions of the mixture upon a flat tin pan or

a pewter dish, smoothing the drops, and making them of good shape and

regular size, which should be about that of a cent. When cold they

will easily come off the tin. They are delicious, if properly made.

Never use extract or oil of orange for them, or for any thing else.

It will make them taste like turpentine, and render them uneatable.

Confectioners form these drops in moulds made for the purpose.

Lemon drops may be prepared in the same manner.

FINE LEMON SYRUP.--The best time for making lemon syrup is early in the

spring. Lemons are then plenty, and the syrup mixed with ice-water,

makes a pleasant beverage for summer. It is best and cheapest to buy

lemons by the box. Before using them _for any purpose_, each lemon

should be wiped well, and then rolled hard under your hand upon a table

to soften them and increase the juice. Two dozen large ripe lemons

will generally yield about a quart of juice if pressed with a wooden

lemon-squeezer; but it is best to have a few extra ones at hand, in

case they should be required. To a quart of juice allow six pounds of

the best loaf-sugar, broken up; on pieces of which rub off the yellow

rind or zest of the lemons. The white part of the skin is useless and

injurious. Put all the sugar into a large porcelain preserving-kettle.

Beat to a stiff froth the whites of two eggs, mix it gradually with a

quart of clear soft water, and then add it to the sugar. Stir the sugar

while it is melting in the water, and when all is dissolved, place the

kettle over the fire, and boil and skim it till perfectly clear, and

the scum ceases to rise, and the particles of lemon zest are no longer

visible. Meanwhile, squeeze the lemons through a strainer into a large

pitcher, till you have a quart of juice. When the sugar has boiled

sufficiently, and is quite clear, stir in gradually the lemon-juice,

cover the kettle and let it boil ten minutes longer. When cool put it

into clean, clear glass bottles, either quite new ones or some that

have already contained lemon syrup. The bottles should first be rinsed

with brandy. Cork them tightly and seal the corks. Orange syrup may be

made in a similar manner omitting to use the grated yellow rind of the

oranges, (it being too pungent for this purpose,) and substituting for

it a double quantity of the juice; for instance, allowing two quarts of

juice to six pounds of sugar.

CROQUANT CAKE.--Take three quarters of a pound of almonds, (of which

two ounces, or more, should be the bitter sort,) and blanch and slice

them. Powder three quarters of a pound of fine white sugar. Sift three

quarters of a pound of flour, and slice half a pound of citron. Mix

together the almond and citron, on a flat dish, and sprinkle among them

flour from the dredging-box, till they are white all over. Beat six

eggs as light as possible, till they are very thick and smooth. Then

mix them gradually with the sugar, almond, and citron, stirring very

hard. Lastly, stir in, by degrees, the sifted flour. Butter a tin pan

or pans, and put in the mixture about an inch deep. Bake it; and when

cool, cut it into narrow slices about an inch wide, and five inches

long. To make them keep a long time, lay them on shallow tins, and give

them a second baking. Put the cakes into a stone jar, and they will

keep a year or more, after this double baking.

SASSAFRAS MEAD.--Mix gradually with two quarts of boiling water, three

pounds and a half of the best brown sugar, a pint and a half of good

West India molasses, and a quarter of a pound of tartaric acid. Stir

it well, and when cool, strain it into a large jug or pan, then mix

in a tea-spoonful (not more) of essence of sassafras. Transfer it to

clean bottles, (it will fill about half a dozen,) cork it tightly, and

keep it in a cool place. It will be fit for use next day. Put into a

box or boxes a quarter of a pound of carbonate of soda, to use with

it. To prepare a glass of sassafras mead for drinking, put a large

table-spoonful of the mead into a half tumbler full of ice-water, stir

into it a half tea-spoonful of the soda, and it will immediately foam

up to the top.

Sassafras mead will be found a cheap, wholesome, and pleasant beverage

for warm weather. The essence of sassafras, tartaric acid, and

carbonate of soda, can of course all be obtained at the druggists'.

FINE TOMATA CATCHUP.--Take a large quantity of tomatas, and scald and

peel them. Press them through a fine hair-sieve, and boil the pulp in

either a porcelain or a bell-metal preserving-kettle, as tin or iron

will blacken it. Cover the kettle closely, and keep it at a slow boil

during four hours. Then measure the pulp of the tomatas, and to every

two quarts allow a tea-spoonful of salt. Boil it an hour after the salt

is in, stirring it frequently. Have ready, in equal proportions, a

mixture of powdered ginger, nutmeg, mace, and cloves; and to every two

quarts of the liquid, allow a large tea-spoonful of these mixed spices,

adding a small tea-spoonful of cayenne. Stir in this seasoning, and

then boil the catchup half an hour longer. Strain it carefully into a

large pitcher, avoiding the grounds or sediment of the spices, and then

(while hot) pour it through a flannel into clean bottles. Cork them

tightly, and seal the corks. Keep it in a dry, cool place. It will be

of a fine scarlet colour.

GREEN TOMATA PICKLES.--Slice a gallon of the largest green tomatas,

and salt them over night to your taste. In the morning mix together

a table-spoonful of ground black pepper; one of mace; one of cloves;

four pods of red pepper, chopped fine; and half a pint of grated

horse-radish. Mix them all thoroughly. Have ready a large, wide-mouthed

stone jar; put into it first a layer of the seasoning, then a layer

of tomatas, then another of seasoning, then another of tomatas, then

another of seasoning, another of tomatas; and so on alternately till

the jar is filled within two inches of the top, finishing with a layer

of seasoning. Then fill up to the top with cold cider vinegar; adding

at the last a table-spoonful of sweet oil. Cover the jar closely.

This will be found a very nice pickle, and is easily made, as it

requires no cooking. After the tomatas are all gone, the liquid

remaining in the jar may be used as catchup.

RED TOMATA PICKLES.--Fill three quarters of a jar with small, round,

button tomatas when quite ripe. Put them in whole, and then pour over

them sufficient cold vinegar (highly flavoured with mace, cloves, and

whole black pepper) to raise them to the top. Add a table-spoonful of

sweet oil, and cover the jar closely.

HASHED VEAL.--Always save the gravy of roast meat. Having skimmed off

the fat, and poured the gravy through a strainer into a jar, cover it

closely, and set it away in a refrigerator, or some very cold place,

till next day. When cold meat is hashed or otherwise recooked, it is

best to do it in its own gravy, and without the addition of water.

Take some cold roast veal, and cut it into small mouthfuls. Put it

into a skillet or stew-pan, without a drop of water. Add to it the

veal gravy that was left the preceding day, and a small lump of fresh

butter. Cover the skillet, and let the hash stew over the fire for

half an hour. Then put to it a large table-spoonful of tomata catchup;

or more, according to the quantity of meat. One large table-spoonful

of catchup will suffice for as much hash as will fill a soup-plate.

After the catchup is in, cover the hash, and let it stew half an hour

longer. This is the very best way of dressing cold veal for breakfast.

Observe that there must be no water about it. Cold roast beef, mutton,

or pork, may be hashed in this manner; but hashed veal is best. You may

also hash cold poultry, or rabbits, by cutting them in small bits, and

stewing them in gravy, adding mushroom catchup instead of tomata.

FRENCH CHICKEN SALAD.--Take a large, fine, cold fowl, and having

removed the skin and fat, cut the flesh from the bones in very small

shreds, not more than an inch long. The dressing should not be made

till immediately before it goes to table. Have ready half a dozen or

more hard-boiled eggs. Cut up the yolks upon a plate, and with the back

of a wooden spoon mash them to a paste, adding a small salt-spoonful of

salt, rather more of cayenne pepper, and a large tea-spoonful of made

mustard. Mix them well together; then add two large table-spoonfuls of

salad oil, and one of the best cider vinegar. All these ingredients for

the dressing, must be mixed to a fine, smooth, stiff, yellow paste. Lay

the shred chicken in a nice even heap, upon the middle of a flat dish,

smoothing it, and making it circular or oval with the back of a spoon,

and flattening the top. Then cover it thickly and smoothly with the

dressing, or paste of seasoned yolk of egg, &c. Have ready a large head

of lettuce that has been picked, and washed in cold water; and, cutting

up the best parts of it very small, mix the lettuce with a portion of

the hard-boiled white of egg minced fine. Lay the chopped lettuce all

round the heap of shred chicken, &c. Then ornament the surface with

very small bits of boiled red beets, and green pickled cucumbers, cut

into slips and dots, and arranged in a pretty pattern upon the yellow

ground of the coating that covers the chicken. After taking on your

plate a portion of each part of the salad, mix all together before

eating it.

Do not use for this, or any other purpose, the violently and

disagreeable sharp vinegar that is improperly sold in many of the

grocery stores, and is made entirely of chemical acids. Some of these

employed for making vinegar, are so corrosive as to be absolutely

poisonous. This vinegar can always be known by its very clear

transparency, and its excessive pungency, overpowering entirely the

taste of every thing with which it is mixed; and also by its entire

destitution of the least flavour resembling wine or cider, though it

is often sold as "the best white vinegar." You can always have good

wholesome vinegar by setting in the sun with the cork loosened, a

vessel of cider till it becomes vinegar. In buying a keg of vinegar, it

is best to get it of a farmer that makes cider.

NORMANDY SOUP.--Take four pounds of knuckle of veal. Put it into a

soup pot with twenty common-sized onions, and about four quarts of

water. Let it simmer slowly for two hours or more. Then put in about

one third of a six-penny loaf grated; adding a small tea-spoonful of

salt, and not quite that quantity of cayenne pepper. Let it boil two

hours longer. Then take out the meat, and press and strain the soup

through a large sieve into a broad pan. Measure it, and to every quart

of the soup add a pint of cream, and about two ounces of fresh butter

divided into four bits, and rolled in flour. Taste the soup, and if

you think it requires additional seasoning, add a very little more salt

and cayenne. Always be careful not to season soup highly; as it is very

easy for those who like them to add more salt and pepper, after tasting

it at table.

Put the soup again over the fire, and let it just come to a boil. Then

serve it up. These proportions of the ingredients ought to make a

tureen-full. This soup is a very fine one for dinner company. The taste

of the onions becomes so mild as to be just agreeably perceptible;

particularly in autumn when the onions are young and fresh. In cool

weather it may be made the day before; but in this case, when done, it

must be set on ice, and the cream and butter not put in till shortly

before it goes to table.

Never keep soup (or any other article that has been cooked) in a glazed

earthen crock or pitcher. The glazing being of lead would render it

unwholesome. Its effects have sometimes been so deleterious as really

to destroy life.

TOMATA SOUP.--Take a fore-leg of beef, and cut it up into small pieces.

Put the meat with the bones into a soup-pot, and cover it with a gallon

of water. Season it with pepper, and a little salt. Boil and skim it

well. Have ready half a peck of ripe tomatas cut up small; and when the

soup is boiling thoroughly, put them in with all their juice. Add six

onions sliced, and some crusts of bread cut small. The soup must then

be boiled slowly for six hours or more. When done, strain it through a

cullender. Put into the tureen some pieces of bread cut into dice or

small squares, and pour the soup upon it.

Tomata soup (like most others) is best when made the day before. In

this case you may boil it longer and slower. Then having strained it

into a stone jar, cover it closely, and set it away in a cold place.

Next day, add some grated bread-crumbs mixed with a little butter, and

give the soup a boil up.

When ochras are in season, this soup will be greatly improved by the

addition of half a peck of ochras, peeled and sliced thin.

CALVES' FEET SOUP.--Take eight calves' feet (two sets) and season them

with a small tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-spoonful of cayenne, and

half a tea-spoonful of black pepper, all mixed together and rubbed over

the feet. Slice a quarter of a peck of ochras, and a dozen onions, and

cut up a quarter of a peck of tomatas without skinning them. Put the

whole into a soup-pot with four quarts of water, and boil and skim it

during two hours. Then take out the calves' feet, and put them on a

dish. Next, strain the soup through a cullender, into an earthen pan,

and with the back of a short wooden ladle mash out into the pan of soup

all the liquid from the vegetables, till they are as dry as possible.

Cut off all the meat nicely from the bones into small bits, and return

it to the soup, adding a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided

into four, and rolled in flour. Put the soup again into the pot, and

give it a boil up. Toast two or three large thick slices of bread; cut

it into small square dice or mouthfuls; lay it in the bottom of the

tureen; pour the soup over it, and put on the tureen cover immediately.

This soup (which, however, can only be made when tomatas and ochras

are in season) will be found excellent. It may be greatly improved by

boiling in it the hock of a cold ham: in which case add no salt.

FINE CALVES' HEAD SOUP.--Boil in as much water as will cover it, a

calf's head with the skin on, till you can slip out the bones. Then

take a fore-leg of beef, and a knuckle of veal; cut them up, and

put them (bones and all) into the liquid the calf's head was boiled

in; adding as much more water as will cover the meat. Skim it well;

and after it has thoroughly come to a boil, add half a dozen sliced

carrots; half a dozen sliced onions; a large head of celery cut small;

a bunch of sweet herbs; and a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper. Boil the

whole slowly during five hours; then strain it into a large pan.

Take rather more than a pint of the liquid, (after all the fat has been

carefully skimmed off,) and put it into a saucepan with two ounces of

fresh butter, a bunch of sweet marjoram, a few sprigs of parsley, two

onions minced fine, and a large slice of the lean of some cold boiled

ham, cut into little bits. Keep it closely covered, and let it simmer

over the fire for an hour. Then press it through a sieve into the pan

that contains the rest of the soup. Thicken it with a large tea-cupful

(half a pint) of grated bread-crumbs; return it to the soup-pot, and

boil it half an hour. Unless your dinner hour is late, it is best to

make this soup the day before, putting it into a large stoneware or

china vessel, (not an earthen one,) covering it closely and setting it

in a cool place.

Have ready some force-meat balls, made of the meat of the calves' head,

finely minced, and mixed with grated bread-crumbs, butter, powdered

sweet-majoram, a very little salt and pepper, and some beaten yolk of

egg to cement these ingredients together. Each ball should be rolled

in flour, and fried in fresh butter before it is put into the soup.

Shortly before you send it to table, add a large lemon sliced thin

without peeling, and a pint of good madeira or sherry, wine of inferior

quality being totally unfit for soup, terrapin, or any such purposes.

Add also the yolks of some hard-boiled eggs cut in half. Then, after

the wine, lemon, and eggs are all in, give the soup one boil up, but

not more.

THE BEST CLAM SOUP.--Put fifty clams into a large pot of boiling water,

to make the shells open easily. Take a knuckle of veal, cut it into

pieces (four calves' feet split in half will be still better) and put

it into a soup-pot with the liquor of the clams, and a quart of rich

milk, or cream, adding a large bunch of sweet majoram, and a few leaves

of sage, cut into pieces, and a head of celery chopped small; also,

a dozen whole pepper-corns, but no salt, as the saltness of the clam

liquor will be sufficient. Boil it till all the meat of the veal drops

from the bones, then strain off the soup and return it to the pot,

which must first be washed out. Having in the mean time cut up the

clams, and pounded them in a mortar, (which will cause them to flavour

the soup much better,) season them with two dozen blades of mace, and

two powdered nutmegs; mix with them a quarter of a pound of fresh

butter, and put them into the soup with all the liquor that remains

about them. After the clams are in, let it boil another quarter of an

hour. Have ready some thick slices of nicely-toasted bread, (with the

crust removed,) cut them into small square mouthfuls; put them into a

tureen; and pour the soup upon them. It will be found excellent. Oyster

soup may be made in the same manner.

BAKED CLAMS.--In taking out the clams, save several dozen of the

largest and finest shells, which must afterwards be washed clean, and

wiped dry. Chop the clams fine, and mix with them some powdered mace

and nutmeg. Butter the sides and bottom of a large, deep dish, and

cover the bottom with a layer of grated bread-crumbs. Over this scatter

some very small bits of the best fresh butter. Then put in a thick

layer of the chopped clams. Next, another layer of grated bread-crumbs,

and little bits of butter. Then, a layer of chopped clams, and proceed

in this manner till the dish is full, finishing at the top with a layer

of crumbs. Set the dish in the oven, and bake it about a quarter of an

hour. Have ready the clam-shells and fill them with the baked mixture,

either leaving them open, or covering each with another clam-shell.

Place them on large dishes, and send them to table hot.

Oysters may be cooked in a similar manner; sending them to table in the

dish in which they were baked. The meat of boiled crabs may also be

minced, seasoned, and dressed this way, and sent to table in the back

shells of the crabs.

Clams intended for soup will communicate to it a much finer flavour, if

they are previously chopped small, and pounded in a mortar.

FINE STEWED OYSTERS.--Strain the liquor from two hundred large oysters,

and putting the half of it into a saucepan, add a table-spoonful of

whole mace, and let it come to a hard boil, skimming it carefully. Have

ready six ounces of fresh butter divided into six balls or lumps, and

roll each slightly in a little flour. Add them to the boiling oyster

liquor, and when the butter is all melted, stir the whole very hard,

and then put in the oysters. As soon as they have come to a boil, take

them out carefully, and lay them immediately in a pan of very cold

water, to plump them and make them firm. Then season the liquor with a

grated nutmeg; and taking a pint and a half of very rich cream, add it

gradually to the liquor, stirring it all the time. When it has boiled

again, return the oysters to it, and simmer them in the creamed liquor

about five minutes or just long enough to heat them thoroughly. Send

them to the tea-table hot in a covered dish.

If you stew six or eight hundred oysters, in this manner, for a large

company, see that the butter, spice, cream, &c., are all increased in

the proper proportion.

Oysters cooked in this way make very fine patties. The shells for which

must be made of puff-paste, and baked empty in very deep patty-pans,

filling them, when done, with oysters.

SPICED OYSTERS.--To four hundred large oysters allow a pint of cider

vinegar, four grated nutmegs, sixteen blades of whole mace, six dozen

of whole cloves, three dozen whole pepper corns, and a salt-spoonful of

cayenne. Put the liquor into a porcelain kettle, and boil and skim it;

when it has come to a hard boil, add the vinegar and put in the oysters

with the seasoning of spices, &c. Give them one boil up, for if boiled

longer they will shrivel and lose their flavour. Then put them into a

stone or glass jar, cover them closely, and set them in a cool place.

They must be quite cold when eaten.

You may give them a light reddish tint by boiling in the liquor a

little prepared cochineal.

TO KEEP FRESH EGGS.--Have a close, dry keg, for the purpose of

receiving the eggs as they are brought in fresh from the hen's nests.

An old biscuit keg will be best. Keep near it a patty-pan, or something

of the sort, to hold a piece of clean white rag with some good lard

tied up in it. While they are fresh and warm from the nest, grease each

egg all over with the lard, not omitting even the smallest part; and

then put it into the keg with the rest. Eggs preserved in this manner

(and there is no better way) will continue good for months, provided

they were perfectly fresh when greased; and it is useless to attempt

preserving any but new-laid eggs. No process whatever, can restore or

prevent from spoiling, any egg that is the least stale. Therefore, if

you live in a city, or have not hens of your own, it is best to depend

on buying eggs as you want them.

A MOLASSES PIE.--Make a good paste, and having rolled it out _thick_,

line a pie-dish with a portion of it. Then fill up the dish with

molasses, into which you have previously stirred a table-spoonful, or

more, of ground ginger. Cover it with an upper crust of the paste;

notch the edges neatly; and bake it brown. This pie, plain as it is,

will be found very good. It will be improved by laying a sliced orange

or lemon in the bottom before you put in the molasses. To the ginger

you may add a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.

SOUP À LA LUCY.--Take a large fowl; cut it up; put it with a few small

onions into a soup-pot, and fry it brown in plenty of lard. Afterwards

pour in as much water as you intend for the soup, and boil it slowly

till the whole strength of the chicken is extracted, and the flesh

drops in rags from the bones. An hour before dinner, strain off the

liquid, return it to the pot (which must first be cleared entirely

out) add the liquor of a quart of fresh oysters, and boil it again.

In half an hour put in the oysters and mix into the soup two large

table-spoonfuls of fresh butter rolled in flour; some whole pepper;

blades of mace; and grated nutmeg. Toast some thick slices of bread

(without the crust) cut them into dice, and put them into the soup

tureen. For the fowl, you may substitute a knuckle of veal cut up; or a

pair of rabbits.

MINT JULEP.--This can only be made when fresh green mint is in season.

Lay at the bottom of a large tumbler, one or two round slices of

pine-apple nicely pared; and cover them with a thick layer of

loaf-sugar, powdered or well-broken. Pour on it a glass or more of the

best brandy. Add cold water till the tumbler is two-thirds full. Finish

with a thick layer of pounded ice till it nearly reaches the top. Then

stick down to one side a bunch of fresh green mint, the sprigs full and

handsome, and tall enough to rise above the edge of the tumbler. Place,

in the other side, one of the small tubes or straws used for drawing in

this liquid.

The proportions of the above ingredients may, of course, be varied

according to taste.

A UNION PUDDING.--The night before you make this pudding, take a piece

of rennet, in size rather more than two inches square, and carefully

wash off in two cold waters all the salt from the outside. Then wipe

it dry. Put the rennet into a tea-cup and pour on sufficient milk-warm

water to cover it well. Next morning, as early as you can, stir the

rennet-water into a quart of rich milk. Cover the milk, and set it in

a warm place till it forms a firm curd, and the whey becomes thin and

greenish. Then remove it to a cold place and set it on ice. Blanch, in

scalding water, two ounces of shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels;

and two ounces of shelled sweet almonds. Pound the almonds in a mortar,

to a smooth paste, one at a time (sweet and bitter alternately, so as

to mix them well); and add, while pounding, sufficient rose-water to

make them light and white, and to prevent their oiling. Grate upon a

lump of loaf-sugar the yellow rind or zest of two lemons, scraping

off the lemon-zest as you proceed, and transferring it to a saucer.

Squeeze over it the juice of the lemons, and mix the juice and the zest

with half a pound and two ounces of finely-powdered loaf-sugar, adding

a small nutmeg, grated. Then put the cold curd into a sieve, and drain

it from the whey till it is left very dry, chopping the curd small,

that it may drain the better. Beat in a shallow pan the yolks of eight

eggs till very light, thick, and smooth. Then mix into the egg the

curd, in turn with the pounded almonds, and the sugar and lemon. Finish

with a glass of brandy, or of Madeira or Sherry, and stir the whole

very hard.

Butter a deep dish of strong white ware. Put in the mixture: set it

immediately into a brisk oven and bake it well. When done, set it in

a cold place till wanted, and before it goes to table, sift powdered

sugar over it. It will be still better to cover the surface with a

meringue or icing, highly flavored with rose-water or lemon-juice. You

may decorate the centre with the word UNION in letters of gilt sugar.

The pudding will be found very fine.

COCOA-NUT CANDY.--Take three cocoa-nuts and grate their meat on a

coarse grater. Weigh the grated cocoa-nut, and to each pound, allow

one pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a

preserving kettle, and to every two pounds allow a pint of water, and

the beaten white of one egg mixed into the water. When the sugar is

entirely dissolved in the water, set it over the fire, and boil and

skim it. When the scum has ceased to rise, and the sugar is boiling

hard, begin to throw in the grated cocoa-nut, gradually, stirring hard

all the time. Proceed till the mixture is so thick it can be stirred

no longer. Have ready, square or oblong tin pans, slightly buttered

with the best fresh butter. Fill them with the mixture, put in evenly

and smoothly, and of the same thickness all through the pan. Smooth

the surface all over with a broad knife dipped in cold water. Set

it to cool, and, when the candy is almost hard, score it down in

perpendicularly straight lines with a sharp knife dipped in cold water,

the lines being two or three inches apart. These cuts must be made deep

down to the bottom of the pan. When it is quite cold and firm, cut the

candy entirely apart, so as to form long sticks, and keep it in a cold

place.

If any of the grated cocoa-nut is left, you may make it into cocoa-nut

maccaroons, or into a cocoa-nut pudding.

PRESERVED GREEN TOMATAS.--Take a peck of button tomatas, full grown,

but quite green. Weigh them, and to each pound allow a pound of the

best double-refined loaf-sugar, broken up small. Scald and peel them.

Have ready ten lemons rolled under your hand on a table, to increase

the juice. Grate off, upon lumps of sugar, the yellow surface of the

rind, scraping up the grating or zest with a spoon, and transferring it

to a bowl. Squeeze over it, through a strainer, the juice of the lemon.

Take a quarter of a pound of root ginger, scrape off the outside, grate

the ginger and mix it with the lemon.

Put the sugar into a large preserving kettle, and pour water on it;

allowing half a pint of water to each pound of sugar. Stir it about

with a large, clean wooden spoon, till it melts. Set it over a clear

fire, and boil and skim it. After it has boiled, and is very clear,

and the scum has ceased to rise, put in the tomatas and boil them till

every one has slightly bursted. Next add the lemon and ginger, and boil

them about a quarter of an hour longer. Then take them out and spread

them on large dishes to cool. Boil the syrup by itself, ten minutes

longer. Put the tomatas into jars, about half full, and fill up with

the syrup. Cover the jars closely, and paste paper round the lids; or

tie bladders over them.

Green tomatas, done as above, make an excellent sweetmeat. Ripe or red

tomatas may be preserved in the same manner; yellow ones also.

The lemon and ginger must on no account be omitted.

PRESERVED FIGS.--Take figs when perfectly ripe, and wipe them

carefully, leaving the stem about half an inch long. Boil them rapidly,

for about ten minutes, in water that has a small bag of hickory

wood-ashes laid at the bottom of the preserving kettle. Then take them

out carefully, so as not to break the skins. Wash out the kettle, and

boil the figs a second time, in clean hot water, for ten minutes. Take

them out, spread them separately on large dishes, and let them rest

till next morning.

Prepare a syrup, by allowing to every pound of the finest loaf-sugar,

half a pint of water, and, when melted together, placing the kettle

over the fire. When the syrup has boiled, and is thoroughly skimmed,

put in the figs, and boil them about twenty-five minutes or half an

hour. Then take them out, and again spread them to cool on large

dishes. Afterwards, put them up in glass jars, pouring the syrup over

them. Cover the jars closely, and set them in the hot sun all next

day. Then seal the corks with the red cement made of melted rosin and

bees-wax, thickened with fine brick-dust.

Another way is to cut the stems closely, and to peel off the skin

of the figs; and to substitute for the bag of wood-ashes, a little

powdered alum. Then proceed as above.

MYRTLE ORANGES PRESERVED.--The small myrtle of the South, makes a very

fine green sweetmeat. Lay them three days in weak salt and water.

Then three days in cold water, changed at least three times a day.

Afterwards, put a layer of green vine-leaves at the bottom of the

preserving kettle, and round the sides. Put in a layer of oranges,

sprinkling among them a very little powdered alum, allowing not more

than a heaped salt-spoonful of alum to the whole kettle of oranges and

vine-leaves. Then fill up with water; hang them over the fire till

they are of a fine green, and boil them till they are so tender that

you can pierce them through with a twig from a whisk broom. When clear

and crisp, take them out of the kettle, spread them on flat dishes,

and throw away the vine-leaves. Then wash out the kettle, and, having

weighed the oranges, allow to each pound one pound of double-refined

sugar, broken small. Put the sugar into the preserving-kettle, and

pour on half a pint of water to each pound of sugar. When it is quite

dissolved, hang it over the fire, and boil and skim it till it is

very clear, and no more scum appears on the surface. Then put in the

oranges, and boil them slowly in the syrup till they slightly burst.

Another way is to scoop out all the inside of oranges as soon as they

are greened, and make a thick jelly of it, with the addition of some

more orange-pulp from other oranges. Press it through a strainer, and,

after adding a pound of sugar to each pint of orange juice, boil it to

a jelly. Having boiled the empty oranges in a syrup till they are crisp

and tender, spread them out to cool--fill them with the jelly, and put

them up in glass jars, pouring the syrup over them.

TO KEEP STRAWBERRIES.--Take the largest and finest ripe strawberries,

hull them, and put them immediately into large wide-mouthed bottles,

filling them quite up to the top. Cork them directly, and be sure to

wire the corks. Set the bottles into a large preserving-kettle full of

cold water. Place them over the fire, and let the water boil around

them for a quarter of an hour after it has come to a boil. Then take

out the bottles, drain them, and wipe the outside dry. Proceed at once

to seal the corks hermetically, with the red cement made of one-third

bees-wax cut up, and two-thirds rosin, melted together in a skillet

over the fire, and, when completely liquid, taken off the fire, and

thickened to the consistence of sealing-wax by stirring in sufficient

finely powdered brick-dust. This cement must be spread on hot over the

wired corks. It is excellent for all sweetmeat and pickle jars. Nothing

is better. Keep the bottles in boxes of dry sand. When opened, the

strawberries will be found fresh and highly flavoured, as when just

gathered. They must, however, be used as soon as they are opened, for

exposure to the air will spoil them.

Raspberries, ripe currants stripped from the stalk, ripe gooseberries

topped and tailed, and any small fruit, may be kept in this manner for

many months.

In France, where syrups of every sort of fruit are made by boiling the

juice with sugar, and then bottling it, it is very customary to serve

up, in glass dishes, fruits preserved as above, with their respective

syrups poured round them, from the bottles. They are delicious.

TO KEEP PEACHES.--Take fine ripe juicy free-stone peaches. Pare them,

and remove the stones by thrusting them out with a skewer, leaving the

peaches as nearly whole as possible. Or you may cut them in half. Put

them immediately into flat stone jars, and cement on the covers with

the composition of bees-wax and rosin melted together, and thickened

with powdered brick dust. The jars (_filled up to the top_) must be so

closely covered that no air can possibly get to the peaches. Then pack

the jars in boxes of sand, or of powdered charcoal, and nail on the

box-lid.

Peaches done in this manner, have arrived at California in perfect

preservation. But they must be eaten as soon as the jars are opened.

GREEN CORN MUFFINS.--Having boiled the corn, grate it, as if for a

pudding. Beat six eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a quart

of milk. Then stir in, by degrees, the grated corn, till you have a

moderately thick batter. Add a salt-spoon of salt. Butter the inside of

your muffin-rings. Place them on a hot griddle, over a clear fire, and

nearly fill them with the batter. Bake the muffins well, and send them

to table hot. Eat them with butter.

COMPOTE OF SWEET POTATOES.--Select fine large sweet potatoes, all

nearly the same size. Boil them well and then peel off the skins. Then

lay the potatoes in a large baking-dish; put some pieces of fresh

butter among them, and sprinkle them very freely with powdered sugar.

Bake them slowly, till the butter and sugar form a crust. They should

be eaten after the meat. This is a Carolina dish, and will be found

very good.

BAKED HAM.--Soak a nice small sugar-cured ham in cold water, from early

in the evening till next morning--changing the water at bed-time. (It

may require twenty-four hours' soaking.) Trim it nicely, and cut the

shank-bone short off. Make a coarse paste of merely flour and water,

sufficient in quantity to enclose the whole ham. Roll it out, and cover

the ham entirely with it. Place it in a well-heated oven, and bake it

five hours, or more, in proportion to its size. When done, remove the

paste, peel off the skin, and send the ham to table, with its essence

or gravy about it. It will be found very fine.

If the ham is rather salt and hard, parboil it for two hours. Then put

it into the paste, and bake it three hours.

MUSHROOM SWEET-BREADS.--Take four fine fresh sweet-breads; trim them

nicely, split them open, and remove the gristle or pipe. Then lay the

sweet-breads in warm water till all the blood is drawn out. Afterwards,

put them into a saucepan, set them over the fire, and parboil them for

a quarter of an hour. Then take them out, and lay them immediately in a

pan of cold water.

Have ready a quart of fresh mushrooms; peel them, and remove the

stalks. Spread out the mushrooms on a large flat dish, with the hollow

side uppermost, and sprinkle them slightly with a little salt and

pepper. Having divided each sweet-bread into four quarters, put them

into a saucepan with the mushrooms, and add a large piece of the best

fresh butter rolled in flour. Cover the pan closely, and set it over

a clear fire that has no blaze. You must lift the saucepan by the

handle, and shake it round hard, otherwise, the contents may burn

at the bottom. Keep it closely covered all the time; for if the lid

is removed, much of the mushroom-flavour may escape. Let them stew

steadily for a quarter of an hour or more. Then take them up, and send

them to table in a covered dish, either at breakfast or dinner. They

will be found delicious. If the mushrooms are large, quarter them.

PANCAKE HAM.--Cut very thin some slices of cold ham, making them all

nearly of the same size and shape. Beat six eggs very light, and

smooth. Stir them, gradually, into a pint of rich milk, alternately

with six table-spoonfuls of sifted flour, adding half a nutmeg, grated.

If you find the batter too thick, add a little more milk. For pancakes

or fritters, the batter should be rather thin. Take a yeast-powder;

dissolve the contents of the blue paper (the soda) in a little warm

water, and, when quite melted, stir it into the batter. In another

cup, dissolve the tartaric acid from the white paper, and stir that

in immediately after. Have ready, in a frying-pan over the fire, a

sufficiency of lard melted and boiling, or of fresh butter. Put in a

ladle-full of the batter, and fry it brown. Have ready a hot plate,

and put the pancakes on it as soon as they come out of the frying-pan,

keeping them covered, close to the fire. When they are all baked, pile

them evenly on a hot dish, with a slice of cold ham between every

two pancakes, beginning with a cake at the bottom of the pile, and

finishing with a cake at the top. You may arrange them in two piles, or

more. In helping, cut down through the whole pile of pancakes and ham

alternately.

In making yeast-powders, allow twice as much carbonate of soda as of

tartaric acid. For instance, a level tea-spoonful of soda to a level

salt-spoonful of the tartaric acid. Put up the two articles, separately

folded in papers of different colours; the former in blue paper, the

latter in white.

AN APPLE PANDOWDY.--Make a good plain paste. Pare, core, and slice

half a dozen or more fine large juicy apples, and strew among them

sufficient brown sugar to make them very sweet; adding some cloves,

cinnamon, or lemon-peel. Have ready a pint of sour milk. Butter a deep

tin baking-pan, and put in the apples with the sugar and spice. Then,

having dissolved, in a little lukewarm water, a small tea-spoonful

of soda, stir it into the milk, the acid of which it will immediately

remove. Pour the milk, foaming, upon the apples, and immediately put a

lid or cover of paste over the top, in the manner of a pie. This crust

should be rolled out rather thick. Notch the edge all round, having

made it fit closely. Set it into a hot oven, and bake it an hour. Eat

it warm, with sugar.

HONEY PASTE (_for the HANDS_.)--Take half a pound of strained honey,

half a pound of white wax, and half a pound of fresh lard. Cut up the

wax very small, put it into a porcelain-lined saucepan, and set it over

the fire till it is quite melted. Then add alternately the honey and

the lard; stirring them all well together. Let them boil moderately,

till they become a thick paste, about the consistence of simple cerate,

or of lip salve. Then remove the saucepan from the fire, and stir into

the mixture some rose-perfume, or carnation, or violet--no other.

Transfer the paste, while warm, to gallicups with covers; and paste a

slip of white paper round each cover.

For keeping the hands white and soft, and preventing their chapping,

there is nothing superior to this paste; rubbing on a little of it,

after dipping your hands lightly in water.

GLYCERINE.--This is an excellent and very convenient preparation for

the hands. Buy a bottle of it at one of the best druggists, and keep it

well corked. After washing your hands with palm or castile soap, empty

the basin, and pour in a little fresh water, to which add a few drops

of glycerine. Finish your hands with this, rubbing it in hard. It will

render them very soft and smooth, and prevent chapping. Try it, by all

means.

TO KEEP OFF MUSQUITOES.--Before going to bed, put a little eau de

cologne into a basin of clean water, and with this wash your face,

neck, hands, and arms, letting it dry on. The musquitoes then will not

touch you.

It may be necessary to repeat this washing before morning, or about

day-light. There is nothing better. You may also do it early in the

evening, before the musquitoes begin.

CORN-STARCH BLANCMANGE.--Buy at one of the best grocer's, a half-pound

paper of corn-starch flour. Boil a quart of milk, taking out of it

a large tea-cup-full, which you may put into a pan. While the milk

is boiling, mix with the cold milk four heaping table-spoonfuls of

the corn-starch. Beat three eggs very light, and stir them into the

mixture. Flavour it with a tea-spoonful of extract of bitter almonds,

or of vanilla, or a wine-glass of rose-water. Add a quarter of a pound

of powdered loaf-sugar, and stir the whole well together. When the

other milk is boiling hard, pour it gradually on the mixture in the

pan, which mixture will thicken while the milk is pouring. Transfer it

to blancmange moulds, (first wetting them with cold water,) and set

them in a cold place till dinner-time. Eat it with cream. Serve up

sweetmeats at the same time.

If you use new milk, the mixture will be like a soft custard, and must

be sent to table as such. Skim-milk makes it blancmange.

If you wish it as a pudding, use five heaping spoonfuls of the

corn-starch powder. Send it to table hot, and eat it with wine sauce.

It is a pudding very soon prepared.

Blancmange moulds are best of block tin. Those of china are more liable

to stick.

These preparations of corn-starch are much liked.

FARINA.--Is the finest, lightest, and most delicate preparation of

wheat flour. It is excellent for all sorts of boiled puddings, for

flummery, and blancmange. Also, as gruel for the sick.

CINNAMON CAKE.--Take as much of the very best and lightest bread-dough

as will weigh a pound. The dough must have risen perfectly, so as to

have cracked all over the surface. Put it into a pan, and mix into it

a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, melted in half a pint of milk,

adding a well-beaten egg, and sufficient flour to enable you to knead

the dough over again. Then mix in a heaping tea-spoonful of powdered

cinnamon. Next, take a yeast-powder. In one cup, melt the soda or

contents of the blue paper, in as much lukewarm water as will cover

it; and, when thoroughly melted, mix it into the dough. Immediately

after, having dissolved in another cup the tartaric acid, or contents

of the white paper, stir that in also, and knead the dough a little

while, till the whole is well mixed. Spread the dough thick and

evenly in a square pan greased with lard or fresh butter, and with a

knife make deep cuts all through it. Having previously prepared in

a bowl a mixture of brown sugar, moistened with butter, and highly

flavoured with powdered cinnamon, in the proportion of four heaping

table-spoonfuls of sugar to two large spoonfuls of butter and one

heaped tea-spoonful of cinnamon. Fill the cuts with this mixture,

pressing it down well into the dough. Bake the cake half an hour or

more, in a rather quick oven. When done, set it to cool; and when cold,

cut it in squares, and sift powdered white sugar over it. It is best

the day it is baked.

You may, previous to baking, form the dough into separate round cakes;

and in placing them in the pan, do not lay them so near each other as

to touch.

By bespeaking it in time, you can get risen bread dough from your

baker. For two pounds of dough you must double the proportions of the

above ingredients.

THAWING FROZEN MEAT, &c.--If meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, or any

other article of food, when found frozen, is thawed by putting it into

_warm water_ or placing it before the fire, it will most certainly

spoil by that process, and be rendered unfit to eat. The only way is

to thaw these things by immersing them in _cold_ water. This should be

done as soon as they are brought in from market, that they may have

time to be well thawed before they are cooked. If meat that has been

frozen is to be boiled, put it on in cold water. If to be roasted,

begin by setting it at a distance from the fire; for if it should not

chance to be thoroughly thawed all through to the centre, placing at

first too near the fire will cause it to spoil. If it is expedient

to thaw the meat or poultry the night before cooking, lay it in cold

water early in the evening, and change the water at bed-time. If found

crusted with ice in the morning, remove the ice, and put the meat in

fresh cold water; letting it lie in it till wanted for cooking.

Potatoes are injured by being frozen. Other vegetables are not the

worse for it, provided they are always thawed in cold water.

KEEPING MEAT, &c., IN SUMMER.--In summer, meat, poultry, fish, fruit,

&c., should always be kept in ice, from the time they are brought

from market till it is time to cook them. Families, who have not an

ice-house, should have _two_ refrigerators; one for meat and poultry,

the other for milk, butter, and fruit. If the three last articles are

kept in the same refrigerator with meat and poultry, the milk, butter

and fruit will imbibe a bad taste.

A barrel of salt fish should never be kept in the same cellar with

other articles of food. The fish-smell will injure them greatly, and

render them unwholesome; milk and butter particularly.

It is best to buy salt fish a little at a time, as you want it. A

fish-barrel in the cellar will sometimes vitiate the atmosphere of the

whole lower story of the house, and, indeed, may be smelt immediately

on entering the door. In this case, let the barrel and its contents be

conveyed to the river and thrown in; otherwise, its odour may produce

sickness in the family.

Avoid eating anything that is _in the very least_ approaching to

decomposition. Even sour bread and strong butter are unwholesome as

well as unpalatable. If the bread is sour, or the butter rancid,

it is because (as the French, in such cases, unceremoniously say)

"putrefaction has commenced." Fortunately, the vile practice (once

considered fashionable) of eating venison and other game when

absolutely tainted, is now obsolete at all good tables. Persons who

have had opportunities of feasting on fresh-killed venison, just from

the woods, and at a season when the deer have plenty of wild berries to

feed on and are fat and juicy, can never relish the hard, lean, black

haunches that are brought to the cities in winter.

BROILED SHAD.--Cut off the head and tail, and clean the fish. Wipe

it very dry with a cloth, and sprinkle the inside with a little salt

and pepper. You may either broil it split open, and laid flat; or you

may cut it into three or four pieces without splitting. In the latter

case, it will require a longer time to broil. Keep it in ice till you

are ready to cook it. Having well greased the bars with lard, or beef

suet, or fresh butter, set your gridiron over a bed of clear, bright,

hot coals; place the shad upon it (the inside downwards) and broil it

thoroughly. When one side is done, turn it on the other with a knife

and fork. Have ready a hot dish, with a large piece of softened fresh

butter upon it, sprinkled with cayenne. When the shad is broiled, lay

it on this dish, and turn it in the butter with a knife and fork. Send

it hot to table, under a dish-cover.

APPLE PORK.--Take a fillet of fine fresh pork, and rub it slightly

all over with a very little salt and pepper. Score the outside skin

in diamonds. Take out the bone, and fill up the place with fine juicy

apples, pared, cored, and cut small, and made very sweet with plenty

of brown sugar; adding some bits of the yellow rind of a lemon or two,

pared off very thin. Then have ready a dozen and a half or more of

large apples, pared, cored, and quartered, sweetened well with sugar,

and also flavoured with yellow rind of lemon. The juice of the lemons

will be an improvement. Put the pork into a large pot, or into an iron

bake-oven; fill up with the cut apples the space all round, adding just

sufficient water to keep it from burning. Stew or bake it during three

hours. When done, serve all up in one large dish.

STEWED SALT PORK.--Take a good piece of salt pork, (not too fat,) and,

early in the evening, lay it in water, to soak all night, changing the

water about bed-time. In the morning, drain and wash the pork, and cut

it in very thin slices, seasoning it with pepper. Put a layer of this

pork in the bottom of a large dinner-pot, and then a layer of slices

of bread. Next put in a layer of potatoes, pared and cut up; then

another layer of pork slices, covered by another layer of sliced bread;

and then again potatoes. Proceed till the pot is two-thirds full,

finishing with bread. Lastly, pour on just sufficient water to stew it

well and keep it from burning. Set it over the fire, and let it cook

slowly for three hours. If it becomes too dry, add a little boiling

water.

This is a homely dish, but a very good one, particularly on a farm or

on ship-board. At sea, you must substitute biscuit for bread.

Cold pork, left from yesterday, may be cooked in this manner.

TO MAKE GOOD TOAST.--Cut the bread in even slices, and moderately

thick. When cut too thin, toast is hard and tasteless. It is much

nicer when the crust is pared off before toasting. A long-handled

toasting-fork (to be obtained at the hardware or tin stores) is far

better than the usual toasting apparatus, made to stand before the fire

with the slices of bread slipped in between, and therefore liable to

be browned in stripes, dark and light alternately; unless the bread,

while toasting, is carefully slipped along, so that the whole may

receive equal benefit from the fire. With a fork, whose handle is near

a yard in length, the cook can sit at a comfortable distance from the

fire, and the bread will be equally browned all over; when one side is

done, taking it off from the fork, and turning the other. Send it to

table hot, in a heated plate, or in a toast-rack; and butter it to your

taste. Toast should neither be burnt nor blackened in any way. You may

lay it in even piles, and butter it before it goes to table; cutting

each slice in half.