CHAPTER XXXII.

COMFORT FOR A DISCOURAGED HOUSEKEEPER.

Some of the great Trials of American Housekeepers enumerated—How to

meet them with Comfort and Success 459

NOTE A 466

INDEX 473

THE

HOUSEKEEPER AND HEALTHKEEPER.

PART FIRST.

CHAPTER I.

ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR TO AMERICAN HOUSEKEEPERS.

My dear Friends,—This volume embraces, in a concise form, many valuable

portions of my other works on Domestic Economy, both those published by

Harper and Brothers and those published by J. B. Ford and Co., together

with other new and interesting matter. It is designed to be a complete

encyclopædia of all that relates to a woman’s duties as housekeeper,

wife, mother, and nurse.

The First Part embraces a large variety of recipes for food that is

both healthful and economical, put in clear, concise language, with

many methods for saving labor, time, and money, not found in any

other works of the kind. It also gives more specific directions as

to _seasonings_ and _flavors_ than the common one of “Season to the

Taste,” which leaves all to the judgment of the careless or ignorant.

The recipes have been tested by some of the best housekeepers, and all

relating to health has been approved by distinguished physicians of all

schools.

The Second Part contains interesting information as to the construction

of the body, in a concise form, omitting all details, except such as

have an immediate connection with a housekeeper’s practical duties.

These are so simplified and illustrated, that by aid of this, both

servants and children can be made so to understand the _reasons_

for the laws of health, as to render that willing and intelligent

obedience which can be gained in no other way.

It is my most earnest desire to save you and your household from

the sad consequences I have suffered from ignorance of the _laws of

health_, especially those which women peculiarly need to understand and

obey.

God made woman to do the work of the family, and to train those under

her care to the same labor. And her body is so formed that family

labor and care tend not only to good health, but to the _highest

culture of mind_. Read all that is included in our “profession,” as

detailed in the Second Part of this work, and see how much there is to

cultivate every mental faculty, as well as our higher moral powers.

Domestic labor with the muscles of the arms and trunk, with intervals

of sedentary work, are exactly what keep all the functions of the body

in perfect order, especially those which, at the present day, are most

out of order in our sex. And so the women of a former generation, while

they read and studied books far less than women of the present time,

were better developed both in mind and body.

It was my good fortune to be trained by poverty and good mothers and

aunts to do every kind of domestic labor, and so, until one-and-twenty,

I was in full enjoyment of health and happiness. Then I gave up all

domestic employments for study and teaching, and in ten years I ruined

my health, while my younger sisters and friends suffered in the same

mistaken course. And my experience has been repeated all over the

land, until there is such decay of female constitutions and health, as

alarms, and justly alarms, every well-informed person.

After twenty years of invalidism, I have been restored to perfect

health of body and mind, and _wholly_ by a strict obedience to the

_laws of health and happiness_, which I now commend to your especial

attention, with the hope and prayer that by obedience to them you may

save yourselves and households from unspeakable future miseries.

I wish I could give you all the evidence that I have gained to prove

that woman’s work in the household _might_ be so conducted as to be

agreeable, tasteful, and promotive of both grace and beauty of person.

But this never can be generally credited till women of high culture

set the example of training their sons and daughters, instead of hired

servants alone, to be their domestic helpers.

According to the present tendency of wealth and culture, it is women of

moderate or humble means who will train their own children to health

and happiness, and rear prosperous families. Meantime, the rich women

will have large houses, many servants, poor health, and little domestic

comfort, while they train the children of foreigners to do family

work, and in a way that will satisfy neither mistress nor servant; for

a woman who does not work herself is rarely able to properly teach

others. Choose wisely, then, O youthful mother and housekeeper! train

yourself to wholesome labor and intelligent direction, and be prepared

to educate a cheerful and healthful flock of your own children.

Your friend and well-wisher,

CATHARINE E. BEECHER.

NEW YORK, _April 2, 1873_.

CHAPTER II.

MARKETING AND THE CARE OF MEATS.

Every young woman, at some period of her life, may need the

instructions of this chapter. Thousands will have the immediate care

of buying meats for the family; and even those who are not themselves

obliged to go to market, should have the knowledge which will enable

them to direct their servants what and how to buy, and to judge whether

the household, under their management, is properly served or not.

Nothing so thoroughly insures the intelligent obedience of orders, as

evidence that the person ordering knows exactly what is wanted.

The directions given in this and the ensuing chapters on meats,

were carefully written, first in Cincinnati, with the counsel and

advice of business men practically engaged in such matters. They have

been recently rewritten in Hartford, Conn., after consultation with

intelligent butchers and grocers.

MARKETING.

BEEF.

The animal, when slaughtered, should be bled very thoroughly. The care

taken by the Jews in this and other points draws custom from other

sects to their markets. The skin is tanned for leather, and the fat

is used for candles and other purposes. The tail is used for soups,

and the liver, heart, and tripe are also used for cooking. The body is

split into two parts, through the backbone, and each half is divided

as marked in the drawing on following page. There are diverse modes of

cutting and naming the parts, butchers in New England, in New York, in

the South, and in the West, all making some slight differences; but the

following is the most common method.

[Illustration: Fig. 1.

1. The _head_: frequently used for mince-pies; sometimes it is tried

out for oil, and then the bones are used for fertilizers. The horns

are used to make buttons and combs, and various other things. 2. The

_neck_; used for soups and stews. 3. The _chuck-rib_, or _shoulder_,

having four ribs. It is used for corning, stews, and soup, and

some say the best steaks are from this piece. 4. The _front of the

shoulder_, or the _shoulder-clod_, which is sometimes called the

_brisket_. 5. The _back of the shoulder_; used for corning, soups,

and stews. 6. The _fore-shin_, or _leg_; used for soups. 7, 7. The

_plate-pieces_; the front one is called the brisket, (as is also 4,)

and is used for corning, soups, and stews. The back plate-piece is

called the _flank_, and is divided into the _thick flank_, or upper

_sirloin_, and the _lower flank_. These are for roasting and corning.

8. The _standing ribs_, divided into _first_, _second_, and _third

cuts_; used for roasting. The second cut is the best of the three.

9. The _sirloin_, which is the best roasting piece. 10. The _sirloin

steak_ and the _porter-house steak_; used for broiling. 11. The

_rump_, or _aitch-bone_; used for soup or corning, or to cook _à la

mode_. 12. The _round_, or _buttock_; used for corning, or for _à la

mode_; also for dried beef. 13. The _hock_, or _hind shank_; used for

soups.]

In selecting _Beef_, choose that which has a loose grain, easily

yielding to pressure, of a clear red, with whitish fat. If the lean is

purplish, and the fat yellow, it is poor beef. Beef long kept turns a

darker color than fresh killed. Stall-fed beef has a lighter color than

grass-fed.

Ox beef is the best, and next, that of a heifer.

In cold weather, it is economical to buy a hind quarter; have it cut

up, and what is not wanted immediately, pack with snow in a barrel. All

meats grow tender by keeping. Do not let meats freeze; if they do, thaw

them in cold water, and do not cook them till fully thawed. A piece

weighing ten pounds requires ten or twelve hours to thaw.

[Illustration: Fig. 2. VEAL.]

The calf should not be slaughtered until it is six weeks old. Spring is

the best time for veal. It is divided as marked in the drawing.

1. The _head_, sold with the _pluck_, which includes the _heart_,

_liver_, and _sweet-breads_. 2. The _rack_, including the neck; used

for stews, pot-pies, and broths; also for chops and roasting. 3. The

_shoulder_. This, and also half the rack and ribs of the fore-quarter,

are sometimes roasted, and sometimes used for stews, broths, and

cutlets. 4. The _fore-shank_, or _knuckle_; used for broths. 5. The

_breast_; used for stews and soups; also to stuff and bake. 6. The

_loin_; used for roasting. 7. The _fillet_, or _leg_, including the

hind flank; used for cutlets, or to stuff and boil, or to stuff and

roast, or bake. 8. The _hind shank_, or _hock_, or _knuckle_; used for

soups. The _feet_ are used for jelly.

In selecting _Veal_, take that which is firm and dry, and the joints

stiff, having the lean a delicate red, the kidney covered with fat, and

the fat very white. If you buy the head, see that the eyes are plump

and lively, and not dull and sunk in the head. If you buy the legs, get

those which are not skinned, as the skin is good for jelly or soup.

[Illustration: Fig. 3. MUTTON.

1. The _shoulder_; for boiling or corning. 2, 2. The _neck_ and

_rack_; for boiling or corning. 3. The _loin_; is roasted, or broiled

as chops. 4. The _leg_; is boiled, or broiled, or stuffed and roasted.

Many salt and smoke the leg, and call it smoked venison. 5. The

_breast_; for boiling or corning.]

In choosing _Mutton_, take that which is bright red and close-grained,

with firm and white fat. The meat should feel tender and springy on

pressure. Notice the vein on the neck of the fore-quarter, which should

be a fine blue.

[Illustration: Fig. 4. PORK.

1. The _leg_, or _ham_; used for smoking. 2. The _hind loin_. 3. The

_fore loin_. 4. The _spare-rib_; for roasting; sometimes including

all the ribs. 5. The _hand_, or _shoulder_; sometimes smoked, and

sometimes corned and boiled. 6. The _belly_, or _spring_, for corning

or salting down. The _feet_ are used for jelly, head-cheese, and

souse.]

In selecting _Pork_, if young, the lean can easily be broken when

pinched, and the skin can be indented by nipping with the fingers. The

fat also will be white and soft. _Thin_ rind is best.

In selecting _Hams_, run a knife along the bone, and if it comes out

clean, the ham is good; but if it comes out smeared, it is spoiled.

Good bacon has white fat, and the lean adheres closely to the bone. If

the bacon has yellow streaks, it is rusty, and not fit to use.

* * * * *

In selecting _Poultry_, choose those that are full grown, but not old.

When young and fresh-killed, the skin is thin and tender, the joints

not very stiff, and the eyes full and bright. The breast-bone shows

the age, as it easily yields to pressure if young, and is tough when

old. If young, you can with a pin easily tear the skin. A goose, when

old, has red and hairy legs; but when young, they are yellow, and have

few hairs. The pin-feathers are the roots of feathers, which break off

and remain in the skin, and always indicate a _young_ bird. When very

neatly dressed, they are pulled out.

Poultry and birds ought to be killed by having the head cut off, and

then hung up by the legs to bleed freely. This makes the flesh white

and more healthful.

* * * * *

In selecting _Fish_, take those that are firm and thick, having stiff

fins and bright scales, the gills bright red, and the eyes full and

prominent. When fish are long out of water, they grow soft, the fins

bend easily, the scales are dim, the gills grow dark, and the eyes sink

and shrink away. Be sure and have them dressed immediately; sprinkle

them with salt, and use them, if possible, the same day. In warm

weather, put them in ice, or corning, for the next day.

Shell-fish can be decided upon only by the smell. Lobsters are not good

unless alive, or else boiled before offered for sale. They are black

when alive, and red when boiled. When to be boiled, they are to be put

alive into boiling water, which is the quickest and least cruel way to

end their life.

THE CARE OF MEATS.

In hot weather, if there is no refrigerator, then wipe meat dry,

sprinkle on a little salt and pepper, and hang in the cellar. Or,

still better, wrap it, thus prepared, in a dry cloth, and cover it

with charcoal or with wood-ashes. Mutton, wrapped in a cloth wet with

vinegar, and laid on the ground of a _dry_ cellar, keeps well and

improves in tenderness.

Hang meat a day or two after it is killed before corning it.

In winter, meat is kept finely if well packed in snow, without salting;

but some say it lessens the sweetness.

Frozen meat must be thawed in cold water, and not cooked till entirely

thawed.

Beef and mutton are improved by keeping as long as they remain sweet.

If meat begins to taint, wash it, and rub it with powdered charcoal,

which often removes the taint. Sometimes rubbing with salt will cure

it. Soda water is good also.

Take all the kernels out that you will find in the round and thick end

of the flank of beef, and in the fat, and fill the holes with salt.

This will preserve it longer.

Salt your meat, in summer, as soon as you receive it.

A pound and a half of salt rubbed into twenty-five pounds of beef, will

corn it so as to last several days in ordinary warm weather; or put it

in strong brine.

In most books of recipes there are several different ones for corning,

for curing pork hams, and for other uses, while an inexperienced

person is at a loss to know which is best. The recipes here given are

decided to be _the best_, after an examination of quite a variety, by

the writer, who has resided where they were used; and she knows that

the very best results are secured by these directions. These also are

pronounced the best by business men of large experience.

=To Salt down Beef to keep the Year round.=—One hundred pounds

of beef; four quarts of rock-salt, pounded fine; four ounces of

saltpetre, pounded fine; four pounds of brown sugar. Mix well. Put a

layer of meat on the bottom of the barrel, with a thin layer of this

mixture under it. Pack the meat in layers, and between each put equal

proportions of this mixture, allowing a little more to the top layers.

Then pour in brine till the barrel is full.

=To cleanse Calf’s Head and Feet.=—Wash clean, and sprinkle pounded

resin over the hair; dip in boiling water and take out immediately,

and then scrape them clean; then soak them in water for four days,

changing the water every day.

=To prepare Rennet.=—Take the stomach of a new-killed calf, and do

not wash it, as it weakens the gastric juice. Hang it in a cool and

dry place five days or so; then turn the inside out, and slip off the

curds with the hand. Then fill it with salt, with a little saltpetre

mixed in, and lay it in a stone pot, pouring on a tea-spoonful of

vinegar, and sprinkling on a handful of salt. Cover it closely, and

keep for use. After six weeks, take a piece four inches square and put

it in a bottle with five gills of cold water and two gills of rose

brandy; stop it close, and shake it when you use it. A table-spoonful

is enough for a quart of milk.

=To Salt down Fish.=—Scale, cut off the heads, open down the back, and

remove most of the spine, to have them keep better. Lay them in salt

water two hours, to extract blood. Sprinkle with fine salt, and let

them lie over night. Then mix one peck of coarse and fine salt, one

ounce of saltpetre, (or half an ounce of saltpetre and half an ounce

of saleratus,) and one pound of sugar. Then pack in a firkin. Begin

with a layer of salt, then a layer of fish, skin downward. A peck of

salt will answer for twenty-five shad, and other fish in proportion.

As in most country families, when meat is salted for the year’s

use, pork is the meat most generally and most largely relied upon,

considerable space is devoted to its proper preparation. Special

attention is given to various modes of curing and preserving it.

=To try out Lard.=—Take what is called _the leaves_, and take off all

the skin, cut it into pieces an inch square, put it into a clean pot

over a slow fire, and try it till the scraps look a reddish-brown;

take great care not to let it burn, which would spoil the whole. Then

strain it through a strong cloth, into a stone pot, and set it away

for use.

Take the fat to which the smaller intestines are attached, (not the

large ones,) and the flabby pieces of pork not fit for salting, try

these in the same way, and set the fat thus obtained where it will

freeze, and by spring the strong taste will be gone, and then it can

be used for frying. A tea-cup of water prevents burning while trying.

Corn-fed pork is best. Pork made by still-house slops is almost

poisonous, and hogs that live on offal never furnish healthful food. If

hogs are properly fed, the pork is not unhealthful.

Pork with kernels in it is measly, and is unwholesome.

A thick skin shows that the pork is old, and that it requires more time

to boil. If bought pork is very salt, soak it some hours. Do not let

pork freeze, if you intend to salt it.

The gentleman who uses the following recipe for curing pork hams, says

it has these advantages over all others he has tried or heard of,

namely, the hams thus cured are sweeter than by any other method; they

are more solid and tender, and are cured in less than half the time.

Moreover, they do not attract flies so much as other methods:

=Recipe for Molasses-cured Hams.=—Moisten every part of the ham with

molasses, and then for every hundred pounds use one quart of fine

salt, and four ounces of saltpetre, rubbing them in very thoroughly at

every point. Put the hams thus prepared in a tight cask for four days.

Then rub again with molasses and one quart of salt, and return the

hams to the cask for four days. Repeat this the third and the fourth

time, and then smoke the hams. This process takes only sixteen days,

while other methods require five or six weeks.

The following is the best recipe for the ordinary mode of curing hams;

and the brine or pickle thus prepared is equally good for corning and

all other purposes for which brine is used. Some persons use saleratus

instead of the saltpetre, and others use half and half of each, and say

it is an improvement:

=Brine or Pickle for corning Hams, Beef, Pork, and Hung Beef.=—Four

gallons of water; two pounds of rock-salt, and a little more of common

salt; two ounces of saltpetre; one quart of molasses. Mix, but do not

boil. Put the hams in a barrel and pour this over them, and keep them

covered with it for six weeks. If more brine is needed, make it in the

same proportions.

=Brine for Beef, Pork, Tongues, and Hung Beef.=—Four gallons of water;

one and a half pounds of sugar; one ounce of saltpetre; one ounce of

saleratus. Add salt; and if it is for use only a month or two, use

six pounds of salt; if for all the year, use _nine_ pounds. In hot

weather, rub the meat with salt before putting it in, and let it lie

for three hours, to extract the blood. When tongues and hung beef are

taken out, wash the pieces, and, when smoked, put them in paper bags,

and hang in a dry place.

=Brine by Measure, easily made.=—One gallon of cold water; one quart

of rock-salt; and two of blown salt; one heaping table-spoonful of

saltpetre, (or half as much of saleratus, with half a table-spoonful

of saltpetre;) six heaping table-spoonfuls of brown sugar. Mix, but

not boil. Keep it as long as salt remains undissolved at bottom. When

scum rises, add more salt, sugar, saltpetre, and soda.

=To Salt down Pork.=—Allow a peck of salt for sixty pounds. Cover

the bottom of the barrel with salt an inch deep. Put down one layer

of pork, and cover that with salt half an inch thick. Continue thus

till the barrel is full. Then pour in as much strong brine as the

barrel will receive. Keep coarse salt between all pieces, so that the

brine can circulate. When a white scum or bloody-looking matter rises

on the top, scald the brine and add more salt. Leave out bloody and

lean pieces for sausages. Pack as tight as possible, the rind next

the barrel; and let it be _always_ kept _under_ the brine. Some use

a stone for this purpose. In salting down a new supply, take the old

brine, boil it down and remove all the scum, and then use it to pour

over the pork. The pork may be used in six weeks after salting.

=To prepare Cases for Sausages.=—Empty the cases, taking care not to

tear them. Wash them thoroughly, and cut into lengths of two yards

each. Then take a candle-rod, and fastening one end of a case to the

top of it, turn the case inside outward. When all are turned, wash

very thoroughly, and scrape them with a scraper made for the purpose,

keeping them in warm water till ready to scrape. Throw them into salt

and water to soak till used. It is a very difficult job to scrape them

clean without tearing them. When finished, they look transparent and

very thin.

=Sausage-Meat.=—Take one third fat and two thirds lean pork, and chop

it; and then to every twelve pounds of meat add twelve large even

spoonfuls of pounded salt, nine of sifted sage, and six of sifted

black pepper. Some like a little summer-savory. Keep it in a cool and

dry place.

=Another Recipe.=—To twenty-five pounds of chopped meat, which should

be one third fat and two thirds lean, put twenty spoonfuls of sage,

twenty-five of salt, ten of pepper, and four of summer-savory.

=Bologna Sausages.=—Take equal portions of veal, pork, and ham; chop

them fine; season with sweet herbs _and_ pepper; put them in cases;

boil them till tender, and then dry them.

[Illustration: Fig. 5. Smoke house]

=To smoke Hams.=—Make a small building of boards, nailing strips over

the cracks to confine the smoke. Have within cross-sticks, on which to

hang the hams. Have only one opening at top, at the end farthest from

the fire. Set it up so high that a small stove can be set under or

very near it, with the smoke-pipe entering the floor at the opposite

end from the slide. These directions are for a wooden house, and it

is better thus than to have a fire _within_ a brick house, because too

much warmth lessens the flavor and tenderness of the hams. Change the

position of the hams once or twice, that all may be treated alike.

When this can not be done, use an inverted barrel or hogshead, with a

hole for the smoke to escape, and resting on stones; and keep a small,

smouldering fire. Cobs are best, as giving a better flavor; and brands

or chips of walnut wood are next best. Keeping a small fire a longer

time is better than quicker smoking, as too much heat gives the hams a

strong taste, and they are less sweet.

The house and barrel are shown in Fig. 5, on preceding page.

CHAPTER III.

STEWS AND SOUPS.

In using salt and pepper, diversities of strength make a difficulty in

giving very exact directions; so also do inequalities in the size of

spoons and tumblers. But so much can be done, that a housekeeper, after

one trial, can give exact directions to her cook, or with a pencil

alter the recipe.

It is a great convenience to have recipes that employ measures which

all families have on hand, so as not to use steelyards and balances.

The following will be found the most convenient:

A medium size tea-spoon, even full, equals 60 drops, or one eighth of

an ounce.

A medium size table-spoon, even full, equals two tea-spoonfuls.

One ounce equals eight even tea-spoonfuls, or four table-spoonfuls.

One gill equals eight even table-spoonfuls.

Half a gill equals four even table-spoonfuls.

Two gills equal half a pint, and four gills equal one pint.

One common size tumbler equals half a pint, or two gills.

One pint equals two tumblerfuls, or four gills.

One quart equals four tumblerfuls, or eight gills.

Four quarts equal one gallon.

Four gallons equal one peck.

Four pecks equal one bushel.

A quart of sifted flour, heaped, a sifted quart of sugar, and a

softened quart of butter each weigh about a pound, and so nearly that

measuring is as good as weighing.

Water is heavier, and a pint of water weighs nearly a pound.

Ten eggs weigh about one pound.

The most economical modes of cooking, as to _time_, _care_, and

_labor_, are stews, soups, and hashes; and when properly seasoned, they

are great favorites, especially with children.

Below is a drawing of a stew and soup-kettle that any tinman can easily

make. Its advantages are, that, after the meat is put in, there is no

danger of scorching, and no watching is required, except to keep up the

fire aright, so as to have a steady simmering. Another advantage is,

that, by the tight cover, the steam and flavors are confined, and the

cooking thus improved. Then, in taking up the stew, it offers several

conveniences, as will be found on trial.

[Illustration: Fig. 6. Stew kettle]

This stew-kettle consists of two pans, the inner one not fastened, but

fitting tight to the outer, with holes the size of a large pin-head

commencing half an inch from the bottom and continuing to within two

inches of the top of the under pan. It has a flat lid, on which may be

placed a weight, to confine steam and flavors. The holes may be an inch

apart. The size of the kettle must depend on the size of the family: it

may be of any desired size.

_General Directions._

Generally, in making stews, use soft water; but when only hard is at

hand, put in half a tea-spoonful of soda to every two quarts of water.

Put in all the bones and gristle first, breaking the bones thoroughly.

Rub fresh meat with salt, and put it in _cold_ water, for soups, as

this extracts the juices.

As soon as water begins to boil, skim repeatedly till no more scum

rises.

Never let water boil hard for soups or stews; for

“Meat fast boiled

Is meat half spoiled.”

Let the water _simmer gently_ and not stop simmering long, as this

injures both looks and flavor.

Keep in water enough to cover the meat, or it becomes hard and dark.

In preparing for soups, it is best to make a good deal of broth at one

time; cool it slowly, first removing sediment by straining through a

colander. When cold, remove the fat from the top, and keep the liquor

for soups and gravies. This is called _stock_, and as such should have

no other seasoning than salt. The other seasoning is to be put in when

heated and combined with other material for soup.

In hot weather, stock will keep only a day or two; but in cool weather,

three or four days. If vegetables were boiled in it, it would turn sour

sooner.

Remnants of cooked meats may be used together for soup; but take care

that none is tainted, thus spoiling all. Liquor in which corned beef is

boiled should be saved to mix with stock of fresh meat, and then little

or no salt is needed. The recipes for stews that follow will make good

soups by adding more water.

=Beef and Potato Stew.=—Cut up four pounds of beef into strips three

inches by two, and put them into two quarts of water, with one onion

sliced very fine. Let this _simmer_ four hours. Add in half a cup of

warm water, six even tea-spoonfuls of salt, three of sugar, three of

vinegar, a tea-spoonful of black pepper, and six heaping tea-spoonfuls

of flower, lumps rubbed out. Pour these upon the meat; cut up, slice,

and add six potatoes, and let all stew till the meat is very tender,

and the potatoes are soft. If potatoes are omitted, leave out half a

tea-spoonful of salt and a pinch of the pepper.

Be sure and skim very thoroughly when boiling commences, and do not

allow hard boiling, but only a gentle simmer.

=French Mutton and Turnip Stew.=—Cut up two pounds of mutton,

with a little of the fat, into two-inch squares. Rub two heaping

table-spoonfuls of butter into two table-spoonfuls of flour, and stir

it into the meat, with water just enough to cover it. Add three _even_

tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a one of pepper, four of sugar, a sprig

of parsley, and a small onion, sliced very fine. Skim as soon as it

begins to boil, and then add thirty pieces of turnips, each an inch

square, that have been fried brown. Let all stew till meat and turnips

are tender; throw out the parsley, and serve with the turnips in the

centre, and the meat around it.

=A Simple Mutton Stew.=—Cut four pounds of mutton into two-inch

squares, add four _even_ tea-spoonfuls of salt, four of sugar, half

a one of pepper, and a small onion, sliced fine. Stew three hours,

in two quarts of water, and then thicken with five tea-spoonfuls of

flour, lumps rubbed out. Six tomatoes, or some tomato catsup, improves

this.

=A Beef Stew, with Vegetable Flavors.=—Cut up four pounds of beef into

two-inch squares, and add two quarts of water. Let it stew one hour.

Then add one sliced onion, two sliced turnips, two sliced carrots,

four sliced tomatoes, four heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt, one small

tea-spoonful of pepper, four tea-spoonfuls of sugar, and five cloves.

Let it stew till there is only about a tea-cupful of gravy, and

thicken this with a little flour.

The above may be cooked without cutting up the meat, and it is good

eaten cold. Pressing it under a weight improves it, and so does

putting it in an oven for half an hour.

=A Stew of Chicken, Duck, or Turkey, with Celery or Tomatoes.=—Take a

quart of lukewarm water, and add two heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt,

two of sugar, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Cut up a large head

of celery, or four large tomatoes. Cut the fowl into eight or more

pieces, and let all simmer together two hours, or till the meat is

very tender. Then add two table-spoonfuls of butter, worked into as

much flour, and let it simmer fifteen minutes.

=A Favorite Irish Stew.=—Cut two pounds of mutton into pieces two

inches square; add a little of the chopped fat, three tea-spoonfuls

of salt, half a one of black pepper, two of sugar, two sliced onions,

and a quart of water. Let them simmer half an hour, and then add six

peeled potatoes, cut in quarters, that have soaked in cold water an

hour. Let the whole stew an hour longer, or rather till the meat is

very tender. Skim it at first and just before taking up.

=Veal Stew.=—Put a knuckle of veal into two quarts of boiling water,

with three tea-spoonfuls of salt and half a tea-spoonful of ground

pepper. Then chop fine and tie in a muslin rag one carrot, two small

onions, a small bunch of summer savory, and another of parsley; put

them in the water, and let them stew three or four hours, till the

meat is very tender. There should only be about half a pint of gravy

at the bottom. Pour in _boiling_ water, if needed. Strain the gravy,

and thicken with four spoonfuls of flour or potato-starch, and let

it boil up a minute only. This is improved by adding at first half a

pound of salt pork or ham, cut in strips. When this is done, no salt

is to be used, or only one tea-spoonful. Tomatoes improve it.

=Another.=—Cut four pounds of veal into strips one inch thick and

three inches long, and peel and soak twelve potatoes cut into slices

half an inch thick. Then put a layer of pork at the bottom, and

alternate layers of potatoes and veal, with a layer of salt pork on

the top. Put three tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a one of pepper, four

of sugar, and six tea-spoonfuls of flour, with lumps rubbed out, into

two quarts of water. Pour all upon the veal and potatoes, and let

them stew till the veal is very tender. Add twelve peeled and sliced

tomatoes, which will improve this.

=A Favorite Turkish Stew, (called Pilaff.)=—Take some rich broth,

seasoned to the taste with pepper, salt, and tomato catsup. Add two

tea-cups of rice, and let it simmer till the rice absorbs as much as

it will take up without losing its form—say about fifteen minutes.

Cut up a chicken, and season it with salt and pepper, and fry it in

sweet butter or cream. Then put the chicken in the centre of the rice,

and cover it entirely with rice. Then pour on half a pound of melted

butter, and let it stand where it is hot, and yet will not fry, for

fifteen minutes. To be served hot.

=A Rice or Hominy Stew.=—Take four pounds of any kind of fresh meat,

cut into pieces two inches square, and put in the stew-pan with one

pint of hominy. Then put into two quarts of warm water five heaping

tea-spoonfuls of salt, four of sugar, half a one of pepper, and three

of vinegar. Let them simmer four or five hours, till the meat is very

tender. A tea-cup of rice may be used instead of hominy. A little salt

pork improves this, as well as all other stews.

=A Favorite English Beef Stew.=—Simmer a shank or hock of beef in four

quarts of water, with four heaping table-spoonfuls of salt, until

the beef is soft and the water reduced to about two quarts. Then add

peeled and soaked potatoes cut into thick slices, two tea-spoonfuls

of pepper, two of sweet marjoram, and two of either thyme or summer

savory. Stew till the potatoes are soft, add bread-crumbs and more

salt if needful. One or two onions cut fine, and put in at first,

improve it for most persons.

=French Stew, or Pot au Feu.=—Put three pounds of fresh meat into

three quarts of cold water, with two tea-spoonfuls of salt. When it

begins to simmer, add a gill of cold water, and skim thoroughly. Then

add a quarter of a pound of liver, a medium-sized carrot sliced, two

small turnips, two middle-sized leeks, half a head of celery, one

sprig of parsley, a bay leaf, one onion with two cloves stuck in it,

and two cloves of garlic. Simmer five hours. Strain the broth into a

soup-dish, and serve the meat and vegetables on a platter. If more

water is needed, add that which is boiling.

When the dish is served all together, it is called _Pot au Feu_, and

the vessel in which it is cooked has the same name. It is the common

dish of the French peasantry.

The following is the receipe for the favorite Spanish dish. A superior

housekeeper tried it, and it was so much liked that several of her

family were harmed _by eating too much_:

=Spanish Olla Podrida.=—Fry four ounces of salt pork in the pot, and,

when partly done, add two pounds of fresh beef and a quarter of a

pound of ham. Add two tea-spoonfuls of salt in cold water, and only

enough just to cover the meat. Skim carefully the first half-hour, and

then add a gill of peas, (if dried, soak them an hour first,) half a

head of cabbage, one carrot, one turnip, two leeks, three stalks of

celery, three stalks of parsley, two stalks of thyme, two cloves, two

onions sliced, two cloves of garlic, ten pepper-corns, and a pinch

of powdered mace or nutmeg. Simmer steadily for five hours. When

the water is too low, add that which is boiling. Put the meat on a

platter, and the vegetables around it. Strain the liquor on to toasted

bread in a soup-dish.

All these articles can be obtained at grocers’ or markets in our large

cities, and of course can be procured in the country.

=French Mutton Stew.=—Take a leg of mutton and remove the large bone,

leaving the bone at the small end as a handle; cut off also the bone

below the knuckle, and fix it with skewers.

Put it in a stew-pan with a pinch of allspice, four onions, two

cloves, two carrots, each cut in four pieces, a small bunch of

parsley, two bay leaves, three sprigs of thyme, and _salt and pepper

to the taste_. Add two ounces of bacon cut in slices, a quarter of a

pint of broth, and cold water enough to cover it. After one hour of

simmering, add a wine-glass of French brandy.

Let them simmer five hours longer, and then dish it; strain the sauce

on it, and serve.

The American housekeeper by experiments can modify these foreign

recipes to meet the taste of her family, and will find them

_economical_ modes of cooking, as well as healthful to most persons.

FRENCH MODES OF COOKING SOUPS AND STEWS.

The writer has examined the recipes of Gouffee, the chief French cook

of the Queen of England, set forth in the expensive Royal Cook-Book;

also those of Soyer and Professor Blot. She and her friends also have

tested many of their recipes.

The following are most of the flavors used by them in cooking soups,

stews, hashes, etc. Combination of these is recommended by those

authors in these proportions:

One fourth of an ounce of thyme.

One fourth of an ounce of bay leaf.

One eighth of an ounce of marjoram.

One eighth of an ounce of rosemary.

Dry the above when fresh, mix in a mortar, and keep them corked tight

in glass bottle.

Also the following in these proportions:

Half an ounce of nutmeg.

Half an ounce of cloves.

One fourth of an ounce of black pepper.

One eighth of an ounce of Cayenne pepper.

Pound, mix, and keep corked tight in glass. In using these with salt,

put one ounce of the last recipe to four ounces of salt. In making

force-meat and hashes, use at the rate of one ounce of this spiced

salt to three pounds of meat.

=Soup Powder.=—Two ounces of parsley.

Two ounces of winter savory.

Two ounces of sweet marjoram.

Two ounces of lemon-thyme.

One ounce of lemon-peel.

One ounce of sweet basil.

Dry, pound, sift, and keep in a tight-corked bottle.

Let the housekeeper add these flavors so that they will _not be

strong_, but quite delicate, and then _make a rule for the cook_.

The peculiar excellence of French cooking is the combination of

flavors, so that no one is predominant, and all are delicate in force

and quantity.

CHAPTER IV.

SOUPS.

_General Directions._

Most of the preceding stews will serve also fairly as soups, by adding

more water. Rub salt into meat for soups, but not for stews, as the

salt extracts the juices; and in stews the meat is to be eaten, while

in soups properly so called it is only the liquor that is served. Put

meat into cold water for soups, as _slowly_ heating also extracts the

juices. For this same reason, meat that is boiled for eating should be

put into boiling water to keep the juices in it.

Always _skim often_, as soon as the water begins to simmer; and do not

add the salt and other seasoning till the scum ceases to rise.

Do not boil after the juices are extracted, as too much boiling injures

the flavor.

Never cool soup in metal, as there may be poison in the soldering or

other parts.

If you flavor your soup by vegetables, do not boil them in the soup,

but in _very little_ water, which is to be added to the soup with them,

as it contains much of their flavor.

When onion is used for flavor, slice and fry it, and dredge on a little

flour; add the water in which the vegetables for soup were boiled, or

some meat broth, and then pour it into the soup. If you flavor with

wine, soy, or catsup, put them into the tureen, and pour the soup upon

them, as the flavor is lessened by putting them into the soup-kettle.

Bread-crumbs, toast, or crackers also must be put in the tureen. Keep

soup covered tight while boiling, to keep in flavors. If water is

added, it must be boiling. The rule to guide in using salt and pepper

is a heaping tea-spoonful of salt to a quart of water, and one-sixth as

much pepper. But as tastes are different, and the salt and pepper vary

in strength, the housekeeper can, on trial, change the recipe with a

pencil.

_Soup stock_ is broth of any kind of meat prepared in large quantity,

to keep on hand for gravies and soups. Beef and veal make the best

stock. One hind shin of beef makes five quarts of stock, and one hind

shin of veal makes three quarts. Wash and put into twice as much water

as you wish to, to have soup, and simmer five or six hours.

All kinds of bones should be mashed and boiled five or six hours, to

take out all the nutriment, the liquor then strained, and kept in

earthenware or stone, not in tin. Take off the fat when cool.

Cool broth quickly, and it keeps longer.

Use a flat-bottom kettle, as less likely to scorch.

Soft water is best for soups; a little soda improves hard water.

Stock will keep three or four days in cool weather; not so long in

warm. Keep it in a cool place. When used, heat to boiling point, and

then take up and flavor.

Put in the salt and pepper when the meat is thoroughly done.

Meat soups are best the second day, if warmed slowly and taken up as

soon as heated. If heated too long, they become insipid.

Thin soups must be strained. If to be made very clear, stir in one or

two well beaten eggs, with the shells, and let it boil half an hour.

Use the meat of the soup for a hash, warmed together with a little fat,

and well seasoned.

Be _very_ careful, in using bones and cold meats for soups, that none

is _tainted_, for the soup may be ruined by a single bit of tainted

meat or bone.

=Potato Soup.=—Take six large mealy potatoes, sliced and soaked an

hour. Add one onion, sliced and tied in a rag, a quart of milk, and

a quarter of a pound of salt pork cut in slices. Boil three quarters

of an hour, and then add a table-spoonful of melted butter and a

well-beaten egg, mixed in a cup of milk. This is a favorite soup with

many, and easily made. Some omit the pork, and use salt and pepper to

flavor it, and add one well beaten egg.

=Green Corn Soup.=—This is very nice made with sweet corn put into

seasoned soup stock.

=Plain Beef Soup.=—Put three pounds of beef and one chopped onion,

tied in a rag, to three quarts of cold water. Simmer till the meat

is very soft—say four hours; then add three tea-spoonfuls of salt,

as much sugar, and half a tea-spoonful of pepper. Any other flavors

may be added to suit the taste. Strain the soup, and save the meat

for mince-meat or hash. Half a dozen sliced tomatoes will much

improve this. Some would thicken with three or four tea-spoonfuls of

potato-starch or flour.

=Rich Beef Soup.=—The following is a specimen of soups that are most

stylish, rich, and demand most care in preparation:

Simmer six pounds of beef for six hours in six quarts of water, using

the bones, broken in small pieces. Cool it, and take off the fat.

Next day, an hour before dinner, take out the meat to use for hash or

mince-meat, heat the liquor, throw in some salt to raise the scum, and

skim it well. Then slice small, and boil in very little water, these

vegetables: two turnips, two carrots, one head of celery, one quart of

tomatoes, half a head of small white cabbage, one pint of green corn

or Shaker corn, soaked over night. Cook the cabbage in two waters,

throwing away the first. Boil the soup half an hour after these are

put in. Season with salt, pepper, mace, and wine to suit the taste.

=Green Pea Soup.=—Boil the pods an hour in a gallon of water. Strain

the liquor, and put into it four pounds of beef or mutton, and simmer

one hour. Then add half the peas contained in half a peck of pods, and

boil half an hour; then thicken with two great spoonfuls of flour, and

season with salt and pepper. Three tomatoes, sliced, improve this.

=Dried Bean Soup or Pea Soup.=—Soak the beans, if dry, over night, and

then boil till soft. Then strain them through a colander; and to each

quart of liquor add a tea-spoonful of sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt,

and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Add a beaten egg, a tea-cup of milk,

and two spoonfuls of butter. A sliced onion improves it for some, and

not for others; also, half the juice of a lemon when taken up. Canned

sweet-corn, or common corn with sugar added, makes good _succotash_

for winter.

=Clam Soup.=—Wash and boil the clams till they come out of their

shells easily; then chop them, and put them back into the liquor,

which should first be strained. Add a tea-cup of milk for each quart

of soup; thicken with a little flour, into which has been worked as

much butter as it will hold, and season with salt and pepper to suit

the taste.

=A Vegetable and Meat Soup for Summer.=—Take three quarts of stock

that is duly seasoned with sugar, salt, and pepper. Add two small

onions, chopped fine, three small carrots, three small turnips, one

stalk of celery, and a pint of green peas—all chopped fine. Let it

simmer two hours, and then serve it.

=Dried Pea Soup with Salt Pork.=—Soak a quart of split peas over night

in soft water. Next morning wash them and put them in four quarts of

water, with a tea-spoonful of sugar, two carrots, two small onions,

and one stalk of celery—all cut in small pieces. Let them boil three

hours. Boil a pound of salt pork in another pot for one hour; take off

the skin, and put the pork in the soup, and then boil one hour longer.

=Dried Bean or Pea Soup with Meat Stock.=—Soak a pint of beans or

split peas over night in soft water. Then boil them in three quarts of

soup-stock, duly seasoned with salt and pepper, with one small onion,

one turnip, one stalk of celery, and six cloves—all cut in small

pieces. Let it boil four or five hours. Strain through a colander.

=Mutton Soup.=—Boil four pounds of mutton in four quarts of water,

with four heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt, one even tea-spoonful of

pepper, two tea-spoonfuls of sugar, one small onion, two carrots, and

two turnips—all cut fine—and one tea-cup of rice or broken macaroni.

Boil the meat alone two hours; then add the rest, and boil one hour

and a half longer.

=French Vegetable Soup.=—Take a leg of lamb, of moderate size, and

four quarts of water. Of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and

turnips, take a tea-cupful of each, chopped fine. Salt and black

pepper at the rate of one heaping tea-spoonful of salt to each quart

of water, and one sixth as much black pepper.

Wash the lamb, and put it into the four quarts of cold water. When the

scum rises, take it off carefully with a skimmer. After having pared

and chopped the vegetables, put them into the soup. Carrots require

the most boiling, and should be put in first. This soup requires about

three hours to boil.

=Plain Calf’s Head Soup.=—Boil the head and feet in just water enough

to cover them; when tender, take out the bones, cut in small pieces,

and season with marjoram, thyme, cloves, salt, and pepper.

Put all into a pot, with the liquor, and four spoonfuls of butter;

stew gently an hour; then, just as you take it up, add two or three

glasses of port-wine, and the yelks of three eggs boiled hard.

=An Excellent Simple Mutton Soup.=—Put a piece of the fore-quarter of

mutton into salted water, enough to more than cover it, and simmer it

slowly two hours. Then peel a dozen turnips, and six tomatoes, and

quarter them, and boil them with the mutton till just tender enough

to eat. Thicken the soup with pearl barley. Some use, instead of

tomatoes, the juice and rind of a lemon. Use half a tea-cup of rice,

if you have no pearl barley.

CHAPTER V.

HASHES.

These are the common ways of spoiling hashes: 1. by frying, instead

of merely heating them. Melted butter and oils are good and healthful

when only heated, but are unhealthful when fried. 2. Dredging in flour,

which, not being well cooked, imparts a raw taste of dough. 3. Using

too much water, making them vapid; or too much fat or gravy, making

them gross. 4. Using too much or too little salt and other seasoning.

The following recipes will save from these mistakes, if exactly

followed. When water is recommended in these recipes, _cold gravy_ will

be better, in which case the _butter_ may be omitted:

=A Seasoned Hash of any Fresh Meats.=—Chop, but not very fine, any

kinds of fresh meat, but be sure not to put in any that is tainted.

To a common tumblerful of chopped meat put three table-spoonfuls of

water, a tea-spoonful of sugar, a heaping tea-spoonful of salt, a

salt-spoonful of pepper, and butter the size of half an egg. Warm, but

do not fry; and when hot, break in three eggs, and stir till they are

hardened a little; then serve. Bread-crumbs may be added. This may

be put on buttered toast or served alone. This and all the following

hashes may be varied in flavor, by adding, in delicate proportions,

the mixed flavors on another page.

=A Hash of Cold Fresh Meats and Potatoes.=—Take two tumblerfuls of

meat of any kind, chopped. Add as much cold potatoes, also chopped,

two table-spoonfuls of sweet butter in six table-spoonfuls of hot

water, and two tea-spoonfuls of salt. Sprinkle half a tea-spoonful of

pepper over the meat, and also a spoonful of sugar; mix all, and warm

about twenty minutes, but not so as to boil or fry. Tomatoes improve

this.

=Meat Hash with Eggs=, (very nice.)—To a tumblerful of fresh cold

meat cut in pieces about the size of peas, put three table-spoonfuls

of hot water, two spoonfuls of butter, a tea-spoonful of sugar, two

tea-spoonfuls of salt, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Mix all, warm

but not fry; and when hot, break in four eggs, and stir till they are

hardened. Spread on buttered toast or serve alone. When eggs are used,

the meat should not be chopped fine.

=A Meat Hash with Tomatoes.=—Cut up a pint of tomatoes into a

saucepan, and when boiling-hot, add the cold meat in thin slices,

with a table-spoonful of sugar, and salt and pepper, at the rate of

a tea-spoonful of salt and half a tea-spoonful of pepper to each

tumblerful of meat.

=A Nice Beef Hash.=—Make a gravy of melted butter, or take cold gravy;

season with salt, pepper, and currant jelly or vinegar. Cut cold roast

beef or the remnants of cold steak into mouthfuls, and put into the

gravy till heated, but not to fry.

Or, season this gravy with the crushed juice of fresh tomatoes or

tomato catsup.

=A Simple and Excellent Veal Hash.=—Chop cold veal very fine; butter a

pudding-dish, and make alternate layers of veal and powdered crackers

till the dish is full, the first layer of meat being at the bottom.

Then beat up two eggs, and add a pint or less of milk, seasoned well

with salt and pepper, and two or three spoonfuls of melted butter.

Pour this over the meat and crackers; cover with a plate, and bake

about half an hour. Remove the plate awhile, and let the top brown a

little. This is the best way to cook veal, and children are very fond

of it.

=Rice and Cold Meats.=—Chop remnants of fresh meats with salt pork, or

cold ham. Season with salt and pepper and a little sugar; add two eggs

and a little butter. Then make alternate layers with this and slices

of cold boiled rice, and bake it half an hour.

=Bread-Crumbs and Cold Meats.=—Take any remnants of cooked fresh

meats, and chop them fine with bits of ham or salt pork. Season with

salt and pepper; add three eggs and a little milk, and then thicken

with pounded bread-crumbs. Bake it as a pudding, or warm it for a

hash, or cook it in flat cakes on a griddle.

=A Meat Hash with Bread-Crumbs.=—One tea-spoonful of flour, (or potato

or corn-starch,) wet in four tea-spoonfuls of cold water. Stir it

into a tea-cupful of boiling water, and put in a salt-spoonful of

pepper, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, a tea-spoonful of sugar, and two

table-spoonfuls of sweet butter. Use cold gravy instead of butter, if

you have it. Set this in a stew-pan where it will be kept hot, but not

fry. Chop the meat very fine, and mix with it while chopping half as

much dried bread-crumbs. Put this into the gravy, and let it heat only

ten minutes, and then serve it on buttered toast. Tomatoes, one or

two, improve this.

=A Hash of Cold Beefsteak alone or with Potatoes and Turnips.=—Make

a paste with a heaping tea-spoonful of flour in two tea-spoonfuls

of water. Stir it into a tea-cup and a half of boiling water, with

a salt-spoonful of black pepper, a half tea-spoonful of sugar, and

two tea-spoonfuls of salt. Let it stand where it will be hot but not

boil. Cut the beef into mouthfuls, and also as much cold boiled

potatoes and half as much boiled turnips. Mix all, and then add two

table-spoonfuls of butter, (or some cold gravy,) and a table-spoonful

of tomato catsup, or two sliced tomatoes. Warm, but do not fry, for

ten minutes.

When beef gravy is used, take less salt and pepper.

This is a good recipe for cold beef without vegetables.

=A Hash of Cold Mutton (or Venison) and Vegetables.=—Prepare as in the

preceding recipe, but add one onion sliced fine, to hide the strong

mutton taste. If onion is left out, put in a wine-glass of grape or

currant jelly. If the vegetables are left out, put in a little less

pepper and salt.

=A Hash of Corned Beef.=—Chop the meat very fine, fat and lean

together; add twice as much cold potatoes chopped fine. For each

tumblerful of this add butter half the size of a hen’s egg melted in

half a tea-cup of hot water, a salt-spoonful of pepper and another of

salt. Heat very hot, but do not let it fry. Some would add parsley or

other sweet herb.

=A Hash of Cold Ham.=—Chop, not very fine, fat and lean together.

Add twice the quantity of bread-crumbs chopped, but not fine. Heat

it hot, then break in two eggs for every tumblerful of the hash. A

tea-spoonful of sugar improves it, and a salt-spoonful of pepper.

=Meats warmed over.=—Veal is best made into hashes. If it is liked

more simply cooked, chop it fine, put in water just enough to moisten

it, butter, salt, pepper, and a little juice of a lemon. Some like a

little lemon-rind grated in. Heat it through, but do not let it fry.

Put it on buttered toast, and garnish it with slices of lemon.

Cold salted or fresh beef is good chopped fine with pepper, salt,

and catsup, and water enough to moisten a little. Add some butter

just before taking it up, and do not let it fry, only heat it hot. It

injures cooked meat to cook it again. Cold fowls make a nice dish to

have them cut up in mouthfuls; add some of the gravy and giblet sauce,

a little butter and pepper, and then heat them through.

=A nice Way of Cooking Cold Meats.=—Chop the meat fine, add salt,

pepper, a little onion, or else tomato catsup; fill a tin bread-pan

one third full, cover it over with boiled potatoes salted and mashed

with cream or milk, lay bits of butter on the top, and set it into a

Dutch or stove oven for fifteen or twenty minutes.

=A Hash of Cold Meat for Dinner=, (very good.)—Peel six large tomatoes

and one onion, and slice them. Add a spoonful of sugar, salt and

pepper, and a bit of butter the size of a hen’s egg, and half a pint

of cold water. Shave up the meat into small bits, as thin as thick

pasteboard. Dredge flour over it, say two tea-spoonfuls, or a little

less. Simmer the meat with all the rest for _half an hour_ and then

serve it, and it is very fine.

Dried tomatoes can be used. When you have no tomatoes, make a gravy

with water, pepper, salt, and butter, or cold gravy; slice an onion in

it, add tomato catsup, (two or three spoonfuls,) and then prepare the

meat as above, and simmer it in this gravy _half an hour_.

=Souse.=—Cleanse pigs’ ears and feet and soak them a week in salt and

water, changing the water every other day. Boil eight or ten hours

till tender. When cold, put on salt, and pour on hot spiced vinegar.

Warm them in lard or butter.

=Tripe.=—Scrape and scour it thoroughly, soak it in salt and water a

week, changing it every other day. Boil it eight or ten hours, till

tender; then pour on spiced hot vinegar and broil it.

CHAPTER VI.

BOILED MEATS.

=An Excellent Way to cook Tough Beef.=—To eight pounds of beef put

four quarts of water, two table-spoonfuls of salt, half a tea-spoonful

of pepper, three tea-spoonfuls of vinegar, and four tea-spoonfuls of

sugar. Put it on at eight in the morning, and let it simmer slowly

till the water is more than half gone; then skim off the grease,

and set it in the stove-oven till the water is all gone but about a

tea-cupful, which is for gravy, and may be thickened a little. Add

_boiling_ water, if it goes too fast, (for in some kinds of weather

it will evaporate much faster than in other days). This dish should

be _very_ tender, and is excellent cold, especially if it is pressed

under a heavy weight. This was a favorite soldier’s dish; and tough

meat is as good as it is tender, when thus cooked.

=Boiled Ham.=—The best way to cook a ham is first to wash it; then

take off the skin and bake it in a pan, with a little water in it, in

a stove or brick oven, till tender, which is found by a fork piercing

easily. Allow twenty minutes for each pound.

To boil a ham, soak it over night; then wash in two waters, using a

brush. Boil slowly, and allow fifteen minutes for each pound. When

cold, take off the skin, and ornament with dots of pepper and fringed

paper tied around the shank.

A nice way to treat a cold boiled ham is, after removing the skin, to

rub it over with beaten egg, and then spread over powdered cracker,

wet with milk, and let it brown in the oven. Boiled ham is much

improved by setting it in the oven half an hour, making it sweeter,

while the fat that tries out is useful for cooking.

=Boiled Beef.=—Put it in salted water, (a tea-spoonful for each

quart;) have enough to cover it. Skim well just before it begins to

boil, and as long as the scum rises. Allow about fifteen minutes to

each pound, or more for beef. Drain well, and serve with vegetables

boiled separately.

=Boiled Fowls.=—Wash the inside carefully with soda water, to remove

any taint. Stuff with seasoned bread-crumbs, or cracker, wet up with

eggs, and sew up the openings. Put them in _boiling_ water, enough to

cover, and let them simmer gently till tender. It is a good plan to

wrap in a cloth dredged with flour.

=Fricasseed Fowls.=—Cut them up, and put in a pot, with cold water

enough to cover. Put some salt pork over, and let them simmer slowly

till very tender and the water mostly gone. When done, stir in a cup

of milk, mixed with two well-beaten eggs, first mixing slowly some of

the hot liquor with the milk and eggs.

Some fry the pork first, thus increasing the flavor, and others leave

it out.

=To Boil a Leg or Shoulder of Veal, or Mutton, or Lamb.=—Mutton should

be cooked more rare than any other meat. Make a stuffing of chopped

bread, seasoned with pepper and salt, and mixed with one or two

eggs. Make deep gashes in the meat, (or, better, take out the bone;)

fill the openings with stuffing and sew them up. Wrap it tight in a

cloth, and put it so as to be covered with water, salted at the rate

of a tea-spoonful to each quart. Let it simmer slowly about two or

three hours. Skim thoroughly just before it comes to boiling heat. If

needful, add _boiling_ water. Save the water for broth for next day.

If you pour cold water on the cloth before removing it, and let it

stand two minutes, it improves the looks.

=Calf’s Feet.=—Wash and scrape till very clean. Boil three hours

in four quarts of water salted with four even tea-spoonfuls of

salt. Take out the bones, and put the rest into a saucepan, with

three table-spoonfuls of butter, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, a

great-spoonful of sugar, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Add three

tea-cups of the liquor in which the feet were boiled; dredge in some

flour, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Garnish with sliced lemon.

(Save the liquor to make calf’s-foot jelly.)

=Calf’s Liver and Sweet-breads.=—These are best split open, boiled,

and then dressed with pepper, salt, and butter.

=To cook Kidneys.=—Wash them clean, and split them. Heat them half an

hour in a saucepan, without water. Then wash them again, and cover

them with a pint of water, having in it a tea-spoonful of salt and a

salt-spoonful of pepper. Boil one hour, and then take off the skin.

Cut them in mouthfuls; add two great-spoonfuls of butter, more salt

and hot water, if needed, and let them simmer fifteen minutes.

=Pillau, a Favorite Dish in the South.=—Fricassee a chicken with

slices of salt pork, or with sweet butter or sweet cream. Put the

chicken, when cooked, in a bake-dish, and cover it with boiled rice,

seasoned with salt, pepper, and one dozen allspice. Pile the rice,

pour on some melted butter, smooth it, and cover with yelk of an egg.

Bake half an hour.

=To boil Smoked Tongues.=—Soak in cold water only two hours, as long

soaking lessens sweetness. Wash them, and boil four or five hours,

according to the size. When done, take off the skin and garnish with

parsley. A table-spoonful of sugar for each tongue, put in the water,

improves them.

=To boil Corned Beef.=—Do not soak it, but wash it, and put it in

_hot_ water, to keep in the juices; allow a pint for each pound.

Skim just before it begins to boil. Let it simmer slowly, and allow

twenty-five minutes for every pound. Keep it covered with water,

adding boiling hot water, if needed. It is much improved for eating

cold by pressing it with a board and heavy stone. It is an excellent

piece of economy to save the water to use for soup.

Some think it an improvement to put on a little sugar, and pour a

little vinegar on before boiling. Some like to boil turnips, potatoes,

and cabbage with it. In that case, they must be peeled, and the

potatoes soaked two hours.

=To boil Partridges or Pigeons.=—Cleanse and rinse the insides with

soda-water, and then with pure water. Wrap them in a damp floured

cloth; put them into boiling water which is salted at the rate of a

heaping tea-spoonful to a quart; also, two tea-spoonfuls of sugar and

a salt-spoonful of pepper. Simmer them twenty minutes to half an hour.

When done, make a sauce of butter rubbed into flour and half a cup of

milk; put the birds into a dish and pour on this sauce. Some would add

cut parsley, or other flavors.

=To boil Ducks.=—Let them lie in hot water two hours. Then wrap in a

cloth dredged with flour; put them in cold water, salted at the rate

of half a tea-spoonful for each pint. Add a tea-spoonful of sugar

for each pint. Let them simmer half an hour; then take them up, and

pour over them a sauce made of melted butter rubbed into flour, and

seasoned with lemon-juice, salt, and pepper, and thinned with gravy or

hot water.

Wild ducks must be soaked in salt and water the night previous, to

remove the fishy taste, and then in the morning put in fresh water,

which should be changed once or twice.

=To boil a Turkey.=—Make a stuffing for the craw of chopped bread

and butter, cream, oysters, and the yelks of eggs. Sew it in, and

dredge flour over the turkey, and put it in hot water to boil, with

a spoonful of salt in it, and enough water to cover it well. Let it

simmer for two hours and a half, or, if small, less time. Skim it

while boiling. It will look nicer if wrapped in a cloth dredged with

flour while cooking.

Serve it with drawn butter, in which are put some oysters.

CHAPTER VII.

ROAST AND BAKED MEATS.

The beef of an ox is best, and the next best is that of a heifer. The

best pieces for roasting are the second cut of the sirloin, the second

cut of the ribs, and the back part of the rump.

The art of roasting well consists in turning the meat often, to prevent

burning, and basting often, to make it juicy.

Never dredge flour into gravies, as it makes lumps. Strain all gravies.

=Brown Flour for Meat Gravies.=—This is used to thicken meat gravies,

to give a good color. It is prepared by putting flour on a tin plate

in a hot oven, stirring it often until well browned; it must be kept,

corked, in a jar, and shaken occasionally.

=Roast Beef.=—A piece of beef weighing ten pounds requires about two

hours to roast in a tin oven before a fire. Allow ten minutes for each

pound over or under this weight. Have the spit and oven clean and

bright. They should have been washed before they grew cold from the

last roasting.

Put the meat on the spit so that it will be evenly balanced; set the

bony side toward the fire; let it roast slowly at first, turning it

often; and when all sides are partly cooked, move it nearer the fire.

If allowed to scorch at first, it will not cook in the middle without

burning the outside.

Baste often with the drippings and with salted water, (about half a

pint of water with half a tea-spoonful of salt,) which has been put in

the oven bottom. Just before taking up, dredge on some flour, mixed

with a little salt; then baste and set it near the fire, turning it so

as to brown it all over alike. Half an hour before it is done, pour

off the gravy, season it with salt and pepper, and thicken with corn

or potato-starch, or flour.

=To roast in a Cook Stove.=—Put the meat in an iron pan, with three or

four gills of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Turn it occasionally,

that it may cook evenly, and baste often. When done, dredge on some

salted flour, baste again, and set it back till browned.

=Roast Pork.=—Cover a spare-rib with greased paper, till half done;

then dredge with flour, and baste with the gravy. Just before taking

it up, cover the surface with cracker or bread-crumbs, wet up with

pepper, salt, and powdered sage; let it cook ten minutes longer,

and then baste again. Skim the gravy, thicken it with brown flour,

season with a little powdered sage and lemon-juice, or vinegar; strain

it, and pour over the meat. Pork must be cooked slowly and very

thoroughly, and served with apple-sauce. Tomato catsup improves the

gravy.

=Roast Mutton.=—The leg of mutton may be boiled. The shoulder and loin

should always be roasted.

Put the meat in the oven or roaster, and then pour boiling hot water

over it, to keep in the juices. Baste often with salt and water at

first and then with the gravy. With a hot fire, allow ten minutes for

each pound. If there is danger of burning, cover the outside with

oiled white paper. Skim the gravy; strain it and thicken with brown

flour. Serve with acid jelly. Lamb requires less time in roasting;

but mutton should be rare. Make a brown gravy, and serve with currant

jelly.

=Roast Veal.=—Follow the above directions for roasting mutton, except

to allow more time, as veal should be cooked more than mutton. Allow

twenty minutes to each pound, and baste often. Too much roasting and

little basting spoils veal. To be served with apple-sauce. It much

improves roast veal to cut slits in it, and insert bits of salt pork.

=Roast Poultry.=—No fowl should be bought when the entrails are not

drawn; and the insides should always be washed with soda-water—a

tea-spoonful of soda to a pint of water. Rinse out with fair water.

Stuff with seasoned bread-crumbs, wet up with eggs. Sew and tie the

stuffing in thoroughly. Allow about ten minutes’ cooking for each

pound, more or less, according to the fire and size of the fowl.

Put a grate in the bake-pan, with a tea-cup of salted water. Dredge

the fowl with flour at first, and baste often. Strain the gravy, and

add the giblets, chopped fine. Many dislike the liver, and so leave

it out. If fowls are bought with the intestines in, or if they have

been kept too long, the use of soda-water, and then rinsing with pure

water, will often prevent the tainted taste; so it is well to do

this, except when it is certain that the fowl is just killed. Put a

tea-spoonful of soda to a pint of water.

=Pot-Pie, of Beef, Veal, or Chicken.=—The best way to make the

crust is as follows: Peel, boil, and mash a dozen potatoes; add a

tea-spoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of butter, and half a cup of

milk, or cream. Then stiffen it with flour, till you can roll it. Be

sure to get all the lumps out of the potatoes. Some persons leave out

the butter.

Some roll butter into the dough of bread; others make a raised

biscuit, with but little shortening; others make a plain soda

pie-crust. But none are so good and healthful as the potato crust; so

choose what is best for all.

To prepare the meat, first fry half a dozen slices of salt pork, and

then cut up the meat and pork, and boil them in just water enough

to cover them, till the meat is nearly cooked. Then peel a dozen

potatoes, and slice them thin. Roll the crust half an inch thick,

and cut it into oblong pieces. Then put alternate layers of crust,

potatoes, and meat, till all is used. The top and bottom layer must be

crust. Divide the pork so as to have some in each layer.

Lastly, pour on the liquor in which the meat was boiled, until it

just covers the whole, and let it simmer till the top crust is well

cooked—say half or three quarters of an hour. Season the liquor with

salt, at the rate of a tea-spoonful for each quart, and one sixth as

much pepper. If you have occasion to add more liquor, or water, it

must be _boiling hot_, or the crust will be spoiled.

The excellence of this pie depends on having light crust, and

therefore the meat must first be _nearly cooked_ before putting it in

the pie; and the crust must be in only just long enough to cook, or it

will be clammy and hard.

=Mutton and Beef Pie.=—Line a dish with a crust made of potatoes, as

directed in the Chicken Pot-Pie. Broil the meat ten minutes, after

pounding it till the fibres are broken. Cut the meat thin, and put it

in layers, with thin slices of broiled salt pork; season with butter,

the size of a hens egg, salt, pepper, (and either wine or catsup, if

liked;) put in water till it nearly covers the meat, and dredge in

considerable flour; cover it with the paste, and bake it an hour and a

half, if quite thick. Cold meats are good cooked over in this way. Cut

a slit in the centre of the cover.

=Chicken-Pie.=—Joint and boil two chickens in salted water, just

enough to cover them, and simmer slowly for half an hour. Line a dish

with potato crust, as directed in the recipe for pot-pie; then, when

cold, put the chicken in layers, with thin slices of broiled pork,

butter, the size of a goose egg, cut in small pieces. Put in enough

of liquor, in which the meat was boiled, to reach the surface; salt

and pepper each layer; dredge in a little flour, and cover all with a

light, thick crust. Ornament the top with the crust, and bake about

one hour in a hot oven. Make a small slit in the centre of the crust.

If it begins to scorch, lay a paper over a short time.

=Rice Chicken-Pie.=—Line a pudding-dish with slices of broiled ham;

cut up a boiled chicken, and nearly fill the dish, filling in with

gravy or melted butter; add minced onions, if you like, or a little

curry powder.

Then pile boiled rice to fill all interstices, and cover the top quite

thick. Bake it for half or three quarters of an hour.

=Potato-Pie.=—Take mashed potatoes, seasoned with salt, butter, and

milk, and line a baking-dish. Lay upon it slices of cold meats of any

kind, with salt, pepper, catsup, and butter or gravy. Put on another

layer of potatoes, and then another of cold meat, as before. Lastly,

on the top put a cover of potatoes.

Bake it till it is thoroughly warmed through, and serve it in the dish

in which it is baked, setting it in or upon another.

=Calf’s Head.=—Take out the brains and boil the head, feet, and

lights in salted water, just enough to cover them, about two hours.

When they have boiled nearly an hour and a half, tie the brains in a

cloth and put them in to boil with the rest. They should be skinned,

and soaked half an hour in cold water. When the two hours have

expired, take up the whole, mash the brains fine, and season them

with bread-crumbs, pepper, salt, and a glass of port or claret, and

use them for sauce. Let the liquor remain for a soup the next day. It

serves more handsomely to remove all the bones. Serve with a gravy of

drawn butter.

CHAPTER VIII.

BROILED AND FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.

=Broiled Mutton or Lamb Chops.=—Cut off the skinny part, which only

turns black and can not be eaten. Put a little pepper and salt on each

one, and broil by a quick fire. Mutton chops should be rare.

=Broiled Beefsteak.=—Have the steak cut three quarters of an inch to

an inch in thickness. The sirloin and porter-house are the best. The

art of cooking steak will depend on a good fire and turning often

after it begins to drip. When done, lay it on a hot platter, season

with butter, pepper, and salt; cover with another hot platter, and

send to the table. Use beef-tongs, as pricking lets out the juices.

=Slow= cooking and =much= cooking spoils a steak.

=Broiled Fresh Pork.=—Cut in thin slices, broil quickly and very

thoroughly; then season with salt, pepper, and powdered sage.

=Broiled Ham.=—Cut in _thin_ slices, and soak fifteen minutes in hot

water. Pour off this and soak again as long. Wipe dry and broil over

a quick fire, and then pepper it. Ham that is already cooked rare is

best for broiling.

=Broiled Sweet-breads.=—The best way to cook sweet-breads is to broil

them thus: Parboil them, and then put them on a clean gridiron for

broiling. When delicately browned, take them off and roll in melted

butter on a plate, to prevent their being dry and hard. Some cook them

on a griddle well buttered, turning frequently; and some put narrow

strips of fat salt pork on them while cooking.

=Broiled Veal.=—Cut it thin, and put thin slices of salt pork on the

top after it is laid on the gridiron, and broil both together. When

turning, put the pork again on the top. When the veal is thoroughly

cooked, brown the pork a little by itself, while the veal stands on a

hot dish.

=A good Pork Relish.=—Broil thin slices of fresh pork, first pouring

on boiling water to lessen saltness. Cut them in small mouthfuls, and

add butter, pepper, and salt.

FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.

The most slovenly and unhealthful mode of cooking is frying, as it

usually is done. If the fat is very hot, and the articles are put in

and taken out exactly at the right time, it is well enough. But fried

fat is hard to digest, and most fried food is soaked with it, so that

only a strong stomach can digest it. Almost every thing that is fried

might be better cooked on a griddle slightly oiled. A griddle should

always be oiled only just enough to keep from sticking. It is best to

fry in lard not salted, and this is better than butter. Mutton and beef

suet are good for frying. When the lard seems hot, try it by throwing

in a bit of bread. When taking up fried articles, drain off the fat on

a wire sieve.

=A nice Way of Cooking Calf’s or Pig’s Liver.=—Cut in slices half an

inch thick, pour on boiling water, and then pour if off _entirely_;

then let the liver brown in its own juices, turning it till it looks

brown on both sides. Take it up, and pour into the frying-pan enough

cold water to make as much gravy as you wish; then sliver in a _very_

little onion; add a little salt and nutmeg, and a bit of butter to

season it; let it boil up once, then put back the liver for a minute

longer.

=Beef Liver.=—Cut it in slices half an inch thick, pour boiling water

on it, broil it with thin slices of pork dipped in flour, cut it in

mouthfuls, and heat it with butter, pepper, and salt for three or four

minutes.

=Egg Omelet.=—Beat the yolks of six eggs, and add a cup of milk,

half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour into hot

fat, and cook till just stiffened. Turn it on to a platter brown

side uppermost. Some add minced cooked ham, or cold meat chopped and

salted. Others put in chopped cauliflower or asparagus cooked and cold.

=Frizzled Beef.=—Sliver smoked beef, pour on boiling water to freshen

it, then pour off the water, and frizzle the beef in butter.

=Veal Cheese.=—Prepare equal quantities of sliced boiled veal and

boiled smoked tongue, or ham sliced. Pound each separately in a

mortar, moistening with butter as you proceed. Then take a stone

jar, or tin can, and mix them in it, so that it will, when cut, look

mottled and variegated. Press it hard, and pour on melted butter. Keep

it covered in a dry place. To be used at tea in slices.

=A Codfish Relish.=—Take thin slivers of codfish, lay them on hot

coals, and when done to a yellowish brown, set them on the table.

=Another Way.=—Sliver the codfish fine, pour on boiling water, drain

it off, and add butter and a very little pepper, and heat them three

or four minutes, but do not let them fry.

=Salt Herrings.=—Heat them on a gridiron, remove the skin, and then

set them on the table.

CHAPTER IX.

PICKLES.

Do not keep pickles in common earthenware, as the glazing contains

lead, and combines with the vinegar.

Vinegar for pickling should be sharp, but not the sharpest kind,

as it injures the pickles. Wine or cider vinegar is reliable. Much

manufactured vinegar is sold that ruins pickles and is unhealthful.

If you use copper, bell-metal, or brass vessels for pickling, never

allow the vinegar to cool in them, as it then is poisonous. Add a

table-spoonful of alum and a tea-cup of salt to each three gallons

of vinegar, and tie up a bag with pepper, ginger-root, and spices of

all sorts in it, and you have vinegar prepared for any kind of common

pickling, and in many cases all that is needed is to throw the fruit in

and keep it in till wanted.

Keep pickles only in wood or stone ware.

Any thing that has held grease will spoil pickles.

Stir pickles occasionally, and if there are soft ones, take them out,

scald the vinegar, and pour it hot over the pickles. Keep enough

vinegar to cover them well. If it is weak, take fresh vinegar, and pour

on hot. Do not boil vinegar or spice over five minutes.

=Sweet Pickles=, (a great favorite.)—One pound of sugar, one quart of

vinegar, two pounds of fruit. Boil fifteen minutes, skim well, put in

the fruit and let it boil till half cooked. For peaches, flavor with

cinnamon and mace; for plums and all dark fruit, use allspice and

cloves.

=To pickle Tomatoes.=—As you gather them, leave an inch or more of

stem; throw them into cold vinegar. When you have enough, take them

out, and scald some spices, tied in a bag, in good vinegar; add a

little sugar, and pour it hot over them.

=To pickle Peaches.=—Take ripe but hard peaches, wipe off the down,

stick a few cloves into them, and lay them in _cold_ spiced vinegar.

In three months they will be sufficiently pickled, and also retain

much of their natural flavor.

=To pickle Peppers.=—Take green peppers, take the seeds out carefully

so as not to mangle them, soak them nine days in salt and water,

changing it every day, and keep them in a warm place. Stuff them with

chopped cabbage, seasoned with cloves, cinnamon, and mace; put them in

cold spiced vinegar.

=To pickle Nasturtions.=—Soak them three days in salt and water as

you collect them, changing it once in three days; and when you have

enough, pour off the brine, and pour on scalding hot vinegar.

=To pickle Onions.=—Peel, and boil in milk and water ten minutes,

drain off the milk and water, and pour scalding spiced vinegar on to

them.

=To pickle Gherkins.=—Keep them in strong brine till they are yellow,

then take them out and turn on hot spiced vinegar, and keep them in

it, in a warm place, till they turn green. Then turn off the vinegar,

and add a fresh supply of hot spiced vinegar.

=To pickle Mushrooms.=—Stew them in salted water, just enough to keep

them from sticking. When tender, pour off the water, and pour on hot

spiced vinegar. Then cork them tight, if you wish to keep them long.

Poison ones will turn black if an onion is stewed with them, and then

all must be thrown away.

=To pickle Cucumbers.=—Wash the cucumbers in cold water, being careful

not to bruise or break them. Make a brine of rock or blown salt (rock

is the best), strong enough to bear up an egg or potato, and of

sufficient quantity to cover the cucumbers.

Put them into an oaken tub, or stone-ware jar, and pour the brine over

them. In twenty-four hours, they should be stirred up from the bottom

with the hand. The third day pour off the brine, scald it, and pour it

over the cucumbers. Let them stand in the brine nine days, scalding

it every third day, as described above. Then take the cucumbers into

a tub, rinse them in cold water, and if they are too salt, let them

stand in it a few hours. Drain them from the water, put them back

into the tub or jar, which must be washed clean from the brine. Scald

vinegar sufficient to cover them, and pour it upon them. Cover them

tight, and in a week they will be ready for use. If spice is wanted,

it may be tied in a linen cloth and put into the jar with the pickles,

or scalded with the vinegar, and the bag thrown into the pickle-jar.

If a white scum rises, take it off and scald the vinegar, and pour it

back. A small lump of alum added to the vinegar improves the hardness

of the cucumbers.

=Pickled Walnuts.=—Take a hundred nuts, an ounce of cloves, an ounce

of allspice, an ounce of nutmeg, an ounce of whole pepper, an ounce of

race ginger, an ounce of horse-radish, half pint of mustard-seed, and

four cloves of garlic, tied in a bag.

Wipe the nuts, prick with a pin, and put them in a pot, sprinkling

the spice as you lay them in; then add two table-spoonfuls of salt;

boil sufficient vinegar to fill the pot, and pour it over the nuts and

spice. Cover the jar close, and keep it for a year, when the pickles

will be ready for use.

Butternuts may be made in the same manner, if they are taken when

green, and soft enough to be stuck through with the head of a pin. Put

them for a week or two in weak brine, changing it occasionally. Before

putting in the brine, rub them about with a broom in brine, to cleanse

the skins. Then proceed as for the walnuts.

The vinegar makes an excellent catsup.

=Mangoes.=—Take the latest growth of young musk-melons, cut out a

small piece from one side and empty them. Scrape the outside smooth,

and soak them four days in strong salt and water. If you wish to green

them, put vine leaves over and under, with bits of alum, and steam

them awhile. Then powder cloves, pepper, and nutmeg in equal portions,

and sprinkle on the inside, and fill them with strips of horse-radish,

small bits of calamus, bits of cinnamon and mace, a clove or two, a

very small onion, nasturtions, and then American mustard-seed to fill

the crevices. Put back the piece cut out, and sew it on, and then sew

the mango in cotton cloth. Lay all in a stone jar, the cut side upward.

Boil sharp vinegar a few minutes with half a tea-cup of salt, and a

table-spoonful of alum to three gallons of vinegar, and turn it on

to the melons. Keep dried barberries for garnishes, and when you use

them, turn a little of the above vinegar of the mangoes heated boiling

hot on to them, and let them swell a few hours. Sliced and salted

cabbage with this vinegar poured on hot is very good.

=Fine pickled Cabbage.=—Shred red and white cabbage, spread it in

layers in a stone jar, with salt over each layer. Put two spoonfuls

of whole black pepper, and the same quantity of allspice, cloves, and

cinnamon, in a bag, and scald them in two quarts of vinegar, and pour

the vinegar over the cabbage, and cover it tight. Use it in two days

after.

=An excellent Way of preparing Tomatoes to eat with Meat.=—Peel and

slice ripe tomatoes, sprinkling on a little salt as you proceed. Drain

off the juice, and pour on hot spiced vinegar.

=To pickle Martinoes.=—Gather them when you can run a pin-head into

them, and after wiping them, keep them ten days in weak brine,

changing it every other day. Then wipe them, and pour over boiling

spiced vinegar. In four weeks they will be ready for use. It is a fine

pickle.

=A convenient Way to pickle Cucumbers.=—Put some spiced vinegar in

a jar, with a little salt in it. Every time you gather a mess, pour

boiling vinegar on them, with a little alum in it. Then put them in

the spiced vinegar. Keep the same vinegar for scalding all. When you

have enough, take all from the spiced vinegar, and scald in the alum

vinegar two or three minutes, till green, and then put them back in

the spiced vinegar.

=Indiana Pickles.=—Take green tomatoes, and slice them. Put them in

a basket to drain in layers, with salt scattered over them, say a

tea-cupful to each gallon. Next day, slice one quarter the quantity of

onions, and lay the onions and tomatoes in alternate layers in a jar,

with spice intervening. Then fill the jar with cold vinegar. Tomatoes

picked as they ripen, and just thrown into cold spiced vinegar, are a

fine pickle, and made with very little trouble.

=To pickle Cauliflower, or Broccoli.=—Keep them twenty-four hours in

strong brine, and then take them out and heat the brine, and pour it

on scalding hot, and let them stand till next day. Drain them, and

throw them into spiced vinegar.

CHAPTER X.

SAUCES AND SALADS.

Success in preparing savory meats and salads depends greatly on the

different sauces, and these demand extra care in preparation and in

flavoring. The following is a sauce that is a great favorite, and

serves for some meats, for fish, for macaroni, and for some salads:

=Milk and Egg Sauce=, (excellent.)—Take eight table-spoonfuls of

butter and mix it with a table-spoonful of flour, add a pint of milk

and heat it, stirring constantly till it thickens a little. Then beat

the yelk of an egg in a table-spoonful of water and mix it well with

the sauce, taking care that it does not boil, but only be very hot.

For fish, add to the above a table-spoonful of vinegar or lemon-juice

and a little of the peel grated. Some add parsley chopped; and for

boiled fowls, add chopped oysters. Fine bread-crumbs are better than

flour for thickening. For macaroni, make in the dish alternate layers

with that and grated cheese, and then pour on this sauce before

baking, and it is very fine. Some omit the cheese.

=Drawn Butter.=—Take six table-spoonfuls of butter, half a

tea-spoonful of salt, two tea-spoonfuls of flour or of fine

bread-crumbs worked into the butter, and one tea-cup of hot water.

Heat very hot, but do not let it boil. Two hard-boiled and chopped

eggs improve it much. For fish, add a table-spoonful of vinegar and

chopped capers or green nasturtion seeds.

=Mint Sauce for Roast Lamb.=—Chop three table-spoonfuls of green mint,

and add a heaping table-spoonful of sugar and half a coffee-cup of

vinegar. Stir them while heating, and cool before using.

=Cranberry Sauce.=—Wash well and put a tea-cup of water to every quart

of cranberries. Let them stew about an hour and a half, then take up

and sweeten abundantly. Some strain them through a colander, then

sweeten largely and then put into moulds. To be eaten with fowls.

=Apple Sauce.=—Core and slice the best apples you can get, cook till

soft, then add sugar and a little butter. Serve it with fresh pork and

veal.

=Walnut or Butternut Catsup.=—Gather the nuts when they can be pierced

with a pin. Beat them to a soft pulp and let them lie for two weeks in

quite salt water, say a small handful of salt to every twenty, and

water enough to cover them. Drain off this liquor, and pour on a pint

of boiling vinegar and mix with the nuts, and then strain it out. To

each quart of this liquor put three table-spoonfuls of pepper, one

of ginger, two spoonfuls of powdered cloves, and three spoonfuls of

grated nutmeg. Boil an hour, and bottle when cold. See that the spice

is equally mixed. Do not use mushroom catsup, as the above is as good

and not so dangerous.

=Mock Capers.=—Dry the green but full-grown nasturtion seeds for a day

in the sun, then put them in jars and pour on spiced vinegar. These

are good for fish sauce, in drawn butter.

=Salad Dressing.=—Mash fine two boiled potatoes, and add a

tea-spoonful of mustard, two of salt, four of sweet-oil, three of

sharp vinegar, and the yelks of two well-boiled eggs rubbed fine. Mix

first the egg and potatoes, add the mustard and salt, and gradually

mix in the oil, stirring vigorously the while. Stir in the vinegar

last. Melted butter may be used in place of sweet-oil. The more a

salad dressing is stirred, the better it will be.

=Turkey or Chicken Salad, also a Lettuce Salad.=—Take one quarter

chopped meat (the white meat of the fowl is the best for this purpose)

and three quarters chopped celery, well mixed, and pour over it

a sauce containing the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs chopped, a

tea-spoonful of salt, half a salt-spoonful of black pepper, half

a tea-spoonful of mustard, three tea-spoonfuls of sugar, half a

tea-cupful of vinegar, and three tea-spoonfuls of sweet-oil or of

melted butter. Mix the salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard thoroughly,

whip a raw egg and add slowly, stir in the sweet-oil or melted butter,

mixing it well and very slowly, and lastly add the vinegar. Garnish

with rings of whites of eggs boiled hard. Chopped pickles may be

added, and white cabbage in place of the celery.

=Tomato Catsup.=—Boil a peck of tomatoes, strain through a colander,

and then add four great-spoonfuls of salt, one of pounded mace,

half a table-spoonful of black pepper, a table-spoonful of powdered

cloves, two table-spoonfuls of ground mustard, and a table-spoonful of

celery seed tied in a muslin rag. Mix all and boil five or six hours,

stirring frequently and constantly the last hour. Let it cool in a

stone jar, take out the celery seed, add a pint of vinegar, bottle it,

and keep it in a dark, cool place.

CHAPTER XI.

FISH.

=Stewed Oysters.=—Strain off all the oyster liquor, and then add half

as much water as you have oysters. Some of the best housekeepers say

this is better than using the liquor. Add a salt-spoonful of salt for

each pint of oysters, and half as much pepper; and when they begin to

simmer, add half a small tea-cup of milk for each pint of oysters.

When the edges begin to “ruffle,” add some butter, and do not let them

stand, but serve immediately. Oysters should not simmer more than five

minutes in the whole. When cooked too long, they become hard, dark,

and tasteless.

=Fried Oysters.=—Lay them on a cloth to absorb the liquor; then dip

first in beaten egg, and afterward in powdered cracker, and fry in

hot lard or butter to a light brown. If fresh lard is used, put in a

little salt. Cook quickly in very hot fat, or they will absorb too

much grease.

=Oyster Fritters.=—Drain off the liquor, and to each pint of oysters

take a pint of milk, a salt-spoonful of salt, half as much pepper, and

flour enough for a thin batter. Chop the oysters and stir in, and then

fry in hot lard, a little salted, or in butter. Drop in one spoonful

at a time. Some make the batter thicker, so as to put in one oyster at

a time surrounded by the batter.

=Scalloped Oysters.=—Make alternate layers of oysters and crushed

crackers wet with oyster liquor, and milk warmed. Sprinkle each layer

with salt and pepper, (some add a _very_ little nutmeg or cloves;) let

the top and bottom layer be crackers. Put bits of butter on the top,

pour on some milk with a beaten egg in it, and bake half an hour.

=Broiled Oysters.=—Dip in fine cracker crumbs, broil very quick, and

put a small bit of butter on each when ready to serve.

=Oyster Omelet=, (very fine.)—Take twelve large oysters chopped fine.

Mix the beaten yelks of six eggs into a tea-cupful of milk, and add

the oysters. Then put in a spoonful of melted butter, and lastly add

the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Fry this in hot butter

or salted lard, and do not stir it while cooking. Slip a knife around

the edges while cooking, that the centre may cook equally, and turn it

out so that the brown side be uppermost.

=Pickled Oysters.=—Take for fifty large oysters half a pint of

vinegar, six blades of mace, twelve black pepper-corns, and twelve

whole cloves. Heat the oysters with the liquor, but not to boil; take

out the oysters, and then put the vinegar and spices into the liquor,

boil it, and when the oysters are nearly cold, pour on the mixture

scalding hot. Next day cork the oysters tight in glass jars, and keep

them in a dark and cool place. Vinegar is sometimes made of sulphuric

or pyroligneous acid, and this destroys the pickles. Use cider or wine

vinegar.

=Roast Oysters.=—Put oysters in the shell, after washing them, upon

the coals so that the flat side is uppermost, to save the liquor; and

take them up when they begin to gape a little.

=Scallops.=—Dip them in beaten egg and cracker crumbs, and fry or stew

them like oysters.

=Clams.=—Wash them and roast them; or stew or fry them like oysters;

or make omelets or fritters by the recipe for oysters.

=Clam Chowder.=—Make alternate layers of crackers wet in milk, and

clams with their liquor, and thin slices of fried salt pork. Season

with black pepper and salt. Boil three quarters of an hour. Put this

into a tureen, having drained off some liquor which is to be thickened

with flour or pounded crackers, seasoned with catsup and wine, and

then poured into the tureen. Serve with pickles.

=Boiled Fish.=—Wrap in a cloth wet with vinegar, floured inside. Boil

in cold salted water till the bones will slip out easily; drain and

serve with egg sauce, or drawn butter, or a sauce of milk, butter,

and egg. Try boiling fish with a fork, and if that goes in easily, it

probably is done.

=Broiled Fish.=—Split so that the backbone is in the middle; sprinkle

with salt; lay the inside down at first till it begins to brown, then

turn and broil the other side. Dress with butter, pepper, and salt. It

is best to take out the backbone.

=Baked Fish.=—Wash and wipe, and rub with salt and pepper outside and

inside. Set it on a grate over a baking-pan, and baste with butter and

the drippings; if it browns too fast, cover with white paper. Thicken

the gravy, and season to the taste, using lemon-juice or tomato

catsup. Some put in wine.

=Pickle for cold Fish.=—To two quarts of vinegar add a pint of the

liquor in which the fish was boiled, a dozen black pepper-corns, a

dozen cloves, three sticks of cinnamon, and a tea-spoonful of mustard.

Let them boil up, and then skim so as not to take out the spice.

Cut the fish into inch squares, and when the liquor boils, put them

into it till just heated through. Pack tight in a glass jar, and then

pour on the pickle; cook it till air-tight. This will keep a long

time. It is a great convenience for a supper relish.

CHAPTER XII.

VEGETABLES.

Fresh-gathered vegetables are much the best. Soaking in cold water

improves all. Always boil in _salted_ water, a tea-spoonful for each

quart of water. Do not let them stop boiling, or they will thus become

watery.

POTATOES.

The excellence of potatoes depends greatly on the _species_ and on the

_age_. Much also depends on the cooking, and here there are diversities

of modes and opinions. Peeling potatoes before cooking saves labor at

the time of taking up dinner, which is a matter of consequence. They

should, after peeling, soak an hour in cold water; then boil them in

salted water, putting them in when the water boils. Have them equal

in size, that all may be done alike. Try with a fork, and when tender

drain off the water, sprinkle on a little fine salt, and set them in

the oven, or keep them hot in the pot till wanted.

Some boil with skins on; in this case, pare off a small ring, or cut

off a little at each end for the water within to escape, as this makes

them more mealy.

Some make a wire basket and put in the potatoes peeled and of equal

size; and when done, take them up and set in the oven a short time.

This is the surest and easiest method.

Old potatoes should be boiled in salted water, then mashed with salt,

pepper, and cream or butter.

New potatoes boil in salted water, and rub off the tender skins with a

coarse towel.

=A good Way for old Potatoes.=—Peel and soak in cold water half an

hour, then slice them into salted water that is boiling; when soft,

pour off the water, add cream, or milk and butter, with salt and

pepper, also dredge in a very little flour.

Another way is to chop the cold boiled potatoes, and then mix in milk,

butter, salt, and pepper.

Some cold potatoes are nice cooked on a gridiron. A favorite relish

for supper is cold potatoes sliced and dressed with a salad dressing

of boiled eggs, salt, mustard, oil, and vinegar.

=Cold Potato Puffs.=—Take cold mashed or chopped potatoes and stir

in milk and melted butter. Beat two eggs and mix, and then bake till

browned. It is very nice, and the children love it as well as their

elders. This may be baked in patties for a pretty variety.

=To cook Sweet Potatoes.=—The best way is to parboil with the skins

on, and then bake in a stove oven.

=Green Corn.=—Husk it; boil in salted water, and eat from the cob;

or cut off the corn and season it with butter or cream and salt and

pepper. If green corn is to be roasted, open it and take off the silk,

and then cook it with husks on, buried in hot ashes; or if before the

fire, turn it often.

=Succotash.=—Boil white beans by themselves. Cut the corn from the

cob and let the cobs boil ten minutes, then take them out and put in

the corn. Have only just water enough to cover the corn when cut. If

there is more than a tea-cupful when the corn is boiled about half

an hour, lessen it to that quantity, and add as much milk, and let

the boiling continue till, on trial, the corn is soft, and then stir

in a table-spoonful of flour wet in cold water. Then let it boil

three or four minutes, take up the corn, and add the beans, with

butter, pepper, and salt. Have twice as much corn as beans. Some use

string-beans cut up.

If you have boiled corn left on the cob, cut it off for breakfast, and

add milk and eggs, salt and pepper, and bake it. Some say this is the

best way of all to cook sweet corn.

=Salsify, or Oyster Plant.=—Scrape, cut into inch pieces, and throw

into cold water awhile; put into salted boiling water, just enough to

cover them, and when tender turn off the water and add milk, butter,

salt, and pepper, and thicken with a very little flour; then serve.

Or, mash fine, and add a beaten egg and a little flour; make round,

flat cakes, and cook on a griddle.

=Egg Plant.=—Cut into slices an inch thick and peel. Lay these

in salted water an hour; then dip into egg, and rub in bread or

cracker-crumbs, and cook on a griddle.

=Carrots.=—Boil in salted water till tender, take off the skin, slice

and butter them. They are improved by cooking in broth. Some add

chopped onion and parsley.

=Beets.=—Wash, but do not cut them before boiling; boil till tender,

take off the skin, slice and season with salt, pepper, vinegar, and

melted butter. If any are left, slice them into vinegar, for a pickle.

=Parsnips.=—Boil in salted water, take off the skins, cut in slices

lengthwise, and season with salt, pepper, and butter. When cold, chop

fine, add salt, pepper, egg, and flour, make small cakes, and cook on

a griddle.

=Pumpkin and Squash.=—Cut in slices, boil in salted water till tender,

drain, and season with salt, pepper, and butter. Baked pumpkin, cut in

slices, is very good.

=Celery.=—Cut off the roots and green leaves, wash, and keep in cold

water till wanted.

=Radishes.=—Wash, cut off tops, and lay in cold water till wanted.

=Onions.=—Many can not eat onions without consequent discomfort;

though to most others they are a healthful and desirable vegetable.

The disagreeable effect on the breath, it is said, may be prevented by

afterward chewing and swallowing three or four roasted coffee-beans.

Those who indulge in this vegetable should, as a matter of politeness

and benevolence, try this precaution.

The best way to cook onions is to peel, cut off top and tail, put in

cold water for awhile, and then into boiling salted water. When nearly

done, pour off the water, except a little, then add milk, butter,

pepper, and salt. When onions are old and strong, boil in two or three

waters; have each time _boiling_ water.