Cut up half a pound of butter, and put it into a sauce-pan with
three quarters of a pint of water; cover it, and set it on hot
coals. Have ready in a pan two pounds of sifted flour; make a hole
in the middle of it, pour in the melted butter as soon as it
boils, and then with a spoon gradually mix in the flour. When it
is well mixed, knead it with your hands into a stiff dough.
Sprinkle your paste-board with flour, lay the dough upon it, and
continue to knead it with your hands till it no longer sticks to
them, and is quite light. Then let it stand an hour to cool. Cut
off pieces for the bottom and top; roll them out thick, and roll
out a long piece for the sides or walls of the pie, which you must
fix on the bottom so as to stand up all round; cement them
together with white of egg, pinching and closing them firmly. Then
put in the ingredients of your pie, (which should be venison,
game, or poultry,) and lay on the lid or top crust, pinching the
edges closely together. You may ornament the sides and top with
leaves or flowers of paste, shaped with a tin cutter, and notch or
scollop the edges handsomely. Before you set it in the oven glaze
it all over with white of egg. Bake it four hours. These pies are
always eaten cold, and in winter will keep two or three weeks, if
the air is carefully excluded from them; and they may be carried
to a considerable distance.