=Gravy for Roast or Baked Poultry.=--Put the giblets and neck into a

small saucepan, sprinkle over a little salt and pepper, then cover them

with boiling water and set on the back part of stove or range to cook

slowly, as soon as you have put the poultry into the oven; dip the feet

and legs into boiling water long enough to scald off all the leathery

skin, and put them into the saucepan to boil with the giblets and neck.

The feet and lower part of the leg, usually thrown away, contain a

good deal of jelly, which gives a very desirable richness and body to

the gravy, and when boiled tender many think them a great delicacy to

be served whole. When the giblets are boiled tender, chop very fine,

and while chopping dredge over flour till you have made them like a

paste, then put back into the water they were boiled in to simmer

till the chickens are done, stirring occasionally that the chopped

giblets may not stick to the saucepan. After the fowls are taken up,

set the meat-pan on the stove and shake some flour into the liquor at

the bottom of the pan. By the time the poultry is cooked this should

have been done to a brown gravy. After you have put in the flour, do

not stir it until the liquor has boiled up over it, then rub it quite

smooth, and little by little pour in the water in which the chopped

giblets are; stir constantly until it thickens, and if properly managed

you will have a smooth brown gravy of fine flavor.

=Chicken Pot-Pie.=--Cut up a chicken, or two if a large pie be

required; lay the pieces neatly into the pot, and sprinkle over salt

and pepper to your taste; rub one table-spoonful and a half of flour

and two table-spoonfuls of butter (_even_ full) together, and spread

this paste over the chicken; then cover the whole with good new milk,

or, better still, with cream, if you have it. Set the pot, covered

closely with a tight-fitting cover, where it will not cook or boil

rapidly, but stew or simmer, for three quarters of an hour. While this

is stewing, make a crust of prepared flour, or, if you have none, with

soda and cream of tartar, just as you would for light, tender biscuit;

roll this out quite thick, and cover over the meat. If there be not

enough gravy, add a little more milk boiling hot, or boiling water if

milk be not plenty. Cut a slit in the top of the crust to let the steam

escape. Boil half an hour after the crust is put on, bringing the pot

over a hotter fire, that it may boil, not simmer. In taking it out,

pass a knife around the sides of the pot to loosen the crust; then slip

a long-handled skimmer, as nearly flat as you have, or a batter-cake

turner, carefully under, and try to lift it out so as to break the

crust as little as possible; but it will, if properly made and cooked,

be so light that it will probably break a little. When lifted out, lay

it on a dish and take out the chicken and gravy; then lay the crust

together over it, and serve hot. Lean fresh pork or veal is very nice

cooked in the same way.

=Fried Chickens.=--Cut up the chickens neatly; lay them in a large

panful of cold water half an hour to extract the blood. Then drain and

put into just enough boiling water to cover them; season with pepper

and salt; parboil for twenty minutes. Fry crisp and brown some thin

slices of salt pork. When the chicken is sufficiently parboiled, drain

it from the water and lay each piece into the hot pork-fat. Dust over

some flour, and fry the chicken a clear brown, turning each piece

when sufficiently brown. When done on both sides, lay each piece on

the platter neatly, and set where it will keep hot but not dry. When

each piece is done and laid on the platter, shake from the dredge-box

into the hot fat enough flour to absorb the fat. Do not stir it till

all the flour is saturated; then with a spoon stir smooth and pour

in, little by little, enough of the water in which the chicken was

parboiled--which should be kept boiling--to make what gravy you need,

stirring it all the time. When thickened and free from lumps, pour on

the chicken, and serve hot.

=To Cook an Old Fowl.=--Dress and stuff as for roasting; then boil

three hours in a covered pot, with one quart of water, to which add

two table-spoonfuls of vinegar; then take it from the water, rub over

with a little butter, sprinkle over some flour, and put the fowl into

a bake-pan and bake in a hot oven one hour. Use the liquor in the pot

for gravy and to baste with. The vinegar makes it very tender, but does

not taste at all.

=Roast Duck.=--Select those that are fat and tender. Remove every

pinfeather, and singe off all the hairs; stuff with bread chopped fine,

seasoned with a little sage, summer savory, salt, and pepper; or, if

agreeable, add two onions chopped fine, but unless sure that all who

are to eat can use onions without injury, it is better not to risk

them. Remove the two oil-sacks from the back, or the oil will impart

a strong, disagreeable flavor. Roast carefully till of a nice brown,

basting thoroughly. One hour is quite long enough, as, if too much

cooked, a duck becomes very dry and tasteless. Remove all the fat from

the gravy, and put in the giblets, which should have been cooked and

chopped fine before the ducks were done. When chopping them, dust in

flour, so as to make a paste; then stir it into the gravy; stir till

all lumps have been broken and smoothed; let it cook a few minutes,

then pour in part of the water in which the giblets were boiled; cook

till it is thick and entirely free from lumps, then serve.

We have been told that a very excellent French cook opens and

_draws_ his poultry, but does not pluck them till they have hung a

few days,--long enough for the substance in the end of the quill to

absorb,--and thus they can be plucked clean leaving no pinfeathers. He

then picks and stuffs them, and lets them hang a day or two longer,

until the whole fowl is flavored with the dressing. We are assured

poultry so prepared is very delicate and finely flavored. We will not

vouch for this; but in part it sounds reasonable, and is well worth

trying, only we think the feathers must impart a strong, oily flavor if

left in so long.

=To Roast a Goose.=--Select a goose with clean, white skin, plump

breast, and _yellow_ feet. If the feet are red, the bird is old. Let

it hang for a few days, if the weather will permit, as by so doing the

flavor is greatly improved. In dressing, take great care in plucking,

singeing, and drawing the goose, for if the oil-sack is broken over

it, or the gall bladder broken inside, it will be more noticeable and

less easy to remove in a goose than any other poultry. Cut off the neck

close to the back, leaving the skin long enough to tie over. This can

be done by drawing back the skin, while you sever the neck from the

body. Cut off the feet at the first joint, and separate the pinions

at the first joint also; beat the breastbone flat with potato-masher

or rolling-pin. Put a skewer through the under part of each wing; draw

up the legs closely and run a skewer into the middle of each, passing

it quite through the body. Put another skewer into the small part of

the leg, bring it close down to the side-bone, run it through, and

proceed the same way with the other side. Cut off the vent, make a

hole in the skin large enough to draw the rump through, so as to keep

in the seasoning. Make a dressing of mealy potatoes, finely mashed,

two boiled onions chopped very fine, one and a half teaspoonfuls of

powdered sage, one of salt, and one of black pepper. Fill the body

of the goose, and secure it firmly by tying the skin over the neck,

and drawing the rump through the hole cut in the skin. Roast for two

hours, if large, or bake the same length of time; but roasting is much

nicer. Baste often, dredging a little flour over. Do not baste in the

drippings from the goose; they are too strong; but prepare some basting

by putting a little browned butter, salt, and pepper into part of a cup

of boiling water. When half done, drain the fat from the roaster; the

last drippings will not be so strong, and, with the basting water, will

suffice for the gravy. Make a good gravy, in which the giblets finely

chopped, and a little flour for thickening, have been boiled. Put the

gravy into a tureen, and serve the goose with a dish of nice apple or

gooseberry sauce.

=Wild Goose.=--A wild goose should be cooked rare. One hour’s roasting

is quite sufficient. A cup of currant jelly and a glass of red wine

should be added to the gravy, which is made the same as for a common

goose. Serve hot.

=To Roast a Green Goose.=--Geese are called _green_ till four months

old. Dress and truss the same as a full-grown goose, but do not stuff

the bird. Put into the body pepper and salt, and a little butter to

moisten it. Roast for an hour; serve with gravy made like the first,

and tomato or sorrel sauce.

=To Boil a Goose.=--Clean thoroughly, and soak for twelve hours in

warm milk and water. Then dry, and stuff with sage and onions, as for

roasting. Put it into cold water over the fire, and bring to a boil,

then let it simmer gently for an hour and a quarter. Serve with onion

sauce poured over it, and stewed cabbage around it.

A teaspoonful of made mustard, a salt-spoonful of salt, a few grains of

cayenne, mixed with a glass of port wine, are sometimes poured into the

goose, through a slit made in the apron when about half done, and by

many persons considered a great delicacy.

Onions may be omitted, if injurious to any who are to partake of it.

They make many persons quite ill, and it is a kindness to avoid using

any seasoning that will disturb your guests. Whatever way a goose is

to be cooked, it is well to soak it over night in milk poured over it

boiling hot. In the morning wash off the milk and put the goose into

a kettle of cold water, set it over the fire, and let it remain till

almost boiling hot, not quite. This removes the strong taste of the

oil, and you can then take it out, dry with a towel, and when cool

stuff and cook as you wish,--either boiled, baked, or roasted.

=To Stew a Goose.=--Truss the goose as for boiling; cover with thin

slices of bacon and tie it up. Cover the bottom of the saucepan also

with bacon, sprinkle in a very little of sweet herbs powdered, a carrot

cut in dice, and two bay leaves, if you can get them. Lay in the goose

and giblets, cover with bacon, moisten with rich stock enough to cover

the goose; set over the fire and let it boil up; then cover with

buttered paper and a close-fitting cover; set it on a hot hearth with

fire over it. Let it cook an hour and a half. Serve with onion or apple

sauce.

Both geese and ducks if old, and we think turkeys and chickens also,

are better for being parboiled before roasting. Put in just enough

water to boil them; keep the vessel close covered. Let a tough goose

gently simmer two hours; then dry, wipe clean, stuff, and roast;

basting with a little bacon fat or butter.

=To Stew Pigeons.=--Pluck and clean the birds with great care. When

drawn, leave them for about an hour to soak in cold water. This

extracts the blood, leaving them white and sweet. This done, take them

out, and tying the legs together, hang the birds up to drain. When dry,

lay them in a deep dish and place on the ice or a cool place overnight.

The next morning prepare the stuffing of stale bread chopped very fine,

and to it, for twelve pigeons, put one and a half table-spoonfuls of

butter, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one of black pepper; _a little_ sage,

thyme, summer savory, or sweet-marjoram (only a very little,--the

exact quantity cannot well be given more explicitly,--too much will

spoil it; better err by using too little, and profit by the experience

the next time). Rub a little salt and pepper outside and inside of each

bird, then fill with the stuffing and sew them up, passing the thread

through the legs and wings to make them lie close to the body; then

rub a little butter over the birds, dredge with flour, put them into a

bake-pan and place in a quick oven to brown. While this is being done,

chop a little fresh parsley, making, when fine, half a table-spoonful,

and put it to two table-spoonfuls of butter and the same of flour;

beat all together till smooth. Brown the birds on both sides; twenty

minutes should do it, if your oven is of the right heat. Lay a small

saucer or plate on the bottom of a close-covered iron stew-kettle or

into a soup-digester, and put the birds when browned into the kettle,

packing them compactly as you can; spread over them the smoothly beaten

flour, butter, and parsley, and pour in enough rich milk to cover the

pigeons (cream is better, but that is a luxury belonging to the country

chiefly). Set them on the stove or range where they will steadily

simmer four hours. They must not boil hard; occasionally stir them from

the bottom with a spoon, to prevent them from sticking, but do not

break them. When done, take up and place them neatly on a large, deep

platter, pour the gravy over the birds, trim the edges of the platter

with a neat fringe of green parsley, and send to the table hot.

=Wild Squabs.=--After dressing the birds, let them soak in cold water a

half-hour to extract the blood, then drain off the water, wipe dry on

a clean meat-cloth, and set on the ice till needed. (They are better

to be dressed one day and cooked the next.) Let the gridiron be bright

and clean; set it over the fire till hot, then lay the birds on, being

careful that the fire is not so hot as to scorch. Turn them over every

minute or two; when half done sprinkle salt and pepper over them and

finish. Have a _thin_ slice of bread toasted and spread with butter to

lay under each bird; place the birds on the bread, put butter on each

and set in the oven a moment, and send to the table hot. It is well

to have the bread toasted, buttered, and set in the oven to keep hot

before the birds are put over the fire.

=Chicken Pudding.=--Joint a pair of small, tender chickens; season

with salt and pepper; just cover with water, and stew with three thin

slices of salt pork, that has been well washed in hot water. When

tender, take from the liquor and set to cool. Make a batter of one

quart of flour, one quart of milk, six eggs, and a teaspoonful of salt;

or, if _prepared_ flour, no salt is needed. When the meat is cold,

cover the bottom of a large bake-dish with batter, then a layer of

chicken, then another of batter, and so on till all is used, finishing

off with batter. Bake to a light brown. Beat an egg and stir into the

liquor that was set aside, and serve it hot with the pudding.

=Chicken Jelly.=--Cut up an old hen into quite small pieces; skin it,

and pour over three pints of cold water; boil until the bones slip from

the meat easily. Then take out all the meat; throw back the bones to

boil in the liquor longer; chop the meat with the rind of one lemon,

having squeezed the juice into the boiling liquor; put the meat, well

seasoned, into a jelly-mold, and when the liquor is boiled down full

one half strain it upon the meat in the mold; next morning turn it out

of the mold and cut in slices. Do not throw away the _feet_ of poultry,

but pour boiling water over them to take off the skin, and then put

the feet into the liquor to boil. There is a great deal of mucilage in

their feet, and it is excellent both for this jelly and for enriching

the gravy for poultry.

=Chicken Patties.=--Chop very fine all the dry, poorest bits left from

baked chicken; season carefully with pepper, salt, and a little celery,

cut in small bits; make a light puff paste, roll a quarter of an inch

thick, cut with a neatly shaped paste-cutter; lay a narrow strip of the

paste all round, then put some of the mince on the paste; cut another

piece of the same size and lay over. Bake fifteen minutes. This makes a

neat dish and is good.

=To make Remnants of Meat, Chicken, etc., palatable.=--When a boiled

ham is nearly used up, there is considerable lean meat about the small

part of the ham which may waste because no way can be contrived to use

it. If you will grate all the hard dried bits, or, if too small to

grate, pound them in a marble mortar to a paste, and pack it close in a

stone pot, you will find it excellent for seasoning hashes, patties, or

to sprinkle over dropped eggs laid on buttered toast.

=Meat Croquettes.=--Mince cold chicken very fine; moisten with rich

gravy; season with pepper and salt. Shape them by pressing tightly into

a jelly-glass or long, pear-shaped wineglass; brush over with beaten

egg after they are shaped, roll in bread crumbs, and fry in lard.

Drain, and send to table hot. Or, beat together one pint of cream and

one pint of minced chicken, three even table-spoonfuls of butter, with

salt and pepper. Fry in lard.

PORK AND HAM.

=To Boil a Ham.=--Boil it three or four hours, according to the size;

then take up, skin the ham ready for the table, stick over it a dozen

cloves, rub over half a small cupful of sugar, sprinkle thoroughly with

pounded rusk or cracker crumbs, and set into a well-heated oven for

half an hour.

=Broiled Ham.=--Cut _thin_ slices from the middle of the ham, as

true and uniform as possible, having the knife very sharp. But if by

carelessness some parts are thicker than others, roll the thick part

out, stoutly, with a rolling-pin. Soak an hour or two in warm water,

unless the ham is quite fresh. Have the gridiron perfectly free from

roughness, and well heated; then broil over a brisk fire, turning

constantly that no part may be black. If cut thin enough, it will take

but a few minutes to broil it. When done, butter and pepper to suit the

taste. For breakfast, an omelet, or eggs cooked in some acceptable way,

should always go with ham.

=Ham Croquettes.=--Bits of boiled ham, too much broken to slice neatly

for the table, may be made into a very desirable breakfast dish.

To two cups finely chopped boiled ham, put two table-spoonfuls of

flour, six eggs if plenty,--four will answer,--yelks and whites beaten

separately. Stir all together, and make into balls, or shape in a

wineglass. When in shape, roll them in bread crumbs, cracker dust, or

flour; dip them into a little beaten egg, and fry in butter to a clear

golden brown.

=Ham and Toast.=--Boil a pint of milk, wet a table-spoonful of flour

with cold milk, and stir up smooth. When the milk comes to a boil,

pour in the flour, stir carefully till it thickens smoothly, add a

table-spoonful of butter and a little black pepper. Shave some good

ham very thin, pour over it boiling water, and let it scald a minute,

pour it off, add a little more, let it boil up once, then put it into

the thickened milk, leaving it there while you toast carefully a few

evenly cut slices of bread. Lay them into a deep dish, skim out the ham

from the milk and lay neatly on the toast, and then pour over all the

thickened milk. You can beat an egg and put to the milk if you like. It

makes it richer, but is not necessary.

This is a very nice breakfast relish. We think it preferable to dried

beef.

=Ham Toast.=--Soften slightly in a stewpan a small piece of butter; put

in as much finely minced ham as will cover a large round of buttered

toast, and add gravy enough to make it moist. When quite hot stir in

quickly with a fork one egg. Place the mixture over the toast, which

cut in pieces of any shape you may fancy.

=To use Cold Boiled Ham.=--When a ham has been long boiled and is

becoming dry, cut some thin slices, dip in egg and bread crumbs, and

fry quickly. Serve immediately.

=Another Way.=--Cut off all fat; mince the ham very fine; break into a

spider a half-dozen fresh eggs; add a table-spoonful of cream, a little

salt and pepper, and set over the fire; as soon as the eggs are set or

nearly solid, spread one half thickly with the minced ham, and fold

the other half over upon it; slip it carefully from the spider to the

platter. Garnish with curled parsley. Serve hot.

=Ham Ball.=--Chop fine such small pieces of boiled ham as are usually

thought too poor or small for use; add as many eggs as there will be

people at the table; sprinkle in a little flour; beat together with

chopped ham, and make into balls. Fry in hot butter or well-clarified

drippings to a golden brown.

=How a Pig was roasted on a Sugar Plantation.=--The pig, having been

carefully cleaned and dressed, was wiped dry, part of the liver and

heart chopped fine, mixed with bread crumbs, savory herbs, salt, and

pepper, and sewed up. While this was being prepared a fire was built

outdoors, and when burned down so as to secure a bright, large bed of

coals, a long, smooth stick was run through the pig lengthwise, and

smaller ones skewered the legs to the body. A piece of nice fat pork

was fastened on the stick where it entered the head. Thus firmly fixed,

one of the servants held the long stick with the pig on it over the

fire, slowly turning it round and round as it began to cook; or, if he

was needed elsewhere, one end of the stick was driven into the ground,

close to the coals, but only for a few minutes, when he returned to

continue to turn it round over the huge bed of coals. In much less time

than we need to cook a pig in our convenient kitchens, the dweller

under the cocoa-nut trees was beautifully browned, crisp, and tender.

In cooking, much of the fat from the pork filtered through, and having

given juice and relish to the meat, had, with a good deal of fat from

the pig, fallen into the ashes around the bed of coals, leaving the

meat rich and of peculiar sweetness and delicacy, without being too

greasy.

We had not the good fortune to partake of it, but this, with others

cooked in a similar manner, was pronounced the most delicious meat

ever tasted, and we found no difficulty in believing it. Some of our

Northern cooks, with any amount of “modern improvements,” might try

this experiment with great success.

Wild game, birds, rabbits, ducks, etc., are often cooked in a

similar manner. All wild birds are apt to be very dry, and if a thin

piece of pork is tied about them, while baking or roasting, till it

becomes brown and crisp, then removed, and the bird allowed to brown

delicately, it is a wonderful addition to the juiciness and flavor of

the game.

=Good Sausage Meat.=--Take two thirds ham and one third fat pork,

season well with nine teaspoonfuls of pepper, the same of salt, three

of powdered sage, and one of thyme or summer savory to every five

pounds of meat (not heaping teaspoonfuls, remember); warm the meat

enough so that you can mix it well with the hands; then pack in jars.

When needed, make up in small cakes and fry in a little butter, or

simply alone. But they must not be covered over, or they will fall to

pieces. Some like a little cinnamon added. Keep where it is cool, but

not damp.

=A Dutch Dish.=--Pare and slice as many potatoes as are needed for the

size of your family; put them into a deep dish; pour in as much milk or

cream as will fill the dish and not boil over. Stir in a little salt

and pepper; lay some slices of salt pork cut thin over the top; and

bake two hours. Be careful and not put in too much salt, as the pork

will season it almost enough.

SALADS AND OMELETS.

=Chicken Salad.=--Well-fattened chickens, of medium size, tender and

delicate, make better salad than large, overgrown ones. Put them on to

cook in the morning, and save the water they are boiled in for soup.

When cold, remove the skin and cut the flesh in pieces, the size you

prefer. Some like the meat very coarse, others choose it quite fine.

This is entirely a matter of taste. When cut up, throw over the dish

a towel slightly damped in cold water, to keep the meat from drying.

Take the best celery you can get, and cut it of the size you wish. The

“fancy cooks” cut both celery and chicken in bits about one inch long

and half an inch thick, but we think the salad better cut finer. When

the celery is cut, put it between clean cloths to dry perfectly, and

then prepare the dressing. For dressing for two chickens, take three

fourths of a bottle of the purest salad-oil or thick sweet cream, two

scant table-spoonfuls of the best mustard, the yelks of two raw eggs

and of twelve hard-boiled ones. Put the eggs to be boiled in a saucepan

of cold water over a quick fire; bring to a boil, and let them boil

hard ten minutes, then drop them into cold water. When cool, remove the

shells. Break the raw eggs, and drop the yelks into a dish large enough

to make all the dressing in; beat them, stirring the same way, for ten

minutes; then slowly add the mustard, mix it with the eggs thoroughly,

then add a teaspoonful of the best vinegar, and, when this is well

mixed, add the oil, a drop at a time, stirring constantly and always

the same way. Then rub the yelks of the hard-boiled eggs very smooth,

and stir in as lightly as possible a teacup of vinegar; pour it slowly

into the first mixture, stirring with a silver fork. Now season the

chicken and celery with salt and pepper, and as soon as ready for use

pour on the dressing. If set where it is too cold in cold weather, the

dressing will curdle and be ruined.

=Italian Chicken Salad.=--Make a dressing in the proportion of the

yelks of three hard-boiled eggs, rubbed fine, one salt-spoonful of

salt, one of mustard, and one of cayenne pepper, one of white sugar,

four table-spoonfuls of salad-oil, and two table-spoonfuls of vinegar.

Simmer this dressing over the fire, but don’t let it boil. Stir

constantly while over the fire. Then take a sufficient quantity of the

white meat of cold chicken for this quantity of dressing, or increase

in this proportion to the desired quantity; pull the white meat into

small flakes, pile it up in a dish, and pour the dressing on it. Take

two heads of fine, fresh lettuce that have been washed and laid in

water, take out the best part, cut it up, and arrange in a heap around

the chicken, heaped in the middle of the dish, and on the top of this

ridge place the whites of eggs, cut in rings and laid in form of a

chain. A portion of the lettuce to be helped with each plate of chicken.

=Lobster Salad.=--Boil the lobsters half an hour; when cold, take from

the shell; remove the vein in the back, which is not good. Two heads of

lettuce, one cup of melted butter, two table-spoonfuls of mustard mixed

with a little vinegar, is sufficient for six pounds of lobster; after

being taken from the shell, salt and pepper to your taste, remembering

that more can be added if not enough; but if too much, it is not so

easily rectified. Chop them together and put in the salad-dish. Beat

six eggs with a teacup of vinegar, put it over the stove to thicken,

stirring it all the time; when cold, spread over the lobster.

=Potato Salad.=--Cut ten or twelve cold boiled potatoes into slices

from a quarter to half an inch thick; put into a salad-bowl with four

table-spoonfuls of tarragon or plain vinegar, six table-spoonfuls of

best salad-oil, one teaspoonful of minced parsley, and pepper and salt

to taste; stir well that all be thoroughly mixed. It should be made

two or three hours before needed on the table. Anchovies, olives, or

any pickles may be added to this salad, as also slices of cold beef,

chicken, or turkey, if desired.

=Plain Omelet.=--Put your omelet-pan on the stove with a spoonful of

butter; keep it so hot that the butter will almost brown in it, but not

quite; break six fresh eggs into a clean bowl; if fresh, the whites

will be clear and the yelks quite round; add a teaspoonful of milk for

every egg, and whip the whole as thoroughly as for sponge-cake. When

light, put the whipped eggs and milk into the omelet-pan and set it

directly over the fire. As it begins to cool, take a thin-bladed knife

and run it carefully under the bottom of the egg, so as to let that

which is not cooked run beneath. If the fire is right, the whole mass

will instantly puff and swell and cook in a minute, but great care is

needed that it does not burn on the bottom, as scorched egg is very

disagreeable and would ruin the whole. It is not necessary to wait till

the whole mass is solid, for its own heat will cook it after it has

been taken up, but begin to clear it at one side at once and carefully.

=Puff Omelet.=--Take the yelks of six eggs and the whites of three;

beat very light. Take a teacup of cream (milk will answer) and mix with

it very smoothly one table-spoonful of flour; salt and pepper to suit

your taste; pour this into the beaten eggs. Melt a great spoonful of

butter in a pan, and when hot pour in the mixture and set the pan into

a hot oven. When it thickens up, pour over it the other three whites

that were saved out, which you must have all ready, beaten very light.

Return to the oven just long enough for a delicate brown, then slip out

on a dish so that the top part shall remain uppermost.

=Oyster Omelet.=--Beat four eggs very light; cut out the hard part, or

eye, from a dozen oysters; wipe them dry and cut into small pieces;

stir them into the beaten egg, and fry in hot butter. When the under

side is a light brown, sprinkle a very little salt and pepper over the

top, and fold one half of the omelet over the other. Never turn an

omelet; it makes it heavy and ruins it.

=Omelet with Jelly.=--Beat separately the yelks and whites of four

fresh eggs; add to the yelks sufficient sugar to sweeten to your taste,

and an even dessert-spoonful of corn flour very smoothly beaten in

a table-spoonful of cream. Beat this with the yelks till perfectly

smooth, and stir in the well-beaten whites very gently, so as to break

the froth as little as possible; pour the whole into a frying-pan in

which some butter has been melted, but drain off the butter before

adding the eggs, etc. Put it over the fire,--two or three minutes will

cook the under side; hold the pan to the fire till the under side looks

firm, then spread raspberry or strawberry jam over one half; turn the

other over it, and serve immediately.

=Baked Omelet.=--Boil half a pint of milk; beat six eggs thoroughly,

yelks and whites separately; put half a teaspoonful of salt and a piece

of butter half as large as an egg to the boiling milk; stir it into

the beaten eggs; pour all instantly into a deep dish and bake. If the

oven is hot, five minutes will bake it; not quite so hot an oven and a

little longer time will be better,--say ten minutes. It should be of a

delicate brown on top, and eaten right from the oven.

=Omelette Soufflee.=--Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth;

then add the yelks well beaten, with three table-spoonfuls of powdered

sugar and the rind and juice of one lemon. Beat all well together, and

bake in a moderately hot oven five minutes; serve immediately.

EGGS.

=Boiled Eggs.=--Be sure and select fresh eggs for boiling, never more

than a week old. Have the water just boiling; if boiling fiercely when

the eggs are put in, it will crack the shell. Three minutes will boil

an egg soft; five minutes will be necessary if you like them hard, and

ten or twelve minutes if needed for salad; in the latter case they

should be thrown into cold water the instant they are taken from the

boiling water, else the white will be dark colored or clouded. When

perfectly new, an egg requires about half a minute longer boiling than

if four or five days old.

=Fried Eggs.=--The fat left after frying ham, or that which is left in

the bake-pan after browning a ham, is better for frying eggs than lard

or butter. See that it is boiling hot, but not discolored, and drop the

eggs in one at a time. Let them cook half a minute, then dip up some of

the boiling fat from the pan, and pour over them. Continue to do this

till they are done, and it will not be necessary to turn them over,

which endangers breaking the yelk. Two and a half minutes should cook

them sufficiently. When dropping them in, hold the cup into which you

break each one close to the pan, and let the egg slip in as easily as

possible, so that it will not spread in a ragged surface over the pan.

=Poached Eggs.=--While boiling a pint of milk, beat six eggs to a

froth. Just before the milk begins to boil, add half a table-spoonful

of butter and a teaspoonful of salt, and stir into it; then pour in the

eggs, stir without ceasing, but gently, till it thickens,--not more

than two minutes. Take it from the stove or range, and continue to stir

half a minute or so, and then pour it over two or three thin slices of

toasted bread which has been spread with butter, and all prepared in a

deep dish before the eggs are put into the milk. This is very nice for

breakfast.

=Hard Scrabbled.=--Put two teaspoonfuls of butter into a frying-pan;

beat six eggs; season with pepper and salt. When the butter is very

hot, but not scorched, put in the eggs; stir until it thickens, and

serve hot.

=Fricasseed Eggs, or Egg Baskets.=--Boil hard half a dozen eggs or

more, according to the size of your family. When done, throw into cold

water immediately. (This should always be done with hard-boiled eggs,

else the yelk will turn black.) Cut the eggs in half after taking from

the cold water. Rub the yelks in a marble or wedgewood mortar, or with

a silver or wooden spoon, with some melted butter, pepper, and salt,

to a smooth paste; and, if you know it will be agreeable to all, add a

very little made mustard. Pound the finely minced meat of a cold fowl,

or grind some cold tongue or ham, and having made it smooth, mix with

the egg-paste, moistening as you proceed with a little gravy, or, if

you have none to spare, with melted butter. Cut a thin slice from the

bottom of the white of the egg, so that it will stand, and fill each of

the hard whites with this paste. Place close together on a flat dish,

and pour over the gravy left from the roast fowl yesterday, heated

boiling hot, into which a few spoonfuls of cream or rich milk have

been stirred. Cover closely with a hot cover, and let them stand a few

minutes before sending to table. If liked, a little parsley, chopped

fine, may be added, to the taste.

Excellent for breakfast when eggs are plenty.

=Egg Toast.=--Put some milk to boil in a farina-kettle; when it comes

to a full boil, take from over the fire and break in your eggs; let

them stand in the hot milk from eight to ten minutes, but not over the

fire. Steam a light biscuit, or, if you prefer, some Graham bread till

soft, or dip it into boiling milk and lay the egg on it, sprinkling

over a little salt and pepper. If desired, after the biscuit is

steamed or moistened in hot milk, you can spread a little butter over

it before the egg is put on it. This is a pretty breakfast dish, and

much more healthy than when the eggs are boiled, fried, or made into

an omelet, as the albumen (or white of the egg), being only slightly

cooked, is much more digestible. If careful not to scorch it, it is

better to boil in an iron kettle rather than the farina-kettle, as

iron will retain the heat longer than tin when taken from the fire.

Cooked in boiling water rather than milk, eggs are said to be even more

digestible, but they are not so palatable.

=Scrambled Eggs.=--Put into a spider enough butter just to oil the

bottom; set it on the stove. Break the eggs into a dish, taking care

not to break the yelks. As soon as the spider is heated, slip in the

eggs, adding a piece of butter as large as a walnut for twelve eggs;

season with very little salt and pepper. When the eggs harden a little,

stir the eggs from the bottom of the spider until cooked to suit. The

yelks and whites should be separate, though stirred together; not

mixed, like beaten eggs.

=Scrambled Eggs.=--Melt a table-spoonful of butter in a saucepan;

beat the yelks of six eggs a few minutes; then add to them six

table-spoonfuls of milk and a teaspoonful of salt, beat a little

longer, and pour them into the melted butter. When they thicken

slightly, pour in the whites unbeaten, and mix them with the yelks

carefully with a fork, and serve on pieces of toast in a hot dish, or

if preferred omit the bread. The whites should not be beaten in hard,

only stirred with the fork enough to mix in slightly with the rest.

=Dropped Eggs.=--Have ready a saucepan of boiling water. Throw in

a little salt. Break fresh eggs into a cup, one by one, and gently

drop each into the water so as not to break the yelk or have the

white spread much. Dip the boiling water over the yelk with a large

spoon until the white sets; then with an egg-slice take each egg out

separately upon buttered toast. Dress the dish with sprigs of parsley;

sprinkle over a little salt if not seasoned sufficiently by the salted

water. It is safer to cook one egg at a time, keeping the dish covered

into which they are placed after being cooked, or where it will keep

hot.

=Cottage Cheese.=--Take half sour milk, when well thickened, before

it has been stirred, and half buttermilk, at least twenty-four hours

old; set the dishes containing the milk and buttermilk separately

over kettles of hot water till the clear whey just begins to rise to

the top. Do not let it get too hot, or the cheese will be hard and

tasteless. When the whey has risen, pour both into a strainer-cloth

or bag; tie it at the top, and hang it up to drain. If prepared for

draining in the morning, by the middle of the afternoon it will be

sufficiently free from whey. Then turn it out of the strainer and

crumble all up fine; throw in a little salt and black pepper, rub in

a table-spoonful of butter, and moisten with milk till soft enough to

make into small pats or rolls for tea. If you have cream to wet it up

with, use no butter. If you like it quite soft, add more milk or cream,

and put the cheese into a deep dish, without attempting to make into

balls.

=Cheese Toast.=--Without great care, there is danger of much waste

after a rich cheese is cut, and part sent to the table daily. If

servants are allowed to cut it, waste would seem inevitable; but if the

mistress looks after the cheese, there are many nice relishes to be

made from the crumbs and dried pieces.

Take five table-spoonfuls of rich cheese, grated (the “crumbles” and

dry bits are as good as if cut for this purpose from the cheese), mix

with it the yelk of one egg, four ounces of grated bread, and two

table-spoonfuls of butter. Beat it all in a mortar,--a marble one if

you have it,--adding a dessert-spoonful of mustard and a little salt

and pepper. Toast some slices of bread, lay the paste upon them quite

thick; put it into the oven a few minutes and send to the table hot.

VEGETABLES.

Much care in selecting vegetables is necessary, but still more in

preparing them for the table. It is to be regretted that so little

attention is given to this. Half the enjoyment that should be derived

from the abundance of the best varieties which our farms and markets

offer in every summer season is lost by unskillful cooking. So evident

is this fact, that it appears quite important to call the particular

attention of _young housekeepers_ to this part of their duty. We are

so much in earnest, and deem this part of their labors so worthy of

extra care, that no doubt those who think us quite too particular

and whimsical in our inculcations of extreme neatness in household

management will find the same grounds for objection here. We would

suggest that those who feel inclined to raise these objections should

overlook everything and every place about their houses, and attend

with their own hands to all that ought to be done _for one month_. We

imagine that, should they do this, their experience of the beauty of

great cleanliness, and the added luxury and pleasure of their table

comforts, would justify our teachings.

Of course it is only those who raise vegetables themselves who can

enjoy in the highest degree the pleasure of eating them. No luxury

of this kind, peas, corn, beans, salads, etc., can ever be had in

perfection when gathered overnight and brought to the market or the

store, lying for hours it may be before they are used. But even after

such exposure and waste of the finer flavors, they can be made more

palatable by proper cooking.

Almost all vegetables are better _steamed_ than boiled, as all the

juices are secured by this method; particularly is this true in

cooking corn and peas. A large kettle half filled with boiling water,

a _steamer_ fitting closely in the top of the kettle, and the cover

fitting as closely to the steamer, answers very well when there is no

better way. But there are now in market various kinds of steamers for

cooking, which profess to make it a very convenient mode of preparing

food. The “Peerless,” one of the best cooking-stoves we have ever

known, has a large steamer of the size and shape of a wash-boiler, with

two perforated compartments in which to put the various articles to be

cooked, and we have found it exceedingly convenient for steaming all

kinds of vegetables. We have elsewhere mentioned the “Rumford Boiler,”

the “Warren Cooker,” etc. A large amount of corn--for those who can

gather sweet corn right from the stalk are not likely to be satisfied

with a _small_ mess--can be placed in one part; peas in a dish, all

seasoned, set beside the corn; potatoes, beets, cauliflower, each in

separate dish, can find a place in this large steamer, and cooked

without losing any of their richness, yet, all being in one large

receptacle, less room is occupied on the stove than when each article

is put in a separate kettle.

=Corn.=--Like peas and most summer produce, corn should be used as

soon as plucked. Husk, silk, and put into _boiling_ water as soon

as possible after it is brought from the garden. Let it boil twenty

minutes, or, if large kernels and cob, thirty.

The small early corn that will not cook in fifteen or twenty minutes is

too old, or wholly worthless for cooking. As soon as the corn is done,

put it on the plates with a napkin under, and send it to the table hot.

If you prefer it cut from the cob, as soon as it is cooked cut it off,

and to three pints of corn put one spoonful of butter, with pepper and

salt to suit your taste; put in but a little at first and then taste

(always remember that in seasoning you can _add_ if needed, but cannot

easily _take away_), add a cup and a half of good cream, or if you must

use milk instead, put in half a spoonful more butter. Have boiling

water in the under part of your farina-kettle, and pour your corn into

the upper. Set over the fire till just ready to boil, then dish and

send to the table hot.

=Another Way.=--With a thin, sharp knife, cut the corn from the cob

before cooking, being careful not to cut so closely as to take the

horny point that fastens the kernel to the cob. Put the corn into

the farina-kettle as above directed, with a little salt, pepper, two

cups cream, one spoonful butter, or two cups sweet milk and two great

spoonfuls of butter. Be sure and scrape all the milk from the cob when

you have cut off the kernels, or squeeze it out with your hand. It adds

more to the richness of the dish than you would at first imagine. Set

the kettle over the fire and let it boil fifteen minutes. It will take

less time to cook than when boiled on the cob.

=Boiling Potatoes.=--To boil potatoes well requires more attention than

is usually given. They should be well washed, and left standing in

cold water an hour or two, to remove the black liquor with which they

are impregnated, and a brackish taste they would otherwise have. They

should not be pared before boiling; they lose much of the starch by

so doing, and are made insipid. Put them into a kettle of clear cold

water, with a little salt, cover closely and boil rapidly, using no

more water than will just cover them, as they produce a considerable

quantity of fluid themselves while boiling, and too much water will

make them heavy. As soon as _just_ done, instantly pour off the water,

set them back on the range, and leave the cover off the saucepan till

the steam has evaporated. They will then, if a good kind, be dry and

mealy. This is an Irish receipt, and a good one.

=Another Way.=--Put them, with skins on, into a kettle of hot water;

let them come just to the boiling point, and pour in a cup of cold

water, and, as the Irish say, the boiling is “backed.” Repeat this till

the potato is tender. The object is to keep the water just on the verge

of boiling, but check it by a little cold water till the potato is done.

=To Boil New Potatoes.=--When fresh dug take the small potatoes not

quite ripe, wash clean, then rub the skin off with the hand--never

use a knife--and put them into boiling water with a little salt; boil

quickly; when done, drain dry and lay into a dish, spreading a little

butter over them, or boil some new milk, put in a great spoonful of

butter, and thicken with a little flour wet smooth with milk. When the

potatoes are cooked and laid in the dish pour this _dip_ over them.

This is very nice.

=Mashed Potatoes.=--Boil with skins on; when done, peel quickly, and

put, as you peel, into a saucepan over the stove, but not hot enough

to burn; mash free from lumps to a smooth paste; have ready, before

peeling the potatoes, a piece of butter half the size of an egg,

melted, and half a cup of sweet milk, with pepper and salt to taste;

when the potatoes are mashed smooth, pour in the milk and butter, and

work it quick and smooth, then dish; dress the top with a knife so as

to be round and smooth, rub on a little beaten egg, and brown in the

oven very delicately. Serve with fowls or roast meat.

=Potato Croquettes.=--Boil potatoes with just enough water to cover;

when three quarters done pour off the water and let them steam to

finish cooking; then press them through a wire sieve; this done, put

them into a stewpan, adding one ounce butter to one quart potatoes,

and the well-beaten yelks of two eggs; mix together thoroughly; then

flour the paste-board, divide the potato paste into square parts and

roll them on the board to any shape,--balls, pears, corks, or what you

choose,--dip them in egg and bread crumbs, and fry in hot fat to a

light brown.

=Saratoga Fried Potatoes.=--Wash the potatoes clean, slice with a

potato-slicer very thin, throw into cold water long enough to take out

some of the starch, then wipe dry and put into boiling lard, a few

pieces at a time; be sure and keep the lard boiling; as soon as the

potatoes are of a clear golden brown, skim out, drain in a colander or

sieve, and serve hot.

=Scalloped Potatoes.=--Boil in the skins. Peel quickly, when done,

and rub through a colander or coarse sieve, or mash smoothly; season

highly with salt, pepper, and butter; add two or three hard-boiled eggs

chopped fine. Four eggs to a quart of mashed potatoes are nice; but if

eggs are not plenty, two will do. Fill a bake-dish with it, and bake

long enough to form a delicately brown crust. Serve as soon as taken

from the oven.

=Snow Potatoes.=--Boil till just done; peel and throw into a colander

or coarse sieve; break them up a little; then sprinkle in a little

salt; add as much butter as for common mashed potatoes, and enough milk

to enable you to rub them easily through the colander. They will, if

not too moist, come through in strings and fall in a light snowy mass

into the vegetable-dish, which should be placed underneath. Do not stir

it, but send to the table just as it falls into the dish.

=Potato Cakes.=--Grate one teacup of raw ham, mix it with a quart of

finely mashed potatoes; beat and stir into this two eggs, add pepper,

salt (not too much), and a little mustard,--a small teaspoonful is not

too much if you like it highly seasoned,--roll in balls and fry a light

brown. Sage and sweet-marjoram can be added if their taste is agreeable.

=To Fry Sweet Potatoes.=--Pare, slice thin, fry in hot lard, like

fritters, and sprinkle with a little salt as they are taken from the

lard.

=Maccaroni.=--Boil a quarter of a pound of maccaroni in clear water

till tender. While boiling, thicken half a pint of boiling milk

with enough flour to make it as stiff as thick cream; add half a

table-spoonful of butter and two table-spoonfuls of cream, half a small

teaspoonful of mustard, a little pepper (white if you have it, if not

black will answer), a little salt, and a very little cayenne pepper.

Stir into this a quarter of a pound of grated cheese. Boil this all

together a few moments, stirring it constantly to prevent its burning,

then drain the water from the maccaroni, and stir it into the thickened

milk; let it boil up a few moments, and serve hot; or, if preferred,

after dishing it, set the dish in the oven and let it brown. For

variety, a little parsley chopped fine and stirred in before adding the

maccaroni is considered an improvement.

Another very good way to prepare maccaroni is, boil it fifteen or

twenty minutes in clear water, then drain it, and use chicken or veal

broth instead of milk for the seasoning.

Another: Prepare as above or with milk, and just before it is done beat

up two eggs and stir in.

=Egg-Plant.=--Take the fruit fully ripe; cut in slices not more than

a quarter of an inch thick, and put it to soak in cold salted water

for two hours. This removes a black, bitter property, said to be

unhealthful, certainly disagreeable; then wipe the slices on a clean

cloth, dip in the white of egg and fry in boiling hot butter till well

browned, but be careful not to scorch them; serve hot.

=Another Way.=--Pare and quarter two or three egg-plants, according

to the size of your family. Soak them in salt and water, as directed

above, then boil till soft enough to mash like turnips. Mash them

smooth, add a few bread crumbs soaked in milk, and one or two

table-spoonfuls of butter, according to the quantity; a little chopped

parsley, an onion boiled and mashed, and salt and pepper. Mix all

thoroughly; pour into a baking-dish, cover the top with grated bread,

and bake for a half-hour. Serve hot. For a fancy dish some boil the

plant till soft, then cut in halves and scoop out the flesh, leaving

the skin whole. Mash the inside smooth, and dress as above. Mix well,

and stew half an hour, then put it back into the shell or skin; strew

bread crumbs over, and brown slightly.

Cucumbers after they begin to turn yellow, and muskmelons that come on

too late to ripen, may be sliced and fried like the egg-plant, and can

scarcely be distinguished from it. Some think they are better.

=Fricasseed Egg-plant.=--Peel and slice the egg-plant; lay the slices

in salt-water two hours, to remove the bitterness and the black which

it would otherwise have; after soaking, drain off all the water; have

enough boiling water in a clean, bright saucepan to cover the slices;

throw in a table-spoonful of salt, and lay in the egg-plant; let

them boil till thoroughly cooked; then drain off the water, pour in

sufficient milk to cover the slices, and add two table-spoonfuls of

butter, rolled in flour; let it simmer gently, shake the pan over the

fire till the sauce is thick, and then stir in the beaten yelks of

three eggs just before serving.

=To Stew Tomatoes.=--Pour boiling water over fair and fully ripe

tomatoes, that you may peel them quickly; let the water remain only

long enough to start the skin. When peeled, cut into an earthen pipkin

or a porcelain-lined kettle, as tin or iron turns them dark and gives

a bad taste. If onions are agreeable, cut one small one in with the

tomatoes. Cover closely and set where they will gently simmer, but

not boil hard. Stir them occasionally to prevent burning, and when

they have cooked two hours add salt and pepper to suit your own taste,

and to a quart of tomatoes add a table-spoonful and a half of sugar,

and two and a half even spoonfuls of bread or cracker crumbs. After

the crumbs are added stir often or they will stick to the bottom of

the dish and soon burn. Twenty minutes before dinner beat two eggs,

or if you have more than a quart of tomatoes increase the number in

the proportion of two eggs to a quart; stir briskly and often after

the eggs are added, and serve hot. If possible the tomatoes should be

skinned and on the back part of the stove before breakfast, as the

longer they simmer the better they will be. Three hours’ slow cooking

at least, _five is better_. If prepared according to rule, they are

thought very nice by tomato-lovers, and are better warmed over the

second day than they were the first.

=Baked Tomatoes.=--Peel and slice good, firm, but ripe tomatoes; put

them in a pudding-dish, season with pepper, salt, two great spoonfuls

of sugar to a quart of tomatoes, and one spoonful of butter. Sprinkle

some finely powdered bread crumbs over the top and bake slowly two

hours.

To add two well-beaten eggs is thought by some to improve this dish.

=Scalloped Tomatoes.=--Peel as many large, ripe tomatoes as you wish

to prepare; cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick; pack in a

pudding-dish first a layer of tomatoes, then a thick layer of bread

crumbs, pepper, salt, a little white sugar, and a teaspoonful of

butter; then a layer of tomatoes, then bread crumbs, etc., till the

dish is nearly full, having tomatoes last. Now dust over pepper, a

little sugar, and more butter; strew the top with bread crumbs, and

bake, _covered_, half an hour; then remove the cover, and bake brown,

but be careful not to scorch.

We have received from a South Carolina lady the two following

receipts:--

=Boiled Rice.=--One pint of rice, as new as it can be had,--old rice

has a dead taste,--to one quart of boiling water and one table-spoonful

of salt. Boil briskly a few minutes, until the water seems absorbed;

then, keeping it closely covered, set on one side of the stove, where

it can be kept hot and steam itself done,--not become soft and mushy.

In about half an hour it will be cooked sufficiently. Serve very hot

with the meats, like potatoes. If cooked soft and watery, and stirred

till gluey--as is so often done--it would not be thought eatable at the

South. _Never_ stir more than once, and then only when it first boils.

Some prefer only one pint of water to one pint of rice.

=Cooking Rice.=--Pick over and wash a cup of rice; cover with cold

water, and set where it will cook slowly. When the rice has absorbed

all the water, pour in a cup of milk; stir often and cook slowly; in

ten or fifteen minutes it will take up all the milk; then add another

cup, and so on, till the rice is soft, then add a little salt, and

dish. Eat with meat, or as dessert; if the latter, sweeten rich sweet

cream and grate in nutmeg, and use as sauce to the pudding.

=Peas.=--To prepare any article of food in the _best_ way should not be

thought “too much trouble.” Many kinds of early peas are dry, almost

tasteless, and if what sweetness there may be in the pod is not added

to the peas to remedy this deficiency, they will be very insipid.

“Carter’s Full Crop” and the “Daniel O’Rourke” are among our earliest,

but neither is a very sweet pea. To use these with any enjoyment,

_securing_ all the saccharine properties of the pod, is very essential.

They are of the smooth, round kind, and these are never as sweet as the

_wrinkled_ peas,--that is, those that wrinkle in boiling or drying.

“The Little Gem” and the “Champion of England” are later, but among

our best and sweetest peas. They do not need the juices of the pod so

much in cooking, but we think are enough sweeter and richer for it to

pay for the trouble. Some cooks throw in a little sugar to increase the

flavor, as they use _soda_ to make them tender; but don’t do it unless

your taste is so deficient that you can be satisfied with simple

sweetness and tenderness, without regard to rich, genuine flavor. For

such, any tasteless thing, so that it is sweet and tender, is as good

as peas.

=Green Peas.=--The first rule is to use the peas fresh from the

vines, every hour’s delay in cooking after they are gathered destroys

something of their finest flavor. Wash them _before_ shelling, _never

after_. Shell and pick over nicely. First put in the _fresh pods_.

Press them down, leaving only water enough to cover them. Let them boil

fifteen minutes, then skim out, and put in the peas. If there is more

than enough water to cover the peas after the pods have been removed,

pour it out. Let them boil fifteen or twenty minutes. Peas that require

more than twenty minutes, or need soda to make them tender, are only

fit for soup. When done, put what butter is needed into the dish, and

pour the peas on it, adding a little pepper. Some prefer them dry, and

drain them through a strainer, but we think some of the water in which

they were boiled is a very great improvement. The amount of butter

needed must be decided by the quantity of peas and the taste. Boiling

the pods adds greatly to the sweetness and richness of the peas.

=Beans.=--The dwarf wax beans are among the best string-beans. The pod

is very tender and white, almost transparent when cooked. The Valentine

is also very good. Of the pole-beans the Horticultural and Lima are

the best. If you cannot raise the Lima, the Saba is a good substitute,

though by no means equal to it.

In cooking the wax bean, simply cut off the ends, and snap the pod in

small bits. Put salt into boiling water and then put in the beans. If

the salt is thrown in before the vegetables, they retain their color;

but if salt is added _after_ they are in hot water, they will be of a

faded olive color when cooked, and not so well flavored. String-beans

should cook a full hour unless very tender. When done put in your

vegetable-dish some butter, allowing an even great spoonful to a pint

of string-beans; add a little pepper and pour the beans upon it, with

some of the water in which they were boiled. Like peas, some prefer

them quite moist; those who do not can easily be suited by having

theirs taken out free from the liquor. Lima beans are not good to

use for _string-beans_, but the bean itself is delicious. It requires

a full hour to boil. When ready to dish, season the same as peas or

string-beans. Many consider cream an addition both for peas and beans,

but we think much of the peculiar delicacy is lost by it. The more

simple such articles can be prepared the more of the true flavor is

retained.

=Asparagus.=--Wash it clean, but do not leave in water. Cut off all of

the white ends that are woody and tough, and when ready to boil tie up

the stalks in a neat bunch, lay them in the saucepan, sprinkle over as

much salt as is needed to season, then just cover the bunch or bunches

with boiling water. Cook twenty minutes. When done, take the asparagus

out and with a sharp knife cut off any part that has not cooked tender

and throw away. Then cut the stalks up into pieces half an inch long

and put them back into the saucepan with two table-spoonfuls of butter

to each good-sized bunch; a little pepper, one cup of good cream, and

enough finely rolled bread crumbs to thicken it a little, say only

two even table-spoonfuls. If there is enough water left after boiling

to make the dish too liquid, pour off part of it before returning the

asparagus, cream, and bread crumbs to the saucepan. Let it all boil up

for two or three minutes, then dish and send to the table hot.

=Spinach.=--Pick and wash it with great care. Put into a saucepan that

will just hold it; sprinkle in some salt, and pour over only one cup

and a half of boiling water; cover close, set on the stove, and shake

the pan often to prevent the spinach from burning. When done, beat it

up with a little butter and pepper. It should come to the table quite

dry. It looks nicely when pressed into a mold in the form of a leaf.

Serve with poached eggs.

=To Boil Cabbage.=--Wash very thoroughly in cold water; look between

the leaves, where insects and worms are very often secreted; then put

into boiling water, some say without any salt; we prefer to add salt,

when half done; boil quickly till tender; then take it out with a

skimmer into a colander or sieve, and drain free from all water. Season

with a little butter and pepper.

=To Boil Cabbage with Meat.=--Select small, white, firm heads; cut in

quarters; examine carefully; then lay the quarters an hour in cold

salted water, to drive out any insects that may have escaped your

observation. Skim all the fat from the pot in which the pork or beef

is boiling, and put in the cabbage while the water boils; cook till

tender; then drain, and serve as whole and compact as possible. If the

meat is to be used cold, take out some of the water in which it is

boiling, and put in another kettle and boil the cabbage in that, as it

gives a disagreeable taste to meat when cold.

=Another Way.=--After washing and examining the cabbage, put it into

a kettle of fast-boiling water, into which you have put some salt and

a small bit of soda. Press it down into the water, then let it boil

quickly eight minutes; have on hand another kettle of fast-boiling

water prepared as above, and transfer the cabbage to that; press it

down into the water and let it boil twelve minutes more; meanwhile

throw away the first water and prepare more like it; after the second

boiling remove the cabbage once more to another water, and boil ten

minutes if the cabbage is small, twenty if large; then take it up in a

colander, lay a plate over, and drain well; dish on toasted bread that

has been dipped in drawn butter, and pour a little over the cabbage.

=Cabbage like Cauliflower.=--Chop a good, solid head of cabbage fine,

as if for cold slaw. Put it into boiling water. Boil till tender; then

drain quite free from water; season with salt, pepper, and butter; add

a cup of cream or milk, and simmer a few minutes. Send to table hot.

=Cauliflower.=--Soak the head two hours in salt and water, and boil

until tender in milk and water, if you have plenty of milk, if not,

boiling water will answer. Serve whole with drawn butter, or cut it up

and season richly with butter, and a little pepper and salt. The first

way is the most stylish, the last the most palatable. In either case it

must be well drained.

=Hot-Slaw.=--Cut a firm white head of cabbage in thin shreds; put it

into boiling water; cook till tender; only just cover with water, so

that when done there may be hardly any remaining. Just before dishing,

add to one good-sized head half a teacupful of good cider vinegar and

a piece of butter half the size of an egg, with salt and pepper to suit

your taste.

=Cold Slaw.=--Shave a firm head of cabbage fine; put a teaspoonful

of salt, the same of sugar, and a little pepper into a small cup of

vinegar, and pour over the cabbage.

=To Cook Onions.=--The strong, disagreeable taste and smell from onions

may be in a large degree removed by leaving them to soak in cold salt

and water an hour after the outside skin has been removed; then boil

them in milk and water till thoroughly tender; lay into a deep dish,

season with pepper and salt, and pour over them drawn butter.

CAKE.

GENERAL RULES.

First examine the range or stove. See that the ashes are shaken out,

and sufficient coal added to keep the oven in working order till your

cake is put together and baked; for fuel should never be added while

bread or cake is baking. See if the dampers are all right, and ovens

at the proper heat,--a slow, even heat for rich cake, a quick heat for

plain cake.

The range being in proper condition, next collect all the ingredients

to be used. Line the tins with buttered paper.

Sift the flour, then weigh or measure it and the sugar, butter, fruit,

and milk. Baking-powder or cream of tartar should always be sifted

in with the flour, which should then be covered up, and set near the

fire to dry while you are getting other articles ready. If Jewell’s

_prepared_ flour is used, no salt, soda, or cream of tartar is needed

for anything; and those ingredients may be omitted in using the

following receipts.

Dissolve soda in a little cold water.

Put the eggs in cold water. They will beat easier and lighter. Beat

yelks and whites separately.

Never mix sweet and sour milk.

When fruit is to be used, it is always better to pick it over, slice or

stone, and, if need be, wash and dry it, the evening before, covering

it over closely, to keep from the heat and air.

Everything being now in readiness, put the butter into a deep earthen

dish. Stir it with a wooden spoon till soft, then add sugar, and beat

until light and white, like thick cream. Next add the yelks of the

eggs well beaten, then a little of the flour, and very gradually the

milk, beating the batter steadily; then add spices, and the whites,

well beaten to a very stiff foam, with the remainder of the flour,

alternately. Now beat the batter till all is thoroughly combined, and

you will be sure of light, fine-grained cake.

Fruit should be rolled in flour and added the last thing, or add it in

alternate layers with the batter, as you fill it into the pans. Use

some of the flour weighed out for the cake to dredge the fruit.

So far it is well; but quite as much depends on baking, as in the

preparation of the cake, and if you have not the most trusty, reliable

servants, your watch and care is not ended.

Unless a _raised cake_, it should be put into the oven as soon as you

have put it into the pans, opening the oven door, after the cake is in,

as seldom as consistent with proper oversight, as a draught of cold air

passing through the oven will tend to make the cake heavy.

If the oven is too hot, cover the cake for a while with a piece of

brown paper.

Whenever you buy a broom, break off a few of the splints; tie them up

and lay away safely to use in _trying_ cake. It is not pleasant to

think of using a splint from a broom that has been used in sweeping a

kitchen floor, or any other floor, however nicely kept. Try the cake

with one of these clean splints, or a small knitting-needle. If it

comes out quite free from any particle of batter, the cake is done.

Cake keeps fresher to be allowed to remain in the pan in which it was

baked; but if necessary to remove it, place it on the top of a sieve

until quite cold, when it may be frosted if desirable, and put into a

large stone pot, or cake-safe, and covered with clean linen.

Steam stale cake, and eat with a nice hot sauce, and you have a very

good pudding.

=Loaf Cake.=--Two cups sugar; two of milk; two of flour; one of yeast;

make into a sponge overnight. In the morning, if this sponge is light,

beat together two cups sugar, one of butter, and four eggs; add these

to the sponge with enough more flour to make it quite stiff; add spice

and fruit to suit the taste; a cup and a half of stoned raisins, well

floured, and half a cup of citron cut thin and in small pieces. Raise

till light, and bake in an even oven.

=Mrs. Breedley’s Fruit Cake.=--Five eggs; five cups of flour; two and a

half cups of sugar; one and a half cups butter, and two cups sour milk;

two cups raisins. Beat sugar and butter to a cream; add the egg-yelks

and whites, beaten separately; then three cups of the flour and the

milk; beat well and then add one gill wine, cloves and cinnamon to suit

your taste, and the remainder of the flour; and last, one teaspoonful

soda dissolved in a very little water. Bake as soon as put together.

Spices, in all receipts, may be increased or diminished to suit the

taste. One nutmeg and a teaspoonful of other spices will be a medium

allowance; cloves are generally undesirable, except in fruit cake.

=Rosie’s Raised Cake.=--Three cups bread dough, two cups sugar, one cup

butter, or half cup butter and half cup lard, two eggs, nutmeg to suit

the taste, one wineglass of wine, half a teaspoonful of soda, one pound

of raisins chopped or stoned; beat all thoroughly together, and let it

stand to rise till quite light. Always roll raisins in plenty of flour

before putting into the dough, to prevent their sinking.

=Fruit Cake.=--Three cups sugar, half a pound butter, four cups flour,

three eggs well beaten, one cup of milk, two nutmegs, two pounds of

raisins stoned, one pound Zante currants, or half a pound of preserved

orange peel sliced very thin and cut fine, one teaspoonful soda. Bake

two hours and a half.

=Farmer’s Fruit Cake.=--Three cupfuls of sour dried-apples soaked

overnight in warm water. In the morning drain off the water, chop not

too fine, leaving the apple about as large as raisins, then simmer in

two cupfuls of molasses two hours or until quite done, that is, until

the apple has absorbed all the molasses; one and a half cupfuls of

butter well beaten; one of sugar, four eggs, one cupful of sweet milk,

one teaspoonful of cloves, one of cinnamon, one of nutmeg, one and a

half teaspoonfuls of soda, one wineglass of wine, four and a half

teacupfuls of flour; add one cup raisins or currants, if you please,

but roll in flour before putting them to other ingredients; beat all

together thoroughly; bake carefully in a well-heated oven. This is

excellent to our taste, far better than the richer kind, and more

easily digested.

=Whortleberry Cake.=--Prepare the batter just like Sally Lunn, then

stir in one coffee-cup of whortleberries rolled in flour the last thing

before putting into the oven. If the berries are not well floured, they

will sink to the bottom of the cake and be worthless. Stir them in

gently and quickly. Bake half an hour. Very good for breakfast or tea.

=Olic Cake.=--Three pounds of flour, five eggs, three quarters of a

pound of butter, one and a half pints of milk, one pound of sugar,

and one penny’s worth of bakers’ yeast; beat and knead well and put

to rise; knead over every time it rises,--say three times a day for

three days,--using as little flour as possible at each kneading. After

the first rising, keep it in the cellar or a cool place. When ready

for use, break off small bits, flatten with the hand, and lay a bit of

citron on them; then roll into a ball and fry in boiling lard, like

doughnuts. Roll in sugar after they are fried. This is a Dutch receipt,

and, if properly made, very fine. We have never _fried_ these cakes,

but often make a large bowlful in cold weather, and keep it on the

ice a fortnight at a time, using as we want it, kneading it every day

an hour before tea, and using it for biscuits instead of cake. Let it

stand a short time to rise, then bake. _They are very light and tender._

=Nice little Cakes.=--Whites of six eggs left from Spanish cream, three

and a half cups of flour, two cups sugar, one small cup butter, one cup

milk, one teaspoonful soda, and two of cream of tartar. Flavor to taste.

=Queen Charlotte’s Cake.=--One pound of flour, one of sugar, one of

raisins (Sultana or _stoneless_ raisins are the best), one half-pound

butter, four eggs, one gill brandy, one gill wine, one gill cream, half

a nutmeg, half-teaspoonful each cloves and cinnamon. Bake in one loaf.

=Lemon Cake.=--Two cups of flour, two of sugar, six eggs, six

table-spoonfuls of butter, four of milk, two teaspoonfuls of cream

of tartar sifted with the flour, and one teaspoonful of soda. Beat

all well together, and bake in two loaves. For the jelly to use with

it, take three fourths of a pound of sugar, one fourth of a pound of

butter, six eggs, the rind of three lemons grated, and their juice.

Beat the sugar, butter, and eggs thoroughly together, and set in a dish

of hot water until heated, then add the grated lemon and juice; stir

till thick enough and quite smooth, then split the cake and put this

jelly in while warm. It is very delicious.

=Molasses Drop Cake.=--One cup of molasses, half a cup of butter or

lard, half a cup of water, three cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of

ginger, one teaspoonful of soda. Beat well together, and drop with a

spoon on a buttered pan or in muffin-rings. Bake quickly.

=Chicago Fruit Cake.=--One and one fourth pound flour, six eggs,

one pound sugar, half-pint of milk, three fourths pound butter, one

pound raisins, two teaspoonfuls soda, half a gill molasses, three

teaspoonfuls mace, one teaspoonful cloves, one of cinnamon, one of

allspice, one of nutmeg. Beat the yelks and whites of eggs separately,

and beat the cake well before baking.

=Cider Cake.=--Two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one and a

quarter-pound of sugar, one pound of raisins (stoned), five eggs,

two teaspoonfuls of soda (only even full), a teaspoonful of cloves,

cinnamon, and half a nutmeg, and one pint of cider. Put in the soda the

last thing.

=Snow-flake Cake.=--Half a cup of butter, two cups of sugar, four of

flour, one of sweet milk, three eggs well beaten, one table-spoonful

cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda; or, if you use prepared

flour, use no soda or cream of tartar. Bake the cake in shallow

jelly-cake pans; while baking, grate two fresh cocoa-nuts carefully,

and spread over each cake, as it comes from the oven, a thin frosting,

and then sprinkle thickly with the grated nut. Three layers of cake

make one cake. This receipt will make two loaves.

=Cocoa-nut Cake.=--One coffee-cup butter, two and a half sugar, four

and a half of flour, whites of nine eggs beaten stiff, half a cup of

milk, two cocoa-nuts grated, one small teaspoonful soda, two of cream

of tartar. Save out a saucer of grated cocoa-nut to sprinkle on the

frosting after the cake is baked.

=Macaroons.=--One pound of sugar, whites of three eggs, one

quarter-pound blanched and pounded almonds. Sprinkle sugar on paper and

drop in little round cakes.

=Delicate Cake.=--When making cocoa-nut custard (see Puddings, etc.),

use the whites of the eggs as follows: One cup white sugar, five

table-spoonfuls of butter, whites of six eggs, one teacup of sweet

milk, three cups of “prepared flour,” or to the same quantity of common

flour, add one small teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tartar

sifted in the flour. Flavor with orange, lemon, or vanilla.

=Sponge Cake= (very good).--Three eggs, one cup of sugar, one of flour,

three table-spoonfuls of water, and one teaspoonful of yeast powder;

flavor with lemon and nutmeg.

=Pineapple Cake.=--Make a cake as for jelly-cake; bake it in three

or four jelly-pans; grate a large ripe pineapple in one bowl and a

cocoa-nut in another. When the cakes are done, spread over one a

layer of pineapple, and over that a layer of cocoa-nut; then place

the second cake over this, and on that put another layer of pineapple

and cocoa-nut, and so on till the last; cover that with the pineapple

and grated cocoa-nut, and then beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff

meringue; lay it over the top, and place the cake in the oven just a

few minutes to stiffen.

=Molasses Cup Cake= (very good).--One cup each, sugar, molasses,

and milk, three cups flour, half a cup butter, three eggs, one

table-spoonful ginger, one small even teaspoonful of soda, half a

teaspoonful of salt. Pour the milk to the flour, beat butter and sugar

to a cream and add to it the salt and ginger, then the well-beaten

yelks of the eggs; beat the soda into the molasses, and when it foams

pour in with the rest, adding the whites of the eggs, beaten stiff, the

last thing.

=Loaf Cake.=--One and a half pints of well-raised sponge, two and a

half cups sugar, two thirds cup of butter, three eggs, yelks and whites

beaten separately, half a pound stoned raisins well rolled in flour to

prevent their sinking to the bottom, half-teaspoonful each cinnamon

and cloves, one nutmeg. Beat into the sponge a half-teaspoonful soda

before adding these ingredients, then stir all together thoroughly; let

it stand till quite light, then stir up from the bottom with a wooden

spoon to prevent raisins from settling, and bake slowly. If the sponge

is very thin, add a little more flour.

=Walnut Cake.=--One pound of flour, one of sugar, three quarters of a

pound of butter, one and a half pounds raisins stoned, the meats from

two quarts of walnuts, one nutmeg, half a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half

a cup of milk, one wineglassful of cider or wine, six eggs, whites and

yelks beaten separately, half a teaspoonful of soda. Pick over the

walnut-meats to see that no bits of shells remain; pour boiling water

over to take off the skin, drain and rub dry, then mix with raisins,

flour well, and stir into the batter. Bake in a quick oven, but not

scorching hot.

=Loaf Cake.=--Two cups of sugar, two of milk, two of flour, one of

yeast. Make into sponge overnight. In the morning rub together two cups

of sugar, one of butter, and four eggs. Flour to make quite stiff; one

nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves; if wished, one pound of fruit. Raise till

light, and bake in an even oven.

=Western Cake.=--Four cups of flour, two and a half of sugar, one of

butter, one of new milk, and five eggs, one teaspoonful of soda. Spice

to taste.

=Snowball Cake.=--One cup of sugar, half a cup of butter, half a cup

of sweet milk, two cups of flour, the whites of three eggs, half a

teaspoonful of soda, one spoonful of cream of tartar sifted with the

flour; beat butter and sugar thoroughly together; add the whites of

eggs beaten to a stiff foam; then the flour, and milk and soda the last.

=Molasses Cake.=--Half a cup of molasses, half cup sugar, half cup sour

milk, piece of butter size of an egg, one egg, two cups flour, spices,

and a few chopped raisins. Spice with a little ginger, cloves, and

cinnamon.

=Corn-Starch Cake.=--One cupful of butter, two of sugar; beat to

a white foam; add four eggs beaten quite stiff, one cupful of

corn-starch, one cupful of milk, two cupfuls of prepared flour, and

flavor with one teaspoonful of bitter almonds. If you have no prepared

flour, sift one teaspoonful of cream of tartar with the flour, and add

half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a teaspoonful of milk, the last

thing; beat thoroughly after the soda is added, and bake immediately.

=Moss Cake.=--Two cupfuls of sugar, half a cupful of butter, three

eggs, one cupful of milk, three cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of

cream of tartar sifted with the flour, and one teaspoonful of soda.

=Jenny Lind Cake.=--Half cup butter, one teacup of milk, two

table-spoonfuls cream, two cups sugar, three eggs, one teaspoonful

cream tartar, half-teaspoonful soda, and four cups flour. Any spice

that is palatable.

=Sugar Cookies.=--One cup butter, two cups sugar, three eggs, five

cups flour, two table-spoonfuls sour milk (or sweet milk, with two

teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar added), one small teaspoonful of soda;

spice to suit your taste. Bake quickly.

=Cookies.=--Two cups of sugar, one of butter, one of sweet milk, one

teaspoonful soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, just flour

enough to roll; rub butter and sugar into the dry flour, as if for

pastry, and then wet up, using no eggs; spice to suit the taste; cream

of tartar to be sifted in with the flour, soda added the last. Be

careful not to use too much flour, more can easily be added if not

stiff enough.

=Another Way.=--Three cups of flour, one cup of sugar a trifle heaped,

half cup of butter, one third cup half cream and half sweet milk, two

eggs, half-teaspoonful soda,--if you don’t use prepared flour; spice

with cinnamon. Work butter and sugar to a smooth white cream, then add

yelks of eggs, beat well, and then add milk and soda; whites beaten

stiff, added the last thing before the flour; make as thin as they can

be rolled, putting the hands to the dough as little as possible. Much

handling makes them hard and tough.

=Molasses Gingerbread.=--Half a cupful of sugar, half a cupful

molasses, half a cupful of milk, half a cupful of butter, three cupfuls

of flour, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, and half a teaspoonful of soda.

Beat the sugar, butter, and ginger together; then add the milk, then

the flour; beat the soda into the molasses, and as soon as it foams,

beat it in with the other ingredients. Better beat all together with

the hand. Bake it either in a shallow pan or in little cups. This is

very nice, if a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of cloves,

and a teacupful of stoned raisins are added, and the whole baked in a

loaf.

=Plain Gingerbread.=--One cupful of sugar, one of molasses, half a

cupful of butter, half a cupful of milk, one cupful of raisins or

currants, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, and one of yeast powder, with

flour enough to make it as stiff as cup cake.

=Excellent Ginger-Snaps.=--Boil together one pint molasses, one cup

butter, one table-spoonful of ginger. Let them only boil up once, then

set aside to cool. When cold, roll two small teaspoonfuls of soda

perfectly smooth, and beat into the molasses; while foaming pour it

upon just as little flour as will make it possible to roll out very

thin. Bake quick.

In measuring by spoonfuls, be careful that the spoon is _even_ full,

not _heaped_. Careless measurement spoils many good dishes.

PIES, PUDDINGS, AND DESSERTS.

=Pastry.=--One quart flour, half-pound butter; mix half the flour

with ice-cold water, stiff enough to roll; put it on a well-floured

paste-board, sprinkle flour over and roll half an inch thick. Divide

the butter into three parts; shave one of the three portions quite thin

and put it lightly over the paste, shake one third of the dry flour

over it, fold the four ends inward, then double the sheet together and

beat it with the rolling-pin till it is about half an inch thick; shave

a second portion of the butter and put on the paste, flour, fold up

and beat out as at first. Repeat this process for the third and last

time, using up all the butter and flour, and put the paste on the ice

for a half-hour. Then cut off a piece large enough to cover a plate,

roll out,--always rolling from you,--and handle as little as possible;

cover the plate, trim it by passing the knife round the plate, cutting

_upwards_. (This should be borne in mind with all pastry. If cut round

the edge of the plate _upwards_, it will be light; if _downwards_, it

will cling to the plate and be heavy.) Cut a strip an inch wide and lay

round the edge, fill in the fruit or whatever the contents are to be,

and if it is to have an upper crust roll out, put it on and trim as

above directed. Prick the top to let out steam and prevent the waste of

the juice.

=Puff Paste.=--Half a pound of butter, half a pound of lard, one and a

quarter pounds of flour; wet half the flour to a paste; mix the other

half with the shortening, chopping it fine, but do not use your hand;

stir together with a silver or wooden spoon. Roll the paste out on the

board about a quarter of an inch thick, and add one third of the mixed

flour and shortening; fold the four ends over it, and beat out with the

rolling-pin till again a quarter of an inch thick; spread over it one

third more of the shortening; fold over the ends; beat out thin again;

add the remainder of the shortening; beat, roll out, and use.

=Potato Pastry for Meat Pies.=--Six good-sized potatoes, boiled and

mashed mealy and white, one teacup of sweet cream, a teaspoonful of

salt, and flour enough to make it stay together and roll out. Work and

handle as little as possible, and roll thicker than common pastry.

=Pumpkin Pies.=--Cut the pumpkin into small pieces; take out the seeds

and inside, but do not pare it. It must be a well-grown and thoroughly

ripened pumpkin, and not watery. Put the pieces in a saucepan, with

only a few spoonfuls of water, not more than four; cover close and

let it cook gently, so as not to scorch, until the water has all

evaporated, and the pumpkin has cooked quite dry and of a rich, dark

orange color. While hot sift it through a coarse sieve. Season only as

much as you are needing for the day. For one large pie, one egg, one

table-spoonful of molasses, four table-spoonfuls of condensed milk, and

enough of new milk to make it as thin as you wish, or if you have it,

half milk and half cream, instead of condensed milk; sugar and spice

to suit the taste. Ginger and cinnamon are very nice. Bake to a clear,

rich brown, but do not blister or scorch.

=Dried-Apple Pies.=--Wash the apples in several waters, then put them

into an earthen dish or stone pot, and pour on rather more water than

will cover them; for if the apples are good, they will absorb a good

deal of water and become twice as large by soaking. Never soak or cook

fruit in tin or iron. A few hours should soak the apples sufficiently

for cooking. If soaked overnight they become insipid. Put them into

an earthen pipkin or porcelain kettle and cook in the water they are

soaked in. If you like it, cut up a little dried orange or lemon peel

and stew with the apples. Some use dried plums with apples, but they

make it too sharp for our taste. Let them cook slowly, till very

tender. When they rise up in the kettle, _press_ them down gently, but

never _stir_ them. When perfectly tender, before taking from the fire,

stir in a little butter--about one table-spoonful to a quart of cooked

apples--and sugar to suit your taste. Season with very little nutmeg

and cinnamon, if you do not use the orange or lemon peel,--nothing

else is needed if you do. Bake with an upper and under crust, but

do not make the pie very thick with apples. Half an inch deep is

sufficient.

Dried plums and peaches may be prepared in the same way, but require no

spice.

=Pies of Canned Fruit.=--Canned pears, peaches, and quinces usually

will bear scalding in their own liquor before putting them in the

pie-plate. When tender, skim out and lay on a dish to cool. Then add to

the liquor enough sugar to make a syrup, more or less rich, according

to the taste of those who are to eat them. When both fruit and liquor

are cold, if the pears, peaches, or quinces are in halves, cut them in

slices a quarter of an inch thick, and lay into the pie-plate; pour

over as much of the syrup as it will hold, having first put on the

under crust and laid an edge of crust around it. Fill the plate not

quite an inch thick. This is more economical, and, to our taste, much

nicer than to use the fruit in large pieces. Cut a few small bits of

butter (half a table-spoonful in all) and lay the spice over; put on

the upper crust and bake a rich brown, but be careful not to scorch the

crust, as a little scorch spoils the best of pastry.

Plums must not be scalded before baking, as they come to pieces very

easily, but prepare the liquor in which they are canned the same as for

pears, peaches, and quinces.

=Mince Pie.=--Put a large-sized tongue into boiling water, with a

little salt and pepper. A fresh tongue is better than one smoked and

dried. Boil slowly till tender, then take out and dip for a minute in

cold water; then peel it, beginning at the tip, as it peels easier.

Cut off all the gristly parts and chop fine. Pare and chop enough of

the best flavored sour apples to fill a three-pint bowl when chopped.

The finer the meat and apples are chopped the better the pies will be.

Pick over and rub clean one pound Sultana, or stoneless raisins, one

pound Malaga, or bloom raisins, stoned and chopped, and one pound whole

raisins. Slice thin half a pound citron and half a pound candied orange

peel; chop and pick clean from skinny pieces three quarters of a pound

of suet; add a table-spoonful salt, five grated nutmegs, one and a half

table-spoonfuls ground cloves, the same of cinnamon, a pound of sugar,

half a pint maple syrup, one pint cider, one of Madeira wine, one of

brandy. Syrups from preserves, or small portions of jelly of any kind

left over, and not sufficient to be put on the table again, are a great

improvement to mince-meat for pies, beside finding an economical way of

use. Put all these ingredients into a porcelain kettle, and set over

the range to scald, not boil, one hour, stirring all the time; then

pack in a stone jar and cover closely, ready for use.

=Rice Pie.=--Take cold rice, cooked with milk, add sufficient cream

to make quite thin, mash it with a wooden or silver spoon till

free from lumps. Beat up four eggs very light,--yelks and whites

separately,--sweeten the rice to suit your taste, and pour in the

egg,--the whites last; stir well, grate a little nutmeg over all; cover

a deep custard or pumpkin pie-plate with pastry, pour in the rice, and

bake, but not long enough to make the custard watery.

=Apple Puffs.=--Peel and core as many sour apples as will be needed,

simmer with a little water till tender, then add a half-pound of sugar

to a pound of apples, let it simmer till the apples become a kind of

marmalade; take it up, and when cold put it into puff paste and bake

quickly; when done ice it, return to the oven just long enough to turn

the icing golden.

=Marlborough Pie.=--One cup stewed apples, sifted; one cup sugar,

one cup cream or milk; one fourth cup butter if cream is used, if

milk, one third; half a gill wine, three well-beaten eggs, whites

whisked separately, and a little nutmeg; beat sugar, butter, and apple

together, then add the wine, then milk or cream, nutmeg and yelks,

adding the whites the last thing. No upper crust.

=Chess Pie.=--Four eggs, two cups sugar, one of cream, two thirds of

a cup butter, one table-spoonful flour; flavor with nutmeg. When a

delicate brown, try with a spoon as for a custard.

=English Christmas Plum Pudding.=--One pound of clean, dry currants,

half a pound of the best raisins, stoned; mix these with one pound of

bread crumbs, half a pound of fine flour, and one pound and a half of

finely shred suet; add a quarter of a pound of sifted sugar, one grated

nutmeg, a drachm of cinnamon, two drachms of cloves, half a dozen

almonds, pounded, and an ounce each of candied orange and lemon, sliced

thin; mix all these materials thoroughly together in a bowl, with a

glass of brandy and one of sherry, then beat six eggs very light, and

slowly stir them in till all is well blended; cover the bowl, and let

this mixture stand for twelve hours; then pour it into a pudding-bag,

and tie it not very tight, leaving room for it to swell; or fill a

pudding-mold not quite two thirds full, lay a clean cloth over the

top, and shut the cover over tightly to exclude all water; put the bag

or mold into boiling water; keep it covered, and keep it boiling all

the time, for six hours. Serve with sugar sifted over, and wine sauce.

Brandy is usually sent in with a Christmas pudding, to be poured over

the whole pudding, or over each slice, then lighted, and served while

burning.

=A Family Christmas Pudding.=--Beat up four eggs very light (which

always means yelks and whites beaten separately); add to the yelks,

after beating, a quarter of a teaspoonful each of ginger, nutmeg,

grated lemon peel, and salt; four ounces of sugar, half a pound of

well-cleaned and dried currants, one pound of flour, half a pound of

well-shred and chopped suet; beat this all up thoroughly, adding the

whites of the eggs last. Wine or brandy, or both, may be added, if one

has no scruples about using them in cooking; but the pudding will be

good without this addition. Tie it in a cloth or pudding-bag, or put it

into a mold, and boil six hours. Serve with any good sauce.

In boiling puddings of all kinds, the cloth should be dipped in hot

water before the batter is put in, or the mold be well buttered. Any

of these Christmas puddings may be kept for a month after boiling,

if the cloth in which they are boiled be replaced by a clean one,

and the pudding be hung up to the ceiling of a kitchen, or in a warm

store-room. When wanted, they will require one hour’s boiling to heat

them through, as all such puddings should be sent to the table hot.

=A Simple Christmas Pudding.=--Six ounces of finely chopped suet,

six ounces of Malaga raisins, stoned and chopped; eight ounces of

well-cleaned and dried currants, three ounces of fine bread crumbs,

three ounces of flour, three well-beaten eggs, the sixth part of a

nutmeg, grated; half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, and mace;

four ounces of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a pint of milk;

one ounce of candied orange or lemon peel, and the same of citron, all

sliced thin. Beat all together thoroughly; pour into a pudding-bag or

mold; put into boiling water, and keep it boiling six hours. Serve with

sauce to suit your taste.

=Bread Pudding.=--One quart fine bread crumbs, one cup of sugar,

two table-spoonfuls of molasses, half-pound suet chopped fine, one

coffee-cup raisins, half a rind of preserved orange peel or citron cut

thin and fine, a very little nutmeg and cinnamon, two teaspoonfuls

cream of tartar, one small teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful of salt.

Stir in milk enough to make it thick as pound-cake, beating all

thoroughly together; put it into a buttered pudding-mold, and boil

three hours. Be careful to keep the water boiling all the time.

=Boiled Indian Pudding.=--Two cupfuls of sour milk, two spoonfuls of

molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, one of salt, half a cupful of sifted

flour, mixed with enough corn meal to make a batter not very stiff;

half a cupful of chopped suet, from which all the stringy substance

has been removed; a cup and a half of chopped sweet apples, or

huckleberries, dried or fresh, as you have on hand. Boil from two and a

half to three hours.

=Baked Indian Pudding.=--Boil one quart of milk, and pour over a pint

of sifted Indian meal; stir it well till the meal is thoroughly wet

and scalded. Mix three table-spoonfuls of wheat flour with one pint of

milk, and beat to a smooth batter, entirely free from lumps; then pour

it in with the Indian batter, and beat well together. When the whole

is lukewarm, beat three eggs and three table-spoonfuls of sugar, and

mix with the batter, together with two table-spoonfuls of molasses; add

two teaspoonfuls of salt, two of nutmeg, cinnamon, or ginger, as you

prefer; two great spoonfuls of suet chopped fine, or the same of melted

butter; let it bake a few minutes, and then add half a pound of raisins

and half a pint of milk, which the raisins will soak up. Bake till the

pudding is of a rich color, but do not let it whey.

=Palmyra, or Date Pudding.=--One pound of fresh dates, chopped fine

and free from stones; one pound of suet, chopped fine; a quarter of a

pound of moist sugar, and a pound of flour. Mix all well together; add

a little salt and nutmeg, and make into a soft dough with milk. Beat

three eggs very stiff, yelks and whites separately, and add the last

thing. Boil in a pudding-dish three hours, or bake slowly two hours.

Eat with liquid sauce.

=Sponge-Cake Pudding.=--Make a batter as for good sponge-cake. Bake on

a flat, square pan, so as to be an inch thick, when done. When cold,

cut it into pieces about three inches square; slice and butter them,

and lay each slice together as it was before you split it. Make a

custard with four eggs and a quart of new milk, flavor and sweeten as

you like it. Almond in the cake, and lemon or vanilla in the custard,

are very good. Put the buttered slices of cake in a baking-dish, so

that when the custard is poured over them, the dish will be full. Bake

half an hour; eat with or without sauce as you prefer.

=Steamed Pudding.=--Two eggs, two teacupfuls of sour milk, one

teaspoonful of soda, a little salt, flour enough to make it quite

thick, or it will be heavy. Beat this smooth. Add cherries,

raspberries, currants, or any _dried_ fruit you may have. Steam two

hours, taking care that the water is kept over the pudding or bag all

the time, and that it does not stop boiling. Eat with cream and sugar,

hard sauce, or any liquid sauce you may prefer.

=An Excellent Pudding.=--One cup of sugar, one cup of milk, three

eggs, beaten stiff; one table-spoonful of butter, a little clove and

cinnamon, about half a teaspoonful of each; one cup of raisins, stoned;

half a teaspoonful of salt, and three cups of prepared flour. Bake

quick. Eat with liquid or hard sauce, according to taste. We think this

would also be excellent steamed or boiled.

=Apple and Tapioca Pudding.=--Put a teacup of tapioca into a pint and

a half of cold water overnight. Before breakfast the next morning set

it where it will become quite warm, but not hot enough to cook. After

breakfast pare six good-sized sour apples, or eight if not very large;

quarter them and _steam_ them in a dish till tender. Lay them into the

pudding-dish, stir a cup and a half of sugar into the soaked tapioca,

add a teacup of water and an even teaspoonful of salt, stir together

and pour over the apple, slice a lemon very thin and lay over the top,

bake slowly three hours; eat with butter, with wine sauce, or hard

sauce, as you prefer.