as they chiefly support themselves on commons or in lanes, where they
can get at water. The largest are esteemed the best, as also are the
white and the grey: the pied and dark coloured are not so good. Thirty
days are generally the time that the goose sets, but in warm weather she
will sometimes hatch sooner. Give them plenty of food, such as scalded
bran and light oats. As soon as the goslings are hatched, keep them
housed for eight or ten days, and feed them with barley meal, bran, and
curds. Green geese should begin to fatten at six or seven weeks old, and
be fed as above. Stubble geese require no fattening, if they have the
run of good fields and pasture.--If geese are bought at market, for the
purpose of cooking, be careful to see that they are fresh and young. If
fresh, the feet will be pliable: if stale, dry and stiff. The bill and
feet of a young one will be yellow, and there will be but few hairs upon
them: if old, they will be red. Green geese, not more than three or four
months old, should be scalded: a stubble goose should be picked dry.
GEORGE PUDDING. Boil very tender a handful of whole rice in a small
quantity of milk, with a large piece of lemon peel. Let it drain; then
mix with it a dozen apples, boiled to a pulp as dry as possible. Add a
glass of white wine, the yolks of five eggs, two ounces of orange and
citron cut thin, and sweeten it with sugar. Line a mould or bason with a
very good paste, beat the five whites of the eggs to a very strong
froth, and mix it with the other ingredients. Fill the mould, and bake
it of a fine brown colour. Serve it bottom upwards with the following
sauce: two glasses of wine, a spoonful of sugar, the yolks of two eggs,
and a piece of sugar the size of a walnut. Simmer without boiling, and
pour to and from the saucepan till the sauce is of a proper thickness,
and then put it in the dish.
GERMAN PUDDINGS. Melt three ounces of butter in a pint of cream, and let
it stand till nearly cold. Then mix two ounces of fine flour, and two
ounces of sugar, four yolks and two whites of eggs, and a little rose or
orange flower water. Bake in little buttered cups half an hour. They
should be served the moment they are done, and only when going to be
eaten, or they will not be light. Turn the puffs out of the cups, and
serve with white wine and sugar.
GERMAN PUFFS. Mix together two ounces of blanched almonds well beaten, a
spoonful of rose water, one white and two yolks of eggs, a spoonful of
flour, half a pint of cream, two ounces of butter, and sugar to taste.
Butter some cups, half fill them, and put them in the oven. Serve with
white wine sauce, butter, and sugar. This is esteemed a good middle dish
for dinner or supper.
GIBLETS. Let the giblets be picked clean and washed, the feet skinned,
the bill cut off, the head split in two, the pinion bones broken, the
liver and gizzard cut in four, and the neck in two pieces. Put them into
a pint of water, with pepper and salt, an onion, and sweet herbs. Cover
the saucepan close, and stew them on a slow fire till they are quite
tender. Take out the onion and herbs, and put them into a dish with the
liquor.
GIBLET PIE. Clean and skin the giblets very carefully, stew them with a
small quantity of water, onion, black pepper, and a bunch of sweet
herbs, till nearly done. Let them grow cold: and if not enough to fill
the dish, lay at the bottom two or three slices of veal, beef, or
mutton. Add the liquor of the stew; and when the pie is baked, pour into
it a large teacupful of cream. Sliced apples added to the pie are a
great improvement. Duck giblets will do; but goose giblets are much to
be preferred.
GIBLET SOUP. Scald and clean three or four sets of goose or duck
giblets, and stew them slowly with a pound or two of gravy beef, scrag
of mutton, or the bone of a knuckle of veal, an ox tail, or some shanks
of mutton. Add a large bunch of sweet herbs, a tea-spoonful of white
pepper, a large spoonful of salt, and three onions. Put in five pints of
water, cut each of the gizzards into four pieces, and simmer till they
become quite tender. Skin the stew carefully, add a quarter of a pint of
cream, two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom powder, and an ounce of butter
mixed with a dessert-spoonful of flour. Let it boil a few minutes, then
put it into a tureen, add a little salt, and serve up the soup with the
giblets. Instead of cream, it may be seasoned with a large spoonful of
ketchup, some cayenne, and two glasses of sherry.
GILDED FRAMES. These valuable articles cannot be preserved from fly
stains, without covering them with strips of paper, and suffering them
to remain till the flies are gone. Previous to this, the light dust
should be blown from the gilding, and a feather or a clean brush lightly
passed over it. Linen takes off the gilding, and deadens its brightness;
it should therefore never be used for wiping it. Some means should be
used to destroy the flies, as they injure furniture of every kind, and
the paper likewise. Bottles hung about with sugar and vinegar, or beer,
will attract them; or fly water, put into little shells placed about the
room, but out of the reach of children.
GILLIFLOWER WINE. To three gallons of water put six pounds of the best
raw sugar; boil the sugar and water together for the space of half an
hour, and keep skimming it as the scum rises. Let it stand to cool, beat
up three ounces of syrup of betony with a large spoonful of ale yeast,
and put it into the liquor. Prepare a peck of gilliflowers, cut from the
stalks, and put them in to infuse and work together for three days, the
whole being covered with a cloth. Strain it, and put it into a cask; let
it settle for three or four weeks, and then bottle it.
GINGER BEER. To every gallon of spring water add one ounce of sliced
white ginger, one pound of lump sugar, and two ounces of lemon juice.
Boil the mixture nearly an hour, and take off the scum; then run it
through a hair sieve into a tub, and when cool, add yeast in the
proportion of half a pint to nine gallons. Keep it in a temperate
situation two days, during which it may be stirred six or eight times.
Then put it into a cask, which must be kept full, and the yeast taken
off at the bunghole with a spoon. In a fortnight, add half a pint of
fining to nine gallons of the liquor, which will clear it by ascent, if
it has been properly fermented. The cask must still be kept full, and
the rising particles taken off at the bunghole. When fine, which may be
expected in twenty-four hours, bottle and cork it well; and in summer it
will be ripe and fit to drink in a fortnight.
GINGER DROPS. Beat two ounces of fresh candied orange in a mortar, with
a little sugar, till reduced to a paste. Then mix an ounce of the powder
of white ginger, with a pound of loaf sugar. Wet the sugar with a little
water, and boil all together to a candy, and drop it on white paper the
size of mint drops. These make an excellent stomachic.
GINGER WINE. To seven gallons of water put nineteen pounds of moist
sugar, and boil it for half an hour, taking off the scum as it rises.
Then take a small quantity of the liquor, and add to it nine ounces of
the best ginger bruised. Put it all together, and when nearly cold, chop
nine pounds of raisins very small, and put them into a nine gallon cask,
with one ounce of isinglass. Slice four lemons into the cask, taking out
all the seeds, and pour the liquor over them, with half a pint of fresh
yeast. Leave it unstopped for three weeks, and in about three months it
will be fit for bottling. There will be one gallon of the sugar and
water more than the cask will hold at first: this must be kept to fill
up as the liquor works off, as it is necessary that the cask should be
kept full, til it has done working. The raisins should be two thirds
Malaga, and one third Muscadel. Spring and autumn are the best seasons
for making this wine.--Another. Boil nine quarts of water with six
pounds of lump sugar, the rinds of two or three lemons very thinly
pared, and two ounces of bruised white ginger. Let it boil half an hour,
and skim it well. Put three quarters of a pound of raisins into the
cask; and when the liquor is lukewarm, turn it, adding the juice of two
lemons strained, with a spoonful and a half of yeast. Stir it daily,
then put in half a pint of brandy, and half an ounce of isinglass
shavings. Stop it up, and bottle it in six or seven weeks. The lemon
peel is not to be put into the barrel.
GINGERBREAD. Mix with two pounds of flour, half a pound of treacle, and
half a pound of butter, adding an ounce of ginger finely powdered and
sifted, and three quarters of an ounce of caraway seeds. Having worked
it very much, set it to rise before the fire. Then roll out the paste,
cut it into any shape, and bake it on tins. If to be made into
sweetmeats, add some candied orange-peel, shred into small
pieces.--Another sort. To three quarters of a pound of treacle, put one
egg beaten and strained. Mix together four ounces of brown sugar, half
an ounce of sifted ginger, and a quarter of an ounce each of cloves,
mace, allspice, and nutmeg, beaten as fine as possible; also a quarter
of an ounce of coriander and caraway seeds. Melt a pound of butter, and
mix with the above, adding as much flour as will knead it into a pretty
stiff paste. Roll it out, cut it into cakes, bake them on tin plates in
a quick oven, and a little time will do them. Gingerbread buttons or
drops may be made of a part of the paste.--A plain sort of gingerbread
may be prepared as follows. Mix three pounds of flour with half a pound
of butter, four ounces of brown sugar, and half an ounce of pounded
ginger. Make it into a paste, with a pound and a quarter of warm
treacle. Or make the gingerbread without butter, by mixing two pounds of
treacle with the following ingredients. Four ounces each of orange,
lemon, citron, and candied ginger, all thinly sliced; one ounce each of
coriander seeds, caraways, and pounded ginger, adding as much flour as
will make it into a soft paste. Lay it in cakes on tin plates, and bake
it in a quick oven. Keep it dry in a covered earthen vessel, and the
gingerbread will be good for some months. If cakes or biscuits be kept
in paper, or a drawer, the taste will be disagreeable. A tureen, or a
pan and cover, will preserve them long and moist; or if intended to be
crisp, laying them before the fire, or keeping them in a dry canister,
will make them so.
GINGERBREAD NUTS. Carefully melt half a pound of butter, and stir it up
in two pounds of treacle. Add an ounce of pounded ginger, two ounces of
preserved lemon and orange peel, two ounces of preserved angelica cut
small, one of coriander seed pounded, and the same of caraway whole. Mix
them together, with two eggs, and as much flour as will bring it to a
fine paste. Make it into nuts, put them on a tin plate, and bake them in
a quick oven.
GLASS. Broken glass may be mended with the same cement as china, or if
it be only cracked, it will be sufficient to moisten the part with the
white of an egg, strewing it over with a little powdered lime, and
instantly applying a piece of fine linen. Another cement for glass is
prepared from two parts of litharge, one of quick lime, and one of flint
glass, each separately and finely powdered, and the whole worked up into
a paste with drying oil. This compound is very durable, and acquires a
greater degree of hardness when immersed in water.
GLASSES. These frail and expensive articles may be rendered less
brittle, and better able to bear sudden changes of temperature, by first
plunging them into cold water, then gradually heating the water till it
boils, and suffering it to cool in the open air. Glasses of every
description, used for the table, will afterwards bear boiling water
suddenly poured into them, without breaking. When they have been
tarnished by age or accident, their lustre may be restored by strewing
on them some fuller's earth, carefully powdered and cleared of sand and
dirt, and then rubbing them gently with a linen cloth, or a little
putty.
GLOVES. Leather gloves may be repaired, cleaned, and dyed of a fine
yellow, by steeping a little saffron in boiling water for about twelve
hours; and having lightly sewed up the tops of the gloves, to prevent
the dye from staining the insides, wet them over with a sponge or soft
brush dipped in the liquid. A teacupful will be sufficient for a single
pair.
GLOUCESTER CHEESE. This article is made of milk immediately from the
cow; and if it be too hot in the summer, a little skim milk or water is
added to it, before the rennet is put in. As soon as the curd is come it
is broken small, and cleared of the whey. The curd is set in the press
for about a quarter of an hour, in order to extract the remainder of the
liquid. It is then put into the cheese tub again, broken small, and
scalded with water mixed with a little whey. When the curd is settled,
the liquor is poured off; the curd is put into a vat, and worked up with
a little salt when about half full. The vat is then filled up, and the
whole is turned two or three times in it, the edges being pared, and the
middle rounded up at each turning. At length, the curd being put into a
cloth, it is placed in the press, then laid on the shelves, and turned
every day till it becomes sufficiently firm to bear washing.
GLOUCESTER JELLY. Take rice, sago, pearl barley, hartshorn shavings, and
eringo root, each one ounce. Simmer with three pints of water till
reduced to one, and then strain it. When cold it will be a jelly; of
which give, dissolved in wine, milk, or broth, in change with other
nourishment.
GNATS. The stings of these troublesome insects are generally attended
with a painful swelling. One of the most effectual remedies consists of
an equal mixture of turpentine and sweet oil, which should immediately
be applied to the wounded part, and it will afford relief in a little
time. Olive oil alone, unsalted butter, or fresh lard, if rubbed on
without delay, will also be found to answer the same purpose. They may
be destroyed by fumigation, the same as for flies.
GOLD. To clean gold, and restore its lustre, dissolve a little sal
ammoniac in common wine. Boil the gold in it, and it will soon recover
its brilliance. To clean gold or silver lace, sew it up in a linen
cloth, and boil it with two ounces of soap in a pint of water:
afterwards wash the lace in clear water. When the lace happens to be
tarnished, the best liquor for restoring its lustre is spirits of wine,
which should be warmed before it is applied. This application will also
preserve the colour of silk or embroidery.
GOLD RINGS. If a ring sticks tight on the finger, and cannot easily be
removed, touch it with mercury, and it will become so brittle that a
slight blow will break it.
GOOSE FEATHERS. These being deemed particularly valuable, the birds in
some counties are plucked four or five times in a year. The first
operation is performed in the spring for feathers and quills, and is
repeated for feathers only, between that period and Michaelmas. Though
the plucking of geese appears to be a barbarous custom, yet experience
has proved, that if carefully done, the birds thrive better, and are
more healthy, when stripped of their feathers, than if they were left
to drop them by moulting. Geese intended for breeding in farm yards, and
which are called old geese, may be plucked three times a year, at an
interval of seven weeks, but not oftener. Every one should be thirteen
or fourteen weeks old before they are subject to this operation, or they
are liable to perish in cold summers; and if intended for the table,
they would become poor and lose their quality, were they stripped of
their feathers at an earlier period.
GOOSE PIE. Quarter a goose, season it well, put it in a baking dish, and
lay pieces of butter over it. Put on a raised crust, and bake it in a
moderate oven. To make a richer pie, forcemeat may be added, and slices
of tongue. Duck pie is made in the same manner.
GOOSE SAUCE. Put into melted butter a spoonful of sorrel juice, a little
sugar, and some scalded gooseberries. Pour it into boats, and send it
hot to table.
GOOSEBERRY FOOL. Put the fruit into a stone jar, with some good Lisbon
sugar. Set the jar on a stove, or in a saucepan of water over the fire:
if the former, a large spoonful of water should be added to the fruit.
When it is done enough to pulp, press it through a cullender. Have ready
a sufficient quantity of new milk, and a tea-cupful of raw cream, boiled
together, or an egg instead of the latter. When cold, sweeten it pretty
well with fine Lisbon sugar, and mix the pulp with it by degrees.
GOOSEBERRY HOPS. Gather the largest green gooseberries of the walnut
kind, and slit the tops into four quarters, leaving the stalk end whole.
Pick out the seeds, and with a strong needle and thread fasten five or
six together, by running the thread through the bottoms, till they are
of the size of a hop. Lay vine leaves at the bottom of a tin
preserving-pan, cover them with the hops, then a layer of leaves, and so
on: lay a good many on the top, and fill the pan with water. Stop it
down so close that no steam can escape, set it by a slow fire till
scalding hot, and then take it off to cool. Repeat the operation till
the gooseberries, on being opened, are found to be of a good green. Then
drain them on sieves, and make a thin syrup of a pound of sugar to a
pint of water, well boiled and skimmed. When the syrup is half cold, put
in the fruit; give it a boil up, and repeat it thrice. Gooseberry hops
look well and eat best dried, and in this case they may be set to dry in
a week. But if to be kept moist, make a syrup in the above proportions,
adding a slice of ginger in the boiling. When skimmed and clear, give
the gooseberries one boil, and pour the syrup cold over them. If found
too sour, a little sugar may be added, before the hops that are for
drying receive their last boil. The extra syrup will serve for pies, or
go towards other sweetmeats.
GOOSEBERRY JAM. Gather some ripe gooseberries, of the clear white or
green sort, pick them clean and weigh them. Allow three quarters of a
pound of lump sugar to a pound of fruit, and half a pint of water. Boil
and skim the sugar and water, then put in the fruit, and boil it gently
till it is quite clear. Break the gooseberries into jam, and put into
small pots.--Another. Gather some ripe gooseberries in dry weather, of
the red hairy sort, and pick off the heads and tails. Put twelve pounds
of them into a preserving pan, with a pint of currant juice, drawn as
for jelly. Boil them pretty quick, and beat them with a spoon; when they
begin to break, add six pounds of white Lisbon sugar, and simmer them
slowly to a jam. They require long boiling, or they will not keep; but
they make an excellent jam for tarts and puffs. When the jam is put
into jars, examine it after two or three days; and if the syrup and
fruit separate, the whole must be boiled again. In making white
gooseberry jam, clarified sugar should be used; and in all cases great
care must be taken to prevent the fruit from burning to the bottom of
the pan.
GOOSEBERRY PUDDING. Stew some gooseberries in a jar over a hot hearth,
or in a saucepan of water, till reduced to a pulp. Take a pint of the
juice pressed through a coarse sieve, and mix it with three eggs beaten
and strained. Add an ounce and a half of butter, sweeten it well, put a
crust round the dish, and bake it. A few crumbs of roll should be mixed
with the above to give it a little consistence, or four ounces of Naples
biscuits.
GOOSEBERRY TRIFLE. Scald as much fruit as when pulped through a sieve,
will cover the bottom of a dish intended to be used. Mix with it the
rind of half a lemon grated fine, sweetened with sugar. Put any quantity
of common custard over it, and a whip on the top, as for other trifles.
GOOSEBERRY VINEGAR. Boil some spring water; and when cold, put to every
three quarts, a quart of bruised gooseberries in a large tub. Let them
remain two or three days, stirring often; then strain through a hair
bag, and to each gallon of liquor add a pound of the coarsest sugar. Put
it into a barrel, with yeast spread upon a toast, and cover the bung
hole with a piece of slate. The greater the quantity of sugar and fruit,
the stronger the vinegar.
GOOSEBERRY WINE. When the weather is dry, gather gooseberries about the
time they are half ripe. Pick them clean as much as a peck into a
convenient vessel, and bruise them with a piece of wood, taking as much
care as possible to keep the seeds whole. Now having put the pulp into
a canvas bag, press out all the juice; and to every gallon of the
gooseberries, add about three pounds of fine loaf sugar. Mix the whole
together by stirring it with a stick, and as soon as the sugar is quite
dissolved, pour it into a cask which will exactly hold it. If the
quantity be about eight or nine gallons, let it stand a fortnight: if
twenty gallons, forty days, and so on in proportion. Set it in a cool
place; and after standing the proper time, draw it off from the lees.
Put it into another clean vessel of equal size, or into the same, after
pouring out the lees and making it clean. Let a cask of ten or twelve
gallons stand for about three months, and twenty gallons for five
months, after which it will be fit for bottling off.
GOOSEBERRIES PRESERVED. Gather some dry gooseberries of the hairy sort,
before the seeds become large, and take care not to cut them in taking
off the stalks and buds. If gathered in the damp, or the gooseberry
skins are the least broken in the preparation, the fruit will mould.
Fill some jars or wide-mouthed bottles, put the corks loosely in, and
set the bottles up to the neck in a kettle of water. When the fruit
looks scalded, take them out; and when perfectly cold, cork them down
close, and rosin the top. Dig a trench sufficiently deep to receive all
the bottles, and cover them with the earth a foot and a half. When a
frost comes on, a little fresh litter from the stable will prevent the
ground from hardening, so that the fruit may more easily be dug
up.--Green gooseberries may also be preserved for winter use, without
bedding them in the earth. Scald them as above, and when cold, fill the
bottles up with cold water. Cork and rosin them down, and keep them in a
dry place.--Another way. Having prepared the gooseberries as above,
prepare a kettle of boiling water, and put into it as much roche alum
as will harden the water, or give it a little roughness when dissolved:
but if there be too much it will spoil the fruit. Cover the bottom of a
large sieve with gooseberries, without laying one upon another; and hold
the sieve in the water till the fruit begins to look scalded on the
outside. Turn them gently out of the sieve on a cloth on the dresser,
cover them with another cloth, putting some more to be scalded, till the
whole are finished. Observe not to put one quantity upon another, or
they will become too soft. The next day pick out any bad or broken ones,
bottle the rest, and fill up the bottles with the alum water in which
they were scalded. If the water be left in the kettle, or in a glazed
pan, it will spoil; it must therefore be quickly put into the bottles.
Gooseberries prepared in this way, and stopped down close, will make as
fine tarts as when fresh from the trees.--Another way. In dry weather
pick some full grown but unripe gooseberries, top and tail them, and put
them into wide-mouthed bottles. Stop them lightly with new velvet corks,
put them into the oven after the bread is drawn, and let them stand till
they are shrunk one fourth. Take them out of the oven, fasten the corks
in tight, cut off the tops, and rosin them down close. Set them in a dry
place; and if well secured from the air, they will keep the year round.
Currants and damsons may be preserved in the same way.
GOOSEGRASS OINTMENT. Melt some hog's lard, add as much clivers or
goosegrass as the lard will moisten, and boil them together over a slow
fire. Keep the mixture stirring till it becomes a little brown, and then
strain it through a cloth. When cold, take the ointment from the water,
and put it up in gallipots.
GOUT. Gouty patients are required to abstain from all fermented and
spirituous liquors, and to use wine very moderately; carefully to avoid
all fat, rancid, and salted provisions, and high seasoned dishes of
every description. The constant use of barley bread is recommended, with
large doses of powdered ginger boiled in milk for breakfast. Absorbent
powders of two scruples of magnesia, and three or four grains each of
rhubarb and purified kali, should be taken during the intervals of gouty
fits, and repeated every other morning for several weeks. The feet
should be kept warm, sinapisms frequently applied to them, and the part
affected should be covered with flannel.