GOOSEBERRY CHAMPAGNE.--Take large, fine gooseberries, that are
full-grown, but not yet beginning to turn red; and pick off their tops
and tails. Then weigh the fruit, and allow a gallon of clear, soft water
to every three pounds of gooseberries. Put them into a large, clean tub;
pour on a little of the water; pound and mash them, thoroughly, with a
wooden beetle; add the remainder of the water, and give the whole a hard
stirring. Cover the tub with a cloth, and let it stand four days;
stirring it frequently and thoroughly, to the bottom. Then strain the
liquid, through a coarse linen cloth, into another vessel; and to each
gallon of liquid add four pounds of fine loaf-sugar; and to every five
gallons a quart of the best and clearest French brandy. Mix the whole
well together; and put it into a clean cask, that will just hold it, as
it should be filled full. Place the cask on its side, in a cool, dry
part of the cellar; and lay the bung loosely on the top. Secure the cask
firmly in its place, so that it cannot, by any chance, be shaken or
moved; as the least disturbance will injure the wine. Let it work for a
fortnight, or more; till the fermentation is quite over, and the hissing
has ceased. Then bottle it; driving in the corks tightly. Lay the
bottles on their sides. In six months, it will be fit for drinking, and
will be found as brisk as real champagne.
GREEN CURRANT WINE.--The currants must be full-grown, but not yet
beginning to redden. Strip them from the stems; weigh them; and to every
three pounds allow a gallon of soft water. Mash them well, and proceed
exactly as in the receipt for gooseberry champagne; except that you may
use the best light-coloured brown sugar, instead of loaf. Instead of
bottling it, as soon as it has done fermenting, you may, whenever the
hissing is over, put in the bung tightly; and let the wine remain in the
cask. In six months, it will be fit for drinking.
PEACH WINE.--Take eight pounds of ripe, juicy, free-stone peaches, of
the best kind. Slice them into two gallons of soft water; and add five
pounds of loaf-sugar, broken small. Crack all the stones; extract the
kernels; break them up; and lay them in the bottom of a clean tub. Put
the peaches, with the dissolved sugar, into a kettle; and boil and skim
it, until the scum ceases to rise. Then strain it, through a large
sieve, into the tub that has the kernels in the bottom. Stir all well
together, and cover it closely till it grows quite cool. Then put in a
large slice of toasted bread, covered all over with strong, fresh yeast.
Leave it to ferment; and, when the fermentation is over, strain it into
a keg, and add a bottle of muscadel or sweet malaga wine. Let it stand
six months. Then draw off a little in a glass, and, if it is not quite
clear, take out a pint of the wine; mix with it an ounce of powdered
gum-arabic; dissolve it in a slow heat; and then add an ounce of
powdered chalk. When they are dissolved, return the pint of wine to the
keg, stirring it in, lightly, with a stick; but taking care not to let
the stick go down to the bottom, lest it should disturb the lees, or
sediment. Let it stand three days longer, and then bottle it. It will be
fit for use in another six months.
Apricot wine may be made in the same manner.
DOMESTIC FRONTINIAC.--Put into a large kettle, twelve pounds of
broken-up loaf-sugar; and pour on it six gallons of clear, soft water,
and let the sugar dissolve. Take seven pounds of the best raisins, and
chop them small, having first removed the seeds. Mix the raisins with
the dissolved sugar; set the kettle over the fire, and let it boil for
an hour, skimming it well. Have ready half a peck of full-blown
elder-blossoms, gathered just before they are ready to fall from the
branches. Take the kettle from the fire; pour the liquor into a clean
tub; and as soon as it has cooled, (so as to be merely lukewarm,) stir
in the elder-flowers. Cover it closely. Next day, add six large
table-spoonfuls of lemon-syrup, and four of strong, fresh yeast. After
the wine has fermented two days, strain it into a clean cask; and, after
it has stood two months, bottle it. Next summer, it will be in fine
order for drinking, and will be found a delicious wine; very similar to
the real Frontiniac.
MORELLA WINE.--Take a sufficiency of large, fine morella cherries. They
must all be perfectly ripe, and free from blemish. Extract the stones;
carefully saving all the juice. Return it to the cherries; put them into
a clean tub; and let them stand, in a cold place, undisturbed, till next
morning. Then mash and press them through a cullender, or sieve, or put
them into a thin linen bag, and squeeze out all the juice; then measure
it. To every quart of juice, allow a large half-pound of fine
loaf-sugar, and mix them well together, in a clean cask. Crack the
stones; tie them up in a thin bag; and suspend the bag in the cask, in
the midst of the liquor. Leave it to ferment; and, when the fermentation
ceases, stop it closely. Let it stand four months, leaving the bag of
cherry-stones in the cask. Then bottle it, and in three months it will
be fit to drink.
DOMESTIC TOKAY.--Take fine grapes, that are all _perfectly_ ripe; pick
them carefully from the stalks, omitting all that are blemished; put
them into a large hair sieve, placed over a large, deep pan, or a clean
tub. Mash the grapes, with your hand, squeezing and pressing out all the
juice. To every quart of juice, allow a pound of sultana raisins,
chopped small, or of bloom raisins, seeded and chopped. Let the
grape-juice and raisins stand twelve days; stirring it twice or three
times every day. Then strain the liquor into a cask; but do not stop it
closely till after three days. Let it stand eight months; then bottle
it. If it is not clear, take out a pint of the wine; mix with it half an
ounce of isinglass, shaved fine, or an ounce of powdered gum-arabic. Set
it in a warm place, and, when dissolved, add an ounce of fine chalk.
This will be sufficient to fine a barrel of wine. Stir it lightly into
the rest. Let it stand three or four days, and then bottle it.
BLACKBERRY WINE.--The blackberries must all be full ripe, and without
blemish. Measure them; and to every quart of fruit allow a quart of
clear, soft water. Boil the water by itself. Put the blackberries into a
clean tub, and mash them with a wooden beetle, or a mallet. When the
water has boiled, pour it on the blackberries, and let it stand, till
next morning, in a cool place, stirring it occasionally. Then press out
all the juice, measure it, and to every quart of liquid allow half a
pound of sugar. Put the sugar into a cask, and strain the liquid upon
it, through a linen bag. Stir it frequently, till the sugar is
thoroughly dissolved. Let the cask remain unstopped, till the liquor has
done working. Then add half an ounce of isinglass, or an ounce of
gum-arabic, dissolved in a little hot water. You may substitute, for the
isinglass, or gum-arabic, the beaten whites of four eggs. Keep it open
till next day. Then bung it. It may be bottled in two months.
Raspberry wine may be made as above.
Black currant wine, also.
ROSOLIS.--Put four pounds of the best loaf-sugar into a large porcelain
kettle; and pour on it three quarts of water. When it has melted, set it
over the fire, and boil and skim it, till the scum ceases to rise. Then
add the whites of three eggs, whisked to a froth; and put in the shells
also, broken small. Let it again come to a boil. Then take it off the
fire; and, when it is only lukewarm, throw in a quart of fresh
rose-leaves, stirring them well through the liquid. Cover the vessel,
and let it stand till next day, till the fragrance of the roses is
extracted. Then remove the first rose-leaves, with a skimmer, and put
into it a second, and afterwards, a third supply. When the syrup has a
fine rose-flavour, strain it through a linen bag. If not perfectly
clear, filter it through blotting-paper, pinned inside the bottom of a
sieve. Then add half a pint of spirits of wine, that has been coloured
red, by infusing in it some alkanet root, tied up in a thin muslin bag.
Bottle the mixture; and it will be a delicate liqueur. Instead of
rose-leaves, you may flavour it immediately, by stirring in a large
portion of extract of roses.
This liqueur can be made very conveniently, where there is a garden
abounding in roses.
HIPPOCRAS.--Put into a jar a quart of the best port wine. Beat,
separately, in a mortar, a quarter of an ounce of cinnamon, two nutmegs,
twelve blades of mace, and a tea-spoonful of coriander seeds. Then mix
them all together; and put them into the wine. Add the yellow rind of
four large lemons, pared thin, and their juice, mixed with half a pound
of powdered loaf-sugar. Cover the vessel closely, and let it infuse a
week, or more. Then strain the liquid through a linen bag, and bottle
it.
PERSICOT.--Blanch, in scalding water, a pound and a half of bitter
almonds, and pound them in a mortar, till they are broken very small.
Then put them into two quarts of the best French white brandy. Let them
remain twenty-four hours in the brandy; shaking the mixture frequently.
Boil one quart of rich milk; and, when it has boiled, take it off the
fire, and mix with it two pounds of white sugar-candy, pounded fine.
Then mix the whole together, almonds, brandy, milk, and sugar-candy; and
let it stand for a week or two, or till very highly flavoured; shaking
or stirring it frequently. Afterwards strain it through a linen bag, and
bottle it. Drink it from small liqueur-glasses, with a bit of ice in
each.
NECTAR.--Take a pound of the best raisins, seeded and chopped; four
lemons, sliced thin, and the yellow rind pared off from two other
lemons; and two pounds of powdered loaf-sugar. Put into a porcelain
preserving-kettle two gallons of water. Set it over the fire, and boil
it half an hour. Then, while the water is boiling hard, put in the
raisins, lemons, and sugar; and continue the boiling for ten minutes.
Pour the mixture into a vessel with a close cover, and let it stand four
days; stirring it twice a-day. Then strain it through a linen bag, and
bottle it. It will be fit for use in a fortnight. Drink it from
wine-glasses, with a small bit of ice in each.
MINT JULEP.--Put into the bottom of a tumbler, about a dozen sprigs of
young and tender mint. Upon them place a large tea-spoonful of fine
white sugar; and then pour on peach-brandy, so as to reach nearly
one-third the height of the tumbler. Fill up with ice, pounded fine; and
lay on the top a thin slice of pine-apple, cut across into four pieces.
As an ornament, stick into the centre a handsome cluster of mint-sprigs,
so as to rise far above the edge of the tumbler. It will be the better
for standing awhile, in a vessel of finely-broken ice.
VANILLA SYRUP.--Put four or five vanilla beans into a very small, clean
sauce-pan, with half a pint of boiling water. Set it over the fire,
(closely covered,) and boil it, till the flavour of the vanilla is
thoroughly extracted, and the water tastes of it very strongly. Then
take out the vanilla, and strain the liquid. Break up three pounds of
the best double-refined loaf-sugar, and put it into a preserving-kettle,
with a quart of hot water. When thoroughly melted, set it on the fire,
and boil and skim it well; till the whole is reduced to nearly a quart.
Then stir in the vanilla liquid, and let it boil five or six minutes
longer. After taking it from the fire, pour it into a pitcher, till it
is cool enough to transfer to small bottles. Then cork it tightly, and
seal the corks.
It will be found excellent for flavouring custards, creams, &c., or to
mix with ice-water, for a summer beverage.
The extract will be stronger if the vanilla beans are split and cut into
pieces before boiling, and tied up in a very thin muslin bag.
ORANGE MILK.--Take two dozen large ripe oranges. Cut them in two; remove
the seeds; and squeeze the juice into a very large and clean _stone_
jar. Never use earthen-ware, to hold any thing acid, as the lead glazing
may produce the most deleterious effects. Have ready four pounds of the
finest loaf-sugar, dissolved in a gallon of the best rum or brandy. Pour
it into the jar that contains the orange-juice; stir the mixture well;
and add the yellow rind of the oranges, cut into little slips. Cover the
jar, and let it stand four days; stirring it frequently. Then take a
gallon of new, unskimmed milk, (the morning’s milk of that day,) boil
it, and, when it has come to a hard boil, pour it, hot, into the
mixture. Cover it closely, and let it stand till it gets quite cold.
Then strain it into another vessel, through a linen jelly-bag. Bottle it
immediately, and seal the corks. It improves by keeping, and will
continue good for many years.
To use it, mix a sufficient quantity, in a tumbler, with ice-water; or
take it, undiluted, in a small cordial glass.
ORANGE SYRUP.--Take large fine ripe oranges, with smooth thin rinds, and
roll each orange under your hand upon the table to increase the juice.
Set a very clean sieve upon a large bowl, and cut the oranges over it;
first halving them, and then notching each half to let out as much juice
as possible when squeezing them. Press them with all your strength in a
wooden squeezer, letting the juice drain through the sieve into the
bowl. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a half (a quart and a
pint) of the best double-refined loaf-sugar broken up. Put the sugar
into a preserving-kettle; pour the juice upon it; cover it, and let it
stand till all the sugar is quite soft, and can be easily mixed with the
juice. Next set the kettle over a moderate fire that has no blaze or
smoke, and boil it slowly; skimming it carefully till the scum ceases to
rise. Then take it off, remove the syrup from the kettle, and when it is
milk-warm, put it into very clean bottles, (new ones will be best,) cork
them tightly, and seal the corks. Keep it in a dry, cool place. It is
very fine for flavouring cakes, puddings, sweet sauces, &c. Or for
mixing with ice-water as a pleasant beverage. Also for ice-cream or
water-ice, when oranges are not to be had. Or for mixing with powdered
sugar to make the confection called orange-drops. Some persons, to
increase the strength of orange syrup, add the yellow rind of the
oranges grated on lumps of the sugar. This will do very well if the
syrup is to be used up soon. But by long keeping, the peel will give it
a very disagreeable taste and odour, resembling turpentine; unfitting it
for all purposes.
Lemon syrup may be made as above. To _this_ the addition of the yellow
rind of the lemons grated on sugar will be an improvement; as lemon rind
never acquires a turpentine taste.
IMITATION LEMON SYRUP.--Break up twelve pounds of the best
double-refined loaf-sugar. Put it into a preserving-kettle, and pour on
it a gallon of very clear soft water. When it has dissolved set it over
a moderate fire, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise. Then
take it off, and stir in immediately, while the syrup is hot, six large
tea-spoonfuls of the best oil of lemon, and a quarter of an ounce of
tartaric acid. When cold, bottle the liquid, and cork it tightly. The
bottles for this purpose should either be quite new, or such as have
been used before for lemon syrup. Mixed with ice-water it is a wholesome
and refreshing beverage, and if you stir into a half tumbler of the
mixture a half tea-spoonful, or more, of carbonate of soda, it will foam
up, and be just like the soda-water you buy in the shops at six cents
per glass.
The above is the lemon syrup generally used for this purpose by the
druggists and confectioners.
CARBONATED SYRUP WATER.--Put into a tumbler lemon, raspberry,
strawberry, pine-apple, or any other _acid_ syrup, sufficient in
quantity to flavour the beverage very highly. Then pour in _very cold
ice-water_ till the glass is half full. Add _half_ a tea-spoonful of
bi-carbonate of soda, (to be obtained at the druggists’,) and stir it
well in with a tea-spoon. It will foam up to the top immediately, and
must be drank during the effervescence.
By keeping the syrup, and the carbonate of soda in the house, and mixing
them as above with ice-water, you can at any time have a glass of this
very pleasant drink; precisely similar to that which you get at the
shops. The cost will be infinitely less.
FINE RASPBERRY CORDIAL.--Fill a large stone jar with ripe raspberries.
Cover the jar closely, and let it stand in a corner of the hearth near
the fire, or on the top of a stove, till the fruit is heated so as to
break. Then put the raspberries into a linen bag, and squeeze the juice
into a pan beneath. Measure the juice, and to every quart allow a pound
of loaf-sugar, broken very small. Do not use the white sugar that is
sold ready-powdered; it is generally so adulterated with pulverized
starch, as to be unfit for any thing that is to be set away for keeping.
Put the juice and sugar (well mixed) into a preserving-kettle. Give it a
boil, and skim it well. When it has come to a boil, and the scum has
ceased to appear, take off the kettle; measure the liquid; and pour it
carefully into a large vessel; allowing an equal quantity of the best
French brandy. Stir it well, and when cold, put it into a demijohn, or a
large stone jug, and cork it tightly. Let it stand undisturbed a
fortnight; then, if it is not perfectly clear, filter it through
blotting-paper pinned inside the bottom of a sieve. Bottle it, and seal
the corks. Instead of brandy, you may use the best Jamaica spirits.
Currant or cherry cordial may be made in the above manner: first stoning
all the cherries, which should be fully ripe, and of the largest and
best kind; either red or black, or a mixture of both. The flavour will
be much improved by cracking the stones, and putting them into the
demijohn before you pour on the liquid.
Peach cordial, also, may be made as above. The peaches should be fine,
ripe, juicy free-stones; cut in pieces, and the stones removed.
Afterwards, crack the stones, and put the kernels (broken up) into the
bottom of the demijohn, to infuse with the liquid.
FINE RASPBERRY VINEGAR.--Put a sufficient quantity of ripe raspberries
into a large wooden or stone vessel, and pour on as much of the best
_genuine_ white wine vinegar as will cover them well. Cover the vessel,
and let it stand undisturbed during twenty-four hours; or longer, if the
juice is not entirely extracted; when it is, the raspberries will look
whitish and shrunk. You must, on no account, bruise or stir them. Then
strain the whole liquid through a large hair sieve placed over a broad
stone pan. Let the juice run through of itself, without any mashing or
squeezing. The least pressing will cause the liquid, when finished, to
look cloudy and dull. Have ready, in another vessel, the same quantity
of fresh raspberries that you put in at first; and pour the strained
liquid over them. Cover it, and let it again stand undisturbed for
twenty-four hours or more. Then again pass it through a sieve, without
any squeezing. A third time pour the liquid over the original quantity
of fresh raspberries in another vessel, and let it stand untouched
during twenty-four hours. Afterwards measure the liquid, and to every
pint allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar, broken small.
Put the whole into a large preserving-kettle, and boil and skim it about
twenty minutes. Then pour it into a clean stone vessel, and set it to
cool. Cover it, and let it stand all night. Next day, transfer it to
bottles, which must be perfectly dry and clean. Cork them closely, and
seal the corks. It will keep for years if made exactly according to the
above directions.
To use it as a beverage, put a large wine-glass of the raspberry vinegar
into a tumbler, and fill it up with ice-water. Mixed with hot water, and
drank as warm as possible immediately on going to bed, it is an
excellent palliative for a cold; and, by producing a perspiration, will
sometimes effect a cure.
FRENCH RASPBERRY VINEGAR.--Take a sufficiency of fine ripe raspberries.
Put them into a deep pan, and mash them with a wooden beetle. Then pour
them, with all their juice, into a large linen bag, and squeeze and
press out the liquid into a vessel beneath. Measure it; and to each
quart of the raspberry-juice allow a pound of powdered white sugar, and
a pint of the best cider vinegar. First mix together the juice and the
vinegar, and give them a boil in a preserving-kettle. When they have
boiled well, add gradually the sugar, with a beaten white of egg to
every two pounds; and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise.
When done, put it into clean bottles, and cork them tightly. It is a
very pleasant and cooling beverage in warm weather, and for invalids who
are feverish. To use it, pour out half a tumbler of raspberry vinegar,
and fill it up with ice-water.
It is a good palliative for a cold, mixed with hot water, and taken as
hot as possible immediately on going to bed, so as to produce
perspiration.
GOOD VINEGAR.--Take five gallons of soft, clear water, two quarts of
whisky, two quarts of the best West India molasses, and half a pint of
the best fresh yeast. Lay a sheet of white foolscap paper at the bottom
of a very clean keg, and pour in the mixture. Place it in the sun the
first warm weather at the close of May, or beginning of June. In six
weeks it will be fit for use. Put in the bung loosely, and do not stop
it tight till the fermentation is over. If you make it in winter, keep
it in a place where there is a stove or furnace.
Much of the vinegar that is offered for sale is excessively and
disagreeably sharp; overpowering the taste of every thing with which it
is combined. This vinegar is deleterious in its effects, and should
never be used; it is made entirely of drugs. Oysters and pickled
vegetables have been entirely destroyed or eaten up by it in a few
hours, so that nothing was left but a whitish liquid. To avoid all risk
from the unwholesome vinegar offered for sale, families would do well to
make their own. A keg of hard cider kept in a warm kitchen in winter,
and exposed to the hot sun in summer, will become excellent vinegar.
COMMON MOLASSES VINEGAR.--Mix together a gallon of West India molasses,
and four gallons of lukewarm water. Pour it into a clean five-gallon
cask, and place it in the chimney-corner; standing the cask on end, and
leaving the bung out. To give it, occasionally, some additional heat,
set the cask in the mouth of the oven on baking-days, after the bread is
drawn, and let it remain while the oven continues warm. In three months
it will be excellent and wholesome vinegar, at a very trifling
cost,--only that of the gallon of molasses. When the liquid is
sufficiently acid, stop the bung-hole closely, and remove the cask to a
cool place. In summer, you may make this vinegar by letting the cask
stand three or four months exposed to the hot sun; taking care to cover
the bung-hole in damp or rainy weather.
APPLE-WATER.--Take three large, juicy pippin apples; pare, core, and cut
them into very thin slices. Put them into a pitcher, (the yellow rind of
a lemon, pared thin, will be an improvement,) and pour on a pint of
boiling water. Cover the pitcher closely, and let it stand four hours.
Then pour the liquid into a glass, and sweeten it with loaf-sugar.
This is a cooling drink in a fever.
TOAST-WATER.--Take _thin_ slices of wheat bread, and toast it very brown
on both sides, but do not let it burn or blacken. Put the toast into a
pitcher that has straining holes at the spout, and pour over it, from a
tea-kettle, as much boiling water as you wish to make into drink. The
water must be actually boiling at the time. Cover the pitcher, and let
it stand till the water is cold. Then pour it off into a decanter. Made
in this way, toast-water is very wholesome and refreshing, and is
frequently drank at table by persons in health, as well as by invalids.
AN EXCELLENT WAY OF MAKING COFFEE.--For this purpose you should have a
percolator, or coffee-pot with strainers inside. The coffee will be much
stronger and better, if roasted and ground just before it is put in the
pot. There are no coffee-roasters so good as those of sheet-iron, made
somewhat in the form of a large long candle-box; standing before the
fire on feet; and turned round by a handle, so as to give all the coffee
that is inside an equal chance of heat. When about half done, put among
the coffee a piece of fresh butter. It should be roasted evenly
throughout, of a fine brown colour, and not allowed to blacken or burn.
Grind it while warm; and put into the percolator a sufficient quantity
of coffee, placing it _between_ the two strainers. Then (having stopped
up the spout) pour into the upper strainer a due proportion of _cold_
water; allowing a quart of water to half a pint or more of ground
coffee. Cold water is now found to make a stronger infusion than hot
water, as there is less evaporation, and none of the strength of the
coffee is carried off in steam. As soon as the water is all in, put on
the lid closely, and set away the pot. It is well to put the coffee to
infuse over night, if wanted for breakfast; and in the morning, if
required for evening. But, when necessary, it may be done in a much
shorter time. A little before the coffee is to go to table, lift off the
upper half of the percolator, (the part that contains the strainers,)
transfer the lid to the lower part; set the pot over the fire, and give
it one boil up--not more. As soon as it has come to a boil it is ready
for drinking; being already strained, and drawn. It will be found clear,
strong, and in all respects superior to that prepared in any other
manner. A short boil is sufficient to take off all taste of rawness.
Long boiling weakens coffee, and frequently turns it sour.
The above method will, we are confident, be highly approved on trial.
Also, it saves the expense of isinglass, white of egg, and other
articles generally used in clearing coffee. Percolators for making
coffee in this manner, can be obtained of all sizes at the large tin
manufactory of Messrs. Williams & Co., 276 Market street, between
Seventh and Eighth streets, Philadelphia.
A china or metal coffee-pot should always be scalded twice before coffee
is transferred to it, from the vessel in which it has been made.
COCOA.--The cocoa which is put up solid in close packages, and usually
sold at a shilling a paper, is far superior to the chocolate that is
manufactured into squares or cakes, and which is too frequently
adulterated with lard and meal. Baker’s prepared cocoa is excellent.
When you intend having it for drinking, shave down, or cut fine a
sufficient quantity of the cocoa; allowing about half the contents of a
paper to a quart of water, if you wish it very strong, and three pints
of water for moderate strength. Then put the cocoa into a clean
sauce-pan or a tin pot with a spout. Measure the water from a kettle
that is boiling hard at the time; and when you have the proper quantity
pour it scalding hot on the cocoa. Cover it closely; place it over the
fire; and let it boil till it is all dissolved into the same
consistence, and quite smooth, and free from the smallest lumps. While
boiling, you must several times take off the lid, and with a spoon stir
the cocoa down to the bottom. Then transfer it to your chocolate pot,
which must be twice scalded with boiling water. Send it to table as hot
as possible, adding milk and sugar to the cups when poured out. Eat with
it dry toast; _unbuttered_ rolls; milk-biscuit; or sponge-cake.
TO KEEP ORANGE-JUICE.--The oranges must be large and ripe. To increase
the quantity of juice, roll each orange under your hand on a table, or
with your foot upon a clean hearth-stone. Then cut them in half, and
score each half with four deep notches, so that when squeezed the juice
may run out more freely. Squeeze them through a strainer into a large
bowl. To each pint of juice allow a pound of the best loaf-sugar, broken
small. Cover the bowl, and let it stand undisturbed all night. In the
morning remove all the scum that has risen to the surface, and pour the
liquid through a funnel into clean, well-dried pint bottles; into each
of which you have previously put a table-spoonful of the best white
brandy. Cork each bottle tightly, and tie down a thin wet leather
closely over each cork. Keep the bottles in a dry place. You will find
this preparation excellent for flavouring, when fresh oranges are not to
be had.
Lemon-juice may be kept in the same manner, for flavouring or for punch.
TO PRESERVE LEMON-JUICE FOR A VOYAGE.--Select only the best and freshest
lemons. One that is in the least tainted will spoil the whole. Roll
every lemon under your hand upon a table to increase the juice. Then
squeeze them well through a strainer. To every quart of juice add an
ounce of cream of tartar. Let it stand three days, (stirring it
frequently,) and then filter it through thin muslin pinned tightly on
the bottom of a sieve. Put it into pint-bottles; filling up the neck of
each bottle with a little of the best olive oil. The corks must be put
in very tightly, and then sealed. When you open a bottle, avoid shaking
it; and carefully pour off the olive oil that is on the top of the
lemon-juice.
FINE MEAD.--Beat to a strong froth the whites of three eggs, and mix
them with six gallons of water; sixteen quarts of strained honey; and
the yellow rind of two dozen large lemons, pared very thin. Boil all
together, during three-quarters of an hour; skimming it well. Then put
it into a tub; and when lukewarm, add three table-spoonfuls of the best
fresh yeast. Cover it, and leave it to ferment. When it has done
working, transfer it to a barrel, with the lemon-peel in the bottom. Let
it stand six months. Then bottle it.
TO KEEP CIDER SWEET.--When barreling the cider, put into each barrel or
keg a jill (eight large table-spoonfuls) of white mustard-seed. This
will retard its becoming hard or sour.
TO MAKE BOTTLED CIDER VERY BRISK.--When you are bottling the cider, put
a large raisin into the bottom of each bottle before you pour in the
cider. Then cork it tightly.
In bottling spruce or molasses beer put in also a raisin.
TO KEEP ORANGES AND LEMONS.--Take a sufficiency of fine sand, and make
it very dry by exposing it to the heat of the sun or the fire, stirring
it frequently. Afterwards let it become quite cold, and then put a
quantity of it in a close box or barrel. Bury your oranges (which must
all be perfectly good) in this sand; placing them so as not to touch
each other, and with the stem-end downwards. At the top put a thick
layer of sand quite two inches deep. Cover the box closely, and keep it
in a cool place.
TO KEEP GRAPES.--See that there are no imperfect grapes on any of the
bunches. They must not be too ripe. Put in the bottom of a keg a layer
of bran that has been dried in the sun, or in an oven, and afterwards
become quite cold. Upon the bran, place a layer of grapes with bran
between the bunches so that they may not touch each other. Proceed thus
with alternate layers of bran and grapes till the keg is full; seeing
that the last is a thick layer of bran. Then close the keg, nailing on
the head so that no air can penetrate.
Grapes may also be packed in fine wood-ashes that has been well sifted.
TO KEEP APPLES.--Wipe every apple dry with a cloth, and see that no
blemished ones are left among them. Have ready a very dry tight barrel,
and cover the bottom with dry pebbles. These will attract the damp of
the apples. Then put in the fruit; head up the barrel; and plaster the
seams with mortar, taking care to have a thick rim of mortar all round
the top. Let the barrel remain undisturbed in the same place till you
want the apples for use. Pippins, bell-flowers, or other apples of the
best sorts, may be kept in this way till July.
TO KEEP CARROTS, PARSNIPS, BEETS, AND SWEET POTATOES.--These should all
be housed before the first frost. Range them side by side, and bury them
in dry sand; a bed of sand at the bottom; another between each layer of
the vegetables, and a thick sand covering for the whole. When wanted for
use, begin at one end, and draw them out in regular order, and not out
of the middle till you come to it.
TO KEEP FRESH BUTTER FOR FRYING, STEWING, &c.--Take several pounds of
the _very best_ fresh butter. Cut it up in a large tin sauce-pan, or in
any clean cooking vessel lined with tin. Set it over the fire, and boil
and skim it during half an hour. Then pour it off, carefully, through a
funnel into a stone jar, and cover it closely with a bladder or leather
tied down over the lid. The butter having thus been separated from the
salt and sediment, (which will be found remaining at the bottom of the
boiling-vessel,) if kept closely covered and set in a cool place, will
continue good for a year, and be found excellent for frying, and
stewing, and other culinary purposes. Prepare it thus in May or June,
and you may use it in winter, if living in a place where fresh butter
is not to be obtained in cold weather. Try it.
AN EASY WAY OF MAKING BUTTER IN WINTER.--The following will be found an
excellent method of making butter in cold weather for family use. We
recommend its trial. Take, in the morning, the unskimmed milk of the
preceding evening, (after it has stood all night in a _tin_ pan,) and
set it over a furnace of hot coals, or in a stove; being careful not to
disturb the cream that has risen to the surface. Let it remain over the
fire till it simmers, and begins to bubble round the edges; but on no
account let it come to a boil. Then take the pan carefully off, (without
disturbing the cream) and carry it to a cool place, but not where it is
cold enough to freeze. In the evening, take a spoon, and loosen the
cream round the sides of the pan. If very rich it will be almost a solid
cake. Slip off the sheet of cream into another and larger pan; letting
as little milk go with it as possible. Cover it, and set it away. Repeat
the process for several days, till you have thus collected a sufficiency
of clotted cream to fill the pan. Then scald a wooden ladle, and beat
the cream hard with it during ten minutes. You will then have excellent
butter. Take it out of the pan; lay it on a flat dish; and with the
ladle, squeeze and press it hard, till all the butter-milk is entirely
extracted and drained off. Then wash the butter in cold water, and work
a very little salt into it. Set it away in a cool place for three hours.
Then squeeze and press it again; also washing it a second time in cold
water. Make it up into pats, and keep it in a cool place.
The unskimmed morning’s milk, of course, may also be used for this
purpose, after it has stood twelve hours. The simmering over the fire
adds greatly to the quantity of cream, by throwing all the oily part of
the milk to the surface; but if allowed to boil, this oleaginous matter
will again descend, and mix with the rest, so as not to be separated.
This is the usual method of making winter butter in the south of
England; and it is very customary in the British provinces of America.
Try it.
COCHINEAL COLOURING.--Take an ounce of cochineal, and pound it to a fine
powder. Put it into an earthen or porcelain vessel, that is quite clean,
and entirely free from grease. Add a small salt-spoonful of potash, or
soda, and pour in a pint of clear, soft water. Set it over the fire;
and, when it has come to a boil, add a quarter of an ounce of cream of
tartar, with a quarter of an ounce of powdered alum; and let it boil ten
minutes. Then, while it is boiling hot, stir in three ounces of powdered
loaf-sugar. Bottle it, when cold, and keep it closely corked. You can
then have it always at hand, as a fine red colouring for icings,
blanc-mange, creams, jellies, and other sweetmeats.
COLOURING FOR CHEESE.--An ounce of real Spanish arnotta will colour
fifty pounds of cheese. Tie up the arnotta, in a thin linen rag, and put
it, over-night, into half a pint of warm water. In the morning, put the
arnotta-water into the tub of milk, along with the infusion of rennet,
indispensable in making cheese. For a deeper tint, dip the bag into the
milk, and squeeze it as long as any colour runs out.
ALKANET COLOURING.--Alkanet is now much used for giving a beautiful red
colour to confectionary. It is much cheaper than cochineal, and more
easily prepared. It has no peculiar taste, and no unwholesome
properties. You can purchase it at any druggist’s, and at a trifling
cost. It comes in small, dark-red chips. Before using it, pick it clean,
and see that there is none of the dust or powder remaining about it. Tie
up some of the alkanet chips, in a bit of very thin, clean muslin, like
a small bag, and let it infuse with the mixture you wish to colour. It
either may, or may not be boiled.
FINE RED OIL FOR LAMPS.--Infuse, for two or three hours, (or till the
colour is well communicated,) a muslin bag of alkanet chips, in the
clearest and best winter-strained lamp-oil. Then remove the bag of
alkanet, (which may be used again for the same purpose,) and put the oil
into clear glass lamps. It will be coloured of a beautiful red.
According to the quantity of alkanet, or the length of time it remains
steeping in the oil, you may have it of different tints, from light pink
to deep crimson. Oil thus coloured is beautiful for illuminations;
ball-rooms; or dispersed among the shrubbery, at a garden entertainment.
The price of alkanet does not exceed six cents per ounce; and an ounce
will do a great deal of colouring.
COLOURED WATER.--Slice a fresh red cabbage, and pour boiling water upon
it. Cover it, and let it stand till cold. Then strain off the water, and
put a portion of the infusion into three glasses. Pour into one glass a
little alum-water; into the second, a little dissolved potash; and into
the third, a few drops of muriatic acid. The liquid in the first glass
will be turned of a purple colour, by the alum-water; that in the second
will be changed to a green, by the solution of potash; and the third
will assume a fine crimson, from the muriatic acid. This water is used
by druggists, for the coloured jars in their shop-windows.