J^i Cj> IntrndiTEiinn. ZJZj&S*
N LAUNCHING our little book upon the turbulent waters of
, public opinion, we think some explanation of our audacious un-
dertaking is perhaps necessary, therefore, kind friends, we are
going to let you into the secret of its inception with the hope
that our frankness may pave the way to a warm reception, and open your
hearts to its modest merits.
It is only fair to say that we started out as a very unassuming little
Cooking Club, of only 10 members about two years ago, imbued more
with the desire of having a good time together, as is the well-known
custom of Monroe maidens, than to burden our minds with culinary
facts. Far from us in those modest early days were ambitious longings
towards literary fame. We were quite content to meet fortnightly and
partake with our invited guests of the dishes which we had promised to
make with our own fair hands. But as our members increased and we
rose to the dignity of having a Constitution, the idea of embodying our
recipes in book form slowly but surely grew into favor with us and was
abetted most warmly by our friends. A committee was appointed by
the President to collect and copy the recipes; enthusiastic business meet-
ings were held, to discuss the momentous question of publishing our ac-
cumulated experience; a thousand and one daring plans for using the
large fortune we were sure to make were boldly broached by the club; a trip
to Europe being only one of the many things we were going to do with our
proceeds, and we stood trembling on the eve of a great financial success,
as seen through the rose tinted spectacles of the Cooking Club.
But calm reason in the shape of less ardent enthusiasts proposed
that each of the twenty members should first guarantee at least five
names before we decided to leave our native shores. The promised
Bentley Historical
Llb.arv
Uwvatv.w ofUie


Young Ladies Cooking Club.
Charlotte Ru;se.—Line a dish with sponge cake. Take a pint of
cream, beat it to a stiff froth, add to it the whites of two eggs beaten
until they stand, and a quarter of a pound of sugar, flavor with vanilla.
Put this filling into the dish, and cover the top with cake. Set it away
to cool, after this turn ic out and ice.—Miss E. Sterling.
Lemon Jelly.—One box of gelatine. Soak one hour in one cup of
cold water. Pour on ten cups of boiling water, when ready for use;
juice of three lemons. .Grate the rind of one of the three. One cup of
water can be used upon the lemons (to rinse the dish.) Two cups or
two and one-half of sugar. Strain.—Miss S. Noble.
Russian Cream.—One quart of milk, four eggs, one cup of sugar,
half box gelatine, one wine glass of wine. Sherry is the best.
Put the gelatine in the milk and put on the stove as for boiled
custard. When the gelatine is dissolved add the beaten yolks and
sugar. When this begins to thicken remove from the stove and add im-
mediately the whipped whites of eggs and wine.—Miss H. Noble.
Doughnuts.—One pint of sour milk, one and one-half cups of sugar,
one or two eggs, two teaspoons of soda, three or four tablespoons of lard,
about six coffee cups of flour even full. Roll out and cut with cake cut-
ter. Fry in hot lard.—Miss C. Peak.
Scalloped Oysters.—Into a well buttered pudding dish; put a
layer of cracker crumbs, then a layer of oysters, seasoned with pepper,
salt, and butter; pour some milk over, then a layer or cracker crumbs,
then oysters, &c, &c. Then last of all pour on the oyster juice, and
bake in a quick oven, about fifteen minutes.—Miss A. Kendall.
Coffee.—One for the pot and a heaping tablespoon for each per-
son, of ground coffee. Mix well with an egg and enough cold water to
moisten it. Allow one pint less of boiling water than there are
tablespoons of coffee. Boil fast five minutes, pour in half a cup of cold
water and let stand five minutes longer.—Miss Lillie Campbell.
Chocolate.—Take two-thirds cake of chocolate, break in small
pieces and dissolve in pint of cold water. Add quart of rich milk, let
boil and sweeten to taste.—Miss H. Armitage.
SOLE, ©W FARE,
Chicken salad, boiled tongue, Saratoga potatoes, rusks, biscuits, sponge
cake, fig cake, canned peaches, preserved raspberries, coffee.
Chicken Salad.—Take the white meat of three chickens cut in
small pieces; twice as much celery, cut with a knife, but not chopped.
For dressing put on stove a sauce-pan with one pint of vinegar and butter
the size of an egg; beat two or three eggs with two tablespoons of mustard,
one of black pepper, two of sugar, and a teaspoon of salt. When


Young Ladies Cooking Club. 11
per. Chop also one half a large onion; fry in butter till brown, then
mix with the chopped chicken, mould the mixture into oval rolls, roll
in grated bread crumbs, drop into hot lard and fry brown. Miss L.
Yardley.
Pickf.led Oysters.—Wash fifty large oysters in their own juice,
strain the liquor off, add to it a dessert spoonful of pepper, the same of
mace, the same of salt and of whole cloves and a pint of vinegar. Let
the oysters come to a boil in the liquor then, drain them off with a skim-
mer; put them into a jar, boil the liquor up, skim it and when it is cold
pour it over the oysters. They will be ready for use in 24 hours. Miss
Sadia M. Noble, Miss Curtiss.
Ham Sandwiches No. i.—Cut your bread very thin; butter and
spread on the following: Chop fine equal quantity of ham and veal.
Beat one egg well, add to it drop by drop salad oil until it is the con-
sistency of cream, one-half tea-spoon of mixed rnustaid, salt and pepper.
Any kind of meat is nice for this mixture. Miss L. Campbell.
Ham Sandwiches No. 2.—Cut some bread in very thin slices, chop
some cold ham very fine and mix with it the yolks of two uncooked eggs,
a little pepper and mustard, spread this mixture over the buttered slices
of bread. Miss Alice Kendall.
Lemon Ice.—One quart of water, juice of four lemons, one pound
of sugar; strain the mixture, and just before freezing add the beaten whites
of two eggs. Miss Bell Noble, Miss Sarah Little.
Ice Cream Cake.—Make a sponge cake, bake half an inch thick
in jelley pans and let them get perfectly cold; take a pint of thickest
sweet cream, beat until it looks like ice cream, make very sweet and fla-
vor with vanilla, blanch and chop a pound of almonds, stir into cream
and put very thick between the layers.
Sponge Cake (/or the above.)—One pound of pulverized sugar, one
of flour, ten eggs; stir yolks of eggs and sugar till perfectly light; beat
whites of four eggs and add them with the flour, after beating them to-
gether lightly, flavor with lemon or vanilla. Bake in a moderate oven.
To blanch almonds, pour boiling water over them, let stand a mom-
ent, then drain and throw them into cold water, slip off the skins and
pound. Miss Tillie Grant.
Confectionery Cake.—Whites of five eggs, three-quarter cup of
butter, two coffee cups of sugar, two and one-half cups of flour, one cof-
fee cup i#f milk, three tea-spoons of baking powder, flavor with vanilla.
Take a table-spoon of this cake and one-half cup of chopped raisins, one-
half cup of citron or currants, one-half cup of flour, one-half cup of mo-
lasses; cloves, cinnamon and mace if liked. Bake in three tins, one of
the dark cake and two of the light and put together with soft frosting.
Emma Sterling.


Young Ladies Cooking Club. IS
♦^CIIFFEE^
/
MLk ©£ PARE,.
Escalloped oysters, celery salad, pressed chicken, Vienna rolls, pickles,
lemon jelly, frozen peaches, hickorynut cake, sponge cake, ice cream
cocoanut cake, coffee.
Celery Salad.—Salad dressing. Six eggs beaten very light, half
cup melted butter, a coffee cup of cream, one tablespoon of mustard, a
little salt and a little red pepper, one teaspoon of sugar, one cup of
vinegar; put dressing in a dish and float in hot water stirring until it
thickens like mustard. When cold pour over the celery. This will
dress two bunches of celery. Miss Bell Noble.
Vienna Rolls.—One quart of flour, one-half teaspoonful of salt,
three teaspoons baking powder, one teaspoon of lard, one pint of milk.
Mix into a dough easily to be handled without sticking to the hands;
turn on the board and roll to the thickness of half an inch, cut out with
a large cake cutter, spread very lightly with butter; fold one-half over
the other and lay them in a greased pan without touching. Wash them
over with a little milk and bake in a hot even. Miss Curtiss.
Lemon Jelly.—Juice of six lemons, grated rind of two; one box of
gelatine soaked in one pint of cold water, add one quart of boiling
water and sweeten to taste. Strain and set to cool. Miss Hattie Harvey.
Frozen Peaches.—One quart of ripe peaches crushed fine and
added to one quart of sweet cream all made very sweet; or you can
freeze the cream partially and then add fruit. Miss Mollie Morton.
Hickorynut Cake.—Half cup of butter, half cup of sugar, three-
quarter cup of sweet milk, two cups of flour, one cup of hickorynut
meats, or one cup of cocoanut, or one cup of currants, whites of four
eggs. A little flavoring. One teaspoon of soda, two of cream of tartar
or three of baking powder.—Miss S. Noble.
Ice Cream Cocoanut Cake.—Two cups of sugar, three-quarter
cups of butter, one cup of milk, one cup of cornstarch, two cups of
flour, whites of six eggs, two teaspoons baking powder.
Ice Cream Sauce. Three cups of loaf sugar, half cup of water.
Boil until the syrup when dropped in water is a thick mass. Have the
whites of three eggs well beaten. Pour the hot syrup slowly over them,
stirring constantly until the mixture is cool. Bake the cake in layers—
putting a thick layer of the ice cream between each layer and spreading
it with fresh grated cocoanut.—Miss Chapman.


Young' Ladies Cooking Club. 21
must be poured in very slowly (a few drops at a time) at first, alternating
occasionally with a few drops of vinegar, in proportion as the oil is
used; the same should gain consistency. When it begins to have the
appearance of jelly, alternate a few drops of lemon juice with the oil.
When the egg has absorbed a gill of oil, finish the sauce by adding a
very little'pinch of cayenne pepper and one and a half teaspoonsful of
good vinegar. Pour over shrimps and lettuce. 'Miss Alice Kendall.
Parker House Rolls.—Rub one-half tablespoon of butter and one-
half tablespoon of lard into two quarts of sifted flour; cut a well in the
middle of flour, pour one pint of cold boiled milk and add one-half cup
of yeast, one-half cup of sugar and a little salt. ' If wanted for tea rub
the flour and butter and boil the milk and cool the night before. Add
sugar, yeast and salt, and turn all into the flour, but do not stir. Let it
stand over night; in the morning stir up, knead, and let rise till near tea
time, mold and let rise again and bake quickly. To mold, cut with
cake-cutter; put a little melted butter on one-half and lap neatly over on
the other half. Place in the pan about three-quarters of an inch apart.
Miss Tillie Grant.
Chocolate Cake.—One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, one cup
of milk, five eggs, leaving out the whites of three, four cups of sifted
(lour, two teaspoons of baking powder. Bake in three layers in deep
jelly tins.
For Icing.—Take whites of three eggs, beaten stiff, one and one-
half cups of powdered sugar, six tablespoons of grated chocolate, two
teaspjons of vanilla. Miss M. White.
Cocoanut Cake.—Two cups of pulverized sugar, half cup of butter,
three eggs, one cup of milk, three cups of flour, two teaspoons of cream
tartar, one teaspoon of soda.
Filling.—O.ie grated cocoanut. To one-half of this add whites of
three eggs beaten to a froth, and one cup of powdered sugar. Put this
between the layers. Mix with the other half of the grated cocoanut;
four tablespoons of powdered sugar and strew thickly on top of cake.—
Louise Bloodgood.
Rolls, brown bread and pineapple sherbet, recipes as before given.
♦^SIIFFEH^
■ILL ©F ¥&m«
First Course—Lettuce chicken salad, lobster salad, sliced cold veal,
Parker house rolls, English bread and butter, lemon jelley, pickles.
Second Course—Ice cream vanilla, chocolate ice cream, ocanges, sugar
kisses, almond macaroones, white cake, lemonade, coffee.
Lettuce Chicken Salad.—Having skinned a pair of cold fowls,
remove the fat, and carve them as if for eating, cut all the flesh entirely


Young Ladies Cooking Club. 27
mold or wine glass. Dip in egg, roll in cracker crumbs and frv. Alice
E. Kendall.
Stuffed Liver.—Soak a calf's liver in salted water an hour or
more, changing water once. Make a stuffing of bread crumbs and a lit-
tle chopped salt pork, seasoned highly with pepper, salt and summer-
savory; make incisions in the liver and fill them with the stuffing; then
roll and tie it, blanket with slices of salt pork, and either boil or bake
it. To be eaten cold, for lunch or tea. Miss M. Morton, Miss K.
Chapman.
Ovster Patties.—Make a rich puff paste and line little pans and
bake a light brown. Take one pint of milk, two tablespoons of flour,
one tablespoon of butter, a little salt, and stir in the milk while boiling,
Throw in more than half a can of oysters and let them scald. Then put
in an oyster or two with some of the liquor into each pattie. Serve
while hot. Miss E. Lewis.
Same patties filled with jelly. Miss McCormick.
Lobster Salad.—Recipe given on page 15. Miss M. White.
Peach Short-Cake.—One quart of sifted flour, two heaping tea-
spoons of baking powder, butter size of an egg, one-half pint of milk.
Roll out in two layers spreading one with butter, then bake. Separate
the layers, butter and spread peaches between and on top. Eat with
cream. Canned peaches are nicer than fresh for this cake. Miss C.
Campbell.
Orange Short-Cake.—Two cups of flour, two tablespoons of but-
ter, one egg. one-half cup of milk, two teaspoons of baking powder, one
tablespoon of sugar. Roll out in two cakes, bake one on top of the
other, with butter between. Slice the oranges thin, sprinkle with sugar
and place on the cake and between the layers. Miss S. B. Yardley.
Snow Cream.—-Beat the whites of five eggs to a stiff froth, add two
large spoonsful of pulverized sugar, flavor with pineapple. Beat the
whole well together and then add a pint of thick cream which has been
whipped until stiff. Pour this over grated cocoa-nut and serve with fruit.
Miss S. Noble, Miss H. Armitage.
Variegated Jelly.—One box of gelatine soaked in half a pint of
water, juice of five large lemons, two cups of sugar, beaten white and
shell of one egg, one-half pint of boiling water. Soak the gelatine in
the water one hour; rub several of the pieces of the sugar on the peel of
the lemon to soak the oil on the surface. Pour a pint and a half of
boiling water on jhe soaked gelatine and add lemon juice, sugar and
egg; let it come to a boil, skim carefully and pass through a sieve.
Place a layer of this jelly in the mould. Then take some of it and a
little cherry juice, cranberry juice, or a pinch of prepared cochineal or
red currant juice and when the other layer is cold pour on this red jelly,
and when this is cold put in tjje remaining lemon jelly. Miss L. Camp-
bell.


32 Young Ladies Cooking Club.
day being careful not to let them get dry. J When done the beans should
be whole and the pork perfectly dissolved. Miss Yardley.
Potato Salad.—Take four large cold boiled potatoes, cut them in
slices and stew with cream or milk and butter, seasoning them as for eat-
ing. Make a salad dressing as given on page 22. Pour over the pota-
toes, mixing thoroughly. Select the nicest part of lettuce and lay on a
platter around the edge. Then put the potatoes in the center. Miss A.
E. Yardley.
Fried Sweetbreads.—Thoroughly clean the sweetbreads, remove
the gristle and lay in salt and water two hours. Parboil them, throw
them into cold water to harden them. Cut into slices not too thin, and
fry in hot lard. If preferred a batter can be made with beaten eggs
and flour, in which the sweetbreads can be dipped before frying.
Panned Oysters.—Heat a sauce pan very hot, have your oysters
drained and seasoned with pieces of butter the size of an egg. 'Throw
the oysters into the pan and cover immediately. Shake the pan occa-
sionally, but do not remove the cover until doTie, which will be ten
minutes. ,
Omelet.—Allow one and a half eggs to a person. Beat the whites
to a stiff froth, add the yolks, unbeaten, and beat all together, season
and add one tablespoon of milk for every person? Have a shallow sauce
pan or omelet pan moderately hot and well covered with butter. Pour
in the mixture and keep over the fire till well set. Slip a knife around
the edge and underneath. Turn over half on itself and cook a wh'le
longer. Should it not be well enough done turn over completely in the
pan, then turn out on a platter. If desired grated onion can be added
in the seasoning.
Welsh Rabbit on Toast.—Make slices of toast and lay them on a
hot plate. Cut into small pieces four ounces of cheese, put them in a
small sauce pan with a tablespoon of French mustard, a little black pepper,
a pinch of salt and half a cup of milk. When thoroughly melted pour
over the toast and serve.
Baked Calf's Heart.—Wash off the blood. Stuff with a stuffing
as for turkey. Tie a buttered paper over the mouth of the heart to keep
the stuffing in place. Put it into a small baking pan, with a little hot
water, pepper and salt. Bake nearly two hours, basting it very frequent-
ly. When done thicken the gravy with flour and serve. It is equally
nice to be sliced and eaten cold. Miss A. E. Yardley.
Breakfast Cake.—One pint of flour, one cup of sweet milk, one
egg, one tablespoon of sugar, two tablespoonsful of melted butter, one
teaspoon of soda, two teaspoons of cream tartar. Bake twenty minutes.
Roast Geese and Ducks.—Pour boiling water over to remove the
strong oily taste; let it be wiped dry inside and out with a cloth, fill
with a dressing made of bread crumbs, a small piece of butter, sage,
pepper and salt, one egg, one onion fried in butter, and all moistened