NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 07736249 3 & Libris GEO.T. HARTSHORN, No. A. D. MIC. .... DA Т | House Ke THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY ASI7. 17:0Y AND 'any partySTIONS THE HOUSEKEEPER’S BOOK, COMPRISING ADVICE ON THE CONDUCT OF HOUSEHOLD AFFAIRS IN GENERAL; AND PARTICULAR DIRECTIONS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FURNITURE, BEDDING, &c.; FOR THE LAYING IN AND PRESERVING OF PROVISIONS; WITH A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF RECEIPTS, FOR ECONOMICAL DOMESTIC COOKERY. THE WHOLE CAREFULLY PREPARED FOR THE USE OF AMERICAN HOUSEKEEPERS. BY A LADY. Frihets Hir... M il. PHILADELPHIA: •* WILLIAM MARSHALL & co. 271 Market Street, corner of Seventh. 1837. viii CONTENTS. 50 51 5A 54 Minced Veal, . . Veal Pie, Breast of Veal Roasted, Loin of Veal Roasted, Neck of Veal Boiled,. Shoulder of Veal Roasted, Veal Sweetbreads, Veal Sweetbreads Fried, Veal Sweetbreads to Stew, Calf's Head, . Calf's Head Hashed, . Calf's Head Soused, . Calf's Liver, . Calfs Liver Broiled, Calf's Liver Stewed, Fowls, - Directions for Choosing Fowls, Fowls Boiled with Rice, Chicken Currie, Chicken Salad, Turkeys, Roasted Turkey, Hashed Turkey, Geese, - . To Choose Geese, Goose Roasted, Pigeons, - Potted Pigeons, Pigeons to Roast, Pork, - To Choose Pork, Directions for Choosing Ham, To Boil Ham, : Hog's Lard, Roasted Pig, Kidneys, Rabbits, Rabbit Pie, To Roast Rabbits, To Smother Rabbits, Venison, - Roasted Venison, 55 55 55 55 55 56 56 56 56 56 5 Ducks, To Choose Ducks, CKS, Ducks Roasted, Wild Ducks, Forcemeat, Ingredients for Forcemeat, To keep Meat Hot, Tripe, CONTENTS. PRESERVATION OF MEAT, To Cure Hams, . To Pickle Pork, . To Pickle a Tongue, To Salt Beef, STEWS, Scotch Hotch-Potch, Irish Stew, Scotch Barley-Broth, A very Economical Dish, Veal and Rice, . SOUPS, Good Veal Soup, . Economical Soup, Mock Turtle Soup, Mullagatawny Soup, Ox-Tail Soup, • Ox-Head Soup, . Giblet Soup, Fish Soup, Oyster Soup, MADE DISHES, Macaroni, Asparagus and Eggs, Beef Steak Pie, . Mutton Pie, Lamb Pie, Veal Pie, Chicken Pie, Rabbit Pie, COOKING OF FışH, Observations on Fish, Chouder, Fresh Cod, To Boil Cod, Salt Cod, To Choose Mackarel, Boiled Mackarel, Mackarel Broiled or Fried, Perch Boiled, To Boil Fish, . To Fry Fish, . To Fry Cod, Cod's Head and Shoulders, Cod's Sounds, . VEGETABLES, . Spinach, - Mode of Dressing Cauliflowers with Parmesan Cheese, Pea Stew, Asparagus, CONTENTS. 90 90 91 91 91 91 22 Cabbage, Oyster Plant, . Carrots, . Cauliflowers, Cauliflowers Fried, Boiled Parsnips, . Boiled Turnips, - Turnip-Tops, . To Preserve Vegetables for the Winter, . French Mode, . To Make Kitchen Vegetables Tender, New Potatoes in Winter, Potatoes, To Boil Potatoes, Young Potatoes, . To Fry or. Broil Potatoes, To Mash Potatoes, To Roast Potatoes, To Boil Cabbage, PICKLES, Sauces, GRAVIES, MACARONI, OMELET OYSTERS, &c. To Poach Eggs, - To Fry Eggs, . To Butter Eggs, - 95 toes, • . 96 17 97 97 Pickles, • 99 99 Oyster Sauce, . Bread Sauce, . 99 To Make Soy, .. To Pickle Onions, Egg Sauce, Gravy for a Fowl, when there is no Meat to make it of, Macaroni, . To Serve Macaroni, Mint Sauce, To Make Mustard, Omelet, , . To Pickle Onions, Onion Sauce, . • lycra18c'} Oysters in Butter, 103 Fried Oysters, . ne bior1019 Oyster Patties, · balina ! 103 Pickled Oysters, - 103 Oyster Sauce, . Scalloped Oysters, Stewed Oysters, - . Deniz Brasil Pickle for Tongues, puno 104 Walnut Ketchup, • i mit 12.74 105 Walnut Pickle, . 30F 105 To Melt Butter, . Dainito halt 105 Beef Gravy, 9918 601 106 Tomata Sauce, . armmoA 106 103 104 104 104 CONTENT3. 108 110 111 114 Mint Sauce, 107 Sweet Sauce, 107 Lemon Sauce, 107 Cucumbers and Onions, 107 Red Cabbage, .. 107 Pickled Mangoes, - 108 COFFEE, SHELLS, &C., 108 To Make Coffee, 108 Coffee, .. French Method of Preparing it, 108 Cocoa Shells, PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c., . Directions for Puddings, ., 111 Brown Bread Pudding, .. 112 Economical Pudding, 112 Christmas Pudding, 112 Plain Lemon Pudding, . 113 Tapioca Pudding, . 113 A Baked Apple Pudding, 114 Puddings that are quickly made and without much expense, 114 The Bakewell Pudding, .. 114 Apple Dumplings, Apple Pudding Baked, .. 115 Apple Tart, .. .. Barley Pudding, . Pearl Barley Pudding, Batter Pudding, .. Bread and Butter Pudding, 116 Bread Pudding, . 117 Charlotte, 117 Cherry Pudding, - 117 Custard, • 117 Baked Custard, . 118 Plain Custard, 118 Custard Pudding, Macaroni Pudding, 119 Oatmeal Pudding, New England Fashion, 119 Pancakes, . .. 119 Peas Pudding, .. Plumb Pudding, . Potatoe Pudding, Rice Pancakes, ... Rice Pudding Boiled, Rice Pudding with Currants, Dutch Rice Pudding, . 121 Rice Pudding with Fruit, - 122 Ground Rice Pudding, 122 Small Rice Pudding, 122 Sago Pudding, .. 122 Sippet Pudding, . 123 17 iiiiiiiiiiiii 118 119 21 CONTENTS. 23 124 124 124 125 125 126 126 126 127 127 127 127 128 128 128 128 9 29 30 30 30 31 Suet Pudding, . Tapioca Pudding, Ground Rice Pudding, Pancakes, Fritters, • Apple Fritters, - Sweet Potatoe Pudding, . Pastry, Cakes, &c., . Paste, . . Lemon Puffs, . Mrs. Hill's Cakes, Irish Plumb Cake, Biscuits, - Quickly made and Cheap Cake, · Lemon Solid, Fritters which may be made quickly, Liquid Jelly, Minced Meat for Pies, . Mrs. Barton's Sponge Cake, Lemon Cheese-Cake, . Good Plain Gingerbread, Family Pound Cake, Plain Cake, Rice Cakes, Tea Cakes, German Puffs, Bath Buns, Queen Cake, Common Seed Cake, Sponge Cake, .. Caraway Cakes, . Gingerbread, . Gingerbread without Butter, Gingerbread Nuts, Ginger Cakes, . Jumbles, - Macaroons, Mince Pies, Mince Pies without Meat, Muffins, Rhubarb Tart, .. Rice Cheese, .. Rolls, . French Rolls, Hot Short Rolls, - Rusks, .. Apple Pie, Cranberry Tart, : Tarts of Preserved Fruits, Mince Pies, • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 131 131 131 132 132 132 132 133 133 133 134 134 134 135 135 135 136 136 136 137 137 137 138 138 138 CONTENTS. xiii 139 139 139 139 140 140 140 141 141 142 142 144 146 146 147 147 148 148 148 148 149 149 149 149 49 . Squash Pie, . Pumpkin Pie, .. Whortleberry Cakes, Dough Nuts, i Hard Gingerbread, Drop Cake, . Black Cake, or New England Wedding Cake, MAKING AND BAKING OF BREAD, Flour, . . Making Bread, .. Forming the Dough, . Heating the Oven, Yeast, . . Plain Biscuits, . Indian Corn Biscuits, Rusks, . JELLIES, Jams, &c., Apple Jelly, . Red Currant Jelly, Rice Jelly, Arrow-Root Blanc Mange, Arrow-Root Custards, Arrow-Root Pudding, Isinglass Jelly, .. Apple Jelly, Italian Cream, . Blanc Mange, Dutch Blanc Mange, Calves' Feet Blanc Mange, Currant Jelly, .. Red Currant Jelly, Black Currant Jelly, Gooseberry Jam, Grape Jelly, . Raspberry Jelly, · Liquid Jelly, . Calf's Foot Jelly, PRESERVES, . To Bottle Red Currants, . To Bottle Green Gooseberries, Cranberries, . Cranberry Jelly, Cranberry and Rice Jelly, Cranberry Tart,. Figs, to keep all the year fit for use, To Preserve Green Gages, Marmalade, Baked Pears, Quince Marmalade, Raspberry Jam, . . 1550 150 150 150 151 151 152 152 152 152 153 153 154 155 155 155 156 156 156 156 157 157 157 157 158 xiv CONTENTS. 158 158 158 159 160 160 160 160 160 161 161 161 161 162 163 163 164 164 165 165 165 166 166 Black Butter, . To Preserve Strawberries Whole, Quinces, - Peaches in Brandy, COOKERY FOR THE SICK, Barley Gruel, Beef Tea, Milk Punch, Panada, . Sago, . Recipe for a Sore Throat, Natural Dentifrice, Barley Water, . Gruel, . Arrow Root, Decoction of Iceland Liverwort, White Wine Whey, Balm, Mint, and other Teas, Beef Tea, Veal Tea, Chicken Tea, . Toast and Water, Isinglass Jelly, - Calves' Feet Broth, Bread Jelly, A Mutton Custard, for a Cough, CORDIALS, : . Noyeau, : Lemon Cordial-Lemon Brandy, Cinnamon Cordial, Ginger Cordial, . ESSENCES, - Essence of Ginger, Essence of Allspice, Essence of Nutmeg, Clove or Mace, Essence of Cinnamon, - Essence of Seville Orange, and Lemon Peal, FLOWERS, . Management of Plants in Rooms, 1. Want of proper Light and Air, 2. Injurious Watering, 3. Filthiness collected on the Leaves, · 4. Being Potted in Unsuitable soil, PRESERVATION OF PLATE, . Cleaning Plate, .. PRESERVATION OF BEDS, CARPETS, &C., Brooms, • • Carpets, . . Cleaning Beds, . To Clean Carpets, 166 167 167 167 167 169 170. 170 171 171 171 171 171 171 172 173 173 174 175 175 176 176 178 180 181 182 183 xvi CONTENTS. DIRECTIONS FOR JOINTING, TRUSSING AND CARVING, Venison, . Beef, . Mutton, · Veal, Pork, Cod's Head, Haunch of Venison, Saddle of Mutton, Edge Bone of Beef, Fore Quarter of Lamb, Leg of Mutton, .. Shoulder of Mutton, Ham, - . Rabbit for Roasting, Rabbit for Boiling, Turkey for Roasting, Goose, Fowls for Roasting, Turkey, or Fowl, for Boiling, Back of a Fowl, .. Duck, . Pheasant, Partridge, Half a Calf's Head, Roasted Pig, Pigeons, - 201 201 202 202 203 203 204 204 205 206 206 207 208 209 209 210 211 211 212 212 213 214 215 15 215 216 217 THE HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON COMMENCING HOUSEKEEPING. The first care of a young married woman should be to ascertain, as precisely as possible, the sum of money which may be required annually towards the maintenance of her establishment; and then to form a determination to confine her expences within that sum. And, in order to enable herself to do this, she must be scrupulous to lay out, in every thing she purchases, a little less money than she can well afford. She must pause, before she rejects a house, which may, perhaps, be considered rather too small, but which, nevertheless, might be made to accommodate the fa- mily well enough; and which, at all events might be fitted up at a less cost than a larger one, and would certainly pre- sent a better appearance than a house that is rather too large for the quantity or for the style of its furniture, and which is also, perhaps, larger than is required for the number of its inhabitants. It is very easy to remove from a small to a large house, when circumstances require it, and when it is quite certain HOUSEKEE BOOK. that means will not be wanting to continue an increase of expenditure; but it is a very different case, when necessity compels the descent from a large house to a small one. It is so easy to increase in our wants, and so difficult to give up what we have been accustomed to regard as necessary to us, that it is much to be desired that young people should begin the world with caution, and not multiply their wants, lest, in time, they exceed the means for gratifying them. In buying furniture, I recommend every young lady to be content with that which is just good enough, rather than be induced to exceed her previous good intentions, and gra- tify her fancy at the expense of her comforts. She must not reject a sideboard, for instance, which would do very well, though it may not be of so new a fashion as another one, which would cost five, or probably, ten dollars more, but which would not answer the purpose any better. She must never yield to the seducing reflection, that "only five dol- lars more cannot make much difference;" for the same argu- ment may equally well call for a greater outlay in the sofa, the tables, the carpet, the curtains, the grate, and the fire- irons and fender; to say nothing of the lamps, the mirrors, and other articles of ornament, which fashion makes articles of necessity with some persons. If "only five dollars” be given for some of these, and two, or even one dollar, for others, more than is necessary, she will find that the “ differ- ence” is very great by the time that she has fitted up only one rooni. The rage for vieing with our neighbors shows itself in the bad taste by which houses are encumbered with unsuitable furniture. Massive sideboards, and large unwieldy chairs, occupy too much space in a small room, while heavy cur- tains and drapery, not only obscure the light, but they have an appearance rather inelegant than otherwise, whatever fashion may say, unless the room be large and lofty, or in HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. 15 proportion to the size and weight of the cornices, cords, tas- sels and other ornaments, which give offence to the eye when too gorgeous or prominent. Of equal bad taste with the choice of furniture, is the ha- bit of changing it occasionally, to suit the varying of fashions; and this is so much the practice, that I have known even people in trade, having families to provide for, change what appeared to me a sufficiently good dining table or a sofa, that promised to serve its purposes for a life-time, and to give money besides, in order to have other tables or sofas, which were no handsomer, but only a little more fashion- able. It is so strange, that persons pretending to gentility, should not rather imitate the better class of their superiors, some of whom seem to value their high-backed chairs the more because they are old, and would on no account exchange them for modern finery. It is quite a rarity, and to me a very pleasing one, to see good old-fashioned furniture, nice- ly polished and otherwise in good order. When I see showy furniture in the houses of people of small fortunes, I cannot help suspecting that it has been purchased without being paid for; the long upholsterer’s bill rises like a phan- tom before the couches, the ottomans, and the ottoman so- fas, which are crowded into small drawing rooms; and my feelings of regret become almost indignation, when I see plate, which belonged to fathers and mothers, or to grandfa- thers and grandmothers, and spoons, which have touched those lips which spoke tenderness to our infancy, about to be bartered for the “ Flower”, the “ Fiddle," or the “ Shell Patteru,” or for some other pattern that may happen to offer the newest temptation to vulgar taste. I would recommend to every young woman, who has the good taste to wish that her house may be characterised by its simplicity, and be more remarkable for comfort than for 16 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. show; I would strongly recommend her, if she wish to spare herself and her family much discomfort, to avoid having show-rooms; such rooms, I mean, as are considered to be too fine to be habitually occupied by the family to whom they belong, and such as are kept shut up, except on particular occasions, when, and perhaps only a few times in the course of a year, a fire is lighted in a fine drawing- room, which is put in order to receive guests. Upon such occasions, children are seen to stare and look about them, as if they had never beheld the place before; the master of the house fidgets from one seat to another, as if he were any where but at home; and most likely before the entertainment is over, the mistress of the house is heard to remark, that she is “never so comfortable as in the room she is accus- tomed to;" thereby letting her friends know how much she is put out of her way by having the pleasure of their company. And this is being refined! True hospitality would conceal from guests any little additional trouble which their presence may unavoidably occasion; but thanks to the improved taste of the times, there is little real hospitality left; all friendly intercourse seems lost in ostentatious display, and in the vain attempts of each friend to outshine the other. Most people acknowledge this to be the case, and lament that it is so; yet few have the courage to pursue a different system. It is rare that we find the album, the closeted curiosity, or even the conversation of the assembled company, having charms sufficient to dissipate that gloom which infallibly at- tends such hospitality. While she is fitting up her house, a young woman would do well to consider the number and the sort of servants she can afford to keep, and to regulate the style of the house accordingly. I recommend this to her in order that she may avoid that incongruity which one sometimes sees in houses where there is more ostentation than taste displayed, and HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. 17 where a country servant of no experience will hesitate to touch a china plate or a glass dish, as though it were a thing to bite her, and will, at last, perhaps, let it fall, from a trem- bling anxiety to hold it fast. China, plate, pictures, and all ornamental furniture, require peculiar nicety; and the dust- ing and polishing of these must be repeated daily, or they reflect discredit, not upon the servants, but upon the miso tress of the housc, who will, therefore, do well not to en- cumber herself with more of such things than she can easily have kept in good order. Flowers are the most beautiful ornaments, when nicely selected and arranged, that can belong to a house; for, though they perish, and do not last as a piece of china does, they afford infinite variety, and give such a liveliness and interest to every place that contains them, as no kind of manufac- ture, whether ancient or modern, ever did or will give. Perfect and uniform neatness is indispensable, as well to the comfort of a house, as to its good appearance. By uni- form neatness, I mean that nothing which presents itself, whether about the house, on the table, in the dress of ser- vants, or in the dress of children; no one thing should be left open to unfavorable remark. A young woman who re- laxes in attention to her own dress, merely because she has more important cares after, than she had before her marriage, does wrong; but she whose smart dress forms a contrast with the little soiled fingers which are forbidden to approach it; she who strikes the beholder as having bestowed care on herself, while her children bear the appearance of neglect, does infinitely worse. To preserve the neatness of a house, there must be more or less of constant attention. This will require strict watching on the part of the mistress. Sweep- ing, dusting, and polishing, should proceed daily, and should never wholly stop. Carpets should be swept every day with a hair broom; but only once a week with the car- 2* 18 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. pet broom, because it wears them: and damp tea-leaves should always be used, whether in sweeping carpets or boards, as they lay the dust, which would otherwise fly over the furniture, and again settle on the floor. Bed-room carpets should be in different pieces, and not be nailed to the floor, for the convenience of shaking, which may, then, easily be done once in a week. Bed rooms should be swept every day, and a damp mop passed under the beds, chests of drawers, &c. &c., which will remove all the flue and dust and prevent accumulation of dirt, so that the washing of boards will not be necessary during the winter, except oc- casionally. In summer, indeed, frequent washings refresh- en the air, and are very necessary. The use of the mop is not popular with housemaids, but is a good practice, ne- vertheless; for collections of light dust engender little insects which it is very difficult to get rid of. One branch of domestic duty which devolves upon the mistress of a house, is to keep an account of the expendi- ture of her family. She ought to make this as simple an af- fair as possible, by ascertaining, first, how much the house- keeping is to cost; that is to say, how much she can afford to expend in it; then, by keeping a very strict account of every article, for the first two months, and making a little allowance for casualties, she may be able to form an estimate for the year; and if she find that she has exceeded, in these two months, the allotted sum, she must examine each article, and deter- mine in which she can best diminish the expence; and then, having the average of two months to go by, she may calcu- late how much she is to allow, each month, for meat, bread, groceries, washing, &c. &c. Having laid down her plan, whatever excess she may be compelled to allow in one month, she must make up for in the next month. I should not advise the paying for every thing at the moment, but rather once a week; forif a tradesman omit to keep an account of the HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. money received for a particular article, he may, by mistake, make a charge as for something had extra and upon trust. A weekly account has every advantage of ready money, and it saves trouble. I should recoinmend that all tradespeople be paid on a Monday morning, the bills receipted, indorsed (with the date of the year on the outside), and put by in a portfolio or case where they may be easily referred to as vouchers, or to refresh the memory as to the price of any particular article. It is a satisfaction, independent of the pe- cuniary benefit, for the head of a family to be able, at the end of the year, to account to herself for what she has done with her money. Having established herself in the manner which I suggest; having, in the arrangement of her house, and in the choice of her servants, never lost sight of the two main objects of her care, namely, the comfort of her family, and the care of her purse; and having formed a plan for the maintenance of her household, which shall not allow its expenses to exceed the limits of her income, I advise every young woman to commence her housekeeping career by observing a strict ad- herence to order and regularity in the performance of those duties which devolve peculiarly upon herself; for, by so do- ing, she will not only set a good example to her family, but if the mistress of a house be regular in the superintendence of her domestic affairs, if she proceed, every day, to each department at the appointed time, and if she never pass over any neglect, in such a manner as to give her servants an idea that it had escaped her observation; if, in short, she be regular and punctual herself, her servants must be so too, and she will find that the business of housekeeping, which is, by the mismanagement of some persons, rendered so irk- some, will be to her a matter of no difficulty and of compa- ratively little labour. In addressing myself to young people, I do not think it HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. need seem impertinent if I venture a few hints on the sub- ject of company. I do not intend, by this, to dictate to my young readers the kind of visitors they should invite to their houses. Yet, there are some things to be observed, even on this point, that are not altogether foreign to my general purpose; for, whoever your chosen friends or companions may happen to be, the mode which you adopt of entertain- ing them must necessarily be a matter of importance among the affairs of your house, and therefore, properly comes within the scope of domestic economy. I would advise every young lady to make it a general rule, not to invite to her house such visitors as she cannot entertain without tres- passing on the comforts or conveniences of her family. True hospitality may be enjoyed without much ceremony, and may be offered in the plainest manner; but when efforts to be very hospitable make a disturbance of the usual arrange- ments of a house, they are inconsistent with their object. I should say, therefore, if I were giving advice to my own friend, let nothing be attempted which cannot be maintained without difficulty; let nothing be provided which cannot be provided in plenty; let nothing which is necessary be missed, and nothing produced which may appear to be out of place or uncalled for. In short, do nothing which you cannot real- ly afford to do; and the result will be, that while you con- sult your own ease, you will, at the same time, insure that freedom from restraint which contributes, more than all be- sides, to make visiting agreeable, and which never fails to create, in your departing guest, those mixed feelings of re- gret at going, but of pleasure at the prospect of returning, which are amongst the most flattering acknowledgements that genuine hospitality can receive. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. 21 HOUSEHOLD DUTIES AND OPERATIONS. HOUSE CLEANING IN SPRING. The Spring is more particularly the time for house clean- ing and bleaching linen, &c., though of course these mat- ters require attention in every month of the year; and as a servant has been known to begin scrubbing stairs from the bottom upwards, a few remarks on these common subjects may not be useless. Begin at the top of the house; first take up the carpets, and if they require it, send them at once to be scoured, that they may be ready to replace by the time the rooms are cleaned. Some persons object to send carpets and other things to a scourer, as their substance is in some degree injured by the process; they may be well cleaned by washing them with soda and water, after hav- ing been taken up, well beaten, and nailed down again. Remove all the furniture out of the room, have the chim- neys swept where fires have been in use, then scour the grates, &c.; wrap old towels (which should be set aside for such purposes) round the bristles of the broom, and sweep carefully and lightly the ceiling and paper; then with a flannel or sponge (which is preferable) and soap and water wash all the paint well, and as fast as one per- son wets let another follow with linen rags, and wipe the paint perfectly dry; let the windows be cleaned, and lastly, scrub the floor. The furniture should be well rubbed be- fore it is replaced. It is a good plan to have the paper swept every three or four months. If the curtains and hangings are moreen, it is better to take them down for the summer months, and after a thorough shaking and brushing to pin them up in paper, linen, or silk, with camphor, which is the best, cleanest and most agreeable preservative from moths. Some persons use powdered black pepper. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. PRESERVATION OF LINEN. The summer is the best season for examining and repair- ing household linen, as the days are long, and servants more at leisure from the absence of fires. Sheets should be turned sides to the middle before they get very thin to avoid patching, which has a very unsightly appearance. July is a good month for washing counterpanes, blankets, and heavy things in general, for they dry quickly, and are consequently of a better colour. MISCELLANEOUS DIRECTIONS. A cook should always be supplied with a piece of floor- cloth to put at the end of her kitchen table, in order to keep it clean, as the dirt and grease from saucepans is more easily removed from floor-cloth than from wood; little round mats about an inch thick, and the size of a common plate, made of platted straw, with a straw ring by which they may be hung up, are very useful during the process of cooking, to place under stew pans and saucepans, when it is necessary to put them on the table. In large establishments each servant should be furnished with brushes, pails, and whatever is requisite in her depart- ment, for her use solely; this prevents grumbling among servants; and in case of misuse or disappearance, blame will fall on the proper individual. It is astonishing how much confusion and discomfort may be avoided by attention to these trifles. A misutess should provide her housemaid with a pair of strong gloves and a large coarse apron to clean her grates, &c. &c., which enables her to keep herself fit to be seen if called away in a hurry. It is a good plan to give out on Saturday or Monday morning to each servant the quantity of soap allowed for HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. the week's consumption, as also of tea and sugar. Of the two latter a reasonable quantity is three Ounces of tea and three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar, or one pound of moist; half a pound of butter, and a quartern loaf. Calculating by this allowance a pretty correct estimate of what should be the week's expenditure may be made, varying occasionally with circumstances. Regularity and punctuality are para- mount qualifications in domestic management. If the mistress of a house possesses that useful and ad- mirable quality neatness, its effects will be seen extending through every department of her household, and order and re- gularity will reign to the exclusion of fidgetting, bustling, and eternal petty vexations. It is possible that very young housewives may require the information that there are four kinds of cloths which ought to be provided for the use of the kitchen-knife-cloths, dusters, tea, and glass-cloths. Of each of these eight may perhaps be sufficient, and if they be made of the materials proper for them, a servant will have no excuse for mistaking one for another, nor will a mistress fail, at a glance, to see if they be misappropriated. They should be placed, when clean from the wash, in four separate piles, in one of the dresser drawers, with the family breakfast-cloth, dinner-cloth and finger-napkins, tray and supper-cloths; here, too, the table-mats should be deposited, so that a servant, when going to lay the cloth, may experi- ence as little delay as possible. Knife-cloths should be made of very coarse brown harsh cloth (" sheeting,” as it is styled in the shops,) ell wide; one yard will make six, three in width, and half a yard in length. Dusters are generally made of a checked manu- facture of mixed cotton and flax; the cotton more readily picks up the dust, than pure linen. Half a yard square is the proper size. Tea and glass-cloths, three quarters in width, and one yard in length. These last-named cloths will be 24 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. found less “fluey,” or “linty” if they are made of sheets, which, having been “ turned” in time to prevent the ne- cessity and unsightliness of piecing, are beginning to wear thin; thus the credit of always having good sheets may be easily procured, by replacing those which are cut up with new ones, and, at the same time, a better and more eligible material obtained for glass-cloths. To ensure freedom from lint on glass, the last wipe should be given with a wash leather kept for the purpose. That open, pretty-looking 66 sleesy” cloth which is sold under the name of glass-cloth, is a perfect nuisance, and wears out incredibly soon. In addition to the above, most persons add knife-tray cloths, house-cloths for cleaning, pudding-cloths, cheese-cloths, (a very clear gauze-like linen for throwing over dishes of food, to the exclusion of flies, &c., unless a house is well sup- plied with gauze covers,) and round towels. Pillow-covers will be found of service in all families. They may be of the cheapest calico, made like a pillow- case, and tacked or run on to the pillows, occasionally re- moving them, that they may be washed;--once in the course of a twelvemoth will be often enough. The advan- tages resulting from the use of pillow-covers, are, that the ticking is thus preserved always fresh and clean; that a fine Holland pillow-case looks white and even, instead of the stripes of the ticking appearing through it; and that in the event of a pillow-case being on the decline, the flaws and thin places are not so apparent as they would be without the intervention of a calico cover. It is very important that servants should carefully sift their cinders, for which purpose they should be supplied with a proper cinder siſter to save them from unnecessary dirt. New made candles should never be burned, and ser- vants should be required to produce and burn up candle ends, to enable them to do which save-alls should be at hand. It HOUSE CLEANING. is but too true that in coals and candles, servants are in- clined to waste and extravagance. Wooden spoons are the best for cooking purposes, and it is a good plan to nail a piece of leather in some convenient place, with spaces between every nail, rather loose, to admit the handle of the spoon; they may be thus kept out of the way. HOUSE CLEANING IN AUTUMN. At this season all summer decorations should be forth with discarded, and every thing be ready to meet the sudden change in the weather, which may be expected from day to day. Carpets should be taken up and well beaten, to pre- vent the accumulation of the dust from fires upon summer dust, and the rooms scoured; muslin summer curtains should be removed, washed, and rough-dried, and be re- placed by the winter set; and every ornament should be discarded from the grates, in which, after being nicely cleaned, a fire should be laid ready to be lighted at a mo- ment's notice. Any small chimney ornament which would be injured by fire-dust, should either be removed or cover- ed. In cleaning rooms and furniture the housemaid should be directed to take out the hair or any moveable seats of chairs, and thoroughly beat out the sumıner's dust; and it is a good plan to wash with a flannel and soap and water (not soda,) all painted and wicker-bottomed chairs; it is al- lowing the dust to accumulate month after month which makes the furniture look so very soon shabby in some houses. Carpets should be occasionally wiped over with a wet cloth, and then rubbed hard till dry; by this means the carpet is brightened, and the room, if much in use, is greatly refreshed. It is very unwise to allow servants to do things “ any how," because there is no company; it is mis- taken kindness to the servant, and causes much discomfort to the mistress when she happens to have her friends about 26 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. her; for when servants are habitually permitted to spare themselves very much, they dislike the additional trouble of having things tidy, and their ill-humour and bustle produce the painful feeling to the friends that they are treated as strangers. Servants should therefore be obliged to pay the same attentions when the family is alone as when there are guests; they will get the advantage in the end. SERVANTS. The comfort and respectability of a house depend, in a great degree, upon the capability and the good conduct of the servants employed in it. Well dressed, that is to say, neatly dressed, clean looking, and well mannered servants always impress a visiter with a favourable idea of the house; while, on the contrary, there is no one so free from hasty judgment, as not to be more or less prejudiced against the mistress of a house, by the untidy appearance or the awk- ward behaviour of her domestics. Good servants, those who understand their work, and are capable of fulfilling their respective offices without being constantly looked after, are worth any thing in the way of wages, compared to the ignorant and incapable ones who perform their services only as they are directed at every turn. A few dollars a year more to a good servant, than is given to a bad one, ought not, therefore, to be a consideration, the difference in wages being the only difference in cost; for the one consumes as much as the other; and the bad servant is, besides, the more likely of the two to waste, break, or damage whatever may be placed under her care. In order to keep servants from neglecting their work, it HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. of their own orderly ways, there really is no such thing as comfort or rest in a badly managed house, for such servants as are conscientious enough to wish to do their own duty and to consult the interests of those who employ them. The hours for going to bed and getting up should be as early as possible, consistently with the other arrangements of the house. It ought to be the care of some one of the family them- selves, to see that fires have been put out, and that doors and windows have been secured. The honesty of servants depends greatly upon the sort of bringing up they have had. But it also often depends, and with young servants especially, upon the temptations to be dishonest that they may have had to contend with; and it behoves every master and mistress to study to prevent all such temptations as much as possible. The practice of lock- ing up does not, as a matter of course, imply distrust, but it denotes care; and a better principle than that of careful- ness can scarcely be instilled into the mind of a poor person. I would as scrupulously avoid any thing which could lead a servant to imagine that I locked up my drawer or my tea- chest from her, as I would avoid giving the same idea to any lady of my acquaintance; but I should think myself criminal to leave tea, sugar, wine, or other things, open at all times, or only every now and then to have them locked up. The habit is bad; and it is the result, not of generosity, but of negligence; it is a habit, also, which cannot fail to excite in the minds of experienced and well disposed servants, feel- ings rather of contempt than of respect for their employers: while to the young, and more particularly to the already evil disposed, it is nothing less than a facility offered for the commission of crime. I have no doubt that thieving ser- vants have often begun by deeds of comparative innocence. Little pilferings at the tea-chest, perhaps, have been the be- ginning of that which has ended in the depriving a poor girl of her good character, and, consequently, of all chance of THE KITCHEN. gaining her bread by honest means. To suspect all servants of being thieves, or disposed to become so, merely because they are servants, is as silly as it is unfeeling. I should ne- ver hesitate to give my keys to a servant, when it happened to be inconvenient to me to leave company, any more than I should hesitate to intrust them to one of my own family; but this act of confidence is far different in its effects from that neglect which often proceeds from mere idleness, and, while it proclaims a disregard of the value of property, is the occasion of so much waste, and in the end proves as ruinous to the employer as it is fatal in the way of example to the servant. That " servants are great plagues” may be the fact; but I am, nevertheless, bold enough to assert that it is a greater plague to be without them. When all the hardships which belong to the life of a maid-servant are taken into considera- tion (which I am afraid they very rarely are), the wonder is, that the greater part of this class of persons are not rendered less obliging and less obedient to the will of their employers, and more callous to their displeasure, than we really find them. THE KITCHEN. The benefit of a good kitchen is well known to every housekeeper, but it is not every mistress that is aware of the importance of having a good cook. I have seen kitchens which appeared to be fitted up with every conve- nience, and certainly at considerable expence, which yet failed to send forth good dinners, merely because the lady of the house was not happy in her choice of a cook. I do not in the least admire epicures, or epicurism; and yet I would be more particular in the selecting of the servant who is to perform the business of preparing thə 3* 30 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. food of the family, than I should deem it necessary to be in selecting any of the other servants. In large estab- lishments there is a greater quantity of cookery to be per- formed, and consequently, a greater quantity of waste is likely to be caused by unskilful cooks, than there can be in small families; but even in the latter, I have known con- siderable waste to be the consequence of saving a few pounds a year in the wages of a cook. An experienced cook knows the value of the articles submitted to her care; and she knows how to turn many things to account, which a person unacquainted with cooking would throw away. A good cook knows how to convert the remains of one dinner into various dishes to form the greater part of another dinner; and she will also, be more capable than the other of forwarding her mistress's charitable inten- tions; for her capability in cooking will enable her to take advantage of every thing which can be spared from the con- sumption of the family, to be converted into nourishing food for the poor, for those of her own class, who have not the comfort of a home such as she herself enjoys. The cook who knows how to preserve the pot-liquor of fresh meat to make soup, will, whenever she boils mutton, fowls, or rabbits, carefully take off the scum as it rises; and by adding peas, vegetables to flavour, seasonings and crusts of bread, she will make some tolerable soup for poor peo- ple, out of materials which an inexperienced cook would be very likely to throw away. Of the same importance as the cooking, is neatness in serving the dinner, for there is a vast difference in its ap- pearance, if it be neatly and properly arranged, in hot dishes, the vegetables and sauces suitable to the meat, and they apparently just taken from the fire; there is a vast difference between a dinner so served, and one a part of which is either too much or too little cooked, the meat THE KITCHEN. 31 parting from the bone in one case, or looking as if it were barely warmed through in the other case; the gravy chilled and turning to grease, some of the vegetables watery, and the others crisp, while the edges of the dishes are slopped, and the block tin covers look dull, if not smeary. A leg of mutton or piece of beef either boiled or roasted, so com- monly the dinner of a plain living family, requires as much attention, skill and nicety, as does the most compli- cated of made dishes; and a plain dinner well cooked, and neatly served, is as tempting to the appetite, as it is credit- able to the mistress of the house, who invariably, and justly suffers in the estimation of her guests, for the want of ability in her servants. Sauce-pans should be washed and scoured as soon as possible after they have been used; wood ashes, or very fine sand may be used for scouring; but the scouring should not be done with a heavy hand. They should be rinsed in clean water, and wiped dry, for they will rust, and then be turned down, on a clean shelf. The upper rim may be kept bright, but it does seem labour lost to scour that part where the fire reaches; besides which, the more they are scoured, the more quickly they wear out. Copper utensils must be well tinned, or they become poisonous. Never allow any thing to be put by in a copper vessel; but the fatal consequences of neglect in this particular have been too frequent, and are too well known for it to be ne- cessary that I should say much in the way of caution. The fire-place of a kitchen is a matter of great impor- tance. I have not, it is certain, been so circumstanced as to witness the operations of many of the newly invented steam kitchens and cooking apparatuses which the last twenty years have produced, but those which I have seen, have failed to give me satisfaction. To say the truth, the inventors of cast-iron kitchens seem to me to have had 32 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. every other object in view, but that of promoting good cooking. It is certainly desirable and proper that every possible saving should be made in the consumption of fuel; but I am sure it is not possible to have cooking in perfection, without a proper degree of heat, and, as far as my observation has gone, meat cannot be well roasted un- less it be before a good fire. I should save in many other things rather than in fuel, and I am often puzzled to ac- count for the false economy which leads some people to be sparing of their fuel, at the same time they are lavish in other things infinitely less wanted. A cook has many trials of her temper, but none so difficult to bear as the annoyance of a bad fire; for with a bad fire she is never able to cook her dinner well, however much she may fret herself in the endeavour; and the waste caused by the spoil- ing in cooking meat, fish, poultry, game, &c. is scarcely made up for by saving a few cents in fuel. “Economy in fuel” is become so popular, that all sorts of inventions are resorted to, in order to go without fire; and the price of coals or wood is talked of in a fine drawing room, where the shivering guest turns, but turns in vain, to seek com- fort from the fire, which, alas! the brightly polished grate does not contain. The beauty of the cold marble structure which rises above it, and is reflected in the opposite mir- ror, is a poor compensation for the want of warmth. I advise all young housekeepers to bear in mind that of the many things which may be saved in a house, without les- sening its comforts, firing is not one. It is best to make a provision of fuel in the month of August or September, and in sufficient quantity to last until the spring. It should be of the best kind; and should be paid for in ready money, in order to prevent an additional charge for credit. The first year of housekeep- ing will give the mistress a pretty correct average to go by; HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. by a bit of this one, a pinch of that one, a scrape of ano- ther, and so on. As soon after breakfast as she conveniently can, the mis- tress of a house should repair to the kitchen; which ought to be swept up, the fire-place cleaned, teakettles, coffeepots, and any thing else which has been used in preparing the breakfast, put in their appropriate places, and the cook ready to receive her orders for the day. Without being parsi- monious in her household, the mistress should see, with her own eyes, every morning, whatever cold meat, re- mains of pastry, bread, butter, &c. &c. there may be in the larder, in order that she may be able to judge of the fresh supply, which it may be necessary for her to make. Having done that, she should proceed to the store room, to give to the cook, the house-maid, and any other servants, such stores as they may each require for the day. This will take up very little time, if it be done regularly every morning; and this done, she will do well not to delay going to make her purchases, at once; lest visitors, or any acci- dental circumstance, should cause her to be late in her marketing, and so to derange the regularity of the dinner hour, the servants work, &c. &c. Many ladies in conse- quence of their own ill health, or that of their children, are compelled to employ their servants to make their pur- chases for them; but when they can avoid doing so it is much better. I do not say this from a suspicion that either tradespeople or servants are always likely to take advantage of an opportunity to impose upon their customers or their employers, but because I think that this important part of household management ought to be conducted by some one of the family, who must necessarily be more interested in the disposal of money properly than any servant can be. Besides which, more judgment is required to be here exer- cised than all servants possess. It may, for instance, occur, BOILING. 35 that a servant is sent to a fishmonger's for a certain quantity of fish; and she obeys the order given her, and brings home the fish, but at a higher price, perhaps, than her mistress expected. Now if the lady had gone to market herself, she might have used her own discretion, in case she found that the weather, or any other circumstance had raised the price of fish for that day, she might make a less expensive fish suit her purpose, or turn to the butcher to supply her table. And this will also apply to the poulterer as well as to the butcher. Then, there is the hindrance to a servant in her work, if she be sent here and there, during the early part of the day; and on the other hand, there is the benefit which the lady of the house would derive by being compelled to be out of doors, and in exercise, for even a short time, almost every day. BOILING. THERE is no branch of cookery which requires more nicety than plain boiling, though, from its simplicity, many cooks think it requires less attention than some others. They think that to put a piece of meat into water, and to make that boil for a given length of time, is all that is need- ful; but it is not so. To boil a leg of mutton, or a fowl, as it ought to be boiled, requires as much care as to com- pound a made-dish. Meat which is poor and tough cannot he made tender and fine flavoured by boiling; but that which was, to all appearance, very fine meat before it was put into the pot, has often been taken out really good for noth- ing. And many a butcher and poulterer have been blamed, when the fault was wholly the cook’s. Meat should be put into cold water, and there should be 36 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. just enough of that to cover it, and no more. The longer in reason it is coming to a boil, the better: as a gradual heat- ing produces tenderness, and causes a separation from the meat of the grosser particles, which rise in the shape of scum to the surface, and which should be carefully taken off. The finest leg of mutton that was ever placed on a table, must be disgusting, if garnished with flakes of black scum. Care should be taken to watch the first moment of the scum's appearing in order to remove it, and then, by throwing in a little salt, the remainder will be caused to rise; and if the fast boiling of the water render the scum- ming difficult, pour in a very little cold water. The prac- tice of boiling meat, such as poultry, veal, and lamb, in flowered cloths, to keep it white, must have been the in- vention of lazy cooks as well as of tasteless and extrava- gant housewives; for the meat is rendered less juicy by this process, and the liquor in which it has been boiled, so good for broth or gravy, must be lost. When the pot has been well scummed, and no more scum is to be seen, set it in such a situation on, or by, the fire, that it may continue to boil gently and regularly, for the time that the meat may require; and see that it do not stop boiling altogether at one time, and then be hurried to a wal- lop at another time, for this dries up its juices, hardens the meat, and tears it. A kettle of boiling water should be al- ways at hand, wherewith to replenish the pot, as the quan- tity diminishes, taking heed not to exceed the original quantity namely, enough to cover the meat, for the less water there is, the better will the broth prove. Salted meat, if very salt, should be washed, and, in some cases, soaked before it is boiled, as likewise all smoked meat. If there be an apprehension of its being too little salted, it must not be either washed or scraped, and may BOILING. 37 be put on to boil, in water a little heated, because a slow process would help to freshen it. No positive rule can be given for the time required to cook meat by boiling, any more than by roasting, for much depends on its freshness, and a piece of solid meat requires a longer time to boil than a joint of equal weight but of less thickness. Salted meat, and smoked meat require longer boiling than fresh meat, veal longer than beef, mutton or lamb; and pork, though ever so little salted, still longer than veal. A leg of mutton which has hung long, will boil in less time than one which is quite or nearly fresh; but then the former ought not to be boiled at all, it ought to be roasted, for the fire takes away mustiness, and all the little impurities with which the boiling water would only tend still more to impregnate the meat. A quarter of an hour, and a quart of water, to every pound of meat is the old- fashioned rule for boiling meat, but practice must teach this, as well as many other of the most important parts of culinary science. And by a little care and attention, a cook will soon gain sufficient experience, to preserve her from the risk of sending a joint to table either underdone, or in the shape of a bundle of rags. When meat is sufficienıly boiled, take it up directly; and if it have to wait, stand it over the pot it has been cooked in, to keep it hot; remaining in the water will sod- den it. The next thing for consideration, after that of cooking the meat properly, is the turning to account the liquor in which it has been boiled. This, let the meat be what it may, is good as a foundation for soups and gravies, unless it be the liquor of ham or bacon, and that can only be used in small quantities, to flavour other liquor; but in this way it is of great value. Nothing is so good as the liquor of pork, to make peas soup. When the liquor of boiled meat ROASTING. 39 clean, and take care to run it through the meat, in the right place, at once, for the more the meat is perforated the greater chance there will be given for the escape of the gravy. There is a great nicety required in spitting, in order that the joint may be accurately balanced. In the ab- sence of spits, and smoke-jacks, a bottle jack, or a good stout nail with a strong string or a skein of worsted, will dangle a joint, and if the fire be made proportionably high to the length of the joint, there is no better mode of roast- ing. A strong skewer must be run in, at each end of the joint, in order that it may be turned. The larger the joint the greater distance it should, at first, be placed from the fire, that the outside may not be shrivelled up, before the middle is warmed. A quarter of an hour to a pound of meat, is also the rule for roasting, and it ad- mits of the same exceptions as in the case of boiling, with this addition, that fat meat takes longer to roast than lean meat, as do pork and veal, longer than any other kind of meat. Fillets and legs, on account of their solidness, long- er than loins and breasts. Much depends upon the situa- tion of the fire-place, and whether the joint be exposed to draughts of cold air, or whether it be preserved from them, and the fire assisted, by a meat screen. Where there is none, a contrivance must be resorted to, by way of substi- tute, such as small wooden horses, or chairs, with cloths hung over them, placed round the fire; these will keep off the cold, but a meat screen lined with tin, keeps in the heat, and acts as a reflector. Twice, or if the roast be a large one, oftener, remove the dripping pan, pour off the dripping (it ought to be strained), draw the spit to a distance, and stir the fire, bring forward the hot coals, and put fresh fuel at the back. Be careful that cinders do not reach the dripping-pan, for the smoke which BROILING. It must be strong, bright and clear, and entirely free from smoke; if it is half burnt down, so much the better. There should be two gridirons in the kitchen, one for meat and poultry, and the other for fish. Those which are contrived to hang before the fire are very useful in some cases. A gridiron should be rubbed clean immedi- ately after it has been used, and never set aside with a particle of grease or soot attached to it. Just before you lay meat on it, and after you have made it hot, rub the gridiron with a piece of fresh suet, if for meat; if for fish, rub with a bit of chalk. A pair of steak- tongs, to turn with, are indispensable. Above all things it is necessary to the eating of a broil, that it be served immediately after it is done, that it be closely covered on its way from the fire to the table, and that the plates off which it is eaten, as well as the dish, on which it is served, be hot. No skill in broiling will render tough beef fit to be eaten. Steaks are best when cut from the middle of the rump, after the meat has been killed five days, (if the weather permit,) or even longer, to ensure their being tender. They should be of about three quarters of an inch in thickness; beat them a very little. Sprinkle a little salt over the fire, lay the steaks on the hot gridiron, turn them frequently, and when the fat blazes and smokes much, quickly remove the grid- iron for an instant till that be over, and the steak will be sufficiently done, in from ten to twelve minutes. Have a hot dish by the side of the fire ; and, to gratify the taste of some persons, rub it with a piece of eschalot; at all events, let the dish be hot, and as you turn the steaks, from time to time, if there be any gravy on the top, drop it into the dish. Before you dish them, you may, if you like, put a piece of fresh butter, and a spoonful of cat- s'ip in the dish; then sprinkle the steaks with a little COOKING OF MEAT. 43 which they might otherwise obtain, by neglecting this, and similar niceties of the kitchen department. The pan should be thick at the bottom; indeed the generality of frying pans are too thin; an oval shape is the best, particularly for fish. The fire must not be fierce, as fat will scorch very soon, and the meat, in that case, be burnt, before it is cooked; neither must it be too slack, for then the meat will be sod- dened; and if it be fish, be of a bad colour, and not crisp. The heat of the pan may be ascertained by throwing a bit of bread in it; if the pan be too hot the bread will be quickly burnt up. The fat in which veal, lamb or sweetbreads have been fried, will do to fry fish with: let it stand to settle, then pour the top carefully from the sediment and put it by. The fat will be the richer, for the meat which has been cooked in it, and this will not injure the fish. Fritters and all pastry or sweet things, must be fried in good butter, lard or oil. Particular skilfulness is required to fry fish nicely, and this skill is attainable only by practice. To ascer- tain the heat of the pan, dip the tail of the fish into the boiling fat, and if it become quickly crisp, the pan is ready. Fries, as well as broils, must be served hot, and as soon as they are taken off the fire, or they will be spoiled. COOKING OF MEAT. BEEF. Beef Steaks broiled.-Cut your steaks rather thick, beat them well, then broil them on a gridiron over a clear, quick fire; but before you broil your steaks make a preparation with 46 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. The Fry contains the sweetbreads, and skirts, with some of the liver. A Stuffed Loin of Mutton.—Take the skin off a loin of mutton with the flap on; bone it neatly; make a nice veal stuffing and fill the inside of the loin with it where the bones were removed; roll it up tight, skewer the flap, and tie twine round it to keep it firmly together; put the outside skin over it till nearly roasted, and then remove it that the mutton may brown. Serve with a nice gravy. Boiled Leg of Lamb.-It should be boiled in a cloth that it may look as white as possible. Cut the loin in steaks, dip them in egg, strew them over with bread-crumbs, and fry them a nice brown, serve them round the dish, and gar- nish with dried or fried parsley; serve with spinach to eat with it. Quarter of Lamb Roasted. Take a fore-quarter of lamb, lard the upper side of the joint with lean bacon, and sprin- kle the other side thick with bread crumbs; then cover with paper to prevent the meat from being burnt, and roast it. When nearly done, take it from the fire, and cover the part that has not been larded, a second time, with bread crumbs, seasoned with salt, and parsley chopped very fine; then put the lamb again before a bright fire to brown it. Lamb to Roast or Boil.--A quarter of an hour is gene- rally allowed to each pound of meat; a leg of lamb of five pounds will therefore take an hour and a quarter to roast or boil, the other joints in the same proportion. Mutton.--The pipe that runs along the bone of the in- side of a chine of mutton ought to be taken away; and if it is to be kept any length of time, the part close round the tail should be rubbed with salt, previously cutting out the kernel. It is best for the butcher to take out the kernel in the fat on the thick part of the leg, as that is the part most likely to COOKING OF MEAT. become tainted. The chine and rib-bones should be wiped every day; and the bloody part of the neck be cut off, in or- der to preserve it. The brisket changes first in the breast; therefore, if it is to be kept, it is best, should the weather be hot, to rub it with a little salt. When intended for roasting, it should hang as long as it will keep, the hind quarter particularly; but not so long as to become tainted. Mutton for boiling ought not to hang long, as it will pre- vent its looking of a good colour. The greatest care should be taken to preserve, by paper, the fat of what is roasted. Mutton Broth.—Take two pounds of scrag of mutton, take out the blood, put it into a stew pan, and cover it with cold water; and when the water is lukewarm, pour it off, skim it well; then put it in again with four or five pints of water, a tea-spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of grits, and an onion; set it on a slow fire, and when you have taken all the scum off, put in a few turnips, let it simmer very slowly for two hours, and strain it through a clean sieve. Mutton Broth.—Cut a neck of mutton into pieces, pre- serving a handsome piece to be served up in the tureen; put all into a stew pan with three quarts of water, with a little oatmeal mixed in it; some turnips, onions, leeks, celery cut in pieces, and a small bunch of thyme and pars- ley. When it boils, skim it clean, and when nearly done, take out the piece you intend to serve in the tureen, and let the other pieces stew till tender; then have ready turnips cut into dice, some leeks, celery, half a cabbage, some parsley, all cut small, wash them, strain the liquor off the meat, skim it free from the fat, add it to the ingredients with the piece of mutton intended for the tureen, adding a little pearl barley. Season with salt, simmer all together till done, and serve with toasted bread on a plate. 48 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. Haunch of Mutton. It should be kept as long as you can possibly keep it sweet hy the different modes; and if necessary, wash it with warm milk and water, or vinegar, and when going to be dressed, be careful to wash it well, to prevent the outside from having a bad flavour from keeping; before you put the haunch to the fire, fold it in a paste of coarse flour, or strong paper; then set it a good distance from the fire, and allow proportionable time for the paste; do not take it off, till about thirty-five or forty minutes before serving the mutton, and then baste continually; bring the haunch nearer before taking off the paste, and froth it up in the same manner as venison. For gravy, take a pound and a half of loin of mutton, and simmer it in a pint of water till reduced to half, use no seasoning but salt; brown it with a little burnt sugar, and serve it up in the dish; but there should be a good deal of gravy in the meat, for though long at the fire, the covering and distance will prevent its roast- ing out. Serve with currant-jelly sauce. Leg of Mutton—If your leg of mutton is roasted, serve with onion or currant-jelly sauce; if it is boiled, serve with caper-sauce and vegetables. In roasting or boiling, a quar- ter of an hour is usually allowed for each pound of meat. Leg of Mutton Stuffed.-- Make a stuffing with a little beef-suet chopped, some parsley, thyme, marjoram, a little grated lemon, nutmeg grated, pepper, salt, and a few bread crumbs, mix all together with the yolk of an egg, put this under the skin in the thickest part of a leg of mutton under the flap; then roast it, and serve it to table with some good gravy in the dish. Loin of Mutton-Roast it; some people think it eats much better if cut lengthways, like a saddle. It may also be used for steaks, pies, or broth, only taking care to cut off as much fat as possible. Neck of Mutton. This joint is particularly useful, as so COOKING OF MEAT. many dishes may be made of it. The bone ought to be cut short. The best end of the neck may be boiled, and served with turnips: or if you think proper, it may be roasted, or dressed in steaks, or made into pies, or used for larrico. You may stew the scrags in broth, or in a little water, with small onions, some peppercorns, and a small quantity of rice, all served together. When you wish that a neck which is to be boiled should look particularly well, saw down the chine bone, strip the ribs half way down, and chop off the ends of the bones about four inches. To make the fat look particularly white, the skin should not be taken off till it is boiled. The fat belonging to the neck or loin of mutton, if chopped very fine, makes a most excellent suet-pudding or crust for a meat pie. Mutton Pie.—Take off the meat from a part of a loin of mutton, cut it into chops, and season with pepper and salt. Put a layer of chops into a deep dish, and upon them some slices of peeled potatoes, and some thin slices of onion; put the remaining chops over, cover with puff-paste, bake it. The chops may be passed with sweet herbs, &c., and when cold, put into small or large raised crusts, with potatoes. Shoulder of Mutton Stewed with Oysters.-Let it hang for some days, then salt it well for two days; bone it, and sprinkle it with pepper and a bit of mace pounded, lay some oysters over, and roll the meat up tight, and tie it. Stew it in a little water, with an onion, and a few peppercorns, un- til it is quite tender. Have ready a little good gravy, and some oysters stewed in it; thicken it with some flour and butter, and when the tape is taken off the mutton, pour this sauce over it. Be careful to keep the stewpan closely cov- ered. 50 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. Mutton Steaks Broiled.-Cut some mutton steaks from the loin, about half an inch thick, take off the skin, and part of the fat. As soon as the gridiron is hot, rub it with a lit- tle suet, lay on the steaks (place the gridiron over the fire aslant), turn the steaks frequently: when they are done, put them into a hot dish, rub them with a little butter. VEAL. When the head is fresh, the eyes will appear full; if the shoulder vein is of a clear red, it is good; when there is any green or yellow spots, it is stale; the breast and neck, when good, should look white and clear; the loin is very apt to taint under the kidney, it will be soft and slimy when stale. Veal should never be kept long undressed, as it by no means improves from keeping. Boiled Veal.-Veal should be well boiled, in a good deal of water; if boiled in a cloth, it will be whiter; serve it with tongue, bacon, or pickled pork, greens of any sort, and carrots, or onion sauce, white sauce, oyster sauce, parsley and butter, or white celery sauce. Veal Broth.—Stew a knuckle of veal in a gallon of water, with two ounces of rice or vermicelli, a little salt, and a blade of mace. When thoroughly boiled and the liquor reduced to half, it is fit for use. Cold Veal Hashed.-Cut it in slices, flour it, put it into a saucepan with a little good gravy, some grated lemon- peel, pepper, salt, and ketchup. Make it hot, then add a little lemon-juice. Minced Veal.—Cut the veal into very small pieces, but do not chop it: take a little white gravy, a little cream or milk, a bit of butter rolled in flour, and some grated lemon- peel; let these boil till of the consistence of a fine thick cream; shake flour over the veal, and sprinkle it with a little salt, and white pepper; put it into the saucepan to COOKING OF MEAT. the other ingredients, and make it quite hot, but be careful that it does not boil after the veal has been put in, or it will be hard; before being taken up, squeeze in some juice of lemon, serve it on a dish over toasted bread. Veal Pie.--Take a neck, or nut, cut out the fillet, cut it into collops, stir it over a quick fire with a bit of butter till it becomes brown; then set it to stew with a little pep- per, and in just sufficient water to cover it, until done enough; then take it off the fire and let it cool. Line a dish with puff paste, and lay in the veal, with thin slices of ham be- tween; add the yolks of hard boiled eggs, a little pepper and salt, and half of the gravy the veal has been stewed in; put on the lid, trim it neatly, form a star of leaves upon the top, egg, and bake it: then pour in the remainder of the gravy, heated with a ttle buttersauce. Breast of Veal Roasted.—Breast of veal should be roasted with the caul on till almost done enough, then take it off; flour, and baste it. Loin of Veal Roasted.-Spit the loin, roast and baste it with butter; place under it a dish with some vinegar, a little sage, rosemary and thyme; let the gravy drop into this dish; when the veal is done, take it up, make the herbs and gravy hot, and pour it into the dish with the meat. Neck of Veal Boiled.-Chop off the chine bone from a fine white neck of veal, sprinkle it with flour, put it in cold water, boil it very gently, taking care to skim it well; when done, serve it with parsley and butter, oyster sauce, or garnished with tongue or ham. Shoulder of Veal Roasted.-Cut off the knuckle for a stew of gravy, stuff the shoulder with the following ingre- dients:-some suet, chopped fine, parsley and sweet herbs, shred fine breadcrumbs, and grated lemon-peel, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and yolk of egg; whilst roasting, flour and baste it; veal requires being more done than beef. 52 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. Veal Sweetbreads. They are of themselves, generally considered very insipid, and are, therefore, usually served with a sharp relishing sauce; in whatever manner they are dressed, they commonly take their name from the sauce with which they are served. Veal Sweetbreads Fried.-Cut them in long slices, and with a feather do them all over with yolk of egg; make a seasoning of pepper, salt, and grated bread; do them over with this, and fry them in butter; serve with butter sauce, with a little ketchup mixed in, or with gravy, or lemonsauce. Veal Sweetbreads to Stew.—Parboil them, and stew them in a white gravy; add cream, four, butter, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Calf's Head.—Clean it very nicely, and soak it in water, that it may look very white; take out the tongue to salt, and the brains to make a little dish. Boil the head extremely tender; then strew it over with breadcrumbs and parsley chopped, and brown it. Boil the brains, and mix them with melted butter, scalded sage chopped, pepper and salt; lay them on a dish, and the tongue in the middle. Calf's Head Hashed.-Boil the head almost enough, and take the meat of the best side neatly from the bone, and lay it in a small dish; wash it over with the yolks of two eggs, and cover it with crumbs, a few herbs nicely shred, a little pepper, salt, and nutmeg, all mixed together pre- viously. Set the dish before the fire, and keep turning it now and then, that all parts may be equally brown. In the mean time slice the remainder of the head, and the tongue, (peeled;) put a pint of good gravy into a pan, with an onion, a small bunch of herbs, (consisting of parsley, basil, savory, knotted marjoram, and a little thyme,) a little salt and cayenne, a glass of sherry, and a little oyster liquor: boil this for a few minutes, and strain it upon the meat, which must be sprinkled with flour. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. good-sized fowl will take from three quarters of an hour to an hour in roasting, a middling-sized one about half an hour, and a very small one, or chicken, twenty minutes. Tame fowls require more roasting, and are longer in heating through than others. All sorts should be continually basted, that they may be served with a froth, and appear of a fine colour. The fire must be very quick and clear before any fowls are put down. For boiling, choose those that are not black-legged; pick them carefully, singe, wash, and truss them. Flour them, and put them in boiling water; a good-sized one will be done in half an hour. Fowls Boiled with Rice.-Stew a fowl in some well skimmed clear mutton broth, and seasoned with onion, mace, pepper, and salt. About half an hour before it is ready, put in a quarter of a pint of rice well washed and soaked. Simmer till tender; then strain it from the broth, and put the rice on a sieve before the fire. Keep the fowl hot, lay it in the middle of a dish, and the rice round it with- out the broth. The less liquor the fowl is done with, the better. Serve with gravy, or parsley and butter for sauce. Chicken Currie. Take the skin off, cut up a chicken, and roll each piece in currie-powder and four (mixed to- gether, a spoonful of flour to half an ounce of currie,) fry two or three sliced onions in butter; when of a light brown, put in the meat and fry them together till the meat becomes brown; then stew them together with a little water for two or three hours. More water may be added if too thick. Chicken Salad.-Cut cold roast fowl into small long pieces, taking off the skin. Lay some lettuce, cut small, at the bottom of a salad-bowl, put the chicken on it with all sorts of salading, hard eggs cut in quarters, anchovies, cut in slips, season with the usual salad dressing. COOKING OF MEAT. TURKEYS. Roasted Turkey.-It may be either stuffed with sausage meat, or stuffing the same as for fillet of veal. As this makes a large addition to the size of the bird, take care that the heat of the fire is constantly to that part, as it frequently happens that the breast is not sufficiently done. A strip of paper should be put on the bone to prevent its scorching, while the other parts are roasting. Baste well, and froth it up. Serve with gravy in the dish, and bread sauce in a sauce tureen. A few breadcrumbs, and a beaten egg should be added to the stuffing of sausage meat. Hashed Turkey.-Stir a piece of butter rolled in flour into some cream, and a little veal gravy, till it boils up; mince some cold roasted or boiled turkey, but not too small; put it into the sauce, add grated lemon-peel, white pepper, pounded mace, a little ketchup; simmer it up, and serve. Oysters may be added. GEESE. To Choose Geese.—Be careful in choosing a goose that the bill and feet are yellow, as it will be young: when old the feet and bill are red. When they are fresh the feet are pliable; if stale they are dry and stiff. Goose Roasted.-A goose should be stuffed with sage and onions, chopped small, and mixed with pepper and salt; boil the sage and onion in a litle water before they are chopped, or mix a few breadcrumbs with them when chopped; either will render them less strong. Put it first at a distance from the fire, and by degrees draw it nearer. A slip of paper should be skewered on the breast bone. Baste it very well. When the breast is rising, take off the paper, and be careful to serve it before the breast falls, it will be spoiled by coming to table flattened. Serve it COOKING OF MEAT. 57 fat being impregnated with small kernels. If the rind is tough, thick, and cannot easily be impressed by the finger, it is old. Pork fed at still houses does not answer for curing any way, the fat being spongy. Dairy fed pork is the best. Directions for Choosing Ham.-- In choosing a ham, run a knife into it at the knuckle; if it comes out clean and smells sweet, the ham is good; but, if on the contrary, the blade of the knife is smeared and smells rank, it is not good. To Boil Ham.—Soak the ham according to its age, for twelve or twenty-four hours. Put it into a large saucepan full of cold water, and if a small one, let it simmer for two hours, and then boil an hour and a half, when done pull off the skin. Hog's Lard.—The lard should be carefully melted in a jar, put into a kettle of water and boiled; run it into blad- ders that have been particularly well cleaned. It is best to have the bladders small, as the lard will keep better, for, after the air reaches it, it becomes rank. Whilst it is melt- ing, put in a sprig of rosemary. This being a very useful article in frying fish, it should be prepared with great care. Mixed with batter, it makes a fine crust. Roasted Pig.--A pig to roast is best from three to four weeks old. Prepare a stuffing with slices of bread and butter sprinkled well with chopped sage, and seasoned with pepper and salt, laying five or six slices one upon another, and put them into the inside of the pig; skewer it well, to prevent it from falling out, and then spit it, previously rubbing it over with sweet oil; put it down before a moderate fire to roast for two hours, more or less, according to its size; when thoroughly done, take off the head, and split the pig straight down the back COOKING OF MEAT. t in the oven, the cover, take our quantity of gravy of the seasoning at the bottom of the dish, and put in the rabbits; pound some more bacon in a mortar, mix with it some fresh butter, and cover the rabbits with it, and over that lay thin slices of bacon; put on the cover, and place it in the oven, it will be done in about two hours. When baked, take off the cover, take out the bacon, skim off the fat, and if there is not a sufficient quantity of gravy, add some rich mutton or veal gravy. To Roast Rabbits.--They may be roasted with stuffing, and gravy. Serve with sauce made of the liver and parsley chopped in melted butter, pepper and salt. · To Smother Rabbits.—Truss and boil them, taking care to bring them gently to a boil, and then to let them simmer gently by the fire till they are done. Make some nice smooth onion sauce, or, if that be too strong, of half onion, and half apple, turnip, or bread, and melt the butter of which this is made, wit milk or cream, in order that it may look white. When the rabbits are done, pour this hot over them. VENISON. The choice of venison should be regulated by the appear- ance of the fat, which, when the venison is young, looks thick, clear, and close; as it begins to change first towards the haunches, run a knife into that part; iſ tainted you will per- ccive a rank smell, and it will have a green or blackish ap- pearance. If you wish to preserve it, you may by careful manage- ment and watching, keep it for a fortnight by the following method: wash it well with milk and water very clean, and dry it perfectly with cloths until there is not the least damp remaining, then dust pounded ginger over every part; this is a good preventive against the fly. When to be dressed, COOKING OF MEAT. and heavy; the flesh of the hen-bird is the most delicate, though the cock generally fetches the highest price. Pick them dry, cut the wings very close to the body, take off the necks, draw and singe them, truss up the legs and skewer them; and having rubbed them with their livers, spit, and roast them; take them up with the gravy in, and serve with lemons. Wild Ducks.—The entrails being taken out of the wild ducks, wipe them well with a cloth; put into the inside a bit of butter rolled in pepper and salt; when trussed, spit, and roast them quickly for a quarter of an hour, which will be enough, as the gravy should not run out before they are ta- ken up; shake flour and salt over them, and froth them with butter. Put good strong gravy under them, and you may serve them with hot port wine in a boat. Wild Ducks.—Half roast them; when they are brought to table slice the breast, strew on pepper and salt, pour over them a little port wine, and squeeze the juice of an orange or lemon over; add some gravy to this, set the plate over a lamp, cut up the bird, let it remain over the lamp till done, now and then turning it. FORCEMEAT. Ingredients for Forcemeat.-Forcemeat should be made sufficiently consistent to cut with a knife, but not dry or heavy. No one flavour should predominate greatly; accord- ing to what it is wanted for, a selection may be made from the following list, being careful to use the least of those ar- ticles which are the most pungent: Cold fowl, or veal, scraped ham, fat bacon, beef suet, crumbs of bread, parsley, white pepper, salt, nutmeg, yolks and whites of eggs, well beaten, to bind the mixture. The forcemeat may be made with any of these articles HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. without any striking flavour; therefore any of the following different ingredients may be made use of to vary the taste. Oysters, anchovies, savory, penny-royal, knotted-marjo- ram, thyme, basil, yolks of hard eggs, Cayenne garlick, Ja- maica pepper, in fine powder, or two or three cloves. Tripe.-Cut your tripe into small square pieces, and give them a few turns in some butter, with parsley, salt, and pepper; roll each bit in grated bread, and broil them slowly. When done serve them with slices of lemon. To keep Meat Hot. If your meat is done before you are ready to serve, take it up, set the dish over a pan of boiling water, put a deep cover over it, so as not to touch the meat, and then put a cloth over that. This way will not dry up the gravy. PRESERVATION OF MEAT. DURING the summer months meat requires constant at- tention. Every day it should be examined to remove fiy- blows, if any; it should be carefully wiped dry under flaps and in all the little crevices, and skinny bits and kernels should be cut off, for they are the first to taint; under the flap of a leg of mutton is a skin which in hot weather soon assumes a yellow tinge; remove it, and with care a leg of mutton may be kept several days in the hottest weather; also in a rump of beef, there is a long vein visible, at the root of which, and buried deep, is a kernel, which if not taken out will in hot weather taint the whole joint; country butchers often omit to remove it. When meat is purchased for salt- ing do not allow the butcher to send it any distance in the heat of the day; you can never be certain of its taking the PRESERVATION OF MEAT. 63 salt if it has been heated; if, however, there is no alterna- tive, throw it into a tub of cold water for a few hours, then wipe it dry, and examine it well before salting. It should be sprinkled with salt to extract the blood the first day, on the next day be wiped with a clean cloth, and in warm wea- ther the first brine must be thrown away, but in cold it may be boiled and all impurity be skimmed off; and then the meat may be regularly salted the second day. Canvass lids should be placed over salting tubs, to admit air and exclude flies, which are more destructive to salting meat than to fresh. Care must be taken to secure bacon and hams from the fly, which is very destructive to thein; the best method of preserving hams is by putting them into coarse calico or canvass bags; paper is apt to break in damp weather. TO CURE HAMS. Let a leg of pork hang for three days; then beat it with a rolling-pin, and rub into it one ounce of saltpetre, finely powdered, and mixed with a small quantity of common salt; then let it lie all night. Make the following pickle: a quart of stale strong beer, half a pound of bay salt, half a pound of common salt, and the same of brown sugar; boil this for fif- teen or twenty minutes, and then wipe the ham, dry from the salt, and, with a wooden ladle, pour the pickle, by de- grees, and as hot as possible, over the ham; and as it cools, rub it well into every part. Rub and turn the ham every day, for a week, and then hang it, for a fortnight, in a wood smoke chimney. When you take it down, sprinkle black pepper orer the bone, and into the holes, to keep it safe from hoppers, and hang up the ham in a thick paper bag. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. ANOTHER. Beat the ham well with a rolling-pin, and then rub it all over with French brandy, and place it in a deep dish. Mix one ounce of saltpetre, a quarter of a pound of bay salt, and three ounces of juniper berries, if you have them: also put two good handfuls of common salt, and half a pound of coarse brown sugar, into a pint of strong ale; rub this well into the ham, and baste the ham with it, three or four times every day, for six weeks. ANOTHER. Beat the ham well on the fleshy side with a rolling-pin, then rub into it, on every part, one ounce of saltpetre, and let it lie one night. Then take half a pint of common salt and a quarter of a pint of bay salt, and one pound of coarse sugar or treacle; mix these ingredients, and make them very hot in a stew pan, and rub in well for an hour. Then take half a pint more of common salt and lay all over the ham, and let it lie on till it melts to brine; keep the ham in the pickle three weeks or a month, till you see it shrink. This is sufficient for a large ham. TO PICKLE PORK. For a hog of ten score. When it is quite cold, and cut up in pieces, have well mixed together two gallons of com- mon salt, and one pound and a half of saltpetre; with this, rub, very well, each piece of pork, and, as you rub, pack in a salting tub, and sprinkle salt between each layer of pork. Put a heavy weight on the top of the cover, to pre- vent the meat's swimming. If kept close and tight in this way, it will keep for a year or two.-N. B. A leg of pork will be sufficiently salted in eight days. Rub and turn it every day. STEWS. TO PICKLE A TONGUE. Rub the tongue over with common salt; and cut a slit in the root of it, so that the salt may penetrate. Drain the tongue next day, and then rub it over with two ounces of bay salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and two ounces of coarse sugar, all mixed together. This pickle should be poured over the tongue, with a spoon, every day, as there will not be sufficient liquor to cover it. It will be ready to dress in three weeks or a month. TO SALT BEEF. For a piece of twenty pounds weight.–Sprinkle the meat with salt, and let it lie twenty-four hours; then hang it up to drain. Take one ounce of saltpetre, a quarter of a pound of very coarse sugar, six ounces of common salt, all finely powdered, and rub it well into the beef. Rub and turn it every day. It will be ready for dressing in ten days, but may be kept longer. It should boil very slowly, and when done, should stand, in the pot, by the fire, half an hour. STEWS. ѕсотен нотан-Ротсн. TAKE equal quantities of fresh beef and mutton, about a pound and a half of each, to three pints of water; chop them finely, and let them simmer gently in a stew-pan. When the meat becomes tender, season it with salt and pep- per, and add a peck of peas, two pounds of potatoes, two or three young carrots, and two cauliflowers, a few onions, and dredge with flour. When the potatoes are done it will be ready. In the season when vegetables are in greatest 6* SOUPS. 67, A little milk will make it richer, but it is a good family dish without. A few button onions, may be added, with a little parsley. SOUPS. Soup, such as we recommend, consists of a plain, whole- some sweet broth, which also serves as the basis of almost every sauce. When served up as potage it contains bread, or rice, or one of the Italian pastes. This broth has no thickening, and is free from any kind of sophis- tication. The best vessel to make it in, is in an earthen pipkin of great depth, rather bulging out in the middle, and narrow at the bottom. One for an ordinary family might hold about five or six quarts. It should be prepared by being placed, nearly half full of water, upon a fire slow at first, but gradu- ally increased to the greatest possible intensity. As the water evaporates rapidly, a little should be added from time to time. When all the under part of the pipkin is red hot, the vessel should be taken off the fire and placed upon the hob to cool gradually. Put into such a pipkin four pounds of the shin of beef, a calf's foot, and a quarter of a pound of pig's liver-or, if this latter is not to be obtained, half a pound of bullock's liver. Fill the pipkin three-quarters full of water, and place it over a good fire. As the scum rises take it off. When the pot boils, add a bundle of leeks well cleansed and tied together, two turnips, three carrots, half of a parsnep, a small bundle of the green parts of celery, an onion with three cloves stuck into it, one clove of garlic, and a burnt flatted onion- 68 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. if you have one-if not, use instead, but two hours later, a crust of bread burnt, as if for toast and water. Should there be too much liquid in the pot for the addition of these vegetables, take some out, and add it afterwards to supply the loss by evaporation. Let the whole boil gently for about three hours, then let it simmer during three hours more-that is to say, it must be always at the boiling point without boiling up. The pot must be covered during the whole process. When the first two hours of the boiling are past, salt it to your taste, allowing for the evaporation, but add no pepper. If you wish to have bouilli beef, you must have a larger pipkin; take a sufficient quantity of the brisket and put it into the soup, long enough before dinner to allow half an hour to each pound. This beef must be dressed without the pot being ever suffered to boil up. It will then be ex- tremely tender. The soup will always be improved if, instead of water, you use the liquor in which a leg of mutton has been boiled, or even a round of beef, if it be not too salt. To prepare the soup the first day it is made, put some crusts of bread into a tureen, about ten minutes before din- ner; pour over them a little more of the broth than will saturate them: cover the tureen, let it stand before the fire, and when the dinner is ready to be put upon the table, fill it up with broth. The moment the soup is taken off the fire, it must be strained and put to cool in an open earthen pan. On the following day it may be used with rice, or vermicelli, or sago, or any of the fancy pastes of Italy. An economical family need not waste the beef which has served to make the soup. A very palatable dish may be obtained from it the next day, in the following manner:- SOUPS. when cold, cut it into little bits, and include all the gristle and gelatinous matter from the bones. Put a lump of butter into a stewpan; when it boils, add a third of a table- spoonful of flour; stir this into the boiling butter, and con- tinue to stir it now and then. When the flour has become of a dark red colour, throw into it, by degrees, a tea-cupful of broth, half a glass of port wine, and a dessert-spoonful of walnut catsup. Let the whole boil gently for about a quarter of an hour; then add the meat, together with a little chopped parsley, and a chopped onion. Season it with pepper and salt, and let it simmer for a few minutes, but take care it does not boil. GOOD VEAL SOUP. Boil a knuckle of veal gently in as much water as will just cover it, till fit to serve with parsley and butter or oyster sauce; save the liquor, and add to it the bones of the knuckle, with any others which may be in the house, or a few fresh shank or other bones from the butcher's, a slice of ham or lean bacon, a small quantity of rice, one or two blades of mace, a few white peppercorns, a head of celery, one carrot, one onion stuck with four or five cloves, and stew gently for three hours; about half an hour before it is done throw in a small bunch of sweet herbs, viz. parsley, lemon, and pot thyme, savory, and majoram. Strain and set aside till next day. Before warming up, carefully remove the fat, and when it boils flavour it with a little white wine and cat- sup, colour with a little nice browning, and throw in the gristles from the knuckle, and a few balls of veal stuffing. It may be as well to add, that recipes in cookery, however closely followed, will never insure success, unless the most delicate cleanliness in every culinary utensil is strictly preserved, HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. ECONOMICAL SOUP. A cook should save all the boilings from chickens, calf's head and veal for her stock-pot, and the bones of fresh meat and poultry: Soups and gravies are not so clear when made of meat which has been cooked, but where families are not very fastidious, soup may always be had at a very trifing expense as above. Where economy is essential, very excellent jelly may be made from knuckle of veal, well stewed, to supersede the use of calf's feet. Where much fish is fried, the cook should save all the small pieces of bread, cuttings of toast, &c., and put them in a paper bag in the oven to harden; when pounded in the mortar and sifted fine, they should be kept in a bottle or covered jar, and are very convenient for fried fish, or for strewing over hams and bacon. MOCK TURTLE SOUP. Take four calf's feet, break the bones, and stew them in as much water as will cover them; take them out when all the meat and gristle will part from the bones; then put the meat into the liquor again, with half a pint of beef gravy, half a pint of white, or port wine, an onion stuck with cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, salt, a little mace, Jamaica pepper, and Cayenne ditto; tie these all up in a muslin bag; when boiled enough add the yolks of eight eggs boiled hard, truffles, and forcemeat balls. The juice of lemons or oranges improves it. MULLAGATAWNY SOUP, Is made, at the beginning, the same as the last receipt, and with these additions: put a few slices of bacon into the stewpan with the knuckle of veal, and no vegetables; let it simmer about an hour and three quarters; cut about 2 and a HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. put it in a pot, cover with cold water, and let it boil; scum carefully, and put in one head of celery, one turnip, two car- rots, two large onions; two dozen berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, a good handful of parsley, some marjo- ram, savory and lemon thyme; cover the soup kettle close, and set it over a slow fire. As the liquor is coming to a boil, scum will rise, take that off, and let the soup stew gently by the fire for three hours. Then take out the head into a dish, pour the soup through a fine sieve into a stone ware pan, and set both by till the next day. Cut the meat into small pieces, skim all fat from the top of the liquor, and put about two quarts of it, and all the meat, into a clean sauce-pan, and let it simmer half an hour. Cayenne may be added to the other seasonings, and a glass of white wine, or a table-spoonful of brandy. GIBLET SOUP. Scald two sets of giblets, and pick them very clean. If they are not quite fresh they will not do. Cut off the noses, split the heads, and divide the gizzards and necks into mouth- fuls. Crack the bones of the legs, put all into a stew-pan, and cover them with cold water. When it boils scum the liquor well, and put in about three sprigs each, of lemon thyme, winter savory or marjoram, and a little bunch of parsley, also twenty berries of allspice and the same of black pepper, all tied up in a muslin bag; let this stew very gen- tly, till the gizzards are tender; which will be in about an hour and a half. Lift out the giblets with a skimmer, or spoon with holes, into a tureen, and keep it covered, by the fire. Then melt one and a half ounces of fresh butter in a clean sauce-pan; stir in enough flour to make a paste, and pour into it, by degrees, a ladleful of the giblet liquor, and then add all the rest by degrees, and let it boil for ten minutes, stirring all the time, lest it should burn. Skim and strain SOUPS. the soup through a fine sieve into a basin. Wash out the stew-pan, then return the soup into it, and season it with a glass of wine, a table-spoonful of mushroom catsup, and a little salt. Let it have one boil up, and then put the giblets in to get hot, and the soup is ready. FISH SOUP. Soup made of fish is more delicate in taste, and more ele- gant in appearance than might be imagined, by persons wholly unacquainted with it. Oyster and lobster soup are the two most esteemed. OYSTER SOUP. Veal will make the most delicate stock for this soup, it should be strong and clear; put it to a quart of the hard part of fresh juicy oysters, which have been pounded in a mor. tar with the yolks of six hard boiled eggs. Simmer for half an hour, then strain it into a fresh stew-pan, and put in another quart or more of oysters trimmed, and nicely washed from their shells, also some mace and cayenne, and let it simmer for ten minutes. Beat up the yolks of three eggs, take out a little soup in a cup, let it cool, then mix it by de- grees with the eggs, and stir this into the soup, having first drawn that aside from the fire; stir all the time after you put this in until you send it to table, or it will curdle. You may give this soup any additional flavour you like. The oysters which are put in whole may be first run on fine wire skew- ers, and then fried. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. MADE DISHES. What has generally been understood by a “made dish” is, something too rich, and too highly seasoned, to be whole- some, and too expensive to be available for a family dinner. This is an error, for much that would not appear to advan- tage, or be palatable, in a plain boil or roast, may be made both by the means of stewing, and by the addition of suita- ble seasonings. The proper application of the latter must, of course, depend upon the discretion of the cook, whose main endeavour ought to be to use as little as possible, of herbs, spices, and seasonings; to study, to a scruple's weight, how much is actually necessary, to give the flavour required, and to give no more: this, and plenty of time allowed for the cooking, is the secret by which the French have attained their perfection in this particular branch of culinary scien It is a superabundance of flavouring ingredients whicn causes made dishes to be both unwholesome and expensive. Cold meat is not generally liked, except at the breakfast table, and it is far less nourishing than warm meat. Besides which, a very little piece or odd and end parts of cold meat, poultry, game and fish, which would make a poor appear- ance, and contribute but little towards making up a dinner, if put on the table in their present state, may, by the help of a little gravy, a little seasoning, and care in the re-cooking, be converted into hash, ragout, fricassee, &c. as it may suit the taste or convenience of the housekeeper. Some experience is required to perform this branch of cookery well, but not more than is necessary to broil a mutton chop, or to boil a potatoe. But scrupulous and constant attention is required; therefore, a servant of all work, who is often called away from the kitchen whilst the dinner is cooking, must not be expected to excel in her ragouts. MADE DISHES. It has been directed, in the making of soup, that it be not allowed to boil fast. Made dishes should never boil at all; gentle simmering is all that is necessary, and the lid of the stew-pan must not be removed, after the necessary skim- ming is over. Time should be allowed for gradual cooking, and when that is over, the stew-pan ought to stand by the fire a few minutes, that the fat inay rise to the top, and be taken off before the dish is served. Indeed, ragouts are the better for being made the day before they are wanted, be- cause then the fat can be more completely taken off. Shake the stew-pan, if there be danger of burning, but by removing the lid the savoury steams escape, and with them much of the succulent qualities of the meat. Great delicacy is required in re-warming made dishes: they should merely heat through; and the safest mode is to inlace the stew-pan in a vessel of boiling water, where this practicable. ***All made dishes require gravy, more or less good, and in a family of half a dozen persons this, by a little previous fore- thought, may always be at hand; for the liquor in which meat has been boiled may be saved, and a very little season- ing, and flavouring, will make it palatable, and, if nicely thickened, it will be gravy for a ragout or fricassee of fresh meat. MACCARONI. Boil 2 oz. in good broth or gravy, till tender; then put to it a small piece of butter, and a little salt, give it a turn in the stew-pan, and put it in the dish in which it is to be served. Scrape parmesan, Stilton, or any other dry rich cheese over it, and brown it before the fire in a Dutch oven. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. ANOTHER. Mix together a pint of milk and a pint of water, and put in it two oz. maccaroni, and let it simmer slowly for three hours, till the liquor is wasted, and the maccaroni tender. Then add some grated cheese, a little salt and Cayenne, mix it well, and brown it before the fire. Maccaroni is exceed- ingly light and nourishing. Boiled in plain water and a lit- tle salt, till quite tender, and the gravy of roast or boiled meat, or a little good broth poured over it, it is very nou- rishing for an invalid. ASPARAGUS AND EGGS. Beat 4 or 5 eggs well, with pepper and salt. Cut some dressed asparagus into pieces the size of peas, and stir them into the eggs. Melt 2 oz. butter, in a small stew-pan, pour in the mixture, stir till it thickens, and serve it hot on a toast. fat and lean porn with salto . pint of grave you have no f beef BEEF STEAK PIE. The beef should be tender, and have a due portion of fat, but steaks cut from the rump are best. Cut the meat into small steaks, and roll them up as olives, or lay them, fat and lean properly mixed, flat in the dish, after having seasoned them with salt, pepper, and what spices you. choose. Then put in half a pint of gravy, or half a pint of water, and a table-spoonful of vinegar. If you have no made gravy ready for the pie, a kidney or two, or a piece of beef kidney, will enrich the gravy of the beef, and is always a valuable addition to a savoury meat pie. Forcemeat, either in layers between the slices of beef, or in small balls, make this a much richer pie; some cooks put in a few large oys- ters. 78 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. CHICKEN PIE. Cut up the chickens and season well each joint, with salt, white pepper, mace, and nutmeg, lay them in the dish, with slices of ham or bacon, a few bits of butter, rolled in flour, and a little water, cover with a crust and bake it. This pie may be made richer, by putting veal cutlets, or veal udder, at the bottom of the dish, and by adding force- meat balls and yolks of hard boiled eggs; also a good jelly- gravy made of veal or shanks of mutton, seasoned with pep- percorns, onions, and parsley, and poured over the chickens before the pie is baked. A few mushrooms are an improve- ment. RABBIT PIE. Make this the same as chicken pie. Forcemeat may be added to enrich it, made of the livers pounded, shred suet, anchovies, onion, pepper and salt. COOKING OF FISH. OBSERVATIONS ON FISH. THERE is a general rule in choosing most kinds of fish; if the gills are red, their eyes plump, and the whole fish stiff, they are good; if, on the contrary, the gills are pale, the eyes sunk, and the fish flabby, they are stale. The greatest care should be taken that the fish is properly cleansed before being dressed, but not washed beyond what is absolutely necessary for cleaning, as by perpetual water- ing, the flavour is diminished. When clean, if the fish is to be boiled, some salt, and a little vinegar should be put into the water, to give it firmness. Care should be taken COOKING OF FISH. . 79 to boil the fish well, but not to let it break. Cod and had- dock are much better for being a little salted, and kept for a day. There is often a muddy smell and taste attached to fresh- water fish, which may be got rid of by soaking it, after it wale""" has been thoroughly cleaned in strong salt and water; or, if brand Outeroor if the fish is not too large, scald it in the same; then dry, and dress it. Care should be taken that the fish is put into cold water, and allowed to do very gently, otherwise the outside will break before the inside is done. If the fish is not taken out of the water the instant it is done, it will become woolly; to ascertain when it is ready, the fish plate on which it is dressed may be drawn up, and if sufficiently done it will leave the bone. To keep hot for serving, and to prevent it from losing its colour, the fish plate should be placed crossways over the fish-kettle, and a clean cloth put over the fish. Small fish may be either nicely fried plain, or done over with egg and bread crumbs, and then fried. Upon the dish on which the fish is to be served, should be placed a folded damask napkin, and upon this put the fish, with the liver and roe; then garnish the dish with horse-radish, parsley, and lemon. Fish is a dish which is almost more attended to than any other. To fry or broil fish properly, after it is well cleaned and washed, it should be wrapped in a nice soft cloth, and when perfectly dry, wetted with egg, and sprinkled all over with very fine bread-crumbs; it will look still better to be done over with egg and crumbs a second time. Then having on the fire a thick-bottomed frying-pan, with plenty of lard or dripping, boiling hot, put the fish into it, and let it fry tolerably quick till it is done, and of a nice brown yellow. If it is done before it has obtained a nice brown colour, 80 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. the pan should be drawn to the side of the fire, the fish carefully taken up, and placed either upon a sieve turned upwards, or on the under side of a dish, and placed before the fire to drain, and finish browning; if wanted particularly nice, a sheet of cap paper must be put to receive the fish. Fish fried in oil obtains a much finer colour than when done in lard or dripping. Butter should never be used, as it gives a bad colour. Garnish your dish with a fringe of curled raw parsley, or with fried parsley. When fish is to be broiled, it must be seasoned, floured, and done on a very clean gridiron; which, when hot, should be rubbed over with suet, to hinder the fish from sticking. It should be broiled over a very clear fire, to prevent its tasting smoky, and great care must be taken not to scorch it. CHOUDER. Lay some slices cut from the fat part of pork, in a deep stew-pan, mix sliced onions with a variety of sweet herbs, and lay them on the pork. Bone and cut a fresh cod into thin slices, and place them on the pork; then put a layer of pork, on that a layer of biscuit, then alternately the other materials until the pan is nearly full, season with pepper and salt, put in about a pint and a half of water, cover the stew-pan very close, and let it stand, with fire above as well as below, for four hours; then skim it well, and put it in a dish. FRESH COD. A cod-fish should be firm and white, the gills red, and the eye lively; a fine fish is very thick about the neck; if the flesh is at all flabby it is not good. The length of time it requires for boiling depends on the size of the fish, which varies from one pound to twenty; a small fish, about two or three pounds weight will be sufficiently boiled in a COOKING OF FISH. quarter of an hour or twenty minutes after the water boils. Prepare a cod for dressing in the following manner:-empty and wash it thoroughly, scrape off all the scales, cut open the belly, and wash and dry it well, rub a little salt inside, or lay it for an hour in strong brine. The simple way of dressing it is as follows:- Tie up the head, and put it into a fish-kettle, with plenty of water and salt in it; boil it gently, and serve it with oyster sauce. Lay a napkin under the fish, and garnish with slices of lemon, horse-radish, &c. TO BOIL COD. Wash, clean, and rub the inside of the fish with salt. Let it be completely covered with water, in the kettle. A small fish will be done in fifteen minutes after the water boils; a large one will take half an hour; but the tail being so much thinner than the thick part of the fish, it will be done too much if it be all boiled at once; therefore, the best way is, to cut that part in slices to fry, and garnish the head and shoulders with, or to serve in a separate dish. Lay the roe on one side, and the liver on the other side of the fish. Serve with it oyster sauce, or plain melted butter. SALT COD. The flesh of good salt cod is very white, and the flakes large; the skin is very dark, almost black, and before it is dressed it should be soaked in milk and water, or water alone, for several hours; if very dry and salt, a whole day will not be too long. When you think the salt sufficiently soaked out, put the fish into a fish-kettle with plenty of cold water, set it on the fire; when nearly boiling, skim it, and let it simmer gently till done. Serve with it egg sauce, and garnish your dish with parsneps, or potatoes. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. TO CHOOSE MACKAREL. Their gills should be of a fine red, their eyes full, and the whole fish stiff and bright: if the gills are of a faint colour, the fish limber and wrinkled, they are not fresh. They are in season in May and June. BOILED MACKAREL. Boil them in salt and water, with a very little vinegar. MACKAREL BROILED OR FRIED. They may be broiled or fried, and are extremely good either way, stuffed with crumbs of bread, parsley chopped, lemon-peel grated, pepper, salt, and nutmeg, mixed with yolk of egg; anchovy sauce and fennel sauce. PERCH BOILED. Put them into cold water, and let them boil carefully; serve with melted butter and soy. Or, set the perch on in cold spring water, with plenty of salt; as soon as they boil, skim them well, and place them aside to simmer till done; and serve them either with an- chovy sauce, or with melted butter and soy. TO BOIL FISH. The kettle which is used for boiling fish should be roomy, with a strainer to lay the fish upon. The water should, according to some cooks, be cold, and spring water, and it should be slow in coming to a boil; according to other cooks, it ought to be hot at the time of putting in the fish, upon the supposition that the shorter time it is in the water the better. I rather incline to this, for I must suppose that no fish, except that which is salted, can be the better for soaking. Experience must, however, be the best instructor; COOKING OF FISH. and much must depend upon the size of the fish. Always put a good handful of salt in the water, as it assists to draw the slime from the fish, and tends to give it firmness. Vine- gar may be added, also, for the latter purpose; particularly for cod and turbot. When the water boils, stand the fish- kettle by the fire, and let it simmer gently. The usual al- lowance of time is, twelve minutes to the pound; but prac- tice alone can make a cook perfect in this, also. Great pains should be taken to arrive at perfection in cooking fish, for, besides that it is not eatable if underdone, and is good for nothing if overdone, it is equally unwholesome in either state. TO FRY FISH. This is more difficult than to fry meat, and requires ex- ceeding care and attention. It is, in some houses, consi- dered an essential to the good appearance, as well as taste of fish, that lard be used in the frying; but this is a mistake, for dripping is just as good, and much less expensive. To fry well, fish must be quite fresh. Wash them, and lay them in the folds of a clean cloth to make them quite dry. Then flour them lightly, if they are to be covered with bread-crumbs, for if the fish be not quite dry, the bread- crumbs will not adhere to them. These bread-crumbs should be of very stale bread; or if you wish the fish to be very delicate in appearance, use biscuit powder. Having thus floured the fish, brush them over with the beaten yolk and white of egg, and then strew over the crumbs or powder, so as to cover every part of the fish. The frying-pan used for fish should be of an oval shape, and the same one should not be used for meat. The fire must be hot, but not fierce. If not sufficiently hot, the fish will be soddened, but if it be too hot, the fish will soon catch and burn. There should be fat enough to cover the fish; let it boil before you lay HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. in the fish, for frying is, in fact, boiling in fat. As the fat becomes hot, skim it with an egg slice. Try the heat of the pan by throwing a piece of bread into it, or just dip the tail of the fish into the fat, and if it become crisp at once, the pan is ready. After the fish is done, it ought to be well dried, before the fire, before it is sent to table. For this purpose, lay it on a soft cloth before the fire, and turn it every two or three minutes. If the frying fat has not been sufficiently hot, this will, in some measure, remedy the defect. Fat in which veal or lamb have been fried may be used afterwards for fish, when it has settled long enough to be poured from the sediment. TO FRY COD. Cut in thick slices; flour, or egg, and cover these with bread-crumbs, or biscuit powder. Fry in plenty of hot dripping or lard. Slices of cod may also be stewed in gravy, like eels. COD'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS. Wash it clean, then quickly dash some boiling water over it, which will cause the slime to ooze out; this should be carefully removed with a knife, but take care not to break the skin; wipe the head clean, and lay it on a strainer, in a turbot-kettle of boiling water; put in the salt and a tea- cupful of vinegar. Take care that it is quite covered. Let it simmer from thirty to forty minutes. It should drain before it is dished, and the dish be rather a deep one. Glaze it with beaten yolks of eggs, then strew over it fine grated bread-crumbs, lemon-peel, pepper and salt, stick into it some bits of butter, and set it before the fire; as it browns baste it with butter, constantly strewing more bread-crumbs and chopped parsley over it. A rich sauce for the above is made as follows: have made, in preparation, a quart of strong COOKING OF FISH. 85 beef or veal stock; or, if to be maigre, a rich, well seasoned, fish stock; thicken with flour mixed into butter, and then strain it; add to it 50 oysters, picked and bearded, the hard meat of a boiled lobster cut up, and the soft part pounded, 2 glasses of white wine (sherry is best,) and the juice of one lemon. Boil it, altogether, for 5 minutes, skim it, and pour part of it into the dish where the fish is; the rest serve in a sauce tureen. This dish may be garnished with fried smelts, flounders or oysters. When the French cook cod's- head in this way it has the addition of being stuffed with either meat or fish forcemeat and some balls of the same, fried, as a garnish. Cold cod may be dressed as cold turbot. Slices of cod may be boiled, as well as fried; but they should be as short a time as possible in the water; it should, there- fore, boil soon after the slices are put into it. About ten minutes ought to do them. Shrimp sauce may be poured over these, or anchovy sauce. If you wish it to be rather rich, make a sauce of veal stock, a boned anchovy and pickled oysters, all chopped fine, pepper, salt, a glass of red wine, and a thickening of butter and flour. Boil up and skim, and pour over the slices of cod. COD'S SOUNDS, Must be scalded and well cleaned. Rub with salt. Take off the outer coat, and parboil them. Then flour and broil them. Pour over a thickened brown gravy sauce, in which there should be a tea-spoonful of made mustard, added to cayenne and what other seasoning you like. They may be fried, and served with the same kind of sauce. Or, dressed in ragout, parboiled, cut in pieces, and stewed in good gravy. VEGETABLES. MODE OF DRESSING CAULIFLOWERS WITH PARMESAN CHEESE. Having boiled the cauliflowers, prepare a sauce in the following manner. Into a quarter of a pound of butter rub a table-spoonful of flour. Then put it into a stew-pan; as the butter melts, add by degrees half a pint of water, or a little more if you require more sauce. Stir the whole until it boils; after it has boiled a couple of minutes, take it from the fire, and when entirely off the boil add the yolk of an egg, beat it up with a little lemon juice and half a table- spoonful of soft water. Shake the stew-pan till the whole is mixed and the sauce set. Now powder the cauliflowers with rasped Parmesan cheese; then pour the sauce over them: when the sauce is firmly set upon them, cover the surface with rasped cheese and bread-crumbs, and brown it. PEA STEW. Shell a peck of young peas, and put them into a large quantity of cold water. Handle them well in the water with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, which will make the peas stick together; then drain them in a colander. Put half a pound of bacon or ham, cut into small pieces an inch long, and half an inch wide, in the bottom of a stew-pan; place it upon the peas from the colander; upon them put half a dozen young onions, a cabbage lettuce, cut into very small pieces, and a bunch of parsley, which must be taken out before the peas are dished up:the ham or bacon will salt the whole sufficiently. Place the stew-pan over a slow fire, cover it close, and let its contents stew gently. Should the water in the lettuce and peas not prove sufficient half a wine-glassful may be afterwards added; but when HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. the peas are young, they generally yield a great deal of water, and some little always adheres to the butter; so that, if the stewing is not performed too rapidly, any addition of water is seldom required. When, on taking off the lid of the stew-pan, you find that the lettuce has sunk, and is affected by the steam, let the whole be turned, not with a spoon, but by tossing the stew-pan. A little pepper, and two pretty large lumps of sugar saturated with water, may then be thrown in. As soon as the peas are nearly ready, add some fresh cream, and a lump of butter rolled in flour. When the onions are thoroughly done, the peas will be found also sufficiently dressed, if they are young. Stewed peas in the simple state may be prepared thus:- Handle the peas in water with butter, as before directed, and drain them in a colander; then put them into a stew- pan, with a bundle of parsley and green onions, some pep- per and salt. If necessary, add half a wine-glassful of water. Let them sweat over a slow fire until the peas are done, taking care to shake and toss the stew-pan often to prevent their burning. When they are half done, add to them two lumps of sugar saturated with water. When done, take them off the fire; and when sufficiently off the boil, add the yolk of an egg, previously beaten up with a table-spoon- ful of cold water. ASPARAGUS. We must here say a passing word on asparagus, which comes into season about the same time as green peas. This is one of the most wholesome vegetables we know; it has a strong diuretic, and a slightly aperient quality. It must be dressed as soon as possible after it is gathered, as it acquires a very disagreeable taste from being kept. Unlike most new vegetables, it may be spoiled by over-boil- VEGETABLES. ing: it should be done in an open vessel, with plenty of water and a good handful of salt, and great care must be taken not to boil it to a sufficient extent to make it lose its crispness. It is eaten with white sauce or melted butter. The white sauce is preferable, and is made as follows: Mix half a table-spoonful of flour with half a pint of cold water, place it over the fire; add a quarter of a pound of butter, and a little salt. Keep stirring the whole until it boils. Let it boil until of a proper thickness, then take it off the fire. When sufficiently off the boil add the yolk of an egg, beat up with a table-spoonful of water and half that quantity of vinegar or verjuice. CABBAGE. The great fault in this vegetable, when produced at our tables, is, that it is never more than half boiled. When pro- perly dressed, it is one of the most wholesome and agreeable productions of the kitchen garden. There is a mode of pre- paring it with sausages, which is so delicious, though simple and cheap, that it ought to find a place here, as it may be found very useful and agreeable in families where there are many children, who are usually fond of such dishes, and with whom they certainly agree much better than strong animal food. The day when you make soup, according to the recipe given in a former page, bleach or parboil a large cabbage in salt and water, then fry a pound of sausages, which put into a pie-dish with the cabbage over them, adding a small teacup- ful of broth. Place the whole upon the hob of the kitchen fire, or close before it, which ever is the most convenient, at the hour when you first put on the soup. Whilst this latter is making, skim the fat from the surface; every now and then moisten the cabbage with it. As the process of cook- 8* 90 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. In about ing goes on, add salt and pepper to your taste. four hours the cabbage will be done. OYSTER PLANT. There is a delicious vegetable very little used among us, though to be found at all our markets in the metropolis; we mean the Oyster Plant. It is of two kinds, the black and the white; the former is the best, being better flavoured and more tender. It is easily dressed. Scrape off the outer peel of the skirrets, then throw them into cold water with a little vinegar in it, which prevents them from chang- ing colour. They must be boiled in plenty of water with a small quantity of salt, the juice of a lemon, and a lump of butter about the size of a nutmeg. When done, which may be ascertained by trying them with a fork, they may be be served up with white sauce, into which they must be put about five or six minutes before it is taken off the fire, and the thickening of egg added to it. They are likewise very nice fried in a thin batter, and may be served up with fried parsley over them. On being put into the dish, and before the parsley is added, they should be sprinkled with a little salt. This vegetable, also when boiled, makes an excellent salad with oil, vinegar, mustard, and a little cream. To it may be added some chopped parsley, a chopped anchovy, and a few capers. CARROTS. Carrots, if young, need only be wiped when boiled; if old, they must be scraped before boiling. Slice them into a dish, and pour melted butter over them. CAULIFLOWERS. Cut off the stalks, but leave a little green on; boil them VEGETABLES. 91 in spring water and salt; they are soon done, but they must not boil too fast. They may be also dressed in milk and water without salt. CAULIFLOWERS FRIED. Pick, wash, and throw them into boiling water, with a little salt, and when three parts done, take them out, drain and put them into an earthen pan, with salt, pepper and vinegar; beat them up in this, and then fry them in a bat- ter made as follows: three spoonfuls of flour, two eggs, a little salt, some oil, and a tea-spoonful of brandy. BOILED PARSNIPS. Let them boil in plenty of water, with salt, till tender, then serve them on a dish by themselves; or, when boiled cut them in slices, and toss them up in a good bit of butter; they are generally eaten with salt fish. BOILED TURNIPS. Pare them thick; when boiled, squeeze them well to thoroughly drain them from the water; mash them smooth, add a piece of butter, a little flour, pepper, and salt. TURNIP-TOPS. This vegetable is in season during the early part of the spring; they should be very young, and all the stalks, and withered leaves taken off. Turnip-tops require a great deal of water to boil them; put in some salt, and serve them like spinach. TO PRESERVE VEGETABLES FOR THE WINTER. French beans must be picked young, and a layer of them put three inches deep into a small wooden keg; sprinkle VEGETABLES. Y them about an inch; so that, if it waste in boiling, they may still be covered; but too much water would injure them. Put the sauce-pan on the fire, if it be a moderate one, and as soon as the water boils, set it on one side, to simmer slow- ly till the potatoes will admit a fork, the cracking of the skiu being too uncertain a test to venture a reliance upon; having tried them with the fork, if they are tender pour the water off, and stand the sauce-pan by the side of the fire, take off the cover, and lay a folded cloth, or coarse flannel, over the potatoes. Middling sized potatoes will be boiled enough in fifteen minutes. Some people, and I have been told it is practised generally in Ireland), when they have poured off the water, lay the potatoes in a coarse cloth, sprinkle salt over, and cover them up, for a few minutes, then squeeze them lightly, one by one, in the folds of a dry cloth, peel and serve them. Some people peel potatoes for the next day's dinner and put them into cold water enough to cover them: over night, the water is poured off just before the potatoes are boiled. After the beginning of March pota- toes should always be peeled before they are boiled, and after April they should always be mashed. Potatoes may be dressed in various ways to make pretty supper or side dishes, and there are many sauces suitable to enrich them. YOUNG POTATOES. Pour boiling water over them in a sauce-pan, let it sim- mer, and they will soon be done. TO FRY OR BROIL POTATOES. Cold potatoes may be cut in slices and fried in nice drip- ping, or broiled on a gridiron, and then laid on a sieve to drain; serve on a hot dish, and sprinkle a little pepper and salt over them. Garnish with a few sprigs of curled pars- ley, or the parsley may be fried and strewed over the slices. HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. ANOTHER. When the potatoes are nearly boiled enough, pour off the water, peel and flour them, brush them over with yolk of egg, then roll them in fine bread-crumbs or biscuit powder, and fry in butter, or nice dripping. Or, they may be gent- ly stewed, in a sauce-pan, with butter; take care to turn them, while stewing. Lay them on a sieve to drain, and pour a white sauce over them, in the dish. TO MASH POTATOES. When they are boiled purposely to mash, peel them and cut out all the specks first, and when they are done and the water has been poured from them, put them over the fire for two or three minutes, to dry, then put in some salt and butter and milk enough to moisten sufficiently for you to beat them to a mash. The rolling-pin does this better than any thing else. Cream is better than butter, and then no milk need be used. Potatoes thus mashed may be put into a shape, or into scallop-shells, with bits of butter on the top, and then browned before the fire; either way will make a very pretty dish. Or, they may be rolled up, with a very little flour and yolk of egg into balls, and browned in the dripping-pan under roast meat. These balls are very pretty to garnish some dishes with. Onions are sometimes boiled, pulped through a sieve, and mixed with mashed potatoes. TO ROAST POTATOES. Some cooks half boil them first. They should be washed clean and well dried, before they are put into the oven, or before the fire. If they are large, they will take two hours to roast, and they should be all of a size, or they will not be done alike. Or, pour off the water, peel and lay them in a tin pan, before the fire, by the side of roasting meat. Baste VEGETABLES. 97 them, from the dripping-pan, and turn them that they may brown equally. TO BOIL CABBAGES. After they have been well washed and cleaned, quarter them, if they are large. A young cabbage will be done in from twenty minutes to half an hour, but a full grown one will take nearly an hour. Have plenty of water, that the cabbages may be covered all the time they are boiling; and watch and take off all scum that rises. Serve melted butter with them. PICKLES, SAUCES, GRAVIES, MACARONI, OMELET, OYSTERS, &c, TO POACH EGGS. Make some spring water boil, skim it, and put a table- spoonful of vinegar in. Break off the top of the egg with a knife, and let it slip gently into the boiling water, turning the shell up over the egg, to gather in the white; this is a bet- ter way than that of first breaking the egg into a cup, and then turning it into the water, though this method requires a little dexterity. Let the sauce-pan stand by the side of the fire till the white is set, and then put it over the fire for two minutes. Take up the eggs with a slice; trim them with a knife, and serve them on toasts, spinach, brocoli, sor- rel, slices of broiled ham, or in the centre of a dish, with pork sausages round. 'TO FRY EGGS. Melt a piece of butter in a frying-pan, and slip the eggs in, as directed above. Or, lay some thin slices of well col- 0 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. oured bacon (not affected with rust), in a dish before the fire, to toast; break the eggs into teacups, and slip them gently into nice fresh boiling lard, in a frying-pan. When they are done, which will be in little more than two minutes, lay each one (first trimming the white) on a slice of the bacon. Make a sauce of a little weak broth, cayenne, made mustard and vinegar, and pour it into the dish. TO BUTTER EGGS. Beat twelve eggs well, in a basin, with two table-spoon- fuls of gravy, if you have it; melt a quarter of a pound of butter, stir the eggs and this together, in a basin, with a lit- tle pepper, salt and a finely minced onion, if liked. Pour this mixture backwards and forwards from one basin to another. Put it into a stew-pan on the fire, and stir con- stantly with a wooden spoon, to prevent burning. When the eggs are of a proper thickness, serve them, spread on a nice toast. PICKLES. The great art of pickling consists in using good vinegar, and in selecting the articles to be pickled at the proper sea- sons. Pickles are indigestible things, in themselves, but their liquor is good to give relish to cold meat, therefore the strongest vinegar should be used, because the less quantity of it will be required at table. The pickles themselves I should regard, mostly, as furnishing a handsome garnish. They should be kept in a dry place, and glass jars are the best, because with them it is easy to perceive whether the vi- negar diminishes, and if it does, more should be boiled with spice, and poured cold over the pickles. Fill the jars three parts full with the pickles, but always let there be three inches above their surface of vinegar. If earthenware jars PICKLES, SAUCES, &c. are used, let them be unglazed: and bear in mind that vine- gar should always be boiled in unglazed earthenware; though, in fact, it ought never to boil at all, but be made just scalding hot, for boiling causes much of its strength to eva- porate. Keep the bottles closely stopped, with bungs, and over them a bladder, wetted in the pickle. When you cork a bottle up again, after opening it, put a fresh bladder over it, if you wish the pickles to keep a long time. When the pickles are all used, the vinegar should be boiled up with a little more spice, and bottled when cold. The colour of pickles is a matter of no small difficulty, though one of the greatest consequence, where they are used, as I recommend, by way of ornaments OYSTER SAUCE. Beard the oysters (the number must depend on the quan- tity required), strain their liquor and let it stand for any se- diment to fall, then pour it off clear into a sauce-pan, and add one blade of mace and two or three white peppercorns; let it boil for a few minutes; then throw in the oysters to let them just boil up; take them out and strain the liquor; boil the oysters and liquor again, adding some butter which has been rubbed in flour (on a trencher) and a little cream or milk. BREAD SAUCE. Boil half a pint of milk, and put into it a tea-cupful of bread- crumbs a little powdered, small chopped onion which has been boiled in three waters, and let it simmer twenty min- utes, then add a bit of fresh butter rolled in flour, just boil up, and serve. TO MAKE SOY. One pound of salt, two pounds of common sugar, fried for 779240 A 100 " HOUSEKEEPERHOUSEKEE 'S BOOK. half an hour over a slow fire; add to this three pints of boil- ing water, of essence of anchovies about half a pint, a few cloves, and a bunch of sweet herbs; boil altogether till the salt is dissolved; when cold, bottle it for use. TO PICKLE ONIONS. Put the onions into cold salt and water, let them stand all night; boil the spice in white vinegar, let it remain till it is cold; drain the onions well and pour the vinegar over; they will be fit for use in a few days. EGG SAUCE. Boil three eggs hard, cut them in small squares, and mix them in good batter sauce, make it very hot, and squeeze in some lemon-juice before you serve it. GRAVY FOR A FOWL, WHEN THERE IS NO MEAT TO MAKE IT OF. Nicely wash the feet of a fowl, and cut them, and the neck, into small pieces, simmer them with a little browned bread; a slice of onion, a bit of parsley, and thyme; some pepper and salt, and the liver and gizzard, in a quarter of a pint of water, simmer them till they are reduced to half. Take out the liver, bruise it, and strain the liquor to it. Then thicken it with flour and butter, and add a tea-spoonful of catsup. MACARONI. Put a piece of butter, half a pound of macaroni, an onion stuck with two cloves, and a little salt into hot water, boil them for three quarters of an hour, and then, it the macaroni is flexible, take it out and drain it well. Put it into another saucepan with two ounces of butter, three of 'grated Parmesan cheese, a little pepper and nutmeg; PICKLES, SAUCES, &c. 101 toss up the whole together, adding two or three spoon- fuls of cream; and when done, put it on a dish, and serve it very hot. TO SERVE MACARONI. Simmer it in a little stock, with pounded mace and salt. When quite tender, take it out of the liquor,ʻlay it in a dish; grate over it a good deal of cheese, then over that put bread grated very fine. Warm some butter without oiling, and pour it from a boat through a little earthen colander all over the crumbs, then put the dish in a Dutch oven to roast the cheese, and brown the bread of a fine colour. The bread should be in separate crumbs, and look light. MINT SAUCE. Take nice fresh mint, chop it small, and mix it with vine- gar and sugar. TO MAKE MUSTARD. Take some of the best flour of mustard and mix it, by de- grees, to a proper thickness with boiling water, rubbing it extremely smooth; add a little salt, and keep it in a small jar closely covered, and only put as much into the mustard- pot as will be used in a few days; the mustard-pot should be daily wiped round the edges. Or, Take a few spoonfuls of the flour of mustard, and care- fully mix it with a little warm water, until it is of the con- sistence of honey; be particular that it is mixed perfectly smooth. For immediate use; Take some mustard, and by degrees mix it quite smooth with new milk, adding a little cream. Mixed in this manner it will keep; it is very soft, and not in the least bitter. 9* 102 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. OMELET. Take as many eggs as you think proper (according to the size of your omelet) break them into a basin with some salt and chopped parsley; then beat them well, and season them according to taste, then have ready some onion chopped small; put some butter into a frying-pan, and when it is hot (but not to burn) put in your chopped onion, giving them two or three turns; then add your eggs to it, and fry the whole of a nice brown; you must only fry one side. When done, turn it into a dish, the fried side uppermost. TO PICKLE ONIONS. Peel the onions till they look white; boil some strong salt and water, and pour it over them; let them stand in this twen- ty-four hours, keep the vessel closely covered to retain the steam; after that time wipe the onions quite dry, and when they are cold, pour boiling vinegar, with ginger and white pepper over them. Take care the vinegar always covers the onions. ONION SAUCE. Peel some onions, boil them in milk and water, put a tur- nip with them into the pot (it draws out the strength); change the water twice; pulp them through a colander, or chop them; then put them into a saucepan with some cream, a piece of butter, a little flour, some pepper and salt: they must be served very smooth. Or, The onions must be peeled, and then boiled till they are tender; then squeeze the water from them; chop them, and add to them butter that has been melted rich and smooth, with a little good milk instead of water; give it one boil, and serve it for boiled rabbits, partridges, or knuckle of veal, or 104 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. pickle, skim it, and when cold, pour it over the oysters; keep them closely covered. OYSTER SAUCE. In opening the oysters save the liquor, and boil it with the beards, a bit of mace, and lemon-peel; in the meantime throw the oysters into cold water, and drain it off, strain the li- quor, and put it into a sauce-pan with the oysters just drained from the cold water, with a sufficient quantity of butter, mixed with as much milk as will make enough sauce; but first rub a little flour with it; set them over the fire, and stir all the time, and when the butter has boiled a few times, take" them off, and keep the sauce-pan close to the fire, but not upon it; for if done too much, the oysters will become hard; add a squeeze of lemon-juice, and serve. A little is a great improvement. SCALLOPED OYSTERS. Put them into scallop-shells, strew over them bread- crumbs, with a little bit of butter; then put in more oysters, bread-crumbs, and a bit more butter at the top; set them in a Dutch oven, and let them do of a nice brown. STEWED OYSTERS. Open, and take the liquor from them, then cleanse them from the grit; strain the liquor, and add the oysters with a bit of mace and lemon-peel, and a few white peppers. Sim- mer them very gently. PICKLE FOR TONGUES. To four gallons of water, add two pounds and a half of treacle, eight pounds of salt, two ounces of saltpetre; boil it, and skim it until clear, sprinkle salt over the tongue, and let it stand two days; wipe it clean before you put it into the PICKLES, SAUCES. &c. 105 pickle, which must be quite cold; boil the pickle every two or three months, adding two or three handfuls of salt, skim- ming it well. Half the quantity is sufficient for two tongues. WALNUT KETCHUP. Thoroughly well bruise one hundred and twenty young walnuts; put to them three quarters of a pound of salt, and a quart of good wine vinegar; stir them every day for a fort- night; then strain and squeeze the liquor from them through a cloth, and set it aside; put to the husks half a pint of vine- gar, and let it stand all night; then strain and squeeze them as before, adding the liquor which is obtained from them to what was put aside the preceding day, and add to it one ounce and a quarter of whole black pepper, forty cloves, half an ounce of nutmegs bruised, or sliced, half an ounce of ginger, and five drachms of mace, and boil it for half an hour; then strain it off from the spices, and bottle it for use. WALNUT PICKLE. Lay your walnuts in water, and change it every day for the space of three weeks to extract all the bitterness from them; make a pickle with spice, salt, and vinegar; let it boil a quarter of an hour, and pour over the walnuts. TO MELT BUTTER. Break the butter, which ought to be very good, into small pieces, put them into a quite clean sauce-pan, with some thin sweet cream, or milk, milk and water, or water alone; dredge some fine dried flour over it, hold the sauce-pan over the fire, toss it quickly round (always one way) while the but- ter melts, and becomes as thick as very thick cream; then let it just boil up, turn the sauce-pan again quickly, and it is done. 110 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. 7th. To two ounces of ground coffee, put four cups of cold water. Draw off this infusion, and put it aside. 8th. Put to the coffee which remains in the biggin, three cups of boiling water, then drain it off and add this infusion to that which has been put aside. By this method you obtain three cups more. When your coffee is wanted, heat it quickly in a silver coffee-pot, taking care not to let it boil, that the perfume may not be lost by undergoing any evaporation. Then pour it into cups, which each person may sweeten accord- ing to his taste. Particular care should be taken not to make coffee in a tin vessel, it should be made either in a china vessel, or one of delft ware, or in one of silver. To make with cold water.-Upon two ounces of coffee pour seven cups of cold water; then boil it until the coffee falls to the bottom; when the froth has disappeared, and it is clear at the top like boiling water, it must be taken off the fire and allowed to stand; but as it often requires clearing, a little cold water should be poured into it the instant it is taken off the fire from boiling. A quicker method of clearing it is, by putting into it a small piece of isinglass. When it has stood a sufficient time to allow it to settle, pour off the infusion gently into another coffee-pot; it is then ready for use. COCOA SHELLS. These make a most delightful drink for breakfast or sup- per. They are not much known except in New England, where they are much used, being considered more whole- some than coffee or tea. They can be obtained of the choco- late manufacturers, and have all the agreeable flavour of chocolate without the smallest particle of grease. They sell for about eighteen cents the pound; but they are so light 112 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. of the eggs long and separately. You may, if you please, use snow instead of eggs, either in puddings or pancakes. Two large spoonfuls will supply the place of one egg; the snow may be taken up from any clean spot before it is wanted, and will not lose its virtue, though the sooner it is used the better. BROWN BREAD PUDDING. Mix well together half a pound of dried bread-crumbs, and the same weight of beef suet; one pound and a half of currants; half a pint of fresh bread-crumbs; a large spoon- ful of sugar; the yolk of six and the whites of three eggs; and having seasoned it with nutmeg and cinnamon, boil it for two hours. It may be served with or without sauce. ECONOMICAL PUDDING. Make a nice light paste, but not very rich; roll it out thin, then spread some clean treacle all over it, and thereon sprinkle some dried currants; roll it up, and put a cloth round it; then boil it for about two hours, according to the size. The currants may be omitted, if preferred. CHRISTMAS PUDDING. One pound of bread crumbs, rubbed through the colan- der; half a pound of flour; one pound and a quarter of suet very finely chopped; quarter pound of sugar; one pound of currants; half pound of rasins, stoned and chopped. Mix well together, and then add—two ounces candied cit- ron; one ounce ditto orange-peel; one ditto lemon peel; one nutmeg, grated; a little mace, cinnamon, and three cloves pounded; quarter of a tea-spoonful of powdered ginger; the peel of one lemon finely chopped. Mix well again, and then add-one wine-glassful of brandy; one ditto white wine; the juice of one lemon. Mix well together, and then PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c. 113 stir in gradually six well-beaten eggs. Boil five hours, and sift sugar over the top when served. It is exceedingly convenient when making Christmas pudding, to boil several at once in varions sized moulds or basins, as they will keep well for a month or six weeks, and can be served on an emergency by merely re-boiling them—say one hour for a pint basin. After the first boiling remove the cloth, and when the pudding is cold cover it with a dry clean cloth. PLAIN LEMON PUDDING. The juice of three lemons, the peel of one rubbed off with sugar, six ounces loaf sugar powdered (excepting what has been used for the lemon peel, a good sized teacupful. of bread-crumbs; while it is soaking together, beat up four eggs, leaving out two whites; melt one ounce of fresh but- ter, and mix all well together; line and edge a dish with puff paste, pour in the above, and bake in a quick oven for three quarters of an hour. TAPIOCA PUDDING. One quart of cold milk; six table spoonfuls of tapioca; set on the fire, and stir till it boils; add one ounce and a half pow- dered loaf sugar, and set it on the fire and let it boil a quarter of an hour, stirring occasionally; take it off and turn it into a pan or basin, and stir in immediately one ounce of fresh butter, and three eggs well beaten; pour it into a buttered pie or pudding dish, and bake gently one hour. This pud- ding may be boiled for one hour and a half, adding two eggs. In either case it is better to prepare the topica early enough for it to be quite cold before baking or boiling, and if boiled, it must stand a full quarter of an hour after it is taken up, or it will not turn out whole. It is a very deli 10* 114 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. cate-looking pudding when boiled and ornamented with red jelly. A BAKED APPLE PUDDING. Butter a pie dish and line it with crumbs of bread, then place a layer of apple (cut as for pie,) in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle it with moist sugar, then a layer of crumbs, and so on alternately till the dish is filled, ending with a thick layer of crumbs; pour melted fresh butter over it, and bake for an hour. PUDDINGS THAT ARE QUICKLY MADE AND WITHOUT MUCH EXPENSE. Beat up four spoonfuls of flour with a pint of milk and four eggs to a good batter, nutmegs and sugar to your taste; butter teacups, fill them three parts full, and send them to the oven. A quarter of an hour will bake them. THE BAKE WELL PUDDING. Having covered a dish with thin puff paste, put a layer of any kind of jam about half an inch thick, then take the yolks of eight eggs and two whites, half a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter melted, and almond flavour to your taste; beat all well-together; pour the mixture into the dish an inch thick, and bake it about an hour in a moderate oven. APPLE DUMPLINGS. Choose six or eight good sized baking apples, pare them, roll out some good paste, divide it into as many pieces as you have apples; roll and cut two rounds from each, put an apple on one piece and put the other over; join the edges neatly, tie them in cloths, and boil.them. Baked.-Make them in the same way, but instead of PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c. 115 tieing them in cloths lay them in a buttered dish and bake them. APPLE PUDDING BAKED. Pare and quarter four large apples; boil them tender, with the rind of a lemon, in so little water, that when done, none may remain; beat them quite fine in a mortar; add the crumb of a small roll, four ounces of butter melted, the yolks of five and whites of three eggs, juice of half a lemon and su- gar to taste; beat altogether and lay in a dish with paste to turn out. APPLE TART. Pare, core, and cut the best sort of baking apples in small pieces, and lay them in a dish previously lined with a puff- crust; strew over them pounded sugar, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, cloves, and lemon peel chopped small, then a layer of apples, then spice and so on till the dish is full, pour over the whole a glass and a half of white wine. Cover it with puff-crust, and bake it. When done, take off the crust and mix in with the apples two ounces of fresh butter, and then pour in two eggs well beaten; lay the crust on again, and serve either hot or cold. You may add pounded almonds and a little lemon juice. BARLEY PUDDING. Take a pound of pearl barley well washed, three quarts of new milk, one quart of cream, and half a pound of double refined sugar, a grated nutmeg, and some salt; mix them well together, then put them into a deep pan, and bake it; then take it out of the oven, and put into it six eggs well beaten, six ounces of beef marrow, and a quarter of a pound of grated bread; mix all well together; then put it into ano- ther pan, bake it again, and it will be excellent. PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c. 117 BREAD PUDDING. Cut two or three French rolls in slices, and soak them in a pint of cream or good milk; beat up the yolks of six eggs with them, and add sugar, orange-flower water, three pounded macaroons, and a glass of white wine; tie it up in a basin or buttered cloth, let the water boil when you put in the pudding, and boil it for half an hour. Serve with wine sauce. CHARLOTTE. Cut a sufficient number of thin slices of white bread to cover the bottom and line the sides of a baking-dish, first rubbing it thickly with butter. Put thin slices of apples into the dish in layers, till the dish is full, strewing sugar and bits of butter between. In the mean time, soak as many thin slices of bread as will cover the whole, in warm milk; over which place a plate, and a weight, to keep the bread close upon the apples; let it bake slowly for three hours. CHERRY PUDDING. Make a paste with butter, or suet chopped small, rubbed into flour, and moisten with water; line a basin (well but- tered) with this, put in picked cherries, cover the top with a crust, tie it in a cloth, and boil it. Other fruit may be added. Some boil fruit puddings in a cloth without a basin. Another way.—Make a plain batter pudding, and stir in picked cherries, taking care not to break them. The batter must be made thicker and with more eggs, than for plain boiling. Tie it in a cloth, and boil as any other pudding. CUSTARD. Boil a pint of milk with lemon-peel and cinnamon; mix a 118 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. pint of cream, and the yolks of five eggs, well beaten; when the milk tastes of the seasoning, sweeten it enough for the whole; pour it into the cream, stirring it well; then give the custard a simmer till of a proper thickness. Do not let it boil; stir the whole time one way; then season with a large spoonful of peach water, and two tea-spoonfuls of brandy, or a little ratafia. If you wish your custards to be extremely rich, put no milk, but a quart of cream. BAKED CUSTARD. Boil a pint of cream with mace and cinnamon; when cold, take four eggs, leaving out two of the whites, a little rose and orange-flower water, a little white wine, nutmeg, and sugar to your taste; mix them well together, and bake them in china cups. PLAIN CUSTARD. Take a quart of cream or new milk, a stick of cinnamon, four bay leaves, and some mace; boil them all together; then well beat up twelve eggs, sweeten them, and put them into a pan; bake or boil them, stirring them all one way, till they are of a proper thickness; boil your spice and leaves first, and when the milk is cold, mix your eggs and boil it; you may leave out the spice, and only use the bay leaves, or in the room of that, four or five bitter almonds. CUSTARD PUDDING. Mix a pint of cream with six eggs, well beaten, two spoon- fuls of four, half a nutmeg grated, and salt aud sugar to your taste; butter a cloth, and pour in your batter; tie it up, put it into a saucepan of boiling water, and let it boil for an hour and a half. Serve, with melted butter for sauce. PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c. 119 MACARONI PUDDING. Take an ounce or two of the pipe sort of macaroni, and simmer it in a pint of milk, and a bit of lemon-peel and cin- namon, till tender; put it into a dish, with milk, three eggs, but only one white, some sugar, nutmeg, a spoonful of al- mond-water, and half a glass of raisin wine; lay a nice paste round the edge of the dish, and put it in the oven to bake. If you choose you may put in a layer of orange-marma- lade, or raspberry-jam: in this case you must not put in the almond-water, or ratafia, you would otherwise add too much flavour it. OATMEAL PUDDING, NEW ENGLAND FASHION. Steep a pint of whole oatmeal in a quart of boiling milk over night; in the morning shred half a pound of beef suet very fine, and mix with the oatmeal and milk, some grated nutmeg, and a little salt; with the yolks and whites of three eggs, a quarter of a pound of currants; a quarter of a pound of raisins, and a sufficient quantity of sugar to sweeten it; stir the whole well together, tie it pretty close, and boil it for two hours. Serve with melted butter for sauce. PANCAKES. Make a good batter in the usual way with eggs, milk and flour; pour this into a pan, so that it lays very thin; let your lard, or whatever else you fry them in, be quite hot. When one side is done, toss it up lightly to turn it. Serve with lemon and sugar. PEAS PUDDING. Take a pint of good split peas, aud having washed, soak 120 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. them well in warm water; then tie them in a cloth, put the pudding into a saucepan of hot water, and boil it until quite soft. When done, beat it up with a little butter and salt; serve it with boiled pork or beef. PLUM PUDDING, Cut the crumb of a small loaf into slices, pour over them a sufficient quantity of boiling milk to soak them; when quite soft, beat the bread up with half a pound of clarified suet, half a pound of raisins stoned, half a pound of currants, sugar to the taste, five eggs well beaten, candied orange, lemon, and citron, and a few bitter almonds, pounded; mix the ingredients thoroughly, add a cup of brandy, pour it into a dish, and bake it. When done turn it out, and strew powder-sugar over. These ingredients make as good a pudding, boiled. Take care to flour well the cloth, or mould used for this purpose. Few things require more boiling than a plum-pudding; be careful, therefore, to let it be sufficiently done. POTATOE PUDDING. Having thoroughly boiled two pounds of potatoes, peel and pound them well, then mix them with half a pound of melted butter, the same of powder-sugar, and six eggs; beat the whole well, then add a handful or two of flour, and a glass of white wine; stir these in, tie it in a buttered cloth, and boil it for half an hour. Or, To two pounds of potatoes, boiled and mashed, when cold, add three eggs well beaten, two ounces of moist sugar, a little nutmeg, and a pint of new milk; add lemon- peel if you please. Bake it. PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c. 121 RICE PANCAKES. Boil half a pound of rice in a small quantity of water, until quite a jelly; as soon as it is cold, mix it with a pint of cream, eight eggs, a little salt and nutmeg; make eight ounces of butter just warm, and stir in with the rest, adding to the whole as much butter as will make the batter thick enough. They must be fried in as small a quantity of lard as possible. RICE PUDDING BOILED. Take six ounces of whole rice, and when sufficiently boiled, stir in a table-spoonful and a half of suet, shred fine; when that is melted, take it up, add one egg, and two ounces of moist sugar. Boil these together three quarters of an hour. Or, Well wash and pick some rice, tie it in a cloth, leav- ing plenty of room for it to swell. Boil it in a quantity of water for an hour or two. When done; eat it with butter and sugar, or milk. RICE PUDDING WITH CURRANTS. Tie five ounces of whole rice in a cloth, leaving it room to swell, boil it half an hour, then take it up, add three table- spoonfuls of suet, shred fine, five ounces of currants, and two eggs, well beaten; tie it up again, and boil it an hour and a half. DUTCH RICE PUDDING. : Soak four ounces of rice for half an hour, in warm water; then drain the water from it, and put it into a stewpan, with half a pint of milk, half a stick of cinnamon, and let it sim- mer until tender. When cold, add four whole eggs, well beaten, three ounces of sugar, a quarter of a nutmeg, a 122 BOOK. HOUSEKEI good-sized piece of lemon-peel, and two ounces of butter melted in cream. Line a dish or mould, with light puff paste, put in the above, and bake in a quick oven. RICE PUDDING WITH FRUIT. Swell the rice in a little milk over the fire; then mix with it either currants or goose-berries scalded, or apples pared and quartered, raisins, or black currants, add one egg to the rice, to bind it; boil it well, and serve with sugar. GROUND RICE PUDDING. Boil a very large spoonful of ground rice in a pint of new milk, with lemon-peel and cinnamon. When cold, add sugar, nutmeg, and two eggs well beaten; put a puff-paste round your dish, put in the above, and bake. SMALL RICE PUDDING. Simmer two large spoonfuls of rice in half a pint of milk until it is thick, then add to it a bit of butter the size of an egg, and about half a pint of thick cream, and give it one boil. When cold, mix the yolks of four eggs, and the whites of two, well beaten, sugar and nutmeg according to taste, add grated lemon, and a little cinnamon. Butter some little cups, lay some orange or citron at the bottom, and fill them about three parts full with the above. Bake three quarters of an hour in a slow oven. Serve the moment before they are to be eaten, with sweet sauce in a boat. SAGO PUDDING. Boil two ounces of sago with some cinnamon, and a bit of lemon-peel, till it is soft and thick; mix the crumb of a small roll finely grated, with a glass of red wine, four oun- ces of chopped marrow, the yolks of four eggs well beaten, sugar according to taste; when the sago is cold, add this PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c. 123 mixture to it; stir the whole well together, and put it in a dish lined with a light puff paste, and set it in a moderate oven to bake; when done, stick it all over with citron cut in pieces, and almonds blanched and cut in slips. Or, Boil two ounces of sago until tender, in a pint of milk; when cold, add five eggs, two biscuits, a little brandy, and sweeten according to taste; put this into a basin and boil. Serve with melted butter mixed with wine and sugar. Or, Wash half a pound of sago in several waters (warm); then put it into a saucepan with a pint of good milk, and a little cinnamon; let it boil till thick, stirring frequently; pour it into a pan, and beat up with it half a ponnd of fresh but- ter; add to it the yolks of eight, and whites of four eggs, beaten separately, half a glass of white wine, sugar accord- ing to taste, and a little flour; mix all together well, and boil it. Serve with sweet sauce. SIPPET PUDDING. Cut a small loaf into extremely thin slices, and put a lay- er of them at the bottom of a dish, then a layer of marrow, or beef-suet, a layer of currants, and then a layer of bread again, &c., and so continue until the dish is filled; mix four eggs, well beaten, with a quart of cream, a nutmeg, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and pour over; set it in the oven, it will take half an hour baking. SUET PUDDING. Mix a pound and a quarter of flour, to a pound of shred suet, with two eggs beaten separately, a little salt, and as little milk as will make it. Let it boil for four hours. It eats very nice the next day, cut in slices and broiled. 124 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. 1APIOCA PUDDING. Put four table-spoonfuls of tapioca into a quart of milk, and let it remain all night, then put a spoonful of brandy, some lemon-peel, and a little spice; let them boil gently, add four eggs, and the whites well beaten, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Bake it. GROUND RICE PUDDING. Put four ouuces of ground rice into a stew-pan, stir into it, by degrees, one pint and a half of milk, add a bit of cinna- mon and lemon peel, set it over the fire, and stir till it boils; beat it to a smooth batter, and let it simmer gently for a quarter of an hour; then add three eggs well beaten, a little powdered sugar, nutmeg, and a spoonful of orange flower water; stir all well together, and bake in a dish, with a paste border round it, for half an hour. Currants may be added to this. It may be boiled in a mould, for an hour. Indian corn flower makes a very good pudding, in the same way. PANCAKES. These are very generally liked, though not the most wholesome things in the world. The batter requires long beating; but the art in making pancakes consists in frying them. The lard, butter, or dripping must be sweet, fresh, and hot, as for fish. Beat two eggs, and stir them, with a little salt, into three table-spoonfuls of flour (or allow an egg to each spoonful of flour,) add, by degrees, a pint of new milk; and beat it to a smooth batter. Make a small round frying-pan quite hot, put a piece of butter, or lard, into it, and, when it has melted, pour it out and wipe the pan; put a piece more in, and when it has melted and begins to froth, pour a ladle or tea-cupful of the batter in, toss the pan round PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, &c. 125 run a knife round the edges; and turn the pancake when the top is of a light brown; brown the other side; roll it up, and serve very hot. Before it is rolled up, some people spread currant jelly lightly over, or orange or apple marmalade. Cream, and more eggs may be used to make the pancakes richer. A little brandy, or peach water is an improvement. Serve white wine sauce. A lemon should be on the table, as some people like to flavour pancakes with the juice. FRITTERS. Make batter the same as directed for pancakes, but stiffer; pour a large spoonful into boiling lard, or dripping; fry as many at a time as the pan will hold. Sift powdered sugar over, and serve them on a hot dish. Fritters are usually made with finely minced apple, or currants well washed and picked, stirred into the batter; or any sweetmeat which is stiff enough to be cut into little bits; or candied lemon or orange peel. APPLE FRITTERS. Make a stiff common pancake batter. Boil half a stick of cinnamon in a breakfast-cupful of water, and set it by to cool. Peel and core some large apples, cut round slices, and steep them for half an hour, or more, in the cinnamon water; then dip each piece in the batter and fry them in lard, or clarified dripping. Drain them, dust sugar over each one, and serve them hot. Or, to make a very pretty dish: drop batter into the pan, enough to form a fritter the size of the slices of apple, lay a slice of apple upon that, and drop batter on the top. Or, the apples may be pared, cored, half baked (whole,) then dipped in batter, and fried. 11* 126 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. SWEET POTATOE PUDDING. Boil the potatoes and mash them very smooth. To two cups full of potatoe add two cups of sugar, one of butter, one glass of brandy or wine, five eggs, one nutmeg and the gra- ted rind of lemon. Bake with an under crust. PASTRY, CAKES, &c. PASTE. Be very particular that your slab or paste table, rolling- pin and cutters are clean, and free from all old paste, and be very careful that both the flour and butter are extremely good. Have a dry sieve always in readiness, in or by the flour tub, so as to use none without sifting it; for, though it may appear pure and fine, bran, or small particles of old paste may have fallen into it; sifting is, therefore, always necessary. Weigh one pound of flour, lay it in a circle on the slab: break one egg into the centre, put a small quantity of salt, and a little bit of butter; mix all these together lightly, add a little water, mix them again, then add more water, and so proceed until it binds into paste; but take care that you do not make it too stiff, nor squeeze it much together, till you find there is sufficient water; then work it well together, and roll it out on the slab, but do not roll it too thin; work a pound of butter on the slab, spread it out to the size of the paste, with a knife cut it off altogether, and lay it on the paste; then double the ends of the paste together, to in- close the butter; then give it one turn, thus: roll it out till you just perceive the butter through the paste; turn the end PASTRY, CAKES, &c. 127 which is next to you half way over, and the other end over that, roll it once or twice with the rolling-pin, then let it stand; this is called one turn; then in three minutes time, turn it again, and so proceed until you have given it six turns then roll it out any shape you please. LEMON PUFFS. Half a pound of double refined sugar beat and sifted, grate into it the yellow rind of one large lemon, or two smaller ones, then whip up the white of an egg to a froth, and mix the three ingredients together, working them to the consistency of good paste; lay this on writing paper, bake it in a very slow oven; lay some round and some long, do not touch them with your hands. MRS. HILL'S CAKES. A pound of flour, a pound of sugar, a quarter of a pound of butter, the yolks of two eggs, and the peel of two lemons cut very small, to be rolled into thin cakes; to be put into the oven to bake when the bread is drawn. IRISH PLUM CAKE. Take one pound of butter beat to a cream, a pound of sugar dried and pounded, eight eggs, if small ones nine, the yolks beat, and the whites whisked to a light froth, one pound of well dried currants, one nutmeg, a noggin of brandy, two ounces of dried citron, the same quantity of sweet almonds, one pound and a quarter of flour dried and sifted; the almonds, citron and currants must be added just before it is put in the oven.- BISCUITS. A pound and a half of flour made wet with equal quan- tities of milk and water moderately warm, made stiff, and 128 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. rolled out very thin; cut them to any size you please, prick · them, and bake them in a moderate oven on a tin. No flour to be put on the tins or biscuits. QUICKLY MADE AND CHFAP CAKE. Five eggs, leaving out two whites and beaten separately, the whites to a froth; five ounces of sugar dissolved in three parts of a wine-glass of water, put into a saucepan to boil, and pour the dissolved sugar, boiling, into the eggs; when nearly cold, mix in a quarter of a pound of flour by degrees. Three quarters of an hour in a quick oven will bake it. LEMON SOLID. Dissolve ten ounces of isinglass in a little milk; grate the rinds of four lemons into their juice: sweeten one quart of cream with powdered loaf sugar; add the lemon juice to the cream, stirring it all the time, and when the isinglass is quite cold (but not stiff) add it also; stir it well and strain it through muslin into a mould. FRITTERS WHICH MAY BE MADE QUICKLY. One egg; two spoonſuls of flour; a little sifted sugar and ginger; milk sufficient to make a smooth batter; cut a mid- dling sized apple into thick slices, and put into the batter, and with a spoon put them into the frying pan, with just the batter which is taken up in the spoon; have a sieve with the bottom up, and, as fried, lay the fritters upon it to drain. The above quantity is sufficient for a small dish for supper. LIQUID JELLY. Take six lemons, pare them very thin, squeeze out the juice, and put in the peel without the seeds; let it stand all PASTRY, CAKES, &c. 129 night, then put in half a pound of loaf sugar, mixing it well with the juice; add one pint of boiling water, and one pint of sweet but good wine; mix all well together; then add one pint of boiling milk, boil it altogether once, then strain it through a jelly bag; it will sometimes run clear the second or third time, and sometimes requires to run through oftener. MINCED MEAT FOR PIES. A pound and a half of boiled tongue; two pounds of beef suet two pounds of cleaned currants; one pound of cleaned and stewed raisins, chopped fine; three-quarters of a pound fine moist sugar; the peel of two large lemons chopped fine; half anounce of cloves and mace; one ounce of nutmeg; the juice of one lemon; half-pint of brandy; half-pint of port-wine; candied peel according to taste. This mixture improves by standing a few weeks, and adding a little brandy from time to time. To be kept in a cool dry place. MRS. BARTON'S SPONGE CAKE. Dissolve three-quarters of a pound of lump sugar in half a pint of water, simmer it over a slow fire until it is quite clear, then pour it into a bowl, adding the grated rind of a lemon, and keep stirring until it is cold. Then take the yolks of eight eggs and the whites of two; beat them for a quarter of an hour; mix the eggs and syrup together, and beat the mixture half an hour longer. Just before you put it into the oven, stir in by degrees half a pound of flour. One hour and a quarter will bake it. LEMON CHEESE-CAKE. One pound of lump sugar broken into pieces; six eggs, leaving out two whites; the juice of three lemons, the rinds of two grated, and a quarter of a pound of butter. 130 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. Put all these ingredients into a pan, stirring them gently over a slow fire, until the mixture becomes thick and looks like honey. This mixture will keep for twelve months, if put in a jar, tied down with a paper, and kept in a dry cool place. GOOD PLAIN GINGERBREAD. Three-quarters of a pound of four; a quarter of a pound of butter; a quarter of a pound of sugar; a quarter of a pound of treacle; a table-spoonful of cream, and ginger to the taste. Mix all together into a stiff paste; roll it out thin and cut into small cakes: a little candied orange and lemon peel is a great improvement. FAMILY POUND CAKE. One pound of flour, dried; half pound of butter beat to a cream; half a pound of pounded white sugar half a pound of currants, dried (these may of course be omitted, or caraways substituted if preferred,) four eggshalf a pint of milk. Bake it carefully. PLAIN CAKE. Three quarters of a pound of flour; the same of moist sugar; quarter pound of butter; one egg; two table-spoon- fuls of milk. Mix all together, and bake it." RICE CAKES. Eight eggs; half the whites; whip them swiftly for ten minutes; half pound of ground rice; six ounces powdered sugar. The peel of one lemon grated; whip all together half an hour with a whisk, butter the in and bake twenty minutes. If a few caraway seeds are added, this cake is strongly recommended for weak stomachs. PASTRY, CAKES. &c. 131 TEA CAKES. Melt in milk two ounces of butter, mix with it a pound of flour, add one egg and a spoonful of yeast; make up the dough in small round cakes; flatten them a little; bake them on a buttered tin. These cakes are intended to be buttered and eaten hot. GERMAN PUFFS. A quarter of a pound of almonds beat well in a mortar with a little wine, or cream, six eggs, three whites, three spoonfuls and a half of flour, half a pint of cream, quarter of a pint of butter; sweeten to your taste; butter your cups and bake them half an hour; this quantity makes twelve puffs in middle-sized tea-cups. BATH BUNS. Rub together, with the hand, one pound of fine flour and half a pound of butter; beat six eggs, and add them to the flour with a table spoonful of good yeast. Mix them alto- gether with half a tea cup full of milk; set it in a warm place for an hour; mix in six ounces of siſted sugar, and a few car- away seeds. Mould them into buns with a table-spoon on a baking plate; throw six or eight caraway comfits on each, and bake them in a hot oven about ten minutes. These quantities should make eighteen buns. QUEEN CAKE. Beat one pound of butter to cream, with some rose-water, one pound of flour dried, one pound of sifted sugar, twelve eggs, beat all well together; add a few currants washed and dried; butter small pans of a size for the purpose, grate su- gar over them; they are soon baked. They may be done in a Dutch oven. 132 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. COMMON SEED CAKE. One pound of flour, a quarter of a pound of butter, a quar- ter of a pound of sugar, a few caraways, a pint of milk, a spoonful of yeast, inixed well together; let it stand a long time before the fire, then put it in the oven. SPONGE CAKE. Weigh ten eggs, and their weight in very fine sugar, and that of six in flour; beat the yolks with the flour, and the whites alone, to a very stiff froth; then by degrees mix the whites and the flour with the other ingredients, and beat them well half an hour. Bake in a quick oven an hour. CARAWAY CAKES. To a pound of flour, add a pound of fresh butter, eight spoonfuls of good yeast, four spoonfuls of rose-water, the yolks of three eggs, as many caraways as you please, four ounces of sugar, knead all into a paste, make it up into any form you please, and when they come out of the oven, strew over powdered sugar. GINGERBREAD. Rub one pound of butter well into three pounds of flour; then add one pound of powdered sugar, one pound of treacle, and two ounces of ginger pounded and siſted very fine; one nutmeg grated very fine; then warm a quarter of a pint of cream, and mix all together; you may add caraways and sweetmeats if you choose; make it into a stiff paste, and bake it in a slow oven. If cake or biscuits are kept in paper or a drawer, they will acquire a disagreeable taste. A pan and cover, or tu- PASTRY, CAKES, &c. 135 MINCE PIE WITHOUT MEAT. Take a pound of currants, a pound of apples chopped fine, a pound of moist sugar, a pound of suet well chopped, a quarter of a pound of raisins, stoned and chopped small, the juice of two lemons, the rind of one shred fine, nutmeg, and mace, according to taste, and a glass of brandy. Mix all well together, put it in a pan, and keep it closely tied up. MUFFINS. Mix two pounds of flour with a couple of eggs, two oun- ces of butter melted in a pint of milk, and four or five spoon- fuls of yeast; beat it thoroughly, and set it to rise two or three hours. Bake it on a hot hearth in flat cakes, and turn them, when done, on one side. Or, Take two quarts of warm water, two spoonfuls of yeast, three pounds of flour; heat it well for half an hour, and let it stand an hour or two; bake them on an iron baking-stove (rub it well over with mutton-suet as often as they are laid on); as soon as they begin to colour turn them; they will be sufficiently baked when coloured on both sides. RHUBARB TART. Let the stalks be of a good size, take off the thin skin, and cut them into lengths of four or five inches; lay them in a dish, and put over a thin syrup of sugar and water; cover with another dish, and let it simmer slowly for an hour upon a hot hearth, or do them in a block-tin saucepan. As soon as cold, make it into a tart; when tender, the baking the crust will be sufficient; or you may cut the stalks into little bits, the size of gooseberries, and make your tart the same as gooseberry tart. 136 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. RICE CHEESE. Boil an ounce of rice, thick as hasty pudding, in rather less than half a pint of milk (new); pour it hot on an ounce and a half of butter, the same weight of Lisbon sugar, mixing it well together; let it stand till cold; then add one egg, and the yolk of another, and a little white wine. ROLLS. Warm an ounce of butter in half a pint of milk, then add a spoonful and a half of yeast of small-beer, and a little salt. Put two pounds of flour into a pan, and put in the above. Set it to rise for an hour; knead it well; make it into seven rolls, and bake them in a quick oven. FRENCH ROLLS. Rub one ounce of butter into a pound of flour; then add to it one egg beaten, a little yeast that is not bitter, and a suf- ficient quantity of milk, to make a dough of moderate stiff- ness. Beat it well, but do not knead it; let it rise, and bake on tins. Or, Warm three spoonfuls of milk, and the same quan- tîty of water, with a bit of butter the size of a walnut, put it to two spoonfuls of thick yeast; put this into the middle of rather more than a quart of flour, mix the whole together to the consistence of a batter-pudding, adding more flour if necessary, to make it the proper thickness; strew a little flour over it, from the sides and if the weather is cold, set it at a little distance from the fire; do this three hours before it is put into the oven; when it breaks a good dealthrough the flour and rises, work it into a light paste with more warm milk and water; let it lie till within a quarter of an hour of setting into the oven, then work them lightly into rolls; flour a tin, and drop them on, handle them as little as pos- 138 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. CRANBERRY TART. The cranberries should be stewed first, with brown sugar, and a very little water, and then baked in open tarts, or in patty-pans, lined and covered with very light puff paste. TARTS OF PRESERVED FRUITS. Cover patty-pans, or shallow tins or dishes, with light puff paste, and lay the preserve in them, cover with light cross bars of puff paste, or with paste stars, leaves, or flow- ers. For the most delicate preserves, the best way is to bake the paste first, then put in the preserves, and ornament with leaves, baked for the purpose, on tins. MINCE PIES. Par-roast, or slightly bake, about two pounds of good lean beef, and two pounds of good beef suet; chop both these fine, and put to them two pounds of apples pared, cored, and chopped; also one pound of raisins, stoned, and three pounds of currants, washed, picked, and both chopped; one pound of good moist sugar, half a pound of citron, and one pound of candied lemon or orange peel, both cut into thin slices; mix all these well together, in a brown pan, and add two nutmegs grated, one ounce of salt, one ounce of ginger, half an ounce of coriander seeds, half an ounce of allspice, half an ounce of cloves, the juice of six lemons, and their rinds grated, half a pint of brandy, and a pint of sweet, or ginger wine. Mix it well together, and it will keep for some time, if covered close, and in a cool place. When you are about to use any of it, stir up well from the bottom, and add a lit- tle more brandy, to the quantity you use. Cover patty-pans, saucers, or shallow pie dishes, with a rich puff, or plain paste, fill them with the mince, and cover with a paste, pare 144 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. vessel should be placed near the fire. If the ferment be well formed in the sponge, it will act upon and distend the whole mass in the course of an hour; we have seen it rise and swell so much as to fill the vessel and raise up the co- vering cloth; and, like the sponge, it ought to be taken at the height of the action, and formed into loaves before it begins to fall back. Heating the oven.-By the term oven, we mean to ex- press one built of, and arched at the top with, sound bricks, the bottom being laid with good tiles close jointed, those iron appendages to grates and kitchen ranges, called ovens, being generally worse than useless for bread. Bricks are slow conductors of heat; they receive it gradually, and re- tain it pertinaciously: hence, a baker's oven, which is heated daily, or nearly so, always produces the best and most equally baked loaves: iron, on the contrary, is a rapid conductor; hence, though the oven will become hot enough, it cannot retain its temperature without perpetual accessions of actual fire: the bread, therefore, is either burnt, or it is unequally baked; frequently, also, the loaves are flat and their texture too solid. If the batch required be large, and the family possess a good bread oven, the bread, of course, will be baked at home; but if there be no proper oven, and three or four small or middle-sized loaves be made, it will be wise to send them to a baker, with whom an agreement may readily be made to bake them upon very moderate terms. Many persons adopt this method, and we know a family which has the finest bread we ever saw, where the loaves are prepared and sent to a baker twice a week. The disadvantage of an oven at home is this: it becomes cold, and therefore can never, by any weekly heating, be unifornily “ soaked,” as it is termed. The baker's oven never loses its heat: the bread therefore rises higher, and is lighter; we recommend MAKING AND BAKING OF BREAD. 145 it then, as a point of economy, that a small family should not generally attempt to bake at home. Furze, small brushwood, and sound fagots, are the best materials for the fire; with the first (where it is at hand,) it can be lighted, and a blaze of intense heat maintained, till the bulk of hot fuel be sufficient to kindle the fagots. One hour will bring a good oven to that state which will raise the bread to its height, and then heat the loaf to its centre without charring the crust; therefore it may be laid down as a good general rule, that the fire should be kindled at the same time that the dough is made up. There is an art of heating an oven with precision, which can only be acquired by observation and practice, unless, indeed, it happen that the operator (as is sometimes the case) possess a sort of intuitive perception of the effects of fire. A criterion of a well-heated oven used to be the whiteness of a stone, (called technically the baker,) which formerly was built into the wall, towards the further end of the oven. These stones are now rarely admitted: therefore a judgment must be formed by the clearness of the bricks of the sides and arch, and by the lively sparkling of the embers. The former criterion proves that the bricks have received enough of body heat to consume that black carbonaceous coating which the smoke communicates to them at the early stage of fire: the second shows that the principle of combustion is in full activity, and not rendered inert by a cold surface either at the top, bottom, or sides. Finally, if the brick- work be hot enough, and the point of a long stake be rubbed forcibly over any part of it, so as for the moment to make a black trace of charcoal, this trace will be burnt off, and the bricks left clear in a second of time. We cannot particularise further now; therefore suffice it to observe that the dough being completely up, and the oven hot nearly together, the former must be cut, and slightly pressed (not forcibly 13 146 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. kneaded) and rolled into the form of loaves, which are to be dusted over with flour one by one, while another person draws out the hot embers with a hook of iron fixed at the end of a long pole, and cleans the bottom of the oven with a wet mop made of long shreds of woollen cloth or coarse sacking. The loaves are then placed side by side in the oven by means of an instrument called a baking peel, which consists of a flat beach board fixed to a long handle: this board, as well as the loaves, should be dredged with flour, so as absolutely to prevent adhesions of the dough to the board of the peel. When the loaves are in the oven the door must be se- curely closed; and if the fire have been well managed, the bread will be regularly baked in an hour and a half or two hours, according to the size of the loaves. YEAST. For a seceipt for making yeast the reader is referred to Miscellaneous Receipts in another part of the volume. PLAIN BISCUITS. To one pound of flour, put the yolk of one egg, and milk sufficient to mix into a stiff paste, knead it smooth, then roll out thin, cut it in round shapes, prick with a fork, and bake them in a slow oven. ANOTHER. To one pound of flour, add one quarter pound of butter, beaten to a cream, five ounces of loaf sugar, five eggs and some carraway seeds: beat the whole well for an hour, and pour the biscuits on tins, each one a large spoonful. If not suffi- ciently thin and smooth,when worked together, add another egg, or a little milk. MAKING AND BAKING OF BREAD. 147 INDIAN CORN BISCUITS. To one half pound of butter, add six ounces pounded sugar, and three eggs well beaten; when well mixed, add three quarters of a pound of corn flour, a little nutmeg, and some carraway seeds; beat well, and bake on little tins. ANOTHER. Into three quarters of a pound of flour, rub four ounces of butter, add four ounces of sifted loaf sugar, and nearly one ounce of carraway seeds; make it into a paste with three eggs, roll out thin, and cut the cakes with a wine glass, or in any other shape you like. RUSKS. Boil a quart of milk, and let it get cold, then put to it half a pint of yeast, two eggs, two ounces of coriander seeds, two ounces of carraway seeds, a little ginger, and one quarter pound of finely pounded sugar, beat these all together and then add as much flour as will make a stiff paste: divide it into long thin bricks, put these on tins and let them be before the fire a short time to rise, and then bake them. When cold, cut in slices, and dry them in a slack oven. ANOTHER. Melt one half pound of butter in a quart of milk, let it cool, then add one egg, half a pint of yeast, and four ounces of sifted sugar, beat this for a few minutes, then work into it enough fine flour to make a light dough, and set it by the fire to rise. Make this into little loaves, and bake them on tins, in a quick oven; when half done take them out of the oven, split and put them back to finish. 150 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. parm culty in getting it out, the mould may be just put in warm water. This is a cheap and pretty looking jelly. ITALIAN CREAM. Mix a pint of thick cream with the juice of a large lemon, and a glass of white wine; put the peel of the lemon in whole, with a sufficient quantity of loaf sugar; beat them well together with a whisk; put a clear muslin over the mould, and pour the cream in; let it drain till the following day, then turn it out carefully. There are earthenware moulds on purpose with small holes to let out the whey. BLANC MANGE. To one ounce of picked isinglass, put a pint of water, boil it till the isinglass is melted, with a bit of cinnamon; put to it three quarters of a pint of cream, two ounces of sweet almonds, six bitter ones blanched and beaten, a bit of lemon-peel, sweeten it, stir it over the fire, let it boil, strain and let it cool, squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and put into moulds; garnish to your fancy. DUTCH BLANC MANGE. Put a pint of cleared calf's-foot jelly into a stew-pan; mix with it the yolks of six eggs, set it over a fire, and whisk. till it begins to boil; then set the pan in cold water, and stir the mixture till nearly cold, to prevent it from curdling, and when it begins to thicken fill the moulds. CALVES' FEET BLANC MANGE. Pick all the the black spots from two boiled feet, slice them into a stew-pan, with a quarter of a pint of Mountain wine, and rather more water; let them stew gently; add the yolks of three eggs beaten and strained, with a quarter of a pint of cream and a little flour, a little lemon peel and JELLIES, JAMS, &c. 151 juice, sweeten with fine sugar, strain it into a dish. When nearly cold, stick on the top some jar raisins, scalded to plump, almonds blanched into slips, citron, lemon, and orange peel sliced. It may be put in a basin; when cold turn it out. CURRANT JELLY. Set on the fire in a sugar-pan a pint of smooth clarified sugar; when it boils, put in a quart of picked red currants, in which let them boil for half an hour; be careful to skim them well, and at times add a little cold water to raise the scum; when boiled enough run the liquor through a sieve into a basin, in which you have squeezed three lemons, then put in some isinglass, and set your jelly in a mould in ice as usual. Or, For this purpose the ripest red currants should be taken, as the white are not so good for jelly; crush them, and press out all the juice into a glazed pan; cover it very closely, and set it in a cold place for six days; then with great care remove the thick skin which then covers the juice, and pour it into another vessel, throwing away what remains at the bottom; when the juice is perfectly clear, weigh it, and for each pound take half a pound of crushed sugar, put them on the fire together, and much scum will soon rise; this must all be taken off; let it remain on the fire for about an hour; then try it as follows: put a small quantity on a very cold plate, and if, when it cools, it becomes thick, and of proper consistence, take the pan from the fire; if that is not the case, let it remain until that is the case. Pour out the jelly whilst hot; it must be quite cold before you cover it with paper. RED CURRANT JELLY. Strip off the currants, put them in a jar, set the jar in 152 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. a kettle of hot water, let it boil an hour; then throw the currants and juice into a fine lawn sieve, press out the juice, and to every pint of juice put a pound of double-refined sugar; put them in a preserving pan, set it over a charcoal fire, and keep stirring till it is a jelly, which you will know by taking a little out to cool; be careful to take off the the scum as it rises, and when it is jellied and very clear, pour it into glasses; when cold, cut round pieces of paper that will just cover the jelly, dipped in brandy; put white paper over the glasses, twisting round the top. BLACK CURRANT JELLY. Make it the same way as the red currant jelly, only with this difference, that you may use very coarse sugar. GOOSEBERRY JAM. Take what quantity you please of red, rough, ripe, goose- berries; take half their quantity of lump sugar; break them well, and boil them together for half an hour, or more, if necessary. Put it into pots, and cover with paper. GRAPE JELLY. Take out the stones, then mash the grapes with your hands, (they must be ripe) then squeeze them through a cloth to extract all the juice from them, and boil and finish the same as currant jelly. Use half a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. RASPBERRY JELLY. Take two thirds of raspberries, and one third red cur- rant; pick them, press the juice through a sieve into a pan, cover, and place in a cellar, or any other cool place for three days; at the end of that time raise the thick skin formed at the top, and pour the juice into another vessel; weigh JELLIES, JAMS, &c. 153 it, and put it, with half the quantity of sugar, into a pre- serving pan, set it on the fire; a great deal of scum will rise at first, which must all be taken off; leave it on the fire for an hour; then pour a few drops on a cold plate, if it cools of the proper consistence for jellies, take it from the fire, and whilst hot pour it into pots. Let the jelly be quite cold before the pots are covered. LIQUID JELLY. Take six lemons, pare them very thin, squeeze out the juice, and put in the peel without the seeds; let it stand all night, then put in half a pound of loaf sugar, mixing it well with the juice; add one pint of boiling water, and one pint of sweet but good wine; mix all well together; then add one pint of boiling milk, boil it altogether once, then strain it through a jelly bag; it will sometimes run clear the second or third time, and sometimes requires to run through oftener. CALF'S FOOT JELLY. The day before you want the jelly, boil 2 feet in 2 quarts of water, till they are broken and the water half wasted, strain and put it by in a cool place. The next day remove all fat as well as sediment, put the jelly into a sauce pan with sugar, raisin wine, lemon juice, and peel to your taste. Let it simmer, and when the flavour is rich, add the whites of five eggs well beaten, and, also, their shells; let it boil genıly for twenty minutes, but do not stir it; then pour in a tea-cupful of warm water, let it boil five minutes longer; take the saucepan off the fire; cover close, and let it stand by the side for half an hour. After this it ought to be so clear as to require only once running through the jelly bag, which must be first dipped in hot water. 154 OOK. HOUSEKEEP PRESERVES. • To excel in preserving the fruits of common use in a fa- mily is a matter of great consequence, as they are much bet- ter and much cheaper when preserved at home, than when bought of the confectioner. A little practice will teach any mistress of a house as much of this art, as it is requisite for her to be acquainted with; but this is a department which ought to have her personal superintendence. The fruit for every sort of jelly or preserve, ought to be the best of its kind; ripe enough, but not over ripe; gathered on a dry day, and after a dry day. The sugar should be of the best quality, and plenty of it should be allowed, for it is mistaken economy to save sugar in making preserves; they are not good, neither will they keep; and much is wasted by boiling up a second time. Long boiling injures the colour of preserves, but they must be boiled too long, if there be not a sufficiency of sugar allowed to keep them. Let the bags and sieves which are used in making jelly, be kept de- licately clean; wring them out of hot water the instant be- fore you use them. Do not squeeze the bag, or press the fruit much, or your jelly will not be clear; this is not waste- ful, for the fruit which is left, with a little more fresh fruit added to it, will make very nice jam, or black butter, a nice and useful preserve. In boiling jams, try a little in a saucer; when it cools, if the juice runs off, the jam requires longer boiling. Some persons use no sugar which is not clarified, but I think that, for common preserves, such as are usually made in private families, good loaf sugar, not clarified, answers every purpose. After the preserve is poured into the jar, or pot, in which it is to be kept, let it stand uncovered for for two days, then put brandy papers over, and cover with 156 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. with bread, and are very wholesome. Thus done, pressed, and strained, the juice makes a fine drink for people in fe- vers. CRANBERRY JELLY. Make a very strong isi nglass jelly. When cold, mix it with a double quantity of cranberry-juice pressed, sweeten it, and boil it up; then strain it into a shape. The sugar must be good lump, or the jelly will not be clear. CRANBERRY AND RICE JELLY. Boil and press the fruit, strain the juice, and, by degrees, mix into it as much ground rice as will, when boiled, thick- en to a jelly; boil it gently, stirring it, and sweeten to your taste. Put it in a basin or form, and serve to eat with milk or cream. CRANBERRY TART. This tart is made like all other fruit tarts; the best cran- berries should be used and well washed; a quarter of a pound of sugar is the proper quantity for a quart of cran- berries; to this must be added the juice of half a lemon. Serve it cold. FIGS, TO KEEP ALL THE YEAR FIT FOR USE. Put some figs in a large earthen jar, with a layer of their own leaves between them; then boil some water and honey, skimming it well (be careful not to make it too thick of the honey), and pour it warm over the figs; then stop the jar very close. When you take out the figs for use, soak them for two hours in warm water. PRESERVES. 157 TO PRESERVE GREEN GAGES. You must choose the largest, when they begin to soften; split without paring them, and having previously weighed an equal quantity of sugar, strew a part of it over them; blanch the kernels with a small sharp knife; next day, pour the syrup from the fruit, and boil it with the other sugar, very gently, for six or eight minutes; skim, and add the plums and kernels. Simmer till clear, taking off any scum that rises; put the fruit singly into small pots, and pour the syrup and kernels upon it. MARMALADE. Marmalade may be composed of almost any fruits; the best, however, for this purpose are, apricots, peaches, oranges, quinces, egg-pluns, apples, &c. They are usual- ly made by boiling the fruit and sugar together to a kind of pulp, stirring them constantly whilst on the fire: it is kept in pots, which must not be covered till the marmalade is quite cold. The proportion of sugar is half a pound to each pound of fruit. BAKED PEARS. Take half a dozen fine pears; peel, cut them in halves, and take out the cores: put them into a pan with a little red wine, a few cloves, half a pound of sugar, and some water. Set them in a moderate oven till tender, then put them on a slow fire to stew gently; add grated lemon-peel, and more sugar if necessary. They will be sufficiently red. QUINCE MARMALADE. Gather the fruit when fully ripe, and of a fine yellow; pare, quarter, and core it. Put the quinces into a sauce-pan with a little water, set them on the fire until they are quite 14 160 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. COOKERY FOR THE SICK. BARLEY GRUEL. Take three ounces of pearl barley, of which make a quart of barley-water; if it be not white, shift it once or twice; put in two ounces of currants clean picked and washed, and when they are plumped, pour out the gruel and let it cool a little; then put in the yolks of three eggs well beaten, half a pint of white wine, and of new thick cream half a pint, and lemon peel; then sweeten with fine sugar to your taste; stir it gently over the fire, until it is thick as cream. BEEF TEA. Cut a pound of fleshy beef in thin slices; simmer with a quart of water twenty minutes, after it has once boiled, and been skimmed. Season, if approved; but it has generally only salt. MILK PUNCH. Beat up two eggs well, mix them in a quart of milk, su- gar, nutmeg, and lemon-peel to your taste; boil it gently, stirring it all the time till thick enough; take it off the fire a very few minutes, then add to it a full quarter of a pint of rum. It must be stirred all the time the rum is pouring in, or it will not be good. PANADA. Boil some pieces of stale bread in a sufficient quantity of cold water to cover them, with a little cinnamon, lemon- peel, and carraways; when the bread is quite soft, press out all the water, and beat up the bread with a small piece of butter, a little milk, and sugar to the taste; a little spice may be added. Or, Set a little water on the fire with a glass of white 162 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. off. The barley water, thus made is clear and mucilagi- nous; and when mixed with an equal quantity of good milk and a small portion of sugar, is an excellent substitute for the mother's milk, when infants are, unfortunately, to be brought up by hand. Without milk, it is one of the best beverages for all acute diseases, and may have lemon juice, raspberry vinegar, apple tea, infusion of tamarinds, or any other acidulous substance that is agreeable to the palate of the patient, mixed with it. . GRUEL. This farinaceous nutriment may be made either with grits or oatmeal. When grits are used, three ounces of then, after being very well washed, should be put into two quarts of water and boiled very slowly, until the water be reduced to one half of the original quantity. During the boiling it should be stirred frequently; and, when finished, it should be strained through a hair sieve. For oatmeal gruel, three ounces of meal must be put into a basin, and bruised with the back of the spoon; small quantities of wa- ter being successively mixed with it, and each quantity poured off into another basin, before more be mixed: and this must be continued until about a quart of water has been mixed with the oatmeal. The remains of the oatmeal should then be thrown away, and the water in which it was bruised is to be boiled for twenty minutes, stirring it the whole of the time. By either of these methods, a mild, demulcent, agreeable nutriment is prepared, which is useful in the same cases in which barley water is employed; and it may, likewise, be mixed with milk or with any acid substance. Gruel, however, is more likely to become sour than barley water, and should never be kept longer than forty-eight hours in winter and twenty-four in summer. COOKERY FOR THE SICK. 163 ARROW ROOT, Forms an excellent nutritive mucilage. Put two tea- spoonfuls of the powder into a half-pint basin; mix them smooth with a few tea-spoonfuls of cold water, and then let another person pour boiling water over the mixture while you continue to stir it, until it forms a kind of starchy-look- ing substance. Arrow root, thus prepared, may be used in the same manner as gruel. It is well adapted for the food of infants, because it is less liable to ferment than either gruel or bar- ley water; and, for the same reason, it is the best fluid nour- ishment for those who are afflicted with diseases of indiges- tion. As it is very insipid, it requires either milk, or wine, or acids, to be mixed with it, whichever may suit the taste and the state of habit of the person for whom it is intended. It forms an excellent pudding, when prepared like rice, for children who are a little beyond the age of infancy. DECOCTION OF ICELAND LIVERWORT. An ounce of the liverwort must be carefully freed from the moss, fragments of stalks, and particles of dirt, with which it is frequently mixed, by rubbing it between the hands in cold water. Then steep it, for two hours, in such a quantity of cold water as will completely cover it; after which it must be bruised, pounded, or cut, and the steeping continued for three or four hours longer in a fresh quantity of boiling water, which, when the steeping is finished, must be strained off by pressure. The liverwort is then to be put into a quart of fresh water, and kept boiling until the fluid be reduced two-thirds, or to a pint and a quarter. When strained and allowed to cool, it forms a thick muci- lage, free from any bitter taste; and may be rendered very 164 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. palatable by the addition of sugar and lemon juice; or by white wine, in those cases which permit the use of wine. This decoction of liverwort is an excellent demulcent nutriment, in consumption, dysentery and in convalesence from acute diseases, and particularly after the hooping cough, in which case the bitter need not be completely removed, as it tends to invigorate the digestive organs. WHITE WINE WHEY. To make this whey, put half a pint of milk diluted with a quarter of a pint of water into a sauce-pan, which must be placed on the fire uncovered. Watch the moment when the milk boils, which may be known by the frothing and rising up of the milk to the top of the pan; pour into it, at that instant, two giasses of white wine, and a tea-spoonful of powdered sugar, which should be previously mixed with the wine. The curd will immediately form; and, after boiling the mixture for a few minutes, may be separated from the whey, either by letting it settle at the bottom, and then pouring off the whey clear from it, or by straining it through a fine sieve. BALM, MINT, AND OTHER TEAS. These are simple infusions, the strength of which can only be regulated by the taste. They are made by putting either the fresh or the dried plants into boiling water in a covered vessel, which should be placed near the fire for an hour. The young shoots both of balm and of mint are to be preferred, on account of their stronger aromatic qualities. These infusions may be drunk freely in feverish and in various other complaints, in which diluents are recommend- ed. Mint tea, made with the fresh leaves, is useful in al- laying nausea and vomiting. COOKERY FOR THE SICK. 165 BEEF TEA, Is too frequently prepared, by simply boiling a piece of beef in a given quantity of water; but by this method it gene- rally resembles gravy soup more than beef tea, and is then unfit for the use of the sick. To make it properly, cut half a pound of good lean beef into very thin slices; spread the slices in a hollow dish, and having poured over them a pint and a half of boiling water, cover up the dish, and place it near the fire for half an hour, and then boil it over a quick fire for about eight minutes. The tea, after having the scum taken off, should stand for ten minutes, after which it is to be poured off clean, and seasoned with a little salt. Beef tea thus made is a light and pleasant diluent, and very useful when the bowels and stomach are in a weak and irritable state. When used as a food for infants, it should always be prepared in this manner; and nothing answers better as a breakfast, for those who are habitually sick in a morning, either from a redundance of bile, intemperance, or other causes. VEAL TEA, Is prepared in the same manner as beef tea; and may be used under similar circumstances. CHICKEN TEA, Is prepared by cutting, in small pieces, a chicken, from which the skin and fat have been removed; and then boiling the pieces, for twenty minutes, in a quart of water, with the addition of a little salt. The tea should be poured from the meat before it is quite cold. It is useful in the same cases as beef and veal tea. 166 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. TOAST AND WATER, May be made by pouring over toasted bread either a pint of cold or boiling water. In the latter mode it should be made some hours before it is wanted, that it may have time to become perfectly cool. ISINGLASS JELLY. In cases of extreme debility, isinglass is sometimes ordered to be taken in small quantities. An ounce, when dissolved in a pint of boiling water, forms, when cold, a light jelly, a tea-spoonful of which may be mixed with tea, or milk and water. A very pleasant beverage may, also, be made of orange juice and water, with the addition of the isinglass jelly. A lady, after being reduced to ex- treme weakness by a severe illness, and being incapable of taking any thing solid, recovered her strength, although by very slow degrees, with but little more nourishment than what the isinglass, given to her in every liquid she drank, afforded her. From this case, it would appear to be an excellent corroborant; but medical men think, that jellies are less nutritive than they are generally supposed to be by those who are not of the profession. « CALVES' FEET BROTH. Boil three feet in four quarts of water, with a little salt: it should boil up first, and then simmer, till the liquor is wasted one half: strain and put it by. This may be warmed (the fat having been taken off,) a tea-cupful at a time, with either white or port wine, and is very nourish- ing for an invalid. Or, The feet may be boiled with two ounces of lean veal, the same of beef, half of a penny roll, a blade or two of mace, ESSENCES. 171 most of the others; but in six months it will be in tolerable condition. ESSENCES. ESSENCE OF GINGER. Put three oz. of fresh grated ginger, and 1 oz. of thinly cut lemon peel into a quart of brandy, and let it stand ten days, not forgetting to shake it every day. ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE. Of oil of pimento, 1 drachm, strong spirit of wine, 2 oz. mix these together by degrees, and a few drops will give the flavour of allspice to a pint of either gravy or mulled wine. ESSENCE OF NUTMEG, CLOVE OR MACE. Have 2 oz. of the strongest spirit of wine, and put into it 1 drachm of either nutmeg, clove or mace. A few drops will give sufficient flavour. ESSENCE OF CINNAMON. Two oz. of strong spirits of wine, and 1 drachm of oil of cinnamon. ESSENCE OF SEVILLE ORANGE, AND LEMON PEEL. Rub lump sugar on the lemon or orange, till it is quite saturated with the rind, then scrape the sugar so saturated, into the jar you keep it in, and rub the rind again, and so on, till you have enough; press the sugar down close, and keep it for use. This imparts a very nice flavour to custards and puddings. Tincture of lemon peel is made by paring the peel very nicely, and steeping it in brand.y FLOWERS. 173 in winter, nothing more is necessary than to take them out, wash them in fair water, and hold them before a gentle fire, when they will open as if in all their vernal bloom. As the flowering of bulbous roots is always an agreeable decoration of the drawing-room in winter, it may be amus- ing to state an easy method of encouraging it rapidly even in the coldest weather. Take three ounces of nitre, one ounce of common salt, half an ounce of potash, half an ounce of sugar, and dissolve them in a pint of rain-water. Keep your glasses near the fire. Change the water every ten or twelve days; and each time put in about half a tea-spoonful of this mixture. MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. To treat on the proper management of plants in houses is a subject attended with considerable difficulty; every genus requiring some variation, both in soil, water, and general treatment. If the room where the plants are intended to be placed is dark and close, but few will ever thrive in it;—if, on the contrary, it is light and airy, with the windows in a suitable aspect to receive the sun, plants will do nearly as well as in a green-house. But if they are observed to suf- fer, the effects may generally be traced to one of the four following causes:— Want of proper light and air—injudi- cious watering—filthiness collected on the leaves—or, being potted in unsuitable soil. 1st. Want of proper Light and Air,-is perhaps the most essential point of any to be considered; for, however well all other requisites are attended to, a deficiency in either of these will cause the plants to grow weak and sickly. Let them always be placed as near the light as they can con- veniently stand, and receive as much air as can be admitted, when the weather will allow. Indeed those persons who have no other conveniency than the house to keep them in 15* FLOWERS. 175 3d. Filthiness collected on the Leaves,-may either arise from insects, or dust; the former may be speedily remedied, by placing the plants under a hand-glass, or any thing that is convenient, and burning some tobacco until they become well enveloped in the smoke;—and the latter may be removed by occasionally washing them on the head with pure water, either by means of a syringe, the rose of a watering-pan, or with a sponge, when the filth still adheres. 4th. Being Potted in Unsuitable Soil,—is by far the most difficult part of the business to rectify, for no certain line can be drawn, unless each genus was treated on sepa- rately; which cannot be done in a book like the present. Bulbs of most sorts flourish in rooms with less care than most other kinds of plants. Hyacinths should be planted in autumn. In preparing pots for them, select such as are about four inches deep and three inches wide, put a little rotten dung in each pot, fill each pot up with light rich soil, and plant the bulbs so shallow that nearly half the bulb stands above the soil; plunge the pots in the open air, and cover them six or eight inches deep with rotten bark. During spring take them out as they are wanted to bring into flower, and set them in the window of a warm room where they will be fully exposed to the sun. Those who do not possess a garden may set the pots in a cellar or out- house, or in the corner of a yard, and cover them with light soil or sand until they are wanted to bring into the room to flower. When the leaves begin to decay after they have done flowering give them no water; when the leaves are dead, take them out of the soil and remove the offsets, and lay them in an airy situation until the time of planting. If grown in water glasses, they require to be placed in a light airy situation, and the water will require to be changed once in three or four days. If drawn up weakly, ) 176 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. it will be necessary to support the stems with sticks, split at the bottom so as to fit on the edge of the glasses at the top. This, however, will not be necessary if they be kept in a light and airy situation. When out of flower, plant them in pots of soil to perfect their leaves, and treat them as above; they will then flower again the succeeding year. PRESERVATION OF PLATE. CLEANING PLATE. In establishments in which a butler's pantry and a foot- man are to be found, the plate is of course well attended to; but in families where it is left to the care of a female ser- vant, who has multifarious occupations daily to be de- spatched, unless a regulation be made and insisted upon, the plate that is in constant use will be very soon bruised and scratched, and in its appearance will more resemble tin or “ queen’s metal,” than silver. The best plan is to pro- vide a wicker basket with three compartments in it, and the handle in the middle. One will contain the smaller spoons and forks; the other will hold the salt-cellars, mus- tard-pot, &c., and the third will receive the soup-ladle, fish- slice, gravy-spoons, &c. With even one servant this plate may be kept in excellent condition by a little care. It should never be left in the kitchen, or any other part acces- sible to strangers; a sideboard drawer, or inner closet in a store-room, would be desirable. A japanned tray also, should be provided, with a clean knife-cloth at the bottom; and before the dishes are removed at dinner time, every spoon that has been used, should be laid upon the cloth in the tray, and be set away in a kitchen drawer, until the tea things are washed in the evening; this regulation will insure FLOWERS. 177 their not being tossed into the dish-tub, to be scratched and shuffled about among the plates and dishes; and most proba- bly, from being emptied away into any receptacle for hog- wash, or down a drain, &c. A servant should also be in- structed to wash spoons one at a time, and not to take them up, several together in the hand, like a bundle of quills. The best material for cleaning plate that is in constant use is soap and water, with a soft cloth: if a dark tarnished spot should appear, a little damp whitening on a small brush will soon remove it. For plate that has long lain by, liquor- castors, cruet-stands, &c., first wash it with the incompara- ble soap and water, and if needful (in consequence of tar- nish), smear it all over with whitening and spirits of wine, or common gin, set it to dry, and then brush it off. Decan- ter-stands, and other articles which must not be washed, on account of the varnished satin wood, and green baize, should be subjected to the latter treatment only. The best plate powder is the purest whiting; because it is soft, and is not a metallic preparation, as rouge is, and other advertised plate powders; these act upon the silver, and wear it rapidly away. The only objection to whiting is, that it gives the plate a poor and white appearance, whereas the hue that is imparted to it by rouge, is that dark and steel-like surface, at once so beautiful and rich. After the plate has been washed with hot water, rub it over with a mixture of levigated hartshorn and spirits of tur- pentine, which is the best preparation I have known for cleansing plate and renewing its polish. Remember, that two good-sized leathers are required for cleaning plate, one of which should be kept for rubbing off the hartshorn-pow- der, and the other for polishing up the silver afterwards. This process should be performed twice a week; but on other days, merely rubbing with the leathers, after washing, will be sufficient. I have never seen any plate look better than that which is cleaned according to this direction, and 180 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. of economy, to provide bed-covers, to be laid over the beds when the rooms are being swept. The quantity of dust which settles on other articles of furniture will convince those who observe it that a due proportion will fall on the bed-cover; and, in the absence of this neat appendage to a housemaid's paraphernalia, on the counterpane or quilt. A half-tidy, and much more troublesome method is sometimes adopted, that of turning the counterpane wrong side out- wards, on the occasion of sweeping; but this is objectionable, if only in consequence of the dust that must be unnecessari- ly communicated to the blanket. A bed-cover may be made of any slight material-our own is of matress ticking, which is cheap and preferable to any other article for the purpose. In turning sheets, &c., a knife or scissors should never be used to cut open the seams, as is too commonly done, for the edges are almost inevitably cut from time to time. Though picking out the stitches with a pin appears a tedi- ous process, it will in the end prove shorter than the other plan, which involves the necessity of hemming the edges as well as pulling out the ends of cut thread. When roller-blinds become a little worn, it is a good plan to turn the top to the bottom, and, by adding a false hem at the top, the worn part may be cut off without unduly short- ening the blind. BROOMS. The brooms of a domicile are of various sorts; and, like every other article of domestic utility, of various qualities; nor are the best kinds to be ascertained by young housekeep- ers by intuition, neither should servants be intrusted with the commission to purchase them. Shopkeepers are not al- ways honest if servants are; and the less collison that is al- lowed, or even hazarded between them on all occasions, the more advantageous it will be to a mistress. Experience PRESERVATION OF BEDS, CARPETS, &c. 181 alone, in the matter of brooms, can determine the good qua- lities and comparative merits of these essentials to our house- hold comfort. We will begin with the carpet-broom, that darling vehi- cle of a housemaid in her daily work of destruction to the beautiful woofs which grace our floors. With what regret have we listened to the tearing noise of one of these vile bundles of harsh rushes scratching up the nap, under the strong arm and ruthless vigour of a servant! These gay brooms, begirt with gilded crimson leather, are one of the most expensive articles in a house; for they not only destroy the carpets, even when quite new, but they quickly wear down; and, in that state of stubborn jagged twigs, a stable broom could commit little less havoc. The best brush for our carpeted floors is a long handled one, with rounded ends, the hairs very stiff, and about as long as those in a clothes brush. This, at all events, will suffice for the pur- pose six days out of the seven; so that only once a week, instead of every day, the use of the genuine carpet broom may be permitted. Two house-brooms should always be provided, one for the sleeping apartments (which should be kept up stairs), and one for the kitchen; and these, indeed all brooms, should have round ends; we deprecate those which are usually seen with ends sharp and square, that seem to have been invented expressly to chip the paint from the skirting boards. CARPETS. When carpets are taken up to be beaten, it is a usual, though erroneous plan, to have them dragged over a grass plot, in order to “ brighten their colours.”—No green sward at this time of the year can be in a fit state for such an ex- pedient; and injury from the mud and worm-casts will be 16 186 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. CURE FOR THE RHEUMATISM. Mix well together one quarter of an ounce of ether and an ounce of amber oil. Rub the part affected first with a flannel, till quite warm, then with the hand; rub on a little of the mixture, and cover it with a warm flannel. Repeat the application twice a-day till cured. RECENT COLD. A tea-spoonful of sal-volatile, taken in a small quantity of water or white wine whey at bed time, is a good remedy for a recent cold. Bathing the nose in warm water is also a great relief. RECIPE FOR THE S'TING OF A WASP, BEE, OR OTHER INSECT. Wet the part stung, and rub a piece of indigo upon it, which will instantly remove the pain. TO GET RID OF THE STING OF A NETTLE OR OTHER VEGETABLE. Rub the part affected with balm, rosemary, mint, or any other aromatic herb, and the smart will at once cease. RECIPE FOR BURNS. For a burn by vitriol or by any similar cause, apply the white of eggs, mixed with powdered chalk, and lay it over the parts burnt with a feather, and it will afford immediate relief. We have seen this tried most successfully to a child who had accidently taken some vitriol into its mouth. TO EFFACE SPOTS OF GREASE FROM SILKS. The recipes for this are very numerous, and, with one ex- ception, are all objectionable or ineffectual. Turpentine will extract the grease but will form an edge wherever it is MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS. 187 applied: ether fails to touch either the spot or the remains of the turpentine: French chalk absorbs the offending mat- ter, but leaves a muddy or dull appearance, that is almost as unsightly as the grease. Advertised remedies (all of them, however, which have fallen under our observation,) whether in the form of ball, cake, or liquid, equally fail, however carefully applied. The only safe and really infalli- ble method of extracting grease spots from silks (of even the most delicate hues,) is the following, which should be ap- plied as soon after the discovery of the injury as possible, in order that no further mischief may be caused by dust or dirt settling on the grease. Hold the part firmly, to prevent the silk from being creased; then with a clean soft white cloth (an old cambric pocket handkerchief is the best mate- rial) rub the spot very briskly, but not with sufficient vio- lence to fray the silk; change the portions of the handker- chief frequently; the silk may be held to the fire to assist the operation, but this is not needful. In the course of a minute or two the spot will have entirely disappeared. This we know to be effectual. TO POLISH MAHOGANY TABLES. Grate very small a quarter of an ounce of white soap; put it into a new glazed earthen vessel with a pint of water; hold it over the fire till the soap is dissolved; then add the same quantity of white wax cut into small pieces, and three ounces of common wax. As soon as the whole is incor- porated it is fit for use. When used, clean the table well, dip a bit of flannel in the varnish when warm, and rub it on the table; let it stand a quarter of an hour, then apply a hard brush in all directions and finish with a bit of clean dry flannel. This will produce a gloss like a mirror; and, to those who dislike the smell of turpentine or oil, will be found very useful. 190 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. of insects. We have possessed articles of furniture thus polished, so beautiful, that our simple plan has been con- jectured to be a newly invented preparation—" yet unknown to fame.” We are aware that this method of beautifying furniture is well, but not generally known. PRESERVATION OF EGGS. A simple plan, and one which has long proved successful, is to bury the eggs in salt; of course the eggs must be fresh, and they should be placed upright not on the side. In this way, eggs will keep good for a year. It is, perhaps, well to add, that this is an excellent mode of taking eggs to sea. The vessel in which the eggs are placed should be kept in a cool, dry situation; and a thick layer of salt should be placed at the top of it. At the season when eggs are plentiful, and consequently cheap, it will be wise to think about laying in a store of them. In cities, particularly, fresh eggs are, in the winter months, a delicacy scarcely attainable, and this merely from want of a little foresight. TO MAKE GINGER BEER. One ounce of bruised ginger, one ounce of cream of tartar, one lemon juice and peel, one pound of loaf-sugar, one gal- lon of boiling water; add one spoonful of yeast to work it and bottle it in stone jars before it is cold. TO CLARIFY SUGAR. Take four pounds of sugar, and break it into pieces; put into a preserving-pan the white of an egg, and a glass of pure spring water; mix them well with a whisk, add ano- ther glass, still whipping, until two quarts of water have been put in; when the pan is full of froth, throw in the sugar, and set it on the fire, being careful to skim it every time the 192 HOUSE KEEPER'S BOOK. a minute or two at the utmost, the germ, which is so near the skin, is thus “ killed,” without injuring the potatoe. In this way several tons might be cured in a few hours. They should then be dried in a warm oven, and laid up in sacks or casks, secure from the frost, in a dry place. Another method of preserving this valuable root is, first to peel them, then to grate them down into a pulp, which is put into coarse cloths, and the water squeezed out by putting them into a common press, by which means they are formed into flat cakes. Those cakes are to be well dried, and preserved for use as required. This is an excellent and ingenious mode of preserving potatoes, although attended with too much trouble on the large scale. It is said, that a piece of lime put into the water into which potatoes are boiling, will render the heaviest, light and flowery. PORTABLE GINGER BEER. A beverage, equal in flavour to ginger beer, and in its medicinal effects far more wholesome, besides the conve- nience of being portable, may be made in the following man- ner;— Take of powdered lump sugar, two drams. Carbonate of soda, half a dram. Mix them together. Take of Tartaric acid, half a dram, best ginger powder, five grains, essence of lemon, one drop. Mix them together. Dissolve the above powders in separate glasses, contain- ing together, about half a pint of cold spring water; when dissolved, mix the contents of each glass, and let it be drank immediately. The proportion of ginger may be increased to double or quadruple the quantity, agreeable to the palate; it should be the finest kind, (the subtile powder as it is called) which, with the other ingredients, may be obtained at any druggist's. MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS. 195 · A FIRE PROOF AND WATER PROOF CEMENT. To half a pint of milk put an equal quantity of vinegar, in order to curdle it; then separate the curd from the whey, and mix the whey with the whites of four or five eggs, beat- ing the whole well together. When it is well mixed, add a little quick lime, through a sieve, until it has acquired the consistence of a thick paste. With this cement broken ves- sels, and cracks of all kinds, may be mended. It dries quick- ly, and resists the action of fire and water. TO RENDER SHOES WATER PROOF. Mix a pint of drying oil, two ounces of yellow wax, two ounces of turpentine, and half an ounce of Burgundy pitch, carefully over a slow fire. Lay the mixture, whilst hot, on the boots or shoes with a sponge or soft brush; and when they are dry lay it on again and again, until the leather be- comes quite saturated, that is to say, will hold no more. Let them then be put away, and not be worn until they are perfectly dry and elastic: they will afterwards be found not only impenetrable to wet, but soft and pliable, and of much longer duration. FOR AN OBSTINATE COUGH. Take a half-pound of the best honey, and squeeze the juice of four lemons upon it; mix ihem well together, and add a small portion of sugar-candy. A tea-spoonful may be taken every time the cough is troublesome, and in a very short time a cure will be effected. PRESERVATION OF EGGS. Relative to the preservation of eggs by immersion in lime- water, M. Peschier has given most satisfactory evidence of the efficacy of the process. Eggs which he had preserved 198 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. crape, cloth, &c., need only be rubbed with a sponge dipped in the liquor, when the effect will be instantly produced. VINEGAR. As vinegar forms such an important part of cookery, it must be always important to ascertain that it is unadul- terated. The chemical process is simple. In a test glass of vinegar put three or four drops of acetate of barytes, which will produce a white precipitate. Filtrate through paper, and heat the powder in a tobacco-pipe until red- hot. Then put it into spirit of salt, or diluted aqua-fortis. If the precipitate dissolves, the vinegar is genuine. If it does not, then the vinegar is adulterated with oil of vitriol. If metallic adulteration is suspected, especially in dis- tilled vinegar, take the following tests: add liquid ammonia to vinegar until its odour predominates; then if the mixture assumes a bluish tint, you may depend upon the presence of copper. Again, add water, impregnated with sulphuretted hydro- gen to the suspected vinegar. If it becomes black, or yields a black precipitate, the presence of lead is obvious. TO POT BUTTER FOR WINTER USE. In the summer, when there is plenty of butter, care should be taken to preserve enough for winter use. But observe, that none but good butter, which has been well made, and is quite free from buttermilk, will pot well. Have potting pans, to hold from six to ten pounds of butter. Put a thick layer of butter in the pan, press it down hard, then put a layer of salt, and press that down, then more butter and so on: allowing one ounce of salt to every pound of but- ter. If this be too salt, it can be freshened by being washed in cold water, before it is sent to table. Always keep the top well covered, with salt, and as that turns to brine, more 206 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. Edge Bore of Beef.-Fig. 4. 22 UNT UT WWIITUNE LUMUMD TATIS olundu XULL VENTIL TE TUTTU TIT LUDDINUD LOODILE ODBITOTTLT Edge Bone of Beef, like the Round of Beef, is easily carved. But care should be taken, with both of these, to carve neatly; for if the meat be cut in thin slices or in pieces of awkward shape, the effect will be both to cause waste and to render the dish, while it lasts, uninviting. Cut slices, as thin as you please, from a to b (Fig 4). The best part of the fat will be found on one side of the meat, from about c to d. The most delicate is at c. Fore Quarter of Lamb.-Fig. 5. Unit Fore Quarter of Lamb is first to be cut so as to divide the shoulder from the rest of the quarter, which is called the JOINTING, TRUSSING AND CARVING. 207 target. For this purpose, put the fork firmly into the shoul- der joint, and then cut underneath the blade-bone, begin- ning at a (Fig 5), and continue cutting all round in the di- rection of the circular line, and pretty close to the under part of the blade-bone. Some people like to cut the shoul- der large, while others take off no more meat with it than is barely necessary to remove the blade-bone. It is most convenient to place the shoulder on a separate dish. This is carved in the same way as the shoulder of mutton (see Fig. 7). When the shoulder is removed, a lemon may be squeezed over that part of the remainder of the joint where the knife has passed: this gives a flavour to the meat which is generally approved.—Then, proceed to cut completely through from b to c, following the line across the bones as cracked by the butcher; and this will divide the ribs (d) from the brisket (e). Tastes vary in giving preference to the ribs or to the brisket. Leg of Mutton.-Fig. 6. w Www The above engraving represents a leg of mutton served up in the dish, lying upon its back. The best parts are in the middle at e, between the knuckle and further end. Be- gin to help from e to f, in thin deep slices down to the bone. If the outside should not be sufficiently fat, cut some slices from the broad end from h to i; this part is most juicy, though many prefer the knuckle of very fine mutton, which, 208 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. though dry, is tender. On the back of the leg may be cut some very fine slices, from the broad end, longways. We- ther mutton may be easily known by a round lump of fat at the edge of the broad part at d. The cramp-bone, as it is called, may be cut out, by taking hold of the shank bone with the left hand, and cutting down to the thigh bone at g, then passing the knife under it in the direction gk. Shoulder of Mutton.-Fig. 7. Mint A shoulder of mutton is here represented with the back uppermost. When this joint is not over-roasted, it is very full of gravy, and by many preferred to a leg, as having ma- ny very delicate and savoury parts in it. When it is first cut, it should be in the hollow part of it in the direction d e, down to the bone: this being done, the gravy runs first into the dish, and slices should be then taken off, on each side the cut. The best flavoured fat lies on the outer edge, and should be cut out in thin slices in the direction hh. When all is taken from the hollow part, in the line de, some very good slices may be cut, on each side the ridge of the blade-bone, in the direction fg. The line between the two dotted lines is the edge or ridge of the blade-bone, which cannot be cut across: On the under-side of a shoul- der, there are some very fine cuts, very full of gravy, which are by some preferred to the upper part. 212 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. FIG. 13. Fowls for Roasting. Fig. 14. NITIE I mu Fowls, for Roasting.–The most modern way of truss- ing these is as in Figs. 13 and 14. If it be but a chicken, or a small fowl, a single skewer through the wings, and the legs simply tied, as in Fig. 14, will be sufficient. But a large fowl is best kept in shape by the other method (Fig. 13).-See Carving, in observations on Fig. 15. Turkey, or Fowl, for Boiling.–FIG. 15. Turkey, or Fowl, for Boiling.–For boiling, turkeys and fowls should, according to the newest fashion, both be trussed in the same way. There is nothing peculiar in this way, excepting as to the legs, which are to be trussed with- in the apron. To do this, the cook must first cut off the JOINTING, TROSSING AND CARVING. 213 feet, and then, putting her fingers into the inside of the fowl, separate the skin of the leg from the flesh, all the way to the extreme joint. The leg, being drawn back, will thus remain, as it were in a bag, within the apron; and, if this be properly done, there need be no other break in the skin than what has been occasioned at the joint by cutting off the feet. If it be a turkey, or a large fowl, the form may be better preserved by putting a skewer through the legs as well as through the wings (see Fig 15). But with small fowls, there needs no skewer for the legs. All skewers used in trussing should be taken out before the dish comes to table. To carve fowls, turkeys, &c. see Fig. 15. Be- gin by taking off the wings, cutting from a to b, c to d. Next the legs, putting your knife in at ff. Then, if it be a large bird, you will help slices from the breast (e e). But with the smaller birds, as chickens, partridges, &c. a con- siderable portion of the breast should come off with the wing, and there is not enough left to spare any thing more from the breast-bone. The merrythought, situated at the point of the breast-bone, is taken off by cutting straight across at h h. In helping, recollect that the liver.wing is commonly thought more of than the other. The breast-bone is divided from the back by simply cutting through the ribs on each side of the fowl. The neck-bones are at g g; but for these see Fig. 16, and the directions for carving the back. Back of a Fowl.–Fig. 16. JWWW Rest your knife firmly on the centre of the back, at the same time turning either end up with your fork, and this 214 HOUSEKEEPER'S BOOK. part will easily break in two at a b. The side-bones are at cd; and to remove these, some people put the point of the knife in at midway the line, just opposite to c d; others at the rump end of the bones, e f. The neck-bones (at g h) are the most difficult part of the task. These must be taken off before the breast is divided from the back; they adhere very closely, and require the knife to be held firmly on the body of the fowl, while the fork is employed to twist them off. Duck.–Fig. 17. Breast. Back. a Duck.—This should be trussed as in Fig. 17. The leg is twisted at the joint, and the feet (with the claws only cut off) are turned over and so brought to lie flat on the rump.-For Carving, see observations on Fig. 15. JOINTING, TRUSSING, AND CARVING. 217 Pigeons.-Fig. 22. This engraving represents the back and the breast of a pigeon: No 1, being the back, and No. 2, the breast. Pi- geons are sometimes cut up as chickens are, but being such small birds, the best and most approved method is either to divide them in half from top to bottom, or to cut them across. In order to cut them down, begin at the neck, and cut down in a line to d, (No. 2) in preference to cutting from f to e, by d, as shown in No 1; the latter way being exceedingly unfair; as the lower part of a pigeon is unques- tionably the best. 19